Hardware Building budget PC or pre-built?

[Classicgamer]

So my new job requires I have my own PC. I'm considering building another one. I mainly built performance/gaming PC's the past decade which makes it easy to compare the top of the line cpus etc. When it comes to budget and low price items I'm not sure what is quality and what isn't.

Ideally Id have the smallest form factor possible but a mid-tower, sub 19", is fine too. The PC will be used for browsing the web and opening of PDF and also large scale electrical schematics, either in pdf form or through the browser so scaling and moving the image fluidly is desired.

I don't have to get a monitor (will be using a 40" TV so 1920x1080 resolution is needed).

I'd like to keep the cost sub $500 if building it. On board gfx are ok - i hear intel hd 630 is nice?

I won't be doing gaming on it but likely emulation of older systems(pre n64) which any old system can do.

What are some quality low cost, reliable cpus and mobos?


A couple pre-built systems that might fit the bill are:

http://www.microcenter.com/product/478253/IdeaCentre_300S-08_Desktop_Computer

http://www.microcenter.com/product/474800/Aspire_ATC-780A-UR12_Desktop_Computer

are these systems reliable? would they fit the bill? I'd like very responsive browsing...

thanks for any insight!

 

[TotalInsanity4]

So my new job requires I have my own PC. I'm considering building another one. I mainly built performance/gaming PC's the past decade which makes it easy to compare the top of the line cpus etc. When it comes to budget and low price items I'm not sure what is quality and what isn't.

Ideally Id have the smallest form factor possible but a mid-tower, sub 19", is fine too. The PC will be used for browsing the web and opening of PDF and also large scale electrical schematics, either in pdf form or through the browser so scaling and moving the image fluidly is desired.

I don't have to get a monitor (will be using a 40" TV so 1920x1080 resolution is needed).

I'd like to keep the cost sub $500 if building it. On board gfx are ok - i hear intel hd 630 is nice?

I won't be doing gaming on it but likely emulation of older systems(pre n64) which any old system can do.

What are some quality low cost, reliable cpus and mobos?


A couple pre-built systems that might fit the bill are:

http://www.microcenter.com/product/478253/IdeaCentre_300S-08_Desktop_Computer

http://www.microcenter.com/product/474800/Aspire_ATC-780A-UR12_Desktop_Computer

are these systems reliable? would they fit the bill? I'd like very responsive browsing...

thanks for any insight!

I'd jump on the Aspire, it's priced right and should have more than enough horsepower for you

 

[nero99]

If you go prebuilt, make an amd ryzen 5 build. Great performance, supports ddr4, and you can build one that totals up to $750 if you choose your parts wisely.

 

[Classicgamer]

I'd jump on the Aspire, it's priced right and should have more than enough horsepower for you

thanks for the info.

what are your thoughts on building a similar system to this?

http://www.pcgamer.com/build-guide-the-best-cheap-gaming-pc/

especially regarding the cpu vs say a i3-7100?

 

[nero99]

thanks for the info.

what are your thoughts on building a similar system to this?

http://www.pcgamer.com/build-guide-the-best-cheap-gaming-pc/

especially regarding the cpu vs say a i3-7100?

Even tho the i3 are cheap, they are only dual core. If I were you, I'd only swap out the CPU and motherboard in that list for a ryzen 5 1400 or 1500 and pretty much any b350 motherboard that typically cost about $70-$80 and support crossfire. The ryzen 1400, which is a $159 quad core, will out perform any i3 CPU and offers much more workstation based things. True the CPU isn't very cheap, but you'd be glad that you went it. It's basically the equivalent of the latest i5 kaby lake

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But if you are on a tight budget, go with the list you linked to

 

[TotalInsanity4]

thanks for the info.

what are your thoughts on building a similar system to this?

http://www.pcgamer.com/build-guide-the-best-cheap-gaming-pc/

especially regarding the cpu vs say a i3-7100?

I 110% stand behind the G4560 as THE CPU to get if you need to scrap together a computer with only $250 set aside for CPU+GPU

 

[BlackWizzard17]

I'm subscribed to a lot of you tubers who weekly make budget build computers for gaming and as a decent workstation. I'd suggest looking into videos as well. If you're OK with on board graphics definitely get an Intel cpu like the G4560 as its cheap and has hyper threading or just a nice ryzen cpu and and try to find a decent gpu. Cheap but great mobos are easy to find just make sure you get one with hdmi support unless you want to run video off the gpu if supported. Overall this thread seems to have some great suggestions.

 

[Classicgamer]

thanks for tips!

i'd like to spend $450 total so it's near $500 after tax (10% here in Illinois/Cook County...) and building it myself with quality components is ideal.

with that being said i do have a GTS 250 in an older tower i made and I don't know how that compares to intel HD 630 onboard gfx.

a ryzen mobo/cpu combo would run roughly $240 leaving the $210 remaining for a case, ram, psu, keyboard/mouse. thoughts?

i'm currently running an i7-3770k with a gtx 670, 16gb ram and a few SSD. I know i can't achieve performance like this system has but i just really want to make sure the computer i buy/build will last as long as this one has.

 

[BlackWizzard17]

Here's a build you can check out. Of course you would need to update the motherboards bios which isn't too hard.
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/N2Vgyf
I would do a ryzen build but not to familiar with AMD as much.

 

[Classicgamer]

I 110% stand behind the G4560 as THE CPU to get if you need to scrap together a computer with only $250 set aside for CPU+GPU

how do you feel a G4560 build would compare to this pre-build machine?

http://www.microcenter.com/product/474800/Aspire_ATC-780A-UR12_Desktop_Computer

 

[BlackWizzard17]

how do you feel a G4560 build would compare to this pre-build machine?

http://www.microcenter.com/product/474800/Aspire_ATC-780A-UR12_Desktop_Computer

thats a pretty solid build actually.the G4560 would save you enough to buy a GPU on the spot but with this you could save up money to than pop in a GPU of course with an upgrade to the power supply is a must since 300 watts is not gonna cut it.

 

[netovsk]

This is a pretty good $720 pre-built PC

 

[dubbz82]

prebuilt and building your own both have merits. If you go prebuilt, it saves you the time and effort of setting everything up, burn-in testing, etc, though sometimes at the loss of hardware you may want. If you build your own, you can pick and choose exactly what you'd like in your machine......personally I'd go prebuilt these days, just because the price difference isnt anywhere near what it was some time back...you may consider reinstalling the OS if you do though, as a number of companies install garbage on their systems in an effort to drive down costs by partnering with god knows who and cramming god knows what software onto the machine.

 

[RaMon90]

Sometimes pre built have bad power supply and i'm seeing that acer got 300w. Seems like you gonna have trouble adding a gpu in the future, unless you want the pc to always use it as a media pc then go for that acer.

 

[iAqua]

I'll make you up a 450$ build, gimme a minute.

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Since you seem to not really have a need for graphics, I've made a quick Ryzen 5 build. There's a GT 430 simply for the ports, it should be enough to simple work. Tell me if you want a different type of build, like a more graphics centric build, hmu.
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/j3DTxY