CHEAP SYSTEM BUILD FOR Under Privileged FAMILIES

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Justin Seong

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May 9, 2013
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Hi I'm doing a project for my school where I'm trying to help under privileged families build computers for a very cheap price and building a high performance computer for my Schools administration and schools yearbook club. I have to get my own funding through fundraisers so I would appreciate if you guys can get help me build a computer with minimum funding. The requirements are
-The CPU must be from intel
-WINDOWS 7 os must be included.
-Graphics is required for the high performance computer whereas we'll be using intel graphics for the computers made for under privileged families. (we will try to run sli/crossfire)
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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You seem to be talking about two completely different system builds. 1 for under privileged families, and 1 for 'high performance computer'.

sli/crossfire will double the cost. Better motherboard + additional graphics card + bigger PSU.

Why is that needed?
 
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L

littleleo

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May 8, 2009
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You'd be better off buying refurbished computers from a non profit organization the makes computers for this purpose. They can buy 3 packs of Windows 7 for these refurbished computers for less the 1 copy of windows 7. Under privileged families don't need SLI/Crossfire just a basic computer. The biggest cost in providing computers to those that have never had them isn't the computers. It is teaching them how to use them. That is what has hurt these types of programs. I've seen time and time again fail because of the high cost of providing tech support for the most basic needs. You need to include a good tutorial and provide some very basic and easy to use programs, like open office. Good luck with your program it is a very good thing your trying to do. I got to ask you have thought about getting cheap tablets instead of computers?
 
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g-unit1111

g-unit1111

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This is the cheapest I could do for a build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A6-3650 2.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($77.34 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock A55 PRO3 ATX FM1 Motherboard ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($63.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($56.49 @ Outlet PC)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $357.78
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-13 19:21 EDT-0400)

Of course if you want Intel something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G2120 3.1GHz Dual-Core Processor ($76.87 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock B75M-DGS Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($60.55 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($63.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($56.49 @ Outlet PC)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.94 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $432.81
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-13 19:22 EDT-0400)
 
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T

Tabeeb

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Apr 7, 2013
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Why 8GB? For school I think 4GB should be more than sufficient.
 
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jwesley

jwesley

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Oct 12, 2012
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Limiting the CPU choice to Intel-only raises your costs, as an AMD A4-3300 costs about $38 and has better integrated graphics than a comparable Intel part. But, hey, it's your party. The Intel Celeron G1610 is a 2.6GHz chip with integrated graphics that is currently going for $42.99 on Amazon.com. Pair this with an ASRock H61M-DGS for another $45 and you've got the foundation for a budget build for under $90. Two gigs of Kingston RAM will add another $15. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/X4Fo
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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Admin and the yearbook club does not need SLI either.
 
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g-unit1111

g-unit1111

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For the APU you definitely need at least 8GB of fast RAM due to CPU and GPU being shared memory, but for the Intel rig you don't.

You'd be better off buying refurbished computers from a non profit organization the makes computers for this purpose. They can buy 3 packs of Windows 7 for these refurbished computers for less the 1 copy of windows 7. Under privileged families don't need SLI/Crossfire just a basic computer. The biggest cost in providing computers to those that have never had them isn't the computers. It is teaching them how to use them. That is what has hurt these types of programs. I've seen time and time again fail because of the high cost of providing tech support for the most basic needs. You need to include a good tutorial and provide some very basic and easy to use programs, like open office. Good luck with your program it is a very good thing your trying to do. I got to ask you have thought about getting cheap tablets instead of computers?
Click to expand...

Yeah I think this would be a better way to go because there are non profits out there that provide that service and refurbish computers and then sell them on the cheap.
 
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S

sahil

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May 12, 2006
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Nor does it need Intel, save your money go with the AMD build he posted almost $100 of savings.

 
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sahil

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May 12, 2006
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Nor does it need Intel, save your money go with the AMD build he posted almost $100 of savings.

 
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M

MOMOJOJO-1302146

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Apr 15, 2013
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G860 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($67.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ECS B75H2-M3(1.0) Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($43.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($29.83 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Antec VSK-3000 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec Basiq 350W ATX12V Power Supply ($29.14 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $350.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-13 21:50 EDT-0400)

This is a very basic intel build but yes it would be better to try finding a good deal on a pre-built one, but it might be a school project or something where they have to actually build a computer.

As for the high end ones, I have no idea why they need video cards especially more than 1. Definitely the admin and the yearbook too do not need dedicated video cards, in fact they could just as well use the same cheap build but they probably want something a bit faster.

 
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J

Justin Seong

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May 9, 2013
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the high performance computer goes for my school's adminstration/yearbook club/asb. They are constantly editing photos through photoshop and etc. whereas our school asb is constantly making videos and are all using 400$ laptops for video rendering.
 
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J

Justin Seong

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May 9, 2013
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Here is my answer to all your questions. First our school admin and yearbook work together. The students who edit these photos are running photoshop cs6 on a netbook. I would like to support them by making a computer where it can render photos fast enough and even edit videos for our school asb. Yes i have though about tablets but can a family really share a tablet together? The computer is to help the kids with homework, internet browsing, occasional gaming for the kids, writing documents, and basic home/student needs. Also i had experience with amd cpus. From my experience they are cheap for a reason, their efficiency and endurance does not last for even 1 year. This computers I am building are expected to last atleast 5 years. Also I have already made a video where my friend teaches the basic's on how to use windows and microsoft office. We made ourselves contact available so if they ever have problems they can contact us for help. As to g unit, that intel build is currently in consideration. We had something similar but it went a little over our budget. As for budget the cheap computers to be around 400-500$ whereas the high performance computer to be 1.2k
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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The students who edit these photos are running photoshop cs6 on a netbook. I would like to support them by making a computer where it can render photos fast enough and even edit videos for our school asb.

1. multiple copies of Photoshop (expensive) aren't needed. There are other, cheaper ways to do that
2. sli/crossfire still isn't needed
 
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J

Justin Seong

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May 9, 2013
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1. They bought it not me. Also not all of them have it. Some of them are running element.
2. Why would you say that?

 
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M

MOMOJOJO-1302146

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Apr 15, 2013
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The graphics are not as important when rendering photos and videos, sometimes there is slight benefit like in sony vegas but spending the money on sli and crossfire is ridiculous for the performance benefit. You are much better of getting a better cpu, and considering it is a school computer and not gaming, you shouldn't be spending that much in the actual build. You could save money from g-unit's build by only adding 4gb of ram which is plenty enough for office, and get a cheaper case. (the cpu he chose is better than the one I did but I was trying to make it as cheap as reasonably possible, but he is right in that area).
 
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g-unit1111

g-unit1111

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I can see why that claim was made because Adobe CS5 and CS6 licenses run like $2400 a seat. Photoshop by itself runs about $600 a seat, and acquiring it through non retail means is very illegal and Adobe goes after people who try to register serial numbers on unlicensed copies. You can use the more consumer oriented Element and that runs about $99 a seat.
 
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sleekz

sleekz

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Nov 9, 2012
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SLI/crossfiring is NOT price efficient. It's glitchy, not supported by some programs, and you're lucky if you get 70% out of the second card.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=27518187
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=22374985

edit:these are $800 and $1050 gaming builds. I'm annoyed with TomsHardware; this is the second Crossfire post in a row.
edit:if $400 for a low end A10-5800k build is too much, (that's without windows) you should be reconsidering the need for newer computers. you're not going to get much of an upgrade if you can't afford it.
 
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J

Justin Seong

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May 9, 2013
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10,510

Great solution for the 80$ computer. Would you recommend a ssd instead of the 7200 rpm? For the boot I mean.

 
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sleekz

sleekz

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Nov 9, 2012
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Yeah, it's always something to consider. It depends on how much storage you think you're going to need. I would recommend this if you decide you won't need tons of storage space. Windows 7 is about 25gb, and I'd expect you'll be using a couple of 5-10gb programs, and have room left over for maybe 40gb of files. It's up to you. How much room is being used on the computers these would replace, and how much of it actually gets used and needs to be there?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147188

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=30352828
 
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