Cheap family PC

[smgoh6]

Hi, I am trying figure out whether to build a cheap family pc for my sister and parents or buy a prebuild one from asus or dell or lenovo etc. I can really use some input whether to build the system or buy a prebuild one . The pc will be used mainly for school work and surfing the net

These are the parts currently have in mind for the diy one
Mobo: Asus H81M-K
CPU: Intel i3-4160
Memory: Geil Black Dragon C9 1600MHz 8GB(2x4GB)
SSD: Plextor M6S 128GB
HDD: Seaga​te 1T​B SAT​A 6GB​/s, 1​6MB C​ache,​ 7200​RPM
DVD: LG Internal 24x DvD-Writer
OS: Windows7 64bit
PSU: Therm​altak​e Lit​ePowe​r 450​W
Casing: CoolerMaster Elite 342

Might get a gpu in the future if theres a need. My sister only play games like sims 4 and the integrated graphics on the i3 4160 (HD 4400) can support medium settings on sims 4 so im good there.

This setup will cost around 580USD in my county(Singapore) I am running on a tight budget so thats roughly how much i will be able to afford.

The closest prebuild pc along that price tag i can find is the asus p30ad (520USD) which has very similar specs but lack the ssd and the 8gb of ram (p30 only has 2gb). There are other systems but they are just not as cost effective.

Or should i get the ultra compact pcs? like the gigabyte brix series. They are cheaper but the cpus are not really going to run sims 4 smoothly.

Of course there's the issue of the warranty, the prebuild ones are more convenient. I am kinda new to the whole DIY thing, I did diy my first gaming rig which is running perfectly now. But i aint a pro at troubleshooting faulty parts.

SO the million dollar question... Build or Buy???

 

[sadams04]

Build! You are on the right track....

MB - H81 is prior gen. Look toward the H97 chipset.
CPU - Current Haswell Refresh which is good. If you don't change the MB, then change this to the prior (Haswell) i3-4130.
PSU - No. Poor capacitors... XFX or Seasonic. You get what you pay for in this space...

Unfortunately we don't know how our proposed builds translate to places you can purchase from so this is just a guess.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($99.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($63.00 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.60 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Deepcool TESSERACT BF ATX Mid Tower Case ($25.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($53.10 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($87.88 @ NCIX US)
Total: $543.44

 

[smgoh6]

Build! You are on the right track....

MB - H81 is prior gen. Look toward the H97 chipset.
CPU - Current Haswell Refresh which is good. If you don't change the MB, then change this to the prior (Haswell) i3-4130.
PSU - No. Poor capacitors... XFX or Seasonic. You get what you pay for in this space...

Unfortunately we don't know how our proposed builds translate to places you can purchase from so this is just a guess.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($99.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($63.00 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.60 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Deepcool TESSERACT BF ATX Mid Tower Case ($25.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($53.10 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($87.88 @ NCIX US)
Total: $543.44

Thanks for the reply! i have my doubts about the PSU too. Im using a seasonic one myself and its not giving any problems. Most probably will throw in a few extra bucks to change it to a seasonic one.

Also, you mentioned something about the CPU, is the 4160 not compatible or something with h81 mobos? i think i can only get the 4150 over here in my country.

Sorry for the newb questions, im new to the diy scene.

 

[sadams04]

Also, you mentioned something about the CPU, is the 4160 not compatible or something with h81 mobos? i think i can only get the 4150 over here in my country.

The H81 motherboard would need a BIOS update to be fully compatible with the newer revision of the CPU. For some this means using a different CPU (prior revision) to apply the BIOS update before swapping out to the current revision. It is best to just avoid this situation, although some report being able to apply the BIOS update with the current CPU. H81 with i3-4130, or H97 with i3-4150 would be the best options.