Need help with $400ish build (for father in law)

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Fr33Th1nk3r

Fr33Th1nk3r

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Feb 22, 2014
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I'm trying to build a computer for my father in law, he's got a dinosaur with Windows XP and its dying out on him. Unfortunately he can't afford to buy anything. I gave him my old HP with a core 2 duo, but its just as bad and overheats. So I want to build him a computer that he can play his face book games and watch HD movies on and store pictures and videos of his grand kids.

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/user/Fr33Th1nk3r/saved/3XkU
I do also have a HD5870, but am not sure if its just too old.

Sans peripherals I need to see if I can shave anything off without sacrificing performance. Willing to go Intel or AMD. But want to build something that will last him a couple years and run windows 8.1.
 
Solution
HiTechObsessed
Agreed. The 41XX series from AMD is horridly slow for normal compute tasks.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($136.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: ASRock B85M-HDS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($73.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($45.48 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Toshiba 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($62.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: Rosewill FBM-02 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($41.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Power Supply: Antec Basiq 350W ATX Power Supply ($43.98 @ Newegg Canada)...
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tiny voices

tiny voices

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Sep 6, 2012
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($124.99 @ Canada Computers)
Motherboard: MSI B85M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($64.99 @ Memory Express)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.99 @ NCIX)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ DirectCanada)
Case: Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case ($42.13 @ DirectCanada)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ NCIX)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.50 @ Vuugo)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.99 @ NCIX)
Monitor: Asus VS239H-P 23.0" Monitor (Purchased For $200.00)
Keyboard: Logitech K120 Wired Standard Keyboard ($11.24 @ DirectCanada)
Mouse: Targus PAUM01U Wired Optical Mouse ($24.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Total: $756.80
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-06 10:29 EST-0500)

This is a much better option. Even 8gb RAM is more than he needs. 4gb would be more than enough.
 
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HiTechObsessed

HiTechObsessed

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Dec 3, 2013
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Agreed. The 41XX series from AMD is horridly slow for normal compute tasks.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($136.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: ASRock B85M-HDS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($73.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($45.48 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Toshiba 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($62.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: Rosewill FBM-02 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($41.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Power Supply: Antec Basiq 350W ATX Power Supply ($43.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/RSBS DVD/CD Writer ($24.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Total: $430.36
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-06 10:33 EST-0500)
 
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Solution
R

rajangel

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Aug 15, 2009
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Have you thought about linux? I mean, it would cut an extra 100 off your build. Ubuntu could really do everything you are asking for. Steam supports linux and there are dozens of games in the Humble Store. Also, that card is overkill. Have you considered an AMD apu? It would shave your power usage down and you could probably buy a cheaper PSU.

Your other option is an i3, but the apu's offer just a little better graphic capabilities. From what you are saying you won't need something that is processor heavy.
 
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Fr33Th1nk3r

Fr33Th1nk3r

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Thank you That'll do nicely

 
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CaedenV

CaedenV

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A core2duo is perfectly fine for most FB content. If it is overheating then reapply some fresh thermal paste, or replace the CPU cooler. Toss a cheap $50-100 GPU in there, and an SSD for the system drive and it will run like a new machine. Should have no problem running win7 or win8 (or win9 this fall/next spring)

Also, while I am a huge proponent of building your own systems, you really need to ask yourself what this is being used for, and if it is worth the time and effort to build the system yourself, or to get something premade. At the $400 price point and below you can certainly build yourself something a little more powerful than an HP or Dell... but what are you really saving? How much time and effort will you be spending on hunting down parts, building it, setting everything up, and supporting it down the road? You would end up saving what... $50? $100? maybe $200 if you find parts on sale? And then they are going to be bottom-barrel parts, so the likelihood of failures rise. When it comes to cheap PCs the OEMs can typically build a smaller, quieter, less power hungry computer, and offer support if anything goes wrong with it much better than you or I could as an individual or small business.
If you are building something that will constantly have parts upgraded, or you get into the $500+ budget range, or if you have a specialty use for the machine (gaming, content creation, etc.) then absolutely build your own system... but this is for web browsing, email, and facebook... most 10 year old computers can do that just fine, and the hardware requirements for that kind of workload are not going to be changing any time soon.

If you are absolutely set on building your own cheap computer, then look into a NUC or other partially built systems. They come in nice small form factors that you mount to the back of your monitor, and can forget about for 5-10 years. Just add some ram, a HDD/SSD, and an OS and you are all set with a minimal amount of fuss.
 
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Fr33Th1nk3r

Fr33Th1nk3r

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Feb 22, 2014
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Yea but this is for my wife's dad. He's an old electritian, but knows jack about computer software. Linux and Ubuntu are a tad bit over his head bless his heart.

 
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