Putting together a spare computer

OneTime

OneTime

OneTime

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16 Sep 2008
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Southampton
Recently upgraded from the below. Now that I have these parts spare, I'm wanting to put together a spare computer for my parents. They have a P4 that is about 6 years old.

Been given a £200 budget. They only use the computer for surfing the web and checking emails.

I have:

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-M68SM-S2 mATX
Processor: 5000+ AM2
Ram: 2GB Corsair Value 667Mhz
PSU: 400watt ColorsIT

I need:

1TB HDD
DVD RW optical drive
The smallest case possible that this will all fit into
Graphics Card

Just one question. Not 100% about that PSU. If possible will change it for a decent branded one.

Thanks for your help.
 
ColoursIT psu's are pants. Big time!! How about the Antec NSK3480 case with 380w smartpower psu at £74.74 or is that too much? If it is then the best you can do on here is the Antec Earthwatts 380w psu at £39.09 and the Coolermaster Elite 340 at £28.74. That's almost £70 anyway. I certainly would'nt go any cheaper on the psu.

Does'nt that motherboard have onboard graphics? That will serve their purposes fine.

The Samsung F1 1TB hdd is a good drive. Good price too but why on earth do they need a drive that big for surfing the net and emails?
 
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Mother likes her photography. Dad likes his music. Lots of space needed :)
Was looking at the Samsung 1TB F1. I did say I would possibly have to drop it down in size to accommodate other parts, price wise.

Onboard yes, although it is slow. Would rather go for a nice cheap graphics card. Dad likes the odd Age of Empires game when he wants to relax. Also they have a 22inch HP screen.

Case looks interesting. 380watts will be fine with the above spec in it? including the 1TB HDD and all the other bits I would like to add to it?
Ideally they would like the case laying flat with the monitor on top to save room. Sort of like a HTPC case...although those are rather expensive.
 
OneTime said:
Mother likes her photography. Dad likes his music. Lots of space needed :)
Was looking at the Samsung 1TB F1. I did say I would possibly have to drop it down in size to accommodate other parts, price wise.

Onboard yes, although it is slow. Would rather go for a nice cheap graphics card. Dad likes the odd Age of Empires game when he wants to relax. Also they have a 22inch HP screen.

Case looks interesting. 380watts will be fine with the above spec in it? including the 1TB HDD and all the other bits I would like to add to it?
Ideally they would like the case laying flat with the monitor on top to save room. Sort of like a HTPC case...although those are rather expensive.
Click to expand...

The rig in my siggy only draws 340w at the wall and that includes the monitor, speakers and watercooling so the 380w will be fine. It's a very good psu actually and i have done several builds for people using Antec cases with that psu in them. If you want a lying down case then there's the Antec NSK 2480 with the same psu but at £91.99 it's going to bust the budget seeing as you need a gpu as well. It is a very nice case with good cooling though. It has a pair of 120mm Antec Tri-cool fans.

For a budget graphics card that can play the occasional game how about a ATI 4650 at £57.49 or a Nvidia 9500GT at £59.79. I don't know how capable they are and it seems a lot to ask for such a feeble pair of cards to me. Maybe you would be better off trying to pick something half decent up second hand.
 
Well they currently have an ATI 2900 running with that 22inch screen. So I'm sure the 4650 will do the job.

Thanks for the case advice, as for the budget I think I will stick with the Antec NSK, kill 2 birds with 1 stone etc.

EDIT: Ah very true. Will try and purchase it tonight then before the price hike. Thank you.
 
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