Need something really cheap!

[Spongebob]

I need to buid a system that is extremely low cost for someone (A grandmother) that only uses a P.C. to e-mail her grandson in Iraq. What low-end processor is a good buy for the price? Also what mainboard and system ram should I get to go with it? I'm thinking a mainboard with a graphics adapter already on it might be a good bet in this situation.

[Yawgm0th]

Re: Need something really cheap!

Go for a retail Sempron. I think they make retail 1500s, which is fast enough for her needs, but quite cheap.

For your mainboard, there are a bunch of KM400 boards with onboard video that should be perfect for this. That should be about $40. Make sure to get a Micro ATX one.

For a case, this is a great deal. Normally, I always say to stay away from case PSUs, but this machine won't need much and that case's PSU seems to have a high rate of success.

For RAM, get the cheapest 256MB stick of PC2700 or 3200 from a good company that you can find. Here's a good example. Personally, I would never use less than 512MB, even for a CPU that slow, but unless she's impatient she probably won't care. If you do get 512MB, make it a single stick since the cheaper boards don't have chipsets capable of utilizing dual-channel.

I'd try to get her a used (but working) HDD if possible, however a new 80GB IDE drive won't be too bad. Same with CD drives and floppy, though those are cheap even when new.

[PrairieDawg]

Re: Need something really cheap!

If that is all the system is going to be used for why not find a good used computer and really save Grandma some coin? Realistically she will not really need a new system. I had an old 200mhz system with 32 mb of ram and an 8mb video card on Windows 98se hooked up to my home network a week ago that was more than capible of emailing and surfing the net. The whole thing with monitor cost me a total of $35 plus some parts that I had laying around (it needed a sound card and I replaced the original scusi hard drives with a 6 GB IDE ATA drive). Couldn't multitask with the thing but it played a great game of solitare and Chicken Invaders2. You may not find as good of deal as I did but for well under $300 you could prolly get everything Grandma needs and she'll still have enough money left over to buy her reading glasses to read the monitor.

[Spongebob]

Re: Need something really cheap!

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.
PrairieDawg, I just happened to looked at a $40 used Compaq system earlier today 500MHZ CPU, 64 MB Ram, 10GB harddrive, onboard video, no monitor. Man I couldn't bring myself to buy it for granny. It just doesn't seem right to pay $25 per month for an internet connection and have a system like that. If it would have had a monitor I might have thought just a little harder about it since I'd bet it would have ran Windows 98 O.K., but $40 seemed high to me for it.

[PrairieDawg]

Re: Need something really cheap!

LOL. I understand what you are saying but keep in mind that surfing the net and e-mailing can be done just as well with that $40 machine as it can be with your machine or mine. ...Sure it might take an extra second or two to open an application and you can't open 10 or 12 windows at once. Will Grandma care (or notice)? Odds are she won't need a large hard drive (guessing her pron collection will be small).