Building a PC for Grandparents

My grandparents in Idaho have an old PII laptop that took a crap on them this morning, and they want me to build them a new computer. They sent me a check for $1300, and I chose these parts (I haven't ordered yet). What'd ya'll think?



ASUS 18X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe and 14X DVD-RAM Write Black SATA Model DRW-1814BLT - Retail
Item #: N82E16827135146
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$35.99



COOLER MASTER Elite 330 RC-330-KKN1-GP Black SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Item #: N82E16811119115
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$39.99



SONY Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive Windows 98SE/ ME/ 2000/ XP - OEM
Item #: N82E16821103116
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$7.99



(2x)Western Digital Caviar SE WD2000JS 200GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Item #: N82E16822144416
Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy

-$5.00 Instant
$119.98
$109.98
($54.99 each)



Acer AL2223Wd Black-Silver 22" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail
Item #: N82E16824009102
Return Policy: [LCD] Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy

-$20.00 Instant
$259.99
$239.99



SAPPHIRE 100203L Radeon HD 2400PRO 256MB GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814102100
Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy

$59.99


SeaSonic S12 II SS-380GB ATX12V 380W Power Supply - Retail
Item #: N82E16817151032
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

$74.99



Logitech UltraX Silver/Black USB Standard Media Keyboard - OEM
Item #: N82E16823126022
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$18.99



G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ - Retail
Item #: N82E16820231098
Return Policy: Memory (Modules, USB) Return Policy

-$40.00 Instant
$129.99
$89.99



MSI P35 Neo-F LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813130095
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

$99.99



Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 Conroe 2.13GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6420 - Retail
Item #: N82E16819115016
Return Policy: Processors (CPUs) Return Policy

$186.00



Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Home Premium for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM
Item #: N82E16832116204
Return Policy: Software Return Policy
-$5.00 Instant
$119.99
$114.99

Grand Total: $1141.98 (With tax and shipping to 95618)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817153023

That PSU instead and you're all set. Trust me, it's good. First off, look @ the reviews. Secondly, I've used it in many rigs such as the following, when running it caseless.

-E6300 @ 3.5GHz, 1.48v
-X1900GT @ 650/800
-320GB HDD
-Watercooling
-P5B Deluxe
-X-Fi

I also used one with..

-2.8GHz 1.65v 3800+ X2 AM2 under water
-2x 7600GT "xXx" vmodded

When I was waiting for my new PSU to come.

They're real great units, sleeved, quiet. I've had six personally in and out of the house, used for customer builds, etc. We always have one brand new sitting around in case one of the PC's in the house has a PSU that dies.

Not as good of quality though, and this will be my grandparents last system and will need to live as long as they do...

I'm pretty sure they will be blown away by the improved performance. If they do alot of CD/DVD burning I would go with a LITE-ON, some people here have issues with the Asus. You could probably skimp on the motherboard, but thats a good price anyway.

I actually have the Lite-On 20x SATA DVD Burner, but I prefer the looks of the ASUS better...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NickS

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817153023

That PSU instead and you're all set. Trust me, it's good. First off, look @ the reviews. Secondly, I've used it in many rigs such as the following, when running it caseless.

-E6300 @ 3.5GHz, 1.48v
-X1900GT @ 650/800
-320GB HDD
-Watercooling
-P5B Deluxe
-X-Fi

I also used one with..

-2.8GHz 1.65v 3800+ X2 AM2 under water
-2x 7600GT "xXx" vmodded

When I was waiting for my new PSU to come.

They're real great units, sleeved, quiet. I've had six personally in and out of the house, used for customer builds, etc. We always have one brand new sitting around in case one of the PC's in the house has a PSU that dies.

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Tell me you did not just recommend them that piece of crap. It's made by Compucase, who make nothing but junk PSUs. Never, EVER, EVVVVVVVVVER trust newegg reviews, especially for PSUs. No one ever has any clue what they are talking about. The PSU he's getting is a top quality PSU by seasonic. Seasonic makes their own PSUs and a lot of well known companies use their PSU's and rebadge them (Corsair PSU's are seasonic, as well as PCP&C Silencer's.)

The seasonic is a very good choice, especially if it's needed to last a long time. I don't know about the choice of board though, I really wouldn't trust anything from MSI.

My MSI 694T-Pro has been running overclocked 12-14hrs a day since 2002 with no problems ever. No probs with the graphics card in my sig either, I trust MSI to last a while. If you want crappy mobos, look at ECS or PC Chips(owned by ECS).

I don't see why they need a $1300 computer but that's just me.

If it were me I'd just give them back half of it and build a computer for $650.

If that computer doesn't outlive them u can buy another computer for $650 later :p:

Its a $750 PC if you deduct the Windows Vista and the Monitor...

How old are your grandparents?
60's or 80's?
It matters..
I'd think a simple "tank" for them.
Lian Li PC60 for some class
workstation quality motherboard..
Conroe 6600
2x1 gig ram..
mid range vid
PCP+C 610w(overkill but overkill in PSU's is good IMO)
2 good SATA drives in raid1 and buy a thrid for a backup when one fails
300 gig storage drive for data.
I think you can build that for the money you have to work with.
Good Luck..Make it special for them. You won't have them forever.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Movieman

How old are your grandparents?
60's or 80's?
It matters..
I'd think a simple "tank" for them.
Lian Li PC60 for some class
workstation quality motherboard..
Conroe 6600
2x1 gig ram..
mid range vid
PCP+C 610w(overkill but overkill in PSU's is good IMO)
2 good SATA drives in raid1 and buy a thrid for a backup when one fails
300 gig storage drive for data.
I think you can build that for the money you have to work with.
Good Luck..Make it special for them. You won't have them forever.

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They are both 74 Years old. My Grandpa doesn't use the PC much, but my grandma is into sending tons of E-Mail attachments with pictures and video, rather sad but broadband is $60 a month in their area so they ae stuck on phone company dial-up. And movieman: I really appreciate the respect that you gave them, and see eye-to-eye with me. I originally posted this on another forum, and they responded kind of jerkily, like "buy a Sempy for 'em," its like what the hell man. Since I live in CA, and my grandparents live in Idaho I dont get to see them much so this is just one way I can feel kinda still connected to them. I really appreciate your input, and I'm glad I have made a great new friend on the forum.

Cheers,

~C. DeKnikker

FSP psu bling just gets you less on the inside where it matters
Pioneer burner best japanese burner
Lose x64 windows replace with x32 subjective choice
Lose floppy drive replace with pendrive dont need flopy for vista install
lose hsf use intel box

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lome

FSP psu bling just gets you less on the inside where it matters
Pioneer burner best japanese burner
Lose x64 windows replace with x32 subjective choice
Lose floppy drive replace with pendrive dont need flopy for vista install
lose hsf use intel box

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I will be setting the PC up so the windows isn't a problem. They are used to antiquated hardware, hence the FDD. But I will seriously consider ditching the Freezer7 for the Intel stock, even if it is mildly OCed.

when you are building a computer for someone who is not a techie, always try to make sure they get a really nice keyboard , mouse and monitor. those are the items they will be interacting with everyday. too many people overlook the basics. also newegg has lian li cases for as little as $30 more than the coolermaster. i highly recommend them.

reliability and appearance are very important for people who don't live for computers.

good to see you care so much about your grandparents, like movieman said, they won't be here forever.

almost forgot, drop the 64bit and get 32bit. they will probably never increase the 2gb of ram so 64 would have no advantage. and the drivers still have issues.

About the motherboard...

Don't listen to any anti MSI bull :banana::banana::banana::banana:. I have had my MSI 975X for almost a year now and it runs my E6400@3.2 Ghz easily 24/7 stable and can go up to 3.6 stable on air. I moved to MSI from Intel and expected a severe decrease in quality, but MSI is just as stable as my Intel D955XBK even though the MSI 975x is much cheaper than the other higher end boards.


I don't expect the MSI P35 Neo to OC very well, but I doubt your GrandParents care about OCing. The board should be very stable and will give them an excellent upgrade from their old system.

BTW, don't cheap out on the power supply. You may sometimes get away with cheap power supplies, but the risk just isn't worth it.

If you want to save some bucks for your grandparents and get more parts, maybe you should take a lot of the used items there were selling from other forums such as [H] or anandtech, but i must warn you to be careful about sending money first without verifying their heatware evals. Also, since you live in california, tax will kill most of the deals so why dont you wait till july 22nd and see what up with the price drops.

Raptor. So she sends emails. Does she do anthing else with it? Make sure you can get aesthically pleasing keyboards. A nice non glare screen, with guard if you have to. Make sure the finish is in nice tones. They'll appreciate it. A wireless mouse keyboard jobby to save them trying to sort out cable snares etc. Make sure they have nothing to have to plug/unplug. Just on and off.

I hear Seasonic 380W is noisy...
...but I guess noise is not a problem here...
:P

I think that we don't need Vista 64bit and Floppy Disk ;) Is there any special reason for those two ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by largon

I hear Seasonic 380W is noisy...
...but I guess noise is not a problem here...
:P

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No, it isn't (noisy, that is). It's the recommended power suply (under 400W) at Silent PC Review http://www.silentpcreview.com/article699-page1.html.

They don't need extreme, just buy a box store PC such as a dell for a third of what they sent you and be done with it.

I hope you've realized that you chose a terrible forum to ask. People are recommending E6600s and Raptors and the like. Fail.

What you've chosen is already overkill, and considerably so.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dandragonrage

I hope you've realized that you chose a terrible forum to ask. People are recommending E6600s and Raptors and the like. Fail.

What you've chosen is already overkill, and considerably so.

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his name is raptor... nobody suggested using one in his build. and a 6600 is a good value considering the budget.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by geto

They don't need extreme, just buy a box store PC such as a dell for a third of what they sent you and be done with it.

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Why would he disrespect his grandparents with a pre-made pc? They could've bought one themselves, but instead asked him to build them one. What he has suggested, and a budget of $1300 is no where near extreme.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dandragonrage

I hope you've realized that you chose a terrible forum to ask. People are recommending E6600s and Raptors and the like. Fail.

What you've chosen is already overkill, and considerably so.

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On the contrary its a great forum to ask. He can get feedback from people who know the differece between marketing and real quality/value, and what hardware is reliable long-term. When its family or friends, there's no such thing as overkill! you should see what my friends have hehe

I would recommend an LG optical drive. After years of use they're the only ones that have survived, and my new one is brilliant. G/L with the build :)

Config looks great to me, I think they'll be psyched.

I agree with some of the comments -

- Use the box cooler and ditch the arctic freezer
- No floppy, USB takes it's place (get them a key)
- Use nice Logitech mouse/kb
- The Viewsonic is a good deal
- I'd use XP32 SP2 but if you like Vista maybe it'll be fine
- Seasonic are great, hi end psu.

dang only that and it costs over a grand? im sure you can shave some dollars off like E4300 instead of E4400 and cheaper but prob better psu.
then again they sent you 1300 so owell not bad. give me their xfire's LOL

Why waste money on C2D?

A64 3200+ $20
ASUS M2A-VM, 690G $40
1GB PC6400 $30
Quality Fortron PSU $50
etc.

Send back >>50% of the reserved money.

A dell machine would be more than enough for any grandparents. 500 dollars you get everything you need, software, monitor, etc. It'll last several years.

E-mail and surfing the web doesn't take much and OS software usually takes a big chunk of money. Or do what largon suggested.

I don't see where the disrespect is.

I think you are focusing way too much on hardware. Chances are you aren't going to run this overclocked because there is simply no need. For web-browsing, email, and even watching movies, a E4300 with PC5300 is more than enough....especially since the HD2400Pro will help tremendously with hardware decoding of video conent. Here are some of my thoughts...

- Switch out CPU for E4300, memory for 2x1GB PC5300. Even if overclocking, PC5300 will allow 333FSB 1:1, which is fine for a mild OC that just about any Conroe will do on stock volts.

- Monitor: 20" Widescreen is going to be an eyestrain because its the smallest size monitor with 1680x1050 resolution. 22" Widescreens are larger and keep the same resolution and don't cost much more.

- Vista vs XP? XP May be an easier learning experience from Win9x

- Quietness: Try to make the PC as Silent as possible. Drop the 2 WDs for a Samsung Spinpoint drive, use quiet case fans like Yate Loons @ 5v , and try undervolting the processor and running Passive only.

- Make USB inputs easily accessible through a USB Hub or inputs from the Monitor if the model has them

- Get good sounding speakers like Swans http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16836136102
Not much is better in PC Audio and these will be a real treat compared to the low end junk Logitech/Creative make. Will probably push you over your budget though

-Use deal sites like FatWallet/SlickDeals and search for any deals on parts you will be using. If you don't mind used stuff, Ebay & FS/FT forums will get you even better deals

Good luck!

Should I just use the Conroe in my own system and Give them my PD820? Pros/Cons?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Miwo

- Monitor: 20" Widescreen is going to be an eyestrain because its the smallest size monitor with 1680x1050 resolution. 22" Widescreens are larger and keep the same resolution and don't cost much more.

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This is probably the most important comment in this thread. Old people don't care if it's 16x12, or 10x7 - it just better not be too small! My dad is a testament to that. He was running a 20" LCD @ 1024 x 768 b/c text was too small at the native resolution. I'm sure your grandparents would appreciate the bigger screen (with less DPI) more than anything else (RAM/CPU/etc.)

So I might just give them my PD820 and my 1GB of MD9 Kingstons?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Raptor22

So I might just give them my PD820 and my 1GB of MD9 Kingstons?

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ya thats fine.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Raptor22

They are both 74 Years old. My Grandpa doesn't use the PC much, but my grandma is into sending tons of E-Mail attachments with pictures and video, rather sad but broadband is $60 a month in their area so they ae stuck on phone company dial-up. And movieman: I really appreciate the respect that you gave them, and see eye-to-eye with me. I originally posted this on another forum, and they responded kind of jerkily, like "buy a Sempy for 'em," its like what the hell man. Since I live in CA, and my grandparents live in Idaho I dont get to see them much so this is just one way I can feel kinda still connected to them. I really appreciate your input, and I'm glad I have made a great new friend on the forum.

Cheers,

~C. DeKnikker

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Best compliment I got all year! Thank you.
Maybe it's me being sensitive. I lost my grandmother at age 96 app 8 weeks ago.Maybe it's just me being older with an appreciation of that generation of people.
There's been some good suggestions in this thread.
When I posted I missed that there was a monitor and keyboard in this build.
Keyboard all you need is a simple MS keyboard..$15-20..
The monitor, I'd go with a locally available(to them) 19" CRT
Colors are "warmer" and better for old eyes.
Remember that 1024x768 is the max an older person will generally use.
Can you use that PD-820?
Yes, plenty of stones for their machine.
I was thinking the Conroe 6600 at stock speed for stones and elec usage.
Much less than that PD I think.
I don't beleive in passive cooling.
Good fans well placed and always a mid speed 80mm minimum on the hard drives. Extends their lives 3 fold from my experience.
My best to you on this.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Movieman

Best compliment I got all year! Thank you.
Maybe it's me being sensitive. I lost my grandmother at age 96 app 8 weeks ago.Maybe it's just me being older with an appreciation of that generation of people.
There's been some good suggestions in this thread.
When I posted I missed that there was a monitor and keyboard in this build.
Keyboard all you need is a simple MS keyboard..$15-20..
The monitor, I'd go with a locally available(to them) 19" CRT
Colors are "warmer" and better for old eyes.
Remember that 1024x768 is the max an older person will generally use.
Can you use that PD-820?
Yes, plenty of stones for their machine.
I was thinking the Conroe 6600 at stock speed for stones and elec usage.
Much less than that PD I think.
I don't beleive in passive cooling.
Good fans well placed and always a mid speed 80mm minimum on the hard drives. Extends their lives 3 fold from my experience.
My best to you on this.

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Thanks man, well appreciated the input on this end. :D
I'm on the PD now, but a Conroe would be awesome, but I aught to wait until the 22nd to order, I don't know. Would the Conroe fold any better?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Raptor22

Thanks man, well appreciated the input on this end. :D
I'm on the PD now, but a Conroe would be awesome, but I aught until the 22nd to order, I don't know. Would the Conroe fold any better?

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Much better..:D
Ought to see what 4 of them on one board can do!:rofl:

I thought it was for Movieman, but I figured I had to read the title of this thread twice.

So should I put the conroe in my own system, or should I keep my PD?

Yes, you should put the E4400 in the system.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ashraful

I thought it was for Movieman, but I figured I had to read the title of this thread twice.

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I build my own you little PITA!:D
And his grandparents aren't old enough to be my parents!:rofl:

Now get back to your artwork or it's the BIG B button for you!

you know that most things barely work on vista 64 right?. if something does work it will be glitchy in most cases and most drivers will be afk. sure, it has gotten better but not to the point where it is good for the non-enthusiast.

IMO get them a dell with REAL tech support if they arent gaming, building a rig for them really isnt worth all the tech support YOU will have to provide

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SNiiPE_DoGG

you know that most things barely work on vista 64 right?. if something does work it will be glitchy in most cases and most drivers will be afk. sure, it has gotten better but not to the point where it is good for the non-enthusiast.

IMO get them a dell with REAL tech support if they arent gaming, building a rig for them really isnt worth all the tech support YOU will have to provide

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I don't mind talking to my grandparents. F*ck they are my grandparents for peets sake. And yes I might reconsider the x64 vista, but I won't be ordering until next week, so I'll let everything percolate for a while.

BTW get a single SATA drive that's under 250GB. If they are on dial up there is absolutely no possible way they will fill up even 1/4 of a 250GB drive. Even if they have broadband they still won't even come close to half capacity in 5+ years.

If you want to give them a real good treat, get them a 20.1" or bigger regular sized LCD (NOT WIDESCREEN!) Don't get them a $220 CPU, get them a $99 E4300 or even the C2D celeron equivilant (Pentium 2160 or w/e it's called, just woke up sorry.)

Don't get them a pre-made piece of crap, if you use quality components they won't have a problem with their computer. Dell uses nothing but the crappiest components (esp. PSU's and boards.) Their PSUs slogan should be "Guaranteed to fail within 3 years or your money back!"

I'm thinking of getting the $220 CPU for me, and using the PD820, thoughts?

If all their using it for is Email and Internet, you can do w/o a graphics card and get a MB with intergrated graphics.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 514y3r

If all their using it for is Email and Internet, you can do w/o a graphics card and get a MB with intergrated graphics.

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Not one that will last a while...

Man, get them a Dell PC instead!

It will cost you anywhere between $400 and $800 including the monitor.

$400 for a very basic setup, and $800 for a very good system including a 22" LCD.

And you won't have to offer your technical support! :D

Refer to post #43

Your grandmother's going to be strafe jumping around and taking out strogs.

I'll second (or third or whatever) the suggestion on the monitor. For me, and I'm not yet 50, the minimum monitor size for comfortable viewing at 1680x1050 is 22". 24" would be better yet.
I had a 20" at that res for about a week before returning it. I think they'd find it very frustrating.

I would also avoid the 64-bit os. Sure, you'll set it up before delivery but no telling what gran might want to install on it when your not there. Just an extra and unnecessary layer of complexity imho.

I'd stick with raid 1 also unless you're going to set up some sort of automated backup solution for them. They'll not be pleased if they loose all the pics of the grandkids (that's you) and whatnot!

Otherwise, looks awsome!
They'll be impressed with it and you as well.

EDIT: Oh yeah, box cooler is more than adequate. I'm using the stocker on my sig rig with no issues at all.
Cut whatever costs you have to in order to get a more usable monitor I say.

I replace the monitor with a 22'.

why c2d???

hell, i think AMD X2 will be good enough, and it could cut the price down 50% imho.

cpu, AMD X2 3800+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103733

mobo/case/GPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16856110073

RAM(i actually doubt 2gb will be necessary, but...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820134384

hard drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822144701

cd drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827136120

O S
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116202

mousie+keyboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16823126174

screen
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824014139

grand total of 876.31 with shipping, but there's a $30 rebate.

this would do...unless they're hardcore gamers
but it could go even cheaper.
send the rest of the monies back to them, keep it, or get them an uber monitor...idk

I think I might buy the Conroe, but put the CPU in my own system and use the PD for theirs.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Raptor22

I think I might buy the Conroe, but put the CPU in my own system and use the PD for theirs.

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even though it's unethical, i do not think they will need the power of the conroe, and would be better off with the pentium d.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bluep3ace

even though it's unethical, i do not think they will need the power of the conroe, and would be better off with the pentium d.

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Well they want me to keep like $100 of the change for my "labor," but still.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Raptor22

Well they want me to keep like $100 of the change for my "labor," but still.

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well you've worked hard, haven't you :)

I've spent like 3hrs online researching parts, plus build time. So maybe...?

I think you should save them a lot more money and just get a Dell. It'll be plenty for what they'll use it and for a long time too. Just reformat it, throw the OS back on and be done with it.

$500.00 Dell machine
$100.00 in your pocket (if you want to keep any)
Send $700.00 back to them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by geto

I think you should save them a lot more money and just get a Dell. It'll be plenty for what they'll use it and for a long time too. Just reformat it, throw the OS back on and be done with it.

$500.00 Dell machine
$100.00 in your pocket (if you want to keep any)
Send $700.00 back to them.

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Didn't like five people say that already? It's so cnet to assume what users need. I f'ing hate that about system builders and resellers. Here's the PC for the multimedia guy, here's one for the small business owner, here's one for the gamer, here's one for old people who MUST only use email because they're old.

So gay and lazy!

Enough cpu and ram for grandmother to have a bit happening at once.
Some photos open, a dvd playing her tunes and her email app running etc.
She needs the C2D and deserves it.
If their pipe is tiny you want to make everything else zip along.

What about building them a shuttle or SFF PC? I think they'd absolutely love it.

www.dell.com

that's what I would do...otherwise you will be tech support forever..