Basic $400 budget; no gaming; no rendering

CaptainCuidado

Honorable
Jan 24, 2014
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10,510
I've been mostly out of touch since I built my own i7 computer 4 years ago, and my dad wants me to help him build one for his own use to replace his laptop. So, I could use the help of some people who are up to date with the current tech.

Here is the best I could find so far: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2Erzr

It is needed only for very basic things, like web browsing, music listening, and watching high-res (1080p) video. No gaming or video rendering or anything heavy like that. We would like it to run at a comfortable, modern speed. A small to medium size case would be best. We do not need an ODD for everyday use; we have an external one for installing the operating system via USB port.

We would like to spend about $300-$400 for everything.

In my opinion, the most money should be spent on the CPU, and optional SSD, with everything else being of minimal monetary consequence. Intel or AMD are fine. Please feel free to make your own informed recommendations. If you can point to specific merchant deals, that would be very welcome, and appreciated.

Questions: Are these prices still good? Can better be done?

Is this a good SSD? I've done a little research and at this price point, there is mixed reception. I was looking at a Kingston drive for around the same price, and it had bad firmware recently. This A-Data drive has had reports of decreased performance over time, and sometimes running slowly out of the box.

Is this a good processor? More money is available to be budgeted towards it or the SSD.

Thanks for your help fellas.

-Cap
 
Solution
If he is just on the internet and stuff he doesnt really need an SSD.

Also puts you even below 300 dollars. You could then upgrade the processer to the A8 5600k. Would run faster. The integrated in the A8 is better as well iirc. That and then you can also give him 1866mhz ram.

So that would look something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A8-5600K 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($94.29 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI FM2-A75MA-E35 Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($59.79 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($83.99 @ Microcenter)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5"...

Heroesneverquit

Honorable
Feb 13, 2013
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10,810
If he is just on the internet and stuff he doesnt really need an SSD.

Also puts you even below 300 dollars. You could then upgrade the processer to the A8 5600k. Would run faster. The integrated in the A8 is better as well iirc. That and then you can also give him 1866mhz ram.

So that would look something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A8-5600K 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($94.29 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI FM2-A75MA-E35 Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($59.79 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($83.99 @ Microcenter)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.67 @ Amazon)
Case: Rosewill FBM-01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $352.72
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-24 19:14 EST-0500)

So you would get a better processer and graphics as well as faster and more RAM for still less money then having the SSD. The SSD really is a luxury item. I dont really see a need for it for a general user unless they just have money to spend which it seems you do not. I don't even really see a need for a 1tb drive either if all he is doing is what you said. I have plenty of games and movies and stuff on my PC thats about a year old and I am at like the 300gb mark or so out of 500. So that is another place you could save a little bit of money.
 
Solution