$500 pc build

[Harry Pickel]

Hi i am wondering if this is a good computer build for just surfing the web and doing taxes on. thanks any help is greatly appreciated.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/f7K4TW

 

[tiny voices]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($113.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H81M-S1 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($39.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial BX100 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($64.54 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply ($32.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHDS118-04 DVD/CD Drive ($13.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 OEM (64-bit) ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $450.47
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-20 13:54 EDT-0400

Better SSD and CPU for the same price. This would be a much better choice.

 

[p_nut_uk]

Seems ideal You could go cheaper with a small form factor build if you wanted? Maybe slightly slower but you probably wouldn't notice with an SSD. But if the money isn't a big issue for you then your build is ideal.

 

[GMDS44]

Great choice of components for what you want to do.
If there is anything I would change, it would be the motherboard. A cheaper h81 chipset motherboard might do the trick for your tasks. With the money you save, you could perhaps upgrade to 8GB of RAM. This will let you have more tabs open while browsing and have more programs open at once.

 

[tiny voices]

That Pentium is meant for one thing, overclocking. If you are not overclocking it, it is pointless to buy.

The build I posted costs the same and has a MUCH better CPU.

 

[BrADASS]

Hi i am wondering if this is a good computer build for just surfing the web and doing taxes on. thanks any help is greatly appreciated.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/f7K4TW

If you have no intention of gaming or ever upgrading to a discreet graphics card I would look into an AMD APU as these will have good graphics for watching video, movies, etc. They have a lot better integrated graphics than any intel offerings.
I chose the A8 7600 APU (which I am currently using), it offers great graphics performance that can be even be used for light gaming. I also upgraded the ram to 2x4gb at 2133mhz (APUs like high frequency).
Just my thoughts.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/8GrV8d
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/8GrV8d/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD A8-7600 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($78.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($50.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: A-Data Premier Pro SP600 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 OEM (64-bit) ($86.75 @ OutletPC)
Total: $430.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-20 14:03 EDT-0400

 

[geofelt]

Your build is fine and will work as is.
I might have some suggestions:

1. The integrated graphics is fine, but works better with faster ram. I suggest spending $10 more for a 2 x 2gb kit of 1866 ram.
Two sticks enables faster 2 channel operation.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231474

2. No need for a full sized ATX motherboard. Here is a less expensive M-ATX H97 motherboard.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157547

3. If you will use a M-ATX motherboard, you can use a smaller case. I like the Silverstone PS-07:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163186

4. 120gb may well be enough if you will not store much. But, I find that 120gb can fill up faster than you might want. See if you can't justify 240gb.
Samsung evo or Intel 730 would be my picks for quality.

5. Even with the stock cooler, look for about a 4.0 overclock with the G3258. That will be faster in most operations than any I3 you can buy.

 

[skitszo]

amd option.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD A8-7600 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($78.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-DS2H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($40.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($53.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.95 @ OutletPC)
Case: Azza SIRIUS ATX Mid Tower Case ($41.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) ($86.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $450.75
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-20 14:24 EDT-0400

 

[tiny voices]

^that SSD is completely junk. DO NOT buy it.

 

[skitszo]

humm.. gets a lot of reviews.. just went with reputation of posters. think they are paid trollers?

samsung is ideal but they all can't be bad.

 

[tiny voices]

They changed it like 6 months ago. It USED to be a good SSD but it now uses a crap controller. The V300 is about the worst SSD you can buy. DO NOT buy it.

 

[Harry Pickel]

i like all the feedback but i dont want to use that cheap of a motherboard and i want to stick with Intel for the cpu but everything else looks great thanks for the feedback guys

 

[BrADASS]

Out of curiosity, why do you want to use intel? IMO this seems like the perfect situation where an AMD APU would outperform intel on a daily use basis. (Yes, intels have greater processing power, but in your usage case you would see more of a benefit from the superior graphics in an apu).

 

[tiny voices]

Out of curiosity, why do you want to use intel? IMO this seems like the perfect situation where an AMD APU would outperform intel on a daily use basis. (Yes, intels have greater processing power, but in your usage case you would see more of a benefit from the superior graphics in an apu).

He won;t see that AT ALL because he is doing no gaming. He is using this for taxes and browsing. Computational tasks were intel stomps all over AMD.

This is EXACTLY the WRONG place for an AMD build and the right place for intel.

 

[skitszo]

taxes... ok...lol

 

[Harry Pickel]

i dont want to use amd because i built a gaming pc with a intel I7 4690k. i just love intel thats all

 

[tiny voices]

I would recommend the build I posted.

 

[BrADASS]

Do you actually think that the G3258 will "stomp" the A8 7600 in processing power?
A8 7600 has close to the same processing performance as the G3258, and better graphical performance. I provided a solution for the same cost using an A8 7600 with compatible MB (and upgraded ram) as his solution where I don't think there is any doubt that it will outperform the original system that was posted.
Also, APUs are all around chips, i.e. good for doing a little of everything you throw at it, like what browsing is. This is why I think APUs are meant for his usage case.

 

[tiny voices]

No. I'm speaking about the i3 build I posted. Sorry for being unclear.

APUs are meant for being able to play games on a budget. Nothing he can do with browsing will show any benefit to an APU at all over an i3. Sorry.

An i3 is the best CPU for his needs. hands down.

 

[geofelt]

This article compared a X4-860K to a G3258 for gaming.
Both were at stock and overclocked.
Note that the passmark for the X4-860K is slightly higher than the A8-7600, (5643 vs. 5201)
http://www.techspot.com/review/1017-best-budget-gaming-cpu/

But, the OP is not gaming, and any modern integrated graphics will perform as well as another for web browsing and HD video playback.
For such apps, more than 2 cores is not much help either.
The key component for such use to my mind is a good SSD.