[SOLVED] new home office pc $500

[zdufs]

Hello everybody.

I am looking for some help with build for home office/multimedia/no gaming pc.

Is i5 overkill ? I do have a lot of tabs open in chrome and also run a few programs for work.

I currently have SSD so no need for that and budget would be $500.

 

[Solandri]

i5 is a good base to start. I always felt the dual cores (i3, Pentium, etc) were not enough, quad cores too much. I suspect the optimal number of cores is e (2.717). So if you're going to err, do so in the direction of having too much (quad core) rather than not enough. The new hexacore i5s might be overkill, but they come in at similar price and power consumption as older quad core i5s, so there's really little downside.

8 GB of RAM is currently a good starting minimum. You might want to get 16 GB to future-proof yourself. But RAM prices should be dropping this year (they've already fallen about 30% from 2018). So you may be better off just getting what you need now, upgrading in the future. Check task manager (ctrl-alt-del) on your current computer, performance tab, and see how much RAM you're typically using. For most people it's around 4-6 GB, so 8 GB is a safe starting amount.

You've already got a SSD, which is the single biggest speed boost you can make to the computer. So you're good to go on that front. Make sure you have an external drive for backups. (Backups should be offline so ransomware doesn't encrypt it, and stored in a different place than the computer so a fire doesn't destroy both.)

As you'll probably be using the CPU's integrated graphics, make sure the monitor headers on the motherboard match the inputs your monitor can take. Displayport (motherboard) to HDMI (monitor) is relatively cheap. But going the other way can be rather expensive.

For a basic non-performance build, you might want to keep an eye out for sales and discounts on prebuilt systems, rather than build your own. Often retail stores sell systems at below the cost of components during sales. I picked up a couple i5 systems from Staples on clearance for $230 last year, when the price of the CPU alone was $215 from Newegg.

You can also monitor the outlet stores for Dell, HP, Lenovo (google it) to see if a cheap refurb system becomes available. Beware that you'll probably lose the extended warranty and other protections your credit card provides if you buy a refurb. ("Refurbished new" = new custom system whose order was canceled. "Scratch and dent" = cosmetic flaws. "Return" = customer return.)

Other than that, keep an eye out for future expand-ability. A lot of these cheap systems skimp out on number of PCIe slots, number of SATA slots, number of RAM slots, places to mount additional drives.

 

[zdufs]

i5 is a good base to start. I always felt the dual cores (i3, Pentium, etc) were not enough, quad cores too much. I suspect the optimal number of cores is e (2.717). So if you're going to err, do so in the direction of having too much (quad core) rather than not enough. The new hexacore i5s might be overkill, but they come in at similar price and power consumption as older quad core i5s, so there's really little downside.

8 GB of RAM is currently a good starting minimum. You might want to get 16 GB to future-proof yourself. But RAM prices should be dropping this year (they've already fallen about 30% from 2018). So you may be better off just getting what you need now, upgrading in the future. Check task manager (ctrl-alt-del) on your current computer, performance tab, and see how much RAM you're typically using. For most people it's around 4-6 GB, so 8 GB is a safe starting amount.

You've already got a SSD, which is the single biggest speed boost you can make to the computer. So you're good to go on that front. Make sure you have an external drive for backups. (Backups should be offline so ransomware doesn't encrypt it, and stored in a different place than the computer so a fire doesn't destroy both.)

As you'll probably be using the CPU's integrated graphics, make sure the monitor headers on the motherboard match the inputs your monitor can take. Displayport (motherboard) to HDMI (monitor) is relatively cheap. But going the other way can be rather expensive.

For a basic non-performance build, you might want to keep an eye out for sales and discounts on prebuilt systems, rather than build your own. Often retail stores sell systems at below the cost of components during sales. I picked up a couple i5 systems from Staples on clearance for $230 last year, when the price of the CPU alone was $215 from Newegg.

You can also monitor the outlet stores for Dell, HP, Lenovo (google it) to see if a cheap refurb system becomes available. Beware that you'll probably lose the extended warranty and other protections your credit card provides if you buy a refurb. ("Refurbished new" = new custom system whose order was canceled. "Scratch and dent" = cosmetic flaws. "Return" = customer return.)

Other than that, keep an eye out for future expand-ability. A lot of these cheap systems skimp out on number of PCIe slots, number of SATA slots, number of RAM slots, places to mount additional drives.

Thank you for all the advice. Problem is I am from EU so prebuilt systems are more expensive here. Good deal for NA is this https://www.amazon.com/Acer-TC-885-...&sprefix=acer+aspire+t,electronics,219&sr=1-2

but system like this aren't even on UK or DE(German) Amazon, similar systems are like $800+...

 

[punkncat]

Well, since you are in the UK, it probably won't matter than I mention this as I am not sure pricing or the retailer I used is the same.
I went to Micro Center, picked up an i5 8400 for $160, cheapo motherboard since I wasn't OC'ing anyway, 32GB of RAM, which was actually the expensive part of the build, a budget case, EVGA PSU, and a 32" TV as a monitor. I also already had an SSD on hand.
The build came to just at $600, and would have been right on 5 with 16GB of RAM. I could have gone cheaper on the RAM online but since it was all in house at the retailer that had the best prices on everything else I bit the bullet.
I used "one of those" Win 10 keys and still stayed under 6.

It is working very well for the position, so far.

 

[ScrewySqrl]

If I was building it from scractch, this is what I would pick:


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Processor (£84.78 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock - B450M-HDV Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£53.84 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Patriot - Viper 4 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£55.90 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: ADATA - Ultimate SU650 480 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£52.97 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Rosewill - SCM-01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£26.89 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: be quiet! - Pure Power 11 300 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£36.98 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £311.36
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-02-23 00:24 GMT+0000

 

[Solandri]

The Ryzen 3 is a solid pick. But bear in mind that the Coffee Lake i3s (i3-8x00) are quad cores without hyperthreading. So are on par with older gen i5s (8th gen i5s are hexa cores), and slightly beat out the Ryzen 3.

The only issue is that Intel has been having problems producing enough of the 8th gen CPUs, resulting in many stores selling them above MSRP. If that shortage eases up (as Intel claims it will in the next month or two), expect the price on the i3 to drop closer to parity with the Ryzen 3, possibly making the i3 the better buy. So if you're not in a hurry, it might be worth waiting to see what happens in March/April.