Budget build for family

B

breadman

Gawd
Joined
Aug 12, 2001
Messages
516
I've been out of the loop for budget parts for quite some time and would like to put together a decently fast system for my mother. She uses the MS Office suite and surfs the Internet with an occasional dvd watch or cd burn. I want the system to be snappy for her and have some lasting ability (ie no upgrade for awhile). I also would like to include a good LCD screen for her to use, maybe a 22" widescreen if it can fit in the budget.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc

See above for full details. Mostly web browsing though.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

500 + tax + shipping (lower is better, but if I need to up it, I will)

3) Where do you live?

Virginia

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.

Case, CPU, RAM, PSU, Video card, DVD drive, Mobo, floppy, monitor.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.

Keyboard and mouse. :)

6) Will you be overclocking?

No.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?

Would like a good for text reading 22" LCD.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

Soon.


9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.

STABILITY!!!!!!!!!!

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?

Yes!

I am open to upping the budget if need be and would like to see comparable AMD and Intel system builds.

Thanks to you all!!
 
Your best bet is to stick with a prebuilt system, as buying one would probably be less of a hassle than trying to pick out parts and then building it yourself. Check out bargain hunting sites like gotapex.com and/or visit the Dell Outlet for some deals.
 
2nd on Dell Outlet unless you're going to guarantee your presence in the area if and when something goes wrong, like the power outlet was turned off and the computer wouldn't boot.
 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254035
Hanns·G Hi-221DPB Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 1000:1 Built in Speakers - Retail $159
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129045
Antec NSK6580B Black 0.8mm cold-rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 430 Watts 80 PLUS Power Supply - Retail 99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157149
ASRock A780FullHD AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Support Full HD 1080P Playback 56
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134488
Kingston 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail 20
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103210
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200 Brisbane 2.7GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail 60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151171
SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD Burner - OEM 24

all for about $420 . If you have the os like u say u have i would build.
 
While I realize that the Dell Outlet has good deals, she is somewhat computer savvy and her husband knows his way around as well.

Thanks for the build suggestion JHefile. I'm gonna see what else people come up with and then decide! :)
 
I'd like to add some thoughts on the case. I built my mom a pc and went with a atx mini tower i think it was? It only had 2 bays for cd roms. Anyhow she likes it because she can carry it around easier so keep that in mind.

please don't build a pc to something i suggested totally or anyone! Don't worry i understand.

Look at this case. if you get her a good case it will go a long way. And 2.1 speakers also so that sound of the dvd's come to life. Any how check this out.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129034
 
I was recommending a prebuilt system primarily due to its (comparatively) low price. For example (from GotApex):

Dell Small Business - Dell Vostro 220s Slim Tower Computer with 2.6GHz Dual Core, 2GB DDR2 SDRAM, 250GB Hard Drive and 22" LCD Monitor for Only $409 plus Shipping!
The discount is a bit bigger this weekend at $280 and you still get all of the goodies from last week and then some. The upgrades are a bit more (makes sense since they're giving a slightly bigger discount) but it's the same sleek and slim black case with that's perfect for any home office. DELL VOSTRO 220S SLIM TOWER COMPUTER DEAL
Click to expand...

All you need to do is to swap out the RAM (for, say, a cheap 4GB kit, though 2GB is more than enough for most basic Office/web browsing tasks) and use your available OS (the system comes with Vista Basic) and you're set.
 
tiraides said:
I was recommending a prebuilt system primarily due to its (comparatively) low price. For example (from GotApex):



All you need to do is to swap out the RAM (for, say, a cheap 4GB kit, though 2GB is more than enough for most basic Office/web browsing tasks) and use your available OS (the system comes with Vista Basic) and you're set.
Click to expand...

i cannot speak for the OP but for myself building the pc for my family was very satisfying. i would never stoop to the pre-built pc's. The joy most of us get from building is why we are here.:)
 
JHefile said:
i cannot speak for the OP but for myself building the pc for my family was very satisfying. i would never stoop to the pre-built pc's. The joy most of us get from building is why we are here.:)
Click to expand...
I am not knocking the experience or the joy of building a DIY system, as I built several systems for myself and my family.

However, at the $500-or-less budget level, a prebuilt system oftentimes offer more for your money (including an OS, sometimes a monitor, and sometimes other peripherals, like speakers or a printer) than most DIY systems. The quality of the parts used could be a rebuttal, but in this case, the Intel E5300 from the Dell system is better than the X2 5200+ you offer in your system. (However, I wouldn't trust the onboard GPU for HD video or gaming.)

But my point wasn't to say that your build was bad -- it isn't. I was just trying to offer the OP an alternate choice to consider. (That, and I don't want to rack my brain today trying to build the "perfect" system, including monitor, for under $500.)
 
JHefile said:
i cannot speak for the OP but for myself building the pc for my family was very satisfying. i would never stoop to the pre-built pc's. The joy most of us get from building is why we are here.:)
Click to expand...

You can speak for me on this issue anytime as that is how I feel. :cool:

It is not that I do not see a pre-built pc as a good value, as it is - we all know that. It is more from the fact that I would rather build something with good parts and give them the pc. Their perception of me taking my time and my money to do something nice for them is worth it to me. Granted time and money of my own is still used if I order a Dell pc, but if you think that way, you are missing the point.

On a somewhat related note, my mom's fried chicken is delicious. Sure she could go to KFC and get the whole meal for cheaper, but she would rather cook it herself. (Yes I realize fried chicken does not suffer from random blue screens at 1am in the morning, but this is just a vague analogy.)
 
Again, I am not knocking the experience of building it yourself, nor am I saying that you or your family would be unable to handle computer problems on your own. You said that you wanted stable, reliable parts, plus a 22 inch monitor, all for under $500, and my response was to offer a Dell prebuilt system that's on sale. Though it has 2GB of RAM and Vista Basic, it's still a good option and would fulfill your mother's needs.

If you're trying to tell me that you would rather not deal with a prebuilt system at this time, why don't you say so? ;)
 
tiraides said:
Again, I am not knocking the experience of building it yourself, nor am I saying that you or your family would be unable to handle computer problems on your own. You said that you wanted stable, reliable parts, plus a 22 inch monitor, all for under $500, and my response was to offer a Dell prebuilt system that's on sale. Though it has 2GB of RAM and Vista Basic, it's still a good option and would fulfill your mother's needs.

If you're trying to tell me that you would rather not deal with a prebuilt system at this time, why don't you say so? ;)
Click to expand...

maybe that should be on the questionnaire?

it's all good, well not as good as home made:D:cool:
 
Well, if you're going to spend the money, at least make it worthwhile.

$160 - Hanns·G Hi-221DPB 22" widescreen monitor (free shipping)
$72 - Antec NSK4480 case with Antec Earthwatts EA380 380W PSU
$140 - AMD Athlon X2 7750 & Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-DS2H combo deal (free shipping on processor)
$40 - G.Skill 2x2GB DDR2 800 dual channel kit (free shipping)
$60 - Hitachi DeskStar 500GB SATA HDD (free shipping)
$23 - Pioneer DVR-216DBK SATA DVD burner (free shipping)
=====
$495 - Subtotal (not including shipping, taxes, or rebates)

I'm running off the assumption that you'll pay no taxes but will have to pay around $20 S/H for the case and about $8 for the motherboard (since everything else has free shipping). With that in mind, the total jumps to about $523, which is a bit over your budget, but you get a much better system for your money. Namely, you get a better processor, more RAM, a larger capacity HDD (forget something, JHefile?), and a more reliable motherboard. The Antec EA380 is more than enough for your mom's needs, but it can handle a low-end video card (like the HD4670 or the 9600GT) just as well as the EA430 in JHefile's build.

I was originally running off the assumption that you wanted to spend as little money as possible, which was the motivation behind my Dell prebuilt recommendation. But if you want to give your family a personally built computer, I recommend that you give them as many features and options as possible now, so you could minimize (if not eliminate) the amount of upgrading needed in the future.
 
tiraides said:
Well, if you're going to spend the money, at least make it worthwhile.

$160 - Hanns·G Hi-221DPB 22" widescreen monitor (free shipping)
$72 - Antec NSK4480 case with Antec Earthwatts EA380 380W PSU
$140 - AMD Athlon X2 7750 & Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-DS2H combo deal (free shipping on processor)
$40 - G.Skill 2x2GB DDR2 800 dual channel kit (free shipping)
$60 - Hitachi DeskStar 500GB SATA HDD (free shipping)
$23 - Pioneer DVR-216DBK SATA DVD burner (free shipping)
=====
$495 - Subtotal (not including shipping, taxes, or rebates)

I'm running off the assumption that you'll pay no taxes but will have to pay around $20 S/H for the case and about $8 for the motherboard (since everything else has free shipping). With that in mind, the total jumps to about $523, which is a bit over your budget, but you get a much better system for your money. Namely, you get a better processor, more RAM, a larger capacity HDD (forget something, JHefile?), and a more reliable motherboard. The Antec EA380 is more than enough for your mom's needs, but it can handle a low-end video card (like the HD4670 or the 9600GT) just as well as the EA430 in JHefile's build.

I was originally running off the assumption that you wanted to spend as little money as possible, which was the motivation behind my Dell prebuilt recommendation. But if you want to give your family a personally built computer, I recommend that you give them as many features and options as possible now, so you could minimize (if not eliminate) the amount of upgrading needed in the future.
Click to expand...

posted By the Op.
"4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.

Case, CPU, RAM, PSU, Video card, DVD drive, Mobo, floppy, monitor."

So no i didn't forget the hd.

When you said tiraides, "a more reliable motherboard." How do you know this? no i am not a fan boy of any manufacture but just wondered where you came up with this.

A 9600gt is overkill for dvd and surfing the net.

And 95watt cpu? Where is the green in you?? Your going to cost the family it's family savings that will need to be spent on electric my friend.
 
Please tell me that you're nitpicking just for the sake of nitpicking.

JHefile said:
posted By the Op.
breadman said:
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.

Case, CPU, RAM, PSU, Video card, DVD drive, Mobo, floppy, monitor.
Click to expand...

So no i didn't forget the hd.
Click to expand...

The HDD choice was my decision, since the OP didn't tell us which HDD he was going to reuse. Point to you, though it's a moot one. (The OP could just as easily ignore our advice altogether and come up with something different.)

In that case, we both missed something -- the floppy drive.

JHefile said:
When you said tiraides, "a more reliable motherboard." How do you know this? no i am not a fan boy of any manufacture but just wondered where you came up with this.
Click to expand...

Gigabyte generally produces better boards with more features and better reliabilty than ASRock. I heard that Gigabyte also has better customer service than ASRock (but I haven't had a need to test either company myself). I'm not a die-hard, but I believe that the Gigabyte board, with its feature set, is a better choice than the ASRock board.

JHefile said:
A 9600gt is overkill for dvd and surfing the net.
Click to expand...

True, but I was using it as a reference towards future upgrades. (The onboard GPUs on both motherboards are each capable of handling video playback.) My point is that the Earthwatts EA380 is more than enough for the build. It was my way of cutting costs on one end (getting a cheaper case/PSU bundle) in order to free up money for other parts (a faster processor, more RAM, and a motherboard with more features).

JHefile said:
And 95watt cpu? Where is the green in you?? Your going to cost the family it's family savings that will need to be spent on electric my friend.
Click to expand...

If you wanted to go towards an energy-efficient system, you could have gone with the X2 4850e yourself. Both (hell, all of the) Earthwatts power supplies are certified under the 80 Plus energy efficiency standard. And I didn't hear the OP mention that energy efficiency was one of the requirements of this build.

:rolleyes:

I get what you're tying to do. You're telling the OP that he should spend as little money as possible. I'm trying to tell him that he should get his money's worth.

Let's just agree to disagree and leave it at that.
 
"I get what you're tying to do. You're telling the OP that he should spend as little money as possible. I'm trying to tell him that he should get his money's worth."

Fine. but a 1.9 x2 would be fine for what they need, aka 3600+. It's all cool though. To each his own.

there would be no noticable differnce in the chip i suggested and the Kuma within the useage of said user other than more watts used. And yes, the 45watt cpu would be a better choice also.
 
1) Gigabyte is part of the high end, ASRock is not. The ownership of Gigabyte to ASRock boards here is exponentially higher. Combo deal makes the Gigabyte equal in price to the ASRock, which makes it a no-brainer.
2) Seriously? Nitpick on that too? He said you CAN stick a video card in it.
3) TDP is the max power draw. You'll see a difference of a can pop at best in the electricity bill.

It's all this nitpicking of minute details because someone doesn't agree with you that makes people not want to help. *Cringe+Twitch*.

add: Once you remove the hard drive from the equation, your builds become similarly priced.
 
JHefile said:
posted By the Op.
"4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.

Case, CPU, RAM, PSU, Video card, DVD drive, Mobo, floppy, monitor."

So no i didn't forget the hd.
Click to expand...

Well under question 5 ( If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.), the OP only listed "Keyboard and mouse." So Tiraides' assumption that the OP needed a hard drive is correct IMO.

I recommend going with tiraides' build. It's very cost-effective.
 
i am not heart broken at all. now if one of you suggested Intel, then I might be.;)
 
AMD can't be touched (yet) in the onboard video + budget department in combination.
 
Oh my god, are you seriously going to drag this out?

Please open your eyes and read this.
tiraides said:
The Antec EA380 is more than enough for your mom's needs, but it can handle a low-end video card (like the HD4670 or the 9600GT) just as well as the EA430 in JHefile's build.
Click to expand...
 
That makes no sense atall and if it was a lame attempt at insulting me, you're better off not trying. Would you like to make a worthwhile contribution instead of flagging and picking on every detail? That'd be great.
 
I left the hard drive out because I figured I might reuse their old one, but I was not completely sure yet. I didn't put it in the parts needed or in the re-use part so yes, it is my fault that I did not specifiy this, but an HDD does not make or break the deal.

I am not against a pre-built suggestion, I did not specify one way or the other, and I appreciate all suggestions - pre-built or not. Obviously I would like to build one as it's fun - right?

I would not mind to see an Intel build, but it seems as the consensus for on-board goodies and their quality falls to AMD.

Thanks to all so far. :cool:
 
lowteckh said:
That makes no sense atall and if it was a lame attempt at insulting me, you're better off not trying. Would you like to make a worthwhile contribution instead of flagging and picking on every detail? That'd be great.
Click to expand...

I make no sense? how about if i said he MUSt build according to what I have said?
 
JHefile said:
I make no sense? how about if i said he MUSt build according to what I have said?
Click to expand...

Stop. Please STOP. There's no need to continue this argu-- there isn't an argument anywhere in this thread that needs to be made.

All that we are (supposed to be) offering are parts suggestions, as well as the rationale behind those recommendations. There is no right or wrong way to complete this build. Stop trying to nitpick details with us. If something is left out, it's for the OP to decide on -- not you.

breadman said:
I left the hard drive out because I figured I might reuse their old one, but I was not completely sure yet. I didn't put it in the parts needed or in the re-use part so yes, it is my fault that I did not specifiy this, but an HDD does not make or break the deal.

I am not against a pre-built suggestion, I did not specify one way or the other, and I appreciate all suggestions - pre-built or not. Obviously I would like to build one as it's fun - right?

I would not mind to see an Intel build, but it seems as the consensus for on-board goodies and their quality falls to AMD.

Thanks to all so far. :cool:
Click to expand...

You can change or omit the hard drive from my build as you desire. IIRC, the total not including the HDD (or shipping/taxes) comes to around $435 (actually, $441 if you include the floppy drive).

Again, the prebuilt recommendation was brought out as an example of what you may find by checking out either the Dell Outlet or one of the many bargain hunting sites available. (The GenHard FAQ also has a list of bargain sites, in case you're looking for a better deal.)

The onboard AMD/ATI GPUs are superior to anything Intel has to offer, as many of the current 780/790-based chipsets are capable of playing HD (1080p) video. Though it's may or may not be a necessity for you or your mother, we feel that it's better to build a budget system around AMD towards a multimedia standpoint.

So there's no further confusion, you don't need a video card for any of the recommended motherboards -- they all come with onboard GPUs. The point I was trying to make earlier was that, should you decide to add a video card later on, you would be able to add a low-end video card with either PSU without running into any problems.
 
tiraides said:
Stop. Please STOP. There's no need to continue this argu-- there isn't an argument anywhere in this thread that needs to be made.

All that we are (supposed to be) offering are parts suggestions, as well as the rationale behind those recommendations. There is no right or wrong way to complete this build. Stop trying to nitpick details with us. If something is left out, it's for the OP to decide on -- not you.
Click to expand...

Details
 
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