The In-Law Build

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mfost21

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Apr 4, 2010
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Okay, need help with another build. This time for my wife's parents. Here's the details:

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Web-browsing, email, general office functions, viewing pictures of the grandkids
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Like to keep it as cheap as possible but under $600 for sure.
3) Where do you live?
Chicago area
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Everything from the case in
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Just a monitor. I think theirs is 19" but no real worries with GPU ability as gaming is definitely not gonna happen on this machine.
6) Will you be overclocking?
Nope
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
See #5
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Within a week or two
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
Nothing special. Would like to keep case size reasonable though.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
Will need to purchase Win 7


I did some looking at another "parent build" in this thread and the build seems to fit their needs. Just wasn't sure if there were some more recent deals I should consider. I figure I could save a few bucks on the memory and DVD drive. Also need suggestions on an inexpensive but decent case.

$100 - AMD Athlon II X4 630 CPU
$67 - Biostar A785G3 AMD 785G mATX AMD Motherboard
$105 - A-Data AD3U1333B2G9-DRH 2 x 2GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$56 - Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$27 - LG GH22NS50 DVD Burner
$55 - Corsair 400CX 400W PSU
$100 - Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Total $495 + the case
 
Last edited:
Yeah that setup you found should be OK. Granted the CPU is a tad overkill for the needs but meh, still room in the budget.
 
CraftyOtter said:
Are there any advantages going with 64-bit vs 32-bit for a "grammy/grampy" computer?
Click to expand...

Yes, you will need a 64-bit operating system if you're going to put 4 or more GB of RAM in that system. 32-bit versions of Windows cannot recognize more than 3.29GB of RAM even if you have way more RAM than that in that system.
 
E4g1e said:
Yes, you will need a 64-bit operating system if you're going to put 4 or more GB of RAM in that system. 32-bit versions of Windows cannot recognize more than 3.29GB of RAM even if you have way more RAM than that in that system.
Click to expand...

Correct, get the 64-bit since you will have the 64-bit processor. No reason not to now days unless your hardware doesn't support it.
 
No price difference either.

Perfect simple looking case Shadowsong; thanks.

Only reason I'm building one for them is I can't deal with having to go over there to fix another Dell.
 
I thought this set up would be much cheaper, but it turned out to be a similar price.

$84.98 Lian Li Q07 black / Zotac Am3 itx mobo
$64.99 AMD Athlon II X2 3.0
$94.99 Adata 2x 2gb ddr2 800
$22.99 LG DVD burner
$49.99 Corsair 400cx 400watt
$55.99WD 500gb
$99.99 Windows 7 64-bit

total came out to $473.92

The reason I posted this is, I built a system just like this for my Father about a year ago. Doing the same tasks as your in-laws, minus the Grandkid pictures. He also regularly runs Youtube, Google Earth and Google maps, using on-board video. So far I haven't heard a complaint.
It has a smaller footprint than a normal case, the downside being slower ram, limited cpu selection(up to 65W), and PCI-Ex1 slot.
There's currently a socket 775 model, ver.2 of what my dad is using atm. Still with a 65W cpu limit, but a larger selection of 775's to choose from.
Just putting my thoughts out there, here...
 
... Also, as Danny Bui will be quick to point out. The 775 socket is dead, which is the reason for choosing the Am3 socket.
 
mfost21 said:
... Only reason I'm building one for them is I can't deal with having to go over there to fix another Dell.
Click to expand...

:confused: hehe, are dells harder to fix or something? :p i usually order the dell deal of the month for fam/friends that don't have special needs, and the vostro 200/220/230 with monitor for under $450 shipped is great. no special skills required when fixing them either, lol. ;)
 
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