Office Build for Dad

R

Rezion

n00b
Joined
May 23, 2007
Messages
51
Hey guys, I been really busy with school lately and haven't been keeping up with the new hardware, so I am in need of little help. My dad needs a new computer, since his 5-6 year old HP Desktop just isn't cutting it anymore.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Mainly office work, including web browsing, word editing, and some personal file storage (pictures, etc.)

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
As cheap as possible, 400-600 range and no more.

3) Where do you live?
Oregon

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Need: Everything but Monitor and a printer.

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

6) Will you be overclocking?
No

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
22" Widescreen, brand new.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
ASAP, he wants me to order parts within a couple days.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
Nothing fancy, just the basics that will keep him running for a few years without upgrades.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Yes, able to use XP, Vista, or Windows 7

Note: This does not need to be a real fancy build by any means, just his home PC for his work and personal files. He doesn't do anything graphic intensive, or multi-tasking. At the same time though, he wants it to last for what he does, for at least a few years without any major changes.

Thanks for any help/suggestions.
 
I think the AMD Athlon II X4 620 would be the best. I'm not sure about other stuff, but I'd definitely go with that CPU. You're not gonna find a better value than that. You plan on using the motherboard"s onboard graphics?
 
I haven't used on-board graphics in many, many years, how far has it come for average uses?
 
 
Just realized... most budget items such at the power supply, RAM, HDD, and that BD Drive, are all better then my higher end gaming system, since I haven't re-built in a couple years... Maybe I should clear out my computer, give it to him, and have him build me a computer and ill pay the difference lol.

By the way, thanks for the quick help, really appreciate it.
 
Last edited:
Yeah, but I ommited a dedicated graphics card. The AMD onboard GPU does really well, even allows light gaming, HTPC, and will power big displays.

I chose Caviar Black, for the HDD... that ain't budget. It's a high end line of HDD from Western Digital.

The PSU is from Seasonic... one of the highest end consumer PSU manufacturers.

The CPU, is a triple core, which benefits gaming more then most tasks, due to a larget cache size. You can go with Aaron11's selection, as it is a quad core, but it draws 30W more power, at most.

RAM, DDR3 is the way to go ! :)

BluRay, I chose that mostly because, why not? Might as well have this feature (depending on your monitor, as most BluRay is 'locked' and need newer monitors with special chips to run).

Good luck!
 
 
^^^ despite the fact I haven't had any experience with newer Seagate drives, it_shiro's build does include a case.
 
Id say that it sounds like a refurb Dell desktop would be perfect for dad.
Inspiron 540, C2D 2.93, 750gb sata HDD, 6gb DDR2, DVDRW and Vista 64bit for $529
They have lesser ones for $409
 
dbwillis said:
Id say that it sounds like a refurb Dell desktop would be perfect for dad.
Inspiron 540, C2D 2.93, 750gb sata HDD, 6gb DDR2, DVDRW and Vista 64bit for $529
They have lesser ones for $409
Click to expand...

Despite that truth, I'd definitely do this...

Rezion said:
Just realized... most budget items such at the power supply, RAM, HDD, and that BD Drive, are all better then my higher end gaming system, since I haven't re-built in a couple years... Maybe I should clear out my computer, give it to him, and have him build me a computer and ill pay the difference lol. ...
Click to expand...

So... what's your budget? :p Start off with shiro's build and upgrade from there, according to your needs and budget.

The new Seagate 'cuda 7200.12 and Samsung F3 500GB/1TB drives use 500GB-platters, making them faster than the 333GB-platter cav.blacks.
 
Figured I would take a swing.

89.99 GIGABYTE GA-MA785GMT-UD2H AM3 Motherboard
99.00 AMD Athlon II X4 620
59.95 Antec Three Hundred Black Steel Case
74.99 Antec TruePower New TP-550 550W PSU
69.99 4GB OCZ Gold DDR3-1066
54.99 500GB Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM HDD
29.99 Samsung Black 22X DVD Burner

TOTAL 478.90

Edit: If you would like a simple dedicated graphics card, you might consider this:

49.99 GIGABYTE Radeon 4550

TOTAL 528.89
 
Last edited:
You don't really need that much power for an office system. (Everything below comes with free ground shipipng.)

$79 - Antec NSK 4480 II ATX mid-tower case with Antec Earthwatts EA380 380W PSU
$134 - AMD Athlon II X2 250 & Gigabyte GA-MA785GM-US2H combo deal
$75 - A-DATA 2x2GB DDR2 800 dual channel kit
$55 - Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB HDD
$30 - Samsung SH-S223B SATA DVD burner
=====
$373 - Subtotal (not including taxes or rebates)

That said, have you tried looking at bargain hunting sites like gotapex.com or slickdeals.net for a pre-built system on sale?
 
tiraides said:
You don't really need that much power for an office system.
Click to expand...
That said, have you tried looking at bargain hunting sites like gotapex.com or slickdeals.net for a pre-built system on sale?
Click to expand...
Aw, tiraides, you're no fun at all! :D

True, you probably won't need much more than a Dell. But if Dad asked you to build it, and it's within a reasonable budget, why not? For a standard user, a rock solid, mild overbuild could last 7+ years with few issues, instead of the typical 2-or-so hassle-free years, followed by 2-or-so years of frustration with a pre-built, don't you think?
 
Still debating whether I have the spare money to upgrade myself, but it may turn out my dad just let me borrow the extra money, since he just sold his 2 spare vehicles and I helped him. I will let you guys know.Again, thanks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top