300 MAX Budget Office PC?

mccoolaustinm · Jul 15, 2013

Looking to produce 5 or 6 PCs at a range of $1500, not including software. That means each PC needs to be $300 or less.

The idea is to use a large external drive, already owned, connected to a router that allows it to be accessed by computers on the network, and which can be remotely accessed out of the office. (I don't know how secure this is, so if anyone has any alternative suggestions, please let me know.) I want to use a small SSD in each PC, as cheap as it gets while still providing a large performance increase over a mechanical drive. Even 32GB is enough, since its only for the OS and maybe some commonly used software (nothing big.)

Features:
-USB 3.0 NOT a requirement, only a commodity, as the external HDD will be on the network.
-SATA3 "might" be preferable, depending on the SSD. I don't know if at such a low price point you could see a difference between an SSD on SATA 2 or 3, even if the SSD was 3-compatible.
-The motherboard should have a 1000Mbps on-board chip instead of a 10/100 only, as the office network already has 150Mbps download.
-A CD Drive is NOT necessary, I already have 3 USB CD drives that can be used to install software.
-I'm considering the benefit of a low-end discrete GPU, whilst still keeping the budget under $300, that will fit in a Micro-ATX case. I don't know how much it helps but it provides more monitor connections and faster video if nothing else. I know the G1610 (just a CPU I chose after some Newegg surfing) has some integrated Intel HD, and these PC's are mostly for office productivity, but any leftover savings should go somewhere and possibly to this.
-One thing I would like is for a good quality case. Not large, but without lazily assembled front-panel covers and general sloppiness. USB 3.0 not necessary. At least one fan is necessary, but quiet. Some of these cases may be visible to customers from the lobby.
-Will be supporting Windows 7, extensive web browsing and occasionally web editing, MS Office work, and some Adobe software. This could be "overkill" but I have a higher budget.

Some low price-point parts I've found thus far:

Intel Celeron G1610: $50, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116889

4GB G.Skill 1333: $35 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231421

Rosewill R379-M: $50 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147098

SanDisk 32GB SSD: $50 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820171667

None of the choices above are final, just some parts I found while browsing.

quilciri · Jul 15, 2013

Make sure to turn down you page file setings and turn off hibernation, or the windows installed size will exceed you HDD capacity (assuming you're using win 7 64 bit).

A Network-attached HDD isn't particularly secure. I'd suggest installing the HDD in one of the computers and using remote software (PC-anywhere, VNC, etc). This will give you a bit more basic security (NTFS and windows firewall among other things.

Other than that, here's a build you can use as a starting point. I'm assuming you have a corporate license for win 7 and will not need to purchase seperate copies for each workstation (if you do need to buy retail version of the OS, use the min cost machine and add $80 to total cost per).

Minimum cost version:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A4-3400 2.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Biostar A55MLV Micro ATX FM1 Motherboard ($42.03 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($25.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Sandisk ReadyCache 32GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($39.99 @ Microcenter)
Case: Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case ($19.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($24.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $192.98
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

good luck!

smorizio · Jul 15, 2013

Newegg has DIY combo deals for 250. That using amd four core apu with case power supply and ram. Some have 500 g Sata hard drives.
There are even cheaper combos.
You may want to look into a server pc and office 365 for the office.
So that all of the work files are on one drive that gets back up. Lot of people use VMware on office pc or server set up so that every pc the same in the office and people can't drop software on the pc that non work needed.

mccoolaustinm · Jul 15, 2013

TheN00bBuilder :

I like the processor and other choices, but without the Win8 OEM included, I still have $90 left in that budget (I have a separate software budget.) Not only that, but I don't need a CD drive in each build; I forgot to specify that in the main post. I have three USB-connected CD drives that I can use to install software as needed, and most of the time that software will just be put on the network hard drive.

So really, that leaves as much as $100 unused per PC in the budget. I could build a sixth, but I'm sure with only four employees and soon to be five, five should be enough. What should I do with this, assuming the AMD processor and other low-cost deals you posted? Would it be worth my while to select a newer-gen motherboard? USB 3.0, SATA3, 1000Gbps Ethernet (I'm pretty sure the office has FiOS 150Mbps download, so 100Mbps on that board is a waste.) And with still more leftover, perhaps a low-end discrete GPU? I don't know what price point to reach for that fits within the budget and provides a solid advantage over the AMD integrated HD6410D.

mccoolaustinm · Jul 15, 2013

quilciri :

Thanks for the build. The only reason I defaulted to an Intel CPU is because, as a new builder, (4-5 times so far) that's all I've used, and have yet to have a bad experience.

About the hard drive: in order to put it in one of the machines and still have remote access, wouldn't the machine need to be left on 24/7? This HDD could contain customer-sensitive information, and so it NEEDS to be secure, backed-up, but still be conveniently accessible from all computers in the office with proper authentication, as well as remote-accessible from the home of the office manager.

In order to access the HDD on the router, doesn't someone need to input the network's password? I do know that the network is WPA2-AES encrypted. Is that not secure enough for my purposes?

quilciri · Jul 15, 2013

Was actually getting to an intel, max performance build

strongest performer:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-2120 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($111.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H61M-DGS Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($35.06 @ Amazon)
Storage: Sandisk ReadyCache 32GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($39.99 @ Microcenter)
Case: Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($24.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $287.00
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

Yes, the PC would need to be on 24/7. If customer information is going to be stored on the HDD, then I strongly recommend against attaching it directly to your router. If you're using a SOHO router/wireless AP/etc, then the HDD will be accessible by anyone with 20 minutes, a laptop, and ~$200 worth of equipment. MAC filtering would increase the cost/time necessary to access the drive, but can be inconvenient to maintain and still less secure than putting the drive in a PC.

mccoolaustinm · Jul 15, 2013

So, assuming I don't want to put the hard drive in a computer and leave it on all the time, what's another secure option? I suppose I could use an internet service, but I have never done this and don't know where to begin, what is secure, or how much it would cost to keep backed up and accessible as much as 200-300GB of data. Not only this, but with such a small SSD in each machine, I was planning to have a lot of the software be installed on that remote drive.

quilciri · Jul 15, 2013

Sorry, I missed that you didn't need an optical drive in the machines (corrected).

I was under the impression that the most common programs were going to be installed on the ssd? If you're putting much of the software on the HDD, that will undermine the benefit of the ssd. You'll really only receive the ssd's benefit in windows boot times. Is that what you want?

quilciri · Jul 15, 2013

Here's a significantly smaller case to use, though a bit more expensive.

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/rosewill-case-fbm01

mccoolaustinm · Jul 15, 2013

quilciri :

Well, a few programs might be a bit large to fit on there, namely some adobe software. I'll just fit what I can, and use the HDD as needed. Not every computer will need the same software as the others.

mccoolaustinm · Jul 15, 2013

So let's say I build a server, separate from these PCs, for hosting a website. Something I've never done before but can quickly learn. Can that same server be what contains the storage for the shared drive on the network? Can that drive be remotely accessed more easily? Can I make this solution secure enough?

And, final question, what kind of budget would I need for this? Hate the service that hosts the office's current website anyway.

quilciri · Jul 15, 2013

A web server is usually put outside the router, and is not particularly secure by design. Sorry to bear continuous doom and gloom, but the phrase "customer information" makes security a big concern.

I'd recommend a separate machine for a web server and using a machine that is slightly beefier than the $200 version of the office pc's to host the HDD (one of the cheaper 4 core AMD chips would do nicely). Can easily fit the internal server under $300 if it doesn't need to host more than half a dozen concurrent connections.

quilciri · Jul 15, 2013

What kind of load would you web server be handling? I.e. what kind of content would it be serving, and to how many concurrent users?

mccoolaustinm · Jul 15, 2013

The purpose of the website is to advertise the services to potential customers and provide information. It's unlikely that there would be many connections at once. The budget towards a separate machine acting as a server, and I just checked, could probably be up to around $600-700, including software. However, part of my goal is file-sharing between computers in the office and the possibility of a remote connection to the same files from a computer anywhere, but with a secure enough authentication to store customer information. Can I accomplish that in a single system within that budget?

quilciri · Jul 20, 2013

The issue is that a web server needs to be outside of your firewall, and anything with customer information on it should be inside your firewall (edit: actually, the web server doesn't *need* to be outside your firewall, but there are hoops to jump through if you want to put it inside).

Putting customer information on a web server is not recommended. If you put it outside the firewall, your customer information is insecure. if you put it inside the firewall, you'll need to open port 80 at the firewall. If you're using password based ssh for your web server and someone cracks it, he would have access to all hosts on that subnet (likely all the machines on your network).

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