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$500 "Fathers computer" build.

B

Briliu

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 19, 2006
Messages
269
I need some help with selecting components for a build for my friends father. He has a bunch of the "trivial" components and we'd like to get as much performance out of his $500 budget as possible. Details with the question list as follows!


1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Web browsing, Photo download (from SD cards and the like), small bits of photo editing, MAYBE some gaming on a very small monitor if my friend goes over to use it.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Budget is $500 with a little bit of leeway if it will result in a noticeable improvement. Taxes and shipping should be included (newegg does not charge me tax where I live), but may fall under the leeway category I mentioned above.

3) Where do you live?
Rochester, New York (him), Rome, NY (me). I make the trek there every couple weeks so I wont need to ship it to him or anything.

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
CPU
Motherboard (Smaller is better, see case)
RAM (4GB minimum)
SSD (Large enough for Win7 and some productivity software)
PSU
Case (Smaller is better)
Memory Card Reader (SD, CF, microSD, ect)

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
He has a bunch of spare parts that he is going to be using for this build:
  • 500GB hard drive of some sort, I don't know many details other than it is SATA compatible.
  • DVD/CD reader, again, don't know any details. I need to make sure with him that it is SATA compatible.
  • Nvidia 8600 GTS that my friend gave him after upgrading to a GTX460.

6) Will you be overclocking?
No. I do not want to have to support the OC (I live 2 hours away).

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
I do not know the monitor size. My guess is the upper end being 20" wide screen. More likely sub-20" 4:3 though, from what I saw in his computer room last time I was there.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
I will most likely build it myself and purchase the components online.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
If it's possible to fit USB 3.0 into the budget he would like that. He's a bit of a gadget freak and I can see in 5+ years down the road him having something that could make use of it. If that isn't possible, that's perfectly fine as well.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
My friend, his father (my "client") and me will be purchasing a copy of the windows 7 home premium 64 bit family pack when that is released. It is my understanding that you can use these keys/cds as fresh install of windows 7 and not just the upgrade. Is this correct?


I will link my first run through of components here, I am well outside the budget (by $100+) with these builds however. Any suggestions as to where to save money without a huge performance hit would be welcome!

CPU: I went for upper mid-range performance for these. They are currently overkill for his intended uses, but he likes to have some power and would enjoy these. Overall, I'd say the CPU category is where I could save the most amount of money with your help.
Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor ($195)
-or-
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor ($166)

Motherboard: If I had to pick a component I sucked at choosing, it'd be motherboards. I could use a lot of help here! I stole the AMD board from a suggestion on another similar build on this forum. I am also looking for a smaller form factor if possible. Mid ATX sized case is ok, but smaller would be better (per his request).
GIGABYTE GA-H55M-S2 LGA 1156 Intel H55 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard ($75)
-or-
MSI 880GM-E41 AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard ($75)

RAM: As I mentioned above, looking for 4GB minimum and he will not be doing OC. Would DDR3-1066 be too slow or unreliable for this build?
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model ($89)

SSD: This component may be not required. I would very much like to cram one into his budget but if it is not possible then we can toss it out and save the cash. I went with OCZ over Intel because of the cost/GB and the performance difference is not significant enough to warrant the extra cost in this build. 60GB seemed like a good size for a ~30GB (guessing) OS + MSoffice/OpenOffice + misc programs, if I can safely get away with less, do tell!
OCZ Agility 2 OCZSSD2-2AGTE60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive ($147)

PSU: Shamelessly stolen from another build thread recommendation. Wattage may be overkill for intended use, please advise!
Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply ($60)

Case: As stated above, smaller is a goal of this build (if it does not sacrifice cooling). As such I picked out a mini-tower for Micro ATX motherboards. This case does not come with any fans though, and I may want to buy one just to get some through flow in the case. I picked out the one with a brand name I recognized, so advice is welcome! (If we can find a case with memory card readers included, this is a good thing, the linked case does not have them)
COOLER MASTER Centurion 541 RC-541-SKN1 Black Aluminum bezel, SECC chassis MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case ($50)


Memory Card Reader: Required item, Compact flash, SD, and microSD are all required inputs. If we can find a case with this included, all the better.
Rosewill RCR-IC002 74-in-1 USB 2.0 3.5" Internal Card Reader w/ USB port / Extra silver face plate ($16)

Overall cost with Intel CPU: $631 + $9.99 shipping
Overall cost with AMD CPU: $602 + $9.99 shipping

As you can see, over budget. I could use some help trimming out the fat!
 
Other than the fact you're $100 over budget, I can't really complain too much about the components you've chosen. I definitely agree you could trim the CPU quite a bit, particularly on the AMD build. There are two identical rigs in my house, one used my brother, one used by my father, and they are both using very inexpensive dual core AMD chips. They were around $60-$70 a piece IIRC. My father has built three builds with this processor:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103706

and has had very good luck with it. For the intended tasks listed, the AMD 620 should be more than enough power. Coupled with the 8600, it should be capable of playing most games as long as you don't crank the detail to the ceiling on really demanding games. Overall, I would just change out the CPU, and with the above listed CPU only costing $89, you're much closer to your budget without changing any other components.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, that case should be just fine for a budget build. Without seeing it in person, I don't know what kind of cooling it offers, but you may be able to get by just fine without purchasing additional fans.
 
For his needs, the system you put together there is way overkill. I would personally look at the Phenom II x2 555BE. It would save about $80, and they can usually be unlocked to a quad with a quick BIOS edit (probably like 80% or more unlock these days supposedly). If you need to have a quad and don't want to bother risking the unlock, look at one of the Athlon II x4 Propus CPUs (I'd look at the 640 personally, since 3ghz is a nice round number lol)

With the money you save there you could also look into a cheap GPU to help out with the light gaming (as well as the overall W7 desktop experience) Something like this 5670 would be more than enough for what he's going to be doing (similar to 9800gt performance but with DX11)
 
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The Athlon II x4s look very promising for what he intends to do with the computer, I had completely overlooked them in my research lol.

Just out of curiosity, what are the main difference between a Phenom II x4 and an Athlon II x4
 
Briliu said:
The Athlon II x4s look very promising for what he intends to do with the computer, I had completely overlooked them in my research lol.

Just out of curiosity, what are the main difference between a Phenom II x4 and an Athlon II x4
Click to expand...

L3 cache. Decent article about the subject.

Best bang for you buck is definitly the Phenom II x2 555BE though if you're willing to unlock. That little processor is a beast for <$90.


Edit:

Forgot to mention that an SSD simply isn't worth it for this build IMO. With a $500 budget, fitting a decent SSD into it means you're going to be sacrificing A LOT in other areas. Go with a Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB. These are on sale for $59.99 on what seems like a weekly basis (they aren't there atm, but if recent history is anything to go by they will be very soon lol), and they give you Caviar Black type performance.
 
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Besides you should wait a few months when Intel releases SSDs with a manufacturing process that makes the new version significantly cheaper per GB. That will save you the most and your father will appreciate the SSD upgrade later on when he can compare the performance increase.
 
That PSU is overkill but it's one of the best bang for the buck deal out right now. Do note that there's a promo code listed on that PSU's Newegg page that lops off another $10. You won't find a better PSU for $50 like the Antec. So I highly recommend getting that PSU ASAP because the promo code and the free shippping ends on 9/22. So you have roughly a day or so to get that PSU.

Case wise, ditch that case and go with this:
$50 - Cooler Master Elite 341 RC-341C-KKN1-GP mATX Tower Case

$10 cheaper once you factor in shipping and it already comes with a fan. So that's additional savings right there. Not bad for a mATX case.

Ditch the G.Skill RAM: You won't notice an iota of difference between that set and this set in real world apps and games:
$75 - G.Skill F3-10600CL9D-4GBNT 2 x 2GB DDR3 1333 RAM

So far, that's $35 in savings right there.

I concur with the other sentiments in that you should not get a SSD right now.
 
Thank you everyone for your advice since yesterday.

I've made a public wish list at Newegg to show you the new configuration. I'm at $501.94 + $9.99 shipping! I think that's close enough :)
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=15744826

As far as the suggestions on the SSDs go I am leaving it in the build right now but will inform him of the pending price drop for the new process size from Intel and others. I will also tell him about that 40GB intel drive (vjcsmoke) andl let him make the decision on whether he wants to spend the money now, or save some money and spend some time moving the OS to the SSD later on.

Again, thank you everyone for you're help and I will let you know what he decides! (Hopefully today so we can catch the deal on the Power Supply ><)

Oh, final question. The win7 family pack, does anyone have a link to a good resource for making that work as a full install (vs upgrade)?
 
Utilize these CPU + SSD combos

OCZ Agility 2 OCZSSD2-2AGTE60G 2.5" 60GB + AMD Athlon II X4 620 both for $220.99

Or

OCZ Agility 2 OCZSSD2-2AGTE60G 2.5" 60GB + AMD Athlon II X4 640 both for $231.98
 
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