Basic Office machine

[penguin32]

Hi all
I am looking for a basic office, web browsing, video watching machine for the other half. Is this:

http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials...ual-Core+Next+Day+Desktop+PC+?productId=52469

Specifications:

• ARIAnet Gladiator Black Micro-ATX Case w/ 500W Power Supply
• AMD Zacate E-350 1.60GHz Dual-Core Processor
• 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 (1x4096) Memory (8GB Max)
• DVD +/- RW Drive w/ m-Disk Support
• 500GB (7200rpm) SATA 3GB/s (SATA II) Hard Drive
• Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 6310 Graphics - Supports DirectX 11
• GIGABYTE AMD A45 FCH (Onboard AMD Zacate E-350) Motherboard
• Integrated 7.1 Channel High Definition Audio


a good enough machine?, it comes to £140.45 inc delivery (delivery is a bit seep)
Or am I better off building a Pentium machine in which case can you recomend a build from the same supplier.
Will need to buy Win7 to go in it as well.

Sticky answers

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
Office work, web and e-mail, watching video,

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
As cheap as possible as long as it does the job

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
UK

4. IF you're buying parts OUTSIDE the US, please post a link to the vendor you'll be buying from.
http://www.aria.co.uk/

5. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.
No preference but all machines built recently are AMD

6. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
Monitor , Keyboard, mouse

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
No
8. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using?
1920x1080, possibly 1920x1200

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Note that it is usually not cost or time effective to choose your build more than a month before you actually plan to be using it.
Soon as

X. Do you need to purchase any software to go with the system, such as Windows or Blu Ray playback software?
Win 7


Cheers

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Well, a Brazos (E-series) will certainly get things done. Just very slowly. I'd recommend moving up to a basic Celeron/Pentium or A-series. Something like this:

http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials...ual-Core+Next+Day+Desktop+PC+?productId=53005

Brazos is only really suited to low power, non-intensive use. Not fully fledged desktop systems...

 

[penguin32]

Insert_Nickname Thanks for the reply

How would the AMD Zacate E-350 1.60GHz Dual-Core compare to the machine below which I use for internet, office & video

Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H AMD 880G (Socket AM3) microATX DDR3 Coolermaster Elite 342 Micro-ATX Chassis
AMD Athlon II X2 Dual Core 250 3.00GHz (Socket AM3) Processor - 4GB Mushkin Silverline #996768 (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz 9-9-9-24

Thanks

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Insert_Nickname Thanks for the reply

How would the AMD Zacate E-350 1.60GHz Dual-Core compare to the machine below which I use for internet, office & video

Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H AMD 880G (Socket AM3) microATX DDR3 Coolermaster Elite 342 Micro-ATX Chassis
AMD Athlon II X2 Dual Core 250 3.00GHz (Socket AM3) Processor - 4GB Mushkin Silverline #996768 (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz 9-9-9-24

Thanks

That's not even a fair comparison for the E350. According to the bench section, the 250 (closest is the 255) is ~2-3x faster...

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/121?vs=328

The interesting numbers is actually in the bottom. Look at how little power the E350 uses compared to the 255...

 

[penguin32]

That is so helpful, thanks, think I have learned something useful.
So now offI go to compare some other CPUs with what I am used to using.
I see what you mean about the only saving grace being power consumption.

Many Thanks

 

[Sleepingforest]

If you really want just a basic office machine, it's hard to beat the Dell Outlet (assuming you have no Windows liscence). Look for items marked "Dell Outlet New" for stuff without any cosmetic damage.

 

[akugami]

Get a Dell or other OEM business class machine and be done with it. The warranty alone (at least in the USA) makes it a very viable option versus rolling your own.

 

[mfenn]

Insert_Nickname Thanks for the reply

How would the AMD Zacate E-350 1.60GHz Dual-Core compare to the machine below which I use for internet, office & video

Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H AMD 880G (Socket AM3) microATX DDR3 Coolermaster Elite 342 Micro-ATX Chassis
AMD Athlon II X2 Dual Core 250 3.00GHz (Socket AM3) Processor - 4GB Mushkin Silverline #996768 (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz 9-9-9-24

Thanks

The E-350 would be a massive downgrade (several times slower). The A6-based machine that Insert_Nickname linked is a much better choice.