Budget system reccomendations - need suggestions on a processor

[MrBond]

My sister is in need of a new PC. She asked where to buy one and I told her I could probably build her something and it'd be better quality than anything she'd buy from a store.

She makes good money and still lives with our parents, so the overall cost isn't really an issue. However, since she doesn't do any gaming outside of The Sims (and I'm not sure she even plays that anymore), it doesn't need to be a monster. I would like it to be somewhat future-proof so she if she wants to upgrade to Vista, that's an option.

Most of what she does is photo editing (nothing too intense), surfing the internet, and downloading/listening to music with iTunes.

I can't decide on a processor, which is the major sticking point. Once I find a processor, finding a motherboard should be simple and the rest of the components I'm not too worried about. I've seen the Core 2 Duo E6300 suggested for similar situations, but would that be overkill for someone who doesn't game much?

For the rest of the system, I figure on some sort of graphics card that will be a step up from the integrated video, but I'm not sure what to look for there either. I'll probably go with 2GB of ram to be Vista-ready, unless people suggest getting 1gb and waiting on prices to drop.

 

[Evilhomer99]

I would say the E6300 is the way to go, or an AMD dual core option. The savings for a cheaper chip wouldnt be worth it IMO. If you want it to be Vista ready a dual core certainly wouldn't hurt.

 

[Icepick]

I wouldn't say that the e6300 is overkill but, more of a luxury. She could get by with a Cellery or Sempron.

I upgraded from an Athlon64 3500+ (single core) and 1GB or RAM to an e6300 and 2GB of RAM and everything about my PC feels faster and smoother. I can alt-tab in and out of games or other intensive applications with ease. Windows XP loads faster and the system feels snappier all around. My downloads even seem to complete noticeably faster. I'd say that if money is not an issue then she should go for dual core - either an e6300 or 3800+.

 

[NuAlphaMan]

Originally posted by: MrBond
My sister is in need of a new PC. She asked where to buy one and I told her I could probably build her something and it'd be better quality than anything she'd buy from a store.

She makes good money and still lives with our parents, so the overall cost isn't really an issue. However, since she doesn't do any gaming outside of The Sims (and I'm not sure she even plays that anymore), it doesn't need to be a monster. I would like it to be somewhat future-proof so she if she wants to upgrade to Vista, that's an option.

Most of what she does is photo editing (nothing too intense), surfing the internet, and downloading/listening to music with iTunes.

I can't decide on a processor, which is the major sticking point. Once I find a processor, finding a motherboard should be simple and the rest of the components I'm not too worried about. I've seen the Core 2 Duo E6300 suggested for similar situations, but would that be overkill for someone who doesn't game much?

For the rest of the system, I figure on some sort of graphics card that will be a step up from the integrated video, but I'm not sure what to look for there either. I'll probably go with 2GB of ram to be Vista-ready, unless people suggest getting 1gb and waiting on prices to drop.

I'd have to say I agree with evil and ice. I'd definitely go with a C2D or X2 if you're trying to be future proof. At this point, anything else wouldn't be doing that.

For what you listed, 1GB would be fine. If money isn't an issue, get the 2GB (waiting for prices to drop may be moot right now. I've been waiting since August and they haven't gone done much). If she's not a gamer or working seriously with graphics, the video card will not matter. Get one with DDR2 or DDR3 memory on it as they tend to be better IMO.

 

[Subbaculcha]

Go with a socket AM2 Sempron (Easy to overclock if you wish). Change out processor later to X2 if needed.
Go 1 gig and wait for prices to drop.

 

[bamacre]

I'd still get her a Dell. E521 sounds about right. Or if she is willing to spend the cash, a Precision 390. Stable, fast, rock solid machine.

 

[Howard]

I'm thinking a cheap X2 or E6300, 1GB DDR2-533 memory, 7600GT will do just fine.

 

[MrBond]

Originally posted by: Howard
I'm thinking a cheap X2 or E6300, 1GB DDR2-533 memory, 7600GT will do just fine.

a 7600GT seems like serious overkill. The only thing that I'd be concerned about as far as the video card is future Vista compatibility. Her gaming isn't going to require even a Ti4200.

I mentioned just getting her a Dell, but she's had co-workers with bad Dell experiences and apparently they had Dell PC's at her work and had to replace them all because they were crap. It's going to be hard to sell her on a Dell at this point.

 

[compressor]

What is your budget? I just order this for $1377 including shipping from NewEgg.
Go with a e6300, stock cooler, eliminate two of the hard drives and 1 gig of ram, a cheaper video card and you are around $800.
And you can overclock it for more performance.
(although I'd keep the 2 gig ram for photo editing)

ASUS P5B-E
G.SKILL (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800
Core 2 Duo e6600
CORSAIR HX520w ATX12V v2.2
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro CPU cooler
eVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT 256MB
Three Seagate Barracuda ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording) 320GB
COOLER MASTER Centurion 532 case
SAMSUNG IDE DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write
Mitsumi Media Reader USB 2.0 with floppy

 

[MrBond]

That looks like a pretty good setup actually. $800 should be in her budget and that should last a long time.

 

[mshan]

Why don't you just get her an Core2Duo Apple Macbook or iMac? (Core2Duo in the iMac was snappy as hell, even with just 512 MB RAM)

iPhoto is nice and iTunes just seems to work a little better on an Apple machine than Windows one. Sound is not resampled via Windows Kmixer and notebook speakers actually sound quite decent. Apple is going to release an iTV streaming appliance early next year, so she would be able to stream video, music, photos, to a big screen tv, too.

Can dual boot / emulate Windows with a copy of XP and Parallels software.

 

[Roguestar]

Originally posted by: Subbaculcha
Go with a socket AM2 Sempron (Easy to overclock if you wish). Change out processor later to X2 if needed.
Go 1 gig and wait for prices to drop.

I agree. Core2Duo may be the best at the moment but it's not budget grade stuff, especially with the price of the processors and motherboards for it compared to what she needs to be doing.