New build to replace an ancient pc

[Green Monkey]

Here's the story: my mother-in-law finally signed up for dsl internet, and discovered she couldn't connect the modem. I had a look, and her computer is so old that it has neither a network connection, or even USB connectors! Told her its about time to replace, and I'd see what I could do.

I'm looking for a relatively inexpensive cpu/motherboard/memory combination at minimum. And of course a new power supply. Peripherals and moniter are not needed, as she wants to keep using what she has. Ideally, we'll keep her hard drive and cd burner (both IDE), but if this isn't practical, they should be pretty cheap to replace.

What do you guys recommend? The computer will be running Windows XP, mainly for internet/word processing, with a few more intensive tasks. Ideally the motherboard will include network and an onboard sound and video card, since more is unlikely necessary. Future upgrade ability is nice, as in a couple years she'll retire and no longer have a work laptop, and will use this pc for everything.

Thanks.

[joshrogoff]

Intel Core 2 Duo E6320 Conroe 1.86GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115015

ASUS P5B-MX LGA 775 Intel 946GZ Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131186

CORSAIR ValueSelect 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145098

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148140

SPARKLE ATX-450PN ATX12V 2.2 450W Power Supply 110-120/ 220-240V UL, CSA, TUV, CB - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817103024

Microsoft Windows XP Home With SP2B 1 Pack - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116056

That comes out to 543.95. Add a case for 50 or so bucks and you're in business, i would suggest this case..

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119068

Good looking, good quality and great price, which brings the total to 588.94. Great deal for a great quality computer. Hope this helps!

[Green Monkey]

Looks good, and right around the right price range. Just a couple questions:

1. Will I be able to use her old cd drive and/or hard drive with this motherboard? Don't think so, but might have missed in in the specs on the website.

2. Forgot to mention I'm in Canada, anyone know a good seller that will ship to Canada (whether Canadian or American)?

Any other suggestions?

[perkster]

the P5B series has 3rd party IDE controllers so while you can technically use IDE drives we wouldnt recommend it, best to spend a few bucks and get a SATA hard rive and DVD burner, the seagate recommended by josh is your best bet for HD, and for the DVD burner go lite-one SATA model.

[jer888]

If the optical and hard drive have IDE connectors then yes, but you might as well just replace those too if they are really that old.

LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 8X DVD-R DL 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM IDE Burner with LightScribe Technology - Retail
The IDE drivers on the P5B's isnt that great, and its old technology anyways. SATA is better.

That will burn CDs and DVDs, and comes with Nero.

The rest looks great.

[joshrogoff]

Sorry, forget to add the optical drive.

[Green Monkey]

Thanks for the tips. Looking at the suggested drives as we speak, replacing the old ones won't be a big deal, and will be better going forward anyway.

As I mentioned above, anyone know a good retailer who will ship to Canada?

Thanks again.

[Jimmy0]

Check out http://www.ncix.com/