Need help choosing components

[Anth83]

My brother wants me to build a pc for him. He doesn't want to spend much. maybe $400 - $500. He wants it for basicly using the internet and maybe play the odd game here and there. He also wants a clear case and dvd burner. Im not to sure to build an AMD or Intel.
Can someone please help me to choose what i can get for the best value?

[Staren]

At that price point, you are going to have some trouble building with quality parts. If it wasn't for the case request, I'd just say go Dell. You don't want to have to play tech support on a system that was built cheaply. Expecally for family. You can do it for $500 'if' he doesn't need a monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, or any of that. If all he needs is the tower let us know and we should be able to work out something.

[Anth83]

yeh sorry about that. All he needs is the tower. Have everything else. Don't need OS either. have all that.

[glc]

You aren't going to get a video card in a prebuilt in that price range - and you won't have a slot for one either or a power supply that could handle one. You are going to have to build - and you are going to have to cut a LOT of corners.

[Anth83]

any suggestions for cpu/memory.motherboard ect

[Staren]

Here is what is going to eat most of your budget

http://www.xoxide.com/clearacatxca.html

The case and power supply together are going to be over $90. If you could cut the case requrement, it would be easier.

[Anth83]

ok i wasn't very specific. I meant he wants a case with a clear panel in the side. I didn't mean the whole case. Sorry guys.

[glc]

I get $425 with a Pentium D 805, an Asus P5LD2-VM, 1 gig Corsair VS DDR2-533 kit, a Lite-On DVD burner, and a Seagate 160 gig SATA drive. Prices are at Newegg and include shipping. You should be able to get a case and PSU in the $75 range - just make sure it's a QUALITY power supply. That board has onboard video - plus a PCI-E slot for a future video card upgrade.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811164040
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104952

[Anth83]

What kind of power supply would you recommend?

I don't know if he would need a duel core cpu.
Maybe 512 mb of RAM would be enough??
Also i don't reckonhe would need a 160GB HD. Maybe 80 gig.

[glc]

Check my 2 links - one is a case, the other is a power supply.
The price on that dual core makes it kinda silly to get a single core - it's only $115.
I recommend 1 gig ram even in budget builds these days.
The 160 is only 15 bucks more than an 80.

The total cost with that case and PSU is right at $500. It's using 100% quality components.

[Staren]

Go with the PSU that glc linked to. It's a good brand and powerful enough to last into a few upgrades. Any ATX case will be fine. As far as the hard drive and CPU go, going any lower would only shave a few dollars here or there. It wouldn't be worth the performance drop.

Hard drives are so cheap now days that there is only a few bucks between an 80 GB and a 160 GB drive. And as for the CPU, the 805 is the best deal you are going to get and still keep in the LGA 775 socket for future upgrades. The next model down for only $12 less is an older Prescott core, and those run pretty hot. Not Intels best design ever. Anything under $100 is getting into Celeron taratory, and they use the same Prescott core.

As for RAM, 1GB is standard these days. You could do 512, but it's bare minimum if the system will be used for any gaming at all. That's my view on the list anyway.

EDIT: Newegg has the 805 in it's Weekend Sale. It's down to $112. At that price point, it would be a waste to shave a few bucks and drop the systems power down that much.

[Anth83]

thanks alot for your help guys

[dragosinio]

Hello all, this is my first post. I am considering building a system like this one, on the low budget side. I am an eBayer, and most of my work on the computer involves images. I spend a lot of time scanning postcards and photos, sorting them in files, and uploading them to eBay. Which components would have the most noticeable effect on the speed a computer handles images? Where would it be best to put any extra budget, I mean?



And what is the point of having a clear panel on the case? Is there a practical purpose for that, or is just styling?

Thanks to all.

[dragosinio]

bump- any comments?

[Alaron]

dragosinio, we prefer each person starts their own thread. Do so if you have further questions.

But glc's above list will be fine for your needs. Photo work doesn't require much power, the 805 will be fine. And yes, windows are just for looks.