Advice on Components for Build

[ChristopherP]

Hey Everyone...

Next door are having me build a computer for their Kids. It's not top of the range, it's to replace their ageing 200MHz P2 thats desperatly wanting a ride to the skip.

I would like some advice on choosing components...

For £400 i need the best i can get in the way of:

Motherboard
CPU
Memory
Graphics
Hard Drive
DVD-Writer
Floppy Drive
Internal card reader
15" Flat panel TFT
2.1 Sound System
Wireless Keyboard and Mouse

I have got a list of what i think is the best for the money - but there are people who know a bit more than me on best bang for the buck at the moment.

the price can not exceed £400 Inc VAT & P&P. no really, it cant. i have gotten the below from eBuyer...

p.s "it has to be able to run games" is what they told me.... but the girls are just 8 and 10... and was also told that "their games aren't like your games"... so i assume that the graphics card dosen't have to be THAT good. At all.

heres my spec:

Asus K8V-MX SKT754 £35.71 inc VAT
AMD Sempron 2600+ £45.36 inc VAT
Viking 512mb DDR PC3200 £32.14 inc VAT
Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 120GB 7200RPM SATA/150 8MB Cache £48.43 inc VAT
XFX GeForce Fx5200 AGP8x 128MB DDR DVI TV-Out Retail Box £29.00 inc VAT
Samsung SH-W162C 16x DVD±RW Internal IDE £27.89 inc VAT
Mitsumi 7-in-1 Floppy Drive / Media Drive Black £12.99 inc VAT
AMW M158 15" 23ms 350:1 (1024x768) TFT £115.14
Logitech Power Wireless Desktop Plus £19.26
Logitech OEM Speaker S200 2.1 Stereo Black Silver £13.89

That lot, all from eBuyer, comes to roughly £392 delivered.

p.s No case or PSU required.

Edit: just noticed i selected a 120Gb HDD - it can be 80Gb no probs, as long as its SATA, 7200rpm and 8mb cache.

 

[Me__2001]

TBH chris ithink thats pretty much what i would suggest, also have you budgeted for the OS ?

 

[ChristopherP]

Yeah, i'm getting them XP home, but i didnt put that in there as theres not really any other options apart from Pro - which is silly.

 

[Ian]

Can't complain with that lot - pretty well balanced, the graphics is lacking but if they don't need HL2 etc... then shouldn't be a problem. Can run Harry Potter fine

 

[muckshifter]

nup ... nowt wrong with that ... and there aint nuttin wrong with an FX5200

You donating the Case & PSU then?

 

[ChristopherP]

hmm OK

As long as i haven't missed a bargain or anything

Thanks all

 

[ChristopherP]

You donating the Case & PSU then?

Not so much donating as going to strike a deal... i get a TT Tsunami Dream case and Hiper 580w Modular PSU and they get an Antec soho case and Antec True-Power PSU...

Obviously a straight swap wouldn't be fair on them so i wont charge them labour/pay something towards it or something like that.

 

[floppybootstomp]

All looks good to me, for the money.

Are they running Win 98 on their P2?

Reason I ask is that a lot of those old Win 98 kids games won't run on XP. I know, I found out the hard way.

Still, there are a lot of new kids games that will run on XP and aren't graphically demanding.

 

[floppybootstomp]

If you wanted a better video card for the same money I'm selling an XFX FX5600 256Mb AGP card for £30.00 inc p & p.

Details Here

 

[Ian]

If you wanted a better video card for the same money I'm selling an XFX FX5600 256Mb AGP card for £30.00 inc p & p.

Details Here

Good deal there

 

[ChristopherP]

If you wanted a better video card for the same money I'm selling an XFX FX5600 256Mb AGP card for £30.00 inc p & p.

Details Here

oooOOOhhh

How better than the 5200 is that? If its quite better than thats an almost certain buy, providing it's in the usual mr boot stomp perfect condition!!

 

[Ian]

Its much better Chris!

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20030311/geforcefx-5600-5200-15.html

 

[muckshifter]

oooOOOhhh

How better than the 5200 is that? If its quite better than thats an almost certain buy, providing it's in the usual mr boot stomp perfect condition!!

I bought it for him the same time I got mine ... and he has a new fan on his.

Yep, a lot better than the 5200 ... them XFX aint bad builders either.

 

[Me__2001]

its way better and for £30 with aftermarket cooler its a steal

 

[ChristopherP]

How old is this card in question, out of curiosity?

It's up to next door whether they want a new 5200 or a used 5600... I'll try and swing them in the direction of the better card

 

[ChristopherP]

Right...

What about this...

1 x LG GSA-4167BAL 16x DVD±RW Dual Layer Internal IDE (Black) - OEM 97237 £25.49 + VAT
1 x Mitsumi 7-in-1 Floppy Drive / Media Drive SM/MS/MD/CF/MM/SD Black 61877 £11.05 + VAT
1 x Logitech OEM Speaker S200 2.1 Stereo Black Silver 92986 £11.82 + VAT
1 x Labtec Ultra Flat Wireless Desktop keyboard and mouse 88420 £12.28 + VAT
1 x Viking 512mb DDR PC3200 400MHz 184pin Memory Module 78548 £27.35 + VAT
1 x Microsoft OEM Windows XP Home SP2 (Updated Sku) - 1Pk 97548 £52.51 + VAT
1 x Hitachi Deskstar 7K80 80GB 7200RPM SATA/150 8MB Cache - OEM 87673 £33.96 + VAT
1 x Intel Celeron® D320 2.4GHz Skt478 FSB533 256KB Cache Retail Boxed CPU 63474 £42.91 + VAT
1 x Asus P4S800D-X SKT478 SiS 655FX Chipset 800FSB Sata Raid Audio Lan ATX 95454 £32.10 + VAT

totalling: £306.02 with delivery for friday...

I know celerons suck... but that compared to a low end sempron, they got to be similar...right?

Anyone got any better ideas for that?

 

[muckshifter]

I know celerons suck... but that compared to a low end sempron, they got to be similar...right?

Asking for a smack 'round the head.

Do your homework ... and base your system around the AMD Sempron 3100+ (S754)

 

[ChristopherP]

Ordered them a sempron system...

Unfortunatly their budget could not stretch to a 3000+ so it had to be the 2600+

So it's a 2600+, Asus Mobo, 512Mb PC3200 RAM, FX5600 and SATA HDD

Should be OK for a kids homework machine... with some games, and the ability to connect to the internet

 

[floppybootstomp]

Very similar to what my daughter was using (that was the one that had the FX5600 in it).

She played Sims 2, Sims, and Roller Coaster Tycoon Three on it.

Asrock Sis chipset board, XP2400, 512Mb Corsair PC2700 and now my old 9800 Pro.

That will be a very good and capable machine I reckon Chris.

 

[ChristopherP]

Excellent

Iv'e noticed prices are starting to rise again towards christmas - why does this happen?!

I also noticed something funny... Ebuyer are selling the CPU and Mobo that i chose as a bundle for £85.99... buy the two parts seperatly and its £3 cheaper!!!!

Someone made a mistake i think!