I need a 550$ PC. Any suggestions?

[ineedacomputer22333]

I need a 550$ PC. Any suggestions? I am going to college for computer engineering, so I need it for programming and doing similar things, not for gaming. I prefer something more expensive and of quality than something cheap that will die within just some years. Thanks.
I will be running linux on it, the OS is not a problem.
EDIT: I also need some suggestions for a good monitor, keyboard and mouse, these not being included in the budget; I could spend some more for them.

 

[quilciri]

Do you need a monitor, keyboard, and mouse within that budget; or do you just need the PC?

 

[g-unit1111]

I went slightly over budget but that's mainly due to how incredibly expensive RAM is right now. You're probably looking at something like this:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6350 3.9GHz 6-Core Processor ($134.99 @ TigerDirect)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 EXTREME4 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.95 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7790 1GB Video Card ($108.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($35.97 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($72.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $589.86
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-04 13:30 EST-0500)

If you want an Intel build I can probably do something a bit tighter but it will go over budget by quite a bit:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($174.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H87-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.95 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7790 1GB Video Card ($108.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($35.97 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($72.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $629.86
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-04 13:32 EST-0500)

 

[quilciri]

If you just need the PC; my humble suggestion for a coding workstation .

In a machine strictly for school, you don't need a video card at all. Intel HD3000 is more than enough. This allows for the amount of RAM you'll need as well as mirrored (raid 1) HDD's to protect your data.

The system will support 2 monitors, which you may find yourself in need of (speaking personally, I find it annoying to code on my laptop..i frequently need to ask questions in forums or look at code examples in a browser window. Using the win7 half screen thing is too small for the IDE for me, even at 1080p, and the constant alt-tabbing is maddening)

Also included a blu-ray writer for backup/transfer of very large projects, etc.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($174.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus H81M-K Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($47.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($119.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ OutletPC)
Case: Antec VSK-3000 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($19.99 @ Microcenter)
Optical Drive: Pioneer BDR-208DBK Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($57.99 @ B&H)

Total: $569.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

 

[g-unit1111]

If you just need the PC; my humble suggestion for a coding workstation .

In a machine strictly for school, you don't need a video card at all. Intel HD3000 is more than enough. This allows for the amount of RAM you'll need as well as mirrored (raid 1) HDD's to protect your data. The system will support 2 monitors, which you may find yourself in need of (speaking personally, I find it annoying to code on my laptop)

Also included a blu-ray writer for backup/transfer of very large projects, etc.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($174.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus H81M-K Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($47.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($119.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ OutletPC)
Case: Antec VSK-3000 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($19.99 @ Microcenter)
Optical Drive: Pioneer BDR-208DBK Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($57.99 @ B&H)

Total: $569.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

I'd seriously question the CX430's ability to power that rig. When I built my HTPC I went through three of these things trying to get one to power my rig, and that was running an Intel i3 and a GTX 550TI. You don't need a BD-R writer though, I'd leave that off and get a low end dedicated GPU like a GTX 650 or Radeon 7790.

 

[quilciri]

The rig barely uses 200w. The CX430 is more than enough for it.

The unit has very good reviews (jonnyguru, one of the most well-regarded PSU experts right now gave it the thumbs up)

A dedicated GPU is utter overkill, especially one of the caliber you're suggesting. HD3000 supports 2 monitors and can easily handle 1080p video playback. What do you think he's doing that he would need more graphics horsepower for?

I need it for programming and doing similar things, not for gaming.

A BD writer is a necessity for me as a programmer. All the free cloud storage systems aren't large enough to hold all my projects, and not having an offsite backup is asking for trouble. There have also been times where I've wanted to send large projects to someone else, and one of us doesn't have the access or bandwidth for 10+gb files. While flash drives are cheap, they're not cheap enough that I can hand out 16=32 gb drives all day and not care if I get them back or not.

 

[quilciri]

A CX430 is currently powering my "HTPC/big picture box" (core 2 E7600, HD 6770, BD writer & 3x3tb barracuda raid5). The rig uses more power than the build I posted for ineedacomputer and it's been running for the last year without a hitch. Have a second one for use as a backup PSU. It is hands down the best PSU in it's price range (and the only one I would recommend in this price range)