Building a Windows 7 machine & Looking at a Walmart preb

So I have two questions here that are only slightly related, but I figured anybody who could answer the first could help me with the second.
First, I’ve been looking at some of the cheap computers my local Wal-Mart is selling. I’ve been wanting to get a desktop for my mom to do work at home on, and the capabilities of the computers for the price I’ve seen certainly redefine “cheap”. For example, the following computer:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=12347221
has 6 gigs of RAM, a 750 gig hard drive, a 2.7ghz dual-core, plenty of USB ports, and a lot more attractive features. And it’s only $400 (I already have a spare monitor so I’m not worrying about that). That easily outperforms the desktop I built for nearly $1500 just three years ago. Granted it will come with plenty of bloatware, but for that price…
So my first question is, how could I build such a machine for that price? I’m looking at newegg, and to get together a machine with those capabilities would cost so much morel Hell, the RAM alone would be about $150. Yes there’s the fact that I control what goes into it and that I’ll have a good understanding of it when it’s working, but when getting it for a family member that just is going to use it for work and entertainment, would I really save anything building my own? Why not buy that computer from Wal-mart?
On to my second question:
I’m planning over the summer to build a machine to run Windows 7 on. The last machine I built, as I mentioned earlier was 3 years ago, has been running XP. It runs it great… but I’m fairly certain I’d have a hell of a time running Windows 7 on it. For the time being I’m not worried about what specific components I should get, but what do I want to look for (for example, what specifications of a motherboard, video card, etc should I be paying attention to) to get it to good operating speed. I’m not looking to build a high end gaming computer (I have my xBox for a reason), more of a multi-purpose computer. Music, Movies, Work, some games, etc.
Thanks for all your help!
Answer #1
TBH i would custom build as you can get more for your money… a lot
Think
4GB (no app needs 6GB… tbh no app needs 4GB)
A much better gfx card (9600GT possably)
Quad core (the Q6600 possably)
etc…
Answer #2
But how can that be cheaper?
Based on a quick look on Newegg…
4GB = $100
A low-end (I don’t need awesome graphics for my mom’s computer) 9600GT = $80 Quad Core Processor/Motherboard = $200 (that’s the lowest when organized by price)
And that still leave out things that are required.
I appreciate your help, but I can’t see how building a computer like that gets me the same for my money.
Hell, based on the games I play I’d be tempted to get one for myself and just upgrade/install a graphics card.
Answer #3
That Walmart PC should be quite adequate for what your Mom wants I would think as it doesn’t sound like she needs to do serious gaming !
Windows 7 has no special requirements … Your 3 year old machine should run it well…It’s easier than Vista!
You can download and run the Windows7 advisory tool from here..
http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/windows-7/get/upgrade-advisor.aspx
Answer #4
dude thats good for 400 idc if its emachines or not