• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

Building my mom a pc tomorrow. Thoughts?

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.

Theocnoob

Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2007
Location
Near Toronto Canada
ASUS AM1M-A (AM1) $45
Athlon 5150 $60
4GB RAM (whatever's on sale) $45
WD Blue 1TB $60
Cooler Master TC-101 case w/500w PSU $50
I have a space optical
Windows $100
TP-LINK N300 wifi $24
AOC 22" monitor $119
Logitech S120 speakers $20

$523

If you can do better for around $500/full system from www.canadacomputers.com (parts must be instock at Kennedy/Scarborough location)
Then PLEASE do. I feel pain going for such a cheap PSU but it's the only way to keep to her "max $500" budget. I figure with the tiny load I'll be laying on the PSU it should be ok until I can buy her a better one some time down the line.
 
Swapping the HDD for a cheap Corsair SSD. Using my old 250GB SATA HDD in there also. I want this thing to have speed.
ALso switching to an ASRock ITX mobo. Looks weird in the big case but I want the case for upgrades for her plus is comes with a time bomb of a cheapo PSU. I'll change that thing out in like 3 months tops though for sure.
 
Then you'll be slower than an OEM system at that pricing.
Thought about Ubuntu to free up $100?

No she needs to use Windows for work. I just checked and I can get an A6 with 1TB HDD and 4GB RAM out of an OEM system with windows for $400 in store. That's about the price of mine without the monitor. Is the 5150 really that much weaker? I don't want to let a PC into my house that I didn't assemble myself.
 
If you want to build it yourself, I don't see anything wrong with the setup you listed. Atmin and ED do make a good point though. I recently did a low end build for a neighbor, on paper to see what it would cost them for me to do it over Oem. Even with microcenter prices a dell oem was cheaper, came with a 20" monitor and a warranty.
 
No she needs to use Windows for work. I just checked and I can get an A6 with 1TB HDD and 4GB RAM out of an OEM system with windows for $400 in store. That's about the price of mine without the monitor. Is the 5150 really that much weaker? I don't want to let a PC into my house that I didn't assemble myself.

Yes, the 5150 is actually slower than an A6.
But our point is that you can get an OEM system at $500, sometimes with a monitor, that will be a lot faster than what you can build at $500.

Grab this: http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=7_1203_124&item_id=064933
Add monitor.
????
Profit.
 
Nothing wrong with what you listed like Mandrake said, but you can actually get a better PC for cheaper going OEM. Not to mention if it breaks, you don't have to fix it, she deals with Dell/Hp.
 
Is style and space economy important to your mom? It can be hard to beat OEM stuff in those categories. The OEMs put cheap components on the inside but do a great job on the outside.
 
I built the computer. It is up and running. I used the Silverstone PS08 micro/mini ITX case. It's very cute. Terrible for cable management though. This was my first ITX build. I have to say, the AM1 default mount is even worse than Intel's push pins. Freakin horrible.
 
Back