Im assuming you are in the US.
Depends on his budget whether hes on a shoestring budget and wants the
lowest price possible, or wants a bit of flexiblity --- longer term
usage. A Barton 2500 overclocked to 3200 may have a longer lifespan
and would a help a bit probably with Photoshop.
The other question is what kind of memory does he already have? If he
has no mem or really old mem then you might as well buy 3200. If he
has some 2700 laying around --- you can buy the XP 2000 which actually
operates at an even lower FSB I think -- that version at many places
for $55 or so.
The lowest cost --- look for a FRYs combo deal. They often have an AMD
plus cheapo board - usually ECS via or sometimes nforce --- for dirt
cheap around $99 -120. Theyve been using Semperons more and more
though vs regular XPs. And then get a stick of 3200 on sale --- since
you can carry it over to an AMD 64 system hopefully. If you look
around for a good sale However if you cant get it at Outpost.com or
dont live near a frys ---- try to get a board in the $40-60 range and
then get a $55 AMD 2000 or something.
nforce chipset
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=13-128-257&DEPA=1
Via chipset
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=13-152-040&DEPA=1
$40-49
Biostar with nforce2 400mx graphics
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-138-234&depa=1
The above are 40-59 bucks and they all can be set to FSB 400
The last one saves you even more money even though its 59 cause it has
graphics built in and yet it has a nforce2 chipset so its a decent
board. The warning though is some people have problems with setting it
at 400 FSB and using the onboard graphics. They solve it by using
various mem or getting a separate AGP graphics card.
Usually the advice given is - you can get by with the a pretty cheap
system if you arent into gaming like an AMD 2000 and onboard 400mx
graphics making the total cost $160 or so depending on the mem.
I actually used this nforce2+400mx - refurb board for as low as $40 +
$53 and one stick of 256 Kingston 2700 DDR for $20 -- and the people
using it are happy , they have very modest uses. I even got them the
KDS 19" flat screen for $78 with rebates and coupons and we used a
case a neighbor was throwing away and new sparkle power supply $20.
If you arent pinching every penny get this. This is a very good system
for dirt cheap. This gives you a top of the line older XP system that
gves you much more flexiblity - for graphics and games if you ever did
want to try something.
ZipZoomFly - slightly cheaper than Newegg and it says free shipping
If you want to OC the barton and play it safer -- the Asus board is
really popular for $54
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=240303
Barton 2500 for $93
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80170-R
With decent mem you can easily set the FSB to 400 and then you
instantly get a Athlon XP 3200 . Everyones doing it , its virtually a
surething.
Get a stick of 512 meg DDR 400 mem. Outpost often has sales but not
every week - on various mem down to $55-58 with rebate. Check Compusa
etc for rebate mem sales. Recently mem STINKS -- really bad in pricing
and youll see even rebate sales that are around $40-50 for 256 DDR
333/2700 mem !!!! Terrible price. You have to wait until theres a
sale down to 55-60 for 512 DDR 3200. Check Kingston.com the memory
site and look at the SHOPPING online page. They always have a rebate
sale going on 512 sticks though if can vary from 58 buck net rebate to
70 bucks.
Thats about $200 in all.
You can even go AMD 64 for around $260 or so
2800 CPU $140 + $77 plus the same DDR 400 mem as above
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80698-R
www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=241581
Also the AMD 64 system if you need a PS - will probably be a bit
pickier about Power Supplies. So if you are planning on using it with
some ancient case with a 250 watt PS you might have problems with all
of them actually but especially the last one. The new sparkle OEM at
newegg for $20 I bought a few months ago works OK with the barton and
of course the 2000 - dont know about a amd 64. Might want to go with a
400 watt there.
Keep in mind ALL the systems above --- PCI express boards should be
coming out shortly for all of them.
