New AMD Computer for my Wife

[nwboater]

My wife's old Pentium 3 is on it's last legs and way too slow now. She uses the machine for normal email/surfing, etc but the most intensive app is editing in Photoshop Elements. It's unlikely, but possible that she may get into video editing in the future. So I'm wanting to build a machine that can easily meet her needs now but hopefully will be future proof for several years.

No gaming nor do I want to overclock. Parts will be bought in Canada and it seems that Direct Canada has the best prices. The build outlined below is a little costlier than I would prefer, but we do want good quality components, and not sure I would want a slower system.

Case: Antec 300
Supply: Antec Earthwatt EA 500
MOBO: Gigabyte GA MA790GPT-UD3H
CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 620
Hard Drive: Samsung Spinrite F3 HD502HJ 500 GB
DVD Writer: Samsung 223C 22X SATA
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
RAM: 4 GB DDR3 (To be determined)

I would appreciate any comments, good, bad, or otherwise on the suitability of this build and the component selections.

I have not included a graphics card as I think the onboard GPU will be adequate for her present usage. If she later get into video editing I will certainly add one then.

My one sticking point is in choosing the memory - I am very confused! Don't have a clue what to get, other than 4 GB of DDR3! Perhaps I should post on the RAM forum, but if anyone here has suggestions, I'd sure appreciate it.

I've only built one PC before - it's a recent build of a Windows Home Server machine. All went well with it, so thought I'd try another one.

Thanks very much for any help.

Rod

[jcmaz]

I would get a Corsair VX550 and a Seagate 7200.12 500GB hard drive. Samsung drives aren't that great.

[JD]

I might consider the Seagate 7200.12 500GB as well. PSU wise, Corsair CX400 would be plenty, but up to you really. Even the Antec EarthWatts 380W would be fine.

Motherboard wise, I'd go with the 785G chipset instead. Perhaps the ASUS M4A785TD-M Evo? Has SidePort memory so the onboard graphics won't eat up your RAM.HD4200 as well compared to HD3300.RAM wise, maybe these G.SKILLs? G.SKILL F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH Ripjaws 2X2GB DDR3-1333 CL7-7-7-21 And if you check the G.SKILL site, the ASUS board I suggested above is listed as compatible.

[nwboater]

Originally Posted by jcmaz

I would get a Corsair VX550 and a Seagate 7200.12 500GB hard drive. Samsung drives aren't that great.

Thanks for the prompt response! Are you suggesting the Corsair Supply because of better reliability over Antec? The timing is amazing here - NCIX has a special price on with a rebate that bring the price down to $70. Trouble is it's only good till tomorrow and I'm not ready to order everything else yet.

Will strongly consider the Seagate drive - it will save me a little too!

Any thoughts on the memory?

Thanks,
Rod

[jcmaz]

The Seagate drive is on sale too!!

[nwboater]

Originally Posted by jdrom17

I might consider the Seagate 7200.12 500GB as well. PSU wise, Corsair CX400 would be plenty, but up to you really. Even the Antec EarthWatts 380W would be fine.

Motherboard wise, I'd go with the 785G chipset instead. Perhaps the ASUS M4A785TD-M Evo? Has SidePort memory so the onboard graphics won't eat up your RAM.HD4200 as well compared to HD3300.RAM wise, maybe these G.SKILLs? G.SKILL F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH Ripjaws 2X2GB DDR3-1333 CL7-7-7-21 And if you check the G.SKILL site, the ASUS board I suggested above is listed as compatible.

On the supply do you think the 380 watt would be okay if I later add a graphics card? That's the only reason I had been thinking of a larger one.

Thanks so much for all the thought in the post. You've given me a good bit to digest so will probably have more questions later after some research.

Rod

[nwboater]

Originally Posted by jcmaz

The Seagate drive is on sale too!!

Cool - love saving money. Actually I need to with this machines expense!

Interestingly I checked DirectCanada.com price and it's $1 less than the NCIX sale price.

Rod

[JD]

Originally Posted by nwboater

On the supply do you think the 380 watt would be okay if I later add a graphics card? That's the only reason I had been thinking of a larger one.

Thanks so much for all the thought in the post. You've given me a good bit to digest so will probably have more questions later after some research.

Rod

Depends what kind of video card we're talking. I was assuming you'd get something fairly low-end, as in not requiring additional power. Though to be honest, with my Antec 380W I ran an old AMD Athlon X2 4400+ (Socket 939, 125W), and a 7900GTO off it without any issues.

[nwboater]

Just an apology here. Due to unexpected budgetary constraints and my wife deciding she would probably never do video editing we decided to not build a new PC, but get a used but newer machine. I should have ended this thread with that info months ago and thanked all you folks for trying to help. So thanks!

Rod

[biff]

FWIW I use a couple of the 400W corsairs and they're great. Had no problems and they're nice and quiet.