Granny's PC: A 'Budget' Build gone horribly wrong!

[retrogamer1990]

I'll start with a joke

An elderly woman called, furious.

Tech Support: "How can I help you ma'am?"

Customer: "You had better help me!"

Tech Support: "That's why they pay me!"

Customer: "Don't get smart with me!"

Tech Support: "Of course, ma'am, how can I help you?"

Customer: "Well, I've been waiting for quite some time!"

Tech Support: "Yes ma'am, our current wait is about twenty minutes. It usually isn't that bad."

Customer: (yelling) "Twenty minutes! I've been waiting three days!"

Tech Support: "You've defied sleep and other bodily functions for a full 72 hours?"

Isn't it wonderful when they get vague? Turns out she clicked on the "Help" button in Word or something three days prior and was waiting for us to call her...despite the fact that her computer had no modem and was not near a telephone line.​

hey guys,

this is distracting funds from the current project but I had to do something about my grandparents current PC. they just moved house after 58 years (literally) of being in their old one and they have had their current computer for that long it would seem - so i thought i'd give them a present of a nice shiny new pc to go with their house this wont be anything particularly special, and cheap is the name of the game!

...or so I thought.

I think ive gone over the top. a bit. hehe.

parts list:

DFI Lanparty X38 DK2 Mobo

Intel E2160 (1.6ghz)

2gb Geil 800mhz

Sapphire X1900 XTX

Generic sata DVD Drive

200Gb SATA hard drive

Jeantech 420w PSU

Some crappy case left over from years ago (not sure what it is at all)



thats where the usual person would stop, especially for their grandparents. but i had a spare PA120.2, and there was a WB for that X1900 on ebay for 99p...so I thought what the hell, lets make my granny the coolest silver surfer ever!! :beerchug:

Cooling:

Danger Den TDX

PA120.2 with silverstone fans (may replace with 120mm Xigmatek orange LED fans)

Danger Den Tyee WB for the X1900 XTX

Laing DDC 10w pump with XPSC res top (may mod to 18w)

XSPC UV Orange hose

2x 80mm Xigmatek Orange LED Fans



hehe. I hope my granny likes day-glo orange

List of mods To be completed:

remove hdd cage

spray interior black

Custom acrylic front panel

Cut holes for radiator mounting

mod side panel & get rid of that tacky design in favor of a simple window.

replace fans

mod 5.25" bay so odd drive is flush with new front

hook up the WC

and I MAY spray the exterior depending on how the interior comes out.

pics before:

^not a bad finish

missing parts, mismatched colours...ugh

what a mess!

thats all folks! stay tuned! updates tomorrow!

 

[retrogamer1990]

FINISHED! hope you like it! I hope my grandparents do too...lol

 

[davetboy_19]

Your grandma's PC looks better than mine....

 

[Rastalovich]

U not got anything lesser than the DFI ?

 

[JN]

U not got anything lesser than the DFI ?

Just what I was thinking. Also you should factor reliability in to the build as your Gran will probably want something that will give her no trouble. Therefore I'd suggest switching the DFI out for something like a low-end ASUS or Gigabyte and upgrading that Jeantec PSU for an Enermax/CM...etc

 

[Freak]

Why not get a real cheap board?

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/161014/show_product_reviews

 

[Ging3r]

If i were to have my personaly opinion.

What a waste of decent watercooling bits?!

Why do your granparents need watercooling? All they will need is word processing and internet i take it?

Just find the cheapest black plain case, and chuck the bits in that?!

 

[alexhull24]

Sell your decent bits if you don't need them, then spend a small amount on what they need, thus leaving some monies for you to spend on your main rig, perhaps a tasty upgrade?

 

[retrogamer1990]

the DFI board was cheap, and its bright orange to go with the tubing and I know they dont need watercooling (who does though?) but I want it to have it! and im paying for it not them so i figured ill give them a decent one

I've done some stuff today ill post pics in a min

edit: and ill probably end up taking the wc out eventually if i need to steal my components back

 

[Ducky Spud]

Is a bit OTT but hell, why not! Im most intrested in what your gonna do to the case to get it looking better rather than the watercooling tho! Good luck with it

 

[retrogamer1990]

pics as promised

so far:

The MSI mobo and 8800GT are just in there temporary to see how everything fits and the 120.2 isnt straight becuase its not attached to anything yet XD

you may also notice in the first pic i accidentally drilled an extra hole in the front panel...im kicking myself for it but ill make it into a usb port or something.... and there will be a radgrill on there as well

 

[llwyd]

Mate I really would scrap the watercooling. It's not something that someone who knows nothing about PCs should use IMO. They wont be monitoring temps and wont pick up on a pump failure or leak until its too late and they wont dust off the radiator ever. And how often will you be able to check the water levels? If they had their last PC that long then it will at some point end up too low.

I would also agree with others on the motherboard, reliability is where its at and DFI have been doing C2 for a relatively short amount of time compared to some other manufacturers. Nevertheless, kudos for donating them a nice rig for £0

 

[retrogamer1990]

I know what you are saying about them having no computer knowledge (well they arent that bad tbh) but im round their house all the time so filling it up wont be a problem and hardware failure is fairly unlikely. I thought DFI had a good reputation? Ill set it all up for them ofc so I doubt they will have a problem with temps or dust (they are very clean unlike me lol) and im putting dust filters on the fans to catch what little they have

 

[tinytomlogan]

DFI's die a fair bit matey. Really think you are doing this for yourself rather than what they actualy need.

 

[retrogamer1990]

hehe a little bit but im still gonna give it to granny! i have the watercooling bug

 

[FarFarAway]

I wouldn't watercool a grandparents PC mate, that's not a good idea at all. Also switch out the DFI

DFI's are awesome for overclocking, but are known to go wrong for no reason at all

 

[retrogamer1990]

arrrrgh im getting hate for this im just building a cool pc to give to grandparents.

anything goes wrong, ill sort it okay?

 

[ToeJam]

Your grandma's pc will be better than mine!

 

[Ghosthud1]

you where getting bullied a tad then, if he wants too build it he can lol anyways looks good soo far :yumyum:

 

[retrogamer1990]

thankyou ghosthud and toejam!!

and yes... "get to der choppa! nao!"