Help spec me a €600 build for an office computer

censuspro

I'm looking for something fast that can support dual monitors with about six USB ports and Wifi connectivity.

1. What is your budget? [€500 - €600]

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? [office computing, accounts software, ms office, internet)

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? [Yes]

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? [No]

5. Do you need a monitor? [No]

5a. If yes, what size do you need. [N/A]

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? [2 monitors 1920x1080]

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [Wifi connectivity needed]

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [No]

8. How can you pay? [Bank Transfer/Credit Card/Laser]

9. When are you purchasing? [In 30 days]

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? [South Dublin City][/QUOTE]

censuspro

Serephucus wrote: »

How's this look?

Item|Price
FRACTAL DESIGN Gehäuse Core 1000 black|€29.36
ASRock B75M-DGS, Sockel 1155, mATX|€50.39
Intel Pentium G2020 Box, LGA1155|€51.66
8GB G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€48.81
Corsair VS Serie VS350, Non-Modular, 80+|€29.29
Samsung SSD 840 250GB SATA 6Gb/s|€149.57
MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit SB-Version Englisch|€85.50
ZOTAC GeFORCE GT 210 with CUDA "Synergy Edition" HDMI|€24.66
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - Intel/AMD|€29.94
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€518.17

Plenty of memory, fast dual core processor, and a 250GB SSD, which will make the whole machine extremely snappy. If you want to save a bit of money you could drop down to a 120GB SSD if you won't need the space. There's also a cheap GPU in there to allow dual digital outputs (with the motherboard you'd have to use VGA, which is a no-no). There's a CPU cooler there, but that's for noise reasons. If noise doesn't really bother you, then you can remove that. Win7 is there as well.

Thanks for the reply. Probably could drop down to 120GB SSD.
Is there any advantage to having two HDMI ports rather than connecting one of the monitors via VGA. The monitors I'm using are Samsung Syncmaster B2230 and can be connected with VA, HDMI or DVI. I was told previously that you lose screen quality connecting via VGA and that DVI produces best picture quality. Is there any truth in that?

Serephucus

(Just an FYI, the other thread was perfectly fine, also, I edited my post in there with a second build, might want to give that a look.)

In short: Yes, VGA gives a pretty horrible looking picture, and you should always use a digital connector if you have the option. VGA tends to be a little blurry, and isn't nearly as nice for reading text (something you'd do lots with an office machine) as with a digital signal.

wallyMe

Get a better processor is my only criticism of that PC, especially with accounting software. Also you don't need a cooler for 30 euro.

Serephucus

For office work it's plenty. If anything, it's overkill. Within the budget, he could step up to an i3, but it only adds Hyperthreading, which won't help anything at all, so there's not much point.

wallyMe

Serephucus wrote: »

For office work it's plenty. If anything, it's overkill. Within the budget, he could step up to an i3, but it only adds Hyperthreading, which won't help anything at all, so there's not much point.

Accounts software can be pretty hefty. Over kill is always good don't see why it couldn't be?. You could pick your own case to something you like OP for a bit extra if needed. i5 is a beast of a processor! Unless the processor is running games,compressing etc you won't notice the stock fan and will be quiet.
Item|Price
BitFenix Merc Alpha|€32.32
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W|€46.53
Samsung SSD 840 120GB SATA 6Gb/s|€86.09
8GB G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€48.81
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit (SB-Version)|€83.94
Intel Core i5-3470 Box, LGA1155|€169.74
ASRock H61M-DGS, Sockel 1155, mATX|€39.89
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€526.31

censuspro

wallyMe wrote: »

Accounts software can be pretty hefty. Over kill is always good don't see why it couldn't be?. You could pick your own case to something you like OP for a bit extra if needed. i5 is a beast of a processor! Unless the processor is running games,compressing etc you won't notice the stock fan and will be quiet.
Item|Price
BitFenix Merc Alpha|€32.32
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W|€46.53
Samsung SSD 840 120GB SATA 6Gb/s|€86.09
8GB G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€48.81
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit (SB-Version)|€83.94
Intel Core i5-3470 Box, LGA1155|€169.74
ASRock H61M-DGS, Sockel 1155, mATX|€39.89
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€526.31

Thanks, is there any HDMI ports on that spec. Also, should i just buy a wifi adapter separately?

censuspro

Serephucus wrote: »

(Just an FYI, the other thread was perfectly fine, also, I edited my post in there with a second build, might want to give that a look.)

In short: Yes, VGA gives a pretty horrible looking picture, and you should always use a digital connector if you have the option. VGA tends to be a little blurry, and isn't nearly as nice for reading text (something you'd do lots with an office machine) as with a digital signal.

Would you recommend a different motherboard with more digital connectors?

Also, do you know what the story is with sound, I assume there are no speakers built in?

Serephucus

That motherboard only has one DVI.

The graphics card I stuck in the build (The GT610) has a DVI and HDMI, both are digital.

Regarding WiFi, unless you really need wireless, I'd suggest using a wired connection instead, or homeplugs, if you are too far from your router.

wallyMe

censuspro wrote: »

Thanks, is there any HDMI ports on that spec. Also, should i just buy a wifi adapter separately?

Actually need to update the motherboard to get HDMI for an extra 10 or 20

censuspro

Are these difficult to assemble, does the order come with instructions?

Also, out of curiosity what would the above spec set me back if I was to purchase from a manufacturer?

tuxy

censuspro wrote: »

Are these difficult to assemble, does the order come with instructions?

Also, out of curiosity what would the above spec set me back if I was to purchase from a manufacturer?

No instructions come with it but there are many guides on the net and videos on youtube. Search for some and have a quick readup to see if you would like to build one. It's been said many times on here but it's just like lego for adults. If you think you can assemble flat pack furnature then you will be well able to put a pc together.

Dell will happily sell you the same spec as that build for €850 and probably use inferior parts

Serephucus

Actually, your motherboard should give you the bones of how to do it. If you're unsure about specifics, as tuxy said, there's a billion guides on Youtube.

spix

This is what I'd go for if I had 600 euro to spend on an office pc that required 2 monitors !

Item|Price
Intel Core i3-3220 Box, LGA1155|€105.05
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€53.54
MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit SB-Version Englisch|€85.50
Corsair VS Serie VS350, Non-Modular, 80+|€29.29
Samsung SSD 840 250GB SATA 6Gb/s|€149.57
Cooler Master Silencio RC-450-KKN1 Midi-Tower - black, ohne Netzteil|€49.91
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 - Pro PWM Rev.2|€17.22
ASRock B75 Pro3, Sockel 1155, ATX|€66.14
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€575.21

censuspro

Serephucus wrote: »

Actually, your motherboard should give you the bones of how to do it. If you're unsure about specifics, as tuxy said, there's a billion guides on Youtube.

So just to clarify, would he specs we looked at support dual monitors and also be capable of handling the tasks mentioned while still being super fast?

Serephucus

The only thing you need for dual monitor support is the GT610 in my build. It can be put in either one without problems.

spix

censuspro wrote: »

So just to clarify, would he specs we looked at support dual monitors and also be capable of handling the tasks mentioned while still being super fast?

The spec is decent (g2020 with gt 610) but a couple of things could be improved.

The cooler is overkill for that cpu in my opinion. For an office pc, the fractal core 100 is a bit loud. I have one and I need to use a voltage reducer on the fan to make it a bit quieter. The micro atx motherboards in your price range only come with pwm fan headers so it can't be controlled at all with these.

The silencio 450 is a great choice for an office pc. It's cheap and quiet. The full size case allows a better motherboard with more output options so no need for a dedicated graphics card.

censuspro

spix wrote: »

The spec is decent (g2020 with gt 610) but a couple of things could be improved.

The cooler is overkill for that cpu in my opinion. For an office pc, the fractal core 100 is a bit loud. I have one and I need to use a voltage reducer on the fan to make it a bit quieter. The micro atx motherboards in your price range only come with pwm fan headers so it can't be controlled at all with these.

The silencio 450 is a great choice for an office pc. It's cheap and quiet. The full size case allows a better motherboard with more output options so no need for a dedicated graphics card.

Re the cooler, I didn't mention that I leave my pc on for very long periods of time even days at a time so maybe a cooler is a good option?
Also never heard of the G2020 processor, I've tended to gauge intel processors by i3, i5, i7. Do you know where the G2020 would compare in that regard, I had an i5 3317u processor and 4gb RAM on a different laptop and that was very fast but I notice that the i3 3220 has an average mark of 4233 on CPU benchmark where as the i5 3317u has an average mark of 3117

spix

censuspro wrote: »

Re the cooler, I didn't mention that I leave my pc on for very long periods of time even days at a time so maybe a cooler is a good option?
Also never heard of the G2020 processor, I've tended to gauge intel processors by i3, i5, i7. Do you know where the G2020 would compare in that regard, I had an i5 processor in my head as a benchmark.

Time doesn't really matter in regards to cooling, but the hyper 212 is intended for more powerful cpu's. Since you're using the pc for office use even the one I listed above might be overkill. The one that comes included with the cpu should be fine. Only reason to change it would be noise levels but there won't be much difference between them.

The g2020 is very similar to the g860. Here it is compared to the i3 3220.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/404?vs=677

The i3 has 4 threads vs 2 of the g2020 so would be better at multitasking, but you probably won't notice much difference with what you're using the pc for. Desktop cpu's are much more powerful than laptops,you definitely wouldn't see any benefit from an i5, would be a waste of money.

censuspro

spix wrote: »

Time doesn't really matter in regards to cooling, but the hyper 212 is intended for more powerful cpu's. Since you're using the pc for office use even the one I listed above might be overkill. The one that comes included with the cpu should be fine. Only reason to change it would be noise levels but there won't be much difference between them.

The g2020 is very similar to the g860. Here it is compared to the i3 3220.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/404?vs=677

The i3 has 4 threads vs 2 of the g2020 so would be better at multitasking, but you probably won't notice much difference with what you're using the pc for. Desktop cpu's are much more powerful than laptops,you definitely wouldn't see any benefit from an i5, would be a waste of money.

Really appreciate you and the other posters taking the time to reply. If you don't mind, can I ask what you think the final spec should be bearing in mind the dual monitors [1920 x 1080] with digital connectors, speakers, plenty of USB ports, fast processor, can handle office tasks being run simultaneously for long periods.

Also, just to put my mind at ease, can I play devils advocate for a minute and ask the question that for someone like me with limited knowledge of hardware, Is there a distinct advantage building my own pc when I could buy a Dell Vostro laptop, 128Gb SSD built in speakers, i5 3317u, HDMI and VGA connectivity including Windows for €600?

belcampprisoner

http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/19330/xx/xx/105/9/:///:///?price-range=400-800#aj-s-19330/amount-low=400,amount-min=0,amount-high=800,amount-max=10606/sortFilter=Prix-ASC/display-list/

censuspro

belcampprisoner wrote: »

http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/19330/xx/xx/105/9/:///:///?price-range=400-800#aj-s-19330/amount-low=400,amount-min=0,amount-high=800,amount-max=10606/sortFilter=Prix-ASC/display-list/

I think that link is broken.

spix

censuspro wrote: »

Really appreciate you and the other posters taking the time to reply. If you don't mind, can I ask what you think the final spec should be bearing in mind the dual monitors [1920 x 1080] with digital connectors, speakers, plenty of USB ports, fast processor, can handle office tasks being run simultaneously for long periods.

Also, just to put my mind at ease, can I play devils advocate for a minute and ask the question that for someone like me with limited knowledge of hardware, Is there a distinct advantage building my own pc when I could buy a Dell Vostro laptop, 128Gb SSD built in speakers, i5 3317u, HDMI and VGA connectivity including Windows for €600?

Unless portability is a must it would be a bad idea to get the laptop. Everything in the laptop will be alot slower (on paper at least) The price/performance ratio of a custom desktop pc can never be beaten by anything you buy ready built. Whether or not you can notice a speed difference between them depends on the usage.

Personally I'd get this with a 600e budget. The other peoples builds are fine as well though.

Item|Price
Intel Core i3-3220 Box, LGA1155|€105.05
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€53.54
MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit SB-Version Englisch|€85.50
Corsair VS Serie VS350, Non-Modular, 80+|€29.29
Samsung SSD 840 250GB SATA 6Gb/s|€149.57
Cooler Master Silencio RC-450-KKN1 Midi-Tower - black, ohne Netzteil|€49.91
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 - Pro PWM Rev.2|€17.22
ASRock B75 Pro3, Sockel 1155, ATX|€66.14
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€575.21

It would be very quiet, a nice middle ground between the g2020 and i5 cpu and will run 2 x 1080p monitors with no problems.

I think you'd need this too for wifi

http://www.hardwareversand.de/PCI/42568/LogiLink+Wireless+LAN+300+Mbps+PCI+Karte+802.11n+2T2R.article

oh and a dvd drive

http://www.hardwareversand.de/S-ATA/67446/Samsung+SH-224BB+bare+schwarz.article

Serephucus

He needs a cheap GPU or he'll be running one of the monitors off VGA. Hence the GT 610 I chucked in mine.

Edit: Never mind, didn't realise the board had HDMI. That said, I'd nearly go with a cheap GPU instead and drop down to mATX. A full ATX tower really isn't needed for this. Hell, I would have gone with a Prodigy build but it would have been a bit more expensive. The dedicated card would also give him more robust customisation options.

censuspro

I don't mean to labour the point here but this a lenovo for e699 in PC world. No ssd but its i5, 8gb ram. Is there a big difference in the parts used by lenovo versus a custom build?
http://www.pcworld.ie/Product/LENOVO-H520s-Desktop-PC/312226/307

censuspro

Serephucus wrote: »

He needs a cheap GPU or he'll be running one of the monitors off VGA. Hence the GT 610 I chucked in mine.

Edit: Never mind, didn't realise the board had HDMI. That said, I'd nearly go with a cheap GPU instead and drop down to mATX. A full ATX tower really isn't needed for this. Hell, I would have gone with a Prodigy build but it would have been a bit more expensive. The dedicated card would also give him more robust customisation options.

A mini tower would be ideal but wouldnt be a deal breaker either.

Serephucus

Honestly, I'd still go with the build I originally posted. The only thing the i3 offers you over the G2020 is Hyperthreading. This is a technology where-by each core can process two threads at once, turning a dual core into a sort-of-quad-core. Sounds great in theory, but it almost never works, unless you're doing the right kind of work (office work isn't that) and even then, you're only looking at about 30-40% performance gains (at most) not a full 2x increase.

If you wanted it even smaller, you could change the motherboard to this and the case to this (comes in black too), at a cost of about €60. Depends how important size is. If you wanted, with that build, you could even drop the dedicated graphics card (so it would only cost ~€40 extra) as the board comes with DVI and HDMI.

censuspro

One other question, if i use the pc configuration on hardwareversand, will I be prompted if I select incompatible parts i.e. case is not compatible with motherboard etc.

Also, do ou know how I can post my spec on boards in the same format that you did?

Serephucus

Have a search for Fluffy88's basket to post script, there's instructions there for it.

If you use the configurator, yeah, it won't let you select incompatible parts. Alternatively, you can just throw this in your basket, and they'll build the PC for you. I always advise people to build it themselves though. It's on the same level as Ikea furniture, and it gives you much more confidence to troubleshoot any problems you might have in the future.

U_Fig

I've noticed tho in the past that using the configuratior thing sometimes you don't get to see all the parts.. It also tells sometimes that parts are incompatible when in reality they work fine.. This Is especially true with PCIe and PCI cards

censuspro

Serephucus wrote: »

Have a search for Fluffy88's basket to post script, there's instructions there for it.

If you use the configurator, yeah, it won't let you select incompatible parts. Alternatively, you can just throw this in your basket, and they'll build the PC for you. I always advise people to build it themselves though. It's on the same level as Ikea furniture, and it gives you much more confidence to troubleshoot any problems you might have in the future.

I'll check that out. I ran the configurator and I was coming in at €520 using the smaller case with integrated graphics.
Is there a big disadvantage using integrated graphics opposed to dedicated.

Serephucus

Nope, didn't work. You need to add the parts to your basket, and use the script, that, or take a screenshot of somewhere showing all the specs and post it up.

wallyMe

Get the i5 in the desktop OP. For 600 euro you would definitly want to be getting this in your build without a shadow of a doubt!

Also if your now looking at laptops this one is pretty cheap with a decent i5 processor

http://www.pcworld.ie/Product/ACER-Aspire-E1571-156andquot-Laptop/314590/301?utm_source=PCWorld&utm_medium=HomepageBanner3&utm_campaign=AcerLaptop&utm_term=Acer+Laptop&utm_content=Banner3

Also a decent dell pc for 699

http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=d00x8529&model_id=xps-8500&c=ie&l=en&s=dhs&cs=iedhs1&

spix

wallyMe wrote: »

Get the i5 in the desktop OP. For 600 euro you would definitly want to be getting this in your build without a shadow of a doubt!

Also if your now looking at laptops this one is pretty cheap with a decent i5 processor

http://www.pcworld.ie/Product/ACER-Aspire-E1571-156andquot-Laptop/314590/301?utm_source=PCWorld&utm_medium=HomepageBanner3&utm_campaign=AcerLaptop&utm_term=Acer+Laptop&utm_content=Banner3

Also a decent dell pc for 699

http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=d00x8529&model_id=xps-8500&c=ie&l=en&s=dhs&cs=iedhs1&

None of those are great value tbh. Most laptops with regular hard drives are dreadful to use for multitasking. The Dell also doesn't come with an SSD and its 699. OP doesn't need an i5 for an office pc, it really would be a waste of money.

The bitfenix prodigy is actually bigger than the core 1000 overall despite it being mini itx. It's more of an enthusiast case, wouldn't bother with it tbh.

spix

Here's another build just for the fun of it

Item|Price
Intel Core i5-3350P Box, LGA1155|€155.52
Sapphire Radeon HD 6450 FleX, 1GB DDR3|€51.44
Sharkoon VS3-Standard Chrom, ohne Netzteil|€22.68
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€53.54
ASRock B75 Pro3, Sockel 1155, ATX|€66.14
Corsair VS Serie VS350, Non-Modular, 80+|€29.29
Samsung SSD 840 120GB SATA 6Gb/s|€86.09
WD Caviar Green 1TB, SATA 6Gb/s (WD10EZRX)|€57.62
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€541.31

This would be the best system you can get within your budget. i5 processor (same as the dell one, has no integrated graphics), a graphics card that supports 3 dvi monitors incase you ever wanted to add another and both an ssd with 1tb hard drive.

Serephucus

You're right, it is. My bad. Go with the Core 1000 then.

Edit: Spix's build is what you want. Personally, I'm not much for that case, but at that point it's down to personal preference, component-wise though, it's spot on. It's arguably overkill for office work, but the advantage of that is it will last you for years.

The only change other than the case I'd make, is that I'd maybe swap in a 1TB Red drive, as you get an extra year out of the warranty.

censuspro

spix wrote: »

Here's another build just for the fun of it

Item|Price
Intel Core i5-3350P Box, LGA1155|€155.52
Sapphire Radeon HD 6450 FleX, 1GB DDR3|€51.44
Sharkoon VS3-Standard Chrom, ohne Netzteil|€22.68
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€53.54
ASRock B75 Pro3, Sockel 1155, ATX|€66.14
Corsair VS Serie VS350, Non-Modular, 80+|€29.29
Samsung SSD 840 120GB SATA 6Gb/s|€86.09
WD Caviar Green 1TB, SATA 6Gb/s (WD10EZRX)|€57.62
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€541.31

This would be the best system you can get within your budget. i5 processor (same as the dell one, has no integrated graphics), a graphics card that supports 3 dvi monitors incase you ever wanted to add another and both an ssd with 1tb hard drive.

Thanks, I think that's more or less what I'm looking although 1TB is huge amount of storage. Do you think it's worth while getting built in speakers, I have a portable gear 4 speaker that I could use but would need to get bluetooth connectivity if I was using it with this build. I think I'm going to add a DVD drive.