Heya guys,

I'm currently bulding a PC for my parents, and as I no longer want to mess around with my old P4 for them, I decided on a whole new PC altogether. Here's what I came up with:

CPU: Athlon II x4 Quad Core 645 Socket AM3 3.1Ghz Box/Core i3 2100 3.1Ghz s1155, 3MB, GPU Core, Tray

Mobo: ASUS M4A87TD/USB3 AM3, 870, DDR3 1600, PCI-e/ASUS P8H67-M LE B3 s1155 Core i3/i5/i7, Intel H67, DDR3 1333, 2xPCI-E, DVI, HDMI

RAM: DDR3 1333Mhz 2x2GB G.Skill NQ Edition Dual Channel 

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Green 500GB IntelliPower, 32MB, SATA II WD5000AADS

GPU: GIGABYTE HD 5670 1GB GDDR5 DX11 DVI HDMI VGA PCI-E 

Optical drive: Sony Optiarc AD-7260S DVD±RW x24 Black Sata 

Case: CoolerMaster Elite 370 Black

PSU: SeaSonic 600W Active PFC 80+ 12cm Fan PSU SS-600ET (Oem)

Truth be told, they don't need that powerful a GPU, since this PC is gonna be used for office, HD films, and light gaming (mom likes the sims series and browser games). But, I want to cover it for the future now, rather than get a Geforce 210 (cheapest I found) only to upgrade it in a year. This one is built to last them long. I am also leaning towards the Intel setup thanks to the easy future upgradeability.

I'd also like opinions on the PSU... since I'm buying ALL of this from my own money (present!), does it really need that powerful a PSU? Would a 450watt do for all that? I don't expect extreme GPU upgrades, and only see myself adding RAM later on... provided that I got with the HD5670 now that is.

I find it ok for the needs you list. And yes, you can go with a lower wattage PSU, even 450 is more than enough.  You can use a calculator like this one to check your needs.

Which res. does the monitor have? I'm asking because maybe the onboard graphics chip will be able to play the games (they sure are enough for HD films).

I'm a paranoid person so I'd personally stick with a 600w PSU but honestly 450w is plenty for what you're proposing. Unless you plan to have a lot of addons for this comp? Will you be using TV tuner, additional HDD etc with it?

500gb HDD actually runs out fairly quick... I'd recommend using at least 1TB hdd. (or better yet a small 64gb SSD with a 2TB HDD for storage).

Cheers.

As am I man, as am I. I've decided to go with the Intel setup, since if I ever need an update, it's done very easily thanks to LGA 1155. Who knows what'll become of this PC? I could add more ram, another GPU... I did go with a different mobo in the end, the ASUS P8H67 B3 s1155.

I've removed any and all GPU's so I don't have to waste money on them for now. The i3 has one built in for films and surfing, I guess Mom can wait for games ;)

@JEMC: 1080p. I won't stress gaming on inbuilt gfx though... for now, basic uses. A few months in, I think I'll treat it to a solid GPU. Thanks for the calc! I didn't think anything like this existed. I'll check it up and then think of my future options to see which PSU i'm gonna go with eventually.

Go with a 450W with no worries as long as the brand is anything close to good, and a 1TB HDD instead.

That SSD will cost him too much and won't be useful for their needs.

No real need for 1TB, tbh... they don't have the need for that.

Exactly what i was thinking. I was considering one for my PS3 until i saw the price tag 

I was considering one for my laptop... then quickly reconsidered, ha.

What are they? $3/GB?

I've also looked for prices but for my desktop PC. I've seen them for 1.5- 2 €/Gb, they are slowly becoming more affordable.