Under $500 Budget Desktop?

[Toasty411]

Hey guys, I'm not very up to date for budget parts so I was wondering if you could help me out.

My grandparents are in need of a new computer, their current one is an old dinosaur, an HP, Pentium 3 or 4 @ 1.6GHz, 1GB of ram that I upgraded, 90GB IDE HDD running Win XP. Anyway its old and I can tell its starting to bother them. What I'd like to to is put together a average desktop build together that can fit a price they would be willing to pay for an upgrade.

They don't do anything more then read email, look at pictures, it be nice if it could at least handle 720p video on Youtube or videos on the OS, so I'd rather only have them use an SSD as they don't need anything huge, and show them the speed difference from their old computer proving the new computer was worth the money.

Case -

PSU -

Motherboard -

CPU -

RAM -

GPU - Not really sure if needed, they aren't going to be playing any games

SSD - Newegg.com - Corsair Force CSSD-F80GB2-BRKT-A 2.5" 80GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

OS - 64 or 32 version of Windows 7 Home Premium unless I can get by with their old Windows XP....

I don't need a keyboard, mouse, or monitor.

If anyone else could offer their input that would be great.

 

[MindoverMaster]

They really would not benefit from a SSD. Unless you want speed, that is. I don't think older people are impatient. Might want to get this SSD: Newegg.com - OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTXE60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Cheaper, especially after MIR. They won't need 80GB. 60GB is enough.

You could get this motherboard and cpu combo: Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more!
You can use onboard video. You don't need a graphic card.

And get this heatsink: Newegg.com - Rosewill RCX-Z1 Long life ball bearing for over 45,000/hrs CPU Cooler

RAM: Newegg.com - Team Elite 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Desktop Memory Model TED34096M1066HC7DC

Case: get anything you like. It depends on what you are looking for, something simple, or good airflow.

PSU: Newegg.com - Antec VP-450 450W ATX 12V v2.3 Power Supply

You'd want 64-bit Home Premium.

 

[Toasty411]

They really would not benefit from a SSD. Unless you want speed, that is. I don't think older people are impatient. Might want to get this SSD: Newegg.com - OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTXE60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Cheaper, especially after MIR. They won't need 80GB. 60GB is enough.

You could get this motherboard and cpu combo: Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more!
You can use onboard video. You don't need a graphic card.

And get this heatsink: Newegg.com - Rosewill RCX-Z1 Long life ball bearing for over 45,000/hrs CPU Cooler

RAM: Newegg.com - Team Elite 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Desktop Memory Model TED34096M1066HC7DC

Case: get anything you like. It depends on what you are looking for, something simple, or good airflow.

PSU: Newegg.com - Antec VP-450 450W ATX 12V v2.3 Power Supply

You'd want 64-bit Home Premium.

Thanks a lot, most standard ATX cases fit micro ATX motherboards right?

With the SSD, Windows 7 takes a good 20GB out of the install and then another 10ish for hibernation and page fililing but I guess 60 could be manageable.

The stock cooler, on my own desktop gaming build I ran into a dilemma with an aftermarket cooler I got not fitting correctly due to the motherboard capacitors being in the way of the heatsink feet, I assume I wouldn't have any problem with compatibility as this one has no feet, It is mounted like a normal AMD fan I presume.

 

[MindoverMaster]

I run a 60GB OCZ Vertex SSD on this system here.

This heatsink does not expand further than the CPU brackets.

 

[Toasty411]

I run a 60GB OCZ Vertex SSD on this system here.

This heatsink does not expand further than the CPU brackets.

Are you using that exact SSD model? How long have you had it for?

And do you have any tips on a decent case?

We're at about $420 right now.

 

[Trotter]

Why in the world would you go with an SSD on a super budget build???

1x AMD Athlon II X2 250 Regor 3.0GHz Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor ADX250OCGMBOX (Model:ADX250OCGMBOX)
+
1x GIGABYTE GA-M68MT-S2P AM3 NVIDIA GeForce 7025/nForce 630a chipset Micro ATX AMD Motherboard (Model:GA-M68MT-S2P)
+
1x G.SKILL NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL9D-4GBNS (Model:F3-10600CL9D-4GBNS)
+
1x Seagate Barracuda ST3500413AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive (Model:ST3500413AS)
+
1x Rosewill R103A Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with 350W 20+4 pin connector Power Supply (Model:R103A)

Newegg.com - Antec Basiq BP350 350W ATX12V v2.01 Power Supply

Newegg.com - Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA CD/DVD Burner - CD / DVD Burners

1x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit English 1-Pack
+
1x Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1 User for System Builders - OEM

The 250 will be plenty fast enough (my MiL uses one and the cooler is quiet on the duals). Get the Antec PSU and trash the Rosewill one. The Malwarebytes (full version) is a great thing to have for them as it will help protect them.

Total=$365

 

[Toasty411]

Why in the world would you go with an SSD on a super budget build???

1x AMD Athlon II X2 250 Regor 3.0GHz Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor ADX250OCGMBOX (Model:ADX250OCGMBOX)
+
1x GIGABYTE GA-M68MT-S2P AM3 NVIDIA GeForce 7025/nForce 630a chipset Micro ATX AMD Motherboard (Model:GA-M68MT-S2P)
+
1x G.SKILL NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL9D-4GBNS (Model:F3-10600CL9D-4GBNS)
+
1x Seagate Barracuda ST3500413AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive (Model:ST3500413AS)
+
1x Rosewill R103A Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with 350W 20+4 pin connector Power Supply (Model:R103A)

Newegg.com - Antec Basiq BP350 350W ATX12V v2.01 Power Supply

Newegg.com - Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA CD/DVD Burner - CD / DVD Burners

1x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit English 1-Pack
+
1x Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1 User for System Builders - OEM

The 250 will be plenty fast enough (my MiL uses one and the cooler is quiet on the duals). Get the Antec PSU and trash the Rosewill one. The Malwarebytes (full version) is a great thing to have for them as it will help protect them.

Total=$365

Wow, that was a bit unexpected, the SSD is needed as they aren't going to be needing anything close to a 500GB HDD, after using an SSD my self I know they would much rather have the speed rather then using a slower HDD as they turn their computer on and off just to check emails.

Much obliged for those parts as I'll try and piece that build together without the Seagate HDD.

 

[Toasty411]

Case - $39.99 Newegg.com - Rosewill R103A Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with 350W 20+4 pin connector Power Supply

PSU - $29.99 with $10 MIR Newegg.com - Antec Basiq BP350 350W ATX12V v2.01 Power Supply

Motherboard - $49.99 Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-M68MT-S2P AM3 NVIDIA GeForce 7025/nForce 630a chipset Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

CPU - $60.99 Newegg.com - AMD Athlon II X2 250 Regor 3.0GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor ADX250OCGMBOX

RAM - $40 Newegg.com - G.SKILL NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL9D-4GBNS

SSD - $119 with $15 MIR Newegg.com - OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTXE60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

OS - $114 Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more!


Total Price with shipping - $495.56
With the rebates -$470.56

Hmph....

 

[Trotter]

Totally your call on that one, mate.

 

[MindoverMaster]

Are you using that exact SSD model? How long have you had it for?

I've had that since February. I still have my OCZ Vertex 30GB from August '10.