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Buying/building a computer for my parents & sister for Christmas because I'm tired of them complaining about how slow theirs is. They're currently using some old HP with a Pentium 4, 40GB hard drive, and either 512MB or 1GB RAM. Simply put, I can't take their PC anymore 
I know the answer is going to be "buy a prebuilt," but I think since I'm reusing an old SSD, I can use better parts & leave room for future upgrades for roughly the same price since I don't need the HDD. However, I do need the tower to be about the size as a prebuilt Dell/HP tower, or smaller if possible, to fit inside their computer desk.
I should mention that knowing my parents, this will be something they will want to keep a minimum of 5+ years.
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Web browsing, email, office/productivity type stuff, Quicken
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$300, yes (have Shoprunner + Amazon prime), not set in stone
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Minnesota, 20 min drive to Micro Center
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Theword "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
CPU, Motherboard, RAM, Case, PSU, DVD burner
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
160GB Intel 320 SSD, monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers
6) Will you be overclocking?
No
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
22" OR 24" 1920x1080, I know the resolution is right, don't remember for sure the size
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Nowish
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
Nothing special, Intel graphics are fine, USB 3.0 would be nice but not required. Must be mini ITX, micro ATX would work if the case is no larger than a standard prebuilt case.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Win7 HP 64bit
Case-wise I've been looking at the Antec ISK cases, but people seem to be split on whether they're any good or not. Newegg has the Lian Li PC-Q07 for $45 the next couple days, but I'm at a loss for what to use for a power supply in something that small. I was thinking PicoPSU, but I've never used one.
($172) i3-3225 (only because of the $40 MB discount) + Gigabyte GA-H61N-USB3 mITX Motherboard @ MicroCenter
($30) 8GB of whatever RAM is on sale
($20) DVD Burner
Leaves $80 or so for case + psu, $90 if I drop to 4GB RAM. Looks like that MB supports IB chips, but may require a BIOS update depending on what version it ships with. I can pull a SB chip from one of my boxes if I have to.
Would the lower budget Celeron G550 be sufficient ($35+tax)? Motherboard would then be $80-85 shipped for a total of $120.
I know the answer is going to be "buy a prebuilt," but I think since I'm reusing an old SSD, I can use better parts & leave room for future upgrades for roughly the same price since I don't need the HDD. However, I do need the tower to be about the size as a prebuilt Dell/HP tower, or smaller if possible, to fit inside their computer desk.I should mention that knowing my parents, this will be something they will want to keep a minimum of 5+ years.
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Web browsing, email, office/productivity type stuff, Quicken
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$300, yes (have Shoprunner + Amazon prime), not set in stone
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Minnesota, 20 min drive to Micro Center
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Theword "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
CPU, Motherboard, RAM, Case, PSU, DVD burner
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
160GB Intel 320 SSD, monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers
6) Will you be overclocking?
No
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
22" OR 24" 1920x1080, I know the resolution is right, don't remember for sure the size
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Nowish
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
Nothing special, Intel graphics are fine, USB 3.0 would be nice but not required. Must be mini ITX, micro ATX would work if the case is no larger than a standard prebuilt case.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Win7 HP 64bit
Case-wise I've been looking at the Antec ISK cases, but people seem to be split on whether they're any good or not. Newegg has the Lian Li PC-Q07 for $45 the next couple days, but I'm at a loss for what to use for a power supply in something that small. I was thinking PicoPSU, but I've never used one.
($172) i3-3225 (only because of the $40 MB discount) + Gigabyte GA-H61N-USB3 mITX Motherboard @ MicroCenter
($30) 8GB of whatever RAM is on sale
($20) DVD Burner
Leaves $80 or so for case + psu, $90 if I drop to 4GB RAM. Looks like that MB supports IB chips, but may require a BIOS update depending on what version it ships with. I can pull a SB chip from one of my boxes if I have to.
Would the lower budget Celeron G550 be sufficient ($35+tax)? Motherboard would then be $80-85 shipped for a total of $120.
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