Building a computer for a friend--need expert advice

[SpaceDoll]

She hasn't touched a computer for more than 15 minutes in 15 years.  She will surf the internet and download music and movies.  She may, sometime in the future, want to play some pretty crappy games, but until then integrated graphics will be just fine.  She trusts me to build this, even though it will be my first build.  Anyway, budget is the most important factor, so we went as low quality as we could without making it useless to spend the money (I offered her my ten year old computer with a few upgrades for free).  This comes to about $400 at NewEgg:


--Intel Celeron E1500 2.2GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80557E1500          $62.99

--LOGISYS Computer PS575XBK 575W ATX12V SLI Ready Power Supply              $29.99

--APEVIA KI-COMBO-SV Black/Silver PS/2 Wired Standard Keyboard and Optical Scroll Mouse Combo Set      $20.00

--HP L1710 Silver 17" 5ms LCD Monitor                                                                               $119.99

--Kingston 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model KVR800D2/1GR    $13.99

--Western Digital Caviar RE WD2500YD 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive           $39.99

--GIGABYTE GZ-X5SPD-500 Silver SECC Steel / ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case           $37.99

--LG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner w/ SecurDisc Tech Black SATA Model GH20NS15          $20.99

--Foxconn G31AX-K LGA 775 Intel G31 ATX Intel Motherboard                       $59.99

Am I making any grave mistakes here?  Is anything glaringly missing that I am oblivious to?

I would really appreciate any opinions!

[HomeschooledByTards]

I hate Celerons, but for basic internet useage, it should be fine. I would get at least one more gig of ram, probably two more. An extra 25 dollars will make a tremendous performance difference.

[theresatv]

What are you planning on using for the operating system?

[SpaceDoll]

I know what you mean about the processor, and the ramz, Jesslla!  Some of these parts, though name brand, had me cringing.  I would love to upgrade everything just a bit more, and then a bit more.  I would eventually end up building MY dream computer, and having to pay for half!  I went low on things that can be easily upgraded (memory, graphics), as she is a waitress and can easily be convinced later to buy something for cash.  I do have some specific questions, though.  Will the fan that comes with the processor be enough?  I'm pretty sure it will, though I would never use it in my own build.  Also, can anyone tell me anything I need to know about thermal paste?  

As for the OS, I will either be using an old copy of XP pro I have, or if she is convinced she needs Vista, I will be figuring out just how to pirate that.  It will be useful information in the future.

[crunk]

My only advice, be it somewhat crappy, is this: if you have doubts that the system will run Vista smoothly, put XP on it. Ignore your friend's complaints/whining and go with the OS that will have the best performance. From personal experience anything Vista itself ranks lower than a 3.0 in its "experience index" isn't worth the headache and will result in an unhappy new computer owner.

[SpaceDoll]

From what I understand, pirated Vista is pretty hard to keep activated.  As most of her computer experience is from an early 90's high school programming class, I think she will be fine with XP.  I do hope to build a computer to run Vista x64 someday (and of course I don't want to pay for it), and wouldn't mind experimenting now, but if it takes a lot of keeping up with, I won't inflict it on her.  She likely won't know the difference!

[crunk]

It isn't that I found it hard to keep up with, it was that by saving money/cutting costs on a computer and then slapping Vista Ultimate on it the thing barely ran. It now sits in my closet waiting to be cannibalized into something more interesting. Such as a trashcan.

[SpaceDoll]

I would only do Home (Basic or Premium) for my friend's system.  Something OEM would be easier to deal with, activation wise, but you're so right about this particular computer not playing well with something like Vista Ultimate!  I would just worry that she would update and the activation would be borked.  She will have to have auto-update on, I'm sure, and I also suspect she will not be very diligent about backing up files, so the idea of having to reformat and reinstall Vista is not only unpalatable, but also completely plausible.  I will probably set the system up with XP, and then offer to upgrade it to Vista if she wants.  She will be so excited about the new toy, she won't want to wait for me to do anything else. 

[Mootilda]

In general, Vista requires twice the computer specs of XP; don't even consider using Vista for a low-end computer.  Also, there's no use building a computer for some vague future, since you will pay a premium now for components which will be much cheaper in the future.  The one exception that I can think of is memory; it can be difficult to find inexpensive memory once a new type of memory comes out, so it's probably worth upgrading the memory now.

[swmeek]

Lose the Celeron and get a Core2Duo.
Even the cheapest model will outperform a Celeron any day of the week.

[SpaceDoll]

Problem is, the cheapest Core2Duo is $55 more.  That's $55 she doesn't have.  At least it's a dual core Celeron.

[witch]

Celeron is the Skoda of the computing world. It would be fine for surfing, writing documents and emailing though.

What some of the people giving advice may not realise is that RAM or any other computer parts can cost more in various countries. You could not buy RAM for $25 in New Zealand, you're looking at approx $75 for 1GB of laptop RAM, for instance. I was looking recently for myself and was delighted it was now so cheap.

[SpaceDoll]

The most intensive thing she will be doing is downloading music, maybe the occasional movie.  I love how cheap memory is now.  She's getting a 1GB stick of Kingston for $14!  That's friggin awesome.

ETA: The parts are bought now, and I think I will stick with the thermal paste Intel sends.  It can't hurt, in a box this slow! 

[AuKestrel]

ETA: The parts are bought now, and I think I will stick with the thermal paste Intel sends.  It can't hurt, in a box this slow! 

Just finished my third computer build and would agree that the thermal paste (and heat sink/fan) included ought to be sufficient, esp. for that processor.

[SpaceDoll]

When I got it and could actually take a look, the thermal paste and fan were A-OK.  The computer is built and runs fine.  She decided on XP Pro, 'cause the old game she wanted to play turned out to be Myst, and that doesn't really run on Vista.   

[Yecats]

*fangirl squeels over Myst*

I have Riven & Uru too, but Uru is a PitA. 
Riven was fun



/offtopic