Build Recommendation

[Lyfer]

Let me be the first to say: How about a Dell?

Dell is consistently having specials, last month $550 got you a 15" LCD with a 2.8GHZ P4 CPU. Plus you it COMES WITH WIN XP home.

 

[Tostada]

Originally posted by: batmanuel
Retail Sempron 3100+ with Mobo for $159 plus shipping.

If you need a cheap PC, always check out the Fry's/Outpost combos first. The motherboards ususally aren't they kind of boards you'd want to OC with (they are typically ECS brand), but they usually work fine for normal use at stock speed. Add in a decent 512MB stick of PC3200 for around $75 bucks or so and you ought to be well within your budget.

I don't think that's a very good deal at all. $159 + shipping for a Sempron 3100+ and a generic SiS 755 board? I'd take a Sempron 2400+ on a good NF2 board any day, especially when the Fry's combo is $30 more before you even add shipping.

I guess I've just seen too many ECS K7S5As die to not get a decent motherboard...

If you did want a crappy motherboard, Newegg has the Sempron 3100+ Retail for $121 delivered and you can get cheap boards for just under $40 delivered, so you're not saving anything.

 

[saleen385]

I've got to say you guys are alot of help. Lyfer your recommendation about a dell, we've had 3 in the last few years and everyone had some problem and their customer service is in asia now and aren't much help. I was looking at my case and this thing doesn't have any fans except for the psu. Imight have to get her a new case. Thanks again

 

[justly]

Originally posted by: Tostada

I don't think that's a very good deal at all. $159 + shipping for a Sempron 3100+ and a generic SiS 755 board? I'd take a Sempron 2400+ on a good NF2 board any day, especially when the Fry's combo is $30 more before you even add shipping.

I guess I've just seen too many ECS K7S5As die to not get a decent motherboard...

If you did want a crappy motherboard, Newegg has the Sempron 3100+ Retail for $121 delivered and you can get cheap boards for just under $40 delivered, so you're not saving anything.

No offence to Tostada, but I have to disagree with what he said above.

$159 for a 3100+ Sempron and a ECS 755-A2 motherboard is a pretty nice deal for your needs. Add in about $70 for 512MB PC3200 (DDR400), another $40 for a quality power supply and the total is under $270 (before shipping). If you hurry you might even be able to pick up on a Maxtor 120GB , 7200RPM, Internal ATA/133 Hard Drive that Compusa has for only $59.99. All of this should be possible for around $350 (with shipping). I know this is a little more than $300 but unless $300 is you absolute limit I could not see recomending much less.

Just to let you know I picked up one of those Maxtor drives at compusa the other day (in store) at the same price so dont believe the "delivery only" on the website link (nevermind they changed the site to read pick-up only )

The comment about going with a "Sempron 2400+ on a good NF2 board" instead of this is ridiculous. The SIS 755 chipset, though not as feature rich, has performance that is usually equal to the nForce 3-250, and the quality of ECS is not much different than that of Biostar (what Tostada originally recommended).

You may want to make make some changes (due to personal preferance) but this gives you an idea where to start from.

 

[Terumo]

Originally posted by: saleen385
I've got to say you guys are alot of help. Lyfer your recommendation about a dell, we've had 3 in the last few years and everyone had some problem and their customer service is in asia now and aren't much help. I was looking at my case and this thing doesn't have any fans except for the psu. Imight have to get her a new case. Thanks again

Gigabyte M/B with 9100 Pro IGP - $78.00
Intel Pentium 4 2.4c ghz w/Hyperthreading - $145 OEM
Kingston ValueRam Dual Kit (256mbx2) PC-3200 DDR - $74.00

Cost: $297.00 w/o shipping (roughly $305.32 with shipping).

So with that she can have a starter computer that can be added on (a new videocard (onboard graphics is good enough to play games like Morrowind with), new soundcard (onboard sound is pretty good), better and more memory). The Intel P4 2.4c is also a nice processor to overclock to 2.8ghz easy, and with better memory and cooler to over 3.0ghz.

As for cases, the SuperAlien series is a nice one (5 HDDs, and 5 5.25" bays). I got one for around $78 without the temp monitor and with 2 LED fans - Blowhole and door.

ADDED: This also is good setup if you plan to resale parts. Name brand parts with good reps = higher resale value.