Opinions needed

[SgtM]

Hey guys. My cousin wants me to build him a computer. Box only. Keep in mind, the MOST he does is surf the internets, E-mail, and watch some DVD's. I quoted him between $500 and $600. Before shipping, I came up with $466.91 with these parts. Bear in mind, an OS isn't needed. I already have that covered. What are your opinions?

LITE-ON Black 52X CD-R 32X CD-RW 52X CD-ROM ATAPI/E-IDE CD Burner - Retail $17.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106084

Intel BLKDP965LTCK LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - OEM $96.99
Core 2 Extreme / Core 2 Duo / Pentium D / Celeron
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121036

Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 Allendale 1.8GHz 2M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail $117.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115013

Patriot 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory - Retail $34.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220088

EVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card – Retail $89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130062

Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136075

Spire BlackFin SP-7090B Black Metal SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail $33.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811220021

Rosewill RV300 ATX12V 300W Power Supply 115/230 V CE, cUL, CSA, CB, TUV, FCC, NEMKO, DEMKO, SEMKO, TC - Retail $11.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182001

2 - APEVIA CF12SL-UBL 120mm Blue LED Case Fan - Retail $6.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811998121

[calumc]

I wouldnt spend that much on a video card if hes not gonna be doing anything more gfxintensive than watching dvds.

[computergeek19]

Maybe add another gig of RAM and instead of the 256 video card a 128 one since he is not that big of a gamer.

[Spawn-Inc]

Maybe add another gig of RAM and instead of the 256 video card a 128 one since he is not that big of a gamer.

just what i was thinking, at least the ram part.

i have this card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130097) and with it OC'd (i lapped the heatsink, artic silver 5, and put a intel cpu fan on it) i can play dod:S with everything on medium settings with no AA or AF and can get an average of 76 FPS @ 62*C tops. it's got 128mb video and has a dvi, vga, and svideo port for those dvd's. 34.99

[SgtM]

Swapped the vid card

EVGA 128-P2-N428-LR GeForce 7200GS 512MB (128MB on Board) 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail $34.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130097

+rep to all.

[Xpirate]

I would add a second GB of RAM and keep the video card. He may actually buy a game for it after he gets it, or he might want to upgrade to Vista. The system will still be well within the $600 you quoted.

[.Maleficus.]

Look into a different PSU. I haven't heard too many good things about Rosewill PSUs, and if my mouse and keyboard experience is any indication to the quality, it's not good (I've never used the mouse and the laser is dead, and the keyboard was shipped cracked (that may have been a shipping fault, but I don't think it was)).

Ultra makes good PSUs, but Newegg doesn't have Ultra products. Otherwise, so does Apevia.

[Omega]

I know PNY sells some decent RAM, 2gb (2x1gb), DDR2-800, 80$. That's what I'm running. Also, maybe up the CPU to the Allendale 4500, that's 400MHz extra on each core, which will make things run a little better. Extra RAM + More CPU power = good. The best part is that since you've downgraded the GPU, it shouldn't cost any more, since the 4500 is like, 10$ more than the 4300, and that RAM is also pretty cheap.

[Crazy Buddhist]

This is a highly overspec-ed PC frankly lol ... if someone comes to me asking to surf the web, do email, write letters and watch DVD's they get given (for free) a pentium III with 1/2 gig of RAM and they are set to go.

Having said that here's my shot replace your MOBO & CPU with cheap end-of-lifers BUT well up to his needs and get no graphics card:

Motherboard
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138038) BIOSTAR K8M800 Micro AM2 $47.99

GPU: I'm sure you have a half decent AGP Graphics card laying around (that mobo has no PCI-E) otherwise the onboard S3 is good for his needs in any case.

Processor (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103031) AMD Athlon 64 3200+ $40.99

Leaving all the other parts as you had them and guessing at $20 for a slightly more reliable PSU that gives a total build cost of about $259

EDIT:

or buy this (http://cgi.ebay.com/ExTReME-DeLL-OptipleX-GX270-PC-COMPUTER-2-8GHZ-512M-XP_W0QQitemZ180164621155QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item18 0164621155) or something similar from ebay for around $150 and save time too. Just have to throw in a DVD drive.

Pentium 4 x 2.8ghz + 512mb + 40gig + CDROM + USB 2.0 + XP Pro

http://i14.ebayimg.com/03/i/000/b9/9c/e773_1.JPG

:)

[Bucko]

EDIT:

or buy this (http://cgi.ebay.com/ExTReME-DeLL-OptipleX-GX270-PC-COMPUTER-2-8GHZ-512M-XP_W0QQitemZ180164621155QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item18 0164621155) or something similar from ebay for around $150 and save time too. Just have to throw in a DVD drive.

Pentium 4 x 2.8ghz + 512mb + 40gig + CDROM + USB 2.0 + XP Pro


:)

Seconded! Much like the Pink Bits computer I did up for a friends niece. AU$250 for a complete Dell system including monitor and XP Pro. A bit of paint, some speakers and a slight memory upgrade and she was wrapped!

[Crazy Buddhist]

Maybe add another gig of RAM and instead of the 256 video card a 128 one since he is not that big of a gamer.

Seriously for the stated uses of the machine in question a Gig is overkill and two a total waste. He will unlikely ever use one whole Gigabyte in reality.

For sure, you guys who game need multi-gigs - for the data generated by the sheer amount of math thats happening to render scenes. For non-gamers a gig is loads of memory and having two doesn't make a difference. Building to spec and not above spec is a skill in itself I reckon.

I am a power user but not a gamer and I only go over 1G mem usage when I am doing really heavy rendering, converting videos and doing a bunch of other stuff at the same time.

For people in this position I reckon a good rule is this: buy a first machine 2nd hand and then - if they take to it - in 6 months they will: a) realise if owning a computer is something they want to get more from, b) have saved the cash to get a proper machine (if it's an issue), and c) have enough basic skills to appreciate and enjoy having a hot machine and some idea of what they want to do.

:)

[Xpirate]

I don't think this is highly overspec-ed. I have always regretted it when I purchased low end stuff. I got the cheapest laptop machine I could get from Dell. I wish that I used what little money I spent on it to get a better machine.

And old machine is going to feel "really old" a lot quicker than the $600 PC that SgtM set up.

[.Maleficus.]

I don't think this is highly overspec-ed. I have always regretted it when I purchased low end stuff. I got the cheapest laptop machine I could get from Dell. I wish that I used what little money I spent on it to get a better machine.

And old machine is going to feel "really old" a lot quicker than the $600 PC that SgtM set up.
So true. My dad did the same thing with his laptop, and regretted it too. Had to go out and buy another GB of RAM because it was 512MB and slow.

And a $600 PC is great. Instead of buying low, buy as high as you can for $600.

[Bucko]

If you wanted to save a few dollars, yet still be fairly future proof, go for one of these processors:
Intel Dual-Core E2160 Allendale 1.8GHz 1MB L2 Cache LGA 775 for $84.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116036

It may sound slow, but I have a 1.6Ghz E2140 and I can't believe just how good it is for the price.
I can run DVDs on one screen, surf forums on the second, and rip DVDs on the third screen and it only goes up to around 50% processor usage.
My 3.07Ghz Celeron D would constantly hit 100% if I watched a DVD and hit refresh on the forums. It really does smash the Celery like you wouldn't believe.

Coupled with an 8600GT it's even good for gaming with Driver: Parallel Lines on almost maximum settings with no sign of lag.

[Omega]

well here's the thing, CB. Getting more albeit lower spec'd ram isn't a bad idea. Remember, there's no kill like overkill. I don't NEED 2gb of RAM (it's nice and really helps) for what I do (mostly multitasking, lots of internet usage, stuff like IRC, web browsing, music, etc, doesn't take up more than 400mb or so) so 1gb would be fine (for those rare occasions where I DO game, even then it's mostly older stuff -- and my last rig with 1gb of RAM ran everything just fine), but hey, it was cheap, it works, it's at a decent speed and quality, and I'm not going to argue with that.

I mean, getting parts that are above the user's needed specs is a good idea, especially for low-end stuff. The 600$ or so will last them longer than a 400$ rig, what with the advancements in DVD quality and such. Eventually it'll get to the point where HDDVD or BluRay will take over, and rather than having to spec up to handle the new formats, the person could already be prepared or at least better so.

Besides. If they have the money and are willing to spend it, why not get the best they can afford? If I had 10k I wouldn't build a midrange gaming computer, I'd go all out. Dual 8800Ultras, C2Quad, etc. I'll probably never utilize that kind of power (*thinks for a moment* wow, that's exactly what I said when I got my AMD system 5 years ago -- it's now dead, horribly outdated and in a shoebox) but I'd buy it anyways. Of course, I also have no financial obligations, so...

So yeah. Rick. If it were me, I'd get them a decent cpu, a lowend gpu, lots of RAM, a good bit of hard drive space, and some generic enclosure/psu to run it all. Kind of like what I am probably going to be doing for a LAN party rig (note: I do not game at LAN parties. I play music and mostly do schoolwork and whatnot, the same type of stuff I'd do at my house. The difference is that at LAN parties, I play my music quite a bit louder. <3).

Argh. I'm rambling.

-Omega

[Crazy Buddhist]

The machine is undoubtedly overspec-ed for described purposes - no amount of discussion will have me change my mind on that.

Now - amongst us only Rick knows the guy this machine is for. He might be the kind of guy that takes up golf then leaves all that expensive equipment untouched after the three month honeymoon while he learns racketball - or not - we don't know.

My suggested method of proceeding is based on long experience of other human beings spending money on stuff they don't really want. There are two approaches here: buy a cheap 2nd hand rig for experimental purposes or go all in and spend your dollar on a spanking new machine.

Both have benefits but those benefits depend on the user.

Without knowing the individual I am not in a position to know the wisest path, neither is anyone else here except Rick.

[SgtM]

Thanks for all of the input guys. I'm going to keep things the same, with the lower end GPU. It's doubtful he'll be playing any games or anything other than basic surfing, maybe watch a DVD here and there. +rep to everyone for their time.

[NightrainSrt4]

SgtM, not sure if you noticed this, but if he wants to watch DVD's you might want to upgrade that cd drive to a dvd drive. If he doesn't need dvd burning you could always get a dvd rom drive, those are pretty darn cheap.

Just didn't see any one say anything about the cd drive you have spec'd and with your reiterations about how he may watch a dvd or two, just figured I would point that out. Sorry, I noticed it before but I though some of the other guys thoughts were going to bring you to a different setup to be honest...now i see your going with that so I figured id let you know what i saw.

CD->dvd drive for short...

[Crazy Buddhist]

... CD->dvd drive for short...

Good spot Nightrain ... we all missed that :dead: here's a combo burner for $10 more (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106049) - OEM so no cables ... but thats not an issue.

+rep from me for spotting that one.

:)