[SOLVED] Advice for Cheap Web Browsing Computer for my Elder Mother

[dpeel]

Last week a lightning surge took out my Mother's Desktop Computer I had fixed up for her from an old system of mine. I've got a case, power supply....need to buy a CPU, Motherboard and DDR4 Memory. I'm thinking about using a AMD Athlon 200GE which should eliminate the need for a dedicated graphics card and a Gigabyte GA-A320M-S2H Motherboard. I'd probably only put 8 gigs of DDR 4 in it as my mom will only be using it for web browsing, email, printing, etc.

Any advice or comments would be appreciated...trying to do this as cheaply as possible. I'll use the hard drive that's in the old system as it seems to be ok.

 

[Wolfshadw]

The problem that I'm seeing is that even the Athlon 200GE requires a BIOS update in order to be compatible with the motherboard. Otherwise, you're good to go with your thinking.

-Wolf sends

 

[dpeel]

That would be a problem

 

[punkncat]

I would totally be considering used SFF Dell Optiplex with Win 10 license on this one. $100 with a 4/5th gen i5 that would curb stomp the performance of that 200GE. They are REALLY poor performers.
Put a cheap leftover SSD in there and it should rock out.

 

[USAFRet]

Or, something like this laptop for $300
https://www.newegg.com/dell-e5440/p/N82E16834849337

 

[punkncat]

^ With the above said you would have to decide it it was right for you, but I have had exceptional good luck over the years getting refurbed a and b grade laptops from Newegg. Be wary of the ratings and reviews of "sold by" just as you would on Amazon and the like.

 

[dpeel]

I would totally be considering used SFF Dell Optiplex with Win 10 license on this one. $100 with a 4/5th gen i5 that would curb stomp the performance of that 200GE. They are REALLY poor performers.
Put a cheap leftover SSD in there and it should rock out.

Please tell me where I can look at this option.

 

[USAFRet]

^ With the above said you would have to decide it it was right for you, but I have had exceptional good luck over the years getting refurbed a and b grade laptops from Newegg. Be wary of the ratings and reviews of "sold by" just as you would on Amazon and the like.

Indeed.
I got burned with an OS license on a laptop I bought last year.
Newegg, and a 3rd party seller.

That's why the one I linked was "Sold by Newegg, Shipped by Newegg".

 

[punkncat]

Please tell me where I can look at this option.

Do an eBay search on (for instance) Optiplex 3020 SFF. Look around in the areas of 30xx, 70xx, 90xx as the model number, then the second set, like 10, 20, 30 is indication of the generation it's built on. Be sure to read the deets on it being a licensed copy of Win 10.

Edit, for instance, first return is $50 without Windows...$95 with.

 

[dpeel]

Well, I've looked at the Opitplex stuff and don't think that's the direction I want to go.

 

[Wolfshadw]

If you've already got the case, power supply and storage, then I'd probably recommend the following:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 3200G 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($87.99 @ B&H)
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Best Buy)
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($31.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $234.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-27 21:29 EDT-0400

Note that the processor is only $15 more expensive than the Athlon 200GE and going with the MSI B450 "Max" series, there's no need for a BIOS update.

-Wolf sends

 

[dpeel]

If you've already got the case, power supply and storage, then I'd probably recommend the following:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 3200G 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($87.99 @ B&H)
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Best Buy)
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($31.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $234.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-27 21:29 EDT-0400

Note that the processor is only $15 more expensive than the Athlon 200GE and going with the MSI B450 "Max" series, there's no need for a BIOS update.

-Wolf sends

Looks pretty good. A little more than I was hoping to spend but looks like it's worth it. Do you know off hand if the motherboard bios would have to be upgraded for this cpu?

 

[Wolfshadw]

Looks pretty good. A little more than I was hoping to spend but looks like it's worth it. Do you know off hand if the motherboard bios would have to be upgraded for this cpu?

and going with the MSI B450 "Max" series, there's no need for a BIOS update.

-Wolf sends

 

[dpeel]

-Wolf sends

? Why wouldn't it need bios updates? I would suppose that the CPU is old enough that this board would recognize it? Just found a CPU compatibility chart and the CPU is listed. I'm getting ready to order the parts and I thank you for your input.

 

[Wolfshadw]

The "Max" series of MSI boards were released with the 3rd generation Ryzen processors in mind. They already have the necessary BIOS installed to accept them.

-Wolf sends

 

[dpeel]

? Why wouldn't it need bios updates? I would suppose that the CPU is old enough that this board would recognize it? Just found a CPU compatibility chart and the CPU is listed. I'm getting ready to order the parts and I thank you for your input.

Just ran into a problem....the motherboard isn't in stock after all.

 

[Wolfshadw]

Seems that is the case.

Given you're already over budget and the next lowest priced motherboard is $100 more expensive (if it's in stock), I'd say either hold off on this or go in another direction.

-Wolf sends

 

[dpeel]

Seems that is the case.

Given you're already over budget and the next lowest priced motherboard is $100 more expensive (if it's in stock), I'd say either hold off on this or go in another direction.

-Wolf sends

yes...that's my observation at this point. I would be willing to buy a used AM4 Motherboard from someone who has the ability to flash the bios to the latest so the cpu would be recognized by the cpu.

 

[Wolfshadw]

See if a local PC shop in your area has any. I'm sure if you asked, they'd perform the update for you, especially if you purchased the components from them.

-Wolf sends

 

[Flayed]

You could always go Intel:
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i3-10100 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($129.99 @ B&H)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B460M DS3H Micro ATX LGA1200 Motherboard ($79.98 @ Amazon)
Memory: Patriot Viper Elite 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-2666 CL16 Memory ($38.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $248.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-28 07:54 EDT-0400

 

[dpeel]

If you've already got the case, power supply and storage, then I'd probably recommend the following:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 3200G 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($87.99 @ B&H)
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Best Buy)
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($31.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $234.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-27 21:29 EDT-0400

Note that the processor is only $15 more expensive than the Athlon 200GE and going with the MSI B450 "Max" series, there's no need for a BIOS update.

-Wolf sends

Well, I decided to buy these parts....I had to pay slightly more ....got the cpu from Best Buy and the MB and Memory from Newegg. I also decided to buy a 500GB WD SATA SSD as the old hard drive probably needed to be retired. I'm looking forward to putting this together for my 91 year old mother. She already misses having her computer.

 

[dpeel]

Received the motherboard and ram from Newegg yesterday and put it together. Works fine and taking it to my 91 year old mother this afternoon. Thanks for your help.