MY parents asked me to build them a new system. Thier current system is an older AMD setup
Athlon64 3200
512mb ram
80gig ide drive
Radeon 9250

They are giving that system to my little brother to take to college and they want me to build them a new system. They use the computer for the basics, web surfing, MS office, pics, music....etc no gaming. So an inexpensive setup that will multitask well is what id like to build for them. I have the following parts already
ATI X1300pro
Samsung 160gig sata drive
Samsung dvd/cd r/w drive
Ultra Xconnect 500w psu
generic desktop case

So I really just need a mobo, cpu and memory. What would you guys reccomend for under $500? Do I go with AMD or Intel?? Can an entry level Conroe system be done for my budget?? Thanks

Core 2 Duo E6300
ASUS P5B (Or Gigabyte DS3)
2*1 gig Corsair PC2-6400 CAS-5

Well, considering your parents very minor requirements for a system, i would suggest something like this.

Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Manchester: $152.00(free shipping).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103562

DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX:$115.99($6.13 S/H)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813136152


OCZ Enhanced Latency 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400:$124.99($4.99 S/H).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820146896

Total is $404.10 + tax(if applicable). Most people, including me, aren't suggesting s939 anymore, but i think in your folks case, it will be powerful enough, and should last a few years. 1GB ram should be plenty for their uses, and if they start wanting more power, you can overclock that mobo/CPU/RAM combo for them quiet nicely. This setup will give them the responsiveness of dual-core along, with the low latency RAM, should satisfy them quit well. A Core2Duo system will be pushing it in the $500 dollar budget, and would entail a cheaper motherboard and/or RAM. AM2 is not worth it for them.... GL

Well, considering your parents very minor requirements for a system, i would suggest something like this.

Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Manchester: $152.00(free shipping).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103562

DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX:$115.99($6.13 S/H)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813136152


OCZ Enhanced Latency 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400:$124.99($4.99 S/H).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820146896

Total is $404.10 + tax(if applicable). Most people, including me, aren't suggesting s939 anymore, but i think in your folks case, it will be powerful enough, and should last a few years. 1GB ram should be plenty for their uses, and if they start wanting more power, you can overclock that mobo/CPU/RAM combo for them quiet nicely. This setup will give them the responsiveness of dual-core along, with the low latency RAM, should satisfy them quit well. A Core2Duo system will be pushing it in the $500 dollar budget, and would entail a cheaper motherboard and/or RAM. AM2 is not worth it for them.... GL

Change the motherboard to something ASUS. DFIs are great boards, and they overclock well, but they have a lot of advanced settings which all need to be set correctly, or else the computer won't be stable.

That's why sonny-boy will set it up for them. I realize the BIOS would send them into an insane asylum.

Get a mobo with a geforce 6150 intergrated, fast enough for anything outside games (can do high dev video etc) and will save you the cost of the vid card....

ASRock 775Dual_VSTA (fits AGP & PCIe, cheap, proven for non-overclockers, fits DDR & DDR2)
$60-$70 shipped
Intel E6300 (too cheap & awsome not to buy)
$199 shipped
A-Data Vitesta (2 x 512mb) 667 RAM @ newegg
$105
Good guide here for Core 2 Duo:
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdo [...] =2797&p=19

Get this - only $10 more than the other options - and a free vid card in the 6150 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131014

Thanks for all the tips. One thing id like to add is that I already have an ATI x1300pro video card that ill be using for the new setup so need for integrated graphics, I think even the lowly x1300pro is probably better than those integrated graphics setups? ANyways I see many of you are reccomending a dual core s939 system which is exactly what I was thinkiing. A 3800x2/DFI Infinity/1gig value ram should put me well under $500, I could even probably get 2gigs for around $500. My question really is, how would that system stack up against the Intel 6300 setup for basic tasks?
thanks

You won't be noticing much of a difference between the two, unless you're encoding video. Either of the two procs is overkill for basic tasks.

If you benchmarked it, the E6300 would whip the X2 3800+.

That being said, remember you parents are only going to be checking e-mail and word processing - something even a (/gasp) Celeron could do. With an E6300, your parent's applications might load 1 or 2 seconds faster. Since your parents would likely never do something that would require the full power of the E6300, I actually think the 3800+ is a better buy.

Don't worry about the Core 2 Duo, because its overkill for your parents.

If you want to go skt 775 for a later upgrade to C2D, consider the Intel Celeron D 356. It runs at 3.33GHz, has 512K Cache and a 533MHz FSB. It is a "killer" CPU for the type of system you described.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] CatId=1973

I guess with all the Conroe hype, this and the 352, are being overlooked by the technical press. This has the latest 65nm architecture (like Conroe) and with EM64T, it will run 64 bit OS. With the 3.33Ghz clock, it has the power to do everything your parents will ever want, all for $70.

Hmm - I was looking aroung for a second PC - and this does look amazing for the price...

You don't need a dual core processor. Save some cash with a cheap single core chip. As mentioned above, nvidia 6100/6150 is a good option.

he alredy stated that he's got a graphics card already ;

but anyway i'd get a dual core seeing as the prices are low as of now compared to a few months ago.

buy
1) a sempron processor
2) 786Mb/1 GB Ram

Ram is more important as the processor, especially for working.
Don't put to much money into the processor, your parents will see no differences.

See, i'm kinda torn about this. I keep seeing these kinda comments and I think that they should get get the latest intel. Who knows what they are going to do. The processor runs so fast and is soooo cheap it's insane not to get it. I admit it's overkill(maybe) but why wait 2 seconds here 5 seconds there 20 times a day, 140 times a week adds up. I have two computers that could be working for less than $50.00, both are nice, but i'm thinking get rid of them to get another E6300 or 6400 setup.

I'm in love w/it. Got the MOBO and Processor for 199.00@ Fry's electronics. 1GB ram runs like $120 or something. Totally worth it and under the 500 dollar mark.

Hmm - I was looking aroung for a second PC - and this does look amazing for the price...It is a good price, but remember, it's OEM, so add a HS/F to the price, and you're getting closer to $100.

Well, considering your parents very minor requirements for a system, i would suggest something like this.

Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Manchester: $152.00(free shipping).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103562

DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX:$115.99($6.13 S/H)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813136152


OCZ Enhanced Latency 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400:$124.99($4.99 S/H).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820146896

Total is $404.10 + tax(if applicable). Most people, including me, aren't suggesting s939 anymore, but i think in your folks case, it will be powerful enough, and should last a few years. 1GB ram should be plenty for their uses, and if they start wanting more power, you can overclock that mobo/CPU/RAM combo for them quiet nicely. This setup will give them the responsiveness of dual-core along, with the low latency RAM, should satisfy them quit well. A Core2Duo system will be pushing it in the $500 dollar budget, and would entail a cheaper motherboard and/or RAM. AM2 is not worth it for them.... GL

I concur with this recommendation though maybe not the motherboard. More like an MSI Neo4F for ~$65 with everything they'd need. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813130491

This will provide ample power for their needs even if those needs increase for whatever reason. One thing is sure, they will notice and be disappointed if they end up with something slower or less capable than what they are giving away. The socket 939 X2 3800 (or even a 4200 since it's only a $30 difference ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103547 ) will make for a very nice upgrade, will keep you within budget and will please your parents for a good couple of years.

For memory, consider this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820148007

AMD X2 4200 $185
MSI Neo4-F $64.99
Crucial Ballistix 1GB (2*512) 2.2.2.5 $129
Total excluding shipping: $378.99

Very nice indeed.

with only internet & office application, this will work fine:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6300
Asus P5V-VM DH (via chipset with onboard graphic and pci express graphic card slot, single channel memory)
Corsair VS512MBKIT533D2 (512mb) or Corsair VS1GBKIT533D2 (1gb)

for comparison, herewith i certified some benchmarks which were run with the above processor and motherboard:
pcmark05 score: 2686
pcmark05 cpu: 4759