building a computer for aunt, need suggestions

[svtour]

im building a computer for an aunt, and im not sure what route to go. im gonna use some of her spare parts from her old computer (p166 i think), altho im not sure what i can use. on pricewatch, there isnt too much of a price difference between a duron 800, and an xp 1500. should i go with a barebones kit? its about $100 for a duron 900mhz, while its only about $113 for a xp1600+. i believe the only things i would need to purchase extra would be memory, and a small hd. she is only using the computer for the internet, but i think it would be worth an extra $30 to go from a 900 duron to a 1600+. thanks.

 

[svtour]

i also told her it would only cost $200-300, and she has a monitor already

 

[Koing]

I'd go with the XP DEFINATLEY worth it since the price difference is so small.

 

[hollowman]

xp. no doubt about that.

 

[crawford]

hey man do you have a svt contour ? (your nick sounds like you do....)

 

[olds]

What can you use from the old machine? Probably the case, cd rom, floppy, modem and video card. You'll probably need a new power supply. You will need CPU, mobo and RAM.

 

[svtour]

yea, i got an svt contour. i think i got it right before i signed up w/ anandtech, so it became my sn!

she got a new cd-rw, so i know for sure i can use that. i think she only has 16 or 32mb of memory, so i think i might just buy 256 or so. i would prefer to purchase a new case with a powersupply for $50 mabye? because it might be cheaper to do that instead of buying a ps.

 

[crawford]

thats cool i got one too. i think me, you, and mwilding is either getting one or has already gotten one. awesome car!

 

[Tiberius]

Whatever you do, leave out the webcam

 

[olds]

If you do this, you know you are tech support for as long as she owns it, right? Maybe even longer.
This is kind of a neat tool but double check prices.
TC Computers System Configurator

 

[svtour]

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
If you do this, you know you are tech support for as long as she owns it, right? Maybe even longer.
This is kind of a neat tool but double check prices.
TC Computers System Configurator

hmmm....that is a little more then she would like to spend though

 

[Vette73]

Here ya go...

Athlon XP 1600+

Get a Biostar M7VIQ board. It has the KM266 chipset, BUT uses the NEW 8235 southbridge. So you get Video, sound, ethernet, and USB2.0 on-board. And its only $69 at pricewatch Shipped.

256Mg of DDR ram

Get a new case with a 300watt or higher power supply


That should be a great setup that can be upgraded.

 

[crawford]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Here ya go...

Athlon XP 1600+

Get a Biostar M7VIQ board. It has the KM266 chipset, BUT uses the NEW 8235 southbridge. So you get Video, sound, ethernet, and USB2.0 on-board. And its only $69 at pricewatch Shipped.

256Mg of DDR ram

Get a new case with a 300watt or higher power supply


That should be a great setup that can be upgraded.

good choice, nice setup for dirt cheap.

 

[AZdevil55]

Now you can charge her alot for labor

 

[Tripleshot]

Screw Biostar. Get an Asus A7N266. You can use the periphs she has and stuff it in a new case or her old case with an Athlon XP and 256 DDR for under 3 bills.

That is my Professional Opinion.

 

[crawford]

Originally posted by: Tripleshot
Screw Biostar. Get an Asus A7N266. You can use the periphs she has and stuff it in a new case or her old case with an Athlon XP and 256 DDR for under 3 bills.

That is my Professional Opinion.

why screw biostar ? I was about to buy that mobo for my mom....

 

[svtour]

i like the fact that the biostar has onboard audio/video. sounds good to me, thanks all

 

[Tripleshot]

i like the fact that the biostar has onboard audio/video. sounds good to me, thanks all

Uh, so does the Asus A7N266. And not that crappy 97 codec. Support for 6.1 digital surround sound on board. GeForce II on board. USB2.0 on board. 10/100 lan on board. And It works.


You can put an ASUS case badge on "Asus inside". It's a much better board than any Biostar.

But its your choice. I know lots of people who settle for less. I guess I just met another.

 

[MainFramed]

Originally posted by: hollowman
xp. no doubt about that.

 

[crawford]

Originally posted by: Tripleshot

i like the fact that the biostar has onboard audio/video. sounds good to me, thanks all

Uh, so does the Asus A7N266. And not that crappy 97 codec. Support for 6.1 digital surround sound on board. GeForce II on board. USB2.0 on board. 10/100 lan on board. And It works.


You can put an ASUS case badge on "Asus inside". It's a much better board than any Biostar.

But its your choice. I know lots of people who settle for less. I guess I just met another.

Is the mobo youre talking about $80 at newegg ? cuz if it is thats what im gonna buy and id advise you to do the same svtour.

 

[fatbaby]

asus a7n266 vm

NVIDIA nFORCE 220 Chipset 266/200MHz FSB Motherboard Micro ATX- Retail
Specifications:
Supported CPU:Socket A AMD Duron, Athlon, and Athlon XP up to 1900+
Chipset:nForce 220D
FSB:266/200 MHz
RAM:2x non ECC DDR DIMM slots and up to 1GB of PC2100/1600
IDE:UDMA100 up to 4 devices
Slots:3x PCI 1xAGP PRO 4x
Ports:2xUSB
Onboard LAN:10/100 Mbps LAN controller
Onboard Audio:Audio AC97and Dolby Digital (AC-3) Encoder
Onbard VGA: Nvidia Nforce GeFORCE2 Video.

$80.00

 

[olds]

Asus
Looks like a good mobo.

 

[svtour]

hmm...the asus looks good too. to many choices!

 

[svtour]

i found out she has 128mb pc100/133. anyone know of a good board which can take those?

 

[svtour]

or should i spend an extra 40 to get 128ddr?