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Basic $400 budget; no gaming; no rendering

C

CaptainCuidado

Junior Member
I've been mostly out of touch since I built my own i7 computer 4 years ago, and my dad wants me to help him build one for his own use to replace his laptop. So, I could use the help of some people who are up to date with the current tech.

Here is the best I could find so far: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2Erzr

It is needed only for very basic things, like web browsing, music listening, and watching high-res (1080p) video. No gaming or video rendering or anything heavy like that. We would like it to run at a comfortable, modern speed. A small to medium size case would be best. We do not need an ODD for everyday use; we have an external one for installing the operating system via USB port.

We would like to spend about $300-$400 for everything.

In my opinion, the most money should be spent on the CPU, and optional SSD, with everything else being of minimal monetary consequence. Intel or AMD are fine. Please feel free to make your own informed recommendations. If you can point to specific merchant deals, that would be very welcome, and appreciated.

Questions: Are these prices still good? Can better be done?

Is this a good SSD? I've done a little research and at this price point, there is mixed reception. I was looking at a Kingston drive for around the same price, and it had bad firmware recently. This A-Data drive has had reports of decreased performance over time, and sometimes running slowly out of the box.

Is this a good processor? More money is available to be budgeted towards it or the SSD.

Thanks for your help fellas.

-Cap
 
DESK2: Pentium G3220, ASRock H81M-HDS, Intel 530 120GB, 500GB Hitachi, 2x 4GB Crucial RAM, Corsair CX430v2, Fractal Core 1000, W7
Click to expand...

The build above was basically what you are asking for... a $400 general purpose desktop that I built for my inlaws. I did splurge a bit... the G3220, the Intel SSD... but I wanted it to work 100% (my reputation was on the line. ) I did pick the parts up over a 2 month period, waiting for certain components to go on sale; and I have a MicroCenter nearby so I was able to get the mobo and SSD for a decent price.

Besides the SSD, do you really need a storage HDD? That would save $60.

Pentium G3220 $70;
ASRock H81M-HDS mobo, $52;
Team 2x 2GB 1333 RAM, $43;
Kingston V300 SSD, $70;
WD Blue 1TB, $60;
Corsair CX430 PSU, $25 (AR)
Antec VSK-3000 case, $35;
Windows 7, $79 (on sale today.)

Total $434, which blows the budget a tad. The OS put it over the edge... 😉

Drop the HDD and you are back below $400...
 
That G3220 can be bought for $65 shipped on ebay (ordered one tonight!).

You guys forgot the optical drive 😀
 
I gotta make a plug for Linux which is free and would not blow the budget. It ain't all that hard to use and works great for pretty much everything except gaming. Linux is great for browsing, music and video.

Not only is Linux free but so are most all the applications.

There are several good browser choices including Firefox, several good video players including VLC, and several good music players or even a full blow editor like Audacity.

Some Linux screens:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Linux_screenshot.jpg


http://3**************.com/_JSR8IC7...AAAABkk/Xh0pa3BcC3w/s1600/Workspace+1_003.png

http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Linux-Mint-Cinnamon-Start-Menu.png
 
CaptainCuidado said:
It is needed only for very basic things, like web browsing, music listening, and watching high-res (1080p) video. No gaming or video rendering or anything heavy like that.

We would like to spend about $300-$400 for everything.
Click to expand...

lakedude said:
I gotta make a plug for Linux which is free and would not blow the budget. It ain't all that hard to use and works great for pretty much everything except gaming. Linux is great for browsing, music and video.

Not only is Linux free but so are most all the applications.
Click to expand...

I agree. No gaming, and a really low budget that would benefit more from an SSD than from a Windows license, makes Linux a perfect choice.

I've been using a Netbook with 2GB of RAM and no SSD with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS on it, for the past few months, and it's really starting to grow on me.
 
The OP is building this for his dad, coming off a laptop. I'm going to guess he's not going to want to thrust Linux or Ubuntu at the end user. But you know what happens when you assume... 😉

OP, do you need a Windows license?
 
Charlie98 said:
The OP is building this for his dad, coming off a laptop. I'm going to guess he's not going to want to thrust Linux or Ubuntu at the end user. But you know what happens when you assume... 😉
Click to expand...

I would like to point out that Ubuntu is an OS built on top of the Linux kernel. It's not an either/or proposition.

</pedantic nerd>
 
What about OS and a case? Most people use 2 DDR3 sticks of RAM. I know nothing about AMD.

You could try a build without a hard drive. How much space is being used on the old hard drive?

I have used one older hard drive in 2 builds. It is a 136 -150 gig SATA 2.0 hard drive. I am using 46 GB and it says I have 109 gb free. It actually reports as a 149 gb drive. I think NTFS actually uses some of it for whatever it does. I guess if I install office again it would use a little more space. I also have turbo tax on here and the original Halo version for the PC.
 
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I see the OP is looking at W7 for $79 which is reasonable.

If it was W8 for $99 I'd argue that Linux is easier to use than W8.0, especially using a touch pad on a laptop. Of course Start 8, Classic Shell and disabling edge swipe helps a great deal.

If it were not for gaming I'd drop Windows like a rock.
 
Linux is okay for those who won't need to deal with unexpected hiccups that then require google searching for solutions to those problems. The extremely basic user fits this category

For me, who is a "power user" who likes using all sorts of apps, Linux is a time-consuming and annoying thing that is still manages to be "good". Windows has better application environment than Linux.
 
Torn Mind said:
For me, who is a "power user" who likes using all sorts of apps, Linux is a time-consuming and annoying thing that is still manages to be "good". Windows has better application environment than Linux.
Click to expand...
I don't know about all that.

Linux apps tend to be free which is a huge advantage.

Most distros have a "package manager" that allow installing apps with a single click.

I guess it depends on the app really.
 
lakedude said:
I don't know about all that.

Linux apps tend to be free which is a huge advantage.

Most distros have a "package manager" that allow installing apps with a single click.

I guess it depends on the app really.
Click to expand...
Yes, that can be done with synaptic, apt-get, aptitude, etc; I have used those apps many times, and the command line too. The freeware library not that big of an big advantage, as Windows has freeware too. The distro provides a free OS, in the sense of $0, and that is an advantage. Support for legacy hardware is also a plus.

I'm not saying it doesn't have advantages, but I would not say it is low maintenance once you want to do more with the OS than just fire up Firefox and go to youtube. Wine can be inconsistent. Sometimes software needs to command line tweaking to fix the issue. Some can handle this, others cannot. For the basic user, the applications they use will not require such maintenance and hence they can use a distro without issue. It is when more specialized tasks are done that can be stumbling block for some.

I have had a couple experiences with tasks that required a little searching to setup. Setting up AMD graphics card drivers (for mining) is a real chore. I tried out Virtualbox, and I had setup the kernel driver manually. Temp sensor software is hit or miss. When I tweaked a certain config file by using the tab button instead of the space button(formatting tricked me into think the tab button was used) related to the X server, I had to try many times until the terminal told me to use nano to undo that edit, and I did repair that issue. But it is doesn't cost me money and once the thing works, it does work, so that is why I still like Linux even if it is flawed in some respects.
 
Torn Mind said:
I have had a couple experiences with tasks that required a little searching to setup. Setting up AMD graphics card drivers (for mining) is a real chore.
Click to expand...
Ain't nobody got time for that!

My distro includes nVidia drivers that are available with the package manager with one click. I can go from a bare system to folding in 20-30 minutes including download times for everything. Way, way faster than Windows from scratch.

A basic user can generally just use the default drivers to surf and play video and all is well.

WiFi can be a lil tricky depending on your chipset.
 
mfenn said:
I would like to point out that Ubuntu is an OS built on top of the Linux kernel. It's not an either/or proposition.
Click to expand...

Even though I'm pretty much at the bottom of the learning curve as far as Linux goes, I do know that. 😉 I figure Ubuntu and Linux is kind of like adding raisins to bran flakes and calling it Raisin Bran... 😵
 
mfenn said:
I would like to point out that Ubuntu is an OS built on top of the Linux kernel. It's not an either/or proposition.

</pedantic nerd>
Click to expand...

And the GNU tools and libs. It's actually GNU/Linux, not just Linux.

</more pedantic nerd>


Edit: Not to mention the GPL. Without GNU, there wouldn't be a Linux.
 
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Charlie98 said:
Even though I'm pretty much at the bottom of the learning curve as far as Linux goes, I do know that. 😉 I figure Ubuntu and Linux is kind of like adding raisins to bran flakes and calling it Raisin Bran... 😵
Click to expand...

Actually, the Linux kernel is more like the raw materials and Ubuntu is the finished cereal after going through all of the processing plants, etc. I mean, Android, XMBC, and Steamboxes use that same kernel but provide very distinct computing experiences.
 
lakedude said:
Ain't nobody got time for that!

My distro includes nVidia drivers that are available with the package manager with one click. I can go from a bare system to folding in 20-30 minutes including download times for everything. Way, way faster than Windows from scratch.

A basic user can generally just use the default drivers to surf and play video and all is well.

WiFi can be a lil tricky depending on your chipset.
Click to expand...
Yes, I agree basic users can just "use it" after install. But start wanting to do more like setting up samba server, and then likeliness of one finding himself googling the symptoms of a problem and trying to find a solution is more likely. I find Windows to be less prone to such fills and that Win 8 is really a UI change while the backend has basically not changed at all.

Mining is more profitable on AMD cards. And I'm not a basic user, so the flaws stand out. I like the power and price, but I don't like the time eating I have to do, although since I can figure things out, it is not too bad.
 
http://www.logicalincrements.com/

Spamming links in different threads without providing commentary is not useful.

mfenn
General Hardware


SO THIS IS SPAM, SUPER AWESOME!

You're on thin ice here. Editing posts that contain moderator comments (that bold text up there) to add snarky comebacks is a great way to pile on infractions.

mfenn
General Hardware Moderator
 
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