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First Build- cheap computer for mom

B

blynch1

Junior Member
This is my first build so I wanted to make sure it will work out well. This is for my mom and she asks only that it be fast(opening and running her applications) and reliable.

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
Internet/Taxcut/Quicken/Photos/Office
2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
Under $400, the cheaper the better
3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
US
4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture.
NA
5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
Antec Full size case and antec 350W PSU
6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
default
8. WHEN do you plan to build- Tomorrow


Current Parts list from Newegg:

LG 20X DVD±R Super Multi DVD Burner Black ATAPI / E-IDE Model GSA-H55NK - OEM
$23.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
$59.99

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ - Retail
$44.99

Intel BOXDG35EC LGA 775 Intel G35 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$99.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 Wolfdale 2.53GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model
$131.99
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Questions:
I am considering the Intel DG31GL for $62 instead of the G35, so if somebody knows if the G35 is worth the $40 price increase let me know.

I'm not entirely sure the PSU I have will work, it only has 1 SATA power cord, can I connect both the hard drive and the DVD burner on the same power adapter?

Anyone know if this ram will play friendly with the chipset?

Thanks
(please don't suggest that I buy a cheap prebuilt, this is my first build and I am kinda excited)
 
I would upgrade to a SATA burner for a dollar or two more. I would also consider a better/bigger hard drive. I don't have newegg open at the moment but $60 seems like a lot for an outdated 250GB drive. I would imagine a 320 or 500 couldn't be more than a few dollars more.

The motherboard is fine if you want a no thrills board, but there are some gigabyte, abit, asus that might offer the same features for less money. Also a E2xxx or E4xxx CPU might offer decent enough performance for $30 or 40 less.
 
For the hard drive is the Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 320GB a good choice? $70 on newegg so I can handle that.

Will probably just skip the DVD burner and use a ide cdrw I have sitting around.

still haven't decided which mobo to use
 
I could use a P35 mobo and then get a cheap discrete graphics card. What is the cheapest card that will be better than integrated graphics and will run aero fine?
 
There's a reason people are suggesting Dell Outlet. With a system running only basic desktop applications Dell's volume discounts blow away anything you could hope to find on Newegg. This is especially true when you consider that Dells include the OS and a warranty, and often a pretty decent monitor too.

If you don't need the monitor, sell it to bring the price down even more.

Some people will tell you not to buy a Dell because of the extra software they use, but that's easily fixed with a reinstall of the OS. Just make sure you get all the OS and driver discs from them.

The other issue is that if you build it yourself you'll play tech support for every little thing unless mom is pretty tech savvy.
 
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