Author Topic: Building a computer (Read 250 times)

Speed55 · « **on:** November 23, 2006, 08:51:00 AM »

Hi,

For Christmas, i was thinking of building my parents a computer. Right now they have a dinky old Pent 2 that's slow for everything except typing letters.

So basically i am putting together a list of supplies/parts that are needed, and would like some recommendations. I'm thinking i could build a more efficient machine for the same price as buying a name brand one.

Case -

Case Fans - Depend on the case i'm assuming

Motherboard -

Power Supply-

Hard Drive -

Modem -

Usb ports? - or do they come with the MB?

Memory - I have Dual Channel 512 2(256) pc3200 CL2-3-2-5 Patriot memory from this comp.

Graphics Card - I have an ATI radeon 9550 from this comp.

Sound Card -

CD Rom - Have one from another comp.

DVD Rom - Have one from another comp

And anything else i've overlooked.

Thanks in advance for the help.

straffo · « **Reply #1 on:** November 23, 2006, 09:12:05 AM »

What is your budget ?

eagl · « **Reply #2 on:** November 23, 2006, 09:36:01 AM »

You might consider getting them one of the bargain price Dells. You can get a fairly decent general-use computer plus LCD monitor, operating system, and service/support for about $700, less if you go to sites like gotapex and wait until they post a good coupon.

I saw a nice basic system with a core2 duo cpu for only $700ish, including their cheapo 17" LCD monitor. Yea it only had 512 meg memory and 160 gig hard drive, but do they really need anything more than that?

If you're building it, then you gotta fix it too... Blech.

I helped build/upgrade my parent's computers once, but after that I started recommending micron, gateway, or dell, depending on which company had the best support at the time. Right now, Dell appears to be winning so that's where I send them.

eagl · « **Reply #3 on:** November 23, 2006, 09:45:34 AM »

If you insist on building one, I'd go for an integrated mobo so I wouldn't have to worry about sound, network, or video cards. I got a great micro atx mobo using nvidia 6150 chipset. It was the MSI K8NGM2, for socket 939 AMD cpus. That plus a cpu and your old memory, and you'd have a good start for not much money. Add in a cheap dvd burner ($50-$60), a cheap 160 gig HD ($55), and a small/quiet case with at least a 300W power supply. Throw windows XP media center edition on the hard drive, a new keyboard and optical mouse, get a cheapo 17" or 19" DVI LCD (that mobo has a DVI out!) for $250ish, and you are done, except for software.

Add all that up though, and you are right up there with the Dell in terms of price, but with no service or support. With the dell, you can probably find a core 2 duo cpu and get DDR2 memory which means you're slightly more likely to be able to upgrade it in a year or two when you realize you absolutely have to install windows vista for one reason or another.

Speed55 · « **Reply #4 on:** November 23, 2006, 10:23:03 AM »

My max budget is around $600, but i was thinking i could get it done for somewhere in the price range your talking about eagle.

Was also thinking with going with integrated sound and video, but i may get my dad to try aces high one day, so i don't want any glitches, which means i might have to go for a little higher end video/sound, and a little more ram.