Need to uprage...

[tuffgong]

Yes I know this is a weird one. My uncle's HP desktop just went haywire.

He wants a new computer, but on the cheap since all he does is scan pics and sell on Ebay, and play simple games like yahoo games.

He was going to spend $400. I decided that a barebones system would be good. Was looking at a Foxconn with a 2600+ Sempron, 512mb or RAM and an SATA150 80gb Hard Drive.

Any input will help me since I have never done barebones before...here are links to the three parts I need to buy. I already have the RAM and OPTICAL drive.

SYSTEM
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16856119004

CPU
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819104249

STORAGE
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822148040

Thanks...this is pretty urgent.

 

[andrewbabcock]

If i were him, i would go with the following drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822140168

Its a little more expensive, about $20, but you are getting 120 gb more storage and it is a 16 mb cache drive (performs just as good as a raptor...). He will notice the huge difference in performance. For simple tasks such as that, he would notice a bigger difference in performance from speed and cache of a hdd than he would from a fast processor because this type of stuff requires little processing power. Files will load faster due to a faster drive than a faster processor. HDD is most important for this system so go with the extra $20 hdd. Those 7200.7 series seagates also blow compared to more modern drives. Maxtor Diamondmax 10 series all the way.

 

[andrewbabcock]

Also, you may want to consider getting him a cheap P-M notebook with a good hdd cause that would be much faster than that sempron.

 

[cheesehead]

I don't think that this is a notebook we're talking about. Also, I've yet to see a P-M notebook for under 700$. In addition, a Sempron 2600+ is really all you need for basic stuff. It looks like a good setup to me!
Also, I would pay the extra 20$ for a slightly larger HDD. It's worth it in the long run.

 

[andrewbabcock]

Originally posted by: Cheesehead
I don't think that this is a notebook we're talking about. Also, I've yet to see a P-M notebook for under 700$. In addition, a Sempron 2600+ is really all you need for basic stuff. It looks like a good setup to me!
Also, I would pay the extra 20$ for a slightly larger HDD. It's worth it in the long run.

I think you are missing the point here. Yes, the drive is bigger but thats not why i reccomended it. I reccomended it because of the 16 mb cache, a huge performance boost over 8 mb. It will perform about that same as a raptor in benches but cost about 1/4 as much with much more storage. Yes its good in that sense but its even better in performance.

 

[cheesehead]

Relax, chummer. I personally doubt that he'd notice the difference, but who cares? People are free to like good things for different reasons. (For example, Volvo station wagons, back when they were'nt owned by ford. Some people liked the safety, others liked the turbocharged engines.)