Everyday Use PC for $500

yohan weir · Jan 24, 2014

So I need suggestions on a PC for everyday use. Black low profile case would be great. I need it to be pretty quit, and low profile. I would like an AMD A10 CPU, so no GPU, and a motherboard with wifi is important. Also i need atleast a Micro ATX or something small because its going in a desk. Optical drive is important, but i don't need blue ray. I want windows 8.1, so i want the whole thing to be 500 including windows. The opening i have on my desk is a vertical rectangle, it goes back about 18 inches, and is 9.5(horizontal) and 17(vertical) on the actual opening.(I hope that made sense). Finally, good cooling is important to me also.

pcgaming98 · Jan 24, 2014

So you're saying you want us to send you some suggestion PC builds or just the case?

zeyads3 · Jan 24, 2014

well of what i see, you don't need some specific pc, you can find one easily in dell or whatever brand sells pc

allocco91 · Jan 24, 2014

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling ACALP64-GT 25.6 CFM CPU Cooler ($8.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75M PRO4+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($74.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($76.50 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 250GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($33.94 @ Amazon)
Wireless Network Adapter: Edimax EW-7811Un 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter ($9.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone PS08B (Black) MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ TigerDirect)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit) ($94.98 @ OutletPC)
Other: AMD A8 7600 ($119.99)
Total: $490.35
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-24 17:40 EST-0500)

Wait until next week for the A8-7600 to come out. It beats the A10-6800K in some games.

photonboy · Jan 24, 2014

It's hard to understand what's best for you, because you say it "must be an A10" which sounds like you want more performance than most everyday users would need.

If you aren't gaming, and do basic web/e-mail etc it's not going to make much difference.

As for the AMD APU, again I'm not sure of your motivation. If CPU power is more important then maybe an INTEL i5 would be better.

*I'll help if I can, but it's hard to recommend a PARTS BUILD or pre-built model without understanding the PURPOSE of your computer.

pcgaming98 · Jan 24, 2014

Is this one good? http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Calvingreen17/saved/3xgm

It's about #400 but that's cause it's not including things like Monitor or a OS, cause I assume you either have one around or you might go with Linux.

AshyCFC · Jan 24, 2014

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2GXvO

there you go, you don't even need the CPU cooler yet you said you wanted nice cooling and it is a perfectly good value for money cooler.

how can you build someone a pc with a 250gb HDD these days? it's miniscule...

photonboy · Jan 24, 2014

$500 Pre-built: http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/asus-asus-m11bb-desktop-computer-amd-a10-6700-1tb-hdd-12gb-ram-windows-8-black-m11bb-ca007s/10268700.aspx?path=c4082a18aa444641af1bd3f62ef6a06den02

UPDATE: USA link ($530)-> http://www.bestbuy.com/site/essentio-desktop-8gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive/1681287.p?id=1219059643159&skuId=1681287&st=a10&cp=1&lp=1

Nice ASUS with 4.3/5 rating (32 reviews)

Main components:
- A10-6700
- 8GB RAM
- 1TB HDD
- DVD, card reader, keyboard, mouse
- Windows 8 (updates to 8.1)

*You are NOT going to be able to build one this good for $500.

AshyCFC · Jan 24, 2014

that looks like a perfectly good system for the OP photon.

photonboy · Jan 24, 2014

AshyCFC :

There is almost nothing else that fits his request (A10 APU, Windows 8, for $500). You certainly can't build one for that price.

I think it fits everything he wants, including the size.

PepitoTV · Jan 24, 2014

Here's another suggestion:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A10-6790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($109.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A88M-HD+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($82.05 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.67 @ Amazon)
Case: Silverstone PS08B (Black) MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($16.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit) ($94.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $493.64
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-24 18:00 EST-0500)

allocco91 · Jan 24, 2014

AshyCFC :

How can you criticize someone's build without knowing even a smidgen of application it's referring to?

As for the OEM build, I would prefer an APU has at least 1600 MHz RAM speed for the iGPU. But, then again, we don't know the application.

AshyCFC · Jan 24, 2014

I can criticise it quite easily, I don't understand any Home PC that is for say Office,General Use or even Gaming having such a small HDD when the price difference between the 250gb and 1tb is around double the price for four times the capacity is all, it's hardly as if having a 1TB HDD is "expensive" is it?

allocco91 · Jan 24, 2014

AshyCFC :

It's not expensive, but it was expensive enough to put me over his budget that I actually followed. It's 2014 and the motherboard you choose has no SATA III, USB 3.0, and only 2 DIMM slots? For an extra 20 something, was it that much? See what I'm saying.

photonboy · Jan 24, 2014

PepitoTV's build looks pretty good.

*You MUST get 2133MHz memory or you are losing GPU performance. There's simply no point in getting an A10 APU then losing performance. Unlike a regular GPU, the APU's GPU uses system RAM as VIDEO RAM. It actually scales quite linearly thus 1600MHz would lose about 25% of the performance.

Other:
I recommend getting the ANTEC VP-450 power supply instead. I did a lot of research after the Corsair CX430 blew up on me. Here's the review:
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Antec-VP450-Power-Supply-Review/1487/11

If you haven't build a PC before, here's a few tips:
a) update BIOS
b) MEMTEST www.memtest.org
c) *Make sure DDR3 memory is running at 2133MHz not lower
d) SATA to AHCI
e) motherboard support site (MAIN CHIPSET DRIVER, and other drivers needed here)
f) Fan Control software for CPU (motherboard support site) and possibly case fans

Conclusion:
I recommend the PepitoTV build. Great job. My ONLY change would be the power supply as I said. Again, get the 2133MHz DDR3 memory.

AshyCFC · Jan 24, 2014

allocco91 :

I see what you're saying and this can go on forever but here's something to consider. What will a basic home user consider more: not being able to have 4RAM sticks in the system, not having USB 3/SATA III or having 750gb more space. USB3/SATA III don't come into the priorities in build like this is all, in my opinion and that at the end of the day is what this is opinion.

p.s pepitotv's build is good just need to grab a wireless card, as for the PSU photon has used it so will know best.

allocco91 · Jan 24, 2014

photonboy :

Yeah, I mentioned something about that because the OEM you suggested had 1333. The power supply is only going to be supplying maybe 160 watts max from the wall, but the Antec would definitely be worth the extra reliability, if not the extra 20 bucks or so. Although I have a CX430 powering a Biostar with an Athlon 445, and I fortunately have yet to encounter any problems.

photonboy · Jan 25, 2014

allocco91,
You jogged my memory about APU's and DDR3 performance importance. It seems a shame they charge more for a better APU then cripple the performance with cheaper memory.

I didn't see the RAM speed listed but I guess it was there. It's academic as he's likely building his own.

Everyday Use PC for $500

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