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Building system for Mum & Dad

Bundy

Bundy

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Oct 27, 2007
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System Name Grandpa
Processor i5 4690K
Motherboard Gigabyte Z97X-UD5H-BK
Cooling water
Memory 8GB Corsair Vengence 2400MHz
Video Card(s) Gigabyte 5850 x2
Storage Samsung SM951
Display(s) Catleap 27"
Case coolermaster stacker
Power Supply corsair AX860i
Mouse logitech g5 original
Keyboard Ducky
Software Windows 8.1
I'd appreciate some feedback on my selections for a new machine for my parents. I've got some difficulties ahead, they are aged 66 and 70, and have never used a computer before. Now they want that broadband thing everyone talks about.....

I was thinking the following
Case: Coolermaster elite + 350W PSU
Ram: Corsair val select PC 5300 2GB
Drive: Samsung HD161Hj 160GB
processor: my current E6320
Screen: AOC 22"with inbuilt speakers
OS: Vista home premium

I have three mobo I'm looking at, all Gigabyte with integrates graphics

GA-31M-S2L
GA-PVM-S2H
GA-G33M-DS2R

What is better, Intel 3100 or Geforce 7100? Will they run a 22"screen? If any games are played, it will be solitare...

Thanks in advance
 
[I.R.A]_FBi

[I.R.A]_FBi

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PSU on the small side ...
 
Bundy

Bundy

Joined
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Messages
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System Specs
System Name Grandpa
Processor i5 4690K
Motherboard Gigabyte Z97X-UD5H-BK
Cooling water
Memory 8GB Corsair Vengence 2400MHz
Video Card(s) Gigabyte 5850 x2
Storage Samsung SM951
Display(s) Catleap 27"
Case coolermaster stacker
Power Supply corsair AX860i
Mouse logitech g5 original
Keyboard Ducky
Software Windows 8.1
yes, it's 'economical'. Do you think I should definitely change it?
 
PaulieG

PaulieG

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Motherboard MSI B550 Carbon (2)/ MSI z490 Unify/Asus Strix B550-F/MSI B450 Tomahawk (3)
Cooling EK AIO 360 (2)/EK AIO 240, Arctic Cooling Freezer II 280/EVGA CLC 280/Noctua D15/Cryorig M9(2)
Memory 32 GB Ballistix Elite/32 GB TridentZ/16GB Mushkin Redline Black/16 GB Dominator
Video Card(s) Asus Strix RTX3060/EVGA 970(2)/Asus 750 ti/Old Quadros
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Power Supply EVGA Supernova 850G(2)/EVGA Supernova GT 650w/Phantek Amps 750w/Seasonic Focus 750w
Mouse Generic Black wireless (5)
Keyboard Generic Black wireless (5)
Software Win 10/Ubuntu
[I.R.A]_FBi said:
PSU on the small side ...
Click to expand...

I always question the quality of power supplies that come with cases, but a 350w psu will be fine on a budget "mom and dad" rig, with onboard video.
 
PaulieG

PaulieG

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Cooling EK AIO 360 (2)/EK AIO 240, Arctic Cooling Freezer II 280/EVGA CLC 280/Noctua D15/Cryorig M9(2)
Memory 32 GB Ballistix Elite/32 GB TridentZ/16GB Mushkin Redline Black/16 GB Dominator
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Storage Samsung 970 EVO M.2 NVMe 500GB/WD Black M.2 NVMe 500GB/Adata 500gb NVMe
Display(s) Acer 1080p 22"/ (3) Samsung 22" 1080p
Case (2) Lian Li Lancool II Mesh/Corsair 4000D /Phanteks Eclipse 500a/Be Quiet Pure Base 500/Bones of HAF
Power Supply EVGA Supernova 850G(2)/EVGA Supernova GT 650w/Phantek Amps 750w/Seasonic Focus 750w
Mouse Generic Black wireless (5)
Keyboard Generic Black wireless (5)
Software Win 10/Ubuntu
You can always get a psu later, if it does die. Oh, and the Geforce 7100 is better onboard graphics, and will be fine for solitaire on that monitor.
 
TrainingDummy

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Do you think they need 2GB of RAM?
 
PaulieG

PaulieG

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Motherboard MSI B550 Carbon (2)/ MSI z490 Unify/Asus Strix B550-F/MSI B450 Tomahawk (3)
Cooling EK AIO 360 (2)/EK AIO 240, Arctic Cooling Freezer II 280/EVGA CLC 280/Noctua D15/Cryorig M9(2)
Memory 32 GB Ballistix Elite/32 GB TridentZ/16GB Mushkin Redline Black/16 GB Dominator
Video Card(s) Asus Strix RTX3060/EVGA 970(2)/Asus 750 ti/Old Quadros
Storage Samsung 970 EVO M.2 NVMe 500GB/WD Black M.2 NVMe 500GB/Adata 500gb NVMe
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TrainingDummy said:
Do you think they need 2GB of RAM?
Click to expand...

The 2GB is worth it, considering the price of RAM right now. If he goes with 1GB, then wants to upgrade it in a year, finding DDR2 for a decent price may be a lot harder, since DDR3 will be the new standard by then.
 
C

craigo

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A quick google for those graphics solutions....the nvidia option seems to be the better solution
the intel seems only to have vga not dvi connection..i gather your getting the coolermaster elite 340 (micro atx)...looks awesome...the psu included will be fine...try and use sata hdd and cd/dvd to keep it neat...great little build.
 
Last edited:
Bundy

Bundy

Joined
Oct 27, 2007
Messages
1,132 (0.19/day)
System Specs
System Name Grandpa
Processor i5 4690K
Motherboard Gigabyte Z97X-UD5H-BK
Cooling water
Memory 8GB Corsair Vengence 2400MHz
Video Card(s) Gigabyte 5850 x2
Storage Samsung SM951
Display(s) Catleap 27"
Case coolermaster stacker
Power Supply corsair AX860i
Mouse logitech g5 original
Keyboard Ducky
Software Windows 8.1
TrainingDummy said:
Do you think they need 2GB of RAM?
Click to expand...

probably not but where I buy from, the prices are

512Mb = $35
1GB = $35
2GB = $59

I couldn't see there was much benefit in cutting the RAM back. I'm also unsure whether the on board graphics will want to use some of the RAM
 
PaulieG

PaulieG

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Motherboard MSI B550 Carbon (2)/ MSI z490 Unify/Asus Strix B550-F/MSI B450 Tomahawk (3)
Cooling EK AIO 360 (2)/EK AIO 240, Arctic Cooling Freezer II 280/EVGA CLC 280/Noctua D15/Cryorig M9(2)
Memory 32 GB Ballistix Elite/32 GB TridentZ/16GB Mushkin Redline Black/16 GB Dominator
Video Card(s) Asus Strix RTX3060/EVGA 970(2)/Asus 750 ti/Old Quadros
Storage Samsung 970 EVO M.2 NVMe 500GB/WD Black M.2 NVMe 500GB/Adata 500gb NVMe
Display(s) Acer 1080p 22"/ (3) Samsung 22" 1080p
Case (2) Lian Li Lancool II Mesh/Corsair 4000D /Phanteks Eclipse 500a/Be Quiet Pure Base 500/Bones of HAF
Power Supply EVGA Supernova 850G(2)/EVGA Supernova GT 650w/Phantek Amps 750w/Seasonic Focus 750w
Mouse Generic Black wireless (5)
Keyboard Generic Black wireless (5)
Software Win 10/Ubuntu
bundyrum&coke said:
probably not but where I buy from, the prices are

512Mb = $35
1GB = $35
2GB = $59

I couldn't see there was much benefit in cutting the RAM back. I'm also unsure whether the on board graphics will want to use some of the RAM
Click to expand...

They WILL want to use the RAM. Money well spent here.
 
Bundy

Bundy

Joined
Oct 27, 2007
Messages
1,132 (0.19/day)
System Specs
System Name Grandpa
Processor i5 4690K
Motherboard Gigabyte Z97X-UD5H-BK
Cooling water
Memory 8GB Corsair Vengence 2400MHz
Video Card(s) Gigabyte 5850 x2
Storage Samsung SM951
Display(s) Catleap 27"
Case coolermaster stacker
Power Supply corsair AX860i
Mouse logitech g5 original
Keyboard Ducky
Software Windows 8.1
craigo said:
A quick google for those graphics solutions....the nvidia option seems to be the better solution
the intel seems only to have vga not dvi connection..i gather your getting the coolermaster elite 340 (micro atx)...looks awesome...the psu included will be fine...try and use sata hdd and cd/dvd to keep it neat...great little build.
Click to expand...

Yes - that case looks exactly what I had in mind and a tidy price too. $62AUD
and yes, I'll be going SATA. Might even try and do the cables tidy as well (if I can get better than 5/10 from tk, I'm on the right track)
 
Nitro-Max

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Can i just say if you buy a psu thats 600watt it will still be as economical as a 350watt because it will only use 600watt if the systems hardware needs it. Its also better to buy a slightly bigger psu than the system requirements "even if its cheap" because it puts less strain on the psu and stops it from overheating which should give it a longer life too.
 
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