New Build

[kev_nufc]

I've been asked to make a budget pc for my family and have came up with these parts. As far as I can see its all fine and will run ok however I've never dealt with AMD and this AMD2 thing with the processor is making me cautious. Heres the specs, I would appreciate it if someone else looked over it to see if everything is ok.

Processor:
AMD Athlon 64 3200 AM2 - http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/111285

Motherboard:
Asus M2V - http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/112169

Memory:
Kingston Hyper X - http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/72644

Graphics Card:
Asus X300 - http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/105505/rb/21550454373

Case and PSU:
Asus TA250 - http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/98545/rb/21550690638

I'm gonna be using their old Hard drive as they recently upgraded it and the sound is onboard

Thanks

[freakitchen]

I'd be cautious with an AM2 build - currently having memory compatiblity and speed issues (you NEED DDR2 800 for the system to perform the same as an equivalent socket 939 system).

With this in mind, I'd go for the more stable socket 939 build. With this not being a gaming computer, I'd recommend an ASUS A8N-VM motherboard (http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/112239) - which has onboard video, allowing you to drop the extra video card - and the processor of your choice, coupled with 1GB of Corsair Value Select (http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/52057).

The case you chose is also a question mark. Whilst ASUS make good power supplies, there's no details of its specification on either ebuyer or Asus's website. I'd get This case from Antec (http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/72294).

You'll also need an optical drive, and an operating system.

FK

[kev_nufc]

First of all thanks for the speedy reply So does that motherboard have onboard graphics aswell as sound? and as for the optical drives and operating system they are taken care of too, forgot to mention them

[freakitchen]

Yes, it does. The on-board video is perfectly adequate for anything but games (and the X300 wouldn't be good for gaming anyway), and the saving should allow to get 1GB of RAM into the budget (important, since the on-board video uses up some system RAM).

The motherboard also has a PCI-Express 16 slot, should you ever want to upgrade the graphics performance.

FK

[kev_nufc]

Ok so basically it will all work if I use the 3 u linked with the socket 939 processor of the same speed?

Also with the motherboard should any hard drive work with it? I know the hard drive I will be using is 7200rpm I jus don't know what format it is ie 100/133 etc.

Thanks again

[freakitchen]

Changing to the A8N-VM with a 3200+ processor (check the price on the 3500+, if its within £10-15 of the 3200+ then its worth upgrading), 1GB of Corsair RAM and the Antec case+PSU will make for a good buget build.

Your motherboard supports both PATA (IDE) hard drives, and the newer SATA hard drives - which basically covers all the standard desktop drives. You should be fine in that regard.

FK

[kev_nufc]

Thanks big style you've been incredibly helpful

[blue60007]

You'll need a un-used copy of XP, if that's what you are using. Copies that come with pre-builts (Dell, HP, etc) are tied to that machine...but if you've got another handy, then you're set there...

[freakitchen]

No problem at all. Best of luck with the build

FK

EDIT: Good point there by Blue. I'll also add that if the copy of Windows you want to use is already on that hard drive, then you won't be able to boot straight back into it with the new PC. You'll need to run a Repair Install on it by booting from the CD. This, of course, assumes that the copy did not come with a pre-built. If that's the case - as Blue has already said - you won't be able to use it at all.

[kev_nufc]

Yeah I have a copy of XP so that won't be a problem

[DarkPacMan77]

it sounds great, but if ever someone wanted to game on it in the future, at least you have a good pci-e x16 slot. As it is, gaming wouldn't be so fast. It should multitask fairly well though, which is perhaps the main purpose of a family computer.

even audio encoding etc. should be fast.

[kev_nufc]

Yeah the computer will be mainly used for surfing the internet and general apps like excel, word etc so the graphics isn't really a setback

[DarkPacMan77]

well, if you have any younger kids in your family that might be interested in games or anything in the future....

i think it is just a future-proof thing that should be done with the graphics card, but if it isn't needed, it isn't needed. Looks good when said and done. good luck

[freakitchen]

i think it is just a future-proof thing that should be done with the graphics card, but if it isn't needed, it isn't needed.

The 'future proof' element is there, in regard to graphics - the ASUS A8N-VM has a PCI-Express slot for a dedicated graphics card, should it be needed in the future.

FK