~ $600 Business Workstation Build

[deedubbadoo]

Hello everyone! Lately I've been helping out a local firm here with their IT work. They were purchasing HP business desktops through a vendor and paying way too much for way too little. So I told them I could build them better machines with better components for cheaper. They loved the sound of that, and so far, I have built three machines for them but I'm looking for some advice. Here is the basic component list I use for them:

COOLER MASTER Centurion 541 RC-541-SKN1 Black Aluminum bezel, SECC chassis MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case $54.99
MSI 880GM-E41 AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard $69.99
AMD Athlon II X4 640 Propus 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor $99.99
G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory $59.99
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive $89.99
SAMSUNG Black Blu-ray Combo SATA Model SH-B123L LightScribe Support - OEM $59.99
Antec EarthWatts Green EA-380D Green 380W $39.99
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit - OEM $139.99

Total: $614.92

This pricing was from August of 2011, and all parts were purchased from Newegg. Obviously the Blu-ray is not a necessity, but one the first few it was. A standard $22 DVD+-RW would be sufficient. They don't need dedicated graphics, as these are simple work stations that don't do anything graphic intensive, and usually have a resolution of 1024 x 768, I know sad right...

My question is this, am I leaving performance on the table here with my pricing? I've been looking really hard at making the switch to the Intel i3-2100 series processors, as I'm sure they will outperform the X4 640 for another $20-$30. I guess I'm just trying to get a comparable Intel based build for around the same money ($600-$650) that will be a workhorse. They don't do anything intensive but speed is definitely key.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, I looking to build their next machine in the coming weeks, and am really leaning hard towards Intel.

Thanks in advance,

-Dom

 

[sosofm]

You can go cheaper with AMD Llano
Triple core : AMD A6-3500 Llano 2.1GHz (2.4GHz Max Turbo) Socket FM1 65W Triple-Core Desktop APU with DirectX 11 Graphic AMD Radeon HD 6530D
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103951 80$
AMD A6-3650 Llano 2.6GHz Socket FM1 100W Quad-Core Desktop APU with DirectX 11 Graphic AMD Radeon HD 6530D
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103943 110$
8GB RAM Team Elite 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820313086 37$
MOBO : GIGABYTE GA-A75M-S2V FM1 AMD A75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128516 65$ after rebates , or choose one of them http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007625%20600167117&IsNodeId=1&name=FM1
DVD-RW : LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk 24X
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289 18$
And you can keep the all other parts.

 

[alvine]

i dont think a workstation needs a 1tb drive for a workstation. the company should be saving their data on a shared server drive anyway

 

[Pezcore27]

Rosewill R103A Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with 350W 20+4 pin connector Power Supply - 39.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147010

Intel Core i3-2120 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor - 127.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115077

GIGABYTE GA-H61M-S2H LGA 1155 Intel H61 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - 69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128524&Tpk=S2H

Crucial 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory - 21.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148474

LG DVD Burner 24X DVD+R - 16.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136236

Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - 84.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148767

Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit - OEM - 139.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116992

TOTAL = $501.93 - 20.00 MIR = 481.93

This will give you a much faster system, for less.

The case and power supply will more than suffice for a business workstation and will be reliable. Rosewill makes good products. The processor, I upgraded to the 2120 as it is a 3.3 gig processor for only $3 more than the 2100. The motherboard will more than suffice for a business setting and capable of using the integrated HD2000 graphics from the processor. Ram is good basic cheap ram, same with the DVD Burner. Only thing I didnt know was how much Storage you needed, but with HD prices through the roof, you can always upgrade storage later.

 

[deedubbadoo]

i dont think a workstation needs a 1tb drive for a workstation. the company should be saving their data on a shared server drive anyway

Normally the hard drives are not that large but this particular build, the person also created welcome videos, which they converted to DVDs and sent to clients, plus storage was still cheap then!