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Office computer that should last 4 years

J

Jassi

Diamond Member
I have been assigned to find the configuration of an office computer that should last for about 4 years. It has to be cheap and there is a $2000 annual budget for replacing 3-5 computers a year.

Problem is, I have no idea for the chip. I know I should either go socket 775 or 939 but will a sempron/ celeron be ok or should it be a P4/AMD64? Which motherboard should I buy?
 
Will these computers do anything other than simple 2D apps like word and excel?

Intel has an advantage in this market if you can find a realatively cheap cpu with HT, P4 2.8ghz w/HT would probably be a pritty good deal for what you need. I dont know much about P4 mobo, so your on your own for this one. Onboard video should be more than enough, and simple 15" CRTs would be fine.

If you go AMD route, a Venice 3000+ 939 will be a better choice if you ever just want a cpu upgrade, but you can do a 754 if 939 is stretching the budget.

Go to Best Buy or CompUSA or a simple computer store and just browse. In the low end, its hard to go wrong.

Only get Sempron or Celeron if you really need to make a budget, and I would say Sempron 2800+.
 
Lets be honest, a celeron would be just fine for basic office opperations. 1 gig of ram? wow, do you really think that is necessary? I'm being serious. I would not have gone this route if it were me assigned to the project. a 500mghz p111 with 256 ram would be more than enough even. maybe i'm just way too tight and budget minded. if its truly an office computer, and you keep employees from downloading desktop themes and that weatherbug, i really think slower celerons and 256 ram would suffice just fine. Thats my opinion and what i would do. If i'm way off base, please, somebody set me straight...
 
yeah but it has to last 4 years, and we don't know what assortment of apps he will be running. Although, i assume if they have a 2 grand annual budget for new computers they arn't spending much on software, so there probably won't be anything too intensive going on....get a cheap $40 Pqi 512 stick and you can easily upgrade to a gig later if need be.
 
If it's just for running apps like Word/Excel/PowerPoint and even normal Access, then the cheapest Dell desktop should be fine. (2GHz+ CPU, 256MB-512MB RAM). Although, if you are handling large databases, 3D modelling, video etc..., then a system with hyperthreading or dual-core would be good.

RoD

EDIT: I wouldn't recommend buying pre-built for gaming computers, but office work is a whole different story. Something like a Dell Dimension 3000 (Pentium 4 2.8GHz, 256MB DDR Ram, 15" LCD, 80GB HDD), for around $600.
 
Since your not gaming i would go intel and get something like this
i would also get 2 gigs of ram so you can really multtask with those dual cores 🙂
also this thing has to last 4 years !


Pentium D 830 2x1MB 3.0GHz (775) 321.00
ASUS 945P P5LD2 132
Corsair PC-4200 2x1024MB Value 163
Connect3D Radeon X700 Pro 128MB 98
Hitachi SATA 250GB 7200RPM 8MB Deskstar T7K250 NCQ 120
NEC 3540A Black (OEM) 42
Antec Sonata II + SmartPower 2.0 450W PSU 115

Total 991

add a OS Monitor keyboard
 
I've just built a PC for exactly this use. I went for the 64bit Sempron 2800+ (look for BX at the end of the model number). It is socket 754 and has 64bit compatibility for any future apps that require it. It is also quicker and cheaper than the equivalent Celeron.
 
Originally posted by: Gadzookie
Since your not gaming i would go intel and get something like this
i would also get 2 gigs of ram so you can really multtask with those dual cores 🙂
also this thing has to last 4 years !


Pentium D 830 2x1MB 3.0GHz (775) 321.00
ASUS 945P P5LD2 132
Corsair PC-4200 2x1024MB Value 163
Connect3D Radeon X700 Pro 128MB 98
Hitachi SATA 250GB 7200RPM 8MB Deskstar T7K250 NCQ 120
NEC 3540A Black (OEM) 42
Antec Sonata II + SmartPower 2.0 450W PSU 115
Click to expand...

A dual-core P4 with 2GB RAM for an office PC?! Why not upgrade that X700 to a 7800GTX and it'll be a full-blown gaming rig. 😉
 
you have to rember it has to last 4 YEARS ! lol and office applications use lots of rams

4 years is a eternity in the computer world semprons systems kinda suck now imagine in 4 years also vista is coming out

 
Originally posted by: Jassi
I have been assigned to find the configuration of an office computer that should last for about 4 years. It has to be cheap and there is a $2000 annual budget for replacing 3-5 computers a year.

Problem is, I have no idea for the chip. I know I should either go socket 775 or 939 but will a sempron/ celeron be ok or should it be a P4/AMD64? Which motherboard should I buy?
Click to expand...

Even though an AMD 939 3000+ cpu can be purchased cheaply, the whole system can still be pricey. Especially when considering the purchase of a computer for $400-$600 due to your budget. The socket 775 possesses performance comparable to the current 939 and the advantage of 64bit computing is not very important. However, a socket 939 system purchased now could be easily upgraded in 4 years with only the purchase of a processor.

I would look for a motherboard with built in video, 1x512MB RAM, lowest price IDE hard drive, and the lowest price case.

Are you going to overclock an office system?

Socket 754
Socket 939
Memory
Hard Drive
Optical Drive
Case
LCD Monitor
EDIT:
USB Floppy Drive
evilharp (below) brings up a good point concerning the operating system and office suite.
I would recommend Ubuntu Linux with Open Office.

Online Retailers
Disclaimer: the items from NewEgg may not be the best deal currently available.
 
Originally posted by: Jassi
I have been assigned to find the configuration of an office computer that should last for about 4 years. It has to be cheap and there is a $2000 annual budget for replacing 3-5 computers a year.

Problem is, I have no idea for the chip. I know I should either go socket 775 or 939 but will a sempron/ celeron be ok or should it be a P4/AMD64? Which motherboard should I buy?
Click to expand...


Wow, that is a tight budget.

Some questions:

1) Does your office upgrade the OS on its PCs -or- does it stick to the OS that comes with the PC?
2) What office apps will be run on these PCs? (Important, as DB and Programming/Dev apps love powerful systems)
3) Do you need to replace the monitor as well? (I ask as most Companies replace the monitor when the PC is replaced.)

If you are going to stick with the bundled OS, only run basic office apps (Mail/Word Processing/Spreadsheet/Presentation App/Web Browse), an entry level system will do you fine. As much as I hate to say it (feeling ill :disgust: ), Dell/HP/IBM will outprice any build yourself/whitebox in this category, especially if you need MS Office as part of the "package".
 
Originally posted by: Gadzookie
wait i thought it was 2000 for one pc how many pc's you building ? how much can you spend on each one ?
Click to expand...

There are over 10 pcs currently in the office. Most are used for secretarial work, records keeping (Word and Excel mostly). The 2000 PA is budget to get as many upgraded as possible and then phase out the old machines systematically. The current machines are running 1 GHZ processors (no idea if they are Intel or AMD). Vista is a good year away and by then we will probably have another 2k to spend on Vista machines.

Thanks for the great advice so far, keep it coming!
 
Originally posted by: Jassi
Originally posted by: Gadzookie
wait i thought it was 2000 for one pc how many pc's you building ? how much can you spend on each one ?
Click to expand...

There are over 10 pcs currently in the office. Most are used for secretarial work, records keeping (Word and Excel mostly). The 2000 PA is budget to get as many upgraded as possible and then phase out the old machines systematically. The current machines are running 1 GHZ processors (no idea if they are Intel or AMD). Vista is a good year away and by then we will probably have another 2k to spend on Vista machines.

Thanks for the great advice so far, keep it coming!
Click to expand...

Here's a start: http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/...&cs=04&kc=6W300&l=en&oc=dim24min&s=bsd

I'd recommend these upgrades:

- XP-Pro (home has limited networking ability)
- 512mb of ram

As for the rest, well it's up to you.

You'll need AV of course, but it is easier to manage one brand/version of AV across your shop. You can always get a volume purchase from Norton/McAfee/Kapersky/F-Secure etc..

Software firewalls aren't neccessary if your network is hidden behind a good hardware firewall (paranoid settings, of course).

Look into a good spyware app for desktops. Employees have a habit of infecting themselves.

When Vista comes, you'll have a better idea of the real requirements at that point. I'd wait for Vista SP1 before upgrading (if at all. Most companies are still running NT4 or Win2000. WinXP is slowly being accepted in most shops).
 
Dell should be fine for an office machine. You don't want your coworkers blaming you if a DIY build goes down. I'd go with a non-Celeron one though, so you have the option of using a 64bit OS later if you decide to. I can't remember which Pentiums (non dual-core) are 64-bit, so you'll have to figure that out yourself (I think all of the 6 series Prescotts are, don't know if any others are). Would it really have been that much trouble for Intel to label the 64-bit compatible P4s as such :roll:?
 
Originally posted by: Jassi
$2000 annual budget for replacing 3-5 computers a year.
Click to expand...
Yikes! - so you could conceivably have the task of finding 5 PCs @ $400 a piece that'll last 4 years?? - that sounds like some "creative accounting" waiting to happen.. but seriously, I'd start w/ the Dell Optiplex series. Not a lot (any) bells & whistles but fair performance at a fair price

/my 2 cents





 
My dad has a 4yo Pentium4, and it still handles all of his office work fine (P4 1.6GHZ, 256MB SDRAM, ASUS MoBo, Geforce 2 MX400). Seriously, office applications don't use 10% of the power of a modern computer. Actually, other than starting the program and opening/saving files, word and excel dont even use 1% of my CPU.

BtW: if you want a virus scanner, look at AVG (http://www.grisoft.com). I found it performs better (hogs less resources) than McAffe, so i use it on all my computers. It's also free, which is a big bonus.

RoD
 
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