Snappy $500 Build list for Parents

mfaerber · 05-27-2009, 10:50 AM

Hello

I'd like to know what you all think about this setup and help me make sure that it will all work together. Thank you in advance!

GOAL:
I want to build a PC for my parents to replace their old, el-cheapo Dell and in order to compete with Dells deals, I would like to keep this all under $500. My #1 goal is speed over time. I want build a computer that will still be fast 6 years from now with only a minor upgrade or two (RAM, vid card...). I want the OS to load very quickly (important!), and for applications to start with a snap. They only ever use the computer for the internet, so the most processor-intensive situation would involve streaming video and the virus scanner (AVG), maybe even at the same time! I will load it up with Win7 RC and buy it about 9 months from now.

TOTAL: $508

[$25] Rosewill R101-P-BK 120mm Fan MicroATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147112
(I would also add a $8 front fan)

[$25] DiabloTek PHD350 350-Watt Power Supply - ATX, SATA Ready, PCIe Ready, 20+4 Pin
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4252524&CatId=1077

[$72] ASRock A780GMH/128M AM2+/AM3 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157154

[$119] AMD Phenom II X3 710 2.6GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103648

[$22] OCZ Value Series 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227060

[$128] OCZ Vertex Series OCZSSD2-1VTX30G 2.5" 30GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Disk
This is for the OS only (indexing off)
READ: Up to 230 MB/s
WRITE: Up to 135MB/s (80 sustained)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227393

[$109] Acer X193Wb Black 19" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 2000:1 ACM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009151

And I will reuse the mouse, speakers, DVD and IDE hard drive (for photos, browser, virus scanner).

Thoughts? Concerns? Thanks again!

neonjuice · 05-27-2009, 11:27 AM

Look like you have some good parts there, for your parents.

The AMD Tri-Core CPU's are pretty good, from the reports I have read. If looking to go further into the future, I would maybe invest in an actual quad core. As you said though, it will not be used for heavy apps. As technology advances and software starts to utilize quad core processing, maybe the quad investment would be best, as this build is the last around 6 years.

For standing the time, I would defo, go with a minimum of 4 Gigs of RAM. 4 gigs is pretty much the new standard. I know Win 7 is meant to be less resource intensive as Vista, but still, 4 Gig would be the safer option.

HDD wise, I love the idea of an SSD for the primary master drive, but maybe you would be best investing in a 10K rpm SATA 2 drive. SSD's are great in theory, but carry a higher rish of failure. Price is pretty damn high also. Would your parents really benefit with an SSD over a 10K HDD?. Maybe an SSD is overkill for everyday regular use.

The screen is pretty good. I have an Acer 19 inch and it is nice. Good bright color and displays pictures very well.

350W PSU should run all that fine, but I am more partial to a 450W PSU for regular computers. If you run at only, say 50% of the total PSU power, then it increases system performance and keeps temps down. plus it is always nice to know you have that extra power if needed. Say somebody wishes to add a network adapter or maybe a GPU to the system, sometime in the future.

Over all looks pretty nice.

chowder_pants · 05-27-2009, 02:41 PM

but for internet surfing and video streaming, why bother spending the money on a 10k hard drive?

mfaerber · 05-27-2009, 02:55 PM

Thanks for your comments!

It is important to me that my parents can go from OFF to Google as quickly as possible, so I am still mulling over a SSD vs 10k rmp SATA. They are not addict/power users, and I will set it up to backup important stuff to a second HD, so I'm not too worried about failure.

At this point, I've changed my mind on the case, I like this one, which includes a decent 585W power supply:

HEC 6K28BBX585 Black 0.8mm SECC Steel MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case 585W PS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...ase-_-11121004

**wrench97** · 05-27-2009, 03:31 PM

Drop the Phenom x3 and use the Phenom core x2 > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103678
Or the old stand by X2 6000> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103773

WD black drive skip the SSD their main advantage is in notebooks where damage is likely to occur> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136319

But I would definitely swap the power supply for a more reliable unit.
This is a very quiet PSU that works well in a smaller case using integrated video.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817703017

One last thing swap the Ram for DDR2 800 you'll get more speed from that then the SSD drive.

mfaerber · 05-28-2009, 07:00 AM

thank you wrench,

Now why do you suggest going with the Phenom core x2 and not the x3? Is it not worth the price? Please explain.

mfaerber · 05-28-2009, 07:06 AM

thank you neonjuice,
Is there any downside to the 10k rpm Sata drives? Price is not a big deal, since they would never even use up 50gb, I could get a low capacity 10krpm drive for about the cost of a high capacity HD at a lower rpm.

I agree about the Acer, I have the popular 22" one and I love it.

wrench97,
I'll follow your recomendation on the RAM.

**Tyree** · 05-28-2009, 07:25 AM

The 32MB Cache drives will give you great performance and be a lot quieter.

mfaerber · 05-28-2009, 10:13 AM

SO, here is my revised parts list:

[$75] ASUS M3A78-CM AM2+/AM2 AMD 780V Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131330

[$70] AMD Athlon X2 7850 Black Edition Kuma 2.8GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache 2MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 95W Dual-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103678

[$59] Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129042

[$40] CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139008

[$70] Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136320

[$37] OCZ Blade Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227420

[$109] ASUS VW192T+ 19" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 ASCR 4000:1(1000:1)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824236056

TOTAL: $460

**Tyree** · 05-28-2009, 12:32 PM

Looks like a keeper. Since you came in under budget, if you want to bump up the graphics this is a great little card that I use in a lot of budget builds. BIG improvement over onboard.
MSI Radeon HD 4350 $35
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127411

mfaerber · 05-28-2009, 12:42 PM

thanks Tyree

I specifically chose that mobo over other similar ones because it has ATI Radeon HD 3100. Knowing that, would the MSI Radeon HD 4350 still make a noticeable difference when watching high quality videos online?

**wrench97** · 05-28-2009, 02:32 PM

The X3 doesn't really offer anything to this build and it's intended purpose any software out now that can take advantage of more then 2 cores is the high dollar stuff like Adobe Audition, 3D graphics creation/rendering, or Cad and Catia drafting/engineering software, for office, web browsing, Email HD playback, even light video editing with Windows Movie maker and Sony Vegas will only use 2 cores so taake advantage of the lower cost chip.

To add a Video card you need to up the power supply a tad.

05-27-2009, 10:50 AM	#1 (permalink)
mfaerber Registered User Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 40 OS: winxp sp2	Snappy $500 Build list for Parents Hello I'd like to know what you all think about this setup and help me make sure that it will all work together. Thank you in advance! GOAL: I want to build a PC for my parents to replace their old, el-cheapo Dell and in order to compete with Dells deals, I would like to keep this all under $500. My #1 goal is speed over time. I want build a computer that will still be fast 6 years from now with only a minor upgrade or two (RAM, vid card...). I want the OS to load very quickly (important!), and for applications to start with a snap. They only ever use the computer for the internet, so the most processor-intensive situation would involve streaming video and the virus scanner (AVG), maybe even at the same time! I will load it up with Win7 RC and buy it about 9 months from now. TOTAL: $508 [$25] Rosewill R101-P-BK 120mm Fan MicroATX Mid Tower Computer Case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147112 (I would also add a $8 front fan) [$25] DiabloTek PHD350 350-Watt Power Supply - ATX, SATA Ready, PCIe Ready, 20+4 Pin http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4252524&CatId=1077 [$72] ASRock A780GMH/128M AM2+/AM3 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157154 [$119] AMD Phenom II X3 710 2.6GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Processor http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103648 [$22] OCZ Value Series 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227060 [$128] OCZ Vertex Series OCZSSD2-1VTX30G 2.5" 30GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Disk This is for the OS only (indexing off) READ: Up to 230 MB/s WRITE: Up to 135MB/s (80 sustained) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227393 [$109] Acer X193Wb Black 19" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 2000:1 ACM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009151 And I will reuse the mouse, speakers, DVD and IDE hard drive (for photos, browser, virus scanner). Thoughts? Concerns? Thanks again!

05-27-2009, 11:27 AM	#2 (permalink)
neonjuice Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Minnesota Posts: 113 OS: Vista Ultimate 64 bit SP1. Linux Ubuntu, XP Pro	Re: Snappy $500 Build list for Parents Look like you have some good parts there, for your parents. The AMD Tri-Core CPU's are pretty good, from the reports I have read. If looking to go further into the future, I would maybe invest in an actual quad core. As you said though, it will not be used for heavy apps. As technology advances and software starts to utilize quad core processing, maybe the quad investment would be best, as this build is the last around 6 years. For standing the time, I would defo, go with a minimum of 4 Gigs of RAM. 4 gigs is pretty much the new standard. I know Win 7 is meant to be less resource intensive as Vista, but still, 4 Gig would be the safer option. HDD wise, I love the idea of an SSD for the primary master drive, but maybe you would be best investing in a 10K rpm SATA 2 drive. SSD's are great in theory, but carry a higher rish of failure. Price is pretty damn high also. Would your parents really benefit with an SSD over a 10K HDD?. Maybe an SSD is overkill for everyday regular use. The screen is pretty good. I have an Acer 19 inch and it is nice. Good bright color and displays pictures very well. 350W PSU should run all that fine, but I am more partial to a 450W PSU for regular computers. If you run at only, say 50% of the total PSU power, then it increases system performance and keeps temps down. plus it is always nice to know you have that extra power if needed. Say somebody wishes to add a network adapter or maybe a GPU to the system, sometime in the future. Over all looks pretty nice. Last edited by neonjuice; 05-27-2009 at 11:28 AM.

05-27-2009, 02:41 PM	#3 (permalink)
chowder_pants Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 171 OS: XP SP3 My System	Re: Snappy $500 Build list for Parents but for internet surfing and video streaming, why bother spending the money on a 10k hard drive?

05-27-2009, 02:55 PM	#4 (permalink)
mfaerber Registered User Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 40 OS: winxp sp2	Re: Snappy $500 Build list for Parents Thanks for your comments! It is important to me that my parents can go from OFF to Google as quickly as possible, so I am still mulling over a SSD vs 10k rmp SATA. They are not addict/power users, and I will set it up to backup important stuff to a second HD, so I'm not too worried about failure. At this point, I've changed my mind on the case, I like this one, which includes a decent 585W power supply: HEC 6K28BBX585 Black 0.8mm SECC Steel MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case 585W PS http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...ase-_-11121004

05-27-2009, 03:31 PM	#5 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 18,544 OS: Win7	Re: Snappy $500 Build list for Parents Drop the Phenom x3 and use the Phenom core x2 > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103678 Or the old stand by X2 6000> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103773 WD black drive skip the SSD their main advantage is in notebooks where damage is likely to occur> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136319 But I would definitely swap the power supply for a more reliable unit. This is a very quiet PSU that works well in a smaller case using integrated video. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817703017 One last thing swap the Ram for DDR2 800 you'll get more speed from that then the SSD drive. __________________ Power Supply and Selection Last edited by wrench97; 05-27-2009 at 03:32 PM.

05-28-2009, 07:00 AM	#6 (permalink)
mfaerber Registered User Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 40 OS: winxp sp2	Re: Snappy $500 Build list for Parents thank you wrench, Now why do you suggest going with the Phenom core x2 and not the x3? Is it not worth the price? Please explain.

05-28-2009, 07:06 AM	#7 (permalink)
mfaerber Registered User Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 40 OS: winxp sp2	Re: Snappy $500 Build list for Parents thank you neonjuice, Is there any downside to the 10k rpm Sata drives? Price is not a big deal, since they would never even use up 50gb, I could get a low capacity 10krpm drive for about the cost of a high capacity HD at a lower rpm. I agree about the Acer, I have the popular 22" one and I love it. wrench97, I'll follow your recomendation on the RAM.

05-28-2009, 07:25 AM	#8 (permalink)
Tyree Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: May 2009 Location: Illinois Posts: 5,579 OS: XP Pro-7RC-Mandriva My System	Re: Snappy $500 Build list for Parents The 32MB Cache drives will give you great performance and be a lot quieter. __________________ Posting your PC specs will help us to help you quicker and more efficiently.

05-28-2009, 10:13 AM	#9 (permalink)
mfaerber Registered User Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 40 OS: winxp sp2	Re: Snappy $500 Build list for Parents SO, here is my revised parts list: [$75] ASUS M3A78-CM AM2+/AM2 AMD 780V Micro ATX AMD Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131330 [$70] AMD Athlon X2 7850 Black Edition Kuma 2.8GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache 2MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 95W Dual-Core Processor http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103678 [$59] Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129042 [$40] CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139008 [$70] Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136320 [$37] OCZ Blade Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227420 [$109] ASUS VW192T+ 19" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 ASCR 4000:1(1000:1) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824236056 TOTAL: $460 Last edited by mfaerber; 05-28-2009 at 10:33 AM.

05-28-2009, 12:32 PM	#10 (permalink)
Tyree Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: May 2009 Location: Illinois Posts: 5,579 OS: XP Pro-7RC-Mandriva My System	Re: Snappy $500 Build list for Parents Looks like a keeper. Since you came in under budget, if you want to bump up the graphics this is a great little card that I use in a lot of budget builds. BIG improvement over onboard. MSI Radeon HD 4350 $35 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127411 __________________ Posting your PC specs will help us to help you quicker and more efficiently.

05-28-2009, 12:42 PM	#11 (permalink)
mfaerber Registered User Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 40 OS: winxp sp2	Re: Snappy $500 Build list for Parents thanks Tyree I specifically chose that mobo over other similar ones because it has ATI Radeon HD 3100. Knowing that, would the MSI Radeon HD 4350 still make a noticeable difference when watching high quality videos online?

05-28-2009, 02:32 PM	#12 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 18,544 OS: Win7	Re: Snappy $500 Build list for Parents The X3 doesn't really offer anything to this build and it's intended purpose any software out now that can take advantage of more then 2 cores is the high dollar stuff like Adobe Audition, 3D graphics creation/rendering, or Cad and Catia drafting/engineering software, for office, web browsing, Email HD playback, even light video editing with Windows Movie maker and Sony Vegas will only use 2 cores so taake advantage of the lower cost chip. To add a Video card you need to up the power supply a tad. __________________ Power Supply and Selection