$250-350 PC for my family

[Novis Naoom]

Hello,

I want to build a PC for my family because their computer is very old. Here is what I need:

Approximate Purchase Date: this month

Budget Range: $250-350

System Usage from Most to Least Important: 1. Internet 2. Microsoft Office 3. Watching movies (.mkv files 10-30gb in size) *No gaming*

Are you buying a monitor: No, just bought them a Asus VS238H-P

Do you need to buy OS: No, my University has Windows 7 at a great price

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Amazon, Newegg, anything from the U.S. really

Location: San Diego, CA

Parts Preferences: Intel or AMD, doesn't matter. The Phenom II X4 965 seems nice, but may be overkill I think.

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080. Will also be hooked up occasionally to a 37" LED TV with the same resolution.

Additional Comments: I would prefer a minimum of 4gb of ram. I have no preference for anything else.

Also, this will be my first build so please list everything I would need.

Thanks in advance.

 

[g-unit1111]

Can't be done for that budget with RAM and HD prices as volatile as they are. If you can increase your budget to $400 - $450 I would suggest something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G2120 3.1GHz Dual-Core Processor ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($73.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($63.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($47.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($70.17 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $514.08
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-23 22:12 EDT-0400)

Or you could do this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A10-5700 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($128.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75 Pro4-M Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($63.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($47.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($70.17 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $454.10
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-23 22:39 EDT-0400)

 

[hang-the-9]

Get a used system from Lenovo or some other maker, you will be able to find a fast dual-core for about $150 or an i3 or i5 with plenty of RAM in the $250-300 range.