Budget Build for my Mom

620 Views 14 Replies 10 Participants Last post by c00lkatz, Dec 6, 2009

JerseyDubbin

Discussion Starter · Dec 5, 2009

So my moms laptop died so my dad and I are thinking of buying her a desktop. More price/Power and it's going to sit on her desk and be used for web browsing, email, and pictures. No gaming.

here's my current build: I'm trying to stay below 500$ or 450$ if possible.

I have a 500watt PSU on hand already.

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MadCatMk2

· #2 · Dec 5, 2009

Get a motherboard with on-board graphics and see if you can get cheaper RAM (FS section maybe, DDR2 prices gone up). Bit bigger hard drive for cool.

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r31ncarnat3d

· #3 · Dec 5, 2009

If it's not going to be used for gaming, and mostly webbrowsing and such, you can chuck out the video card. Web browsing/email/pictures can all be satisfied with the onboard video of your motherboard. It's just $55 going to waste with the GPU.

Also, since you have a mATX board, how about a mATX tower? There's no cost difference usually, but it'd just be wasted space with the ATX midtower and the mATX towers are much lighter and easier to carry; especially helpful if your mom has to move her PC for some reason and you and your dad aren't there.

Those are the only things I want to point out

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadCatMk2

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Get a motherboard with on-board graphics and see if you can get cheaper RAM (FS section maybe). Bit bigger hard drive for cool.

If I'm not mistaken, all G31 motherboards have onboard video.

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JerseyDubbin

Discussion Starter · #4 · Dec 5, 2009

good stuff...added these two

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119088

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148395

and removed the video card

Dar_T

· #5 · Dec 5, 2009

I would try to find a nice 22'' monitor (maybe 24 if you have the money(. I upgraded my mom from a 19'' to a 22'' and she loves it. Easier to read and more room to work with.

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JerseyDubbin

Discussion Starter · #6 · Dec 5, 2009

I was thinking that too...

added
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824009145

and removed the original monitor

mmx+

· #7 · Dec 5, 2009

As said, ditch the Radeon, the Intel GMA will be enough for her. You can then spend some of the money you saved on the Gigabyte GA-G41M-ES2L, a better motherboard built around the G41 chipset. Also, you could save ~$10 on the cheaper Intel Celeron Dual-Core E3200, which is also a Wolfdale-based CPU, just like the E5200, but 100mhz slower and with less cache

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JerseyDubbin

Discussion Starter · #8 · Dec 5, 2009

added them both thanks!!

elson

· #9 · Dec 5, 2009

If only normal activities, the replace the GPU.
EDIT Sorry I didn't see your listed budget. Integrated then.

This HDD for my vote. Only $4 more for 2x the space. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136075

JerseyDubbin

Discussion Starter · #10 · Dec 5, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by elson

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If only normal activities, the replace the GPU. (you can probably find a super cheap one in the For sale thread)

This HDD for my vote. Only $4 more for 2x the space. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136075

thanks man, replaced the hard drive with a 500gb one and ditched the card already

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mmx+

· #11 · Dec 5, 2009

I don't know what 500GB HDD you chose, but I've been very happy with my Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB. It's fast, quiet, and runs cool. Great purchase overall IMO.

Also, you may want a smaller case, an ATX case and Micro-ATX motherboard seems un-necessary (I really shouldn't be talking about overkill, I have a mini-ITX motherboard in a full tower, but there you have it), so something like the Centurion 541 might be better, but you would need to order either 1 or 2 80mm fans for exhaust (I don't believe it comes with any)

Acoma_Andy

· #12 · Dec 5, 2009

If you get a board with 785G chipset (AMD), you'll get a much better onboard GPU. Or does it have to be Intel?

Quantum Reality

· #13 · Dec 5, 2009

If you're not in a hurry you might even consider used hardware. I bought a Gigabyte board and a Kuma 7750 from people on OCN and that saved a chunk of change for my build for my mom

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xxicrimsonixx

· #14 · Dec 6, 2009

Go for an AMD build. Might be able to go quad for like 20-30$ more, while also making the computer very future proof. Make sure to get an Athlon II or Phenom II though, because their performance if much better than the older AMD offerings.

c00lkatz

· #15 · Dec 6, 2009

On budget builds like these, you can't beat AMD's price/performance man. I would go with an Athlon II (or Phenom II 550/720 if the budget permits) and a mATX 785G chipset personally.

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