rebuilding

[rwest]

My daughter's motherboard took a dive.

Reusing parts from an HP s3400f
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...roduct=3688725

cpu: AM2 Dual Core Athlon64 X2 5200+ 2.7ghz
ram: 2 x 2gb pc6400 DDR2
opt. drv: 16X DVD(+/-)R/RW 12X RAM (+/-)R DL LightScribe SATA drive
hdd: 500 GB SATA

This is what I'm considering:

case: Rosewill R379-M Slim Micro ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811147098

Motherboard: Asus M3N78-VM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131318

psu: FSP 300w Micro
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104075

OS: WIM 7 64 bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116754

My total = $268.96

Budget is $300 - -$350 Max

Suggestions? Critisisms? Oh, and I'm going 64 bit just because..., no real reason. Should I stick with 32 bit? She gets on the net, downloads music and shops. She may play a few games but nothing onboard can't handle.

I went with a slimline because that is what she had. She does not want anything big. Oh and btw she considers a mid size big.

Oh yeah, I should be okay using the OEM heatsink and fan, right?

[rwest]

I'm also considering maybe one of these and not replacing the psu.

Antec NSK 2480
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129034

Antec NSK 1480
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129040

Anybody got thoughts, or preferences?

[glc]

The PSU will handle any onboard video and lower end cards in either of those Antec cases.

[rwest]

Thanks GLC, I always appreciate your taking a gander at what I'm doing.
Is a 64 bit OS overkill? Or does it really not matter for her needs?

[glc]

I'd stick with 32 bit for maximum software compatibility. You can still put 4gb ram in and let Windows use all it can.

[rwest]

Will do.
It's strange this unit came with 4gb of ram from HP, cause it's using Vista Home 32bit.
MB's noit completely gone yet. It just can't see any drives connected to it's first sata channel. Stupid propietary unit only has two, so she can't use the optical drive.

[glc]

What a piece of crap! Only 2 SATA connectors and no IDE controller!

[rwest]

Originally Posted by glc What a piece of crap!

Yep, and I think she's only had it about two years. We bought it for her Graduation present. Oh, and this morning the wife's talking about splitting the cost with her and buying 'another' prebuilt.

I'll be trying to sway 'em over to the light.

[glc]

Jeez - if she's adamant about a name brand, at least send her to the Dell site. My sister has one of those Studio Hybrids and it works pretty good.

[rwest]

So my wife wants me to look for a replacement pc for our daughter, I looked aroumd at towers only, and for the money Dell's the olny way to go.

She has a 19" wide screen.
She's not a gamer, but I don't want her to feel like she's losing anything, The s3400f had good onboard graphics. (GeForce 6150SE nForce 430)

Here's a couple of systems under $600:
Which one you guys think would be best for general use?

Dell Inspiron 580S #569.00

OPERATING SYSTEM:
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English edit

PROCESSOR:
Intel® Core™ i3-530 processor(4MB Cache, 2.93GHz)

MEMORY:
4GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz - 4 DIMMs

HARD DRIVE:
500GB - 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache

OPTICAL DRIVE:
16X DVD+/-RW Drive

VIDEO CARD 512MB:
NVIDIA GeForce G310

SOUND CARD Integrated:
7.1 Channel Audio

MEDIA READER Dell 19 in 1:
Media Card Reader

Network Card:
Integrated 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet

KEYBOARD AND MICE Dell:
USB Entry Keyboard

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dell Studio Slim Desktop $574.00

OPERATING SYSTEM:
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English edit

PROCESSOR:
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E7500 (3MB L2, 2.93GHz, 1066FSB)

MEMORY:
4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz- 4DIMMs edit

HARD DRIVE:
500GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™

OPTICAL DRIVE:
16X DVD+/-RW Drive

VIDEO CARD:
integrated Intel® GMA X4500HD Graphics


KEYBOARD:
Studio Consumer USB Keyboard and Optical Mouse

SOUND:
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio

Network Card:
Integrated 10/1000 Ethernet
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader

[glc]

That's interesting that they would put an Nvidia card into a box with an i3 instead of using the integrated graphics.

[rwest]

That's the upgrade option with the 500gig hdd. It comes with a 320gb hdd. $40 bucks more you get the card and bigger drive.

The other option is to up the ram to 6gb for $30.00 bucks. Dell did not give me the option for hdd only, or hdd and ram.

I have no clue as to the 310 video card, think it's really any better than the onboard? Other than being a seperate card?

This is the onboard:
Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD

[glc]

Well, the G310 should be better than the onboard, if for no other reason that it's going to release the shared memory. From what I can find, a G310 is essentially nothing but a several times-renamed 8400GS.

[rwest]

Well that's decent graphics for her use. so you would suggest the inspirion over the studio?

[glc]

I doubt that she would notice any difference.

EDIT: Have you looked at the Studio Hybrid?

[rwest]

Yeh, I did. Its starts too high for our budget. Stock cpu runs at 800fsb with only a 2mb cache. If I bump it to the C2D T6500, I'm left with only 2 gig of shared memory. For $40 bucks I can get it with 3gig and stil be in the budget at $609 but then the hdd is only 160gig listed at 5400 rpm.

I think the Inspirion with the i3 build would bury the Studio Hybrid with the stock Pentium T4300. Even when upgrading to the T6500, the Inspirion is still a better choice at my price point. I'm sure this is done on purpose.

[rwest]

Final Decision: Dell Studio Slim Desktop $599.00

OPERATING SYSTEM:
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
PROCESSOR:
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E7500 (3MB L2, 2.93GHz, 1066FSB)
MEMORY:
3GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz- 4DIMMs edit
HARD DRIVE:
500GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
OPTICAL DRIVE:
16X DVD+/-RW Drive
VIDEO CARD:
integrated Intel® GMA X4500HD Graphics
KEYBOARD:
Studio Consumer USB Keyboard and Laserl Mouse
SOUND:
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
Network Card:
Integrated 10/1000 Ethernet
WIRELESS:
Dell 1525 WLAN PCIe card with 11n mini-Card & external antenna
MEDIA READER:
Dell 19 in 1 Media Card Reader
3 year warranty

tax and shipping $658

Wife and daughter wanted the extended warranty. I chose the Studio, cuase I can at least reuse the 4gig of ram that the HP had. Course if she's two frickin' worried bout my gettin' inside of it, then I'll just add it to my system and get WIN 7 64 for me. HP usually uses decent ram.

Boy I hate tryin' to get a pc for these girls. It's such a pain in the deriere( the french word).
They say "I want you to pick it. I don't want to be involved. Don't ask me anything or I'm gonna roll my eyes and get pissy. But be sure I llike what you pick."

And last but not least, "Don't even think about building it."(Ya' think I'd know this by now)

I know I'm not system builder, but I've put together 5 or more systems for friends, repaired upteem different pc's for friemds and family, built a kick booty system for myself-that blows away anything else in the house- and yet neither my wife nor daughter will allow me to build one for them. Is it me? Is it a trust thing? I have know idea. Anybody else get this kind of response from family?

[glc]

I'd recommend you order the Dell with 4gb and don't even think about opening the case. If you are only going to order it with 3gb, change the OS to 32 bit.

[rwest]

Stupid girls kept wanting me to cut cost as much as possible. It was $35 for the extra gig.

Boy your right though, I should have just done that. Dell didn't offer the 32 bit version. They really limit what your allowed to do.

After she starts loading it up with apps and it slows down six months down the road-and she's asking why, but doesn't want to hear the answer- I can probably add the ram then. This is the pain in the ___ part.

[glc]

If you do add ram, you should buy it off a configurator such as Crucial for guaranteed compatibility.

[rwest]

Oh, I didn't think about that. Never had a Dell or been inside one before. Most HP's i've seen use decent Samsung ram. I've never had a ram compatability problem except that once with the Pny and Corsair mix.

[glc]

Most Dells have motherboards made for them by Foxconn. They are reasonably generic, but sometimes they can be a bit picky.

[rwest]

Foxconn huh, I've always wonderd if thier boards were any good. Are most thier boards as reliable as an ASUS or Gigabyte? Generally speaking, of course?

[glc]

Generally, yes. Foxconn also makes the Intel-branded boards, which used to be absolutely rock solid. They aren't as good as they used to be, but Dell has some pretty tight standards, they can't afford to be putting out junk.

There are exceptions, as we just saw in that other thread.

[rwest]

Oh My 'F'ing God!
Never - ever - order from Dell.
What a pain in the butt tnis turned out to be. First they sent an email sying there was a problem with my card. So I call the bank this morming. Lo and behold -no problems- the bank doesn't even see any transaction pending for Dell.

I call customer support and they are more useless than I can imagine. The rep says there a hold on the order for transaction reasons, but can't help me. I have to get to thier credit card department. But yet I have an email saying Dell's processing my order and expected date is April 2! that's 2 freak'n weeks. I told her just cancell the order. of course she can't do that and I have to be transfered to annother dept.

I get the right dept. and the rep's likie "how cam I resolve your problem" I tell her fix the doggone order or cancel it. She tells me I have to call my bank. Ahhhh! so I explain I did that, She says I need to contact thier credit card dept, and then proceeds tp ask me how else can she help me. I told her "Don't do a thing, don't do a god---- thing. that's what you guys are good at.

BTW thanks for the update on the Foxconn boards.
I'm so done with this. When the wife gets home I'm gonna give her the order # and let her deal with it. If I ever mention any thing about the wifes pc or my daughter's someone please come find me and hit me with a brick!

[shadowpr]

Originally Posted by rwest If I ever mention any thing about the wifes pc or my daughter's someone please come find me and hit me with a brick!

I have a brick standing by.

[rwest]

You're all heart!

I'm actually on the phone again with Dell. Wife said she doesnt know anything about it and doesn't want too. 'Thanks Honey'

One guy from the resolution center has offered me $25.00 back once the sale goes thru. That's nice, but I've called my bank 3 times today and still no problems found on thier end.

Currently, I'm on hold waitmg for Dell's credit dept. manager. I'm past being frustrated or even mad, now all I want is for them to find the problem and fix it.

[triquee]

Originally Posted by rwest Oh My 'F'ing God! Never - ever - order from Dell.

See now, I could have told you that.

[glc]

I'd sit back and cool off a bit. As one who has had his credit card compromised twice in less than 2 years, I appreciate the extra security these days. Yes, I know it's frustrating, but something has triggered a red flag and sometimes it's difficult to pin down the reason and fix it.

[rwest]

Originally Posted by triquee See now, I could have told you that.

I'm calm this evening , I got past bein' mad quite sometime ago. Anyway I had to laugh when the wife said, "uh uha, not me."

I don't think it was security issue. Just a little bit ago the Dell credit rep that got thier manager involved, resent the sale as two different billings. One for 300 and another for 358.61

I checked the bank account while he was still on the phone. Then I made sure to tell the manager about the exceptional service he offerd to get the matter resolved. I think it's important to always praise the rep who solves any problem that goes beyond two calls.

I do understand the need for extra security these days. But I've never had this much trouble with an online purchase.

You don't have kids being a little loose with your card do ya' GLC? Twice in a two year period seems like alot I really feel for you, that's gotta be a nightmare to go thru - even just once.