New Computer Questions

[Srugie Veteran]

My father is looking to buy a new computer and I suggested that he would save some money if he was to but the parts off the internet and let me build the computer for him. He doesn't want to spend more than $600.00 which I hope wont be a problem. He will be using this computer mainly to surf the internet, word processing and light multimedia. I was wondering if someone could help me find someone hardware that would be the best bang for the buck. He already has a monitor and a CD drive to use so that won't need to be included in the price.

Thanks in Advance,

Josh :)

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

Get any low C2D CPU

get a P45 board

get 677 DDR2 ram

depending on how much space you need, get a WD 320GB 3200AAKS

get a 4850 for gfx card

get any case you want, I suggest the Cooler Master centurion 5 or 534.

keyboard and mouse? pretty any one will do, just don't go with the dirty cheap ones, you get what you pay.

[s1k3sT]

get a 4850 for gfx card

Sounds like overkill for "light multimedia", but the rest looks good!

[+shift. MVC]

Is the CD drive you have SATA or IDE? If IDE, you'll have to grab a board that has at least one IDE port on the motherboard.

Not 100% sure on prices right now but with 600$ you can probably get something like:

Intel C2D E5200

Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3L

OCZ/Corsair/Crucial/Mushkin DDR2 667 RAM

WD AAKS 320GB (or the 640GB one if there is room inside the budget, the 640GB is faster 'cause the WD AAKS' use 640GB platters)

Graphics card, nothing too expensive, IMO a 4850 is overkill for word processing, light media and internet surfing, maybe an HD 3650?

Case is really personal taste, find something inexpensive, but not too cheap. Take a look at Antec in additon to Cooler Master

PSU wise I would go with a 500W Antec Earthwatts, or a 450W Corsair VX

[Srugie Veteran]

I don't think a video card is particularly necessary for what he's going to be doing with the computer. Also does anyone have an idea of a well priced computer case that comes with a PSU so I don't have to buy a PSU separately. I think I can use the lower wattage PSU that comes with the case becuase I don't think this system will need a large amount of power.

[+shift. MVC]

Antec Sonata III, comes with the Earthwatts 500W I suggested. And it's not that expensive either.

[CrashG]

I don't think a video card is particularly necessary for what he's going to be doing with the computer. Also does anyone have an idea of a well priced computer case that comes with a PSU so I don't have to buy a PSU separately. I think I can use the lower wattage PSU that comes with the case becuase I don't think this system will need a large amount of power.

I got this case for the wife's machine: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811116038 comes with a 650W PSU (made by Delta) and runs her setup fine (P5K-E, E6550 Oc'd to 2.8GHz, 2Gb G.Skill, Seagate 250Gb SATA, Evga 8800GT dual slot).

It's a "no-frills" case but it works fine for it's purpose, just add a couple of fans. I also like to use Enlight cases for business machines because you have to take the front panel off to get to the screws to remove the side cover, it keeps most of the "knows JUST enough to be dangerous" kind of people out of it. :laugh:

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

I never heard of Enlight, but that does look rather good.

It does look a bit pricey, IMO. But I guess buying a PSU and case separate is about the same, if not less.