Building a cheap computer for my mother

[scepstein]

I hope this is the right place to post.

I'm building a cheap computer for my mother for christmas who word-processes, emails, watches youtube etc. No gaming, no cpu-intensive tasks. I've never built anything other than high-end rigs so I'm somewhat out of my depth.

I've put together a build and was wondering whether I could get any feedback or suggestions on changes. I'm pretty sure she doesn't need anything more than integrated gfx.

Picture related, it's what I have thus far.

p.s. all the prices are in pounds (£)

 

[foothead]

That's pretty overkill imo. I'd go with an athlon II 620 and a cheap AM3 board. It'll be more than powerful enough for web browsing, word processing etc. (my mom still uses a 1.8 ghz sempron system, which is plenty fast for that). I also recommend spending less on the RAM. Get some kingston valueRAM or similar. It really won't make one bit of difference.

I'd get a better PSU though. The ones that come with computer cases are typically total trash. I recommend an antec basiq 350w. They're really cheap, but extremely reliable.

 

[zackcon2]

lol i thought that at first to but if you look at the case its a bundle with one in it. i only wonder if its modular lol

 

[VINMAN46]

AMD 630 quad core
Samsung F3
4 gig ram
880g board
5570 or 450
500w PSU

 

[foothead]

5570 or 450
500w PSU

Both are overkill. Integrated graphics will be plenty, and the whole system will draw less than 200 watts without a GPU.

 

[scepstein]

Thanks for the feedback!

I've changed it to this, does it look better?

 

[VINMAN46]

looks good
be sure to post pictures when you get it all built =}

 

[Aastii]

I would change the CPU to a tri core and save ~£20

Scan.co.uk: AMD CPU Athlon II 445 Triple Core Processor - ADX445WFGMBOX

as a quad core will never be used to it's fullest

Also, the memory to 4GB dual channel for practically the same price, just a few p cheaper:

Scan.co.uk: Corsair Memory XMS3 Classic 4GB DDR3 1333 Mhz CAS 9 Dual Channel Desktop - TW3X4G1333C9A

The DVD RW you picked is also notorious for having issues either out of the box, or a few weeks/months down the line. I've personally had 2 go out on me, have a friend on another forum who had 3 replacements in sucession go out within 2 months of each other, the few extra p saved on the memory would be put to good use going for:

Scan.co.uk: Sony Optical DVD Writer, AD-5260S-0B, SATA, Black, OEM

instead.

Apart from that, looking good