"Average" home-use system recommendations?

[AirGibson]

A friend of mine is wanting his family to get a new system and is asking for recommendations for building a "basic", no-frills, reliable system at a low price.

I tend to only focus on the bleeding-edge stuff and honestly don't know much about the "average" mobos, sound cards, etc... Any recommendations on the components to build one?

IOW, stuff like one of the latest ATI / NVidia video cards, Mushkin PC 3500 memory, etc... need not apply.

Edit:
When I read PC Gamer in the past, they usually had a decent article each month where they'd lay out a good value system with solid, but inexpensive components. Any info / links along those lines would be appreciated.

 

[Duvie]

You should give us an idea on intended cost range....

I start all my value pc's with these 3 components....all at newegg.com

1) Amd Tbred 2100+ (1.73ghz) Retail....ONly tbred that comes in retail pack unless you go higher in speed and cost. The 1700+ and 1800+ come in oem only and when you factor in heatsink and fan which the retail box has you pay the same for 30 day warranties instead of 3......cost like $65-68...free shipping ***I would not go any lower as this is the current price per mhz sweet spot, unless you plan on ocing this which I don't think you are****

2) Shuttle Nforce2 MN31N (I think I got the code wrong) but it has onboard Geforce 4MX graphics (great for average users and even a tad bit of gaming. Has onboard sound that is excellent quality. Has onboard Lan as well. $81-85...free shipping. factor in a low end mobo then get a average agp vid card and you will cross that price fast.

3) get 256mb pc2700 Buffalo (cheaper then the pc2100, so run at highest timings mobo allows at pc2100 levels) YOu want the 256mb cause it is not much higher then 128mb and the onboard video will share the ram about 32mb of it usually....$38+$4 SH = $42 ***best price***

Now I would ask are they going to watch DVD's on the PC/ Burn cds, or both??? The lite-on products are the best for the money and in many cases just the best. Liteon 16x DVD-rom great price. Liteon 52c cd-rw very nice price as well....


Cases I would look possibly local to avoid the shipping but at newegg many models wth 300-350 watt amd approved Power Supplies for 40-50 shipped.

I got my wife a whole system minus the software, included same mobo, cpu and ram, along with WD 40gb 8mb cache HDD, Liteon CD-rw, 56K modem, black case, black cordless keyboard and cordless optical mouse for just at 404 shipped....
Then picked up a 15" Mitsubishi LCD for 279.00. Monitors can be cheaper if ou get them a quality 17" SVGA....

Edit: I wouldn't lower then this in terms of chipset/ cpu and ram...I think this gives them great range for usability. For average users this can last quite awhile. They have latest nforce2 chipset, they have ddr memory, they have .13 micron cpu, they have 5.1 channel sound, they have usb 2.0 support, they have dual monitor support, they onboard firewire, etc....

 

[AirGibson]

I honestly don't have a price range from them :\

But that is some excellent info. Exactly what I was looking for. I figured on getting an NForce2 board, as well.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Pick up Computer Gaming World and look at their budget gaming rig?

If it's a "family" system rather than a "grandma" system then it makes sense to get a decent midrange 3D graphics card like an ATI 9600 Pro, 9600 XT, or Geforce fx 5600 Ultra (all $150-200). Even if there are no hardcore gamers someone probably runs Everquest or some 3D edutainment game.

If "low price" really means "dirt cheap" then an Athlon XP 2400 - 2500+ and 512 MB RAM, or a Dell P4 deal (P4 2+ GHz, not celeron, 512 MB RAM).

(edit) and if a Dell make sure to get the graphics card, if you settle for onboard extreeeme! graphics the motherboard might not have an AGP slot.

 

[Duvie]

NO celerons!!! No Durons....Bartons will have little advantage for them unless they are gaming as the 512kb cache had little performance value in a wide range of multimedia apps. Instead they just dropped the cpu speed to near the 2100+xp I am proposing....

ram is cheap yes but average user may not quite need 512mb yet.


My wifes 1600+ hands down is a nice rig and I am coming from a p4 at 3.2ghz and I find it is responsive and does things even I may ask it to do....

I assume you will build and be tech support!!! So who needs Dell and there crap service now.....

 

[Ionizer86]

"Family system" means MX440's adequate. 3 yrs ago. Geforce 2 Ultra was the bleeding edge, and some enthusiasts in here were willing to shell out the $399. Right now, the MX440 is pretty much the same as a GeForce 2 Ultra. No, it's not the fastest, yes, it's kind of slow now, but it's a cheap and a lot better than intel extreme(ly sucky) graphics. I'd say Radeon 9600 for $150 is way too much for the avg. user.

For people looking at the whole cost of the PC, spending another few dozen dollars here and there isn't too important. Why not bump them up to the 2500+?

Top off the PC with a nice 120GB or 160GB from a local source and a free or nearly free burner, and it's looking good. If you're getting a case from Newegg, the Enhance one for $48 has a Sparkle PSU, which is pretty cool. Front audio, firewire, and usb is handy too, so that Evercase is quite nice.

 

[AirGibson]

BTW, if you guys know of a good looking case + power supply that is a great value for an Ath XP system, please share!

Also, any info on the other odds and ends such as CDR / DVD drives, monitors, wireless keyboards / mice, speakers, etc... are what I need the most info on.

In terms of graphics power needed, the on-board GF4 MX on an nforce2 board would be plenty for them. If they need more graphics power before their next system, they can look into purchasing a seperate card.

 

[Duvie]

That is right and the shuttle board has an AGP slot as well so one can disable the onboard and get something better in the future...

If you can pick up a nice rebate deal or something 120gb would be nice, but it is way overkill...My wife and my mom will probably never use 25% of that space of their 40gb drives. I like the 8mb cache models. I thik the 80gb is a nice price and newegg per cost of dollar per GB, but you should look at a target cost cause we are talking about things that cost more but will have no short-term benefit and may not have long-term benefit. 40gb is plenty and 80gb may just be a great deal you can't pass...

Hands down no one should by a cd-rom drive anymore. DVD-rom drives are as fast cd reading as cd-roms and offer the addedbenefit of dvd-rom support as well as often more broader support for cd-r's and cd-rws.

Enable your PM and I will send you my wifes system makeup it has the brand of cordless keyboard ad mouse which can be cheaper getting the non-black model....

As for cases I like the look of the Maxtop cases at newegg. very sleak and come with a case fan at the top for exhaust where it should be. NIce plexi-glass side panel for neat effect. reasonable price and comes with 300-350 watt power supplies which I can vouch are enough to run a 2100+ and even oc it to 2700+ levels!!!

 

[AirGibson]

done