A little help needed putting together a pc.

[Xenon]

Well guys, my sister has volunteered me in configuring a computer for a good friend of hers. Dunno where she got the idea that I could do this, might be the 3 computers sitting in my room right now. My problem is I haven't been keeping up with the latest hardware for a while. So your advice is needed and very welcome. She is looking for a complete system except mouse and keyboard :/ ~1200. Thoughts? Ideas? Thanks in advance guys.

 

[Ausm]

what is her budget and what is her friend going to use the computer for?

Ausm

 

[Xenon]

Her budget is $1200. She will only be using it for email and surfing, but she does have kids. So if possible something that will be a decent in gaming. The following are essential...

Burner
19" monitor

the rest are whatever is reasonably priced and fits in the budget. ie. hard drive, processor...

 

[audiophan]

i just built this cpu for a friend, good price/perf i believe. the prices are lower now since the price drop in cpu's

EPOX EP-8KHA+ $98.00
Athlon XP 1700+ $119.00
SB Live! $30.00
Maxtor D740X -L 40gb $92.00
pc2100 256 $87.00
Lite-On 16/48 $53.00
Lite-On 24x $80.00
Maxtop 350watt/case $49.00
hsf $35.00
Radeon 8500 $200.00

but you get the jist of it, add a mouse/keyboard and 19" monitor and it comes out at about your price range

 

[Ausm]

Check this out....Kickass system with probably 100 bucks to spare after shipping ...prices gathered from Newegg.com

Antec S1030 Case 300W PS
Gigabyte GA-7VTH+LAN ATA 133-Excellent Manual for the beggining system builder
Geforce 2 MX 200
AMD 1800+ Retail
256meg Crucial PC2100 DDR 1 stick
Teac Floppy Drive
WD 40Gb 7200
Microsoft OEM Keyboard and Ps/2 wheelmouse bundle
Samsung 955DF-really nice monitor
Plextor 24X Burner-Why skimp on quality
Harmon Kardon 19.5 speaker- Sounds good on this budget

Comes to 1026 w/oshipping included

Good Luck

Ausm

 

[Patchmaster]

I'd send her to Dell. You can configure a decent starter system in that price range and Dell will be the ones getting the support calls instead of you. 1.6GHz P4, 128MB DDR SDRAM, 40GB HDD, floppy, keyboard, mouse (sorry, they're included), 1 year warranty and support (longer term available for more money), WinXP Home, MS Works and Money 2002, 19 in monitor, 64MB GeForce2 MX, 16x CD-RW, Harman Kardon speakers, integrated audio, 56k modem for $1128 delivered. This includes free CD-RW and free shipping, both of which allegedly end today.

 

[Xenon]

Good point patchmaster, but hopefully it won't be too much of a problem since this will be my only system build. This is what I have so far. Please comment and let me know if I can do better, or if I'm forgetting something. All from newegg...

EVERCASE E4252W005, $22.00
EPOX EP-8KHA+ $98.00
Gainward/Cardexpet GeForce 3 Ti200 128MB $188.00
Heroichi Electronic corp. Power Supply 350watt HEC-350LD $39.00
AMD Athlon XP 1800+ retail $160.00
KINGSTON KVR266X64C25/512 512MB DDR PC2100 $137.00
MITSUMI FDD $9.00
MAXTOR EIDE HARD DRIVE 80GB 7200RPM $147.00
SAMSUNG 955DF 19" (WHITE) $259.00
Lite On 32x12x40 CDRW Model $112.00

Total with shipping $1261
plus the Cambridge speaker deal at fry's

 

[fatbaby]

<< Good point patchmaster, but hopefully it won't be too much of a problem since this will be my only system build. This is what I have so far. Please comment and let me know if I can do better, or if I'm forgetting something. All from newegg...

EVERCASE E4252W005, $22.00
EPOX EP-8KHA+ $98.00
Gainward/Cardexpet GeForce 3 Ti200 128MB $188.00
Heroichi Electronic corp. Power Supply 350watt HEC-350LD $39.00
AMD Athlon XP 1800+ retail $160.00
KINGSTON KVR266X64C25/512 512MB DDR PC2100 $137.00
MITSUMI FDD $9.00
MAXTOR EIDE HARD DRIVE 80GB 7200RPM $147.00
SAMSUNG 955DF 19" (WHITE) $259.00
Lite On 32x12x40 CDRW Model $112.00

Total with shipping $1261
plus the Cambridge speaker deal at fry's >>



And add an oem SBlive for around $30...Unless she/her kids are deaf.

 

[Xenon]

<< And add an oem SBlive for around $30...Unless she/her kids are deaf. >>



Heh, is the onboard sound on the Epox board that bad? Sorry forgot to mention that.

 

[Furor]

Don't make her spend so much on a system that is only used for internet and outlook express..maybe go the route of a cheap sdram board, sdram, gf2 mx, and then get a nice 19" monitor, athlon xp 1500+, 16x10x40 cdrw, and other stuff, she won't notice a difference, and it will be pretty cheap..so she'll be happy and probably pay you

 

[Xenon]

<< Don't make her spend so much on a system that is only used for internet and outlook express..maybe go the route of a cheap sdram board, sdram, gf2 mx, and then get a nice 19" monitor, athlon xp 1500+, 16x10x40 cdrw, and other stuff, she won't notice a difference, and it will be pretty cheap..so she'll be happy and probably pay you >>



Yeah I was thinking that too, but although she won't need much more than a duron, I'm sure her kids will demand a little more from the computer. Also, she was looking at a Hewlett Packard at Sam's Club today for $1299 (p4 1.8). So I was aiming about there. Thanks! Keep em coming.

 

[Chipset]

You can still go the 'cheap route' and get DDR if you get an ECS board. The kids are probably going to want to play games and I wouldn't skimp too much on performance.

 

[RaynorWolfcastle]

Meh, if it were up to me I would set up a Duron 1200 + GF3 Ti200 w/64MB RAM will do fine on games and won't cost a fortune. Don't forget, she'll probably need windows XP and Office in there, and those are expensive.

-Ice

 

[Xenon]

<< Meh, if it were up to me I would set up a Duron 1200 + GF3 Ti200 w/64MB RAM will do fine on games and won't cost a fortune. Don't forget, she'll probably need windows XP and Office in there, and those are expensive.

-Ice >>



We already discussed the software and no problems there. It's near time to order and this is what I've come up with now...again all from newegg.

EVERCASE Truely Screwless ATX MID Tower Case. No Power Supply. $22.00
Shuttle AK35GTR KT266A $115.00
VGA PNY Geforce3 TI200 64MB DDR TV/DVI $155.00
Heroichi Electronic corp. Power Supply 350watt HEC-350LD $39.00
AMD Athlon XP 1800+/266 FSB PROCESSOR CPU - RETAIL $160.00
KINGSTON KVR266X64C25/512 512MB DDR PC2100 - $137.00
MITSUMI FDD $9.00
MAXTOR EIDE HARD DRIVE 80GB 7200RPM $147.00
SAMSUNG 955DF 19" (WHITE) CRT MONITOR $259.00
Lite On 52x Cd Rom $30.00
Lite On 32x12x40 CDRW $112.00

Total with shipping $1277
plus fry's cambridge speaker deal

 

[Patchmaster]

I've never ordered from this place, but you might want to take a look at MicroPro. I just configured a system very similar to what you spec'd out for slightly less money (including WinXP Home). They'll assemble the thing for you and also provide a service plan.