Business pc build. help please

[XRUNNER]

Yep, I come crawling back again! :)
All the pc's I have built with your help are still running (some with upgrades), thank you all.

I need to build a business pc that will handle a some media (flash, photo shop, quark express).

900.00 budget

I found the following hardware at Newegg.com,

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811147075
Rosewill R230-P-BK Black 0.5mm SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Model #: R230-P-BK
Item #: N82E16811147075

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813135039
ECS GeForce6100SM-M (1.0) Socket AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6100S Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Model #: GeForce6100SM-M (1.0
Item #: N82E16813135039

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817104953
FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX400-PN ATX12V 400W Power Supply - Retail
Model #: AX400-PN
Item #: N82E16817104953

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819103774
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ Brisbane 2.1GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model ADO4000DDBOX - Retail
Model #: ADO4000DDBOX
Item #: N82E16819103774

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820145590
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400 - Retail
Model #: TWIN2X2048-6400
Item #: N82E16820145590

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822144701
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Model #: WD2500KS
Item #: N82E16822144701

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16825180003
ENCORE ENF656-ESW-NDPR 56Kbps Fax Modem - Retail
Model #: ENF656-ESW-NDPR
Item #: N82E16825180003

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16827106040
LITE-ON Combo Drive Black SATA Model SHC-52S7K-05 - OEM
Model #: SHC-52S7K-05
Item #: N82E16827106040

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16832116204
Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Home Premium for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM
Model #: 66I-00788
Item #: N82E16832116204

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16824001080
SAMSUNG 940BX Black 19" 5ms DVI LCD Monitor with height adjustment - Retail
Model #: 940BX
Item #: N82E16824001080

Subtotal.. 749.90

The 900.00 budget is not written in stone. The pc is for my 72 yr old mother, and I am more than willing to throw another couple hundred at it if need be.

I am looking at improving in the following areas,:confused:


Better quality case (dust filters and 120mm or quieter fans).


Better MoBo ,we don't need SLI, I don't care for micro ATX, and would prefer aud vid cards over integrated.


We also of coarse would go to great measures to insure we never loose the data on the hard drives


I have been out of the loop for a little while and would greatly appreciate any ideas you may have.

[Alaron]

Check out the Asus M2N-E for a motherboard. It would be a massive improvement. ECS is bottom of the barrel quality.

That optical drive is only a DVD reader & CD Burner. You may want to buy a DVD Burner so you can burn and read both DVDs and CDs. Stick with LiteOn and be sure to get a model that comes with Nero.

I'd also go with a 32bit version of Vista. The only benefit to 64bit is that it can handle 4GB of RAM, but your setup has 2GB, so you don't really need it.

For a video card, take a look at entry Radeons like the X1300.

Finally, kudos to your mother for staying in the PC game.

[blue60007]

Quick comment on the case - 120mm fans are definitely nice. But keep in mind, dust filters will need to be cleaned pretty often or they clog up the air vents.

Oh, and you might look at investing in a external hard drive for back up if you/she will need to be doing frequent backups. Otherwise some CD-R's periodically would work I suppose. Actually, you can put yourself an external drive together really cheaply.

[XRUNNER]

Check out the Asus M2N-E for a motherboard. It would be a massive improvement. ECS is bottom of the barrel quality.

The Asus M2N-E looks excellent, I had never heard of the "elite group" but the reviews looked ok, and it seems modern technology is geared more towards gaming, I think its tough to build a pc for work.
That optical drive is only a DVD reader & CD Burner. You may want to buy a DVD Burner so you can burn and read both DVDs and CDs. Stick with LiteOn and be sure to get a model that comes with Nero.
Thank you, I will buy the DVD burner.
I'd also go with a 32bit version of Vista. The only benefit to 64bit is that it can handle 4GB of RAM, but your setup has 2GB, so you don't really need it.
I am curious what the pros and cons are. In this application I am concerned about the possibility of running older 32bit apps (is there an option to change compatability as in XP 64bit), and also am wondering if the 64bit OS will have anymore driver conflicts/bug fixes than the 32bit OS, or will they both pretty much feel like everything else since 3.0. :)

For a video card, take a look at entry Radeons like the X1300.
The X1300 that newegg stocks atm is agp, and the others are close to the 100.00 range (pretty close to the mid gamer vid cards).
I have a, POWERCOLOR RV6P-B3 Radeon 7000 64MB 64-bit DDR PCI Video Card - Retail
Item #: out of stock :) , I purchased just in case an agp card died on one of our older pc's. The Samsung website says it is within requirements for that monitor, and it has the DVI connection.
Please let me know if that vid card will not do the Samsung monitor justice

Finally, kudos to your mother for staying in the PC game.
Hey she wrote code in the 70's, visual basic in the 80's, and holds new technology dear!
I will make this thread the homepage on the new pc :D , thank you for helping!

Hi blue60007,
Thanks for mentioning about the filters. We are pretty good about blowing the dust out, but this is on a farm and mostly fine dust. I am thinking the filters (porous ones like in my Lian case) probably won't catch that fine dust anyway. I was figuring on the 120mm fans mainly to keep things quiet.

We actually do have an external drive for backup's, but also have to concider the many hrs it takes to reconfigure the accounting software for our particular business (like a day of relearning and coding sage software).

I am going to make a new hardware list and try to post it before I crash, thanks for helping us out!

[XRUNNER]

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811129017
Antec Performance One P180B Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel for durability through the majority of chassis 1.0mm cold rolled steel around the 4 x HDD area ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Model #: P180B
Item #: N82E16811129017

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813131022
ASUS M2N-E Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 Ultra MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Model #: M2N-E
Item #: N82E16813131022

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817104953
FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX400-PN ATX12V 400W Power Supply - Retail
Model #: AX400-PN
Item #: N82E16817104953

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819103759
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ Windsor 2.6GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model ADA5200CSBOX - Retail
Model #: ADA5200CSBOX
Item #: N82E16819103759

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820145590
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400 - Retail
Model #: TWIN2X2048-6400
Item #: N82E16820145590

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822135106
2- Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JD 80GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Model #: WD800JD
Item #: N82E16822135106

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16824001080
SAMSUNG 940BX Black 19" 5ms DVI LCD Monitor with height adjustment - Retail
Model #: 940BX
Item #: N82E16824001080

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16825180003
ENCORE ENF656-ESW-NDPR 56Kbps Fax Modem - Retail
Model #: ENF656-ESW-NDPR
Item #: N82E16825180003

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16827106055
LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with 12X DVD-RAM write and LightScribe Technology Black E-IDE/ATAPI Model LH-20A1H-185 - OEM
Model #: LH-20A1H-185
Item #: N82E16827106055

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16832116204
Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Home Premium for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM
Model #: 66I-00788
Item #: N82E16832116204

Subtotal: $976.90
Subtract 70.00 rebates

What do you think?
Im thinking the case is a bit overboard, but Lian seems to be in love with the 80mm fans and blow holes and I would rather have good airlow, a bit quieter, and the option of plugging in to USB without crawling around on the floor. The Antec sonata case has also gone down hill IMO.
I really dont have any experience with the other brands other than the wild looking Raidmax case I used for my daughters build,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811156058
.
Im sorry if I seem a little resilient on the Vista 32bit vs 64bit, but I do not know that this pc will not have 4gb's or more of memory in the future, and know absolutely nothing about any other possible issues.
Thanks again guys, let me know your thoughts and in the morning I will push the button and get this build under way.

[Katreat]

Well, at least for the gamer, 64 bit OS has always been a bit buggy. With XP 64 alot of hardware never even developed drivers. With the new Vista that does not seem as big a problem but they are slower arriving. When Vista hit vid card makers got moving and quickly developed and fixed 32 bit drivers, they moved on to 64 eventually, but only after they got 32were up and running. So I think the hesitation in recommending 64 is that until it becomes mainstream it will always play second fiddle behind 32. Basically, you risk more bugs and slower fixes for what at this time, because mose software does not take advantage of it, little real gain in performance.

So, if you can see a real gain for the software you run then go for it, but just as you said you might add 2 more gigs of ram, you can also upgrade to 64 when you need it or it becomes more mainstream.

One worning about the 180 case, it is very heavy. So it would be a bad choice if your grandmother wants to carry it around to lan parties :) If you like Lian Li cases you might check this one out, pretty simple case but 2 x 120 fans and Lian Li quality at an affordable price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112099

Kat

[mairving]

Kind of crazy IMO to build a business PC nowadays. Dell's new Vostro line (http://www.dell.com/content/products/category.aspx/desktops?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd&~tab=3&mboxSession=1310356949&email=1) starts at $399 with a 19" LCD monitor.

[Alaron]

Here is the optical to get: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106072

Your list is good otherwise.

[Gen.Ben]

Kind of crazy IMO to build a business PC nowadays. Dell's new Vostro line (http://www.dell.com/content/products/category.aspx/desktops?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd&~tab=3&mboxSession=1310356949&email=1) starts at $399 with a 19" LCD monitor.

Agreed.

[XRUNNER]

Kind of crazy IMO to build a business PC nowadays. Dell's new Vostro line (http://www.dell.com/content/products/category.aspx/desktops?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd&~tab=3&mboxSession=1310356949&email=1) starts at $399 with a 19" LCD monitor.

I would prefer to not save the cardboard box so we can ship the POS back later for repairs/replacement!:)

I am typing on the home built PII pc this new build will replace and trying to remember the last time I saw an actual running Dell, hp, compaq,etc this vintage (that hasnt been sitting in a closet for a few years).

Thank you Alaron I am glad you caught my mistake with the IDE/OEM dvd burner!
I will also change the OS to Vista 32bit. heh watch them announce another new OS this winter! They will call it "SQUANDER".
Thanks for the help!

[mairving]

I would prefer to not save the cardboard box so we can ship the POS back later for repairs/replacement!:)

You know I have built a couple of hundred computers over the years. It just isn't worth building the low end business ones any more. You get a much better deal from Dell or HP plus good reliable machines. Out of the 500 or so Dells that we have at work we maybe have to replace one a year that is in warranty. Plus if it is for a business the support is better and US based for Dell at least.

[XRUNNER]

You know I have built a couple of hundred computers over the years. It just isn't worth building the low end business ones any more. You get a much better deal from Dell or HP plus good reliable machines. Out of the 500 or so Dells that we have at work we maybe have to replace one a year that is in warranty. Plus if it is for a business the support is better and US based for Dell at least.

I appreciate your input, but I AM going to build this computer, while I have not nor do I hope to build 100's of computers in my lifetime, speaking from approx 60 yrs of combined experience, we do not want the Dell!
I live in the US within 1/4 mile of the business, and (hopefully with your help) will repair the computer should anything go wrong.

Besides, the dell would run close to the same price after we "customize" it (memory, etc) to make it actually run near its potential, and we would still have a bunch of junk parts in a cheap case, with an analog monitor, and a card board box standing by.

Thank you for all your help everyone, this forum Rocks!

[piasabird]

The Vostro line from Dell is pretty flexible. They had one version that you use a processor from E22?? to around E6550. Not only that but you could choose a wide range of hard drive from 80 gigs on up.

A Day or two ago they had a sale and they were throwing in a 19 inch LCD monitor for free. However, it was a one-day sale. I would look for a sale over the weekend and see what they got. Dell is funny about the frequency of their sales. They pop up sometimes for a few days or even a one-day sale like I said.

The trick with a multimedia computer is picking the correct video card, or maybe choosing a TV Tuner type of card like a PVR. Hard to put together a workstation at the price of a Low-End PC. Need like 2-4 gigs of RAM, a Processor with the 4 meg shared L2 Cache, good DVR writer and honkin huge hard drives (HHHD).

On a side note it is better to keep the PC In a low-dust environment, than to try to keep cleaning air filters. Let me see a den with an air conditioner that recirculates the air only in that room. No rugs, no drapes. Probably easier said than done. However, it might be nice to have some kind of ionic air filter.

[XRUNNER]

1 LIAN LI PC-60APLUSII Silver Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Item #: N82E16811112069
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy $129.99 (this was moms choice over the antec offerings)

1 SAMSUNG 940BX Black 19" 5ms DVI LCD Monitor with height adjustment - Retail
Item #: N82E16824001080
Return Policy: [LCD] Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy $239.99 (Eat your heart out production techs)

1 GIGABYTE GA-M61P-S3 AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813128034
Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy
Gigabyte (626)-854-9338 option 4 www.giga-byte.com $74.99 (basic and has a few goodies)

2 Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JD 80GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Item #: N82E16822135106
Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy
This item is serviced by the Western Digital. Please call 800 832 4778 for service. $85.98
(RAID mirror will help to prevent data loss)

1 ENCORE ENF656-ESW-NDPR 56Kbps Fax Modem - Retail
Item #: N82E16825180003
Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy $5.99

1 AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+(65W) Windsor 2.2GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model ADO4200CUBOX - Retail
Item #: N82E16819103741
Return Policy: Processors (CPUs) Return Policy
For Retail AMD processor, please call 408 749-3060 for service after first 30 days. For OEM AMD processor, we will service for 30 days only. Please verify the Processor matches your order Prior To installation. IMPORTANT: Always pack your CPU well for return. We will refuse your RMA if we received it as DAMAGED! $74.99 (I have seen faster 32 bit cpu's running 32 bit applications. ;),,)

1 Microsoft Windows XP Professional With SP2B 1 Pack - OEM
Item #: N82E16832116059
Return Policy: Software Return Policy
Please Note CD keys are listed on the outside of the plastic wrap accompanying your product. $139.99 (yep this will work for another 4 yrs, thank you)

1 VANTEC CB-ISATAU2 SATA/IDE to USB 2.0 Adapter - Retail
Item #: N82E16812232002
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy $19.99 (recovered program config files from dead 1 yr 2 month old Sager Desktop replacement)

1 FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX400-PN ATX12V 400W Power Supply - Retail
Item #: N82E16817104953
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy $39.99 ( Had to add an adapter, only had 2 sata connectors)

1 NEC Beige 1.44MB 3.5" Floppy Drive - OEM
Item #: N82E16821152001
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy $5.49 ( well I had a old one laying around but figured I would splurge, lol.)

1 LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model LH-20A1L-06 - Retail
Item #: N82E16827106072
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy $39.99 (very nice drive, quiet and with nero it was easy to do a test rip!)

1 CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400 - Retail
Item #: N82E16820145590
Return Policy: Memory (Modules, USB) Return Policy $98.00 (always good in my limited experience)

Subtotal: $955.38
Tax: $0.00
Shipping: $53.55
Amount Paid: $1,008.93

And I used the ATI 7000 PCI 1 card I had previously mentioned.

piasabirdmairvingGen.Ben
I know you are absolutly right. I didnt convey in my initial post that this is my mother, and the business is our family farm.
We only run a couple of pc's at our small business and Moms pc needs to be capable of doing whatever Mom decides she wants to do. ;)

Alaron
Thank you so much, you were a big help!

blue60007
Hey we really have the dust. Dryland silty clay loam, but the filters will catch the lint hopefully and prevent "dust bunnies". ;) We have a hard drive and also now have access to all of the hard drives via usb thanks to that vantec adapter (it works good too), thank you!

Katreat
I agree, it makes sense to go 32 bit, its just to bad Intel and AMD are charging us as if we were running (able to find) 64 bit applications!
Oh and its not My Grandma, and BTW she has been packing around a Sager, lol.

This was another fun build! Mom smiles and tells me the new pc runs fine. I think the Lian case adds a little pride. If a Dell freezes it often gets drop kicked, but people are a little more careful with a Lian LI box...John