planning build for my sister

kris23

my dad and i are planning on getting my sister a better comp than her dead Dell dimension 3000. the thing is sitting here in need of what i think to be a bios flash...... were trying to get it fixed but its taking a while..... the guy that built my comp says he needs the drivers and such so i downloaded them onto a disk.....

anyways i need a list of components that is more powerful than my own current comp while being very upgradable to core 2s, quad core if possible.... PCI Express, alot of pci/pci Express x1 slots, and a large cheap hard drive of maybe 320GB or more under $600 i was able to scrape something together but it was like 660 just components and the shipping got it to $720

any ideas? she likes listening to music, movies, some photoshop and so on..... mostly multimedia apps . lol i think this challenge is a little impossible

EDIT: im giving a bit more elbow room and raisong it to 700 bucks so some better equipment can fit

PangingJr

" while being very upgradable to core 2s, quad core if possible "

the best possible is to build Intel processor-based computer from start.
there is not a big difference in price between the Intel Pentium 4/Pentium D-based processors (that can out perform what you have currently, which is Pentium 4 3.0E) and Intel Core 2-based processor. i am comparing prices on Pentium D 930/940/945 and Intel Core 2 Duo E6300/E6400,
so i think, in this case, the best will be to just build the new computer with a Intel Core 2-based processor from the start.

Tipstaff

Well, I dunno about that.

I agree that if you compare the dual cores the difference in price is very close. If you look at the P4 D 925 (3.0Ghz) and compare it to the Core 2, both the E4300, and E6300 are just a little more in price. However, if you do decide on a Core 2 I would go straight for the E6300 over the E4300. The price difference there is only $10. (Intel really needs to get their $h!7 together in regards to that, btw. The E4000 series is just not worth the money. It should be way cheaper.)

On the other hand, you could pickup the single core Intel P4 641 (3.2Ghz, 65nm, w/Hyper Threading) for around $85, while the closest dual core P4 at the same Ghz would cost you just shy of $150, and even the Core 2s would cost you double what you'd pay for the P4-641. At first it looks as though it would only be marginally faster than what he's got now, but it would be more efficient as it's 3.2Ghz (although still running at 800mhz bus), cooler cuz it's 65nm, and if used on a board that supports DDR2, it'd be even better.

My advice on a board would be to pickup a good 965 board, and being an Intel boy the DP965LT, or DG965RY would be my first choices for a full sized board that can support Core 2s, with the DP965LT as my first choice since it supports the Core 2 Extremes. Both have onboard video, so if you want to delay buying a video card to save money for now the option is there, Firewire, and 3 of each PCI type. Either board would run you roughly $150.

PangingJr

you are right, i did not think straight, in fact, i did not think much about the Prescott 1M/2M processors at all but Pentium D's.
and for the most of it, was actually based on my own experience alone, since i've never build a computer and hope for upgrading the system processor in future.

kris23, please ignore mine.

kris23

here's what i got so far,

Newegg.com - LITE-ON Black 20X DVD±R DVD Burner W/ 12X DVD-RAM write and LightScribe - OEM
Newegg.com - MITSUMI USB 2.0 Internal digital card reader with Floppy Drive Black Model FA404M BLK - OEM
Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Newegg.com - SCEPTRE X7G-NagaVI Black 17" 8ms LCD Monitor - Retail
Newegg.com - LOGISYS Computer PS575XBK 575W Power Supply - Retail
Newegg.com - CORSAIR 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM Desktop Memory - Retail
Newegg.com - Intel BOXDG965RYCK ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Newegg.com - Intel Pentium 4 631 3.0GHz LGA 775 Processor - Retail

i still need a good case, keyboard, and mouse......but everything is at $567 and that means.....bad

swimtech

kris23 - would you consider moving to a dual core P4, the 820 here?
Newegg.com - Intel Pentium D 820 2.8GHz LGA 775 Processor - Retail
I know doesn't have the pure clock speed of the 631, but it does run at an 800Mhz bus speed.

while dropping the hard drive size down to 250G with another Seagate here?
Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 250GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Note these have free shipping too. These changes cancel out any price increase on the system, so far...

Finally, consider using DDR2 800 ram here?
Newegg.com - OCZ 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
which adds 29.00 to the system cost, but is more balanced...

Yeah, your 600.00 price point is difficult - I looked last evening some and picked the same monitor - heh... You could do this this though for $650.00 or so...

kris23

hey thanks for those ideas, the memory was a good idea, the drive seemed pretty good, im raising the bar to around 700 because i want to get the thermaltake soprano and a good microsoft keyboard and mouse i may just stick with the pentium 4 because this thing was really something to upgrade as we go, i may also just get spend a bit more and get a gigabyte 965p and vid card to OC on

DudeBoyz

I know they may not be the most favored option, but since they are so incredible from a price point, maybe considering some of those pre-done systems from Emachines, Compaq or HP might be worth a look?

I know a few people who bought Emachines and one person who got a Presario, and simply bought a 7600GT PCI-E card and they had themselves a pretty decent gaming machine.

I kind of liked the HP Pavilion models because they had a specific spot for a floppy drive should you wish to add it, and Emachines or Compaq didn't, but I really think the Presario case looks better. I like the card readers on both, but the way that the Firewire and USB ports are "sunken" in on the Compaq is very nice. On the HP I could easily snag my fingers or cables or whatever on the exposed metal on the Firewire port in particular.

Gateway has a recent case-redesign setup that now includes a port for a floppy drive should you want it. They seem to have recognized how useful a floppy still is with Bios updates, Firmware updates and SATA driver disks.

Because those guys handle such mass quantities, they really have costs so low that it is almost impossible to compete when doing individual part acquisition.

Just wanted to put that out there for consideration.

Good luck.

kris23

i guess.....but the thing is that most pre built machines are annoying to service for some.....low end Dells are a good example, and HP comps are good but a but expensive and i just dont like emachines my cousin's is like new and is falling apart, and then theres my other cousin that had an AMD sempron system built for her and its very reliable.

how about an AMD configuration? i know their processors are much cheaper now and better than a pentium 4 and boards are good and AM2 has plenty of potiental

kris23

is this board any good?
Newegg.com - MSI K9N Neo-F ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
and do u think this 3200+ is alright or is it better to get an X2?
Newegg.com - AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2.0GHz Socket AM2 Processor - Retail

yea....i dont know as much about AMD set ups

DudeBoyz

If I was buying a new setup - I'd go Core 2 Duo 100%.

I'm an AMD fanboy, but I gotta fess up that Core 2 Duo is superior.

I personally would get a 6600 at a minimum - nice 4 meg cache.

That's just me though.

kris23

lol i would too.....so what do you think? go intel or AMD? i wonder if i can buy some core 2 duo parts a nice case for my sister and stick my current computer parts in there and have some fun with an e6600? lol but thats expensive

DudeBoyz

Intel all the way. I just don't see AMD as being competitive performance wise right now, sadly. The Core 2 Duo is outstanding.

If you don't want to pay for a Core 2 Duo, AMD AM2 is the next best thing.