Another new system thread...

[Dark_Phoenix]

I am building a new system for a friend at work. She wants something simple and cheap just to use for business and general web browsing. The computer she has now is very old, either a P3 or an early P4, so anything would be an improvement.

So I was thinking of going with an AMD processor. But since I have always used Intel I don't know much about AMD and would like to get some other opinions. Here is what I have selected.

Processor : AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ Brisbane 2.1GHz
Motherboard : MSI K9VGM-V AM2 VIA K8M890 Micro ATX
Memory : Kingston 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
HDD : Western Digital Caviar SE WD400JD 40GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache Serial ATA150

The one thing I am not sure about is the memory. I always have a hard time with that, making sure the voltage is compatable with the mobo.

[CornedBee]

Frankly, I think a P3 or an early P4 is absolutely enough for business and general web browsing, as long as you don't try to use Vista.

[Dark_Phoenix]

I agree, but her old one is (about) 8 years old and she wants something a little faster. She just does not want to spend a lot of money on stuff she will never use so I figured a custom build would work better.

[Elysia]

I managed to put one together for about $300 or so converted to US dollars. It's in no way a gaming machine, but it sure will work fine with web browsing, so custom is definitely the way to go.
You can save even more if you don't purchase mouse/keyboard, case and such. And especially no new monitor.

UPDATE:
I managed to gather these parts. I think they're compatible.
Case (w/ power supply): Linkworld 313G-C26 Black/ Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 430W Power Supply - OEM - $23
Memory: Team Elite 512MB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop Memory Model TEDD512M667HC5 - Retail - $11
Motherboard (w/ audio, video & LAN): ECS P4M900T-M V1.0 LGA 775 VIA P4M900 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - $30
Processor: Intel Celeron 420 Conroe-L 1.6GHz LGA 775 35W Single-Core Processor Model BX80557420 - Retail - $44
Total: $108 excluding shipping.

I can probably be cheaper, but newegg (which I looked at), only carried so old parts, so I couldn't find any cheaper.
The AMD path is a little more expensive, as well due to the high price of DDR(1) and AMD motherboards.

[VirtualAce]

Any system you put Vista on will suck because Vista sucks.

I would go with the cost effective solution and I think an AMD 64 x2 is a bit overboard for this particular situation.

[Dark_Phoenix]

I don't have much experience with the Celeron processors. Is there any difference in those and the Pentiums?

[Elysia]

For one thing, less cache. Budget processor. Works fine for web browsing. Should be avoided for gaming.

[SlyMaelstrom]

Vista is manageable for the average user... however if you want to be able to tweak, it's a mess. Honestly, I've seen many, many people use Vista and those that don't know much about computers have had little problems with it or are just too uninformed to identify the problems in front of them. The thing that will kill your Vista experience is the fact that your motherboard is carrying an integrated VIA chip. I do believe there are some on-board solutions that will allow you to run Vista's Aero theme without crushing performance, however, VIA, I'm sure hasn't made one, yet. NVidia and ATI has made some pretty decent on-board graphics. Intel made the X3100, but you won't find that on an AMD motherboard. ^_^

One other thing worth mentioning. I know you're trying to go as cheap as possible here, but I never see the point in going for a 40GB HDD when you can get an 80GB for $3 more or a 120GB for $5 more. Considering the large footprint that Vista's installation leaves on a hard drive, I'd say getting something larger can definitely show a performance boost after a few months of use.

[Neo1]

For one thing, less cache. Budget processor. Works fine for web browsing. Should be avoided for gaming.

Well it won't cut it for Crysis or COD 4, but my own Celeron (Which is quite a bit older than the one you mentioned, and clocked 600 mHz over stock speed), will actually pull Battlefield 2: SF, NFS Most Wanted and Quake 4 in 1024x768, that is with an X1600 and 1,5GB RAM, and considering what i paid for it (Equivalent of 40$), you actually get quite amazing value...

But if you are not a poor student like myself, Celeron is the last choice for anything other than Paper Work and stuff like that. For that particular purpose though, i'm almost completely certain it's the cheapest and best by far...

[Elysia]

And if there had been a cheaper processor (and cheaper DDR RAM and AMD motherboards!), I'd have chosen to list a better processor instead of that celeron scrap that costs a fortune.

[SlyMaelstrom]

What fortune? This is a great entry level processor, especially if you throw the BSEL mod on it. Granted, it serves as no comparison to the Brisbane listed above, but as some said, that processor is a bit much for a basic office PC and I always felt Intel offers better options as far as motherboards go.

[Neo1]

And if there had been a cheaper processor (and cheaper DDR RAM and AMD motherboards!), I'd have chosen to list a better processor instead of that celeron scrap that costs a fortune.

So basically what you are saying is that if AMD CPUs were cheaper, could use DDR2 RAM and had cheaper mobos that would be the better choice? Your point being? Why are you bashing Intel for something they are actually doing better and cheaper than AMD?

[Elysia]

Too expensive. You could find a processor for lower money. Any processor today will suffice for web browsing.
IMO AMD offers are always better. Cheaper prices. And until Conroe, better performance.

So basically what you are saying is that if AMD CPUs were cheaper, could use DDR2 RAM and had cheaper mobos that would be the better choice? Your point being? Why are you bashing Intel for something they are actually doing better and cheaper than AMD?

Actually, it's just newegg who has a poor sortiment of old products. Plus I'm an AMD fan, so I'd go for AMD any time over Intel had it been cheaper. But unfortunately, it's not the same case on newegg.
But even so, and Athlon would beat the crap out of any Intel Pentium processor making it ideal for a low-budget computer.

[SlyMaelstrom]

Too expensive. You could find a processor for lower money. Any processor today will suffice for web browsing.
IMO AMD offers are always better. Cheaper prices. And until Conroe, better performance.

That's ridiculous. Maybe you're just very young, but the success of AMD's Athlon processors is based only on the fact that Intel's NetBurst architecture was a failure that led to overpriced, mediocre microprocessors. Intel has been doing it much longer and for a long time was the only option because nobody had the capacity to challenge them. As it stands, every attempt by AMD to get back in the game has been unsuccessful, however, I blame this not on AMD's design but the fact that they wasted all of their funds on the ridiculous purchase of ATI. Now they've fallen behind in both respects.

[Elysia]

That's ridiculous. Maybe you're just very young, but the success of AMD's Athlon processors is based only on the fact that Intel's NetBurst architecture was a failure that led to overpriced, mediocre microprocessors.

Indeed. But whether the architecture was good or bad, AMD's offerings at the time was better, simply put. And they were cheaper to boot.
Call it Intel's mistake, but that tells me that AMD does design good processors.

As it stands, every attempt by AMD to get back in the game has been unsuccessful, however, I blame this not on AMD's design

As I know, Intel has a lot of work cut out to get back in the game themselves. From Pentium 4 to Pentium D to all kinds of crap before Core 2 Duo came out.

but the fact that they wasted all of their funds on the ridiculous purchase of ATI. Now they've fallen behind in both respects.

I would not call it ridiculous. It was a smart move IMO. I see forward to the day when the processor supports GPU instructions as well as CPU instructions. That day we'll see a 100x performance improvement in demanding tasks such as video encoding and raw number crunching.