A build for my parents.

[JonnyR]

Hey everyone,

I want to help my parents out this christmas by replacing their old PIII system with something more up to date. My dad games quite a bit, but nothing too demanding -- games like Civilization and Age of Empires -- and my mom just does the usual web/email/office stuff. I'm hoping to find something decent for about 1k.

I'd like to go with a Core 2 Duo, if that's possible in my price range. Probably a gig of quality memory. Good, but not amazing video card -- I'd consider integrated to save money. Middle of the road sound card. Quality harddrive, but they don't need anything huge -- 150 gigs is plenty. Opticals are cheap -- just anything decent. And then of course things like a PSU, cords, etc.

I'll also have to buy them Windows (I'd like to get XP pro) and a monitor would be really nice too -- although this would almost surely push me out of my price range. I'm willing to go up to about 1300.

If I could get any suggestions on a possible build, I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks!

Jonny

 

[sabashuali]

Hi and welcome to the forum.
Hope you have a nice stay...

Are you planning to build or buy ready made?

All the best!

 

[JonnyR]

Hey, thanks!

I was planning on building the system myself to save money, although if there's a good deal to buy, I would consider it.

 

[Addis]

Sometimes it could be cheaper to buy it prebuilt, or not. It depends.

Core 2 Duos are good, but if they're out of your price range go for an AMD Athlon64 X2 4200/4800.

I also suggest getting some quiet cooling components, as parents don't usually like loud PCs :).

 

[Big B]

Well, without the monitor, it can be done under $1k...at least if you're set on a Core 2 Duo. If they're not audiophiles, then you can go with the on-board sound. Anyway, here it goes:

MIR=Mail-In Rebate
Shipping is the basic 3 day shipping

Motherboard: ECS P965T-A $89.99 ($15 MIR) ($6.13 shipping)
CPU: Core 2 Duo E6300 $181.49 (Free shipping)
RAM: Kingston PC2-5300 2x512MB $114.49 ($4.99 shipping)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce 7600GS 256MB $104.99 ($10 MIR) ($6.13 shipping)
Hard Drive: Seagate 160GB SATAII $57.99 ($5.94 shipping)
Optical Drive: Pioneer 16x DVD-RW $31.99 ($5.64 shipping)
Sound Card: Chaintech AV-710 $21.99 ($6.34 shipping)
Power Supply: Seasonic S12 500W $119.99 ($8.02 shipping)
Case: CoolerMaster Centurion $44.99 ($9.99 shipping)
Monitor: Samsung 720N 17" LCD $179.99 ($30 MIR) ($10.99 shipping)
OS: Windows XP Pro SP2 $139.99 ($4.99 shipping)

Total: $1,087.99
Shipping: $69.16
Total: $1,157.15

Total MIR: $55
Total After MIR: $1,102.15

Taxes if you're in California or New Jersey

I'd stick with a separate video card solely because integrated video typically uses part of the system memory.

Without a monitor, it's no problem to get it under $1k, even with shipping factored in.

The power supply is designed to be quiet, but if that's not a big deal, there's plenty of other options.

 

[sabashuali]

Building yourself is good if you can live with the consequences.... :eek:
It is also a nice experience, building something yourself.

What I mean is that when you build, you normaly end up tweaking and fiddling for ever. Your parents might not be impressed with this.... also you have no support in case things go wrong... :( apart from, this amazing site!

A good option might be a barebone machine which has the essentials installed and tested. Then you can add things like Gcard and drives yourself.
The prices for these are conciderably lower than a full blown system.

Dell are always good value for money as ready systems go...

 

[Karanislove]

Building yourself is good if you can live with the consequences....
It is also a nice experience, building something yourself.

What I mean is that when you build, you normaly end up tweaking and fiddling for ever. Your parents might not be impressed with this.... also you have no support in case things go wrong... apart from, this amazing site!

A good option might be a barebone machine which has the essentials installed and tested. Then you can add things like Gcard and drives yourself.
The prices for these are conciderably lower than a full blown system.

Dell are always good value for money as ready systems go...

Well! if u take in other way around then this will look much better......
1. If something goes wrong then u dont have to wait for the company's response. You can just go and open the case yourself to fix the problem
2. You get more customised PC.
3. You can get upgrades easily and any standard thing will fit into that but in companys PC its very likely...
4. Its cheap...
5. Gives you more experience dealing with hardware...
6. Manuals are always there if you are really worried about going something wrong can happen...

nd the list will go on n on n on......like this...:doh: