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$650 Budget system

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My aunt would like to buy a computer soon. She was going to go to Walmart and buy a $650 computer, but I told her to hold off I will see if I can find something better. This will be used for primarily music/ movies/ surfing the web. But her son would also like to game on it. She only had a few request: a 22in monitor and 8GB of RAM. So I went to newegg and begin piecing computers together. I know she is going to need a discrete GPU for the gaming, and a quad or tri core would be nice. Also I plan to put a mild overclock on her computer for her. The last thing I have been trying to work in is Blu-ray.
Here is what I have so far:
AMD Athlon II x3 425 + Gigabyte MA785

2x PQI POWER Series 2x2GB DDR2800

Liteon Blu-ray drive

LG DVD Burner

This all totals to $377 shipped. Now I have a 22in 1080p monitor that I could include for $100 extra along with a 1.5TB HDD for $65. That totals $542 leaving $100 for a GPU/ case/ PSU. Any suggestions on what GPU, case, and PSU to get while keeping the build in budget? Maybe a modification of the current components is in order. IDK but I am having a hell of a time keeping this in budget :p Any help is much appreciated.
 
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I'm guessing you've already asked this of her but why does she need 8GB of RAM? It'll give you a fair bit more room to play with if you only need to get 4GB of RAM.
 
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Yeah, I told her that she wont be able to notice the difference between 4 and 8 GB of RAM but she says she wants 8GB. I did see this on newegg, maybe I could comprimise with her and get 6GB, then add a new psu, gpu, and the blu-ray.
Something like this:
 
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Seriously think of convincing her 4gb is enough because the budget is quite small... maybe bump the budget to 650+tax?
 
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Ah, the joys of family and them not understanding computers...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.328156 that's 330 and has the Case, PSU, RAM and mobo in...
From what I've heard the i3 is no slouch either so it might be worth putting one of these in there:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.328156 455 total so far
165 for monitor and HD combo from you 610 so far
Hmmm, still doesn't work if you want an optical drive in there as well as a discrete GPU...
 
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Ah, the joys of family and them not understanding computers...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.328156 that's 330 and has the Case, PSU, RAM and mobo in...
From what I've heard the i3 is no slouch either so it might be worth putting one of these in there:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.328156 455 total so far
165 for monitor and HD combo from you 610 so far
Hmmm, still doesn't work if you want an optical drive in there as well as a discrete GPU...

and 4 more gigs of ram
 

crazyeyesreaper

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athlon II 240 overclock the hell out of it get a am3 785 board 4 gigs DDR3 and it will be alot cheaper

the 240 can hit 4ghz so i see no reason to go with a more expensive dualcore and im guessing for said persons daily computing habits they wont notice a difference
 
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put 4gb and tell her it is 8? :eek:
 

crazyeyesreaper

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http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835207004 CPU cooler

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.334772 cpu motherboard combo

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.339647 GPU + PSU combo

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.330008 1TB hdd + DDR3 combo

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119161 case

send in the mail in rebates thats $60 saved total price for above without rebate $612 with rebates factored in $552

blu ray drive in first post + dvd drive = $697 after rebates $637
 
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Don't forget the $$ for Blu Ray playback software. That will set you back $60 to $100. Also, where's the money for the OS? Maybe you're giving her the OS?
 
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Put 4Gb of RAM and put a 4GB flashdrive on readyboost and tell her she has 8GB :p
OS wise I have technet for W7.
 
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The smart thing to do about the 8gb thing would be to tell her that the extra $$ spent on the RAM won't buy her any extra performance. In other words, just be honest about it. If she insists, then buy her 8gb.

The real question you should be asking yourself at this point is if you really want to get involved in this. You already know how to build a computer so it isn't going to teach you anything. You might be able to save her some cash or get her a better PC for her $650, but is it really going to be so much better that it is worth getting all her support calls about it rather than the people she bought it from getting those same phone calls? If it were me, I would just give her a list of specs that she should look for and then let her handle the rest, unless you really enjoy working on her PC every time you go over to her house.
 

crazyeyesreaper

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add in the dvd and blu ray and its $697 with the above combos i grabbed with rebate its $630 ish
 

JrRacinFan

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crazyeyesreaper

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tricore nice 770 board meh i prefer a quality board
 
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The smart thing to do about the 8gb thing would be to tell her that the extra $$ spent on the RAM won't buy her any extra performance. In other words, just be honest about it. If she insists, then buy her 8gb.

The real question you should be asking yourself at this point is if you really want to get involved in this. You already know how to build a computer so it isn't going to teach you anything. You might be able to save her some cash or get her a better PC for her $650, but is it really going to be so much better that it is worth getting all her support calls about it rather than the people she bought it from getting those same phone calls? If it were me, I would just give her a list of specs that she should look for and then let her handle the rest, unless you really enjoy working on her PC every time you go over to her house.

I wouldn't mind working on her computer but the beauty of it is I don't have to. My cousin (her oldest son) is trying to become a computer tech. He just came to me to help decide witch parts to get, so the worst case scenario is I get a call from him asking for help. So I am going to try and save what I can where I can and I'll provide some of the parts, such as the monitor, the HDD, and the OS.
 

crazyeyesreaper

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the asus board supports 140watt cpus so way down the line 6 core is possible knowing asus that 770 board not so much depends if shes gonna be using that rig forever with nothing done to it by all means but id take the surefire upgradability
 
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Does this build need include a OS? if it doesn't then this build would do great but abit over budget by $27 if you include that monitor your selling for $100
 

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Now that is a great build! :)
 
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My aunt would like to buy a computer soon. She was going to go to Walmart and buy a $650 computer, but I told her to hold off I will see if I can find something better. This will be used for primarily music/ movies/ surfing the web. But her son would also like to game on it. She only had a few request: a 22in monitor and 8GB of RAM.

After looking through Walmart and Best Buy online and going to HP and Dell's websites I have come to this conclusion:

Unless your local Walmart is having some kind of sale, 8GB of memory is not happening for less than $700. If she was going to get a 22" monitor there too, again unless of some sale, $150 entrance fee. This is not even mentioning the "plans" they will try and sell her.

Recap: $650 is not happening per her requests

She may go to Walmart and spend $650, but she is not coming home with 8GB PC regardless of the monitor. The cheapest I found was at Dell. You could modify the Studio Slim for 8GB and you'd be at $575 before shipping. Though, your running an E5300 and 500GB of drive space. For $575 with "only" 4GB your easily in an i3 system. I went from an overclocked Q9400 to my i7 and there was a noticeable (albeit slight) difference in Windows responsiveness. I even still have the Q9400 system. Its at my parents and I use it every now and then and notice the slight slowness of the OS responsiveness. Going from an E5300 to an i3 will be night and day. Music is also going to eat that 500GB fast. I would strongly recommend 1TB minimum.

Did she already scout out this PC? Did it already have the 8GB or did she plan on adding this herself (as warranty seals might cause problems)? What was the plan and reason that she came to believing she could get a 8GB system for $650? Was the monitor included in this $650?

Please! I need enlightenment on this absurd request. :confused:
 
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