PC for freind

[KoolDrew]

A freind of mine wants to build a PC. He will not be using this PC for any gaming at all (the reason I chose a 9000), he will also not be overclocking or doing any of the sort. He is going to be uisng it for mostly just web-surfing talking on aim and some casual video editing. He says he can spend up to $1,000 but I think $1,000 would be a waste for a system mainly used for web surfing and tallking on aim with some casual video editing. Because of his needs this is what I chose for him. Tell me any suggestions.

AMD Athlon XP 2500+ Barton
ABIT NF7-S2
Kingston 512mb PC-2700 (2 for 1GB)
Seagate 200GB hard drive

ATI Readeon 9000
ViewSonic G90FB 19" PerfectFlat CRT Monitor
Microsoft Windows XP Home w/SP2

I think that an XP 2500+ would be fine in his case but do you guys think 1GB would be good or just stick with 512mb? He could go with a smaller hard drive but I ahve to talk to him about it. He also told me he wanted an LCD so this is what I chose if he insists on having an LCD.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=24-005-027&depa=0

It is a 17" LCD but it would be about the same size as the 19" CRT as far as veiwable screen size goes. I just chose the CRT to save a bit of money but a LCD would be great for his needs I guess. IF he does decide he wants an LCd then do you think that would be good? It also supports DVI so should he get a 9200SE for a bit more that outputs DVI?

The only thing missing from the above list is a case. I was thinking about that Raidmax case you were thinking about Yawg but that is about $30 and a cheap Thermaltake PSu would be more then enough for more then $30 which would be more then enough which would = ~$60 anyway. Considering that I was thinking about this case.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-129-148&depa=0

Even though it is 350w it should be more then enough for a system like this.

Also since he will not be doing any gaming do you guys know any good socket A motherboards with onboard video? That may be a better option if he does not use DVI.

I was also thinking about going Intel on this one as they are better for video encoidng and stuff but since he only does casual editing and I do not think with very large files I think AMD would be fine. What do you guys think about this?

Tell me any suggestions on the parts I chose.

[Amd_Lover2004]

Re: PC for freind

Well the price diffrence between PC 2700 and PC 3200 in almost non existant so I would choose the 3200.
Also he probably doesen't need 1GB of ram.

About the DVI conections, it may be a better to get a video card that supports DVI anyway, you can get adaptors for DVI to VGA but I don't think you can go the other way.


Edit: **** I forgot that the Barton 2500 was 333FSB so disregard the 3200...

[Yawgm0th]

Re: PC for freind

I'd just go with this for the case and PSU as it will be more than enough.

Don't get a video card and such an expensive motherboard. He doesn't even need anything nForce if he won't be overclocking. Motherboards with an nForce 2 chipset will perform better, but not enough so to justify the cost for an office system. This ought to do as it has the features he needs and onboard video.

I'd suggest this for the RAM, regardless of how much you get. I really doubt he'll make much use of 1GB, but if he's going to do a lot of multitasking or run a lot of background applications he might need it.

A 200GB IDE Seagate drive will be fine if he's actually ever going to use 200GB, otherwise I'd look at this, this or this. They aren't Seagate because Seagate is simply too expensive to be more competitive at those price ranges ATM, and a three-year warranty isn't that bad anyway.

For the processor, you may just want to get a retail Sempron. For what he's doing, he probably won't need anything much faster. This would be a great option, but this would be closer in price and performance to the alternative I'm about to suggest...

If you get a Barton, make it a mobile. You can get a Mobile 2400 for a hell of a lot cheaper than that 2500, and both will need a seperate HSF anyway. Something cheap ought to do, for that. Make sure you have some thermal compound to go with it, though.

Make sure he actually wants a DVD burner before you go and get him a $70 DL burner. Otherwise, it looks like a good choice.

That's a really nice monitor, for a gamer who wants to run games at 1600x1200... something like this ought to be enough, though even this would suffice.

For an LCD, just try to go cheap. Something like this should be good, but just keep the prce below $250 or your just wasting money IMO. Unless he wants a 19 incher, in which case sometihng like this would be good for price (and the fact that they share a brand name is mostly coincidental). Whether or not you have to use an adapter is irrelevant, so it's fine if you do.

[KoolDrew]

Re: PC for freind

Ok thanks Yawg. This is the updated PC and it comes to about $560

APEX case w/350w PSU
AMD Sempron 2600+
CHAINTECH 7VIF4 mobo
Kingmax 512MB PC-3200
Western Digital 80GB IDE hard drive

SAMSUNG 17" DynaFlat CRT Monitor
Microsoft Windows XP Home w/SP2

If he does not need a DVD burner I chose this

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductdesc.asp?description=27-106-941&depa=0

[amd_man2005]

Re: PC for freind

Get an Antec case with the Antec 350w PSU. I think its nearly that same price as the one you had, but he PSU has the Antec name. I used one on a Sempron 2500+ rig and it worked nicely. http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...129-149&depa=1 Ok its more than i thought, but I would go with it anyway.

[KoolDrew]

Re: PC for freind

Get an Antec case with the Antec 350w PSU. I think its nearly that same price as the one you had, but he PSU has the Antec name. I used one on a Sempron 2500+ rig and it worked nicely. http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...129-149&depa=1 Ok its more than i thought, but I would go with it anyway.

That is the same exact case I chose in my first post but the one I chose is black. I also thought it was good but Yawg suggested the one in my 2nd post. You think the PSu woulkd be good in the one Yawg suggested? I am not sure because of the brand..

[amd_man2005]

Re: PC for freind

I'd get the Antec

[Yawgm0th]

Re: PC for freind

I would too, but some trust should be put into large amounts of user revews. That case has a lot of reviews, and none complain about the PSU. In fact, many of them said something to the extent of "I was worried about the PSU since it's a case PSU from a company not known for PSUs, but it's worked flawlessly for [X months/days/years]." Normally I only go for cases with PSUs like Antec or Thermaltake, but this isn't a gaming system and a decent 350W should handle it. An Antec 350W would be overkill for this system IMO.

[KoolDrew]

Re: PC for freind

Should he get the Sempron 2600+ or the Athlon XP 2400+. I have heard the Semprons are not that good and since there is not a big price difference should he go with an Athlon XP or stick with a Sempron?

[Yawgm0th]

Re: PC for freind

There's nothing wrong with Semprons. They're just renamed 333FSB Athlon XP Thouroughbreds and Thortons. However, a Barton (ie the Mobile 2400) of slower FSB and slightly slower clock speed will outperform that Semprons of around the same price in most applications, however video encodign would rarely be one of them as it's based almost enitrely on bandwidth, optimization, and clock speed. For gaming and most general office/normal desktop use, though, the Barton should perform better. If this were a gaming PC, I wouldn't even consider a Sempron, but it's not much worse in other areas.

It really depends on whether a bit more performance is worth the lack of a long AMD warranty to you/your friend, since you only get 15 days with a Mobile (or any OEM CPU) and three years (I think) with a retail.