Computer for my mom

[BJS]

Hi all,

I have been trying to talk my mom into a new computer for a few years now and she is now ready to bite the bullet. She pretty much surfs the web and listens to music in itunes and the old Athlon XP doesn't cut it for her anymore. Below is what I have come up with that will hopefully last her another 10 years. The main think I am not sure about is the hard drive and the power supply? Also, I want her to have a great experience but wonder if I am spending too much money ($736.92) for what she will use it for?

Mobo:
ASUS P8Z68-V LE LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

Processor:
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I52500K

Ram:
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Profile Desktop Memory Model CML8GX3M2A1600C9

Hard Drive:
Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Power Supply:
Antec NEO ECO 400C 400W Continuous Power ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply

Case:
Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 140mm Fan, 1x Rear 120mm Fan, option Fans-2x Side 120mm Fan

DVD Burner:
LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM

OS:
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM

[jdeb]

Looks good.

[NMCowbell]

I too have been researching a new motherboard/CPU/memory upgrade for my wife's old AMD system. A Z68 / I5-2500K seemed like overkill for a basic web surfing and media type setup.

I've been looking at the possibility of going with an H67 / I3-2105 combination. To me that seems more in line for the use.

I'm still learning about the capabilities of the new chipsets. Is there any reason to not use an H67 for such a basic use?

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by NMCowbell I too have been researching a new motherboard/CPU/memory upgrade for my wife's old AMD system. A Z68 / I5-2500K seemed like overkill for a basic web surfing and media type setup. I've been looking at the possibility of going with an H67 / I3-2105 combination. To me that seems more in line for the use. I'm still learning about the capabilities of the new chipsets. Is there any reason to not use an H67 for such a basic use?

It is a little overkill but at the same time the Z68 chipset is much better overall (stability, speed, and BIOS features) and it does give them room to upgrade to an SSD for caching in the future. It is a fair observation and argument. My logic is if they are willing to spend more money and make it a more future proof, their component selection is very good. Now if they came to us with a budget of lets say $500.00 to 600.00, then I would have went a different course and I am sure they would have as well. If they come back and want to trim some money, there is room to do so.

[BJS]

It appears that if you were to shift from the 2500K to a 2105 you would save $85 and switching from a Z68 chipset to H67 staying with Asus you would save between $8-$33 depending upon what level of micro ATX board you picked or the only Asus ATX board with that chipset. You could also drop the RAM to 4GB and save ~$15. Those 3 components add up to a saving of ~$133, however it does seem like you would lose quite a bit as far as being futureproof.

Has anyone looked at how hard drive prices are comparing on Newegg vs a local store like Best Buy or some other retailer? I could see a local big box retailer not keeping up with the whole supply and demand thing as quickly?

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by BJS It appears that if you were to shift from the 2500K to a 2105 you would save $85 and switching from a Z68 chipset to H67 staying with Asus you would save between $8-$33 depending upon what level of micro ATX board you picked or the only Asus ATX board with that chipset. You could also drop the RAM to 4GB and save ~$15. Those 3 components add up to a saving of ~$133, however it does seem like you would lose quite a bit as far as being futureproof. Has anyone looked at how hard drive prices are comparing on Newegg vs a local store like Best Buy or some other retailer? I could see a local big box retailer not keeping up with the whole supply and demand thing as quickly?

You lose a little more than future proof. The speed difference is rather noticeable (H67/i3 vs Z68/i5). The ability to add a SSD caching drive will give a nice performance upgrade as well. There are little quirky stability things as well but the average user probably would not notice like a builder would. So if the money is not a huge issue, you get a little more bang for the buck in my opinion.

Everyone is charging them prices on the hard drives. WD Blacks are the worst in regards to the price increase and we have been recommending them for years on this forum. Believe me, it pains us to recommend a Seagate drive because of their past issues (they seem to be past that). I have been looking around because I build a decent amount of PC's and I am getting low (2 left, gone next week). Surging prices for computer hard drives, which are in short supply because of massive flooding in Thailand, are driving prices higher. From what I am told, we are looking at end of first quarter, early second quarter for production to stabilize. If it continues into June, there are going to be huge issues.

[NMCowbell]

Originally Posted by BJS It appears that if you were to shift from the 2500K to a 2105 you would save $85 and switching from a Z68 chipset to H67 staying with Asus you would save between $8-$33 depending upon what level of micro ATX board you picked or the only Asus ATX board with that chipset. You could also drop the RAM to 4GB and save ~$15. Those 3 components add up to a saving of ~$133, however it does seem like you would lose quite a bit as far as being futureproof.

So maybe the best of both worlds would be to go with Z68 motherboard for future flexibility (and best performance now), and to throttle back on the CPU and memory as a way to save money. Both could be upgraded later if better performance was needed. I may go that route.

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by NMCowbell So maybe the best of both worlds would be to go with Z68 motherboard for future flexibility (and best performance now), and to throttle back on the CPU and memory as a way to save money. Both could be upgraded later if better performance was needed. I may go that route.

Valid point. You could but you have advanced tuning opportunity with the i5 from both the cpu and gpu stand point. I have no issue with the i3 at all or the g series sandy for that matter. It really comes down to what you want to spend.

I just upgraded a build for a long time customer from a Pentium 4 socket 478 and a gt7600, 2 gb of memory to a h61/ g530 cpu, 2 gb ddr3 1333 with Linux xfce mint and they are ecstatic.

[glc]

Right now, for the money I'm looking real close at Hitachi hard drives.