Build a computer

[Dexlowe]

Somebody said something in a post about avoiding the desktop package deals in the IT City type places as they often have older parts that can only be upgraded so far. Fair point I suppose, but I'll let others thrash that one out. So I am thinking about getting my tech guy to put an unelaborate desktop together for me. At one stage, in passing when I said I would like a simple uncomplicated PC just for my work, he said he could put something together for about 10k.

So, if tech savvy members were to do the same, build something for about 10k, what parts would you be looking at and why. Which parts would be easiest to upgrade if I decided at a future date to make my uncomplicated PC just a bit more complicated.

So, we start with a chassis ... what do we add next.

[joncl]

a power supply

[userabcd]

Go to the website of InvadeIT, TKCom, Jedicool, Busitek and MPower and all the parts are listed there with prices (prices are remarkably almost all the same with only a few hundred baht difference between them)

Basically what you need are:

Case

Motherboard

CPU (with intergrated graphics)

Ram

Harddisk

Power supply

GPU if you need it.

[howto]

Check out this not too old TV post ...

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/718662-building-a-low-cost-but-capable-desktop-opinions-sought/

Started by JimShortz, 2014-04-13

cheers,

howto

[Dexlowe]

Go to the website of InvadeIT, TKCom, Jedicool, Busitek and MPower and all the parts are listed there with prices (prices are remarkably almost all the same with only a few hundred baht difference between them)

Basically what you need are:

Case

Motherboard

CPU (with intergrated graphics)

Ram

Harddisk

Power supply

GPU if you need it.

Cool. Now we're starting to move along. So let's check what motherboard to buy. PC World says the first thing is support for USB 3.0, but I would imagine it's all 2.0 and 3.0 now. Then it refers to 6-gbps SATA ports, and now I'm lost. Can someone explain? And what is a Sandy Bridge CPU?

[userabcd]

Take a look at these Wikipedia pages:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Bridge
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA

Most of the new MB now come with USB3

Your PC budget is quite low and you made need to look at older generation and lower end spec parts but that depends upon what you need to use the PC for.

Don't also forget you may have to consider a screen and wireless card.

Suggest you read the reference above made by "howto", a budget PC was discussed at legth in that post and there is a lot of useful info there.

[RichCor]

...and a computer sometimes, but not always, needs an Operating System. Oh, and a display.

BTW, that's a target I just placed on your back.

[Dexlowe]

Thanks for those links. I'll get my nose into them.

The 10k figure is not my budget, just a figure mentioned by my tech guy. I just thought it would be interesting to work on that. I can go double, triple if I want to. Don't need monitor). But it will need an OS - will have to be Windows using Chrome because of my office requirements - so figure 4-5k for that - hmm, that 10k is already looking a bit thin. But I don't need bells and whistles. All of my work is done on two programs from my office, and that's it.

PS: I have a main computer - this one is purely for work, files etc.

[JSixpack]

Check out this not too old TV post ...

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/718662-building-a-low-cost-but-capable-desktop-opinions-sought/

Started by JimShortz, 2014-04-13

cheers,

howto

Good build and seems it would be suitable for the OP as well.

[Pomthai]

Try www.pcpartpicker.com

They have a very good compatibility filter that will allow you to choose and compare parts. More than just a gloried shopping list.

Decent forms and build guides on the site too.

[NeverSure]

You need some help. Maybe someone to list all of the parts by make and model.

I have found that when building a computer for someone else, the price of new matching (compatible) parts is about 1/2 price if I buy what was the latest and greatest about 2 years ago. That won't apply to the case, HD, optical drives and power supply, but it will to the motherboard, compatible cpu, ram, and video and sound card if wanted/needed. Many motherboards have build in sound and video for those who aren't gamers or something.

New models of motherboards, cpu's and ram change so fast that what was hot 2 years ago is still very good for the average user, and will be for a long time.

Be sure to use a 64 bit operating system and at least 8 gig of ram. Today's software is memory hungry and you almost can't have too much.

Another option would be to buy the motherboard. Now only certain cpu's and ram will fit, and things like sata and usb will be up to date. Give it to a tech and he can't put old legacy parts in it where it counts because they won't either fit or work.

Edited June 16, 2014 by NeverSure

[happynthailand]

buy a "bare bones" kit

most everthing you need to build your own

you'll have to buy,ram,video card,cpu,op system, and hard drive

[dave_boo]

Thanks for those links. I'll get my nose into them.

The 10k figure is not my budget, just a figure mentioned by my tech guy. I just thought it would be interesting to work on that. I can go double, triple if I want to. Don't need monitor). But it will need an OS - will have to be Windows using Chrome because of my office requirements - so figure 4-5k for that - hmm, that 10k is already looking a bit thin. But I don't need bells and whistles. All of my work is done on two programs from my office, and that's it.

PS: I have a main computer - this one is purely for work, files etc.

A Core i3 like the 4350 (dual core 4 threads 3.6 gHz) is an excellent foundation. 54 watts means it won't suck down a ton of power and the HD4600 graphics are...acceptable. 5300thb.

Friends don't let friends install less than 8GB of RAM. You don't need the super fast gaming RAM either. A reputable brand will be 3200thb.

Hard drives are where it's at next. Once you have gone SSD there is no going back. Unfortunately in the Kingdom their prices are quite high. Kingston offers a 120GB drive for 3000thb.

Mass storage is up next. If data protection is important than a RAID array or external backup (my recommendation) is required. So whatever size you are thinking of...double the purchase price if you need the safety net. 2x 2TB drives (assuming a RAID 1 setup) will cost 7000thb.

Leaves the motherboard. I am quite fond of Asus and they seem to have a killer deal with their H87M-E. Supports the RAID 1 I was talking about. Has 6x 6gb SATA connections. A slew of USB 3.0 ports. Gigabit LAN. And 4 DIMMS for future RAM upgrades. Downsides are the limited PCI-E slots (1 16x and 3 1x all being 3.0 version), the matx format and the horrible ALC887 sound...although many have a higher level of tolerance than I in this regard. Still a good deal for 3200thb.

Assuming you have a good PSU and case than you're looking at an outlay of 21 400thb for a decently fast machine with upgrade potential. If you want to game later than dropping in a good card is doable as it won't be bottlenecked by the CPU. RAM slots are open for any future virtualisation ypu want to try...although the CPU doesn't support it in hardware. Want to make a file server? Still have 3 or more SATA ports open.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[JSixpack]

Well, coming into this forum asking about parts for a basic lil' desktop build for just browsing and Office is about like walking into a gym full of preening roid heads and asking about "toning."

OP, beware of overkill!

[dave_boo]

Well, coming into this forum asking about parts for a basic lil' desktop build for just browsing and Office is about like walking into a gym full of preening roid heads and asking about "toning."

OP, beware of overkill!

I think I did fairly well; the recommendation I gave is 75% the processor and 67% the RAM of my gaming laptop. It's even 28% the processor and 25% the RAM of my desktop!

I actually started to edit the post to recommend a NUC...but then expansion is thrown out the window...also considered recommending one of AMD's APUs, but I've been away from AMD so long that I was not comfortable doing that.

[Dexlowe]

Never mind guys - I get the drift, and boning up on your suggestions has given me enough of a basis to talk a little more comfortably with my tech guy. As I indicated, this is just an exercise, although the computer will be built, of course.

Perhaps some opinions on those ready-made (fast food ) set ups at places like IT City. I have no qualms about buying them, but if you want to get a solid performing unit with all the bells and whistles that can be upgraded in a couple of years, would you go the route I'm taking for my very basic unit above?

[dave_boo]

Never mind guys - I get the drift, and boning up on your suggestions has given me enough of a basis to talk a little more comfortably with my tech guy. As I indicated, this is just an exercise, although the computer will be built, of course.

Perhaps some opinions on those ready-made (fast food ) set ups at places like IT City. I have no qualms about buying them, but if you want to get a solid performing unit with all the bells and whistles that can be upgraded in a couple of years, would you go the route I'm taking for my very basic unit above?

Personally...no.

If you can find one with a Haswell chip (socket 1150) and 4 dimm slots and a decent PSU than pehaps. Anything less is untenable imho. Even then you need to consider expansion slots.

[NanLaew]

I built an i5 based micro-ATX desktop about 3 years ago for around 15k less o/s. I built a similarly specced unit (same case, processor and mobo profile) about 14 months later and with the newer technologies/lower prices available such as larger HD, more RAM, a Blueray optical drive, slightly up-market mobo with onboard USB3, DMI and HDMI support, it came out about the same price.

I reckon 10k will get the OP a 'throwaway' PC as very little will be upgradeable. Between 15 and 20k will get you something more expandable. Going beyond that, the OP may have hot PC but with the speed that new stuff rolls out, expandability and upgrade-ability is still a pretty narrow window, say 2 years tops?

[JSixpack]

Hype aside, Jim Shortz config, which we discussed at length recently, will be perfectly adequate and it IS upgradeable.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/718662-building-a-low-cost-but-capable-desktop-opinions-sought/page-3#entry7695190

Personally, I'd go w/ a different PSU and case, adding around B1500 to the total cost of about B9000 (not including mouse, monitor, and keyboard), but Jim's decision was quite reasonable and defensible.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/718662-building-a-low-cost-but-capable-desktop-opinions-sought/page-4#entry7708739

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/718662-building-a-low-cost-but-capable-desktop-opinions-sought/page-4#entry7712403

For your needs you might be able to get by w/ free Linux for an OS. Depends on how happy LibreOffice or OpenOffice is w/ your docs. And your printer--you can google for Linux compatibility.

Inspiring article for thoughts of upgrading:

Can a £300 gaming PC compare to a £3,000 one?
We pit a cheap gaming PC against a high-end rig

Most of the time, most of our subjects literally could not tell the difference. In fact, it was worse than that. It wasn't just a case of putting hands up in the air and declaring it a dead heat. Frequently, our testers actually got it the wrong way round, declaring the low-end rig to be rendering with greater fidelity or actually running faster.

--http://www.techradar...#articleContent

I have to laugh at some of the ridiculous overkill you see among enthusiasts and wannabe techies. The phrase "more money than sense" always comes to mind.

Edited June 18, 2014 by JSixpack

[JSixpack]

Perhaps some opinions on those ready-made (fast food ) set ups at places like IT City. I have no qualms about buying them,

Qualms advised.

[Dexlowe]

Perhaps some opinions on those ready-made (fast food ) set ups at places like IT City. I have no qualms about buying them,

Qualms advised.

Haha, fair enough. The salesman's got the charms, I've got the alms and you've got the qualms. Cool.

Thanks for all the advice. It's much appreciated as I need to have some knowledge before I build this PC. It's no drama as I only need a basic unit for the work side of things, but I want to make sure it's upgradable as my oiffice has in the past sprung some nasty little tech changes on us. I'm finding it hard to explain this to my tech guy as he has his own idea of what I want, and I'm not sure he's on the right track. I'll be talking to him again in a couple of weeks. Gracias.

[NeverSure]

I would avoid a mini-ATX motherboard. I had to upgrade one to an ATX last year for a friend.

He had moved from where he had an ethernet cable to where only wireless was available and I needed to put a wireless PCI card in it. There wasn't another slot. I can't recall what was in the one slot it had, but it was full.

Yes I could have used something else such as USB, but he had bought and wanted the PCI, and more SATA connections.

Just in general, there often aren't enough of other things on a mini, either.

$.02

Edited June 19, 2014 by NeverSure

[JSixpack]

I would avoid a mini-ATX motherboard. I had to upgrade one to an ATX last year for a friend.

He had moved from where he had an ethernet cable to where only wireless was available and I needed to put a wireless PCI card in it. There wasn't another slot. I can't recall what was in the one slot it had, but it was full.

Yes I could have used something else such as USB, but he had bought and wanted the PCI, and more SATA connections.

Just in general, there often aren't enough of other things on a mini, either.

$.02

Well, your friend could merely have looked at his mainboard, seen that he had no free PCI slot, and then bought a PCI-E wireless card. If he had only one PCI-E slot free, he could have put a SATA card there and then used a USB wireless adapter--as you know--and that could have some advantages anyway.

Seems he was remarkably enamored of his--what, B600?--PCI wireless adapter and willing to pay quite a lot extra to use it.

If the OP needs more than 6 (six) SATA ports, he can similarly buy a SATA expansion card.

And then a question of a multi-monitor setup may arise, quite useful for an office PC, and a mATX board will likely do that better--the GA-B85M-HD3, for example, supports three off the bat. Later, OP can save USD60 by upgrading to a Xeon (no integrated graphics) over an I7.

At the lower end, an ATX may not give you any more SATA ports than an mATX.

You do have a point but mATX vs ATX isn't quite so simple for budgeting purposes. I prefer ATX, too, but after all they are generally more expensive, generally not needed for business use, and usually imply a higher-end PC w/ a serious graphics card (which one can of course install in an mATX as well).