Taking the dive into PC building

[DakAttack]

Re: Taking the dive into PC building

If $500 is too much, then he's better off using his work PC. He can't afford a new one.

[cidbahamut]

Re: Taking the dive into PC building

If $500 is too much, then he's better off using his work PC. He can't afford a new one.

I'm inclined to agree with this assessment. No point in building a new rig if your budget is going to keep you from building a worthwhile machine, especially if he's already got a spare.

For a solid gaming machine you could probably get by on $800 if you cut enough corners, but if you aren't building a rig to handle gaming or media editing then a $300 Dell or whatever will suffice for most people.

[Raydeus]

Re: Taking the dive into PC building

Agreed.

And although he could maybe upgrade his current work PC to handle the load better (more RAM for instance) chances are he would be much better off saving that money until he could afford something in the range of at least 1k for his gaming rig.

[Etra]

Re: Taking the dive into PC building

He doesn't want it for gaming. Just streaming movies and facebook.

[Raydeus]

Re: Taking the dive into PC building

Wha? Then yeah, any PC within the last 5 years will be more than suitable for his needs. Heck the monitor would probably be the most expensive part since he can re-use his laptops' HDDs.

You can check Phenom II processors or any socket AM3 for that matter and a DDR2/3 memory (4GB) stick as well as motherboards with built in audio. You can go extremely cheap for something like that. Also, if he still has his OS license from the laptops he can also skip spending on that.

[Etra]

Re: Taking the dive into PC building

Wha? Then yeah, any PC within the last 5 years will be more than suitable for his needs. Heck the monitor would probably be the most expensive part since he can re-use his laptops' HDDs.

You can check Phenom II processors or any socket AM3 for that matter and a DDR2/3 memory (4GB) stick as well as motherboards with built in audio. You can go extremely cheap for something like that. Also, if he still has his OS license from the laptops he can also skip spending on that.

My general issue with cheap PCs is that they use God awful graphics cards. Just don't want him to get something and be SOL with it.

*I know, I said he isn't gaming, but still.

[Raydeus]

Re: Taking the dive into PC building

What video card are you giving him and also what resolution is he planning on using?

Edit > Also, integrated video isn't so bad as long as there's a PCI-E 16x slot available for future expansion.

[Etra]

Re: Taking the dive into PC building

What video card are you giving him and also what resolution is he planning on using?

Edit > Also, integrated video isn't so bad as long as there's a PCI-E 16x slot available for future expansion.

Giving him my current (Radeon HD 5670) since I'm upgrading mine. Also have a 4xxx laying around. Integrated video just makes me cringe. :/

[Raydeus]

Re: Taking the dive into PC building

HD5000 is waaaay more than enough to handle 1080p streamed video and browsing. You can definitely find something good for less than 500 bucks excluding the HDDs since he already has them.

[cidbahamut]

Re: Taking the dive into PC building

He doesn't want it for gaming. Just streaming movies and facebook.

Refurbished $300 Dell or equivalent scrap heap. Why are you even bothering with looking at individual parts if that's all he wants out of his machine?

[Raydeus]

Re: Taking the dive into PC building

I'm guessing because even if he isn't using it for much Etra doesn't want to build a crappier machine than necessary.

[Etra]

Re: Taking the dive into PC building

I'm guessing because even if he isn't using it for much Etra doesn't want to build a crappier machine than necessary.

Ray so smart.

[cidbahamut]

Re: Taking the dive into PC building

But why would you bother doing a custom build for a Facebook machine? That's just a waste of time, effort and probably money too.

[Etra]

Re: Taking the dive into PC building

But why would you bother doing a custom build for a Facebook machine? That's just a waste of time, effort and probably money too.

Saves him a little bit of money and the PC won't be total crap.

[cidbahamut]

Re: Taking the dive into PC building

Your proposed build was $500 and apparently too pricey for him. Refurbished office machines clock in around $300, so you are clearly not saving him any money.

"Total crap" would be roughly double what he needs out of his PC.

Seriously, it's a Facebook machine and he's on a tight budget. Buy him this and be done with it.
Newegg.com - Refurbished: DELL OptiPlex 755 Desktop PC Core 2 Duo 2.33GHz 4GB 160GB HDD Capacity Windows 7 Home Premium