This okay for a budget system?

[Lateralus]

Got a buddy that wants a new PC, his is about 4 years old and he cant do much with it these days. This is a done deal, I just need to order the parts. I will be ordering from newegg. Hes got a cap of $400 and prefers to keep it lower if possible. He will be doing some graphic work along with alittle gaming. He's a console gamer right now, but I feel that will change. We will be using what we can from his old pc, so we just need the bare essentials.
Heres what I'm planning on ordering.
1. RainMax Silver Mid-Tower Gaming Case with 350W $47.00
2. Crucial 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-2700 - OEM $71.00
3. BIOSTAR nForce2 400 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A
CPU, Model "M7NCD" -RETAIL $53.00
4. AMD Athlon XP 2500+ "Barton", 333 FSB, 512K Cache
Processor - Retail $90.00
5. SAPPHIRE RADEON 8500LE Video Card, 128MB DDR, 128-bit,
DVI/TV-Out, 4X AGP, OEM $75.00

I am considering going with the radeon 7500 @ $32.00.
Total price right now is at $343 and free shipping on everything!


Will this be okay? Can I save anywhere?
Will the mobo or processor come with thermal paste?
Will the retail fan be good enough, we will not be overclocking.
How about the ram? Is there a big difference between the ddr 2700 and ddr 3200? Crucial 3200 is not in stock.
I was considering going with a mobo with decent onboard video, again he isnt a big gamer. I have a radeon le and it does just fine for me and this card would be even better. I'm considering dropping the radeon 8500le to save him 45 bucks and go with a radeon 7500 which is $32. He could always upgrade later if he got into gaming. If I was to go that route total cost would be under $300.00. Hes a good buddy so I want whats best for him and his money.

[Gettinbye]

I haven't heard alot about Biostar as far as reliability, but other than that it looks like this would be a pretty decent system for the $$$.One thing you don't have listed is a hard drive (I'm assuming you've already got one).
The difference between PC2700 and PC3200 is not an issue if you won't be overclocking this machine as the 2500+ has a max FSB of 333, which will match your PC2700.
Normally the thermal paste is extra when you order (usually around 3-5 bucks). Arctic Silver would be a good choice.
As far as the video card, if he's not a heavy gamer I wouldn't be too concerned about it. (IMO) Go with the cheaper card, then if the time comes to do some full-on gaming he'll have the extra money to upgrade to a better card. I run some high end games (on rare occasions-I'm not a gamer) with nothing more than a MMX440se and haven't had any problems so far.
Have fun-go fast

[butch81385]

yea, i game with my gf4 mx440...
its all about making due with what you got.

system looks pretty decent. ask him "do you want a some better graphics or $45 back" explain where he would notice the difference and let him make an educated decision based on what he plans on doing with the system

[washe]

The retail processor will come already with the thermal paste applied to the heatsink only be carefull dont remove it.... If you are not going to overclock the fan will be ok, I have the same processor and it ranges from 35 to 44 on full load.

The difference between PC2700 to PC3200, the PC3200 will run a faster front side at 400MHZ used for the Barton 3200+ so if he is planning to upgrade or overclock the CPU later, it will be good to have the 3200....

Overall looks good... if gaming will not be a big activity and he doesnt plan to get the newest games coming the following months he will be ok with that card and wait some months, surely the prices will fall and he will be able to get a faster video card than a 8500 for the same price...

[Blazer06]

Well the biostar board, i just bough and it seems okay, but i havent used it cause newegg shipped me a bad processor. I will be trying it out in any event with an old duron.. ill keep you updated.


Blaze

[Lateralus]

Thanks all..
Washe, alot of this is based on your thread I asked for an update on, if you didnt notice .
I am somewhat bias to biostar. I've only had a few boards and the biostar I have now is rock solid and simple to get everthing going. Not to mention cheap prices!
My previous was a epox that at the time was suposedly "hot to trot." It gave me nothing but trouble and finally died completely.

Gettinbye, yeah he has a hard drive. Just needed the basic upgrade parts.
Thanks again all.

[washe]

I updated it.. some time ago if you didnt noticed..

But the short version that project died.... next week i will revisit it.. but for a cousin...

[Lateralus]

Washe, Yeah I noticed you updated it. I just didnt want to take all the credit for your hard work.
I have spoke with my buddy and he suggest I get the better of the cards I spoke of, they 8500le. However, I notice newegg has a one day special on a chaintech geforce fx 5200 for $59. I beleive its regulary $68. Which is the better of the 2 cards? They seem to have close to the same specs.

[Gettinbye]

I don't know from first-hand experience, but I have heard from a couple people (that have the 5200) that were not impressed...one said he liked his Gf3 better.

[rourkchris]

The Biostar board is rock solid stable and very easy to setup. A veryvery good board and only costs $53.00. I've used 3 for recent builds and they have all been great.