Review my build before purchase please.

[morrty]

Need to get a new computer now, old computer is ancient and very slow.

This computer is for my Uncle who does not game and pretty much only uses the internet and email.

I only have experience in building high performance gaming machines so I'm not to familiar with these general parts.

I'm looking for a machine that he will not notice any slowdown what-so-ever doing simple things like MS Word/Excel and Email/Internet Browsing, he might occasionally play simple games that require little graphics (such as card games or some casino games). Due to the small amount of gaming I felt integrated graphics would be sufficient, please tell me otherwise if not.

Anyways enough rambling, here is the build:

Antec Sonata III Black ATX 16IN Mid Tower Quiet Case 3X5.25 2X3.5 4X3.5IN 500W 120MM Fan $98.98
NCIX.com - Buy Antec Sonata III Black ATX 16IN Mid Tower Quiet Case 3X5.25 2X3.5 4X3.5IN 500W 120MM Fan - SONATA III 500 In Canada.

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB SATA2 8.5MS 7200RPM 16MB Cache Hard Drive OEM 5YR MFR Warranty $48.99
NCIX.com - Buy Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB SATA2 8.5MS 7200RPM 16MB Cache Hard Drive OEM 5YR MFR Warranty - ST3250410AS In Canada.

LG GSA-H55L DVD+RW 20X8X16 DVD-RW 20X6X16 DL 10X Lightscribe DVD Writer IDE 2MB Black OEM W/ SW $28.99
NCIX.com - Buy LG GSA-H55L DVD+RW 20X8X16 DVD-RW 20X6X16 DL 10X Lightscribe DVD Writer IDE 2MB Black OEM W/ SW - GSA-H55L BLACK In Canada.

Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H AMD 780G mATX AM2+ PCI-EX SATA RAID Video Sound GLAN 1394 HDMI Motherboard $86.99
NCIX.com - Buy Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H AMD 780G mATX AM2+ PCI-EX SATA RAID Video Sound GLAN 1394 HDMI Motherboard - GA-MA78GM-S2H In Canada.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Dual Core Proecessor Socket AM2 2.6GHZ Retail Box $72.99
NCIX.com - Buy AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Dual Core Proecessor Socket AM2 2.6GHZ Retail Box - ADO5000DOBOX In Canada.

OCZ Gold XTC PC2-6400 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-800 CL5-5-5-15 240PIN DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit $57.99
NCIX.com - Buy OCZ Gold XTC PC2-6400 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-800 CL5-5-5-15 240PIN DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit - OCZ2G8002GK In Canada.

*These are Canadian funds from a site I like to use (NCIX) I can't order from newegg if anyone wants to suggest different parts please use this site, thanks.

I am open to suggestions on new parts but keep in mind I am trying to keep this as cheap as possible otherwise it would make more sense for him to just purchase a new tower from retail stores.

EDIT: Everyone I've run across tells me to build Intel but I cant seem to find a cheap but good chip, seems AMD are the better bang for the buck when it comes to general PC's. If I were building a high end system it would most likely be Intel. Any Suggestions?

 

[rkagin]

If you were to do the intel build, you probably would go with a G31 or P35 motherboard and a E2180 cpu. It wouldn't be you 2.6GHz, but if he's not playing games or doing tons of things at once, the E2180 is great. Worst case is that the cpu is "overclockable", and you can up it if you want. But it seems that the E2180 is way cheaper in the states (Newegg: 70 USD) than in Canada (NCIX: 97 CAD).

 

[morrty]

If you were to do the intel build, you probably would go with a G31 or P35 motherboard and a E2180 cpu. It wouldn't be you 2.6GHz, but if he's not playing games or doing tons of things at once, the E2180 is great. Worst case is that the cpu is "overclockable", and you can up it if you want. But it seems that the E2180 is way cheaper in the states (Newegg: 70 USD) than in Canada (NCIX: 97 CAD).

Thanks, I've looked into this, it seems harder to find a decent cheap mobo < CAD$100 that has decent intgrated graphics like the 780 board.


Any other suggestions/comments from anyone? Planned on ordering this tonight.

EDIT: I've decided to go with the unlocked (black box) 5000+ and grabbing the arctic freezer 64 after market HSF for future overclocking if necessary. It will only run me an extra CAD$30

 

[Hussein19891]

Thanks, I've looked into this, it seems harder to find a decent cheap mobo < CAD$100 that has decent intgrated graphics like the 780 board.


Any other suggestions/comments from anyone? Planned on ordering this tonight.

EDIT: I've decided to go with the unlocked (black box) 5000+ and grabbing the arctic freezer 64 after market HSF for future overclocking if necessary. It will only run me an extra CAD$30

To be fairly honest if all his doing is surfing the net and some light gaming even the lowest AMD Dual Core can handle that. Save your self some money and get a 4000+ or something like that.

*edit*

This should be perfect and save you some cash.

NCIX.com - Buy AMD Athlon X2 BE-2350 Dual Core Processor Socket AM2 2.1GHZ 2X512KB 45W 65NM SOI Retail Box - ADH2350DDBOX In Canada.

 

[morrty]

To be fairly honest if all his doing is surfing the net and some light gaming even the lowest AMD Dual Core can handle that. Save your self some money and get a 4000+ or something like that.

*edit*

This should be perfect and save you some cash.

NCIX.com - Buy AMD Athlon X2 BE-2350 Dual Core Processor Socket AM2 2.1GHZ 2X512KB 45W 65NM SOI Retail Box - ADH2350DDBOX In Canada.

AMD Athlon 64 5000+ X2
NCIX.com - Buy AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Dual Core Processor Socket AM2 2.6GHZ Retail Black Box No HSF Unlocked - ADO5000DSWOF In Canada.

It is CAD$9 more... wouldn't this make sense?

 

[Hussein19891]

That doesn't come with a heat sink so you will end out spending another 30$ or so along with shipping and handling to get a heat sink. It will be much faster then the first CPU that I posted but it will be unnecessary. As you your self have stated your Uncle will only be surfing the web with the new computer.

That CPU I linked comes with a heat sink and only eats up 45 watts so you can push it to like 2.5ghz later on if you feel its necessary.

 

[Ventriac]

What is your price range?