Building a PC for Grandparents

[RAW-Raptor22]

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).

[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.

[RAW-Raptor22]

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.

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

[Movieman]

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

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.

[RAW-Raptor22]

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.

Thanks man, well appreciated the input on this end.
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?

[Movieman]

Thanks man, well appreciated the input on this end.
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?

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