Building my parents a computer

[Sw1tch]

Is everything on this list compatible?

http://i.imgur.com/rmAfi.png

Thank you in advance!

[hawtlol]

I assume your parents are gamers? If not no need to build a computer really. Only thing that you really need to make sure is compatible is the processor and motherboard so the sockets match.

[Korgoth]

It should work, but I think its horrible.

1. The CPU is terrible. If you are going to buy an AMD CPU then get a Fusion chip, like the A8-3850 and don't put a discrete graphics card with it. That Athlon is just terrible, nothing about it that's good. No one should ever buy that CPU.
2. That huge heavy case, I use it myself, but if its for your parents for a system like that, you should go smaller and quieter. Micro ATX is great for these setups.
3. That Ram is really silly, the provided performance of 2133 ram over 1600 is pointless with that CPU and GPU. Save the money.
4. That PSU is well above what you need, drop down to a 500, more then enough room to spare, and you save some money.
5. 128gb SSD is kind of small, and a system with these parts having an SSD does not add up, drop it to a hybrid HDD, 500gb with a 4gb SSD on it to enable faster boot up, for $90. I doubt they'd really notice the difference. Or just include a storage drive.
6. Going cheap on the keyboard and mouse is a SIN!!! Drop the $60 for a decent logitech wireless set.
7. No OS; please tell me your not using XP. Get a Windows 7 OEM copy if you don't already have one.

Here's the build I would do:


and if that cost too much, then I wouldn't build at all and I'd just buy them something like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883220162

[Uggorthaholy]

I need more details before I can weigh in.

Budget, uses.

Need win 7?
Need periphs?
Need monitor?

I'd recommend checking the sticky at the top of this subforum and post as much information as possible.

[Sw1tch]

They are not gamers, hence the cheap mouse/keyboard. Long story short, they are paying me to actually build it, for whatever reason. (AKA, if I just order an entire PC, no money for me)

Thank you for the advice Korgoth, ill drop the Ram and PSU to something smaller and get the MICRO atx case. I agree on the CPU, but again, they are not gamers. They don't need much space, hence the SSD. They are getting windows 7, i just didnt include it. Ill still check out the hybrid.

[tielknight]

First off were gonna need some basic info on what they are going to use it for to know what would be good options for them.

Second if they aren't gaming or running intensive programs that benefit from faster load times, stick with a good ol HDD and save a nice chunk of money right there.

[Sw1tch]

They are both corporate employees, who use computers mainly for business purposes, but also slightly for social networking. They are on the fly a lot, hence the SSD.

[Uggorthaholy]

Personally, I'd say go with a mini form factor, get yourself a fusion style APU combination, an SSD as the only storage. You can get all of the components for like $400.00 USD or less.

CPU/Mobo - $119.99
8 GB 1866 RAM - $57.99
Case option one - $49.99
Case option two - $49.99
128 GB SSD - $129.99
DVD Drive - $17.99

1866 RAM because APUs scale with RAM speed.

$375.00 before win 7 and periphs.

Add whatever monitor/keyboard/mouse you want

[inux94]

I got an E-350 setup for my parent's new computer, with an SSD it's surprisingly fast.

It's good enough for browsing/emailing.

Uggor pretty much nailed the list down.

[chazus]

If they arent gamers, I feel like the ram, video card, and SSD are a waste of money. Unless they want to pay a LOT more than they need to for something they wont benefit much from.

[inux94]

The APU's benefit from having faster RAM, SSD's make sure they don't start decreasing in quality within 2-5 years, I can agree on the GPU part.

Don't get me started on the amount of my friends complaining about their computer being slow when they have a 5400 RPM harddrive & never defragmented the harddrive.

[chazus]

The APU's benefit from having faster RAM

No, they dont, since the ram is going to be downclocked to 1600 most likely anyway.

SSD's make sure they don't start decreasing in quality within 2-5 years

HDDs really don't either, unless something is wrong. Regardless, unless you have tons of funds, the SSD just isnt necessary, and possible provides a problem (size) as well.

Don't get me started on the amount of my friends complaining about their computer being slow when they have a 5400 RPM harddrive & never defragmented the harddrive.

Getting an SSD isn't the solution to dumb friends choices.

[Sw1tch]

No, they dont, since the ram is going to be downclocked to 1600 most likely anyway.

HDDs really don't either, unless something is wrong. Regardless, unless you have tons of funds, the SSD just isnt necessary, and possible provides a problem (size) as well.

Getting an SSD isn't the solution to dumb friends choices.

Again, the SSD is because my parents are constantly on the fly, needing to check things quickly, put together something, etc etc. The extra 50-60 for a good SSD is definitely worth the tremendously small boot-up time for them.



to Uggor:

So the mobo/CPU comes with the CPU already attached? What's the difference between an APU and CPU?

Also: The GPU looks good then?

[Deleted]

In short, APU is basically a CPU with a GPU built in. The cases he suggest comes with a PSU as well.

[Sw1tch]

bump for further responses

[Deleted]

bump for further responses

What responses/answers are you looking for specifically?

[Biernot]

Personally, I'd say go with a mini form factor, get yourself a fusion style APU combination, an SSD as the only storage. You can get all of the components for like $400.00 USD or less.

CPU/Mobo - $119.99
8 GB 1866 RAM - $57.99
Case option one - $49.99
Case option two - $49.99
128 GB SSD - $129.99
DVD Drive - $17.99

1866 RAM because APUs scale with RAM speed.

$375.00 before win 7 and periphs.

Add whatever monitor/keyboard/mouse you want

This is basically a good idea.
But i have to disagree with the ram. The amd E-350 APU only supports 1066MHz ram, the E-450 at least uses 1333MHz. And it wouldn't matter that much anyway, because the integrated gpu in the Zacate platform (E-XXX) isn't that fast to make use of the faster ram.
The faster ram only makes sense with the Llano platform (A-XXXX).

And while the suggested E-350 platform is sufficient for light use now, if they ever want to do something that requires a bit more power, they are screwed. I am just saying this, because i have first hand experience from my parents in this regard.
My mother is a light computer user (browsing, some office work) and an E-350 would suffice in like 99% of the usage. But she picked up on something that needs more power: photo books (where you basically make a photo album, but it gets printed as a whole). And the problem is with the software that is provided. It is somewhat inefficiently programmed, and uses a lot of ram. The machine she uses now is my old Athlon 64 X2 5000+ (i think) with 4GB RAM, which has a good deal more power than the E-350 and is still on lower side for this use case.

But as i love the idea of mini-itx, here is a more powerful alternative:
Asrock B75 mini-itx ($90) or Asus H61 mini-itx ($80 no SATA3)
combine with
Intel Pentium G620 ($64) or Intel Pentium G850 ($88)

Will cost roughly $50 more, but has a lot more processing power. The space in the second case could be too small because of the heatsink, but it might fit.
If you get the first case (µATX) then you could select a cheaper mainboard: Asus B75 µATX ($62):

Intel Pentium G850 - $87.99
Asus P8B75-M - $61.99
8 GB 1600 RAM - $46.99
Case option one - $49.99
128 GB SSD - $129.99
DVD Drive - $17.99
= $395
only $20 more then the original build, but a lot more powerful.