New desktop for my parents

S

SurfHigh

New Member
Hi all.
My parents asked me to buy them a computer while they're out on vacation.
Now, 99% of what they do with it is internet, word and watch family photos.
So I was thinking to go for Intel D510MO motherboard with dual core Atom processor embedded 1.6ghz.

I made short list of pros and cons.
Pros:
Price, no need for processor fan (quiet), will get into mini ITX case.

Cons:
Performance, the motherboard supports only DDR2 memory.

So, my question for you is do you think it will give them what they need?
Does anyone have one and can say how's the performance?
Maybe I should go for D525 that supports DDR3?
Maybe I should just drop it and get a decent dual core?
 
Nah man...even the dual core atom chips are sluggish with full-size operating systems. You have to run a stripped one for everything to be as snappy as it should be.

What's your budget/location? Are you comfortable with building a system from parts?
 
Budget is not such a problem, I just don't want to spend money on capabilities
they won't use.
I have no problem building it from parts. I prefer the computer to be a small as can be, that's why I wanted to go for mini ITX.
I'm from Israel.
 
Hmm...I have no idea where to get parts in Israel, or what's available. Are you buying online? If so, where? I can translate the site if need be.

Rather than mini ITX, I'd go with a small micro ATX case. That'll give you access to a much wider variety of parts, while only marginally enlarging the machine's size. Should be higher quality as well. Something like this would be good:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163112

An Athlon II x2 or x3 on an 880G motherboard should be enough for anything on the web. That'd be my recommendation. Maybe a cheaper 870 board and a Radeon HD5450 if you want some of the newer features.
 
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Thanks Drenlin.
You can find almost every part in Israel too, so this is not a problem.
Actually, I work at Intel so I can get the i3 540 for about 85$ after tax.
There are some mini ITX MoBos with 1156 socket, but they just cost to much.
Guess i'll have to go for micro ATX.

Any recommendation for one with graphics on board that supports ddr3?
 
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I have a miniITX motherboard on one of my computers and i think it will pack enough punch for your parents... i agree with staying away from the atom.
 
This'd be a decent ITX build:

mobo- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813500043
RAM- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146748 Anything but OCZ Gold whould be fine. Just look for 1.5V DDR3 1333.
CPU- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115221
Case- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112227
PSU- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151086 (note that it doesn't come with a power cable)
HDD- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181
Optical- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118039 (again, shouldn't matter too much what brand)

On the AMD side, this should still be cheaper than an i3 even with the discount, and the onboard graphics is much better:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103903
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131659
 
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Atom is what you get when you can't afford an AMD dual core :P

If you're on the ultra cheap:

CPU: AMD Athlon II X2 255

Mobo: Gigabyte GA-MA78LMT

RAM: Corsair VS2GB1333D3

Case: Silverstone SG02-F

PSU: Antec Basiq 350W PSU

HDD: Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB HD502HJ

Should be quite cheap, where I buy my stuff it would come out to $315 or so.
 
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