Low Budget Build Advice

[jreich1124]

Looking to help a family member whose PC is failing. Fairly new to building, and would like some help before I finalize what I am getting.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Mainly web surfing, email, and photo viewing. Nothing strenuous at all.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Would like to get under $300 all in if possible.
3) Where do you live?
Tampa, FL
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Need everything. Only have keyboard, mouse, and monitor. Need Case. PSU, CUP, Mobo, RAM, HD, and optical drive.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
See above. Nothing being reused in the system.
6) Will you be overclocking?
No.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
19".
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Within the next two weeks.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
Nothing really out of the ordinary. Onboard graphics and sound are probably the biggest thing.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
No. Planning on using Windows 7 RC for now until I have to purchase a license down the road. Would it be preferable to get Vista for now with the upgrade coupon? Price of buying this OS would not be included in the $300.

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[aerether]

Gigabyte mATX mobo, Athlon II X2 $123
Corsair 2GB stick $25
Antec NSK 4480B II, 380W PSU $100
WD Caviar Blue 80GB $35
Lite-On DVD Burner $25

Total pre S+H: $308

I will update my post if I find cheaper/better for the price. Hope this helps!

 

[Dangman]

aerether's build is nice if you want to go the DIY route. Though for your needs, you're way better off buying a prebuilt. Hit up www.gotapex.com for Dell deals or www.slickdeals.net for PC deals.

 

[sirmonkey1985]

i second danny's suggestion.. though the setup you came up with aerether is actually pretty decent for the price..

 

[jreich1124]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I thought about going in for a prebuilt, but wanted to try and take on the challenge of finding something super cheap that I could build that would work. And I figured this would be decent practice for me to build. Here is what I have.

AMD Athlon II X2 240 Regor 2.8GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor $61
GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard $80 (-$18 for the combo deal aerether mentioned)
COOLER MASTER Elite 310 RC-310-BKR2-GP Black with blue front panel Steel Body / ABS plastic front bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 420W Power Supply $50
CORSAIR 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop Memory Model VS2GB667D2 $25
Western Digital Caviar Blue WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive $40

I decided to reuse a DVD drive I have from a previous machine whose mobo died. So all in I am $264 with S/H. I think that is a pretty good deal myself. Of course, in another 6 months or so I will have to pay for a real Windows 7 license, but that is 6 months away

 

[Dangman]

Spend the extra $50 for a significantly better quality PSU. A major point of DIY is to get better quality parts. I recommend this case/PSU combo:
$40 - Cooler Master Elite 335 RC-335-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$40 - Antec Earthwatts EA380 380W PSU
---
Total: $80 with free shipping.

It's only $12 more expensive than the Coolermaster case/PSU combo you chose once you factor in shipping. But that extra $12 adds a significant jump in quality.