My sister's computer is my eMachines computer (Celeron 667, 128mb ram, 15gb harddrive, crap intel video)

I want to build her a new one, one that will last her the rest of her life. She also likes to play Toontown, a MMORPG made by Disney. She is 12, and lives with my divoriced mom, and they only have a 14" color CRT tv. She has a 17" LCD monitor, so I'll get her a tv tuner w/ remote too.

This will all cost about $950 (including S&H)
Pentium D 3GHz CPU
1GB ram (2x512mb) DDR2 667
160GB SATA 3GB/s 7200RPM harddrive
ATI Sapphire x1600XT 256mb video card
CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive (52x32x52x16x, sony)
Hauppauge tv tuner w/ remote.
New/nice 520watt PSU
Micro-ATX case (looks nice, solid looking)
Big ol' copper Zalman heatsink w/ artic silver

What do ya think?

Probably not that great, not sure what prices are like but I'm assuming US$. I just had a quick look and minus motherboard I can build the same system (at best guess, including 520W PSU and Zalman CPU cooler) for AU$910 so add a mid-range mobo at around $120-$170 I'm coming in much cheaper.

Well let me tell you right now that you won't achieve that aim; hardware speeds approximately double every 18 months, and software requirements generally follow suit. If you do want this machine to last though, I'd pay a bit more for some higher-spec parts now, such as:

• Get a faster processor - for example a 3.4GHz. Also consider if you want to go 64bit and/or dual-core.
• Get a larger hard drive - 200 or 300GB for example; alternatively consider whether you want to get multiple smaller hard drives and do RAID
• Get a DVD-writer drive, one that can do DVD+R/RW, DVD-R/RW, CDR/RW, DVD+RDL if you can, and DVD-RAM if you can
• Consider whether you want an analogue or digital TV tuner.

Looks good though apart from that, I'd say.

Have you given thought to how she's going to back up her system?

It is a dual core... close enough.

I could buy another drive later that is the same, and raid those later.

Ehh, that can be upgraded later.

They have regular cable, none of that digital stuff.

It could last her a long time, a lot longer then the emachine could.

I'm with Colin on the specs, what you've got is fine. There is a much higher chance that your 12yr old sister will want to use an IM protocol much more than Quake 5 in the next couple of years and even some uber MSN Messenger won't need killer specs. I'm just saying shop around some more as I think you could get a better price.

I only look at stuff at newegg, they have everything, usually at a ok price.

wait until the new intel processor comes out. its price (on the mid to low end) shouldnt be much higher (if higher at all) than teh pentium D youre thinking of putting in there.

Oh, the intel core 2 solo and duo? Well, they better come with those soon, I can't stand it when people tell you something, but it doesn't come out for years (uhh, humm... Vista).

IMO those specs are fine for a 12 year old. It will last a few years without being completely outdated

She's 12 dude. I doubt she'll have anything worth backing-up (though it is a good thing to learn)

But there's a difference between the new Intel chips and Vista, the chip will actually be good.

The chips should be out any week/day now (I personally can't wait).

yeah they should be out very soon. some sites even put them on sale already (which violates the non-disclosure period me thinks), so release is imminent.

I don't think it matters much to a 12 years old unless you'll be using it too.

I suggest a DVD combo that can do all format(DVD +RW -RW RAM). Since it's "very" cheap anyway. At least get one that can burn DVD.

I'm a big fan with ram. My opinion is it's almost always better to get a bit less CPU and alot more ram. But it depend if you do many multasking.
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I just bought a computer yesterday in Taiwan(small asia country)

Intel Pentium 4 511, 2800 MHZ
WD 80 GB 7200RPM SATA
2GB ram (kingston)
SONY DVD RW DW-G120A (CD RW, DVD +RW, -RW, RAM)
ASUS P5GPL Motherboard
NVIDIA GeForce 6500 256 MB
Sound (build in mother board)
1 Gigabit ethernet (not like it matter)
5 in one reader (don't use floppy, just use flash drive)
300W(ATX2.0 24PIN)POWER
no OS

18200NT or 560$ US (my S&H is only $6US)
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That spec would have been massive overkill when my daughter was 12. But they don't stay 12 forever. Less than 3 years later she was a hardcore gamer. She and her boyfriend finished pretty high in the last $100k Half-Life 2 Deathmatch tournament. Your sister may not be into it now - and may never be - but she might. The best protection against pre-mature obsolescence is to get the best graphics card you possibly can.

There once was an old clip of a episode of "The screensavers" on google videos, and they just built a Pentium II 350MHz (the 400MHz came right after they got the 350, so they said they'd get the new one), 128mb ram (they said it was an unbelievably large amount of ram, 64mb is all you need), and a 9.1GB SCSI harddrive. They also had about a 21" CRT that cost $4000 alone. They put it in a HUGE, beige case (had like 12 5 1/4 spots... that was cool in those days I guess). Yea, stuff changes.


EDIT: the speakers I use are about 20 years old... my dad originally bought them at radio shack for his atari? mac? One of those old computers. The speakers still work, and still sound great, I've tried lots of other speakers, and none of them sound as good as these. These have a good sound to them, while all the other ones I used sound like a little speaker in a big empty cave.

If it fits your requirement.... then you dont have to get suggestions... as she is 12 years old... this will certainly do..

Those specifications seem good. But I'd recommend that you get more RAM than that, like 2GB.