€450ish Tiny, Silent PC for he Mother

IrishMetalhead · 24-07-2014 9:48pm #1

Me Ma has finally decided to replace her 5 year old Celeron laptop and get myself to build her a faster desktop but has a few requirements.
She needs a full set up (apart from keyboard, mouse and speakers) wants the desktop to be as small as possible and have a HDMI port so she can move it into the sitting room so she can watch Netflix on the TV.
Also she wants it to be quiet as possible and it needs to be very low power consuming.
She only needs a computer to browse the Internet, use MS Office 2010 and stream videos.
So here's what I came up with, the motherboard has a integrated quad core Celeron and is completely fanless :

So witch shipping it'll come to €432.19

Only thing is I don't know how good the processor actually is, saw some reviews only but nothing from recent also I Don't know if a 60W power brick will be enough even if the CPU is only 10% TDP.
Other than that I'm fair confident this will do.

miece16 · 25-07-2014 10:23am

dont need the ssd tbh so swap that for 500gb hdd and there's 40-50 saved

Lu Tze · 25-07-2014 11:34am

IrishMetalhead wrote: »

Me Ma has finally decided to replace her 5 year old Celeron laptop and get myself to build her a faster desktop but has a few requirements.
She needs a full set up (apart from keyboard, mouse and speakers) wants the desktop to be as small as possible and have a HDMI port so she can move it into the sitting room so she can watch Netflix on the TV.
Also she wants it to be quiet as possible and it needs to be very low power consuming.
She only needs a computer to browse the Internet, use MS Office 2010 and stream videos.
So here's what I came up with, the motherboard has a integrated quad core Celeron and is completely fanless :

So witch shipping it'll come to €432.19

Only thing is I don't know how good the processor actually is, saw some reviews only but nothing from recent also I Don't know if a 60W power brick will be enough even if the CPU is only 10% TDP.
Other than that I'm fair confident this will do.

Would you not just get an Intel NUC?

briany · 25-07-2014 1:27pm

You can get a decent laptop for 400 with an HDMI out. There's precious little need for a desktop, going by your mother's requirements. You could use the 50 quid left over to buy a little wireless mouse (god I hate trackpads) and/or a Chromecast dongle.

You could even pick up an ASUS Transformer for around that price. Totally silent, low power draw, can be either a notebook or tablet.

TerrorFirmer · 25-07-2014 1:48pm

Lu Tze wrote: »

Would you not just get an Intel NUC?

This.

Or else just buy another laptop.

Unitedfandoc · 25-07-2014 1:48pm

I reckon you'd be grand with 4GB RAM instead of 8.

Run a search for each part through the website Geizhals Deutschland, look for the HardwareVersand logo and you can shave like 10% off the PC build. Also, Google "HardwareVersand vouchers" and you'll be able to get another €5-10 off for first time buyers.

IrishMetalhead · 25-07-2014 2:27pm

A SSD is required since it will be using Windows 7 not 8 so the fast boot feature won't be there, also she uses an SSD on her PC at work and she does notice the difference and loves how it's more snappier opening anything

A laptop won't do anymore because the main reason for her switch back to desktops is for the bigger screen with higher res for her spread sheets and other office work to make it easier to multi task, hence the 22" 1920x1080 monitor, plus she already has a media remote for her laptop that she'll be using on it.

Was looking at Intel NUCs originally but there a tad bit pricey only one I saw that fitted the budget was a i3 for €150 but it only had 3 USB 2.0 ports and no 3.0 ports what so ever which is a deal breaker since her flash stick and HDD are both USB 3.0

The only thing I do agree here is that she does not indeed need 8GB of RAM but she was quiet insistant on it saying that it will keep her future proof blah blah etc. and i wasn't bother arguing with her so I just added it.

Johnboy1951 · 25-07-2014 3:39pm

The only thing I do agree here is that she does not indeed need 8GB of RAM but she was quiet insistant on it saying that it will keep her future proof blah blah etc. and i wasn't bother arguing with her so I just added it.

4 is more than enough ..... another 4 can be added in future if required ..... does she not know this?

An i3 NUC is what I would also recommend given the requirements.

or maybe even a Celeron ...

http://www.saverstore.com/product/20812476/INTEL-DN2820FYKH0-NUC-ULTRA-COMPACT-PC-Celeron-239Ghz-4GB-DDR3-500GB-25-SATA-Wifi-blue

IrishMetalhead · 25-07-2014 4:00pm

already showed her the NUCs, as I said tho the lack of USB ports was a definite no for her so I just gave up on that idea.

Have explained that all to her but you know how stubborn parents can be, the budget allowed it so it was just easier than arguing.

Johnboy1951 · 25-07-2014 4:12pm

IrishMetalhead wrote: »

already showed her the NUCs, as I said tho the lack of USB ports was a definite no for her so I just gave up on that idea.

Have explained that all to her but you know how stubborn parents can be, the budget allowed it so it was just easier than arguing.

Well I guess if she wants more than
1 x USB 3.0 port on the front panel
2 x USB 2.0 ports on the back panel
and has lots of peripheral devices to keep plugged in then that is that.
Although a USB hub with the NUC would seem to be much smaller and neater than a desktop case .... and the NUC can be mounted to the back of the monitor.

But it appears she has her mind made up already so there is no point in pursuing this

IrishMetalhead · 25-07-2014 5:27pm

Yup it's like talking to a wall but in fairness she does have alot of USB stuff to plug in she might have to get a hub anyway

TerrorFirmer · 25-07-2014 9:07pm

Ways you could save money:

Socket AM1 CPU/Mobo. More than enough power for those tasks, would save a bit of money.

4Gb of ram is honestly more than enough, 8gb is a waste for that usage. The mini-pc I've set up for my parents to do those same functions (mostly xbmc) is a W7 machine with a dual core and 2Gb ram and it works fine for example.

If she has external drives, can't really see much need for a 240GB SSD, 120GB should be fine?

€450ish Tiny, Silent PC for he Mother

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