what processor, power supply and how much ram for light computing?

sootysax · Jan 5, 2015

Hi,
I was asked to put together a build for a senior. This build will be mainly used for light tasks such as browsing, Skype, email, word processing etc. Small formfactor is a must so I'm going for an mini-ITX build.

I'm not at all experienced, so I'm not quite sure what processor, how much RAM and what power supply are best suited for this task.

I was thinking of an Intel Pentium G3258 on an ASRock H81M-ITX board together with 4 Gb or DDR3 1600MHz RAM. OS and data would be stored on a Samsung 840 EVO (120 Gb, since data storage won't be a lot). No GPU would be installed.

Does the Pentium suffice to run Windows 8.1 + tasks smoothly or should I go for an i3?
Is 4 Gb enough? I'm guessing RAM will be shared with the CPU for the graphics processing so maybe 8 would be a safer bet?
What power supply is suited to power this build efficiently without a lot of power consumption?

Budget is limited.
Thanks in advance!

flamefire999 · Jan 5, 2015

How much is your exact budget?
The i3 has about the same performance as the G3258. I would stick with what you have but get 8gb of RAM. Having 4gb is OK but for multitasking 8gb is much better.
You probably only need around 300w but I would get at least 500w. It's not much more and you can add in a GPU if you ever want to without problems.

sootysax · Jan 6, 2015

flamefire999 :

Thanks! The budget is about 400 euros.
I'm pretty sure no GPU will be added. Moreover, wouldn't a GPU that is a significant upgrade over the integrated graphics be bottlenecked by the pentium?
So without a GPU a power supply of 350 watts would be enough?

bicycle_repair_man · Jan 6, 2015

I recently built an HTPC with the following components:

MSI H81i mITX motherboard
Celeron G1820 processor
4GB Kingston HyperX RAM
Nvidia GT 610 graphics card
Sandisk 64GB SSD
BeQuiet Pure Power L8 350W PSU
Cooler Master 130 Elite case
Windows 7 Home Premium

The total cost of the build, including delivery was around £340, which shouldn't be far off your budget. A build such as that would suffice for basic use, and you could drop the GT 610 to save a bit more money. I only bought it because streaming HD video with the processor's integrated graphics wasn't completely smooth, and I prefer standalone components.

mdocod · Jan 6, 2015

I would advise the i3 over the pentium. The iGPU in the i3 is about 3X faster, which will have an impact on the perceived smoothness and responsiveness in modern desktop environments and applications, which leverage GPU draw calls for all sorts of interactivity, like scrolling, re-sizing, compisiting, etc.

The Pentium could be paired with a discrete GPU, that would work fine, but is not really cost effective when the i3 offers both better compute performance AND an ideal iGPU for this type of machine for less than you are going to pay for the Pentium+dGPU.

You can run an ITX i3 haswell rig on <100W pico PSUs and fit the whole package into a VESA-mount case.

Make sure to use a dual channel memory configuration if you are going to use an iGPU.....

----------

The build above posted by Bicycle repair man should have had no problems with 1080P playback with proper software side configuration. Default playback and post processing settings may not have been ideal for the Celeron especially if it is configured with a single channel of memory. The playback issues could have been solved with software side changes to better accommodate the hardware. Obviously, the price of the celeron + GT610 probably could have afforded an i3 on dual channel memory up front, which would support all the way up to 4K video playback without an issue.

sootysax · Jan 6, 2015

Thanks for the help!
Again, the computer would be used only for very basic tasks. The person I'm building for is a senior (85+, bless him

) who will be using the computer for Skype, emails, browsing, occasional Word processing and Solitaire

If an i3 is necessary for these tasks, then I will go that way but if that is the case, I can't imagine any use for a Pentium processor

There's no need for HD or 4K playback: they use their TV for that.

What do you think of this i3 build?
http://azerty.nl/winkelmandje/winkelmandje/?legen=1&product%5B683521%5D=1&product%5B641813%5D=1&product%5B634347%5D=1&product%5B681194%5D=1&product%5B553207%5D=1&product%5B476614%5D=1

A pentium build would be very similar, just replace the i3 with a G3258.

bicycle_repair_man · Jan 6, 2015

I'd say that an i3 is overkill, given that there's no requirement for stronger integrated graphics or use of Hyper Threading. A Pentium G3220 or Celeron G1820/1840 will be perfectly suitable for basic tasks, as would any dual-core, dual-thread Intel processor.

If performance is a concern, then an SSD will bring the biggest improvement. The 840 EVO in your build will do very nicely.

sootysax · Jan 6, 2015

bicycle_repair_man :

Thanks. Are you implying there isn't even a need for a G3258 and that I can go in the lower segment of the Pentiums/even Celerons, without significant performance loss in regard to the aforementioned tasks?

bicycle_repair_man · Jan 6, 2015

Absolutely, there's really no need to pay the extra money for an i3 when a Pentium or Celeron will do a fine job. The money saved can be spent on a larger SSD, which will have a much more beneficial impact on performance.

sootysax · Jan 6, 2015

bicycle_repair_man :

Thanks man!
Apparently the Pentiums are used regularly on HTPCs as well. I see some users reporting power supplies in the range of 75 to 150w that power those systems well. If that's the case, even 350w would be overkill and lead to unnecessary energy usage. What would be a recommended wattage for this build?

Apparently there are mini ITX cases as well that come with an external or a built-in power supply. Is this recommended? I'm kind of reluctant to this because when broken, I guess it would be harder to replace than a standard ATX power supply.

EDIT: I see @mdocod already stated that a power supply under 100w should be enough.

mdocod · Jan 6, 2015

If the budget has room for the i3, use the i3. There are useful differences in performance, especially in that iGPU, that WILL effect the GUI-environment-interactive performance of the machine, as well as video playback and Skype.

bicycle_repair_man · Jan 6, 2015

350W would be overkill, but you'll probably find that anything less than that will be of very poor quality. When I was shopping around, the only sub-350W PSUs I could find came from generic, unknown Chinese manufacturers.

Energy usage will still be the same regardless of whether you buy a 200W, 500W or 800W PSU. The key is that PSUs are at their most efficient between 50-60% load, assuming that the PSU has an efficiency rating in the first place (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum).

Personally, I wouldn't trust built-in PSUs, even if they are of the standard ATX size. The reason being is that they're generic, unknown brands and I wouldn't feel comfortable putting electricity through something I didn't trust.

bicycle_repair_man · Jan 6, 2015

The GUI responsiveness between an i3 and a Pentium/Celeron isn't cause for concern. HD video playback, yes, but not the GUI. If you want a fast, response GUI, buy an SSD.

Skype auto-negotiates the video quality depending on the available hardware and, primarily, Internet bandwidth. That's assuming that the video function will be used at all.

Personally, I don't think either of these are of much concern to the chap getting this PC, and therefore the i3 doesn't justify a price tag which is twice that of a G3220.

mdocod · Jan 6, 2015

Another way to look at it, is that the i3 will increase the cost of the machine less than 10% over the Pentium (after factoring in OS, monitor, keyboard, etc), yet will provide performance advantages of anywhere from 10-200% depending on the workload. From that perspective, the Pentium looks like a pretty bad value. In fact, this is almost always the case with ultra-cheap CPUs. You're going to have a bunch of costs to build this machine that will remain largely unchanged regardless of the CPU selected. By increasing the CPU/iGPU, you actually increase the value you are getting out of all of those other supporting components that have to be there anyway.

bicycle_repair_man · Jan 6, 2015

mdocod :

I don't understand, if you take the website linked in the OP's latest post, a G3220 is 50.90 EUR and the cheapest i3, the 4150, is 107.90 EUR. I understand what you mean about pound-for-pound performance, but for the PC's intended use, the i3 won't deliver twice as much performance over the G3220, despite it costing twice as much. Assuming that the other components remain the same, the OP can save themselves over 50 EUR.

mdocod · Jan 6, 2015

bicycle_repair_man :

You don't understand.

bicycle_repair_man · Jan 6, 2015

OK, I'm not going to escalate this further.

OP, all the information is there, so the choice is yours. In my opinion, the chap you're building this PC for won't benefit from an i3, and none of the other components in such a basic build will be bottlenecked by a Pentium or Celeron processor.

sootysax · Jan 7, 2015

bicycle_repair_man :

Thanks all! I'm currently leaning towards the Pentium because the PC will only be used for very, very basic tasks. Maybe my reasoning ain't scientifically correct, but if the Pentium won't be able to handle a little bit of browsing, emailing, Skyping etc., I really don't know why this processor would even exist in the first place

what processor, power supply and how much ram for light computing?

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