[Tyrian]

I'm putting together a machine for my neighbors.  (They currently have an eMachines ).  They want to be able to do basic web-surfing, e-mail, word processing, etc. with it, as well as some gaming (i.e.: stuff like Oblivion, however maximum performance in this area isn't the main focus).  By trade, this person is an artist (but they don't want to use a Mac), so I've put to focus on hard drive capacity and GPU power, as they do image editing.  I've put together some preliminary specs and wanted to get some feedback on it.

Case
Motherboard
CPU 1 or CPU 2
RAM  New RAM
GPU New GPU
HDD  New HDD
PSU  New PSU Newer PSU
Win XP
DVD Drive
Floppy
Thermal Compound

First off, I'm operating under a somewhat constrained budget (less than $750 for just the tower).  Monitor, speakers, printer, and scanner are all being used from the previous system.  I picked that case, because it needs to fit in a fairly small environment (and it's fairly simple with only one big silver power button).  The mobo was again picked with price in mind.  I went possibly (read: probably) overboard on the CPU, but the current system they have has been running very sluggishly, given that the hardware it was built with was substandard, and is having extreme difficultly keeping up even with everyday tasks.  The RAM should provide a good deal of future-proofing, plus the mobo supports up to 4GB max.  The GPU is again probably overkill, but the machine may be used for some 3D intensive gaming.  Since the person is an artist, they need the HDD capacity for storing pictures.  The PSU is the best I can find, given that the case's form factor is Micro ATX, however I'm really not happy with it.  If anyone knows of a better choice, do tell.  Win XP is their OS of choice, as they don't want to roll up to Vista and lack the technical savvy (and compatibility) for a Linux distro.  The DVD drive is pretty standard, nothing flashy there.  And yes, I know a floppy drive is very nearly completely obsolete, but in rare instances, I still find them useful.  (In this scenario, I find it better to be safe than sorry.)

So given that, fire away.

[Nuke]

watch out with the hyperx, i got the same ram and it clocks 667 by default, you have to overclock it to 800.

also dont skimp on your psu.

[haloboy100]

Yeah, you'll need some kicking power for that GPU.

[BloodEagle]

The specs say that that board is standard ATX, not micro-ATX. So you should be able to get any board in there.

You really should get a better PSU. The combination of the CPU, GPU, RAM, and DVD drive will most likely cause significant problems. 600 watts (with good rates) should do the trick.

[colecampbell666]

Looks good. I might change the HDD, 500 GB ones aren't much more.

[Tyrian]

Thanks, changed the RAM, PSU, and HDD.  I had some trouble finding another mobo, so I left the one that I had in.  Any other recommendations?

[colecampbell666]

Looks good.

[Tyrian]

There won't be a conflict in terms of internal layout (i.e.: I won't have two components trying to exist in the same spot at that same time), if I throw in an ATX power supply with a Micro ATX board will there?

[colecampbell666]

Shouldn't be.

[CP5670]

I saw your PM earlier. This setup looks fine with the exception of the video card. If this system is going to be used for any gaming, that 8500GT is next to useless and it's far too expensive for a 2D-only card. Oblivion is still a pretty demanding game.

Look at the 8800GS or 3850 instead, which are both around $100 and easily offer five times the performance. If you need to skimp somewhere else, you could drop the processor down to an E2180 without getting much of a noticeable performance hit. On the other hand, the video card has no effect on 2D graphics editing, so another possibility is to forego the video card altogether for now. The motherboard you have picked has the G31 chipset with integrated graphics, so your neighbor could just use that for now and buy a video card a month or two down the line if he finds that he wants to play some games.

Also, I would go for the Corsair 450VX power supply instead. That CM should be fine but this one is much more well known and has a single 12V line for the same price. You don't need an mATX unit for that case. The total wattage ratings are irrelevant, so don't worry about that.

Finally, before you buy anything, make sure you check the dates on all the rebate forms. The rebates may sometimes end soon and not leave enough time for you to receive the item and set it up.

I went possibly (read: probably) overboard on the CPU, but the current system they have has been running very sluggishly, given that the hardware it was built with was substandard, and is having extreme difficultly keeping up even with everyday tasks.

This probably has more to do with how their OS is configured and what's running in the background. Most current CPUs will perform pretty much identically for basic programs if everything is set up properly on the software side.

[Tyrian]

Thanks, CP.  I'm making the suggested changes now.  I'm going a little overboard on the future-proofing here because I'm only home for the summer.  (Going back to university in the fall.)  If my neighbor wants an upgrade a couple months down the line, I'm not going to be around and they're not particularly tech savvy.  Also, there isn't a computer store nearby that I would trust as far as I could throw them.  The two in our area both ripped me off.  They overcharge on all their service calls by as much as $60 + hardware costs.

EDIT:  As for the sluggishness, I found a trojan in their tax software after I discovered that they were running without a firewall for over 2 months.  I checked the system with avast!, but didn't find anything else, which makes me even more nervous.  I suggested a partial manual backup with a reformat as the only method by which to be certain that their drives were clean.  (They're very paranoid, and frankly if something did happen to them, like ID theft, they wouldn't even know who to call to report it.)  That option got nixed when I found out they don't have a Win XP CD.  I'm betting that they have an infection that has gone too far for it to be detected, much less cleaned up.  Given the system's age (It has an AMD Sempron 3300+ with 512MB RAM, not really worth the trouble of upgrading) and state, they were the ones who suggested a new machine.  And given that I don't want to spend my whose summer troubleshooting their hardware, this is the best option for everyone involved.

EDIT2:  CP, I'm looking at the CPU you suggested, and I see that its FSB is only 800 MHz, but the motherboard's FSB is 1066 or 1333 MHz.  Will that present a problem?

[BloodEagle]

You should get Pro, instead of Home.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116400 - OEM

[Tyrian]

For a home user environment, there is no real advantage to getting Pro.  And that disk is an OEM license.  That means that I would be legally responsible for providing technical support for that system, which I'm not prepared to do.  Second, OEM licenses are nontransferable between computers.  If they want me to build another computer for them when they junk this one, then they would have to buy another OEM license.  With this retail license, I can just notify M$ that I am moving it to another system, and they're good to go.

[colecampbell666]

EDIT2:  CP, I'm looking at the CPU you suggested, and I see that its FSB is only 800 MHz, but the motherboard's FSB is 1066 or 1333 MHz.  Will that present a problem?

No, as long is the FSB of the mobo is greater than/equal to that of the CPU, you're fine. If the mobo FSB is below the CPU, you will use the lower speed.

[Tyrian]

That's what my research indicated, but I just wanted to make sure.  I think I'm ready to pitch this to my neighbor tomorrow.