New Build For Father's Office

DayTrader

DayTrader

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Okay, I'm wanting to build a computer for my father's company. Its main use will be for spreadsheeting, MS Word documents and web browsing. It's not uncommon for several Word docs, spreadsheets, and web pages to be open at the same time. The budget will be around $600 - $700. This excludes the OS, all software, monitors, keyboard and mouse.

For this build, I want to run 2 monitors. Graphics are by no means important at all, so a fairly cheap graphics card is fine. I only require that it supports dual monitors. Intel is the preferred chip set, but perhaps not necessary. For the RAM, I think 4GB will suffice for now. I'd like the fast DDR3 RAM if possible on this budget. I would like a motherboard that supports 4 RAM slots, but for now, I'd like to just fill 2 of of those slots (2 X 2GB) so to leave room for an upgrade later. As for storage, 500GB would be more than enough, but I guess for the price difference, 1TB would be the better value.

Okay, I hope I covered everything. Please let me know if there are any questions. All help and suggestions are welcome and appreciated!
 
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It's not Intel but perhaps it will spark interest.

$676. out the door

UD3H 880G 6Gb/s USB 3.0
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128444
640 Propus
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103871
G.SKILL Ripjaws
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231278
F3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185
HD 5670
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102870
DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151188
Internal All In One Card Reader/Writer with USB2.0 & eSATA Ports
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820816001&cm_re=card_reader_internal_3.5-_-20-816-001-_-Product
Seasonic
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151098
COOLER MASTER
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137
　
$616 after mir's.
　
　
 
Ah yes...looking very nice. That's the exact case I picked out too. Does that video card support dual monitors? Also, what is this ?
 
Yes. 2 monitors. Both HD. 1 w/HDMI(HD w/audio in the cable) and 1 w/ DVI(HD w/o audio in the cable). The motherboard alone can also do 2 monitors, 1 would be analog and 1 HDMI or DVI. The motherboard has an audio card built in.

I know that one to be able to read from one card, and write to anther at the same time. Has a couple ports on it too. Thought it might be handy.
 
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Cool! So just curious: Since the motherboard has dual monitor capabilities built in, what would be the drawback of eliminating the video card altogether?
 
One monitor would be high definition and one wouldn't be. The second would be analog.
With the card, both would be getting the same signal type.
 
Ah ok understood. Thanks for this. Could you or someone else now show an equivalent Intel build? Just for comparison's sake and for my education as well.
 
Okay thanks salvage-this.

I see that an AMD build will be quite cheaper. What is the performance difference of an AMD compared to an Intel build? Is it noticeable? Longevity?
 
My personal opinion is that unless you are pushing your computer to the max or benchmarking you won't be able to tell the difference for most applications.
 
There is absolutely nothing wrong with using an analog monitor signal. VGA cables support high definition just fine. They go way higher than 1080p. The onboard chip in the AMD mobo would be fine.

For discrete graphics, a 5670 is ridiculously overpowered for this. Grab a cheaper 5550/5570. A 5450 would also be ok, but for the price difference you might as well grab a better one.


You should also definitely get a cheaper power supply. Gold rated or no, that one is an awful deal. NZXT's Hale90 550W performs just as well and is $30 cheaper, and there are numerous good 600W+ units for under $70 right now. 80+ Gold isn't all that different from 80+ or Bronze, in the grand scheme of things.
 
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Drenlin said:
There is absolutely nothing wrong with using an analog monitor signal. VGA cables support high definition just fine. They go way higher than 1080p. The onboard chip in the AMD mobo would be fine.

For discrete graphics, a 5670 is ridiculously overpowered for this. Grab a cheaper 5550/5570. A 5450 would also be ok, but for the price difference you might as well grab a better one.


You should also definitely get a cheaper power supply. Gold rated or no, that one is an awful deal. NZXT's Hale90 550W performs just as well and is $30 cheaper, and there are numerous good 600W+ units for under $70 right now. 80+ Gold isn't all that different from 80+ or Bronze, in the grand scheme of things.
Click to expand...
Thanks for clearing that up. No card needed then. The psu is pricey. I just wanted to make sure that for the environment, and perhaps being on constantly, t was of quality and fit the budget. I know there are others to foot the bill as good for less but you 2 know more than I :good:. Anyways, mission accomplished.
Benny Boy said:
It's not Intel but perhaps it will spark interest.　
Click to expand...
 
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That PSU is definitely a good one. It actually shuts the fan off when it's not needed. It just seemed like overkill for a budget-minded office computer, you know?
 
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Hey Salvage-this, great info and advice for this gentleman. I was thinking that he would be fine going with the i3 (if he's concerned with sticking with Intel) since it doesn't look like they will be doing anything too intensive, just basic spreadsheeting and stuff like that. Help him save a few bucks, what do you think?
 
Either would be fine. On an office computer I doubt that any of the programs will be pushing either processor to it's max. He can pick whatever cpu he wants for this build.
 
This is a great discussion going here. I really appreciate everyone's time and input helping me out. I think collectively you all have put together a very nice and cost efficient machine.

I'm still on the fence about the chipset. So, since the AMD processor and the i3 are about the same price, which is the faster processor? Through my newbie eyes it seems that the AMD would win hands down since it's quad and both are 3 GHz, but I think it's safe to say that you tech pros see things in all those spec numbers that I cannot. So which is the better buy? I have no problem with AMD if it performs better or even equal for the same price. So I guess my decision comes down to which of those two processors is the better.
 
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