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Need Help Building Web Browsing PC

post #1 of 10
8/3/12 at 10:34am
Thread Starter 
I want to upgrade my mom's pc. right now she is running on an old Dell Dimension 2400. she only needs it for email, web browsing, youtube, online banking, pdf, etc.
i already have a spare mATX case to use but i need a cpu/mobo/ram/psu/hdd. my budget is around $200-250 (less the better)

cpu/mobo: do you think a dual core wold be sufficient, because i want this to last a while. i was thinking of a newegg combo deal, something like this or this.

memory: i could pick up a basic 2x1 kit for like 20 bucks

psu: i know never to look toward ****ty brands, but if i'm not OCing or anything, would a diablotek/raidmax be ok?
hdd: judging from reviews on newegg, i wouldn't really trust a refurbished one, but i was thinking of maybe browsing the marketplace here and picking up a simple SATA hdd

are there any cheaper alternatives or better deals? i'm not exactly ready to buy yet, just started looking.

thanks
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post #2 of 10
8/3/12 at 10:58am
1. A dual core would be fine, you could go with one of those cheap E-350 apus.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157228
2. 2gb of ram is fine, but i would go with 4gb, because you can find some for like $25.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820576003
3. i would strongly advice against getting diablotek and raidmax. why not just get a cheap seasonic?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151077
4. if all she is doing is surfing the web, why not get an ssd? it will make the rig nice and snappy!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147162
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147163
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post #3 of 10
8/3/12 at 11:02am
Build a PC using the marketplace here at OCN. Find a cheap system on the marketplace also.. There is a cheap mITX system right now.. I'm sure he would take 200$ if you offered it to him. thumb.gif
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post #4 of 10
8/3/12 at 11:38am
A dual-core would be fine for something like this. Nothing that you're wanting to do is going to need more than two cores. There's a huge difference between one core and two for basic computing tasks, but returns diminish rapidly after that. You would do fine with a low-end A-Series APU or an Intel G620 on a cheap motherboard. The APU will offer better graphics, the Intel chip will offer better CPU performance but not much graphically.

You can probably get by with a cheap PSU, but I won't recommend it. You never know when a Diablotek or Raidmax will go poof into the night.

Might as well get 4 GB of RAM for this, since it's so cheap. 2GB is fine, especially if this would be running XP, but too much RAM never hurt anyone.

Don't put in a slow HDD as a system's only hard disk. Nothing turns a system into a steaming pile of crap worse than a bargain-basement HDD on a basic computer. Either a 7200 RPM drive with a low seek time, or a SSD.
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post #5 of 10
8/3/12 at 11:38am
You can find good deals used, for sure. For a new computer, you're looking at:

Pentium g630 ($68)
H61 mobo ($57)
2x2gb ram ($23)
.. well here's links below:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116406
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=63501&vpn=GA%2DH61M%2DS2H&manufacture=Gigabyte
* note the mobo above has all 3 VGA, DVI, & HDMI monitor connections, an important consideration for integrated grahics
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231253
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=33357&vpn=CMPSU%2D400CX&manufacture=Corsair&promoid=1145
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=49597&vpn=DRW%2D24B1ST%20Bulk&manufacture=ASUS&promoid=1145
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148702

Total: $255 (includes a $17 DVD-burner, which I suppose you could drop)
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post #6 of 10
8/3/12 at 11:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by MisterFred View Post

You can find good deals used, for sure. For a new computer, you're looking at:
Pentium g630 ($68)
H61 mobo ($57)
2x2gb ram ($23)
.. well here's links below:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116406
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=63501&vpn=GA%2DH61M%2DS2H&manufacture=Gigabyte
* note the mobo above has all 3 VGA, DVI, & HDMI monitor connections, an important consideration for integrated grahics
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231253
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=33357&vpn=CMPSU%2D400CX&manufacture=Corsair&promoid=1145
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=49597&vpn=DRW%2D24B1ST%20Bulk&manufacture=ASUS&promoid=1145
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148702
Total: $255 (includes a $17 DVD-burner, which I suppose you could drop)
that hard drive is prone to failure, i wouldnt suggest it.
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post #7 of 10
8/3/12 at 12:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by thepoopscooper View Post

that hard drive is prone to failure, i wouldnt suggest it.

Source? Not challenging you, I just want a good reason to not recommend it over smaller HDDs in the future.
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post #8 of 10
8/3/12 at 1:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MisterFred View Post

Source? Not challenging you, I just want a good reason to not recommend it over smaller HDDs in the future.
if you look at the reviews, most of them say it died on them.
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Pros: 2nd one works as advertised

Cons: 1st one died within days

Other Thoughts: Every manufacturer will have bad drives, I am so happy with Seagate's RMA process that I doubt I will ever buy another brand until they disappoint me there. Very quick turn around. NewEgg would have taken care of it for me, but I kept putting it off till it was too late, so my bad there.

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Pros: When it ran it was great

Cons: Had it for a year and a half it jst crashed. used it only to run software. glade I put my pics and vids on an external hard drive.

Other Thoughts: Seagate has been a good product. I think they need to review this drive try to fix its problems or dump the line

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Pros: Free shipping to me.

Cons: Dead on arrival. Return shipping is costing me over 12 dollars, non-reimbursable. Now the drive is similar cost as going to a retail outlet, and from start to finish 19 days to get a hard drive that may or may not work.

Other Thoughts: Do not buy seagate unless you have an extra 12 dollars and 3 weeks of time you are willing to waste.

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Pros:Good stats and price, if it works.

Cons: Drive was recognized by BIOS, most of the time. Wouldn't format, would lock up after being partitioned. Replaced with a different drive in this new system and everything worked fine.

Edited by thepoopscooper - 8/3/12 at 1:45pm
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Artic Silver 5 Windows 7 Professional  Samsung Syncmaster SA10 18.5" Logitech K520 
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CM xTreme power 500w Thermaltake Commander MSI Logitech M310 Some generic mousepad.. 
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My First Rig
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Samsung Wonder Ram WD Caviar Blue Coolermaster hyper 212 CM R4 Sickleflow X3 
CoolingOSMonitorKeyboard
Artic Silver 5 Windows 7 Professional  Samsung Syncmaster SA10 18.5" Logitech K520 
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CM xTreme power 500w Thermaltake Commander MSI Logitech M310 Some generic mousepad.. 
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post #9 of 10
8/3/12 at 1:49pm
Oh. Well, newegg reviews are pretty much only good for knowing how a product will die on you, not if it will die on you. Pretty much all the hard drives with a lot of reviews on newegg have similar comments.
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post #10 of 10
8/3/12 at 2:56pm
Thread Starter 
thanks for all the input guys. i will definitely look into The APUs. just a couple questions. would there be better performance if i were to get a desktop processor, like an athlon or pentium dual core and a cheap mobo, compared to the new APUs, or is the price to performance ratio of something like the e-350 just too good? (i havent really kept up to date on this).

also, i heard there are certain ssds to stay away from, such as OCZ's. is this true?

thanks smile.gif
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955BE C3 @ 3.82 GHz [1.404v Load] ASUS M4A88T-V EVO/USB3 [2.8 GHz NB @ 1.318v] MSI GTS 450 + EVGA GT 240 PhysX [306.23] 2x2GB Kingston HyperX [1600 8-9-8-25 @ 1.68v] 
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320GB WD Caviar Blue Sony Optiarc DVD RW AD-7260S ATA XSPC Rasa 750 RS240 [Backplate Mod] [MX-2] Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit 
MonitorKeyboardPowerCase
Acer 19" X193w LCD [1440 x 900 @ 75Hz] Logitech K120 OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W Modular NZXT M59 [5 x 120mm Fans + Rheobus Fan Controller] 
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It Gets The Job Done
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CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
955BE C3 @ 3.82 GHz [1.404v Load] ASUS M4A88T-V EVO/USB3 [2.8 GHz NB @ 1.318v] MSI GTS 450 + EVGA GT 240 PhysX [306.23] 2x2GB Kingston HyperX [1600 8-9-8-25 @ 1.68v] 
Hard DriveOptical DriveCoolingOS
320GB WD Caviar Blue Sony Optiarc DVD RW AD-7260S ATA XSPC Rasa 750 RS240 [Backplate Mod] [MX-2] Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit 
MonitorKeyboardPowerCase
Acer 19" X193w LCD [1440 x 900 @ 75Hz] Logitech K120 OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W Modular NZXT M59 [5 x 120mm Fans + Rheobus Fan Controller] 
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