Father's Day SFF Build

[DrakonSan]

SO, my father currently computes on a 12 year old dinosaur that he can't be bothered to maintain and the combination of all the bloated software he refuses to part with or update has finally brought the machine to a complete halt. Time to build him a budget SFF for father's day and make the old tower 'disappear'. Template follows:

1. What will you be doing with this PC?
Family Tree Maker, Web Browsing, MS/Libre Office

2. Will you be overclocking?
No

3. What's your budget?
About $500, Tax/Shipping exclusive. Not very flexible. Cost is important.

4. Where do you live?
We have a TigerDirect B&M

5. What exact parts do you need for that budget?
MainBoard, CPU/APU/PU-36 Space Modulator, RAM, HDD, PSU, potentially a slimODD. I have no intention to purchase or use a discrete GPU in this build

6. If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing?
There will be some data migration from a 3.5" PATA/IDE drive, but there is no intention to retain any HDDs from the old system. May retain an old 5.25" ODD if necessary

7. What specific features do you need in a motherboard?
Wireless Required, VGA out Required, HDMI out Desired

8. What resolution output do you need?
1080p, no multiple monitor configuration.

9. Does this system need to fit into a particular space and do you need an optical drive?
No, although smaller is always better. ODD required as there is a lot of old media.

10. How comfortable are you with custom case design/modification and electrical wiring?
Dremel, Soldering gun, Hot glue, Duct tape, Zip ties. I think I could learn to do a wire shave for this.

11. How important is the noise/silence of this sytem?
Not a primary concern

12. How mobile does this system need to be?
It may move one time from the office to the living room. I'm looking for something ISK 300ish

13. Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Not anything I want to use (XP, Vista).

14. When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Purchased and built by June 16.

 

[Dephcon]

Well one thing is that you might be better to go matx instead of itx as the cost of components will be lower.

I just built a i3 3225/B75 system for my fiancee's grand parents, it just flys. Make sure you get an SSD as this will provide the best sensation of "speed". it boots to desktop in 5-8 seconds. I used the SG05 as case (itx), but i found the quality a bit lacking. Had the same requirement for an ODD so I got a slim samsung DVDrw

 

[Zap]

What kind of performance?

BIOSTAR NM70I-847 motherboard runs $89.99 with free shipping, and is currently bundled with free 8GB DDR3. The CPU is a Celeron 847 which is a mobile dual core Sandy Bridge CPU running 1.1GHz, with a 6EU graphics core (HD 2000, but minus the QuickSync) and a mere 17W TDP. I think CPU performance should be just better than a dual core Atom or E-350, and is perfectly suitable for your described uses. Next step up of course would be either a low end Ivy Bridge or low end AMD A4 or A6 APU.

Couple the mobo/CPU/RAM with a Seagate Momentus XT 750GB (around $140 regular price), slim optical drive ($25-30?) and any of the Antec ISK 300/310 cases (will work with 60W version as well as 150W version). Toss in a $20 USB WiFi dongle. Add Windows for $100, or less if there's a coupon code floating around. There! $500-ish!

 

[DrakonSan]

The i3-3225 alone costs the same as getting an A4-5300 with mainboard. Power consumption really won't be an issue, but for light desktop work, will the i3 provide a significant performance increase for a user who doesn't know and is resistant to learn how to Alt-Tab?

Edit: Zap's recommendation is very tempting. I have an asus eee with an e-350 and it's a very nice portable. I can't see them really needing more power than that but the word Celeron brings bad memories to bear.

 

[itomwisp]

If it was me, i would wait until a good package deal on newegg or amazon.
ITX isn't a bad option,

Another idea if your ok with used is to find a old HTPC on the for sale thread.
Will not be hard to find a older C2D system which should work just fine for your father.
Just look for something like this.
HTPC
-e8600 cpu w/aftermarket cooler
-500GB drive
-256MB SSD (OCZ Vertex 1)
-Antec FUSION case
-i think 430 watt psu
-DVD-RW drive
-ASUS P5N7A-VM
$300.00

My father in law is still using an old celaeron good luck... lol

 

[tiraides]

The following is a "quick" build from NewEgg (going through Amazon and Tiger Direct's sites were a bit difficult today):

$80 - Antec ISK 300-150 with 150W PSU
$50 - Intel Celeron G1610 (Ivy Bridge)
$102 - Gigabyte GA-H77N-WIFI mini ITX
$155 - G.Skill Value Series 2x4GB DDR3 1333 & Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium x64 OEM combo deal
$60 - HGST Travelstar Z7K500 500GB 7200RPM 2.5" HDD
$19 - Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE SATA DVD burner
=====
$466 - Subtotal (not including shipping, taxes, or rebates)

Of note, the Gigabyte GA-H77N-WIFI uses a mini PCI-E wifi adapter that you could upgrade in the future. (If you wanted to reduce cost even further, you could go with an Intel H61-based board, but you'll then have to find a PCI-E wifi card with a half-height expansion port cover.)

I went cheap on the HDD (I personally use WD Black notebook HDDs myself) to keep things under the $500 limit. To extract the data from the old hard drives, I recommend buying (if you don't have one already) a cheap USB adapter. (You may also want to consider buying an external HDD for your father's essential files. The price-per-gigabyte on those is much better than it is for another notebook HDD.)

 

[Zap]

Edit: Zap's recommendation is very tempting. I have an asus eee with an e-350 and it's a very nice portable. I can't see them really needing more power than that but the word Celeron brings bad memories to bear.

"Celeron" is just a brand.

My memories were of the Celeron 300A overclocked to 450MHz, or the Celeron 366 overclocked to 550MHz. So yeah, I have good memories of Celerons. Oh yeah, the Tualatin Celerons were pretty awesome too!

The "bad" Celerons were the original cacheless ones (and they were only half bad), the Netburst based Celerons (P4 class) and maybe the single core Core 2 based Celerons. The dual core Core 2 based were kinda okay.

The Sandy Bridge dual core Celerons are pretty good.

Pentium 967 vs Celeron 867

What's the difference? Nothing (besides a typo on PCIe lanes).

 

[halcyon419]

check provantage.com. I bought an MSI NM70 (mobo+BGA cpu) for $67.60 from them

they have a lot of good prices on mITX boards, cases, and also on DDR3. IMO their deals are more consistent than newegg.

 

[TroyTalksNoMore]

Simplify your life... get him a $500 x 15" laptop & call it a day...

If you really loved him you'd get this:
Surface Pro + dock w/ big monitor & external HDD & automated backup

 

[Dephcon]

The i3-3225 alone costs the same as getting an A4-5300 with mainboard. Power consumption really won't be an issue, but for light desktop work, will the i3 provide a significant performance increase for a user who doesn't know and is resistant to learn how to Alt-Tab?.

I may have gone a bit overboard with the i3 3225 and Samsung 840 pro, however I want them to take this PC to the grave with them. Their current desktop is a Sempron LE1230 or something like that and it's extremely frustratingly slow.

 

[tiraides]

I may have gone a bit overboard with the i3 3225 and Samsung 840 pro, however I want them to take this PC to the grave with them. Their current desktop is a Sempron LE1230 or something like that and it's extremely frustratingly slow.

Then you need to spend more than $500.

The i3-3225 costs around $140 on its own (assuming that you don't live near a physical Micro Center store) and a good SSD like the 256GB Samsung 840 Pro costs around $240 or $250 right now (with the 512GB model costing nearly $500, if not over).

You may also want to increase the capacity of the secondary HDD (for storage) to around 750GB (for a 7200RPM drive) or 1TB (for a 5400RPM drive).

And I strongly recommend a 2TB or a 3TB external drive, especially if you're trying to stick with a one-internal-drive-only setup.

If you really loved him you'd get this:
Surface Pro + dock w/ big monitor & external HDD & automated backup

That's over twice his budget!

 

[TroyTalksNoMore]

If you really loved him you'd get this:
Surface Pro + dock w/ big monitor & external HDD & automated backup

That's over twice his budget!

Love is expensive... were you ever married / divorced / hookers & blow?

What I suggested is actually 3+ times his budget, but it can span several occasions.
Fathers day, birthday, x-mas, etc.

1 = surface pro @ $950

2 = keyboard cover = $140

3 = he probably has a 1920x1080 TV / monitor to use...
~ if not they are cheap @ under 40" for $350

4 = any external HDD as you suggested...

 

[DrakonSan]

Simplify your life... get him a $500 x 15" laptop & call it a day...

If you really loved him you'd get this:
Surface Pro + dock w/ big monitor & external HDD & automated backup

Love is expensive... were you ever married / divorced / hookers & blow?

Y'know, you're right. But I believe single problems have single solutions.

I don't think the surface/Win8 is mature enough, and nobody wants to keep track of 1000 peripherals, so I'm going to go ahead and get him an iPad. Thanks for the advice!

 

[tiraides]

Love is expensive... were you ever married / divorced / hookers & blow?

I know all about expensive "passion"... my hobbies are computers and photography. (And let's not even start on family... )

Y'know, you're right. But I believe single problems have single solutions.

I don't think the surface/Win8 is mature enough, and nobody wants to keep track of 1000 peripherals, so I'm going to go ahead and get him an iPad. Thanks for the advice!

Whoa there, let's not do anything drastic.

(Are you seriously considering an iPad now?)

 

[Zap]

I'm going to go ahead and get him an iPad.

What about Family Tree Maker software?

 

[DrakonSan]

What about Family Tree Maker software?

What about ancestry.com? The cloud, the CLOUD!

Ok, no. I'm not really going to get him an iPad, or any other non-user serviceable device, but crapping my own thread was fun for a moment.

The gigabyte combo is more than likely what is going to happen here. Windows keys are expensive, I can't believe how spoiled I was with the MSDNAA.

 

[1911Shootist]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3225 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($133.79 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus P8H77-I Mini ITX LGA1155 Motherboard ($95.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($63.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Scorpio Blue 500GB 2.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($55.68 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Antec ISK 110 VESA Mini ITX Desktop Case w/90W Power Supply ($81.61 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($93.31 @ Amazon)
Total: $524.37
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-28 13:47 EDT-0400)

Add a USB ODD if desired.

 

[DrakonSan]

I've looked at the ISK 110. An external drive with a decent footprint to sit underneath might not be a bad option, just have to make some extra short cables. Hmm...

 

[tiraides]

I've looked at the ISK 110. An external drive with a decent footprint to sit underneath might not be a bad option, just have to make some extra short cables. Hmm...

With the ISK 110, you must have a motherboard with built-in wireless as the case doesn't have room for an add-on card. Also, as the AnandTech review points out, it will be a nightmare in terms of setup and cable management.

 

[Zap]

Windows keys are expensive, I can't believe how spoiled I was with the MSDNAA.

If you're patient you can get Windows for around $80 from Newegg, as it seems they have coupon codes almost monthly for that price (Win7-64-HP). Also, once in a great while (every half year?) they have coupon codes bringing it down to $70-75.

With the ISK 110, you must have a motherboard with built-in wireless as the case doesn't have room for an add-on card. Also, as the AnandTech review points out, it will be a nightmare in terms of setup and cable management.

A couple thoughts. USB WiFi works 'well enough" that I don't plan to ever buy PCI/PCIe WiFi cards ever again unless I need something specific. 2R1T 300Mbps USB adapters are really common these days, and you can even get detachable antennas and higher power output models.

I don't see what all the fuss is about with the ISK 110 and cable management. The case does not have any cross-airflow, so as long as the CPU fan is unobstructed, I don't see how any amount of "cable management" will improve anything beyond aesthetics. Speaking of, the case doesn't have a side window, though the grill allows some visibility. Then again, the case was designed to allow for VESA mounting, meaning behind the monitor. Who's gonna see cables then? I attribute that to typical online OCD and a try-hard attitude.

 

[Zap]

If you're patient you can get Windows for around $80 from Newegg, as it seems they have coupon codes almost monthly for that price (Win7-64-HP).

Aaaaand here it is the next day after I mention it.

Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
$99.99
free shipping
$20 off promo code EMCXSTX22 exp.5/6/13
=$79.99 shipped

 

[TroyTalksNoMore]

Have you ever ASKED the old man what he wants?

Does he even WANT an old fashioned anchored desktop box or would he prefer a portable tablet like the Surface Pro + a 40" TV to do everything he wants & much more (in his future when he has the capability he does not know about) + allows him to sit on the couch & surf the web & email & even take it all on vacation & weekends away from home, etc?

PS - my retired dad bought a notebook & wishes he had gone for a tablet because (sorry man) he figures he will be dead before he ever buys another PC... and he eventually bought a Nexus 7 because he was NOT smart phone savvy but he hated dragging a laptop onto airplanes... caveat = my sister is a flight attendant & they fly a lot because it is CHEAP for them...

 

[updawg]

http://i.imgur.com/Jwc7nXj.png?1
Total: $270 plus 10 rebate

What's left: HD, Optical, OS

What to change: Bump up the processor or keep processor and grab an SSD deal

 

[DrakonSan]

Aaaaand here it is the next day after I mention it.

Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
$99.99
free shipping
$20 off promo code EMCXSTX22 exp.5/6/13
=$79.99 shipped

Whenever I get home from work, the deals are over and I re-evaluate from what's in stock. At least this one comes with a code for a few days!

Have you ever ASKED the old man what he wants?

Yes, and I came here for advice on how I can meet a budget without going overboard on hardware capabilities. Kindly stop crapping my thread.