Does this sound like a good rig for my mom?

[gopunk]

Case:
ANTEC SOLUTION SERIES MODEL SLK3700AMB w/ANTEC SMART POWER 350W P4/AMD POWER SUPPLY ATX12V - RETAIL

Motherboard:
ABIT IC7-G, Intel 875P chipset for Socket 478 800MHz Canterwood ATX Motherboard RETAIL

Processor:
Intel Pentium 4 / 2.4CGHz 512k socket 478 Hyper Threading Technology 800 MHz FSB - RETAIL

Hard Drive:
Western Digital Raptor 36GB SATA WD360GD 10,000 RPM 8MB Hard Drive OEM

Memory:
4 x Crucial 128MB DDR PC3200

Video:
ATI XPERT 2000 PRO 32MB 4X AGP NO TV-OUT - OEM

Audio:
Onboard (motherboard)

DVD-ROM:
LITE-ON XJ-HD166S/XJ-HD165H 16X DVD ROM Drive - Retail48X

CD-RW:
Lite On 52x32x52x Beige Color CDRW Drive LTR-52327S - Retail

Modem:
Aopen FM56-SVV V.92 PCI Modem - Retail

Ethernet:
Onboard (motherboard)




so i purposefully skimped on audio, video because my mom just uses this for her business... there is really no point in getting anything powerful there because she would never use it. i tried to get pretty fast stuff everywhere else though because she hates having to wait for anything, especially if it's going to be on a new computer. i realize it'll be more than enough for most things she does, but i just don't want to run the risk of her getting pissed at me because she explicitly requested a fast computer. it's not often, but every once in a while she'll do something that requires some power. i got 4 dimm's of ram because of anandtech's article about how on the 875p it is better to have 4 single sided dimm's than 2 or 1... this kind of surprised me, but who am i to argue...

aiya forgot a floppy... i guess that doesn't matter too much tho...



so do you guys see anything that would conflict? any areas for improvement (that wouldn't cost a lot)? any obvious bottlenecks that could be easily eliminated? pc3200 is the fastest ram that the MB can take right?



are there any recommendations for a decent pair of good looking cheap speakers? don't need a sub or anything, just two cheap speakers that would look good with the case...



thanks!

just as a note, this all adds up to like 800 bucks... which is great because i told her i could build her a fast computer for 800. we also ordered the 18 inch dell lcd, courtesy hot deals

 

[hjo3]

Seems like an awfully powerful machine for something that'll probably just end up running Quicken/ Excel/ Word/ etc. I'd go with something a lot cheaper, like a Athlon 2000+ XP ($59) in a Soyo Dragon Plus ($68, has onboard LAN and audio) with maybe 512 MB of PC2700/ DDR333. The SATA drive is kinda overkill; you could go down to a regular 30 GB 7200 RPM IDE for $51 (the Maxtor 6E030L0 on Newegg, frex). Just MHO.

 

[waylman]

nice rig for the moms. i have that case...it's nice.

does seem like a bit of overkill. I'd go with a Barton 2500/8rda+ to save some cash. This way u only need 2 sticks of RAM. But it looks like your on budget so either way it's a good rig. The SATA drive is definately overkill. What is it that she does exactly that requires some power?

 

[gopunk]

yea you don't understand my mom... she would rather shell out a bit more and not have to wait, even if the waiting is infrequent. she's told me repeatedly not to get something less powerful because i don't think she'll need the power, so yea.... heh. thanks for the suggestions tho

is the sata drive overkill? i dunno, i know that i personally hate waiting for large files to save or copy... the sata would alleviate that right? it was my understanding that the HD is one of the largest bottlenecks in computers these days...

she'll just use photoshop every once in a while... you know how photoshop takes some time to load... yea mostly i just don't want to argue with her, and i don't want her coming to me and getting angry because something ran slow. i completely agree with you guys though, we could easily shave a few hundred off if we went with some slower stuff, and she probably wouldn't notice 95% of the time.

 

[egale]

I think you would do better with a little bit better video card and a larger cheaper hard drive. You will probably never notice the difference in hard drive but you may come across an app or two that requires a little more power there.

 

[nick1985]

4 128 sticks of barf crucial 3200???? what the hell?

 

[nick1985]

and im sure she is just dying for the raptor

 

[jfall]

I think someone wants to play on mommies computer or switch parts with their own computer haha.. I can see it now "I'm gonna have to switch this hard drive with my older one, it came with this smaller cable that doesn't fit"

 

[Ionizer86]

I heard the Barton 2500+ feels very snappy during day to day tasks, courtesy of its K7 architecture and large L2 cache. It's cheap too, just 20 bucks or so over the 2000+.

Up the vid card a bit. When my old GF2 fried, I was on a 8MB PCI card, and even scrolling web pages would lead to major slowdowns and laggage...this went away after I got my Radeon and installed the Cats on it. A MX440 for ~$40 should fit the bill, or nForce 2's IGP if you're happening to get an nForce 2 with integrated graphics.

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: nick1985
4 128 sticks of barf crucial 3200???? what the hell?

what's wrong with crucial?

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: Ionizer86
I heard the Barton 2500+ feels very snappy during day to day tasks, courtesy of its K7 architecture and large L2 cache. It's cheap too, just 20 bucks or so over the 2000+.

Up the vid card a bit. When my old GF2 fried, I was on a 8MB PCI card, and even scrolling web pages would lead to major slowdowns and laggage...this went away after I got my Radeon and installed the Cats on it. A MX440 for ~$40 should fit the bill, or nForce 2's IGP if you're happening to get an nForce 2 with integrated graphics.

alright, i guess i'll get a better video card.... thanks!

well a mx440 be enough? they are both 32 mb and agp....

thanks

 

[jacktesterson]

I'd drop to a Barton 2500+/Soltek Nforce2 (or any nforce 2), use the onboard sound, lan.....and up the video to a 64MB Radeon 9100....can be had for $50.

and I kind of like the idea of the raptor haha...makes since....Business computers dont need a ton of space.....the company i work for only buy 20GB HDDs (7200RPM) and we use Win2k Pro....but then again, a 40GB WD 7200 is all she would ever use Im sure .....

heck for all shes doing, why not get a ECS K7S5A pro and a XP 2000+? really cheap and would be all the snap she would need for office appz....that duo would out perform any Celeron and P4 office setups (400MHz FSB and some 533)

my $.02

 

[sniperruff]

Originally posted by: gopunk

Originally posted by: nick1985
4 128 sticks of barf crucial 3200???? what the hell?

what's wrong with crucial?

i think he means the 4 stick part...

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: sniperruff

Originally posted by: gopunk

Originally posted by: nick1985
4 128 sticks of barf crucial 3200???? what the hell?

what's wrong with crucial?

i think he means the 4 stick part...

oh... well i was just reading that anandtech article about how it's better to have 4 single sided dimm's in a 875p board than 2 or 1. the article is at http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.html?i=1839&p=8

 

[jacktesterson]

yeah I dont like the 4 128 MB idea at all

get 1 512, so later on when more mem is needed, you could get another 512MB and then gain 3-4% in performance by hitting dual channel if you got a Nforce2/athlon combo

 

[dexvx]

Originally posted by: sniperruff

Originally posted by: gopunk

Originally posted by: nick1985
4 128 sticks of barf crucial 3200???? what the hell?

what's wrong with crucial?

i think he means the 4 stick part...

No, I think hes referring to the fact that Crucial PC3200 runs CL3.

Get Kingston HyperX or Corsair XMS. With 2 empty slots, you can expand whenever. I'd also get any Built by ATI video card over nvidia. Although I'd get at least a Radeon class. I mean... they arent THAT much more than the Rage128 series and have better RAMDACs

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: dexvx

Originally posted by: sniperruff

Originally posted by: gopunk

Originally posted by: nick1985
4 128 sticks of barf crucial 3200???? what the hell?

what's wrong with crucial?

i think he means the 4 stick part...

No, I think hes referring to the fact that Crucial PC3200 runs CL3.

Get Kingston HyperX or Corsair XMS. With 2 empty slots, you can expand whenever. I'd also get any Built by ATI video card over nvidia. Although I'd get at least a Radeon class. I mean... they arent THAT much more than the Rage128 series and have better RAMDACs

okay, will do on both accounts

 

[Holmecollie]

SATA won't improve performance that well and it's louder

Shouldn't sound be very high priority for moms computer?

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: Holmecollie
SATA won't improve performance that well and it's louder

Shouldn't sound be very high priority for moms computer?

nope, mom doesn't like music... she told me all she needs sound for is to hear beeps

 

[Dug]

Does this sound like a good rig for my mom?

No, it sounds like a good rig for me

I'd still get the crucial. Very nice memory sticks. Don't worry about the CL3 rating. Crucial is always conservative.
Not only will you not notice the difference if you did run it at cas3, but you can easily run it at cas2.5.
(I know because I'm running mine at 215fsb cas 2.5 right now.)

But I would recommend getting two 256MB sticks for now, and then add another two 256MB sticks if for some reason she needs it.

I also highly recommend either the Samsung or LG combo drives.
Both are very, very quiet and work very well. I have the LG drive and couldn't be happier. Not one bad burn, and its quieter then anything out there.
$61 at Newegg.

 

[dexvx]

Originally posted by: gopunk

Originally posted by: Holmecollie
SATA won't improve performance that well and it's louder

Shouldn't sound be very high priority for moms computer?

nope, mom doesn't like music... she told me all she needs sound for is to hear beeps

If sound is an issue, try the Antec Sonata cases (they come with a Tru380W). They have built in sound dampeners in its Harddrive cages. Probably wont lower sound a lot, but would definitely kill some noise. Its similar to the Antec Solution series, but of higher build quality and of course more expensive.

 

[FearoftheNight]

why doesn't he use onboard nforce2 igp w/ barton 2500+

 

[Schadenfroh]

over kill X10000
nforce2 with integrated everything and 1700 T-Bred B, with 256mb of ram

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: dexvx

Originally posted by: gopunk

Originally posted by: Holmecollie
SATA won't improve performance that well and it's louder

Shouldn't sound be very high priority for moms computer?

nope, mom doesn't like music... she told me all she needs sound for is to hear beeps

If sound is an issue, try the Antec Sonata cases (they come with a Tru380W). They have built in sound dampeners in its Harddrive cages. Probably wont lower sound a lot, but would definitely kill some noise. Its similar to the Antec Solution series, but of higher build quality and of course more expensive.

oh.... *that* sound hahaha i thought you guys were talking about a sound card. i'll ask my mom about that case... she has an aversion to too much black. i like it tho

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
over kill X10000
nforce2 with integrated everything and 1700 T-Bred B, with 256mb of ram

i guess i could rephrase it to be, "does this sound like a good computer for *you*, if you didn't care about 3d video or sound, and could spend up to 1k"