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I'm looking to build a light machine to last about 3-5 years. Total was like 330 or something, here is the specs.

Motherboard
Asus P5G41-M LE/CSM Socket 775 Intel G41 Chipset Dual Channel DDR2 1066(O.C.)/800/667 MHz Intel GMA X4500 Graphics 6 Ch HD Audio GigaLAN 4x SATA 3.0Gb/s 8x USB 2.0 uATX

http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_i..._id=027097

Ram
G.SKILL PK Series DDR2 1066MHz (PC2-8500) 4GB (2x2GB) Dual Channel Kit (F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK)
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_i..._id=023338

Hitachi Deskstar 500G 3.5" SATAII 7200rpm 16MB Cache Retail Box
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_i...avmrdmpvt6

CPU
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_i..._id=027872


Video Card
Two options
Palit GeForce 210 TC Low Profile 512MB (NE221000H0856) nVidia GeForce GTS 210 Chipset 512MB GDDR5 Dual Dual-Link DVI/D-Sub PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_i..._id=032968


EVGA GeForce 9500GT 1GB (01G-P3-N958-LR) nVidia GeForce 9500GT Chipset (550Mhz) 1GB (800Mhz) DDR2 Dual Dual-Link DVI PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_i..._id=023552

case
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_i..._id=019734




Total Price

Motherboard 60
Ram 105
CPU 70
HDD 40
Video Card 40-70
DVD drive 29
Case 40


Will this last 3-5 be good for a normal families homework youtube etc? Anyone can save money same power and nothing extra, help is nice Prefered if the products are on this site or Tigerdirect.ca

How about going DDR3 and AMD?

RAM: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6820231274 - $80
Motherboard: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6813131626 - $60
CPU: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6819103844 - $70
Case: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6811146061 - $41
Optical Drive: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6827106289 - $20
GPU: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6814102855 - $78 - This is slightly lower performance than a GT 240, it does not need a power connector though.
Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6822136073 - $54 OR stick with the one you already have.

This will have much greater performance and you can upgrade to the current most high end AMD processors down the road if you wanted to.

Note that you did not choose a power supply, I'm assuming you already have one?

Also you don't have to buy the GPU immediately because the motherboard has integrated graphics, you can always upgrade down the line. Radeon HD 4670 can easily handle games like Sauerbraten or Battlefield 2 maxed at 1600x900.

(2010-09-29, 08:58 AM)Anman Wrote: [ -> ]How about going DDR3 and AMD?

RAM: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6820231274 - $80
Motherboard: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6813131626 - $60
CPU: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6819103844 - $70
Case: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6811146061 - $41
Optical Drive: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6827106289 - $20
GPU: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6814102855 - $78 - This is slightly lower performance than a GT 240, it does not need a power connector though.
Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6822136073 - $54 OR stick with the one you already have.

This will have much greater performance and you can upgrade to the current most high end AMD processors down the road if you wanted to.

Note that you did not choose a power supply, I'm assuming you already have one?

Also you don't have to buy the GPU immediately because the motherboard has integrated graphics, you can always upgrade down the line. Radeon HD 4670 can easily handle games like Sauerbraten or Battlefield 2 maxed at 1600x900.

Case comes with it, and no i won't consider AMD, this machine has to be self running, and likely portable. DDR2 because when they need to update its cheaper, as i have a stockpile of it. Plus i like the mobo because they don't even need a GPU/gfx card. Works well enough without. Really its just a family machine. Regardless at the same time i don't want to service the machine i want it to stand still. Hence why i'm using older parts, for XP.

If anyone is thinking of buying a new machine i suggest waiting for Bulldozer as AM3 is currently only upgradeable to a Phenom x6, the Bulldozer is a new architecture that will require a new AM3+ motherboard and feature up to 16MB cache

@dikidera

Though true, Bulldozer will be out of the budget for builds like this and besides which it doesn't come out until Q2 2011.

@Mark

What does "self running" mean?

The two cases are the same size, by the way. I wouldn't trust any 500W generic power supply. You can remove the GPU (the integrated ATI Radeon HD 4250 will handle most games on low/medium settings) and get a beefy Corsair 400W: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6817139008

(2010-09-29, 03:04 PM)Anman Wrote: [ -> ]>dikidera

Though true, Bulldozer will be out of the budget for builds like this and besides which it doesn't come out until Q2 2011.

And again, i want something that is already proven to work perfectly with older things on a XP desktop.

Self running means that i won't have to visit it for 3-5 years, no maintence. Newer products need maintence, bios driver updates etc.

As for the case/psu, i just think your is ugly, sorry . AMD i find updates there stuff much to much. >_>

The Athlon II series does work perfectly with XP

(2010-09-29, 03:11 PM)Anman Wrote: [ -> ]The Athlon II series does work perfectly with XP

Sp1 no update since then? P:

I don't understand the self-run, a lot of things can happen. Power surge, dust in the coolers etc, overheating, needs thermal paste change etc.
It's not as easy as you think leaving a PC running for 3-5 years with no maintainance. The capacitors of the motherboard might also give problems and the PSU as well.

My last PC lasted six years, only things i've ever added have been Ram and a secondary harddrive. Because of the way i set it up, i wouldn't have to clean it often. I think i only cleaned it twice.

As for surges i got them a surge protector unit a few months back. I don't think i've ever needed to reapply thermal paste after the first time.