What do you think of this setup?

[neovan]

I'm building this computer for my cousin and she wanted to spend around $500 less software. Here are the specs:

Shuttle AN35N Ultra - $58
XP 2500 Retail - $80
Crucial 512MB - $78
WD 120GB - $87
Radeon 9600SE - $70
Enermax w/ 350W Case - $63
NEC 8X DVD+/- RW - $68
---------------------------------------
Grand Total - $504

These prices are including shipping. If anybody has any other suggestions, please throw them out. She will basically be using this for her home office work. She'll play some games but I don't think any graphic intensive ones. TIA.

 

[duragezic]

Well the setup is good but you could save a few bucks if needed. Get a shuttle an35n-ultra for like $55 instead of the NF7. I don't ever see why she would need 120gb of hard drive space, I would think a 60gb or 80gb would be plenty, but whatever it's a pretty small price difference. Case/PSU seems a little overkill too. I don't recommend any major changes just I do think you could drop down to a little bit cheaper on a couple things given that she isn't an enthusiast.

edit: Yeah a used GF4 Ti is a great choice for the video card, or even a 8500 maybe. Either used should be really cheap and bring it below $500.

 

[dennisjai215]

why is the NF7 so expensive? that seems like the price for the NF7-S
i like the NF7 because i dont use sata drivers so i saved about 20 bucks there

 

[dennisjai215]

also the radeon 9600SE is a HORRIBLE HORRIBLE card! i would look for a GF4 Ti4200 in that range.. as it probably performs 50% better for the same price +- $5

 

[PhoenixOrion]

Looks like a good setup except.....

STAY AWAY from the SE value series of Radeon!

 

[neovan]

I like the Abit board because I've only worked with 2 brands of motherboards, Abit and Asus. I've never had any problems with them so thats why I'll stick to them because I don't want my cousin to keep calling me. I've thought about the video card and that was where I was stuck on most. Are there any other suggestions besides the GF4 Ti4200 for under $100.

 

[nick1985]

get the shuttle AN35N-Ultra board instead.

get a 4200 instead

get a mobile 2400 instead of that 2500, unless you arnt overclocking it.

 

[neovan]

Based on the suggestions, I'll change it to the Shuttle board but I was looking at Newegg.com and the price is $111 for a Ti4200.

I'm not planning to oc the machine.

 

[Ionizer86]

Used 4200 cards can be found for the $60 range. And IIRC, yesteday, the better NF7-S board was $82. Either upgrade to the NF7-S or downgrade to a non-MCP-T board like the Shuttle AN35N-Ultra.

 

[Tostada]

As others have said, she probably doesn't need 120GB (and WD drives are certainly nothing special anymore except the Raptor). Also, if you think she needs more than 80GB, the best bang for the buck is $160GB drives.

Also, as others have said, that's a pretty weak video card. If she's not going to do much gaming, you might as well get an nForce2 with onboard GeForce 4 MX. I'm going to say it's a safe bet an nForce2 IGP board would be more than enough for her, and the Biostar M7NCG is an excellent board.

If she's going to get an LCD at some point, get a $45 Radeon 9200SE.

If she's going to play games, go with a $94 R9600 Pro. It's right up there with the Ti4200, but it's also silent and supports DX9.

And honestly, is she ever going to burn a DVD? I doubt your average person will be burning DVD's until dual-layer media gets cheap (and you didn't pick a dual-layer drive).

I'm willing to bet that there's really no reason to spend the whole $500 on the system, unless you can tell us that she's going to be doing a lot of gaming (or something else to strain the system). I'd tell her to build a $400 system and then start saving for a nicer monitor if she wants to spend more. Why do people always like to get a nice new computer to go with an old crappy monitor?

Definitely stick with that $80 Barton if you're not going to o/c. People like to see that nice little retail sticker on their case, not a blank square (or a free NewEgg case badge).

If I were going to spend more than $400 on that system, I would put the money towards a nicer case and making it silent.

$80 Athlon XP 2500+ Barton Retail
$65 Biostar M7NCG 400 nForce 2 IGP
$64 Samsung 80GB 3-year PATA
$94 2 x 256MB Corsair CL2.5
$42 Sony combo CD-RW/DVD
$79 + $15 shipping Antec SLK2700-BQE 350W silent
$14.99 + $5 shipping Arctic Cooling Copper Silent 2TC
$3.55 + $4 shipping Unincom round ATA cable

$466.54

If she wasn't excited about it being silent, though, I'd put it in a cute little Micro ATX case and build it for $400.