New home build, cheap but fast

[vanillacena]

Hello everyone,
I came here around Christmas time asking for assistance for my $2,000 i7 build and you guys helped me very much. My new PC is great and I have all of you and your input to thank for it.

I now have another build to do, but this one will be very different.
Both of my aunt's need a PC upgrade. They will mostly be using it for office work and browsing the web. They want it to be fast, but not be a gaming computer. I'm trying to keep it under $500. They prefer Windows XP (which they have a copy of) Taxes are not an issue (they live in PA). I would be ordering one for each of them. Mouse, keyboard, etc. are not needed. I have, so far, come up with this:

DVD: SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223F - OEM

Case: GIGABYTE GZ-X5BPD-500 Black SECC Steel / ABS ATX Mid Tower

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

Monitor: Hanns·G HW-173DBB Black 17" 8ms Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail

Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-US2H AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

Power Supply: CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX 450W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail

Memory: G.SKILL HK 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL4D-4GBHK - Retail

CPU: AMD Athlon X2 7850 Black Edition Kuma 2.8GHz Socket AM2+ 95W Dual-Core Processor Model AD785ZWCGHBOX - Retail

What do you guys think? Do you deem any parts unnecessary or inadequate? Is their any better bangs for the buck? I'd appreciate any advice you can offer. Thank you very much =]

 

[stumpystumped]

I'd get a bigger monitor, they aren't that expensive these days.

 

[photonboy]

Windows XP:
Unless they have full versions then the license is non-transferrable. Pre-built systems usually use OEM.

Your system sounds like a good choice except for the monitor.

There are lots of review around on monitors. Basically, you'll have to pick a price and look for the best one.

One warning about monitors. Many are 1280x1024 which is a 5:4 ratio. However, they inexplicably offer only 4:3 ratios (such as 1024x768, 800x600) below the max resolution. Stick to the 1280x1024 and you are fine but go below and the ratio of things is off a little. Even my 1600x1200 (4:3) recommends 1280x1024 when 1280x960 (the correct ratio) is offered as well.

I think 19" non-widescreens are the best deal for most. Non-widescreen offers slightly more area and is currently better for web pages and text documents.

Look at your price range then Google for reviews. I'm typing this on my sisters 17" CRT and it looks gorgeous. Too bad CRT's are hard to find as the viewing angle, colour and contrast blow away all LCD monitors.

 

[hundredislandsboy]

You can save about $50 and go with e5200 and G31 mainboard. The $50 you can put towards a 21 or 22 inch monitor which are sometimes $140 at Newgg w./ free shipping.

 

[vanillacena]

So would you guys recommend I go with the e5200 and G31 mainboard? Spend the extra money on a higher end display? Which one do you guys think is the best bang for the buck? How is the onboard video on the G31, and on that note..exactly which one would you recommend? I prefer Asus but I'm open for anything. Sorry for all of the questions, but my family is trusting me to build this for them, instead of Best Buy, and I want it to be a nice gift for them.

 

[hundredislandsboy]

I use an ECS G31 mainboard from Newegg but I would recommend the Asus Corporate Model G31 from Newegg. The onboard video is fine for 2D games.