New to build new and cheap PC quick!

[Tacitus]

Hi,

my brothers PC just died on him (I think the HD is still intact) and he needs a new one quick.

Given that Vista is out soon, and that he cant afford to buy a £1500 beast, we're just gonna go for a budget one to tide him over.

His budget is about £350 ($683.48, if you beleive in PPP), but keeping it to 300 would be nice.

This isnt a whole new build, I just need a CPU, MOBO, GFX, and External Hard-Drive.

I've put this togeather for him but I've been out of the loop for a while and could do with some advice on better choices (especially regarding mobo)

Abit NF-M2-NVIEW Nvidia® GF6150/NF430 AM2 Motherboard
£56.40 £56.40

ASUS EN7600GS SILENT/HTD - Graphics adapter - GF 7600 GS - PCI Express x16 - 256 MB DDR II - Digital Visual Interface (DVI) - HDTV out
£65.48 £65.48

My Book Essential Edition WDG1U2500 - Hard drive - 250 GB - external - Hi-Speed USB - 4 pin USB - 7200 rpm - buffer: 8 MB
£62.85 £62.85

Processor - 1 x AMD Athlon 64 3200+ / 2 GHz - Socket AM2 - L2 512 KB - Box
£49.14 £49.14


TOTAL:
£284.73 (including P&P and all the rest of the crap)



At the mo he has a 420watt PSU and a gig 'o ram. Should that PSU be enough for this? He also has an IDE 120gig Seagate hard-drive (can this new mobo still do IDE?)

Should i stick with AMD, or is Intel better now? What about the graphics card, any better 'power per dollar' deals out there?

He mainly uses it for surfing the net and a bit of gaming, so it just needs to be quite nippy and able to handle modern applicaitons.

That mobo is what im dubious about, how good is it?

Please reply pronto, he needs this really quickly.

Thanks,

Tacitus

 

[zephead]

you have no interest in trying to fix the problem? if that's so, the 420w psu u mentioned is going to have a hard time running that 7600GS

it would be more economical for him to replace the faulty part and continue using the machine until he gets the cash to get a new machine right and proper.

 

[Tacitus]

I couldnt fix it with my middling knowledge of fixing usual PC problems. And the dude at PC world said it was wholly ****ed (though I doubt hes any more qualified than me, and probably just wanted to sell him a Packard Bell). So we're just gonna get a new one.

Will it? I run a 7800GT and a 4400+ on a 480watt. If you ask me, people go overboard on their PSU power supplying.

Would a 460watter be adequate if we HAD to upgrade?

Can people just tell me whether chucking those parts togeather will result in a stable and nippy PC? (be combining it with 1gig o DDR 433 RAM.)

Cheers

 

[nickc]

Tacitus, if he does very little gaming. you can build him an adquate system with the parts u have listed but if he does heave gamming I would advise him to go with a new Intel system (core2 dueo).

 

[TimeParadoX]

Actualy, AM2 (AMD) systems are more for gaming

 

[Tacitus]

do the components match? Couldnt really understand your point NickC - were you stoned when your wrote that .

So is the general concensus this is an OK and stable system?

 

[zephead]

a 460w would probably be adequate, provided that it is a quality supply. what brand and model is it? cheap, generic power supplies generally can't produce decent power at their rated wattages.

 

[MetalX]

Actualy, AM2 (AMD) systems are more for gaming

AM2 for gaming??!? Core 2 Pwns anything out there right now. Even in games... maybe especially in games.

 

[halo71]

I think you guys have gotten side tracked from the original post. He was asking for something cheap and compatible.

 

[mailpup]

Your existing PATA hard drive will work with the mobo you selected. In fact it seems to be one of the few that still have two IDE controllers (4 total IDE devices). Is there a good reason to get another hard drive, especially a more expensive external hard drive? If this PC is just to tide you over, just reuse the 120GB hard drive or if you must get a second hard drive, consider getting a less expensive internal one.