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Need to build 4 work computers

S

Shumph

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 29, 2004
Messages
401
I need to build 4 computers for work and I am woefully out of date on the current cpu's and MB's budget is 4k for all 4 computers. I would like nice cases that are not to loud and will look good in an office (no windows or led's)
Thanks!

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
General work computers running office, outlook, web browsing, ocr documents and a proprietary sql app
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$4000 for 4 computers
3) Where do you live?
Tampa FL
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
CPU, RAM, PS, CASE, HD, Video card and NIC
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
N/A
6) Will you be overclocking?
No
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
27.5 Hanns G
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Next 2 weeks
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.

NO SLI, CROSSFIRE or RAID needed
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
Yes 64bit Windows 7 Pro
 
$4k for 4 computers without monitors is way overkill. You could do this for half the money.

$132 - Phenom II X4 925
$104 - Gigabyte GA-880GA-UD3H
$93 - 4GB G.Skill DDR3-1333 Ram
$55 - Samsung F3 500GB HDD
$100 - Antec NSK4482 Case w/ Antec ea380
$21 - Samsung DVDRW
----------
Total: $508 each, $2032 for all 4 (not counting quantity discounts)

And even with such a cheap pc, its still way overkill for anything you are doing unless those SQL apps are very intensive.

Also if you don't like the silver front to that case they offer a Black version but its $10 more (no free shipping).

With the extra $2000 you should get a nice bonus :D
 
For an office, I highly highly highly highly recommend getting a prebuilt from Dell. Set up an account at Dell Small Business, contact them and let them know what you need and want. They'll probably give a few discounts that aren't directly available on their site.

By going the Dell route, you'll have someone else to blame/use in case of problems with the hardware.

However, if you want to go the DIY route, Shadowssong's build is good. He's also right: no need to for that much cash for an office PC.
 
Shadowssong
Thanks for the recommendations. I knew going in that this was way to much budget for 4 computers. I work on the theory of ask for to much and then come in under budget. It makes me look like a hero to the accounting team ;) Besides I wanted to make sure I had enough budget to buy quality parts, these computers are for the people that do all the work.

Danny Bui
When it comes to Dell and HP our company just passes. We have had so many service related issues with these companies that we now build our own computers and only buy non HP printers. We are trying hard as an organization to only support companies that deliver on what they promise.
 
Shumph said:
Shadowssong
Thanks for the recommendations. I knew going in that this was way to much budget for 4 computers. I work on the theory of ask for to much and then come in under budget. It makes me look like a hero to the accounting team ;) Besides I wanted to make sure I had enough budget to buy quality parts, these computers are for the people that do all the work.

Danny Bui
When it comes to Dell and HP our company just passes. We have had so many service related issues with these companies that we now build our own computers and only buy non HP printers. We are trying hard as an organization to only support companies that deliver on what they promise.
Click to expand...

Well if your intent on building your own then most likely my build would be plenty for any office build. If you wanted to spend a bit more of your budget then you could upgrade the HDD to 1TB, possibly add in SSD's, upgrade the mobo to an 890GX and even upgrade the processor to a Phenom II X6. But again, that would be so overkill just for regular work it wouldn't even be funny. Your money though!
 
Shumph said:
Danny Bui
When it comes to Dell and HP our company just passes. We have had so many service related issues with these companies that we now build our own computers and only buy non HP printers. We are trying hard as an organization to only support companies that deliver on what they promise.
Click to expand...

Fair enough. You understand your company a whole lot better than I do.

As said earlier, Shadowsong's build will be fine.
 
wow, quadcores, 4GB of RAM, and 27" monitors for general office computers. :eek: well, then again, they will be using win7, so 4GB RAM is understandable, lol. not a bad place to work at, judging from the equipment, hehe.
 
Shadowssong said:
$4k for 4 computers without monitors is way overkill. You could do this for half the money.

$132 - Phenom II X4 925
$104 - Gigabyte GA-880GA-UD3H
$93 - 4GB G.Skill DDR3-1333 Ram
$55 - Samsung F3 500GB HDD
$100 - Antec NSK4482 Case w/ Antec ea380
$21 - Samsung DVDRW
----------
Total: $508 each, $2032 for all 4 (not counting quantity discounts)

And even with such a cheap pc, its still way overkill for anything you are doing unless those SQL apps are very intensive.

Also if you don't like the silver front to that case they offer a Black version but its $10 more (no free shipping).

With the extra $2000 you should get a nice bonus :D
Click to expand...

You can go lower considering the office computers don't do much. You can swap the motherboard and CPU for something like this:

BIOSTAR TA785G3 AM3 AMD 785G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard $64.99
AMD Athlon II X2 245 Regor 2.9GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 $59

and lower the cost by almost $400-500.
 
Shadowssong has put together a very nice build, I agree. But I never pass up a chance to part-out a build! Back in a few.

Edit: Yeah, nevermind. There's not much fun to be had out there!

I'd be picking the same parts, save maybe the case and the power supply. Purely a matter of preference, to my mind, so don't see these as "better" recommendations, at all. But I might go with a Cooler Master RC-692 Basic or a little Lancool case, and probably a Corsair 400CX power supply. Everything else, as has been stated, could be upgraded to your heart's content without affecting any real office performance, more than likely. Unless you have delusions of sneaking in a quick round of Dirt 2 on your lunch break. ;)

THAT I could help with!
 
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Since these are office PCs, and possibly don't have that much data storage needed, I would take the build mentioned earlier, drop the 500GB drive down to a smaller size, and add in SSD drives, expecially since you have the headroom budget wise. The end users will notice the speed difference. I have been adding SSD into some corporate builds lately, and am blown away by the responsiveness in applications and OS you get out of them. Just get a decent 60GB SSD for the OS, and maybe a main app or something.
 
Standpoint said:
Since these are office PCs, and possibly don't have that much data storage needed, I would take the build mentioned earlier, drop the 500GB drive down to a smaller size, and add in SSD drives, expecially since you have the headroom budget wise. The end users will notice the speed difference. I have been adding SSD into some corporate builds lately, and am blown away by the responsiveness in applications and OS you get out of them. Just get a decent 60GB SSD for the OS, and maybe a main app or something.
Click to expand...

Actually, I wouldn't drop the 500GB hard drive to a smaller size at this point especially since a 320GB hard drive now costs almost the same price as the 500GB hard drives (shipped). And any drive that's less than 500GB in size is too old, too slow or too costly on a per-GB basis.
 
Standpoint said:
Since these are office PCs, and possibly don't have that much data storage needed, I would take the build mentioned earlier, drop the 500GB drive down to a smaller size, and add in SSD drives, expecially since you have the headroom budget wise. The end users will notice the speed difference. I have been adding SSD into some corporate builds lately, and am blown away by the responsiveness in applications and OS you get out of them. Just get a decent 60GB SSD for the OS, and maybe a main app or something.
Click to expand...

E4g1e said:
Actually, I wouldn't drop the 500GB hard drive to a smaller size at this point especially since a 320GB hard drive now costs almost the same price as the 500GB hard drives (shipped). And any drive that's less than 500GB in size is too old, too slow or too costly on a per-GB basis.
Click to expand...

^This. There is no harddrive under 500gb that is worth any money because the $55 500gb drives are the kings of price/performance right now. Although the SSD might not be a bad idea with the spare budget. But I don't think they need that for any of what they are doing. That would be purely if you had money you HAD to blow on the computers. I'd say save the $2k and put it toward something other than computers.
 
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