Need help building a "Green" machine on a budget

[Guest]

Alright this machine doesn't need to be anything spectacular but needs to be able run Microsoft Office, mild gaming, and Internet surfing.

This machine is going to be for my parents so there are only 2 things that need to be considered when picking hardware: Power consumption and price (the cheaper the better!).

So since I lack a "Green" thumb, I look to you to help me build a eco friendly PC for my damn near computer illiterate parents.

Thanks for the help

 

[Proximon]

Budget?

It's going to come down to performance vs. power consumption, so unless you define what you want more, it's pretty hard.

If you really want to save maximum energy, a laptop does that nicely.

 

[Guest]

Its for my parents they already killed the last machine I made for them so I need a Cheap replacement.

Power consumption is a higher priority than performance as I really dont want them to power down the machine much. (father has a bad habit of shutting down the pc by hitting the PSU switch and he doesn't seem to grow out of it... the psu went bad on the first machine and took down the mb and cpu with it )

 

[Proximon]

So, like a G45, E7300, EA380W?

Basically, a good efficient PSU and an integrated video board.

 

[Guest]

I was thinking along the lines of a E2200 with a integrated video board

I was thinking Antec earthwatts EA380 380W ATX12V v2.0 80 PLUS Certified would be a good candidate for a PSU

 

[Proximon]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131345

Based on my experiences, I would have to say Vista 64... because the sleep mode works so well they'll think it's off anyway.

 

[Guest]

The MB is a little overkill for an E2200. What are your thoughts on ABIT LG-95 LGA 775? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127024

 

[Proximon]

Well, it's not bad honestly. The 2GB limit is a bit annoying.

 

[Proximon]

Same GPU as my laptop. It actually does alright.

 

[dirtmountain]

E5200 - $84
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116072
Foxconn G31 $40 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186145

 

[slomo4sho]

Does anyone know where I can find power consumption charts on various CPUs?

 

[Proximon]

Did you check news articles here from around June or May? I seem to recall TH did a good write-up at that time.

 

[slomo4sho]

No luck so far and my laziness prevents me from continuing

 

[dirtmountain]

Might have been this article about the E7200 and G31.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-e7200-g31,2039.html

 

[slomo4sho]

Surprisingly, I can't find either of the mobos listed in that article at newegg and the article was only written 20 days ago...