[SOLVED] Building workstation for my mom

[coolnate390]

My mom has been stuck with a 7 year old dell laptop. I grow grey hairs every time i walk by and see 80 or so tabs in chrome open for her work on her 6GB of ram. I have finally convinced her to let me build her a desktop that will last her for a very long time. However i am not so experienced with workstation PCs so i do not know what the best specs would be for a lower budged or if i would even need a graphics card. I am here to request a part list on pcpartpicker (just a list of specs would be fine too) with these standards:

USE: as i said, could be looking at 100 tabs open at the same time, with music playing from spotify and different programs such as adobe pdf or word. Will be left on up to a week without restarting.
BUDGET: 300-500$
SPECS: 16GB ddr4 ram or higher, speed does not matter
Ok with either amd or intel, i5-i7, a10-ryzen 5
again, no idea whether a gpu is even necessary for a workstation. Whatever is used must have HDMI port either on Mobo or GPU
SSD just for windows and programs (space will not be top priority for SSD), HHD for everything else 1TB at least
PSU whatever is cheapest but still quality that will have sufficient wattage
CASE/MOBO any will do, don't care about form factor, fans in front preferred, no RGB, no cube or test bench shape, just normal rectangular prism shape.
do not worry about peripherals/monitor we have them covered

 

[Wolfshadw]

I'd probably look at something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($94.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus - PRIME B450M-A/CSM Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($77.85 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill - Value 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($42.10 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair - Carbide Series 88R MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec - 450 W ATX Power Supply ($36.25 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($98.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $474.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-01-23 12:28 EST-0500

-Wolf sends

 

[jojesa]

If you want to have 100+ tabs open 16GB of RAM won't do. After 85-90 Chrome tabs the system runs out of RAM and start using the page file and consequently starts to slow down. With a SSD as main disk it won't be that bad...unless you go above 150 tabs.

-Ryzen 3 1200 3.4 GHz CPU $95
ASRock B450M PRO4 motherboard $80
Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory $105 or
G.SKILL FORTIS Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3000 Memory $165
GT 710 GPU $35
Crucial MX500 500GB SSD SATA M.2 $58 + WD Blue 2TB HDD $62
Fractal Design Meshify C Mini Dark TG MicroATX $70
Corsair CXM 550W 80+ Semi-Modular ATX $40

-Core i3-8100 Coffee Lake $120
GIGABYTE B360M D3H $80
G.SKILL Aegis 16GB (2 x 8GB) Memory $95 or
G.SKILL Aegis 32GB (2 x 16GB) Memory $165
Crucial MX500 500GB SSD SATA M.2 $58 + WD Blue 2TB HDD $62
Fractal Design Meshify C Mini Dark TG MicroATX $70
Corsair CXM 550 W 80+ Semi-Modular ATX $40

 

[coolnate390]

OK I have a question thus far, Is ryzen really the best for a workstation? I feel like intel is smoother with workstation with past use of an intel laptop. For an intel system i would prefer at least an i5. I personally use one for gaming. I definitely don't need a 500GB SSD as all the big stuff will be on the hard drive. I would p

 

[jojesa]

OK I have a question thus far, Is ryzen really the best for a workstation? I feel like intel is smoother with workstation with past use of an intel laptop. For an intel system i would prefer at least an i5. I personally use one for gaming. I definitely don't need a 500GB SSD as all the big stuff will be on the hard drive. I would p

Do you want a gaming PC or a workstation?
I don't thing your mom will be using more than two cores for work.
When you have many apps open you need RAM, more cores and CPU power won't help.
You could go with the Ryzen 5 2600 and Intel i5 8400 and the price will go above your stated budget.

 

[coolnate390]

OK I have a question thus far, Is ryzen really the best for a workstation? I feel like intel is smoother with workstation with past use of an intel laptop. For an intel system i would prefer at least an i5. I personally use one for gaming. I definitely don't need a 500GB SSD as all the big stuff will be on the hard drive. I would p

Do you want a gaming PC or a workstation?
I don't thing your mom will be using more than two cores for work.
When you have many apps open you need RAM, more cores and CPU power won't help.
You could go with the Ryzen 5 2600 and Intel i5 8400 and the price will go above your stated budget.

Just workstation, and i will definitely not be going above a ryzen 3.

 

[coolnate390]

I'd probably look at something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($94.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus - PRIME B450M-A/CSM Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($77.85 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill - Value 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($42.10 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair - Carbide Series 88R MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec - 450 W ATX Power Supply ($36.25 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($98.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $474.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-01-23 12:28 EST-0500

-Wolf sends

I am liking the specs with this build, and i added an SSD for windows install, But the PC will be in an enclosed space so the case MUST have at least 2 fans in front, If anyone could find a case for this purpose that would be great. preferably from amazon also.

 

[jojesa]

You could purchase the 120mm fans separately.
The Corsair Carbide Series 88R MicroATX has space for 2 x 120mm fan in the front, 2 x 120mm fan on the top and 1 x 120mm fan on the back (included)