Budget Build for Fiance's Parents

V

Valaire

Gawd
Joined
Dec 16, 2005
Messages
846
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc

Web browsing and light office work.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

No budget.

3) Where do you live?

NYC -- have access to a Microcenter. Amazon charges sales tax, Newegg doesn't.

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.

CPU, RAM, Mobo, Boot SSD, Storage HDD, Case, PSU, Media Reader, DVD Burner.

6) Will you be overclocking?

No.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?

17 inch CRT, prob at 1024 x 768.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

Within next two weeks.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.

Onchip video, onboard audio.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?

Picking up an OEM license for W7 seperate fromt his budget.


Use of the computer will be very light. I'll probably buy them a new monitor as a gift down the road as it kills me to see them using the monitor they use now. Their old computer died and so this is their replacement.

I'm looking for tips specifically on the case, PSU, mobo, and RAM if there is a value option I missed and concerns for included PSU's. Here's what I have so far:

$50 - Rosewill R363-M-BK Case w/ 400W PSU
$60 - Asrock H61M-VS Mobo
$40 - Gskill 2 x 2GB DDR 1333
$125 - Intel i3-2100
$100 - Intel 320 Series 40GB SATAII SSD
$55 - Samsung F2 1TB 5400RPM HDD
$15 - Rosewill Card Reader
-------------------
$466

Thanks!
 
I don't know if I would trust the Rosewill power supply long term, and I highly doubt they need an SSD.
The SSD could cause you more trouble than it's worth. I don't know how you plan to split things up, but lets say you put the OS on the SSD. My guess is that they "forget' to save files on the other drive and the SSD will fill up fast. Then they will complain that it's out of space, or they will most likely say "its out of memory".

If you have access to Microcenter you might want to check out their AMD combo deals. An AMD quad and motherboard for around $100 would be much more than they need.

http://www.microcenter.com/specials/promotions/AMDbundlePROMO.html
 
I don't have any time to come up with an alternative build, but don't use the Rosewill power supply that comes with the case.
 
Hi guys,

1. I'd definitely like to keep the SSD as I think SSD's are not only the most significant computer upgrade for techies like us, but also for casual users. Before I leave them, I'll be changing all the default locations (desktop, downloads, pictures, etc.) to the storage drive, so they shouldn't have a problem, and in either case, I'm there often enough that I can fix something if they screw it up. So I'm willing to take on that responsibility.

2. Yeah, I was concerned about the PSU, so started looking at budget cases that didn't come with a PSU and low wattage PSU's but I figured I'd see if anyone had some go-to combination for situations like this. PSU's are not my forte, as I usually get some kind of Corsair for my builds.

3. Thanks for the AMD suggestion. While I'd prefer Intel, I probably only say that out of laziness because I have 0 knowledge of AMD lineups right now and I am comfortable with the i3's on-chip video processor. That said, I am spending a portion of my day seeing what's available among AMD stuff.
 
Given the usage I wouldn't go with an i3.. Way overkill.. Here is a mITX alternative that comes in cheaper with a larger faster SSD..

75 Antec ISK Series ISK 100 0.8 mm SECC / ABS Plastic Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case 80W Power Supply
100 ECS HDC-I2(1.0) AMD E-350 APU
37 G.SKILL Value Series 4GB 240-Pin DDR3
70 SAMSUNG Spinpoint M8 HN-M750MBB 750GB
120 Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB

Total is about 400 + the cost of whatever external Card reader you want. in the long run comparing it to your above build this will be quieter & more reliable due to no Rosewill PSU or case & you should be able to fit all installed apps on the SSD instead of picking & choosing.
 
Corsair power supplies are a good choice. I have had good luck with Antec's Earthwatts line, so check those too.

If HD video playback is important, and it seems it is, skip the AMD motherboards with the 760G AMD chipset. They don't do HD decoding in hardware. The cpu would handle it instead, which is no problem, but if you take a look at the Microcenter choices you can get an 880G chipset motherboard for just $10 more. The 880G will do the decoding itself and save the cpu cycles.
The 880G is probably on par with the Intel video for HD playback and I believe it would be better for gaming. Of course on board video is not great for gaming in general, but you could play older games.
 
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