[kershner]

So, building a computer for a friend's parents. Budget right around $600 (must include OS and monitor). Going to be a general use computer, no gaming. Work your magic!

[hikaricloud]

This comes to $652, but then there's 70 bucks in MIRs. And there's room to tweak, either way.

Newegg.com - Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

Newegg.com - AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000 Brisbane 2.6GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops

Newegg.com - BIOSTAR TFORCE TA780G M2+ AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards

Newegg.com - OCZ SLI-Ready Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives

Newegg.com - LG Black 22X (CAV) DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X (CAV) DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe - CD / DVD Burners

Newegg.com - Thermaltake Purepower W0100RU 500W ATX 12V 2.0 Power Supply - Power Supplies

Newegg.com - Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 B2L-00047 Black 105 Normal Keys 9 Function Keys USB Ergonomics Keyboard and Mouse - Keyboards

Newegg.com - Acer X193W+BD Black 19" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 2000:1 (ACM) - LCD Monitors

Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders - Operating Systems

The mobo has onboard, and it's not half bad. Then 4gb of ram can be swapped out for 2gb if you think it's better, but that RAM has a really nice MIR on it, so I figured it would be worth it. The monitor has a higher resoultion than other ones the same cost. Even though it only has a digital output, the mobo has a DVI input, so you're golden. Mouse and keyboard combo is an obvious good deal. 500w PSU in case you ever need to throw something else in there. It will handle everything just fine.


EDIT: I'm sure someone will come along and recommend an intel build, but this is pretty cheap for what you're getting.

[saltynay]

I would change a few things:

Newegg.com - AMD Athlon 64 X2 5400 Brisbane 2.8GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core black edition Processor - Processors - Desktops $5 more and is a quite a bit faster plus its the black edition so you can get some good overclocks.

Newegg.com - CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory
Last time I checked you only needed 2gb if your not gaming and they are practically giving these away $10 :o I never knew ram had dropped that much

Definition of a dark horse psu (I was looking for ones under the 400W marks as you really will only be using around 100W then I found this gem
Newegg.com - OCZ StealthXStream OCZ500SXS 500W ATX12V / EPS12V Active PFC Power Supply - Power Supplies

Get the 32 bit Home premium

If you really wanted to impress them then get a mini-itx or nano itx build post here if you want me to elaborate on the greatness that it entails

[kershner]

Elaborate away...can I grab a smaller case with a mini mobo?

[hikaricloud]

Good catch on the PSU and RAM. I just liked the 4gb I got cause it was 27 bucks, which was plenty cheap. ;P

The reason I didn't mention the 5400 is because it's 9 dollars more, not 5. And yeah, it's a black edition, but it's also for someone's parents. No one is going to be overclocking. A few bucks saved is a few bucks saved.

Also, I picked 64-bit not only because of the RAM, but it's the same cost, so even if they got the 2gb, if they wanted to upgrade later, they wouldn't have to buy another OS.

[saltynay]

The serials are interchangable they wouldn't have to buy a new OS key anyway just get a disc which is easily found or contact windows and pay them £5+P&P to get one direct.

You could overclock it a bit and they would never know upto 2.8ghz should be nice and stable and work well with a mini-itx case where heat sinks can be an issue

Yes the case can be tiny example of a nano-itx case which isn't the smallest mind


I would say that a mini-itx board would be best in this situation as it is less restrictive, as you get smaller you lose functionality. It can be a little more expensive but I think its worth it as its so micro its amazing how powerful they can be you can make one with a Q9450 (quad core processor that gets to 3.8ghz) if you wanted. a motherboard like this would be good and would work with the already suggested cpu's
KustomPCs.co.uk - Jetway JNC62K ITX AM2+ Motherboard
Psu and case would need changing but everything else would work with it.

[hikaricloud]

You could overclock it a bit, but there would really be no point, since it's going to be fast enough anyway. I know my parents, and they think their dell is fast even though it's kinda freakishly slow. I think it has a P4 in it, I don't remember.

[saltynay]

My mum is click happy if it isn't instantly there she will carry on clicking until it opens up 30 of the same program its amazing her skills at screwing up a pc and slowing it right down. P4's are fast little blighters just run hot and you need to do quite a bit of OS maintenance to get the most out of them.

[kershner]

Micro/Nano/Whatever sounds really good to me..can you suggest a micro-style build for around $600?

[saltynay]

Google it yourself newegg only sells 775skt ones I gave you an example board to find. You can use mini-itx.com but there prices are a little high imo but a good starting point. All you would need to change from the original plan is motherboard, psu and case. For the psu a 120w laptop style one would be fine you will see what I mean when you get researching.