building a super cheap pc for a grandma

[tonewheel]

Hello all
I've been trying to piece together a super cheap PC for an older lady that I'm told "only checks email... on dial up".

I was hoping to build from scratch to help me get some practice in before I build my quad core setup in a few months (never built before). I was also trying to keep the PC under $300 but was hoping to get closer to $200. I think I can reuse a couple of things such as CD drives and hopefully hard drive. Also potentially considering using maybe some type of SD card as a hard drive to save power and noise and run Ubuntu but I'm not sure if that's really a viable option.

ok so i was looking at this motherboard coupled with this processor and this RAM

I'm not really sure if that processor is compatible with the motherboard since it has an 800Mhz fsb compared to the mobos 400... will that work?? and is that the most efficient way to put together a system or should i pick something else??

 

[Lowndsey]

you really want to get a grandma using a linux pc?

 

[tonewheel]

all she needs is a firefox icon on the desktop. I know it can scare people but she literally just checks email. linux should be fine for that.... anyway i have xp IF she can't find the icon.

The main reason for the post is if i know anything about picking pc parts or not so any help with that would be great

 

[Atomic Rooster]

That stuff will work well together.

If you can't reuse a hard drive, instead of an SD card, why not just get a cheap HDD such as the Western Digital Caviar WD800BB 80GB for only $35.99.

 

[Snake2135]

For one, that CPU will not work because of the 800 FSB. If you look at the specs on the MB it tells you it only supports Pentium 4 HT, Pentium D, and Celeron D with a 400/533 FSB option. As for the RAM, it should be fine. The mobo supports up to 2GB DDR-400. If you're looking for cheap, go with AMD. They are just as good for this type of situation anyway. You could get a dual-core A64 3800+ @ 2GHz for $35.99.

Here's my recommended setup:

This RAM (get 2 for 1GB)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ @ 2GHz
This Motherboard
This HDD
As for the OS, stick with XP, it's really all she would need. This M/B is Vista certified however.

Your grand total: $135.95

I am not 100% positive about the RAM, NewEgg's Specs are not particularly detailed as it does not tell me what memory is supported, it only says memory standard. Go to Crucial and look up that motherboard to confirm.

 

[tonewheel]

Wow thanks for the insight... i kind of figured they wouldn't work together but someone told me they would... anyway I am learning a thing or two and will keep all this stuff in mind


That is a pretty impressive system you've put together there. I went back to the drawing board cause i had a bad feeling about my original setup anyway and I came up with this system:

Motherboard
Dirt cheap AMD Processor
RAM
Hard drive
and lastly a Case

I was able to put all that together and, I'm almost positive that everything will work together perfectly and keep the total at $148.95.... that also comes with a case so I must say I am very surprised at how cheaply we can build a pc these days.

Your proposed system looks like it may be a little better so I'll probably mull over the 2 choices for a couple days.

Thanks for the help everyone

 

[Snake2135]

Seems as though it would all work. If you're not too concerned with price though, I would go for the A64 X2 just because the performance gains are so substantial for the price when compared to a single-core Sempron (it's only $14 more for a processor that is probably 4x better). Don't forget a power supply, around 300W should be more than enough for this situation. Unless you're going to use the power supply from the old computer. Even still, single core processors are easily able to run XP. I don't really know much about Linux, I've tried it before and wasn't really into it. All I have to say about it is that it is not really for an elderly person.
What you have picked should work fine, just make sure that you get the right form factor power supply (PSU) for the case you chose.

 

[Jk]

Cheap thrift shop computer (like around 20 bucks) + xubuntu = good for checking email.

Or even hit up schools for old computers that they don't want any more and throw a hdd in it (they usually take the hdd)

 

[tonewheel]

well the case that I selected above already has a 300W power supply in it, which is why I picked that one. I think the one she has now is from the 90's so I really don't want to use anything from that dinosaur.

I've got a couple of older machines in my back room that I could easily set up but it's the lady friend who is fronting all the money for her grandmother and she says she wants to get all new so who am I to argue.

 

[ssc456]

it would prbably be cheaper to jus grab a cheap P4 off of ebay. i got my sis a P4 with 512Mb RAM 40Gb hardrive i small for factor so low power consumption and quiet for £40 thats about $80.