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Build Recommendation

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saleen385

Member
Could anyone give me a little advice. I need to build a system for the wife for her to do some work at home. It will be used for spreadsheets and the internet mostly. I have and old PC with a P2 400 that I would like to upgrade. I was looking at an ASUS or Gigabyte board and a P4 1.5. All the other components in the PC Iwould like to use. I want to stay around $300. Would this be doable?
 
Do you need a full system for that much... monitor, keyboard, speakers, etc?

I would do some research on her MB and see what kind of upgrade path you might have there. A P2-400 would have a 100FSB. It may support up to a P3-650 (Katmai).
You could also bump the RAM up to 512mb, possibly.

 
Originally posted by: ribbon13
I stayed within $300 and went for best performance for the three components he mentioned.
Click to expand...

I beg to differ. You listed an NF2 board, 512MB and an Athlon XP 2700+ for a total of $318.33 with shipping. You could easily get something much faster for less.

NF3 250Gb with firwire: $70.00
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-138-240

512MB Corsair PC3200 CL 2.5: $73.33
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-145-026

Athlon 64 3000+ Retail: $146.00
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-486

That's $289.33 delivered.
 
Anyway, my actual suggestion would be closer to what nick1985 is suggesting. I don't see why the guy needs a new case, though, and Antec PSUs just aren't the best like everyone seems to think (although they're a really good deal when you need a case, too). The $29 Fortron PSU is quieter, has stronger rails, has the newer, better molex connectors, is heavier, and has twice the MTBF. I also don't understand getting a the Maxtor drive when the Samsung with a 3-year warranty is $1.69 more. Also, you don't want to get an NF2 IGP board and just use a single stick of generic memory. They don't like that. Even with good memory, you'll often get problems using the on-board graphics without running dual-channel memory. NF2 boards are picky in general so I wouldn't want to try anything generic (i.e. Biostar boards don't like Corsair Value RAM, but are OK with cheap Kingston/Mushkin, and some boards are the opposite).

One thing you really have to keep in mind (which nick already hinted at) is that for your standard home PC -- and definitely when it comes to "spreadsheets and the internet" as was mentioned for the primary use -- that your hard drive speed will be most of what you feel as far as the speed of the machine. Excel and a web browser just aren't going to get you over 20% CPU usage with any Athlon/P4. That's why a modern 7200RPM really should be on the list if you're going to be spending $200+, because it's the most noticable improvement you'll get.



I'd say:

Biostar M7NCG 400 NF2 IGP: $63.99
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-138-234

Samsung 40GB 3-year: $52.38
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-152-008

Fortron 300W PSU: $35.99
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-104-937

Sempron 2400+ Retail: $66.00
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-104-210

512MB (2x256) Kingston PC3200: $78.33
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-141-413

$296.69 delivered.



Or you could just stick with whatever video card you have and use this:

Biostar M7NCD Pro: $54.99
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-138-227

512MB Mushkin PC3200: $72.83
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-146-219

$282.19 delivered ... so you're saving $14.50 to use your old video card.



You could also get an 80GB drive for just a little more:

Samsung 80GB (2mb cache, 3-year): $60.77
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-152-010

WD800JB (8mb cache, 3-year): $63.99
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-144-122

Seagate 80GB (2mb cache, 5-year): $66.84
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-148-015

 
Guys, that's alot of info to digest. The wife likes the case but wants a different color(painting again). I have a evga 5700 graphics card that should be alright but I definetly would get a new psu and hard drive. A friend of mine has a 120GB Seagate sata new that he will sell me for $100. Thanks for all the help.
 
Originally posted by: saleen385
Guys, that's alot of info to digest. The wife likes the case but wants a different color(painting again). I have a evga 5700 graphics card that should be alright but I definetly would get a new psu and hard drive. A friend of mine has a 120GB Seagate sata new that he will sell me for $100. Thanks for all the help.
Click to expand...

your friend is trying to pull a fast one on you
 
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.
 
You really think $100 is to much. he's got the receipt from some online place $114 with shipping. It is a retail version not oem if that matters.
 
Originally posted by: saleen385
You really think $100 is to much. he's got the receipt from some online place $114 with shipping. It is a retail version not oem if that matters.
Click to expand...

maybe he bought it awhile ago, when it was that much. Prices for computer parts go down all the time. I would reccomend paying no more than $75 for it ($92 retail - 20%)
 
Originally posted by: Pciber
Originally posted by: saleen385
You really think $100 is to much. he's got the receipt from some online place $114 with shipping. It is a retail version not oem if that matters.
Click to expand...

maybe he bought it awhile ago, when it was that much. Prices for computer parts go down all the time. I would reccomend paying no more than $75 for it ($92 retail - 20%)
Click to expand...

I agree ... for $105 you can get a 200gb drive.
 
Originally posted by: saleen385
A friend of mine has a 120GB Seagate sata new that he will sell me for $100. Thanks for all the help.
Click to expand...
You need to hang with a better crowd. Your "friend" isn't doing you a favor, selling you his HD for that price.
When I sell my friends my hardware, they get a big discount. The whole reason is that they are friends and I want to treat them good.

 
Saleen with deals I've gotten

200gig hard drives for - 30 $.

Their are tons of hard drive deals from time to time. The PM and then rebate things works great. Even without the rebate...you could get a 160gig or 200gig western digital from sams club - i believe.

Pixle..

btw... a64 builds are rather cheap and very powerfull. I'd go with that type of build instead of a Sempron or Athlon Xp. You could even add a sweet video card later and have a top end gaming machine for a cheap price.
 
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