new computer for web and word processing for the wife

[Maximus96]

My wife is looking for a new computer and I want to build her a decent one with a small form factor. Her current Zotac is pretty old and slow, 1.6ghz atom with 2gb of shared ram I believe. She often complains of how long it takes chrome to load up compared to her fast computer at work.

The PC will be used mostly for web browsing and word processing and probably nothing else.

I have a budget of maybe $750-$1000.

I’m buying from California, so first preference is amazon, then newegg. I remember when I bought my i7-920 I had to go to a local Micro Center to get the best price…

No brand preference.

I’ll re-use her 80gb intel SSD…and keyboard/mouse, monitor I guess.

I don’t plan to overclock this one unless doing so will offer significant speed improvement.

Looking to buy one pretty soon.

Thanks for your help

 

[thelastjuju]

$1,000 for a web machine and word processor?

AND you already have an 80gb ssd?

You can get this done for less than $350.

Intel G530 - $50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116409

Kingston 4GB RAM - $23
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820139046

Asus MOBO (or any brand preference) - $70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131724

Antec 380w PSU Green - $45
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371033

+$50 case of your choice
+$100 Windows 7
+$0 reuse of hard drive

= $338

 

[DaveSimmons]

I have an Atom for a HTPC and it is pretty slow compared to even a 4 year old Core 2.

If you aren't set on the SSD, this would be a way to just buy it and be done (Acer prebuilt SFF $389):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883103420

Otherwise, you could get a Silverstone SG-06
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811163151

Add Windows 7 64-bit, a sandy bridge or ivy bridge CPU, 8 GB RAM, mini-ITX motherboard, slim DVD drive, and a laptop hard drive for bulk storage and you're done. You can just use the intel CPU graphics, no need for a video card.

 

[Maximus96]

I want fast chrome load up, like click-icon-and-see-google-immediately fast. That is the only criteria for this machine. Will the two mentioned above be able to do that?

 

[lehtv]

Your budget is very high for a build meant for web browsing and word processing. How about:

Mobo Foxconn H61S miniITX $50
CPU Pentium G850 $88
RAM 2x4GB RAM $41 (2x2GB would probably be enough though)
SSD Reuse $0
DVD burner $18
Case Lian Li PC-Q07 miniITX $62 AP (can hold one 2.5" + one 3.5" and a standard ATX PSU)
PSU XFX 450W $40 ($30 AR)

= $299

I honestly don't think paying for a more expensive mobo or CPU would make any difference with the stated uses. The main bottleneck in your wife's old system is the Atom CPU and the small amount of RAM (4GB is recommended for win7). Can't you reuse anything else, like the case, PSU, dvd drive? I.e just replace cpu+ram+mb.

I want fast chrome load up, like click-icon-and-see-google-immediately fast. That is the only criteria for this machine. Will the two mentioned above be able to do that?

With the CPU upgrade and an SSD for a system drive, yes it should achieve that. Not instantly, nothing is instant. But close enough.

 

[piasabird]

Well for $700 you can build a nice computer. My current i-5 2500K system was put together for around $700. See My Sig. It is not Mini-itx. Sometimes smaller is more expensive. My wife uses her computer with a 40" TV.

I was wondering how much tax you pay from Newegg if any if it is located in California?

I think you could go to a Micro Center and do alright. I like to use Intel Motherboards but I never overclock. ASROCK seems to be quite popular nowadays. Then get 8gigs of RAM.

I think buying an i-5 is worth the money. However, you could probably get by with an i-3 or a G6XX? just fine. I think you should spend the money on an i-5 if you can afford it. It will last longer for you. It might be nice if there was some place with some computers like this on sale that you could try out. I have also been wondering if win8 will be any good when it comes out.

I am still using an Intel E7200 processor and it loads just fine. Could be a little faster if I upgraded the Vista32 to Win7 64.

 

[Ken g6]

He mentioned he has a Zotac system, so I'm imagining it looks like this:

In which case there's not much to reuse.

 

[lehtv]

I think you should spend the money on an i-5 if you can afford it. It will last longer for you.

Hardware requirements for word processing and internet browsing don't really change much over time. A Sandy Bridge Celeron or Pentium is probably going to be fine for word and internet 10 years from now.

 

[thelastjuju]

Yeah, web browsing and MS Word can only be described as being just ridiculously lightweight.

IGNORE the clown insisting your wife needs an i5 and 8gb of ram to browse the world wide web.. .. we had a discussion here not too long ago establishing that even GAMES don't utilize anywhere near a full 4gb, and you think his wife needs twice this amount just to browse the web?

I don't use Chrome, but Firefox loads instantaneously for me with any modern day, entry level, dual core processor... but the Atom is like a gimped processor in comparison. It gets the job done, but its not zippy fast and random delays are to be expected left and right.

 

[DaveSimmons]

IGNORE the clown insisting your wife needs an i5 and 8gb of ram to browse the world wide web.. ...

piasabird didn't say that at all, just recommended it based on the budget.

No one "needs" quad core or 8 GB to run a single Office application or browser at a time. But they can both be nice to have:

- With a quad-core CPU background applications, processes and services are less likely to ever bog down the main foreground application (for example iTunes playing music, Outlook fetching emails, or Microsoft Security Essentials updating itself)
- With 8 GB Windows can cache a huge amount of data for access that's even faster than from the SSD

Not necessary, but not quite worthless either.

I recommended an i3, but if OP wants to splurge on an i5 it isn't like buying a $5,000 Alienware for gaming.

 

[thelastjuju]

Like most of the elitists here, you are guilty of perpetuating the idea that ordinary users need enthusiast grade hardware, even when they claim they will never be doing anything other than dealing with the most lightweight of applications.

Like this:

I want fast chrome load up, like click-icon-and-see-google-immediately fast. That is the only criteria for this machine.

Do you have any idea just how absurd it is for you to even suggest that playing itunes in the background somehow warrants a quad core or massive RAM?? Outlook fetching e-mails??!!! Just stop right there.. You are talking about tasks so infinitesimally small that they aren't even worth mentioning or measuring.. a 10 year old, single core processor, with half a gig of ram would handle such things without "bogging" down a thing.

Just because he has a lot more to spend than he may have initially thought, doesn't mean he should overbuy on completely unnecessary power that would never be taken advantage just to deplete his entire budget.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Just because he has a lot more to spend than he may have initially thought, doesn't mean he should overbuy on completely unnecessary power that would never be taken advantage just to deplete his entire budget.

An i5-2400 would not add an extra $500 to the cost.

Here's the G620 (2.6 GHz vs. the 2.4 GHz G530) in Bench compared against the i5-2400
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/406?vs=363

Most doesn't apply to OP's wife, but Office Productivity could.

Once again, no one is saying an i5 is required for Chrome and Word. But given the budget I can't see any reason not to go with an i3:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/406?vs=289

 

[thelastjuju]

Again, that's just it. Just because he CAN spend more money does not mean he SHOULD.. or does it?

If he wants to, then fine.. that's one thing.. But its another to try and suggest that such incredibly ordinary usage warrants an i3 or i5, or ever will.

More and more people are preferring a minimalist bang-for-your-buck approach and dismissing the idea of future-proofing and speculating on how much hardware you will need years down the road.

Not to mention energy efficiency might be a concern here as well. The i5's are not the most energy efficient chips, so he may have to spend twice as much in electricity costs just to run the i5 over the entry level Celeron.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Under normal loads the i3 and i5 are both very power-efficient, within 2 watts of the 35-watt 2100T:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1202-page3.html

... and under heavy loads (which you argue will never happen), they're doing more work and keeping the system responsive.

 

[Eug]

Just get any closeout discontinued low end desktop that uses a standard desktop CPU.

For example, I bought a 3-core AMD years ago, and it's still my primary Windows desktop, since all I use it for is surfing/email, Office, Quicken, and Remote Desktop Connection. Throw in your SSD, and it'd actually feel super fast.

At the time I spent less than $400, and that included the monitor, for an Acer slim machine. See sig. I've since added some more memory, but current low end machines already include 4 GB anyway, which is all you'd need. I didn't bother with an SSD for it because I just didn't think it was necessary for a machine like this.

 

[DaveSimmons]

You don't even need to find a closeout -- the Acer AX1930-UR10P small form factor prebuilt I linked to above at Newegg is $389 with Windows Home Premium 64-bit, i3-2120, 4 GB, 500 GB HDD.

 

[pete1229]

If your going to buy it online I would suggest Tiger Direct since your in California you can avoid the eWaste fee and any sales tax buying from TD. Amazon and Newegg will charge those. Just a suggestion!

 

[Maximus96]

thank you all for the suggestions. i've been out of touch with the current hardware for a few years. this gives me a starting point to look into. i doubt my wife will ever stress this new computer or put it under any real load.

any real differences between the Gxxx, i3 and i5 for loading windows from a cold boot, or launching chrome/firefox? like i said earlier, launch speed is the only thing my wife cares about.

 

[Eug]

Loading Windows 7 and browsers? The drive is the main limitation, but you've got that covered with your SSD. Any recent desktop CPU will do. Even a not-so-recent CPU will do. Just avoid Atom.

This is my mobile Core 2 Duo 2.26 GHz booting up OS X with an SSD:

http://vimeo.com/27951421

 

[piasabird]

I like some of these pictures from Assassin's Website. He builds, custom installs and sells HTPC's. This is just one page of some of his examples. From a tower to a silverstone case to a small case with a G530. Just some examples to look at for ideas.

http://assassinhtpc.com/screenshots.php


The G530 has 2mb Cache, HD 2000 video for $49.00

The G830T Has a 3mb Cache, Same Video (35Watt) for $84

The i-3 2105 Has a 3MB Cache, HD3000 Video (35Watt) for $134
This is a slightly better version of the i-3 with the better video, but
Designed to run at low power.

So if you want a quad you could choose an older quad with the HD2000 video or something like the 2500K which has the HD 3000 video for around
i-5 2300 HD2000 6MB Cache $179
i-5 2400 HD2000 6MB Cache $189
i-5 2500k HD3000 $219
i-5 3550 HD2500 $209 (IVY BRIDGE)
i-5 3570k HD 4000 $239 (IVY BRIDGE)
i-7 just more money with somewhat limited gains for what you want.

This just gives you a price range. Some Microcenters may have the processors for less but you have to pay the sales tax, but you still can save a little money. Often the savings can also be good if you get a combo. Everything is a trade-off.

So do you really need a quad? No
What I have to say about this comes with a grain of salt. I have gone cheap and I have gone a little more expensive. I have never purchased the upper cutting-ege top-tier processors. I have often wished I spent just a little more money. I never wished I had gone with the cheaper, weaker, slower processors. It just depends what you choose to spend and how long you plan on keeping the computer. Maybe for now something like a G840 would save you over $100, or you could just get the quad if you want.

This is the Case I have but you wanted My model was slightly different. But it looks a lot nicer than this picture in person. When I purchased the case it came with the Power supply but was $20 cheaper.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129065

 

[mfenn]

Honestly, I wouldn't even bother building for these requirements. The Dell Outlet has plenty of Inspiron 630's with Pentium G630 processors and 4GB of RAM for $350-375. Get one of those, pop your Intel SSD in there and you're good to go. The Intel SSD will force a new install of Windows which will wipe out the Dell crapware (also good).

 

[FearoftheNight]

this may have already been said in the thread but..you're word processing box sounds like it costs more than my gaming desktop...

 

[PingSpike]

I'd say dropping your SSD into a prebuilt unit may well be the most cost effective route. If you really wanted to build something, I'd just get a g530 and a solid motherboard. I'd probably get 2x4 instead of 2x8gb of ram not because its needed for the job but because if you upgrade in the future the 2x8gb is more likely to be reusable and its so cheap right now. You could spend more money for a faster machine but I don't see the point. Just save that money for 5 years down the road when she wants to upgrade again or needs change.