A Good Budget Intel Dual Core Mobo Combo

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Slip Digby

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looking to build a desktop pc for about £300 for the mother-in-law :D

i've not been in the loop since i built the rig in my sig last year. and don't usually build budget jobbies.

there's always a sweet performance/price point that i'm sure the enthusiasts on here can help me find.

no real graphics required, just a cheap card. so excluding a gig or two of ram and hdd, dvd/cd-rw and case - i can possibly canabalise some of that from some of my old hardware. and a monitor i've already bought.

anyhoo, that leaves £150-200 for the motherboard and processor. the cheaper the better, obviously.

the pc will only be used for word, email, a bit of photo editing, watching films, browsing and a few games for her grandchild.

help me help a pensioner, tia.
 
cheers, zero.

the e7300 is probably nearer what she needs. it's not like she's going to start video editing or ripping dvd's. i still have to go round every month or so to back up her documents for her. i've showed her a dozen times but she's got the technofear :D
 
Yeah, the E7300 would do it, I was just giving you the best components I could find for that budget. Should be perfect for a budget system either way.
 
so a g31 motherboard can handle the newer 45nm cpu's?

im wanting to do the same for my mom and gf's mom .. (not my mother-in-law yet, hehe)

they basically have the same needs as the OP stated..i think that even an e5200 would do good enough
 
If you check out Fry's they usually have some really good deals on Mobo+CPU combo's.
 
Yeah a E7200/7300 and a cheap mobo will be fine
Here Something like the second to the bottom one ought to be fine for your mom-in-law
 
i'm seriously busy atm and you've saved me a few hours of research. i shall purchase the parts and build it for her next week.

e7300 is a good price atm at my local supplier, microdirect - £85. cheaper than e7200 :eek:

is there any major difference between the p5kpl and p5kpl-am ?

thanks again, everyone.
 
mellojoe said:
If you check out Fry's they usually have some really good deals on Mobo+CPU combo's.
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GonzoP said:
Yeah a E7200/7300 and a cheap mobo will be fine
Here Something like the second to the bottom one ought to be fine for your mom-in-law
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He listed pounds guys. ;) That probably means he's in the UK.
Slip Digby said:
i'm seriously busy atm and you've saved me a few hours of research. i shall purchase the parts and build it for her next week.

e7300 is a good price atm at my local supplier, microdirect - £85. cheaper than e7200 :eek:

is there any major difference between the p5kpl and p5kpl-am ?

thanks again, everyone.
Click to expand...
http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=1808&l1=3&l2=11&l3=563&l4=0
http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=563&l4=0&model=2266&modelmenu=2

Beyond that stuff, performance/reliability/junk-like-that should be the same.
 
Slip Digby said:
cheers, zero.

the e7300 is probably nearer what she needs. it's not like she's going to start video editing or ripping dvd's. i still have to go round every month or so to back up her documents for her. i've showed her a dozen times but she's got the technofear :D
Click to expand...

Go with the E7300 or even the E7200. She definitely doesn't need the E8500 or even a quad-core for the purposes that you stated.
 
bought the parts today...

beat the budget and went micro atx

E7300
Gigabyte GA-G31MF-S2
WD 160GB Caviar
2GB Patriot DDR2 PC6400
Optiarc AD-7201
HP w2007v monitor
Generic micro ATX case with 2x120mm fans :D

£370. may need to use the extra £30 to buy a psu. i'll test the one that came with the case first.
 
GonzoP said:
Nice choices. Ive been very pleased with Gigabyte mobos this year
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i like the solid nature of the boards they are producing. i would've got the asus if i was going full atx. i did have visions of her with a coolermaster stacker case in her living room, but alas, that was beyond the budget ...

does anyone want to see pics of the installation :D
 
Get your mom an i7 for couple seconds faster on DVD ripping and video editing :D.
 
get a pentium dual core chip, no need for anything fancy

I built my dad a PC based upon the following

Windows Vista Home Premium OEM
Intel DG33BU MB
Pentium Dual Core chip
320GB Hdd
2GB ram
SB Audigy 2 ( old card I had used to get firewire support)
TrendNet wireless usb and router
 
i'll get one or two pics hosted tomorrow ... basic installation, hardly rocket surgery, tho :D

finished the build yesterday, booted into the bios. not put an os on yet. all looks ok apart from the fact the cpu is idling at 52C, wtf? it's not exactly toasty here in manchester. my q6600 idles about 33C, that's mildly oc'd too, but has a true heatsink with fan. the e7300 is on stock cooling, but that seems bad to me. obviously, the thermal paste need to burn in and i also hear temp measurements on the 45nm duos are abit contentious. the pushpin seating of the stock cooler doesn't seem great, no big clicks apart from the first pin.

i'll installl an os tomorrow, any recommendations for temp monitoring software for these duo's? i'm using coretemp for my quad, but realtemp? is supposed to be best for the newer processors?

i have some as5 and can reseat the cooler with that, but i suspect i'll get 5-8C better. coupla degrees for burn in, that's still low to mid 40's. is that good or bad?
 
Ignore the temps reported by the BIOS, they're hardly accurate. Unless you're getting load temps above 65C, I wouldn't worry about a thing. Right now, the best programs to use for temp monitoring are Core Temp and Real Temp, and for the E7300 both would need to be set to a Tjmax of 100C.
 
a few pics to start...

back in black
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=j5efsm&s=4
http://i33.tinypic.com/do2lhf.jpg
http://i35.tinypic.com/ka2pec.jpg

a tricksy install, i'm sure you'll agree :D

coupla questions, tho, if anyone can help...

1) i didn't need a sata boot floppy even though my dvd and hdd are both sata. there is a legacy ide mode that i think it may have reverted to. i set it to exclusively sata in the bios after the chipset install after xp pro. will this give me true sate or should i have created a floppy for an f6 hit early in the process?

2) cpu temp is worrying me. it was 52C in the bios at first ever boot. it is now around 42C idle using coretemp with tjunction set to 100. cooll, i here you say, on stock, that's ok. BUT, if i run prime95 that elevates to over 80C in about 5 minutes. that's not good, surely?

3) my ram is being underclocked at 5-5-5-15 when it is capable of 4-4-4-12. but i can't see any way to manually ajust this in the bios like on my ip35pro, or my old asus a8v. is this because it is a budget board or because i've just not found the right sub-menu yet?

tia, slip d

if nothing else at least i've got a hot date from this thread. my first ever pm, being hit on for being a chick, must be my overuse of smileys. could've at least asked a/s/l first :D
 
Slip Digby said:
coupla questions, tho, if anyone can help...

1) i didn't need a sata boot floppy even though my dvd and hdd are both sata. there is a legacy ide mode that i think it may have reverted to. i set it to exclusively sata in the bios after the chipset install after xp pro. will this give me true sate or should i have created a floppy for an f6 hit early in the process?

2) cpu temp is worrying me. it was 52C in the bios at first ever boot. it is now around 42C idle using coretemp with tjunction set to 100. cooll, i here you say, on stock, that's ok. BUT, if i run prime95 that elevates to over 80C in about 5 minutes. that's not good, surely?

3) my ram is being underclocked at 5-5-5-15 when it is capable of 4-4-4-12. but i can't see any way to manually ajust this in the bios like on my ip35pro, or my old asus a8v. is this because it is a budget board or because i've just not found the right sub-menu yet?
Click to expand...

1) For this PC, it really doesn't make a difference.

2) 80C is pretty high, but realistically, there are two things to consider. First of all, the PC will rarely, if ever, be under that kind of load, so it'll almost certainly stay below 60C all the time. Second, the CPU is rated for operation at its full speed up to 100C, so even 80C won't cause any damage to it.

3) Try hitting Ctrl+F1 to access the advanced features in the BIOS.

Slip Digby said:
if nothing else at least i've got a hot date from this thread. my first ever pm, being hit on for being a chick, must be my overuse of smileys. could've at least asked a/s/l first :D
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a/s/l? ;)
 
Zero82z said:
1) For this PC, it really doesn't make a difference.

2) 80C is pretty high, but realistically, there are two things to consider. First of all, the PC will rarely, if ever, be under that kind of load, so it'll almost certainly stay below 60C all the time. Second, the CPU is rated for operation at its full speed up to 100C, so even 80C won't cause any damage to it.

3) Try hitting Ctrl+F1 to access the advanced features in the BIOS.


a/s/l? ;)
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1) you're probably right, i thought the same. but it's for the missus' mum. she's been very good to us, so i want to do the best possible for her. it just seemed a bit sluggish for what i was expecting.

2) realistically, it will never be under that sort of load. i'm sure a third party cooler or even a reseat with some as5 might make a bit of difference. it's barely burned in. i'll keep an eye on it for now.

3) nice one, i'll try that tomorrow. it's getting late and i've had one too many absolut vodkas.

38/m/manchester, uk - i look young for my age tho :D
 
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