Budget Machine for parents

[Bryf50]

My moms going to be starting online college classes next semester and her computer is painfully slow. So I'm gonna build her a new one for christmas. Here's my build.


Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model AD-7260S-0B - OEM
19.99

COOLER MASTER Elite 341 RC-341C-KKN1-GP Black Steel MicroATX Mid Tower Computer Case
$39.99

Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
$59.99

BIOSTAR A880G+ AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
$69.99

SeaSonic SS-350ET Bronze 350W ATX12V V2.31 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply - OEM
$42.99

Rosewill RCR-IC001 40-in-1 USB 2.0 3.5" Internal Card Reader w/ USB port / Extra silver face plate
$14.99

GeIL Value PLUS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10660) Desktop Memory Model GVP34GB1333C9DC
$49.99

AMD Athlon II X2 260 Regor 3.2GHz Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor ADX260OCGMBOX
$67.99

Nexus BASIC D12SL-12 120mm Case Fan
$9.99

Subtotal: $375.91

Let me know what you think.

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

Get a cheaper case and replace the PSU with the Corsair CX430 430W for $16: http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/419...op-memory-3250-ar-w-asus-radeon-hd-5450-512mb

 

[jjmIII]

$250 if you have a Microcenter

$340 if you don't

And these have Win7 which I don't see you accounting for. Plenty for parents.

 

[Blain]

$250 if you have a Microcenter

$340 if you don't

And these have Win7 which I don't see you accounting for.

Buy one of these and be happy... Your mom will be.

 

[Bryf50]

Buy one of these and be happy... Your mom will be.

I don't have a microcenter near me and the specs of the one I want to build are vastly superior for a small price(compared to the one at newegg). And I have an extra legit windows 7 coa.

Get a cheaper case and replace the PSU with the Corsair CX430 430W for $16: http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/419...op-memory-3250-ar-w-asus-radeon-hd-5450-512mb

Thats a damn good price thanks

 

[Zap]

If you really are going to ignore the suggestions on buying a pre-built, then here are some suggestions based on your initial list:

Ditch the extra fan. That's $10 wasted.

There are cheaper 7200RPM HDDs. I know "black" is teh sexxy, but your mom won't notice a difference, so save $20.

 

[Bryf50]

If you really are going to ignore the suggestions on buying a pre-built, then here are some suggestions based on your initial list:

Hey now, I'm not ignoring any suggestions but I'd like a reason why I should spend nearly the same amount of money on a computer with half the ram, half the processor, and a chipset from 5 years ago. I know you can say my mom won't notice the difference which is probably true, but again the price is about equal.

 

[Zap]

Warranty, convenience, accessories, operating system.

I know, I know, everyone around here always seems to conveniently have extra copies of legit OS... somehow...

If you really want to build a system for her, then choose the best parts and do it. Heck, I've done that for my mom for four out of her five computers, most recently in September. I built a low end socket 1156 system with a small SSD in a really small and slim case. It is near silent and draws under 40W in normal usage, but because of the SSD it feels super snappy in everything she does. See, this is one thing that you can't get in a pre-built, a machine that is considered lower end, yet with an SSD.

If you want cheap, then buy a pre-built. Even if cost ends up the same, time = money. With holiday sales coming up, you shouldn't have much of a problem finding a reasonable pre-built for pretty cheap whether at your local big box or office superstores, or online. An alternative is Dell Outlet. Keep an eye out for coupons. I recently purchased a Dell Latitude 13 notebook from Dell Outlet and it looks and works like new, plus ended up just over half of what a new one would cost. It also has a full warranty.

 

[Bryf50]

I know, I know, everyone around here always seems to conveniently have extra copies of legit OS... somehow...

Well I have 4 windows 7 coas and only 3 are in use. Hence I now have an extra copy of a legit OS.

If you really want to build a system for her, then choose the best parts and do it. Heck, I've done that for my mom for four out of her five computers, most recently in September. I built a low end socket 1156 system with a small SSD in a really small and slim case. It is near silent and draws under 40W in normal usage, but because of the SSD it feels super snappy in everything she does. See, this is one thing that you can't get in a pre-built, a machine that is considered lower end, yet with an SSD.

This is exactly what I want to do. That's why I'm not trying to buy all lowest end components. With the prices of good SSDs on the decline that might be an option. If I can do it without an HDD at all I would but I really don't know if say 60GB will cut it as the only drive in the system.

If you want cheap, then buy a pre-built. Even if cost ends up the same, time = money. With holiday sales coming up, you shouldn't have much of a problem finding a reasonable pre-built for pretty cheap whether at your local big box or office superstores, or online. An alternative is Dell Outlet. Keep an eye out for coupons. I recently purchased a Dell Latitude 13 notebook from Dell Outlet and it looks and works like new, plus ended up just over half of what a new one would cost. It also has a full warranty.

If I could find a better computer for less money pre-built I would. But I browsed the circulars for black friday and haven't found anything too great. I still plan to keep an eye out for a little while longer though. And time and convenience aren't really a factor because it's something I enjoy doing.

 

[Blain]

Can she hold off until Sandy Bridge comes out?

 

[Axon]

While I also recommend the pre-built, what you're doing so far is pretty solid. A suggestion or two:

1. $52 after code TAKE5 - Samsung F3 1TB HDD: http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php...-F3-HD103SJ-1TB-SATA2-7200rpm-32MB-Hard-Drive

Many of us have a number of these. Excellent drives - better, in my opinion, then Western Digital.

2. I'd go with the $35 sempron processor, which potentially unlocks to a dual-core and is fast as hell to begin with. It's plenty of processor for a mom-type user. I build those systems all the time, and I can't tell the difference between an athlon x2 and a sempron, even in low end gaming (recently I threw a 5870 in with a sempron for teh roflz...it actually did okay).

3. I'd get the 785 chipset, unless its now the same price as the 880g. Again, no discernible difference.

 

[Zap]

This is exactly what I want to do. That's why I'm not trying to buy all lowest end components. With the prices of good SSDs on the decline that might be an option. If I can do it without an HDD at all I would but I really don't know if say 60GB will cut it as the only drive in the system.
...
And time and convenience aren't really a factor because it's something I enjoy doing.

:thumbsup:

Good enough for a reason.

Too bad you don't live near a Micro Center because you can basically get the same CPU with the same motherboard for the cost of the CPU alone.

A couple questions:

Have you considered going smaller with the chassis?

Is noise an issue?

Regarding SSD capacity, my mom does fine with 40GB. Even with Windows 7 she's less than half used. She only does email and web browsing, and some word processing/spreadsheets. For your mom, you basically have to figure out what she uses her computer for, what software she will be using and how much data she is likely to store. Without knowing those things, nobody can predict whether 60GB will be sufficient.

 

[Davidh373]

looks pretty good to me.

 

[alienpredatover]

My moms going to be starting online college classes next semester and her computer is painfully slow. So I'm gonna build her a new one for christmas. Here's my build.

Let me know what you think.

I think your system is balanced, just have a question to you. Have you thought about buying a laptop?

I dunno where you live, but here you can get a laptop (HP, ASUS, Toshiba) with core 2 duo, 4GB DDR for $400 and they are pretty good machines for work and media...

 

[mfenn]

Your build looks fine to me, but I would just get her something from the Dell outlet. It's what I did last Christmas for my parent's machine (previously I had built them) and everybody's happy. If something breaks, it's nice knowing that Dell has the part instead of me having to scramble around for a replacement. $430 from the outlet buys you an Athlon II X4 with 3GB of RAM, 1TB HDD, and Win7 HP.

 

[Davidh373]

Your build looks fine to me, but I would just get her something from the Dell outlet. It's what I did last Christmas for my parent's machine (previously I had built them) and everybody's happy. If something breaks, it's nice knowing that Dell has the part instead of me having to scramble around for a replacement. $430 from the outlet buys you an Athlon II X4 with 3GB of RAM, 1TB HDD, and Win7 HP.

I like that idea too. It really depends on how much you want to build it, and how much you'll want to support it. I personally love troubleshooting, so I built my grandma one. As long as you build with quality part (which you are) then you shouldn't have a problem.