Need Advice - Building Basic PC for Novice User

[Flallen]

Looking to build a Basic use PC for a novice user on the cheap. See below for more details. Any advice would be appreciated as far as the parts I chose or suggesting using other parts, and to make sure there are not compatibility issues.

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Within the next month or two. No real hurry.

BUDGET RANGE: US$400 including mouse, kb, and monitor.

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Machine is for my mother who is a computer novice. Will be used mainly for web browsing and solitaire. :lol:

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Won't be re-using anything as far as hardware. Plan to use a free Linux OS, probably Ubuntu.

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: I usually use NewEgg for most parts and sometimes Buy.com has a good deal on something.

PARTS PREFERENCES: No real preferences as far as name brands, except I tend to go with Logitech for KB and Mouse which isn't much of the system cost.

OVERCLOCKING: No
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No

MONITOR RESOLUTION: Plan on a 19" wide LCD display. Whatever resolution is decent at that display size.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Just looking to build the cheapest PC I can for the very basic things it will be used for. But, I still want it to perform solid and fast at those basic uses.


PARTS:

CASE: $25
Rosewill R101-P-BK 120mm Fan MicroATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

POWER SUPPLY: $25
Rosewill RV350 350W ATX 1.3 Power Supply - Retail

PROCESSOR: $70
AMD Athlon II X2 245 Regor 2.9GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail

MEMORY: $30
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ - Retail

MOBO: $60
ECS GF8100VM-M3 AM2+/AM3 NVIDIA GeForce 8100 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

HD: $40
Western Digital Caviar Blue WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

CD/DVD DRIVE: $25
LG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache IDE 22X DVD±R DVD Burner - OEM

MONITOR: $110
Acer X193Wb Black 19" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 2000:1 ACM - Retail

KB & MOUSE: $22
Basic Logitech KB ($10) and Mouse ($12)

OS: $0
Ubuntu Linux

TOTAL COST: $400

 

[uh_no]

you can probably go cheaper on the mouse and keyboard?

other than that, you can't get much cheaper....unless you went with the even lower end amd's....might be worth the 20 dollar savings?

 

[belial2k]

something like this will be more than she needs for those uses....in fact a netbook is really all she needs unless she decides to get into something more intensive later. You can get them even cheaper if you are willing to bid. This will save you over $200, and it comes with windows, which is a little more user friendly for novices and will be more compatible with more websites and browsers.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-Optiplex-GX620-Computer-3-0GHz-1Gig-160GB-HDD_W0QQitemZ110422124157QQcmdZViewItemQQptZDesktop_PCs?hash=item19b5abe67d&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

 

[hunter315]

No on the rosewill PSU. Rosewills arent good, get the corsair 400CX, it will be plenty and not risk toasting anything.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008
Get a SATA burner, it makes life easier
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136167

And if you are willing to drop another 20 after MIR, you can get twice as much ram, a bigger HDD, and a stronger IGP.

 

[skora]

A brick and mortar can get you a system w/ monitor and maybe even a printer for that. But if you really want to build your own:

$370 after you add optical and monitor.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4692631&CatId=3446

 

[Outlander_04]

I wouldnt buy an ecs mb unless a psychopathic killer was holding a gun to my head telling me it was a good idea

 

[skora]

I wouldnt buy an ecs mb unless a psychopathic killer was holding a gun to my head telling me it was a good idea

You give in too easy! :lol: