Build for father: Emphasis on Reliability and Budget

J

jjz-

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 18, 2008
Messages
302
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
My father is an author who also needs to have multiple applications open at once, and uses the web constantly.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
<$700 tax & ship inc.

3) Where do you live?
Atlanta, GA.

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
MOBO, CPU, RAM, PSU, CASE, HDD/SSD.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
GPU: 9800 GTX+
HDD: Seagate 1TB
Monitor: Dell 30inch
Keyboard/Mouse: Unknown, some expensive logitech keyboard and mouse

6) Will you be overclocking?
No.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
30inch, already have.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Q1 2011

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
RAID 1. USB 3.0/Sata6.0 support a plus.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes, Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit.


With all that being said, I have already made a preliminary build, and here it is:

Everything includes tax/shipping.

Processor: Intel Core i5-2300 Sandy Bridge - $185 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115076
Motherboard: ASRock H67M - $92 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157220
Memory: Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 8GB - $82 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...n_Enhanced_Siliverline-_-20-226-095-_-Product

SSD: Samsung 470 Series - $120 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147062
HDD: Hitachi Deskstar 7200 RPM 1TB - $55 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145304

Case: LC323 ATX Mid Towner - $22 - http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0312887
PSU: Corsair Builder Series 600W - $56* - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139019

TOTAL: $612*

*With mail-in rebate
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How is this build? Any suggestions, without increasing the price, if possible?
 
Don't count the after-rebate price in your total, as you'll end up paying the before-rebate price at checkout.

Which programs (aside from Microsoft Office and internet browsers) does your father use most often?

Why do you need RAID 1 support?

Do you want to build this system sooner (by the end of the month) or later (by the end of March)?
 
Don't count the after-rebate price in your total, as you'll end up paying the before-rebate price at checkout)
Click to expand...
Alright, then the total would be $632.

Which programs (aside from Microsoft Office and internet browsers) does your father use most often?
Click to expand...
As he writes, it's almost exclusively those two things. He often uses scanner software to produce quality PDFs from scanned documents. He specifically mentioned to me that he needs to be able to open numerous web pages as fast as possible. He has a dual-monitor setup (a 30 incher as I mentioned, and a 22 inch dell, as well), and I've seen him have dozens and dozens of tabs open before when I used his computer. He also told me he watches HD video on the computer from time to time, 1080 and 720.

Why do you need RAID 1 support?
Click to expand...
He has 1 1TB hdd and wants another 1TB hdd to put them into raid 1, for redundancy.

Do you want to build this system sooner (by the end of the month) or later (by the end of March)?
Click to expand...
Most likely mid-march.

Another important thing I forgot to mention is that he plans to keep this computer for a very long time. He is upgrading from a P3 dell that he has had for a very long time.
 
Revisit this thread two or three weeks before you plan on building this machine. A lot of the deals and specials we'd use for parts recommendations will be different come March. If, however, you're ready to build now, we can come up with something within the next couple of days.

Since you're using RAID 1 for redundancy, do you or he already have an external backup solution?
 
OK. I suggest revisiting this thread around the first week of March, unless you plan on building the system sooner.
 
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