Basic Sub-$500 Build for a Friend

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I'm helping a friend build a PC so I'd like to run the setup by you guys.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
----> No gaming. Mostly web browsing, word, excel, watching movies, listening to music
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
----> $500 total (with tax and shipping)
3) Where do you live?
----> CA
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
----> Everything
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
----> Nothing to reuse
6) Will you be overclocking?
----> No.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
----> Samsung 15" LCD
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
----> Now
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
----> Nothing in particular. No raid, firewire, crossfire.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
----> Yes. Windows XP 32-bit.

Here's what I've come up with:

CPU - E5200 - $73
Motherboard - GIGABYTE GA-EP43-UD3L - $85
RAM - 4GB G.Skill DDR2 800 - $40
Video Card - Radeon 4650 512mb - $55 ($10 rebate)
Hard Drive - Western Digital 320GB - $55
Case - Antec 300 + PSU Antec 430W (combo) - $105
DVDRW - Pioneer 20X - $24

Subtotal: $436.88
Shipping: $27.32
Tax: $36.04
TOTAL: $500.24

I'd prefer to go with an Intel build because I'm more familiar with those.
 
Since theres no gaming involved, no point in getting a dedicated video card. So I recommend ditching the CPU, mobo and GPU and go with this setup instead:
AMD Phenom II X3 710 CPU + Biostar TFORCE TA790GX AMD 790GX HDMI AMD Motherboard - $194

You would get a significantly faster CPU that can multi-task a bit better than the E5200 as well as gain a slightly better CPU upgrade path. Yes it's an AMD but in this situation, AMD has a significantly better value than an Intel build.
 
Look at this Cheapo build I made at newegg, it will do everything your friend needs and even save money.

Total: $378.51 - $42 MIR = $336.51

buildh.jpg
 
Why even bother building a basic system? Dell is cheaper, you can get a system for ~$300 or ~$400 with montior. If you must build, I would go with a 4850e and 780g mobo. Low power usage but enough oomph for high definition playback or anything a budget PC would be used for. I would also go with Corsair memory (just personal preference) and a WD 640 gig HD, only $10 more but double the capacity. The Antec PSU is good, don't go with Thermaltake. The case is decent but a little flimsy. Antec Solo FTW if you can pick one up on sale.
 
Why even bother building a basic system? Dell is cheaper, you can get a system for ~$300 or ~$400 with montior. If you must build, I would go with a 4850e and 780g mobo. Low power usage but enough oomph for high definition playback or anything a budget PC would be used for. I would also go with Corsair memory (just personal preference) and a WD 640 gig HD, only $10 more but double the capacity. The Antec PSU is good, don't go with Thermaltake. The case is decent but a little flimsy. Antec Solo FTW if you can pick one up on sale.

I agree with this poster. If I was building a basic system I would go with one from a major oem on sale. Couple weeks ago you could get a Dell system with a 21.5 monitor for about your quoted price budget. Can't beat that.

Also, if you are running XP, why in the world are you getting 4GB of RAM? XP will never use more than 2.
 
Also, if you are running XP, why in the world are you getting 4GB of RAM? XP will never use more than 2.

Wrong. XP uses 4GB total. 512mb for dedicated ram and 256mb for other things leaves about 3-3.25GB for the OS.
 
I agree with the Dell suggestion.

However, if you do build, stay away from that Thermaltake PSU, since you can get the Antec case/psu combo for nearly the same price, and they're a much better combo of products.

DDR2 is cheap, and as you, yourself pointed out, XP 32bit can use up to 3.5GB of RAM, so 4GB is fine.

Another option is an NVIDIA chipset, GeForce 8000/9000 series, in case he may want to try a game or two. Since you're not OC'ing, I agree with Danny, go with the AMD he recommended.
 
Wrong. XP uses 4GB total. 512mb for dedicated ram and 256mb for other things leaves about 3-3.25GB for the OS.

Fail. You did not comprehend what I posted.

XP will never get close to utilizing 4GB unless you're running multiple virtual machines. For most users there's no need for anything beyond 2. I have a dual boot setup with 5GB at work, XP sees 3.25 but never uses more than a GB under any circumstances.

However, I am aware that the price difference between 2GB and 4GB is infintesimal, so there may be an argument for it there to plan for the future.
 
Fail. You did not comprehend what I posted.

XP will never get close to utilizing 4GB unless you're running multiple virtual machines. For most users there's no need for anything beyond 2. I have a dual boot setup with 5GB at work, XP sees 3.25 but never uses more than a GB under any circumstances.

However, I am aware that the price difference between 2GB and 4GB is infintesimal, so there may be an argument for it there to plan for the future.
It's actually infinitesimal, but I digress.
 
Fail. You did not comprehend what I posted.

XP will never get close to utilizing 4GB unless you're running multiple virtual machines. For most users there's no need for anything beyond 2. I have a dual boot setup with 5GB at work, XP sees 3.25 but never uses more than a GB under any circumstances. ...

You're just under utilizing your machine. I can fill 3GB with just photoshop alone, leaving the system with .5GB, lol. Hell, I can even do it with Firefox! :rolleyes: Multi-tasking FTW. :(
 
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