New PC for parents

C

CeZemal

Weaksauce
Joined
Jan 19, 2011
Messages
92
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Mostly web browsing and Skype, it's for parents, no gaming whatsoever (unless Facebook counts)

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Ideally 300-400 USD

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
US, New Jersey near Atlantic City (sales tax on newegg ftl)

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.
Case mobo cpu ram psu disk drive hard drive, probably also a monitor***

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about
the power supply. List make and model.
None

6) Will you be overclocking?
no

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
May need new monitor**

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

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.
Onboard video since it's cost effective, nothing else in particular

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
We have an old Windows XP I might just keep to throw on there unless that would be a bad idea.



So I'm home on leave visiting my parents and their computer I built them about 5-6 years ago is really in the sh*tter. My parents know how to keep their computer free of viruses and junk for the most part (I set them up with my personal favorite anti-viruses and such), so I know that's not the cause of any slowness. I feel it's just its time to go, it's had a good life and it's time for something new. However, lately the monitor would go blank every now and again, and since I got home it does it to where it will turn on for a second and it'll go out. The monitor light is still on, but there's no screen. It's not the backlighting I don't think since shining a flashlight in there shows it's just completely off. Turning it off then back on will have the screen up for a second before going back out, as will unplugging the DVI cable and plugging it back in. This monitor is also very old (it's an old emachines LCD monitor), and I also feel it might be its time as well.

I was looking into AMD APUs since they seem to be extremely cost efficient and great for normal every day use, but I'm not really sure if it would be better to go with a newer lower end Ivy Bridge or not. So yeah, the budget is pretty low, but the one I put together for them all those years ago had a very similar budget and lasted quite some time, so I'm sure we can come up with something nice.


***The Monitor, if I do in fact probably need a new one, will be on a separate budget, just looking for a good deal on that one.
 
Get them a 17.3" laptop with a 4 year all inclusive protection plan. (completely serious)

If possible, wait until Windows 8 is out. Nice tablets will be on the way.
 
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That is a pretty insane deal, but when it takes me to the Dell website it gives me a price tag of 630, which is a little over budget. Not really too bad tbh but still, the parents don't have all that much to spend. I figure doing it myself always gets you more than you'd get from a pre-built pc (even at that sort of budget). I might just sift through newegg and see what's good then, I just wanted to see if there was anything that would be good to know building a super-budget type.
 
Keep browsing/checking gotapex. You'll find a good deal.
 
CeZemal said:
That is a pretty insane deal, but when it takes me to the Dell website it gives me a price tag of 630, which is a little over budget. Not really too bad tbh but still, the parents don't have all that much to spend. I figure doing it myself always gets you more than you'd get from a pre-built pc (even at that sort of budget). I might just sift through newegg and see what's good then, I just wanted to see if there was anything that would be good to know building a super-budget type.
Click to expand...

Actually, you are incorrect about self-built (aka build-it-yourself) systems. For low-end (entry-level) systems, they often cost more money than pre-builts unless you are willing to put extremely shitty parts that destroy themselves and often some or all of the other parts with them and/or old, totally obsolete parts that cannot run anything at all recent in that new build. This is because do-it-yourselfers do not get anywhere near close to the same discounts given to OEMs for volume parts purchases. As such, building a PC yourself isn't worth the total cost unless your planned build costs $800 or more.
 
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