Want to put a system together...would like some input!

[maddmaxx]

My mother-in-law wants to purchase a system, and I offered to put one together for her. I would like to get some input from you guys/gals on where to get components and what, in your opinion, is worth buying. She is willing to spend $1,500, and needs not only the system unit, but a moniter and a printer as well! Thanks for any time spent helping me out!!!

peace

 

[sohcrates]

newegg.com
mwave.com
essencompu.com

those are the 3 main places I buy from

I'd go with an AMD system because you get the same performance as pentiums at much less cost

Probably an AMD Athlon XP 1600+ (or greater, depending on how much you want to spend)
As far as a mobo, there's a lot out there that support Athlon XP's, and a lot of debate about them...I'd probably go with an Epox 8KHA
Ram, get Crucial...nothing else. crucial.com at least 256 megs of pc2100 DDR
video card...depends on what she wants. I assume you're mother-in-law isn't a big gamer, so i'd probably go with a matrox card...something like a g450
sound card can be anything....maybe an sblive or cheap creative audigy
modem, etc.

as far as monitor or printer, there's lots of threads around here about best equipment for under 200 bucks or whatever...try some keyword searches

edit: oh yeah, lesse....case, probably an enligh 7237 w/ 300 watt PSU (47 bucks @ newegg). hard drive, i'd probably get an IBM 60gxp

but this is all debatable of course

 

[IgoByte]

Alright, this should be a fairly simple task...

First off, you need to ask you M-I-L what exactly she needs to use this computer for, etc., because that might impact the PC's configuration.

I'll go with a good and capable system here though, that will come in way below her budget.

1. Case: Antec SX830 (with 300W PSU)
2. Motherboard: ECS K7S5A (has built-in sound and NIC, which is a good thing...she won't need any better sound than what's onboard)
3. AMD AThlon XP 1600+ CPU (retail with heatsink)
4. 256MB Crucial PC2100 DDR SDRAM
5. Visiontek Xtasy 5632 GF2 GTS video card
6. 40GB Maxtor hard drive (7200RPM / ATA133)
7. LiteOn 24/10/40 CDRW Drive
8. Floppy Drive

According to my calculations, this configuration comes out to $610.44 shipped. These prices are all in-store prices, not pricewatch, and they are for brand new items, not refurbs or used. No rebates are reflected in the price.

Now, this is a very solid configuration and it leaves a lot of room to work with.
I assume that she doesn't need anything more than a 19" monitor. If that's the case, Dell sells a whole bunch of them and they offer free shipping and plenty of promotions. For example, you can get a nice Samsung 950x (not sure of the model) for less than $200 shipped. That's a nice and large enough monitor for little money.
As for the printer, you actually might want to recommend the small Brother laser printer if she only needs B&W prints. That one is good, and deals on it have been floating around the HOT DEALS section for a long time. If she needs color, any Epson Stylus Color printer will do really.

Good luck.

 

[IgoByte]

I forgot to tell you where I got my prices from...

The case I got from EMScomputing and everything else I got from newegg.com. Dell is good for the monitor, because it has free shipping, and you can pick up a printer at your local Best Buy or Fry's.

 

[IgoByte]

sohcrates,

Is that a 2002 model?
I love that car!!!

 

[sohcrates]

<< sohcrates,

Is that a 2002 model?
I love that car!!! >>



yep!

thanks!

 

[JMichna]

Dear Madd...
I'm sure you'll get lots of feedback on most all components, so I won't fill in with detail others will provide. Having said this, however, I'd like to share a very pleasant monitor buying experinece I had with Monitors Direct (http://www.monitorsdirect.com) who has Cornerstone as a house brand, plus they carry a near-full line of major manufacturers' monitors at very good prices. I bought a 19" Cornerstone c910, and have been VERY happy with it. Shipping charges were reasonable, packaging was impressive to me, the price was very inexpensive (check specs... I think you'll be able to determine whose "brand name guts" make up the Cornerstone line), they have a good monitor selection utility on their website, and they keep in touch via email after purchase. All in all, a very good buying experience, and I'll buy from them again.
Good luck,
jmichna

 

[MrHelpful]

From Newegg.com

AMD Athlon XP 1600+ retail - $142
Shuttle AK31A - $80
Crucial 256MB PC2100 DDR SDRAM - $62
Gainward GF3 Ti200 - $165
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz - $65
Maxtor D740X 40GB 7200RPM - $83
Lite-On 24x10x40 CD-RW - $80
Lite-On 16X DVD-ROM - $58
Mitsumi 1.44MB FDD - $9
Enlight 7237 /w 300W AMD Apprv. PSU - $47

Microsoft Internet Keyboard - $17
Microsoft Intellimouse - $11
Logitech Z560 4.1 - $140
Lexmark Z23 - $64

Hitachi CM721F 19" - $255

Total - $1278 + shipping

That's a blazing complete system - take out the things you might already have, like the mouse, keyboard, etc.

 

[maddmaxx]

Thanks all for the great input!!! I've got alot to go with now!!!

peace

 

[187]

isnt this a little overkill for a motherinlaw system?

my grandmother needs a vette.

 

[neuralfx]

this isnt a comment on components. .. but you are doing this for your mother-in-law .. im not saying this is always the case, but this might come back to bite you later, normally building for friends and family is a bad idea, you become the 24/7 tech-support, and well if anything goes wrong you're the one that gets "bitched-out" .. not saying dont do it .. just .. be ready for that .. good luck =) ..
-neural

 

[maddmaxx]

187..this isn't just for the mil.....she has 4 children (teens) that will be using the puter too!!! and neuralfx, thanks for the warning!!! I am very aware that the whole "you bought it....you teach me how to use it.....you fix it when it breaks" mentality may set in, and i don't mind it to a certain extent. I expect to have to help them out with their first system. After all, I am married to HER daughter!!!

peace

 

[IgoByte]

<< From Newegg.com AMD Athlon XP 1600+ retail - $142 Shuttle AK31A - $80 Crucial 256MB PC2100 DDR SDRAM - $62 Gainward GF3 Ti200 - $165 Turtle Beach Santa Cruz - $65 Maxtor D740X 40GB 7200RPM - $83 Lite-On 24x10x40 CD-RW - $80 Lite-On 16X DVD-ROM - $58 Mitsumi 1.44MB FDD - $9 Enlight 7237 /w 300W AMD Apprv. PSU - $47 Microsoft Internet Keyboard - $17 Microsoft Intellimouse - $11 Logitech Z560 4.1 - $140 Lexmark Z23 - $64 Hitachi CM721F 19" - $255 Total - $1278 + shipping That's a blazing complete system - take out the things you might already have, like the mouse, keyboard, etc. >>



I'd personally stay with simple on-board sound and cheap 2-piece speaker. It's really not that bad for someone who simply wants to experience multimedia and have a little fun with the computer. Even for playing games, it's really not all that terrible. I've done this with my girlfriend's computer and was pretty happy with the results.
Also, I'd definitely go with a case better than the Enlight 7237. The Antec SX830 is a much more solid case and comes with a better PSU as well. I think it's worth the extra money.
One more objection to the above configuration is the video card. I don't think that the MIL will ever even fully utilize the GF2 GTS card, even with a couple of teens around. I'd recommend to go as cheap as only possible with a good card.
The above system is something you'd want to build for yourself, not you MIL.

 

[IgoByte]

One more thing...If you need a DVD drive, I'd go with the tray-loading Pioneer 16x unit. It's not much more than the LiteOn and is better, IMO.

 

[MrHelpful]

The Pioneer DVD drives are pretty loud.

Why not use up all the budget?