Fast Office Desktop

[edmundoab]

Hi guys,

As I had been busy with my career for the past year, I had been a little off touch with whats good and whats decent.
Assuming for a decent budget (around US$ 1,400) what would be the hardware recommended? Exclude the printer and software. Speakers not required also. Basically system unit with the LCD

Starting with the processor of course, Intel based better then AMD for office applications?
MS Office, web surfing, e-mail.. etc. Main point, I need it to feel fast and boot up fast.

Opinions would be appreciated. Thank You!

 

[oynaz]

For office applications, the CPU is not important. All modern CPUs have plenty of power for office applications.

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

LITE-ON 16X DVD±R DVD Burner W/ LightScribe and 5X DVD-RAM Write Black ATAPI/E-IDE Model SHM-165H6S - OEM
NEC 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE/ATAPI Model ND-3550A - OEM
COOLER MASTER Centurion 541 RC-541-SKN1 Black Aluminumm bezel, SECC chassis MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case - Retail
SAMSUNG Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive Windows 98SE/ ME/ 2000/ XP - OEM
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) ST3250620AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) ST3250620AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Zonet ZFM5620-MT 56Kbps Data/Fax Modem - Retail
Acer AL1917ABMD Black 19" 8ms LCD Monitor - Retail
FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX450-PN, 12cm FAN, version 2.0, 2 SATA, PCI Express, 450W Power Supply - Retail
Logitech Cordless Desktop 967437-0403 Black PS/2 RF Wireless Standard Keyboard Mouse Included - Retail
OCZ S.O.E 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model OCZ2SOE8002GK - Retail
Gigabyte GA-945GM-S2 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 945G Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 1066MHz FSB LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6400 - Retail

$1,161.65 - $40.00 mail-in rebate = $1,121.65

 

[Geomagick]

Just out of interest hy do you need to spend $1400 on an office PC?

Many people don't spend that on their gaming rigs - if this forum is anything to go by.

If it is for an office I would certainly suggest going for something like a Dell, cheap and cheerful really.

 

[edmundoab]

Hi there,

Yeah Im just setting a roof thats all, of course, if I don't need to spend that much, I won't

 

[edmundoab]

Originally posted by: hurtstotalktoyou
LITE-ON 16X DVD±R DVD Burner W/ LightScribe and 5X DVD-RAM Write Black ATAPI/E-IDE Model SHM-165H6S - OEM
NEC 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE/ATAPI Model ND-3550A - OEM
COOLER MASTER Centurion 541 RC-541-SKN1 Black Aluminumm bezel, SECC chassis MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case - Retail
SAMSUNG Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive Windows 98SE/ ME/ 2000/ XP - OEM
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) ST3250620AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) ST3250620AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Zonet ZFM5620-MT 56Kbps Data/Fax Modem - Retail
Acer AL1917ABMD Black 19" 8ms LCD Monitor - Retail
FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX450-PN, 12cm FAN, version 2.0, 2 SATA, PCI Express, 450W Power Supply - Retail
Logitech Cordless Desktop 967437-0403 Black PS/2 RF Wireless Standard Keyboard Mouse Included - Retail
OCZ S.O.E 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model OCZ2SOE8002GK - Retail
Gigabyte GA-945GM-S2 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 945G Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 1066MHz FSB LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6400 - Retail

$1,161.65 - $40.00 mail-in rebate = $1,121.65

Hence you are suggesting to go Intel Based setup?

 

[gobucks]

right now intel has the performance lead in pretty much every area, so i'd have to say that's the way to go right now. i like a lot of hurtstotalktoyou's suggestions, but i'd make a few changes:
1) for an office environment, an e6300 would provide plenty of CPU power, and i think they are under $200 right now
2) i don't recommend the 945 chipset and intel graphics. i personally think something like a ga-965p-s3 might be better (i think it's like $120), and you can grab an entry level graphics card like a geforce 7300 or radeon x1300. both should have much better vista compatibility.
3) OCZ memory support is flaky on most conroe platforms. if you want to go with DDR2-800, i'd use corsair or patriot, as they seem to have the best compatibility ATM. of course, in an office PC, i don't seem much use for DDR2-800 anyways, unless you want to overclock (which i suppose is possible). if you plan to run at stock speeds, i'd just go with 2GB of cheap DDR2-667 like corsair value ram or something.
4) who the hell uses a 56K modem?
5) considering you have so much room in your budget, i'd recommend grabbing a nice big LCD - dell's 24 inch widescreen is like $800, but it can often be found on sale for much less - in fact, sometimes you can get an entry level PC for "free" along with it when there is a good sale.

 

[sniperruff]

just get a dell, load up on ram and get a fast HD and you got yourself a cheap, quiet, fast computer with warranty.