Home PC

Redfox25

Hi

Looking for a recommendation for either a self build home pc or a cheap and cheerful off the shelf one.

Its for my father in law, he only uses it for internet browsing and tipping about on.

I would like to get something with a SSD in it as that would give it the biggest boost. His current one is a 10 yr old dell optiplex which takes about 3 minutes to load up.
He doesnt need a screen or any fancy software , apart from a OS.
Storage wise a 1 TB HDD will probably do him for ever.
Budget wise, cheap as I can and still have something reasonable for these uses.

Im thinking basic cpu with integrated graphics
4 gb ram
1 TB HDD
250gb SSD
OS
Simple case, doesnt need to be flashy.


1. What is your budget? 300 max

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Home usage and youtube. No gaming

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? Yes

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? No, its ancient and a dell so case and motherboard wont be compatible with other bits I assume.

5. Do you need a monitor? No

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

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? No

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? No. No need

8. How can you pay? Visa debit or bank transfer.

9. When are you purchasing? Some time in the next 2-3 weeks


Thanks guys

SterlingArcher

Get Windows on adverts. There are guys on there with 200+ positive feedback so one can assume they're ok. Otherwise it will eat into budget.

Digital Solitude

You know what you want youself sure, get a Pentium CPU

Lu Tze

Get something on adverts and add an ssd. I bought one for the parents house for €160 which flies for the same uses as you listed above.

Even the one it repaced, a studio hybrid 140g (got them it a good few years ago) was grand, would like have sufficed with just a new hard drive (it was starting to fail). And that's running laptop parts(its SFF, the original NUC!) from 8 years ago or so! Will make a nice media centre, runs kodi perfect, will give it away to somebody in the family.

What are the specs of the old machine? A reinstall and an ssd can make a huge difference

Redfox25

I must ask him for the model number on his old machine.
A re-install and a new HDD and a SSD for the OS might do the trick alright. Its an old Dell optiplex i believe so I wasnt sure about fittings inside the machine.

Will have a root on adverts too.
Cheers folks.

Slutmonkey57b

A 10 year old machine probably has a SATA gen1 interface which may negate a lot of the benefit of an SSD. Still, a socket 1150 pentium mobo, ram and cpu is probably well within the €170 mark, which leaves you ample headroom for an SSD. Install the lot into the existing box and away you go.

Redfox25

Finally got the specs, its a Dell Otiplex GX620, circa 2005.
Rough specs,
1GB DDR2 RAM
Intel GMA 950
Windows XP Professional
500GB 7200RPM Hard Drive
Intel Pentium 4 Processor 3.4GHz

Was looking at this https://www.maxburns.ie/systems/desktops/intel-pentium-g3260-dual-core-3-30ghz-4gb-ram-1tb-hard-drive-dvdrw-prebuilt-system.html
or this
https://www.maxburns.ie/systems/desktops/intel-j1800-dual-core-2-41ghz-4gb-ram-500gb-clean-pull-hard-drive-dvdrw-cronus-piano-black-finish-prebuilt-system-3-year-warranty.html

Add in a 120gb SSD 45 euro odd (amazon)
Win 7 25euro (Adverts )

Or just buy the parts and do it myself.
Hard to know.

Slutmonkey57b

Six of one, half a dozen of the other really. The ssd and a new install of Windows are the only performance defining characteristics of a build like this, so if you fancy building it yourself, it's easy enough, the machine you linked to is a good price, things like the power supply will probably be cheap options as a result. I don't see you building a replacement for less though.