Brent
05-29-07, 06:38 PM
Just thought I'd pass along what a great system you can put together these days for a good price, check out what I built her:
Already had the case, an Antec and a capable PSU, 550W
Bought:
ASUS P5B VM-SE - G965 northbridge and ICH8 south, Socket 775, supports Dual and the latest QuadCore Core 2 CPUs, DDRII-800, Integrated Intel GMA X3000 graphics, So this motherboard is built to last, I can keep upgrading her with it for a while, up to a QuadCore or whatever if she ever needs it, and more RAM of course, it doesn't officially support the 1333 MHz FSB though, it does 1066, but it will do it unofficially, really won't be a problem though, like she needs that. I wanted Integrated grpahics to save money, don't have to buy a vid card, and it is all she needs, she doesn't game, heh. It has built in HD Audio and 10/100/1000 Ethernet, 1x 16X PCI-E slot, 2 PCI slots, 1 PCI-E x4 slot.
Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 - So this is Core 2, dual core, but it is Allendale not Conroe, only difference is it runs on an 800 MHz FSB instead of 1066. The CPU runs at 1.8 GHz, but it is dual core and Core 2 so for her should be just fine. CPU was cheap, so to save money went with it, it is the lowest end Core 2 you can get, but with the motherboard noted above we can always upgrade later if needed. Honestly this will be fine for her.
2x 512 MB DDR-II 800 memory - 1 GB will be fine for her right now, running at the default 800 MHz DDR2 speeds, we can always add more later if needed.
250 GB WD HDD - Cheap
DVD ROM/DVD RW - Cheap
Already had a Case and PSU, a good small Antec case and a good 550W PSU
Got all of this for just $350 !
Going to run XP, no Vista for her, she has a hard enough time with XP hehe, maybe down the rode we'll make the switch, then we'll put in a faster CPU and more RAM, but not anytime soon for that switch, XP is all she needs right now.
I am also going to get her a wireless NIC so we can eliminate the Ethernet cable that runs from upstairs to downstairs and just go with a wireless connection on this computer, which is downstairs (the router is upstairs). I may also go ahead and get her a cheap but decent 2.1 sound system, 2 satellites and a small sub so when she listens to her music it will sound better than the $5 speakers she is using now.
Not bad eh, this system will run cool and quiet and deliver more performance than she really needs and is highly upgradeable to go faster if there is demand.
Already had the case, an Antec and a capable PSU, 550W
Bought:
ASUS P5B VM-SE - G965 northbridge and ICH8 south, Socket 775, supports Dual and the latest QuadCore Core 2 CPUs, DDRII-800, Integrated Intel GMA X3000 graphics, So this motherboard is built to last, I can keep upgrading her with it for a while, up to a QuadCore or whatever if she ever needs it, and more RAM of course, it doesn't officially support the 1333 MHz FSB though, it does 1066, but it will do it unofficially, really won't be a problem though, like she needs that. I wanted Integrated grpahics to save money, don't have to buy a vid card, and it is all she needs, she doesn't game, heh. It has built in HD Audio and 10/100/1000 Ethernet, 1x 16X PCI-E slot, 2 PCI slots, 1 PCI-E x4 slot.
Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 - So this is Core 2, dual core, but it is Allendale not Conroe, only difference is it runs on an 800 MHz FSB instead of 1066. The CPU runs at 1.8 GHz, but it is dual core and Core 2 so for her should be just fine. CPU was cheap, so to save money went with it, it is the lowest end Core 2 you can get, but with the motherboard noted above we can always upgrade later if needed. Honestly this will be fine for her.
2x 512 MB DDR-II 800 memory - 1 GB will be fine for her right now, running at the default 800 MHz DDR2 speeds, we can always add more later if needed.
250 GB WD HDD - Cheap
DVD ROM/DVD RW - Cheap
Already had a Case and PSU, a good small Antec case and a good 550W PSU
Got all of this for just $350 !
Going to run XP, no Vista for her, she has a hard enough time with XP hehe, maybe down the rode we'll make the switch, then we'll put in a faster CPU and more RAM, but not anytime soon for that switch, XP is all she needs right now.
I am also going to get her a wireless NIC so we can eliminate the Ethernet cable that runs from upstairs to downstairs and just go with a wireless connection on this computer, which is downstairs (the router is upstairs). I may also go ahead and get her a cheap but decent 2.1 sound system, 2 satellites and a small sub so when she listens to her music it will sound better than the $5 speakers she is using now.
Not bad eh, this system will run cool and quiet and deliver more performance than she really needs and is highly upgradeable to go faster if there is demand.