Building a budget PC

[MDme]

Hi, I'm building my girl (girlfriend) a simple PC. Nope, she doesn't game, but I hope you guys can give me some suggestions on how I can get the most from my money.

I actually thought that the aesthetics should be important since she is not a PC person, so it must look cool.

my initial attempt:

Sempron64 2800+ retail (1.6Ghz/256K) - $76
Biostar 6100-M7 $60
Aspire X-Qpack w/420w PSU $80 ($70 after $10 MIR)
G.Skill 512MB DDR PC3200 (2.5-4-4-8) $35
Hitachi Deskstar 80GB SATA 3.0Gb/s 8MB cache 7200rpm OEM $52
BenQ DW1640 OEM $39

bottom line 342$ (332 after MIR)

don't include the monitor and input devices anymore.

any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Leper Messiah]

don't know what that case looks like, other than that, pretty good value system...

 

[MDme]

http://www.anandtech.com/casecooling/showdoc.aspx?i=2464

 

[Leper Messiah]

not bad, as long as you don't get that garish blue. that would be pretty sexay in black...

 

[Agnostos Insania]

For a girl? May I recommend this case? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811144169

 

[TuxDave]

Originally posted by: Agnostos Insania
For a girl? May I recommend this case? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811144169

omg...

 

[andrewbabcock]

Originally posted by: Agnostos Insania
For a girl? May I recommend this case? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811144169

I would reccomend a super lanboy over the Q-pack. Its a bit larger, but it too is designed to go to lans and has excellent airflow.

 

[MDme]

never knew there was a floral print case

 

[leigh6]

If she likes the color green. Someone on the fs/ft forum modded a case with piano luster green and it rocks.

 

[Pabster]

Originally posted by: Agnostos Insania
For a girl? May I recommend this case? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811144169

My eyes are hurting...

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

I'm getting conflicting reports as to whether or not that board can overclock. I'd just stick with an Epox EP-8KDA3I ($53 at NewEgg), a proven winner. It doesn't have integrated graphics, though, so you'll need to pick up a cheapo card like this ($16 shipped). That's $69, total, which is a bit more than your integrated board, but getting the Sempron to 2.4 GHz will be worth the $9.

 

[akugami]

Originally posted by: Pabster

Originally posted by: Agnostos Insania
For a girl? May I recommend this case? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811144169

My eyes are hurting...

Man, I was thinking the same thing. The colors...they just...must kill case...

 

[SamzAthlon]

imagine taking this case to a lan party...

 

[zmaster]

Next thing you know, people would be asking you who the present is for, and when you tell them its your pc, theyll be tellin you to unwrap it...

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Find a way to set it up so she can't surf male pr0n.

 

[SamzAthlon]

Originally posted by: WhipperSnapper

Find a way to set it up so she can't surf male pr0n.

*sighs*

 

[Skott]

Extremetech.com has an article on how to build a decent system for $800 that later can be upgraded. Might give you some ideas on what to get/use.

 

[dnuggett]

What will she be using the PC for?

 

[Gamingphreek]

Get rid of that crappy expensive Aspire powersupply and case. Horrible and gaudy. You are building this for a girl, who doesn't have any interest in gaming, or computers. She isn't going to want a system that looks like a rainbow exploded. This PSU and case are 100000000x times better (quieter, more aesthetically appealing, better build quality, need i go on?) Link.

Next, why are you buying a SATA 3.0Gb drive. This is a budget system. On top of that why are you buying Hitachi. IIRC Bestbuy has a deal for something like $39 for a 160 Gig IDE Seagate HDD.

That should even out to pretty much the original price, since you are spending roughy $20 more on the Case/PSU, and $20 less on the HDD.

-Kevin

Edit: Here is the link to the bestbuy deal.