Building a computer... need your input

Al_CapownAl_Capown Indiana
edited March 2006 in Hardware
I've been out of the hardware world for little over a year and basically know nothing about 64-bit processors and motherboards.

My uncle asked me to build a computer for him and the budget is $1000 all he specified was that he wanted an lcd and wanted the case to be small. This is going to be the first computer he has ever owned.

I'm looking for a setup that is guaranteed to work out of the box as I would like to spend a small amount of time setting this up. Also I would like to avoid running into an issue where the computer doesn't boot which would mean that I'd have to spend more time on setting it up and troubleshooting or possibly having to rma something. I'd like to make this a pleasant and quick experience for both myself and my uncle.

My first idea was to go with my regular setup an NF7-s with some type of Athlon-XP, but sadly it looks like Newegg no longer carries that motherboard. So I guess it's time to move on.

My uncle will probably use the computer for word processor, emails, internet. Very small tasks.

Basically what I'm asking is what is the 64-bit equivalent (either Intel or AMD) of the classic NF7-s setup.

Should I go with Socket T? Socket 939? Socket 754? What chipset? etc

Thanks in advance,
Nick

P.S. I'm also looking for a new Hard drive for a laptop that we bought about 4 years ago. The old one was a Hitachi 60 GB 4200 rpm model: DK23EA-60. Taking a quick glance at newegg the hard drives seem to all be 2.5". Is this the size that I need?
Update: I found this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822146046 do you guys think I would have any issues replacing the HD with this one?

The laptop is an HP P4 2.4 GHz.

Comments

  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    How are you doin Al? Good to see you back! Here is a set-up I have done with several different vairations of memory and vid card. The following should be good for your purpose. It is all rock solid and will last a long time. Just add keyboard, mouse and OS for $820.20 plus shipping.

    MSI K8N Neo4-F Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD Motherboard

    AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 1GHz HT 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Processor - Retail

    CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Dual Channel Kit System Memory - Retail

    Antec Solution SLK3800B Black Rackmount Case - Retail

    eVGA Geforce 6200TC 128-TC-2N23-SX Video Card - Retail

    Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 SATA NCQ 3.5" Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM

    NEC 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE/ATAPI Model ND-3550A - OEM

    SAMSUNG Black Internal Floppy Drive Model SFD321B/LBL1 - OEM

    SAMSUNG 920N-Black Black 19" 8ms LCD Monitor - Retail
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2006
    Pretty nice rig, mtgoat. :cheers:
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    Al Capown, GOOD to see you back. :smiles:
  • Al_CapownAl_Capown Indiana
    edited March 2006
    Well done mtgoat. I appreciate you taking the time to set up a system for me. That system should last him quite a long time.

    Thanks for the help. As for how I've been doing well my 18th birthday is in 15 minutes. I've been having a good time in high school, but I've been pretty busy with ap spanish and physics along with working after school and getting in shape for spring break (haha). I really just kind of lost track of the hardware movement.

    Anyways, I'll be around again I am sure.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2006
    Al_Capown wrote:
    ...Anyways, I'll be around again I am sure.
    Good to hear, buddy. :woowoo:
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited March 2006
    Nix the 6200TC (Turbo Cache - uses motherboard ram ugh) A $1000 comp should have a serviceable Video Card IMO.

    Consider getting one of the cards listed below. All DX9c - Shader Model 3.0 - Video cards (The latest spec)
    Listed in general order of speed....

    ATI X1300 Pro Core: 600mhz - 4 Pixel/texture pipelines 128bit Memory ~$100
    Nvidia 6600 Core: 300mhz - 8 pixel/texture pipelines 128bit memory >$100
    ATI X1600 Pro Core: 500mhz - 4 Pixel/texture (12 Shader) pipelines 128bit Memory ~$110-$150
    Nvidia 6600GT Core: 500mhz - 8 pixel/texture pipelines 128bit memory >$140
    Nvidia 7600GT Core: 560mhz - 12 pixel/texture pipelines 128Bit memory >$200
    Nvidia 7900GT Core: 450mhz+ - 24 pixel/texture pipelines 256bit memory ~$300
    ATI X1800XT (256MB version) Core: 625mhz - 16 Pixel/texture pipelines 256bit Memory ~$300
  • Al_CapownAl_Capown Indiana
    edited March 2006
    Well thanks for the help msgoat. I got a little leeway from my uncle and he said I could keep it under $1300. So I got that exact setup plus an HP all-in-one printer with a scanner as well as a set up klipsch 2.1 speakers. With shipping it was $1107 so my uncle was pretty satisfied. This should last him for a long long time.

    Thanks everyone.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2006
    Let us know how he likes it once you get it built. :D
  • TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    If this is your uncle's first system and he really doesn't know much about high performance computers or what to do with them, then there's no need for any of that 64 bit BS.

    I personally believe that 90% of computer users out there will never come close to maxing out a decent 32 bit computer, much less a much more expensive Gee-Whiz new thing 64 bit system. So why throw away money on something he can't make the best use of?

    Here's my list:

    Mini-Tower case - several to pick from under $50 on Newegg.

    Seagate Barracuda 120GB hard drive - $70 on Newegg

    CD-RW / DVD combo drive. Take your pick, there are many on Newegg for just under $40.

    A good 32 bit Athlon XP motherboard. I recently worked on a system with an Asrock (variant of ASUS) K7VM3 in it, and found it to be a pretty fast and decent setup. $41.00 on Newegg. This is also a small form factor motherboard, which you said he wants for a small case. And it has on board video, so you save money on a video card.

    Sempron 2800 2.00 Ghz CPU - $88 on Newegg.

    1 GB Kingston ValueRam - $77 on Newegg.

    Antec SmartPower 350 watt power supply - $45 on Newegg.

    Thermaltake Extreme Volcano CPU heat sink - $34 on Newegg.

    19 inch LCD monitor - several to pick from at $250 on Newegg.

    Mouse and keyboard - take your pick.

    So my budget, but powerful and small computer system prices out around $ 695 plus shipping, mouse, and keyboard. So it should still be under $750 all in. That leaves some room for you to make some spare cash on the deal.:thumbsup:

    Remember, for his needs, 64 bit = :bs:
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