First Time Build

[PC Plus]

This computer will be used to surf the internet and email. It is not a gaming computer. My budget is $400 to $500 dollars.

1. Case- Aspire Infinity

2. Mobo: ECs ATX Intel Socket T

3. CPU: Intel Celeron D 326 Prescott 2.53 GHZ

4. HDD: Western Digital Caviar 40GB 2MB cache

5. Ram: Kngston HyperX (2x256) PC4300 dual Channel

6. Pri. Optical: DVD Rewritable Burner 12x

7. Floppy: NEC 1.44 3.5

8. Video Card: ATI Radeon X300SE hypermemory 256MB PCI Express 16x

9. Modem: Zonenet 56KBPS PCI Bus

10. Fan and Heat Sink: Mass Cool 90mm Sleeve

Any suggestions and comments are welcome.

[jayb1234]

1: Aspire power supplies are junk. Either get a case with a decent power supply or buy one seperately and toss the aspire.

2: ECS motherboards are junk too.

Intel or ASUS would be best.

10: no need for an aftrmarket cpu fan/featsink unit. The stock unit will be more than adequate and not using it voids the processor warranty.

9: Unless you are on a dialup internet connection, you don't need the modem.

Don't forget the OS. XP Home w/SP2 will run about $90.

4: hard drive is only 2Mb cache, look for one with at least 8Mb and preferably 16Mb cache

5: no need for hyperx memory, regular value select will be fine.

[DarkPacMan77]

1. aspire usually is junk like jay says... but, most power supply failures are from having not enough juice to power the system, and that should be able to. Just know you are taking a slight chance.
2. ECS motherboards aren't "Junk". Some are actually very good. If you are considering one though, make sure you read over everything very thoroughly about the motherboard, preferably going to forums dedicated for the specific board you chose. They are also usually pretty flimsy, so be aware.
3: that processor is a little older. You will not need to have an aftermarket cooling solution. In fact... you may want to even upgrade a little bit, who knows.
4: hard drive really needs at least 8mb cache, like jay suggests.

[PC Plus]

1. Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar SE 40 GB, 8MB Cache

2. Mobo: Asus Socket T Celeron D Intel 915 PL

3. Memory: A-Data 512MB 184 pin (PC 3200)

The Theraltake Power Supply is not the power supply that came with the Aspire Case. Is
430W enough juice? Also, the fan and heat sink has been deleted.

[DarkPacMan77]

1. depending on how much you download and manage files (especially videos) you will most likely want more than 40gb or hard drive space. It is good that you have an 8mb cache version, however, you could get something to last a long time if you got say, a 250gb Western Digital (brand name) hard drive with 16mb cache for under $80.

i would at least get 100gb for a hard drive.

other than that, it looks decent.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by PC Plus The Theraltake Power Supply is not the power supply that came with the Aspire Case. Is 430W enough juice?

Yes, it's more than adequate.

Cricket

[PC Plus]

Thank you for everyone's input. It is very helpful.

[blue60007]

Avoid Hypermemory (and nVidia's Turbocache) video cards -- it steals memory from the system (only has a little onboard RAM). Kinda defeats one of the purposes of upgrading from onboard video (regaining lost RAM). You could probably save a few further bucks by finding a motherboard with onboard video. Possibly spend any saved money on a upgraded CPU.

Here's what I'd get:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131545
ASUS P5LD2-VM
And that uses DDR2 240-pin RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145530

Just another idea...

EDIT: Fixed RAM link - thanks glc

[glc]

I concur with the P5LD2-VM to maintain high quality, use the onboard video. It has a PCI-Ex16 slot for an upgrade later if needed. However, Blue has linked to the wrong ram. Buy the retail boxed version of the processor, get a dual channel kit of Corsair Value Select DDR2-533 or 667 ram, whichever is cheaper, I would get a 1gb kit. I would recommend a 80gb SATA hard drive (WD or Seagate) - it's going to be about the same price as a 40gb IDE drive. The best deals now on DVD burners are Lite-On.

How about an Antec Sonata II case? It comes with a high quality power supply.

[blue60007]

Yep, my bad. I was checking against DDR prices and grabbed the wrong link...

Here's 512:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145530

Here's a gig:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145526

[newbuilder14]

If you can stretch another $49 on the processor get the Pentium D 805, it's dual core and would be an excellent processer. If you do so, I recommend an Asus P5LD2-VM motherboard. Onboard video.

[john-boy]

Lurker here (starting a build myself in the near future, so I'll probably be asking for help too ), one thing to perhaps think about after the build, is if the machine is going to be used for just internet, email and word processing etc - may not hurt to try something like Kubuntu instead of XP Home. Should save a bit of cash on the build.