Need suggestions for office computer

[color-blind]

Please help me design a computer for my office. This computer will be for office use only and no gaming. Basically I want it to be fast and be able to run multiple applications. I tend to have 6-10 programs running at the same time and my current P4 3.0 single core is not quite able to handle everything. I would like to use an Intel dual core processor with the idea that in a few years upgrade to core duo. I would like to overclock it a little and do not want to water cool. What motherboard would work best? In the past I've used Asus and have been very pleased. I have an Antec case and windows xp pro. I was planning on going with 2gig of ram. I don't store much on site so I do not need a very large hard drive. So please help with the following: I would like to keep the budget around $500 yet will go to 1,000 if necessary, thanks for the help.

Processor-?
Motherboard-?
Power supply-?
Memory -?
Video card-?
Optical drive-?

 

[alpine_sc]

E6300 Core 2 Duo - $230 @Tigerdirect

Gigabyte DS3 - $150 @Newegg

Antec Smartpower 2 500 W -$70 @Newegg

OCZ 2GB DDR2-800 4-5-4-15 - $166

I'm not sure about low end video cards so I'll just say $50

Optical Drive depends on what you want to do so I'll just say $30

Total = $696

 

[aj6065]

Please help me design a computer for my office. This computer will be for office use only and no gaming. Basically I want it to be fast and be able to run multiple applications. I tend to have 6-10 programs running at the same time and my current P4 3.0 single core is not quite able to handle everything. I would like to use an Intel dual core processor with the idea that in a few years upgrade to core duo. I would like to overclock it a little and do not want to water cool. What motherboard would work best? In the past I've used Asus and have been very pleased. I have an Antec case and windows xp pro. I was planning on going with 2gig of ram. I don't store much on site so I do not need a very large hard drive. So please help with the following: I would like to keep the budget around $500 yet will go to 1,000 if necessary, thanks for the help.

Processor-?
Motherboard-?
Power supply-?
Memory -?
Video card-?
Optical drive-?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813121035 $120 Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104953 $42 PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145098 $160 RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102455 $49 GPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827151118 $31 DVD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819116001 $97 CPU

Total is $499 without hard drive. Total would be $558 with this nice hard drive Seagate Barracuda Sata 2 160gb
You can easily move up to a Core 2 Duo anytime you want, and in the meantime the really cheap Pentium D 805 should suffice.

If you still want to overclock you can get this motherboard for $30 more. Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3. It doesn't have as many good reviews as the Intel I originally picked, but you will need it if you overclock, and it has RAID, if that is important to you.

 

[notquitehere188]

i would reccomend integrated graphics if you are not playing games...at least, i assume i would, i have not done enough research to know if it is really cheaper

the other thing to note is that generally you can get a better deal on cheap systems if you go with one of the big PC builders, i reccomend checking what they have at a nearby futureshop. they wont oc much, but theyre cheap

 

[alpine_sc]

i would reccomend integrated graphics if you are not playing games

I don't think there are motherboards out there that support Core 2 Duo and have integrated graphics.

 

[aristotelus]

A P4 3.0 GHz single core not able to run office programs.....not even 7 at the same time...


What did you do to it....???


One of the computers here is a oldie P3 733 and it still runs any office app smoothly.....yes on xp.....and yes.....even office 2007 beta runs just fine.
The system uses 256 Mb of sdram and will "multitask".



Just be honest.....daddy just wants a new toy heh.....?

 

[color-blind]

Yes, Daddy does want a new toy. Seriously though I currently have 8 computers networked and it is time to update some of them. The fastet one is the P4 and you are correct its performance is adequate. The windows 98 computer will be the first to be replaced.

 

[aristotelus]

I knew it!!


Ok, for 500 + dollars i think in your case i would do the following.
(I use euro's here but found out that comp. products are most of time same in dollars as in euro's aka....we pay more...lol)

(prices rounded)

Asus M2N-E $100
AMD X2 3800 $150
Corsair 2x512 DDR2 800(twinx) $150
Asus 7300 GS $90
A brand PSU with 24 pin atx connector $80

$570

And just put these parts as replacement in any of the atx cases (the win 98 machine i assume is atx casing?)


With this....daddy would have a nice new toy.....