Spec me (my Mum) a new system

[lostkat]

My mother has an archaic system which we built for her about 4 years ago. It's now on the verge of grinding to a halt and really needs sorting out.

The most resource intensive things it will ever be used for are the very ocassional Photoshop session and Skype. She spends most of her time on the internet researching ancestors and emailing long lost family members, so it really doesn't need to be a super system. Speccing her top notch stuff is a complete waste - please bear this in mind :)

I'm just looking for a board/chip/memory/gfx card combo that would be suitable for her.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[lostkat]

Just found this (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/119978) on Ebuyer. Am I missing something here, or is this just a (very cheap) bog standard computer in a box? Would that do??

[edit]Ah, looks like it needs a chip and some memory.

She has a CDRW, hdd etc. by the way. Doesn't need all that. I

[loki]

Depends if you want to upgrade the heart of the machine or get her something new. I think Tesco are now stocking some pretty basic Dell systems which in the main are mass produced, ugly but at a good price and pretty reliable most of the time

Otherwise an upgrade to a reasonable standard could look like this

MSI Mobo with on board Graphics (For AMD Chipset) £28.20 (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/126138)

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4200+ Socket AM2 (2.2GHz) Energy Efficient 65W OEM Processor £39.19 (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/139557)

Kingston 2GB (2x1GB Kit) DDR2 533MHz/PC2-4200 Non-ECC CL4 £28.08 (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/64178)

Pretty decent upgrade for just under £100.00

[lostkat]

We just want to upgrade what she has, She doesn't need a compeltely new system. I just saw the barebones and thought it might be a good option.

Thanks for your suggestions. Ebuyer too... which means I can just use my Dad's account and get the stuff sent straight over.

Would the onboard graphics be OK for basic photoshop use?

[loki]

Would the onboard graphics be OK for basic photoshop use?

Can't say that I have used Onboard VGA for Photoshop but as it's built into the mobo it will use system RAM so it would be slower than if it was a dedicated graphics card I would expect. If it's for touching up photo's and the like, I doubt she would notice that much of a difference

[lostkat]

My Dad's a Photographer and he wants it as a back-up in case all 3 of his Macs suddenly die (paranoia?? ;)). Apart from that, it won't get much use.

[Flibster]

Look at Dell's offers. Usually get some damn good deals.

Like this one: linky (http://hotukdeals.com/item/146061/dell-vostro-200-2-2ghz-c2d-3gb-500g/)

[Feek]

That's an incredibly good deal, even better if Quidco'd

[LeperousDust]

Yeah i'd look at the Dell offers, its less hassle on your part since they get warranties etc... Just generally better for everyone. Its not always the case but the ASUS vintage barebones put together with bottom range CPU and RAM can end up being VERY cheap though :) Built enough vintage systems in my time and they are wonderful barebones, right uptodate usually. Graphics will always be a problem even with the dells though, light touch ups maybe, not sure about backup photography. Look into possible dedicated low end, but still i don't think its worth it, if your dad loses all his pc's tell him hes got more to worry about :p

[Stan_Lite]

Add something like this (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/141256) to Loki's spec and you'll have a cheap system which is perfectly capable of handling anything your Folks will throw at it - quiet too.

[lostkat]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. They don't really want to shell out that amount of money for a pre-made computer though. I know the Dell that was linked to is still "cheap" and very good value for money, but they're only after an upgrade to her existing system. She has most of the additional stuff listed there so I'm not sure what an extra £150 on top of loki's suggestion plus stan's gfx card would actually offer to make it worthwhile.

[lostkat]

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4200+ Socket AM2 (2.2GHz) Energy Efficient 65W OEM Processor £39.19 (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/139557)

Balls, forgot the HSF for this. It's been a while since I built a computer and this chip looks completely different to the ones I've seen before :o What HSF can I use (ebuyer preferably) and do I need to put arctic silver on it?

Ta :)

[Mark]

Arctic Cooling (AC-FRZ-64P) Freezer64 Pro Socket 754 939 940 CPU Cooler (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/101471)

Unlikely to go far wrong with that unless you have a super small case. Comes with thermal interface material which from my experience is plenty good enough, though you can always attack it with AS5 if you wish. :)

[Stan_Lite]

I have three Arctic Freezers in use at the moment and all used with the supplied gunk - it's perfectly good enough :)