What should I buy...?

[Chucky]

OK, I am going to build a system for my sister in law, next month or so. This is going to be on the way to college for her son. And I really don't know what to get for her. Reasonable price for a family's budget, roughly $2,000.00 US.

1, AMD or Intel PIII? Less than 1Ghz CPU.
2, Compatible mother board?
3, Video card?
4, Sound card and sound system?
5, 256MB memory?
6, Mouse?
7, System case?

Other opions are more than welcome.

Thanks.

 

[Wizkid]

If he is not a gamer then something like this is fine (and cheap):

P3 600
Asus BX Board (P3B-F or CUBX)
Any cheap video card (even the V3 2000 is cheap now)
SB Live Value
192 MB's Memory (128 for win98)
Any mouse with a scroll wheel
Any case
Windows 2000

 

[snow patrol]

If they're willing to spend $2000 on the thing, you could certainly get something with better specs than above. You may as well get something that will last longer, if they're really willing to spend that much.

 

[LXi]

Agree with snow patrol.

P3-800EB ~$300
Asus CUSL2 ~$150
PC133 256MB ~$250
GeForce2 MX ~$120
SB Live! X-gamer ~$60
IBM 75GXP 30GB ~$170
19" Flat AG ~$400

$2000 is more than enough to put together a powerful machine.

 

[Chucky]

What do you have in mind, snow patrol? It would be greatly appreciated for the input.
Yes, she is willing to spend around that amount or I can cover the rest. 19" Monitor, 12.5GB HDD and windows2000/Office2000 are already on me. I just want to build a decent system for the boy, it's more like a college gift if you will.

Thanks.

 

[DBavaria]

get a flatscreen monitor and like a p3-800 and some crap

 

[Chucky]

It looks darn good to me, LXi. She will save some bucks for that. I'll print out the page and keep it as my reference.

Thanks a fat full bunch, guys.

 

[konichiwa]

Well if you really want to spend $2000 I don't see why you wouldn't pimp it out. I mean if you've got $2000 to blow then why not? Unless she told you the MAX is $2000, then you've got a different story. But supposing she's poised to spend $2000 I don't see why not. Also I would overclock so that you can get some higher quality stuff in the rest of your system and make it last longer:

1. p3 700E or 800E
2. Asus CUSL2 (curren 815 champ)
3. 192 or 256megs of pc133 RAM
4. Maybe GeForce 2MX?
5. Sb Live! Value unless she needs Live!Drive, then Platiunum
6. Creative speakers, forget the model number, but those DTT's or whatever...I think you (or someone else) will know the exact model #
7. MS Intellimouse
8. Any kind of Mid-Tower case will do, Antec, etc
9. 250W or 300W ps

Looks good to me.

 

[LXi]

You want a more complete list?

P3-800EB ~$300
Asus CUSL2 ~$150
PC133 256MB ~$250
GeForce2 MX ~$120
SB Live! X-gamer ~$60
IBM 75GXP 30GB ~$170
Samsung SyncMaster 900NF ~$440($350 after rebate, coupon, and discount)
Pioneer 10x DVD-ROM or a 40x brand name CD-ROM if you want to save money ~$variable
CD-RW is prefferable if your budget allows ~$200
Brand name modem ~$50
MS Internet Keyboard Pro ~$30
MS IntelliMouse Optical ~$30
Cambridge FPS2000 for 5 speaker set, or SoundWorks Digital 2.1 Speakers for 3 speaker set. ~$150, $70

Oh yea, great machine, looks like it hasnt hit $2000 yet.

 

[Chucky]

It's getting better and better.

 

[snow patrol]

Well, similar to what LXi said really. But if the monitor and a hard disk are already on you then you could really end up getting a top of the range system!

P3-800EB
Via 133A or Intel i815 based motherboard
PC133 256MB
Ati Radeon
8/10X DVD ROM drive
SB Live Player
FPS 1000 4 point surround speakers
Intellimouse Explorer
Midi Tower case with 300W power supply (better to have to much juice rather than too little )

I can't really help you with prices, as I live in the UK and am not too clued about US prices, but I'm pretty sure she could afford all that if you're paying for the monitor and hard disk.

You might want to purchase an additional hard disk though, and use them both..

 

[KarlHungus]

I would drop the P3 and go with a Thunderbird, but that's just personal preference. At least no one suggested RAMBUS...

 

[snow patrol]

Bah, trust someone to come along and make things difficult

 

[Chucky]

Thank ya all for the inputs.