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Help to build a work PC

M

mathieumg

n00b
Joined
May 8, 2006
Messages
55
My father wants to build a new PC and has asked for help.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc


As per the topic title, the main use of his PC will be for work, mainly office, email and web browsing. However, he requested that he can watch DVDs and video content with it.


2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?


He has a budget around $1,000 canadian. It would be best if that includes shipping and taxes, but if it's not possible exclude them..


3) Where do you live?


He lives in Quebec, Canada.


4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.


  • Computer case
  • Case fans if not included with the case
  • Power supply
  • Motherboard
  • Processor/CPU fan
  • RAM
  • Hard drive
  • Video card
  • Monitor
  • Speakers


5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.


Not reusing anything except external components, keyboard, mouse, etc.


6) Will you be overclocking?


No.


7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?


Plan to get him a 22".


8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?


ASAP. Once I get advice in this thread.


9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.


Nothing fancy, the standard at the moment.


10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?


Yes. I plan on getting him Windows 7 Home (if there is such a version, or the equivalent as Vista/XP home) in October.


-

My father asked for specifics:

  • Dual Core processor
  • 4GB of RAM
  • At least 500GB of HDD space
  • CD/DVD reader/writer
  • Reasonable video card that allows him to watch movies
  • Speaker set with a subwoofer
  • 22" or more screen


I plan on ordering entirely from ncix.com so the pieces suggested have to be available there. (Unless there is a superdeal on a big part at newegg.ca or something) I plan on doing pricematching with other canadian websites but don't take that into account for the budget (i.e. use the price shown on ncix's product page)

Here are the parts I quickly looked up for, based on NCIX's most sold products in the appropriate categories, helped a bit by my basic knowledge. This thread is to get approvals and/or recommendations of better pieces:

Computer case

Coolermaster cm 690 Mid Tower Black ATX Case 5X5.25 5X3.5INT No PS Front USB Sound Firewire & eSATA

I just want a regular ATX case that will do the job and has good airflow He doesn't care about aesthetics, but I'm pretty sure he wants it black. (No need for fancy leds etc. however)

Power supply


Corsair CMPSU-400CX 400CX 400W ATX 12V 30A Power Supply Active PFC 120MM Fan

I guess 500W is more than enough for his needs, just went with the popular product. Any tips are welcome.

Motherboard

ASUS P5QL Pro ATX LGA775 P43 DDR2 1PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 3PCI SATA2 Sound GBLAN Motherboard

Again, went with the popular choice for that socket (and my past and positive experience with ASUS products). He doesn't need an "have-it-all", but I don't want to get him a cheap mobo either. I think this one is the perfect middle-ground, with one PCI-E for the video card, one PCI-E 1x and two PCI slots, plus basic functionnality like LAN, SATA, sound, etc.

Processor

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Dual Core Processor LGA775 3.0GHZ Wolfdale 1333FSB 6MB Retail

I believe this CPU is more than good enough for his needs.

HSF

Should I be getting one? Or will stock do?

RAM

Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X4096-6400C5C 4GB DDR2 2X2GB PC2-6400 DDR2-800 CL 5-5-5-18 240PIN Memory Kit

Popular product again, I don't know much about latencies however, so I'd need a confirmation this is a good choice to go with the mobo/cpu.

Hard drive

Western Digital WD1001FALS Caviar Black 1TB SATA2 7200RPM 4.2MS 32MB 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM

A bit more than he asked, but nonetheless standard nowadays. I guess this is one place where cutting could be done if the price is too high in the end.

Video card

Powercolor Radeon HD PCs 4850 625MHZ 512MB GDDR3 PCI-E VGA DVI-I HDMI Video Card *IR-$20*

I have a Gigabyte 4870 and it has worked really great. I love the step AMD has taken with the HD 4800 series. I think this might be a bit of an overkill, but the price isn't that bad and I think 4830s have been discontinued. I guess if there is a need for it, some cutting could be made here as well.

CD/DVD drive

Samsung SH-S223Q/BEBS 22X DVD+-RW SATA DVD Writer Black Lightscribe OEM

By popularity again.

Monitor

LG W2243T-PF 21.5IN 1920X1080 Black 1080P LCD 5ms 30000:1 DVI VGA Monitor

I'm not sure if getting him a 22" 1080p is a good idea, he doesn't like when things are small but again these screens tend to look bad when not at their native resolution. I'd really like some suggestions for this one. (keeping a reasonnable price in mind)

Keyboard/Mouse

I guess he's ok with his current PS/2 apparel, but just in case, is there any good and affordable keyboard/mouse combo for office work out there?

Speakers

M-AUDIO Studiophile AV20 Desktop 2.0 Speaker System 20W RMS Black

He wants a subwoofer, but I've heard these are just as good as having a subwoofer. They might be a bit expensive though. I'd like some more suggestions for this.

-

This brings me to a $1,015 total before pricematch/taxes/shipping, it would be better if the end price was a bit lower.

I hope I haven't forgot anything. Again, thank you very much in advance for providing me with approvals/recommendations regarding this build.
 
Why not do an am2+/am3 system, the phenom II x3 720, or if you want even cheaper the phenom II x2 550 would be a perfect processor for what you want.
the 4850 is definately overkill, if all you want is video playback go amd and get a 785 chipset mobo, that has pretty good integrated graphics.

phenom II x2 550 123.63
or
phenom II x3 720 175

Gigabyte GA-MA785G-UD3H AMD785G ATX AM3 2PCI-E DDR2 Video Sound GLAN CrossFireX HDMI Motherboard 102.31

OCZ Gold OCZ3G10664GK 4GB DDR3 2X2GB DDR3-1066 CL 7-7-7-16 Dual Channel Memory Kit 75.90

WD 640GB Caviar Black 77

At the cheapest for those parts $378
with the x3 720 $430 all prices CAD

Now just throw in any dvd burner, a monitor and speakers and you're good.
With your already chosen dvd burner,monitor, case, psu and speakers the
x2 550 system costs $819
x3 720 system costs $871
prices do not include shipping and tax.
That's around a $130-200 saving depending on the cpu picked and performance for standard usage and dvd watching will be just as good if not better.
You can probably find a cheaper case/psu, the main point of my post was to inform you of the am3 platform, inparticular the integrated 785G chipset.

No real reason to use core 2 duo for a budget build anymore, phenom II is just as good if not better and way cheaper
I downgraded from 1TB because, unless he is putting his entire movie library on the pc or he has tons of music, you don't need that much space. Heck this might still be overkill

edit
I just realized ncix.com has combo deals, you could probably save a little more by looking for some combos with similar parts. The main components to go for are an am3 785G mobo for the integrated graphics and one of the two am3 phenom II cpus.
 
Last edited:
lt_shiro said:
you should just buy a Dell.
Click to expand...

This is also a valid choice, I priced a dell out for someone else not that long ago, this was the us site, don't know how the US and Canadian sites differ but if you can look at vostros the bussiness desktop pretty good deal,

for $400 I got a 22" monitor and a pretty good core2duo system, only drawbacks 2GB ram and small HDD.
 
volt01, thanks for the info. Is it normal that you linked to DDR3 memory while the mobo supports DDR2 memory? Just to be sure, that onboard video will be good enough to do DVD playback without trouble?

I would like some input on the case, psu, dvd drive, monitor and speakers if possible. See my concerns about these in the original post. Also, I assume stock fan for the cpu will be good enough.

Thanks a lot again for the help.
 
volt0, could you answer my concern about the memory types please, thank you very much in advance.
 
Go with the Phenom II, as Intel's Socket 775 boards and processors have reached EOL status and won't be supported by time next year. However, the current Phenom II line-up doesn't gain any performance benefit from using DDR3 RAM. If you won't be upgrading things for a while (ideally, for at least another two years), you could stick with DDR2 RAM.

You don't need an aftermarket CPU cooler if you don't plan on overclocking.

The case, PSU, and speaker set are all good choices. The monitor is fine, but if you can find one for around the same price, I recommend that you buy a 23-24 inch 1080p monitor instead. You don't need that much GPU power for watching movies; you only need a GPU that can encode/decode HD video. In fact, you could use a board with an integrated GPU to save some money. For example, the Asus M4A78-EM would be just fine for your father's needs. (With that board, the Corsiar XMS2 kit that you've chosen is fine.)

Since the M4A78-EM is a microATX motherboard, you don't necessarily need an ATX case like the CM 690; you could go with a microATX tower case like the Antec NSK3480 (which comes with its own PSU) or a SFF desktop case like the Silverstone SG02B-F (which can support most full-sized video cards, should you decide to get one later).

As a compromise between your wants and your father's needs, go with the Western Digital WD6401AALS (Caviar Black 640GB) HDD. It's one of the best bang-for-your-buck performance HDDs around.

OEM versions of Windows Vista now come with "Tech Guarantee," which is essentially a coupon for a free upgrade version of Windows 7 (Home Premium, I believe). With the Windows 7 RC no longer available for downloading, you might as well pick up a new OS now, if you need one.
 
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Thanks a lot tiraides, I'll look into that.Is the RAM I linked to in the OP a good choice?

Thanks again.
 
I'm sorry that I didn't report back here earlier. Just wanted to thank you for the help and the advice. My father has decided to pick up a laptop instead and delay indefinitely his budget-build.
 
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