Small office, dual screen

[lxgoldsmith]

hi again, I built my first pc and it came out great, and now I would like to build a pc for my dad, who runs a small business. He asked for a dual screen system to replace one of his old dell computers, which happen to be really bad for his office. I would like to make him a nice, cheap, effective build, but I want to use the same motherboard that I used for my first pc.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qL1F

Approximate Purchase Date: 2 weeks before christmas at the latest

Budget Range: $1000 after rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: 1. intensely used office pc (domain network), 2. Lord of Ultima (hobby)

Are you buying a monitor: 2x monitors


Parts to Upgrade: all

Do you need to buy OS: Yes, but I don't know if a business man would be ok with adapting to a new os, as he is still getting a hold of windows 7 on his laptop (jumped from win xp to a new laptop)

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg, Amazon, Tigerdirect, and any trusted websites or stores

Location: Fort Myers, FL, U.S.

Parts Preferences: I like intel + gigabyte, but anything will work if it's cost effective

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: not necessary, but the option would be nice

Your Monitor Resolution: 1600x900 preferably, same as current res.

Additional Comments: I can't get a case that is made to look cool, it needs to look professional, Within this range the ones that are similar to the cm elite 430 would work, but it needs some good features. Ram is vital, I checked his system cache, and it was more than twice his 4gb in an x82 system

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: experience with computers, my dad needs a good computer to work on, beating out dell in price/value always feels good, doesn't it?

Thanks.

 

[TheBigTroll]

get this. windows 8 is going to confuse the heck out of your dad if he is just getting used to windows 7

 

[TheBigTroll]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qLIh

no need for extra fans and all that. the case has it all and is a very good deal. usually 100 dollars

i used a different motherboard. saves you money for features that you dont use

also used a 1080p monitor. more pixels and isnt that much more

the samsung 830 is a good bit faster than the m4 and better overall. same price so why not

 

[jmsellars1]

The big tower case with LED fans and an i5 shouldn't be necessary. I'd go with an i3 since it will still be better than pretty much any laptop while consuming less power than the i5.

I doubt that 16GB RAM will be necessary, I would suggest going with 8GB for a bit and upgrading to 16GB if necessary.

I would definitely get Windows 7. Seems more business oriented than Windows 8, also your Dad has experience with 7. 8 is very different (I believe)

You could try this for a more suitable office PC.

i3-3225
2x4GB Corsair Vengeance LP 1600Mhz 1.5v C9
GIGABYTE GA-H77M-D3H
Samsung 840 Series 250GB
SeaSonic SSR-360GP 360W
Arctic Alpine 11 Pro Rev 2
Fractal Design Core 1000
2 x Acer B233HLJbmdh Black 23"
Samsung DVD Burner
Windows 7 Pro 64 Bit

Comes to about the same price. First thing I would do with that is remove the case fan, it will be noisy and unnecessary for a PC that only has a 55W CPU.

On the surface you will see that you lose 2 cores and 8GB of RAM along with 6GB of storage. But the bonus's are:

- Lower power consumption
- Faster and equally reliable SSD
- Much better integrated graphics (just for the sake of balance really)
- Smaller case
- Higher quality PSU with better efficiency and what is probably a quieter fan
- Larger 1080P monitors with tilt, swivel and height adjustments

Be sure to remove the case fan and this will be inaudible.

 

[lxgoldsmith]

The big tower case with LED fans and an i5 shouldn't be necessary. I'd go with an i3 since it will still be better than pretty much any laptop while consuming less power than the i5.

I doubt that 16GB RAM will be necessary, I would suggest going with 8GB for a bit and upgrading to 16GB if necessary.

I would definitely get Windows 7. Seems more business oriented than Windows 8, also your Dad has experience with 7. 8 is very different (I believe)

You could try this for a more suitable office PC.

i3-3225
2x4GB Corsair Vengeance LP 1600Mhz 1.5v C9
GIGABYTE GA-H77M-D3H
Samsung 840 Series 250GB
SeaSonic SSR-360GP 360W
Arctic Alpine 11 Pro Rev 2
Fractal Design Core 1000
2 x Acer B233HLJbmdh Black 23"
Samsung DVD Burner
Windows 7 Pro 64 Bit

Comes to about the same price. First thing I would do with that is remove the case fan, it will be noisy and unnecessary for a PC that only has a 55W CPU.

On the surface you will see that you lose 2 cores and 8GB of RAM along with 6GB of storage. But the bonus's are:

- Lower power consumption
- Faster and equally reliable SSD
- Much better integrated graphics (just for the sake of balance really)
- Smaller case
- Higher quality PSU with better efficiency and what is probably a quieter fan
- Larger 1080P monitors with tilt, swivel and height adjustments

Be sure to remove the case fan and this will be inaudible.

4 cores will be necessary for a good amount of multitasking, power consumption is not an issue, and 16GB will be necessary for having many modern applications open at the same time + future app capabilities.

why are the integrated graphics better?

I have 2 cm sickleflow fans in my case right now and they do a good job with a very minor noise difference.

 

[jmsellars1]

Fair enough, it's up to you.

The i3-3225 has HD 4000 instead of HD 2500.

EDIT: A quiet build with adjustable monitors is definitely worth considering though.

 

[TheBigTroll]

i wouldnt touch a 840 non pro SSD. uses usb quality flash and only has 1000 write cycles. not suitable for intensive write apps

i dont find hd4000 graphics that useful if you are not going to game with it. flash games are easily played on both

 

[DarkSable]

Faster and equally reliable SSD

Yeah... no. The 830s are actually more reliable, AND a fair bit faster, than the 840 series. The only way to upgrade is to go to an 840 pro.

 

[Guest]

i'll jump on the i3 w/8gbs of RAM bandwagon . .i had an i3 2120 and was able to have 15 documents open and editing in dreamweaver, photoshopping images, with IE8, chrome, firefox and safari running along with having both word and outlook going. never hiccuped and didn't see more than 5 gigs of RAM being used.

i only upgraded to an i5 for video editing in premiere pro and to screw around with a few VMs.

so unless your dad is professionally video editing or having to run a virtual machine an i5 with 16 gigs is not nesessary now or in the near future; you could seriously save over $100+ to spend on a nicer case with a B75 motherboard also.

 

[jmsellars1]

Yeah... no. The 830s are actually more reliable, AND a fair bit faster, than the 840 series. The only way to upgrade is to go to an 840 pro.

I meant compared to the Crucial M4.

 

[twelve25]

I Like having a quad core in office machines. If he is using more than 4GB of RAM, he's probably like me with 40+ windows open half the time. Quad core just makes it always smooth as glass with no delays. i3 is fine, but with a $1000 budget, why compromise for $50-75?

I'd do a microATX slim case, H77 or b75 board, ivy i5, 16GB of RAM (it's cheap, why not) and a 256GB SSD (intel, samsung or crucial for reliability) and Windows 7 pro (although give him the option of 8 just in case he wants it). People can argue brands and models, but they don't really make that much difference in the end.

 

[Guest]

I Like having a quad core in office machines. If he is using more than 4GB of RAM, he's probably like me with 40+ windows open half the time. Quad core just makes it always smooth as glass with no delays. i3 is fine, but with a $1000 budget, why compromise for $50-75?

most offices i walk into still have pentium D :lol:

i just "upgraded" myself and for 80% of what i do i sit in front of my monitors and wonder why i bothered spending the money. there is no compromise except in a few benchmarks but not in real world usage. having 1K to spend isn't the point; why bother spending $50-$75 more when its not needed?

if the money is there, then spend it on a back up strategy.

 

[twelve25]

Hey, I already gave my opinion based on experience, you've got yours. I'd still pick i5 when it's an option. I agree i3 is a very solid CPU, though.

Honestly, I don't think I'd home-brew an office PC anyway, especially for my relatives. Nightmare waiting to happen when "your" computer costs him a day of work and you couldn't come fix it right now.

Get him a dell or hp with a support contract and sleep easy.

 

[lxgoldsmith]

I have already thought of these subjects, and I am pretty sure I would like to stick with minimalized storage, increased RAM, and to be sure to use the i5 3470 or 3570.
My dad runs a small accounting business, where he multitasks heavily and needs to avoid as many customer service calls as possible.

If he uses dell again, they will rip him off and give him bad customer service when it breaks down each month. I go to my dad's office every day after school, and after high school 2 years from now, I will be pretty sure I configured the machines correctly. If not, I can come back for one of the family birthday parties.

 

[Guest]

well, if your mind is made up . . why are you asking?

go for it because you obviously will no matter what your told.


cheers.

 

[lxgoldsmith]

I wanted some suggestions on a better case, and I needed some assurance that I had chosen a good combination of parts befitting this situation. I liked the suggested fractal design case before the price jumped again.

I have switched to windows 7, but I went with pro, as it is a client/domain network and may need to back up to the network, aka the server

 

[lxgoldsmith]

Best answer selected by lxgoldsmith.