System for under $200

[yuthra253]

Hey,

My friend's grandmother has a PC she uses to browse the internet and mostly plays flash games on some website. Her computer is on the fritz again. I think it's pretty much at the end of it's life and I'm trying to convince her to buy a new one. I am hoping if I can put something together for under $200 or even cheaper I can convince her to make the plunge. She has a monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, etc. I have an old copy of XP that I don't use anymore or I might put Ubuntu on it.

I was hoping you guys could help me picking out the hardware. I like Newegg and Tigerdirect and was hoping you guys could maybe take a look at a system I put together and let me know what I can improve, and where I can save money.

Barebones system:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16856167036 - $80

160gb HDD:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822145162 - $41

1gb ram x2:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148239 - $24

Sempron 2.0 ghz:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103196 - $23

DVD drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106276 - $18

Total: $186 plus shipping


How does that look to you guys? I've never seen that crucial ram before...is it decent? Thanks for your time!

John

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would personally go for the AMD LE1250 which has twice the cache and a 200mhz speed bump over the LE1150 you specified:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103189

It costs another 6 USD more though. I would also get an 80gb Western Digital HDD for 36 USD:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136195

IMHO Western Digital hard disks are better than the ones made by Hitachi and you will be saving 8 USD too! The extra 80gb is not going to make much difference for most people unless they need to store loads of pictures,music and video.

So if you use the LE1250 and 80gb hard disk you would have saved 2 USD and have a faster computer to boot(no pun intended)!

[yuthra253]

Cat,

Thanks for the input. That's a good idea and a good point. I use a lot of storage and I guess I just have that urge to get a bigger drive even though it isn't really needed. I doubt she has even close to 80 right now so it would still be a huge upgrade. Thanks again.

John

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Is there any advantage of running the memory in dual channel mode for a basic pc?? Also you really do not need to have 800mhz memory for a basic pc as 667mhz memory will also be fine!! You can get 1x2gb 667mhz dimm for 21 USD:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148236

Another 3 USD off!

Edit! There seems like there are some PQI branded 1x2gb 800mhz ram sticks for 21 USD too:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820141300