BestConfigs Poll - Intel-Based Office PC

Which Intel-Based Office PC BestConfig do you like best?

  • Jason's $500 Intel Office PC

    Votes: 26 32.9%
  • Michxymi's Intel Office Build

    Votes: 24 30.4%
  • Roaring's Wait wut, how is this Possible? Machine

    Votes: 29 36.7%

  • Total voters
    79

jpishgar

Splendid
Overlord Emeritus
It's time to vote on your favorite build for this category!

Please see below for a list of the choices available.

Jason's $500 Intel Office PC!

Processor: i5 2300 - $184
Motherboard: MSI H61M-E33 - $59
RAM: 4gb G.Skill 1333mhz - $33
Graphics Card: Intel HD Graphics 2000 (Integrated)
Hard Drive: OCZ Agility 3 60gb - $119
Storage Drive: Seagate 500gb - $39
Case and Power Supply: Coolermaster Elite 360 & 350w PSU - $49
Cooling: Stock Intel Heatsink
DVD Burner: 22x LG Burner -$18

Total Price: $501


Michxymi's Intel Office Build

Processor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115078 Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz 2 x 256KB L2 Cache 3MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I32100 $124.99

Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130584 MSI H67MS-E43 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s Micro ATX Intel Motherboard $102.99

RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226095 Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model 996770 $79.99

Graphics Card: Build In

Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185 SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $64.99

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119203 COOLER MASTER Elite RC-310-BWN1-GP Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $39.99

Power Supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026 CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply $44.99

Cooling: Stock

DVD Burner: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204 ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM $20.99

Total Price: $478.33


Roaring's wait wut, how is this possible machine

Processor: Core i5 2300 $185
Motherboard: ASRock H61M-VS $60
RAM: Kingston ValueRAM Model KVR1333D3K2/4GR $30
Graphics Card: HD Radeon 4650 $47
Hard Drive: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ $65
Case: Xigmatek ASGARD II B/B CPC-T45UC-U01 $30
Power Supply: XIGMATEK NRP-PC Series ACXTNRP-PC402 $35
Cooling: Stock Heatsink+Fan
DVD Burner: SONY Model DDU1681S-0B $17

Total Price: $469
 

hmp_goose

Distinguished
Nov 15, 2010
131
0
18,680
8GB + non-mystery-meat PSU = Win.

The SSD would have been real nice, as it bypasses all the carping about "sleeping HDDs", but Moar Memeory, please.

Now: If only the CPU was a little G520T (or whatever it was called).
 
I bought a cooler master elite 330 for a family member's build. I removed the psu, lifted it up, looked at it, grunted something like "hmmmphf" and put it in a box in the closet. It'll be handy for leak testing.
 
Hmm this is hard:
1. Jason has an SSD and better proc.
2. Michxymi includes better PSU and bigger capacity HDD.
3. Better GPU

hmmmm....
My consideration:
1. ASROCK is never on my shopping list.
2. HD4650 is a bit too much for offic needs, onboard solution should be sufficient.
3. SSD is good and you can feel the difference but not really essential for office work.
4. 8 GB is too much for normal office work, 4GB should be enough.
5. A good PSU is important.
6. 1 TB HDD is also too much for office.
Hmmm...this definitely hard...I like Janson's and Michxymi's PC.....hmmmm...
How should I decide...hmmmm...flipping coin!
OK
I vote for Michxymi's
 

ojas

Distinguished
Feb 25, 2011
2,924
0
20,810
If roaring had removed the graphics card, i wonder if the build would have made more sense. optionally he could have used that money into a k-series CPU (overkill, yes, but that's the max processing power any office PC could ever need + Intel 3000 graphics)...this is hard really....
 

cknobman

Distinguished
May 2, 2006
1,127
273
19,660
Office PC does not need 8 GB ram, what are you people smoking????

All the builds have a flaw so its hard to pick.

Jason - case+power supply is the Achilles heel.
Michxymi - no need for 8GB ram money would have been better spent on a better proc.
Roaring - waste of money on the gfx card.
 


lol

I looked at the psu that came with my cooler master elite 330... single 12v rail @ 10 amps. Good enough? Maybe the 360 elite has some more punch.
 
It's not about amps in this case, but stability and reliability. All cheap CM PSUs are very poor. There are worse, but they are normally way below acceptable.

If I'm building for an office that doesn't have dedicated support, then I want a PC that can take on a full system tray and multiple windows. I want a system that will deal with simultaneous virus scans and downloads and Windows updates and network backups.... you get the idea. I don't need the fastest system out of the gate... I need the fastest system after a year of abuse. If the target is $500, then it's AMD quad core.

1TB is massive overkill in most office builds, but I went with Michxymi.
 

SquadSystem

Distinguished
Sep 12, 2011
4
0
18,510
SquadSystem Build


Processor - Intel Pentium G620 Sandy Bridge - $77.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116399

Motherboard - ASRock Z68M/USB3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 - $94.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157270&Tpk=ASRock%20Z68M%2fUSB3

RAM - Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model KHX1600C9D3B1K2/4GX - $29.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104203

Graphics card - Integrated

Case + Power supply - APEX TX-373 Black Steel MicroATX Mid Tower Computer Case 300W Power Supply - $34.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811154079

Hard drive - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" - $59.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

DVD Burner - ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Now: $20.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

Total Price: $ 319