Wife needs a new computer system

CaLabMan

Distinguished
Dec 17, 2006
1
0
18,510
My significant other has decided that she needs a new computer system (presently uses an 8 year old P3-500 and Win 98se) and wants to keep the total cost below $1000. I presently plan to have one of the local Mom/Pop computer stores build it (they offer a one year parts/labor guarantee). She primarily uses the system for Email, MS Office, Quicken, some photo editing/viewing, making data/audio DVDs/CDs. We want to use XP Home and do not plan to upgrade the OS to Vista or upgrade to dual core processors. We typically use a system for 4-6 years and then replace the entire system.

I would very much appreciate recommendations on the following:

1. Micro ATX case with power supply.
2. Micro ATX motherboard with integrated sound card.
3. Intel or AMD CPU (Athlon 64 3200+?)
4. 1 GB Memory
5. 160 GB SATA II HD
6. Video card (128 or 256 MB)
7. DVD/CD burner (Sony DRM-120C?)
8. 3.5" FD
9. 13 in 1 Card Reader
10. 19" LCD monitor (ViewSonic Optiquest 19WB?)
11. MS XP Home OS

She will reuse her speakers, optical mouse and keyboard.
 
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3200+

Mobo: Asus M2N-E

RAM: OCZ Gold 1GB (2 x 512MB) DDR2-800

Video Card: eVGA Geforce 7600GT

Case: Antec Sonata II <--- I know this isn't mATX, but it's on the small end of the scale when it comes to ATX case sizes. It also has a fairly good PSU included,

DVD Burner: NEC ND-3550A

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 160GB SATA

Floppy Drive: NEC 3.5" Floppy Drive

Monitor: Samsung 940BX

OS: Windows XP Home with SP2 - OEM

Total before taxes and shipping: $957.67

I intentionally left out the flash card reader. You can pick that for yourself.
 

skyguy

Distinguished
Aug 14, 2006
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19,780
You can get a respectable system for $1,000. But a cheaper solution would be to just get a cheap rig from Tigerdirect or Dell. Then instead of waiting 6 years to upgrade, use the money you saved, put in a couple hundred $$ and upgrade in 3 years.

You'll get a newer system faster and save money in the short run.