Hello,

I have never built my own computer before and working with a shoestring budget. I like to follow guides from books, so I don’t need to be able to play HD video. I’m not even sure if I need a GUI depending on if I can do without one. All I want to do is get to know the OS and do some basic programming practice on there, maybe with x86 assembly and some higher-level languages.

A rough example of the hardware I would like to use is listed here:

Socket 478 Intel Pentium 4 HT @ 3.2GHz

Between 1gb – 2gb of DDR 400mhz memory

MSI MS-6585 motherboard

GeForce MMX440 64mb graphics card


In terms of case, I was hoping to be able to buy a fairly modern case and fit these old components to it.
I have seen that there are 64-bit socket 775 Pentium 4 CPU’s so perhaps that would be a better option?
Any motherboard recommendations would be appreciated.
I think I may have covered multiple different topics here, but I really don’t know where to start especially when it comes to the hardware.

Thanks for any advice you can give.
 
GeForce MMX440 64mb graphics card
You're going to want a more modern card though. This thing is ancient. NVidia driver web page doesn't even show Geforce4 any more.

I would really suggest scouring the second hand market and get yourself an older 3rd gen Intel core i3 or i5 system. There are plenty of old (small form factor) business PCs being sold. Those are a much better alternative.
 
Socket 478 Intel Pentium 4 HT @ 3.2GHz
Some of these were flamethrowers.

Look for the 6xx series. They had lower TDP. Prescott was a dog. You want Cedar Mill if the board will take them.
 
My rule of thumb is number of cores divided by 2. That is the number of concurrent building jobs you want to do building from ports.
 
My advice would be to use an small embedded box.
You can find used medical boxes for 40-60$USD. Re-Purpose a Digital Signage PC that can be found cheap.

Old towers are obsolete except for gaming or anything needing a video card.
CPU graphics can do most everything these days.
 
My goodness, that hardware list... I was still in high school and that was like... I don't know like 20 years ago? Surely you could find even 3rd/4th-gen i3's for just as cheap. Those things are better-used as door stoppers and space heaters. Also, most modern GUI would probably lag on that hardware unless you run more exotic things like i3 or very stripped down openbox.
 
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