Building a cheap PC for my parents

I finally convinced my parents to ditch their 8-year-old Pentium III, because I said I could get them a new one for only about $300

They do not have too many requirements. Except it should last them for a long time. (probably another 8 years? ) Oh and they could use a front USB 2.0 port which the old case did not offer.

The only things they do on the computer would be
web browsing
email
Word
PowerPoint
download photos from digital camera and view them
Watching DVD movies sometimes

At first,
I was looking at the $77 P4 2.8GHZ Northwood at newegg since I already have one extra semi-new(only used for 2~3 months) socket 478 motherboard in a box for over 4 years.(which I hope the time hasn't killed it yet) I was thinking about giving them a Radeon 9800Pro from another PC of mine which was also over 4 years old but that computer was always on, but that will require me to replace the Radeon 9800Pro with another AGP card. As for RAM, I was looking at some $74 dual channel kit (2x512MB) 184-pin DDR. Plus a WD SE 320GB PATA hard drive.
This will be the case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147044
The old PIII system has a 480W PSU and a DVD drive which could be transfered to the new one.


But then,
I changed my mind
CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103741

motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138074

RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145590

Hard drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822144701

Same tower case.

The two setup turns out to be almost equal in the cost, but I obviously would pick the new setup due to ----->

Twice the RAM, dual core processor. SATA instead of PATA hard drive. Doesn't have to p1ss me off if the 4-year-old socket 478 board in the box turns out not working. It has all new parts for all key components, which would most likely last a lot longer. The new setup uses onboard video instead, but it is a decent one from the look of the reviews.

What do you think?

Are there any other good choices for building a "mom's PC" with the budget under $400?

Oh and, how do I know if the motherboard supports front USB ports?

I'd get a new PSU, The case needs to have the headers and the motherboard has the connectors.

I like it. Overclockable, too.

I don't like the case, though.

You might not need to spend so much on the ram. They probably only need 1gb, or you could get them DDR2 667 or something. You could always add another Gig of ram later(although in 8 years it will either be really cheap, expensive, or so out of date that you would never use it.)
If technology Increased at the same rate as it did in the last 8 years, that processor would be good for another 15 years. Fortunately i do not think that will be the case.

That is a very good, cheap, grown up case.

Alternate intel Setup
cpu - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116037
mobo- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131162 (actually not the best mobo, could find a better one for similar price)
Ram(could be compatible for both amd and intel obviously) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820141211
if you wanted the 2gb

Now I dont know the specifics on how that intel processor ranks against that AMD processor, but i know its pretty close.

^


The chosen ram was only $46 and the one you linked to is $54 =/

O sorry didnt see the rebate. Yea i suppose you can go with that ram.

JamesXP said:

I'd get a new PSU, The case needs to have the headers and the motherboard has the connectors.

Click to expand...

The old PSU looks good enough to me.

Wayward_Son said:

I like it. Overclockable, too.

I don't like the case, though.

Click to expand...

What's wrong with the case? They don't need any fancy looking case. The only requirement would be the front USB 2.0 ports. I wouldn't want to spend more on something has nothing to do with the performance.

Mtotho said:

You might not need to spend so much on the ram. They probably only need 1gb, or you could get them DDR2 667 or something. You could always add another Gig of ram later(although in 8 years it will either be really cheap, expensive, or so out of date that you would never use it.)
If technology Increased at the same rate as it did in the last 8 years, that processor would be good for another 15 years. Fortunately i do not think that will be the case.

That is a very good, cheap, grown up case.

Alternate intel Setup
cpu - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116037
mobo- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131162 (actually not the best mobo, could find a better one for similar price)
Ram(could be compatible for both amd and intel obviously) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820141211
if you wanted the 2gb

Now I dont know the specifics on how that intel processor ranks against that AMD processor, but i know its pretty close.

Click to expand...

I know E2140 is GREAT for OC, but my parents need the computer last as long as possible with least problems. Overclocking might lower the life span over a long period of time. They don't need super fast computer for what they do anyway. E2140 doesn't look like faster than 4200+ at stock speed. That onboard video also looks inferior.

My uncle and I took some time last night to get my grandmother a new computer. Dell is cheaper than what you can build when spending 300 - 400 on a new pc. I hate dell and love building computers but they have some really good deals. I compared the newegg system and the dell system (most parts were the same) and the dell was about $100 cheaper and came with an OS on it making it $160ish cheaper. They even give you a free monitor. I don't work for them or support them but they took me over last night and saved money.

ben333 said:

My uncle and I took some time last night to get my grandmother a new computer. Dell is cheaper than what you can build when spending 300 - 400 on a new pc. I hate dell and love building computers but they have some really good deals. I compared the newegg system and the dell system (most parts were the same) and the dell was about $100 cheaper and came with an OS on it making it $160ish cheaper. They even give you a free monitor. I don't work for them or support them but they took me over last night and saved money.

Click to expand...

One other plus in Dell's favor is that many of your parents' tech questions can be fielded by Dell (as useless as their customer support is, at times) INSTEAD of you!

ben333 said:

My uncle and I took some time last night to get my grandmother a new computer. Dell is cheaper than what you can build when spending 300 - 400 on a new pc. I hate dell and love building computers but they have some really good deals. I compared the newegg system and the dell system (most parts were the same) and the dell was about $100 cheaper and came with an OS on it making it $160ish cheaper. They even give you a free monitor. I don't work for them or support them but they took me over last night and saved money.

Click to expand...

Dell is cheap because there are too many bottlenecks with crappy combos. I don't see they offer cheaper prices when the hardware are exactly the same.
My parents already have a 19" LCD which is less than 1 year old.

mbigna said:

One other plus in Dell's favor is that many of your parents' tech questions can be fielded by Dell (as useless as their customer support is, at times) INSTEAD of you!

Click to expand...

My parents are beyond help when it comes to computer stuff.
Tech support will do them no good. They need someone do it for them.

You will most likely need a new PSU... New hardware = New PSU most of the time...

What was wrong with the PIII?

Pick up one of those drive bay things with USB ports in it, maybe some more SDRAM, blow the dust out... Good for another eight years.

JamesXP said:

You will most likely need a new PSU... New hardware = New PSU most of the time...

Click to expand...

I believe the old one is enough since it was a 480W PSU bought separately for over $80. Everything will be onboard in this computer which does not require too much power.

JCLW said:

What was wrong with the PIII?

Pick up one of those drive bay things with USB ports in it, maybe some more SDRAM, blow the dust out... Good for another eight years.

Click to expand...

It would be fine if they still had the Win98SE disk. WinXP runs like on it. Some of the outdated devices don't even have drivers for WinXP and they are using the basic drivers from MS.

Another eight years would be impossible. I feel everything in there is near death.

Well the old p111 may run like crap with XP on it but it will fly if you installed Ubuntu linux on it and if as you say they only need office and watch DVD's then its all there in Open Office and Firefox for web browsing and Thunderbird for mail also, and you dont even have to spend a penny,
Just a thought,

Jolly

If it was a Slot 1 processor you could probably drop in a Tualatin Celeron on a slocket for pretty cheap. A Celeron-1200 and 512MB of ram will easily run office and internet apps on XP. My mother and my fiancee both have Celeron-1200 desktops with XP, and my file server has one as well.

I too would just blow out the old pIII and add some more memory and I front drive bay adapter for usb mac and headphones.

JCLW said:

What was wrong with the PIII?

Pick up one of those drive bay things with USB ports in it, maybe some more SDRAM, blow the dust out... Good for another eight years.

Click to expand...

I am typing this on my rig in my sig right now, works like a dream!

OC101 said:

It would be fine if they still had the Win98SE disk. WinXP runs like on it. Some of the outdated devices don't even have drivers for WinXP and they are using the basic drivers from MS.

Click to expand...

Read this quote:

Jolly-Swagman said:

Well the old p111 may run like crap with XP on it but it will fly if you installed Ubuntu linux on it and if as you say they only need office and watch DVD's then its all there in Open Office and Firefox for web browsing and Thunderbird for mail also, and you dont even have to spend a penny,
Just a thought,

Jolly

Click to expand...

I am doing this exact thing

Try Xubuntu - it is lighter and easier to run on older machines

WoW_STORM said:

I too would just blow out the old pIII and add some more memory and I front drive bay adapter for usb mac and headphones.

Click to expand...

Or go all out and get PCI cards for USB, SATA, whetever you need

My browser keeps freezing when I try edit the above post

Anyway, just wanted to add that getting a PCI graphics card, like the XFX FX5200 or a TNT would help a lot!

You could always load Ubuntu and see what they think about it. If they hate it, get a new computer for them. All you lose is some time to install

(I think you mean Coppermine - Clovertowns are Core 2 Quads in s771 packaging)

OC101 said:

I finally convinced my parents to ditch their 8-year-old Pentium III, because I said I could get them a new one for only about $300

Click to expand...

Sounds like my sister and brother-in-law. They've been using a Pentium II 450 for the longest time. I bought and installed a Pentium III CPU for their cheapo computer because the MB was able to support it. But, the cheapo system finally gave out. Instead of buying anything new for them, I just ended up giving them my old AMD system. I'll probably just keep giving them hand-me-downs as I upgrade. All they do is use Word, surf the net for a few minutes and pay bills online.

Don't spend too much money on your parents. Just give them your old stuff. Save the $$$ for an upgrade for you.