Question Best build for a teacher

[aocon62]

My mother is teacher, and complains about how slow her laptop is, and it is really slow. I want to build her a pc that would be nice and fast for basic things like standard office work, emails, etc. I only want to spend no more than 300 USD. Any good suggestions? I would hope to fit a ssd on it, but i don't think i have the budget. Thanks.

 

[kanewolf]

A factory refurb Dell. Usually around $350 for a recent i3 or i5, 8gb RAM and an HDD. Includes legal Windows license.

 

[richiestang_78]

Yeah for 300 its pretty much impossible to beat a prebuilt. Look around for a Dell or HP, sometimes they have really good sales where you can get fairly new i7 setups.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

You could buy a refurbished pc, but if you are willing to build you can also some good performance.
You most certainly can get an SSD in that budget.
PCPartPicker Part List

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Processor | $86.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard | ASRock - B450M-HDV R4.0 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard | $64.89 @ OutletPC
Memory | G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory | $45.99 @ Newegg Business
Storage | Team - MS30 256 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive | $28.99 @ Newegg
Case | Thermaltake - Versa H15 MicroATX Mid Tower Case | $32.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply | Corsair - CXM (2015) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply | $42.98 @ Newegg
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $327.83
| Mail-in rebates | -$25.00
| Total | $302.83
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-06-04 20:37 EDT-0400 |
This includes an M.2 SATA SSD with 256GB of capacity. It is large enough for Windows and a good bit of programs, but you could add an extra hard drive if you wish.
The stock cooler with this processor is very quiet. The case is a smaller Micro-ATX tower which is convenient aswell.

This setup will do general web browsing, document typing, and youtube playback great.
This APU has strong performance and graphics which can even play a lot of esports games at 1080p or playback 4k video no problem.

 

[kanewolf]

You could buy a refurbished pc, but if you are willing to build you can also some good performance.
You most certainly can get an SSD in that budget.
PCPartPicker Part List

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Processor | $86.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard | ASRock - B450M-HDV R4.0 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard | $64.89 @ OutletPC
Memory | G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory | $45.99 @ Newegg Business
Storage | Team - MS30 256 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive | $28.99 @ Newegg
Case | Thermaltake - Versa H15 MicroATX Mid Tower Case | $32.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply | Corsair - CXM (2015) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply | $42.98 @ Newegg
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $327.83
| Mail-in rebates | -$25.00
| Total | $302.83
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-06-04 20:37 EDT-0400 |
This includes an M.2 SATA SSD with 256GB of capacity. It is large enough for Windows and a good bit of programs, but you could add an extra hard drive if you wish.
The stock cooler with this processor is very quiet. The case is a smaller Micro-ATX tower which is convenient aswell.

This setup will do general web browsing, document typing, and youtube playback great.
This APU has strong performance and graphics which can even play a lot of esports games at 1080p or playback 4k video no problem.

It does NOT include a full license for windows. That is $100 additional. That is why a Dell refurb is impossible to beat.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

That is very true, and I did say you could buy refurbished.
Cheap bulk windows keys exist for just a few dollars online.

If she is a teacher, is there a possibility you could get an educator discount on a key through her school?

 

[kanewolf]

That is very true, and I did say you could buy refurbished.
Cheap bulk windows keys exist for just a few dollars online.

If she is a teacher, is there a possibility you could get an educator discount on a key through her school.

An educational copy is definitely a possibility. I would never recommend second source keys to anyone, especially for a "mom" build.

 

[hang-the-9]

My mother is teacher, and complains about how slow her laptop is, and it is really slow. I want to build her a pc that would be nice and fast for basic things like standard office work, emails, etc. I only want to spend no more than 300 USD. Any good suggestions? I would hope to fit a ssd on it, but i don't think i have the budget. Thanks.

What is the brand and model of the laptop? Unless it's some cheap low end thing, the issue may not be the hardware, or it may be something easily up-gradable. Are you sure she is OK with having a desktop computer or does she need to be more portable about where she works?

 

[SgtScream]

Is your mom going to use this pc at the school or residence? Usually schools have an IT department that are around to help with any issue she's having at the school.

 

[ConanLock]

My opinion might be unpopular as it is Socket 775... but hear me out if you may (and UK prices are used btw)
Get an LGA775 prebuilt that supports Q6700. Go with the lowest price available that includes at least Windows 7. I'd recommend a Dell Optiplex 745 as that is my family PC. Do not worry about HDD size as you will be buying a new one, even a 40GB one will be fine. I found a Dell Optiplex for £80 with an 80GB HDD and Windows 7. I will be using this as my example for the build.
LGA775 PC: £80
Q6700: £15
GDDR5 GT1030: £60
500GB SATAIII 7.2K HDD: £30
128GB SSD: £20
8GB DDR2-800: £20
OS: £0 (was free with pre-build, take advantage of the ability to upgrade to Windows 10 for free from 7 or 8 (yes it's still possible to legitimately do))
Total:£225/$285
So there you have it. And also, you don't need those extras, they really are just extras. Plus, everything on this list was rounded up. You could more than definitely get everything listed for about $260 if you looked around. And then there is also the money you keep from selling the old parts too.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

You really dont need a GPU, so i'd spend more money on a newer platform. These old systems perform pretty well, but won't hold up to the future.

 

[WildCard999]

My mother is teacher, and complains about how slow her laptop is, and it is really slow. I want to build her a pc that would be nice and fast for basic things like standard office work, emails, etc. I only want to spend no more than 300 USD. Any good suggestions? I would hope to fit a ssd on it, but i don't think i have the budget. Thanks.

Drop in a good SSD like the Samsung 860 EVO 500gb into it and do a clean install of Windows. Even if you had to buy another copy of Windows this would still be cheaper then building a system or buying a refurb and would be better as it's portable.

What model is the laptop?