Basic non-gaming PC for parents

[Fireball927]

Hello yall!

 

I am starting to piece together a PC for my parents to use for fairly basic tasks. For the most part, it will be used for web browsing, email, and office tasks. Really, the only noteworthy 'power' task is some pretty heavy spread-sheeting with lots of macros and data processing (my Dad is a systems engineer). I would like to use a Ryzen 5 3600 for the build since it has plenty of multi-threaded performance at it's price-point. Here is the build I have started:

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor	$189.99 @ Best Buy
Motherboard	MSI B450M PRO-M2 MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$74.98 @ Amazon
Memory	Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory	$64.99 @ Best Buy
Storage	Samsung 860 Evo 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	Purchased For $59.99
Case	Thermaltake Versa H17 MicroATX Mini Tower Case	$44.99 @ Best Buy
Power Supply	EVGA BR 500 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$45.98 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$490.92
	Mail-in rebates	-$10.00
	Total	$480.92
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-12-13 21:40 EST-0500

Due to my lack of knowledge with low end GPU's, I am struggling to pick one to keep this build under $500 without windows. Note I already have a Samsung 500gb SSD. 

I am looking for either GPU recommendations, or tweaks to the build that would suit this set of tasks well. I have toyed with the idea of using a R5 3400G, but am wondering if loosing two cores will make a large impact on performance. It would make the build a lot cheaper though.

 

Thanks for your thoughts!

[muito_gostoso]

for gpu a gt 710 will be fine for 20-30 dlrs

[Fasauceome]

24 minutes ago, Fireball927 said:

For the most part, it will be used for web browsing, email, and office tasks

Athlon 3000G will do it all for $50. Your selection of the 3600 is insanely overkill

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Athlon 3000G 3.5 GHz Dual-Core Processor	$49.99 @ B&H
Motherboard	ASRock B450M/AC Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$74.99 @ Newegg
Memory	OLOy 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory	$49.99 @ Newegg
Case	Thermaltake Versa H15 MicroATX Mid Tower Case	$44.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply	Corsair CX (2017) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$53.98 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$273.94
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-12-13 22:10 EST-0500

Consider this build instead, still basic but much more cost effective. Built in wifi as well which is nice for an office PC.

[Bombastinator]

Deleted. No longer relevant

[Fireball927]

7 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

Athlon 3000G will do it all for $50

You underestimate the caliber of spreadsheets my Dad has made. Turns out the more math you use, the better CPU you need  

In all seriousness, I just wanted 4-6 cores to keep this thing relevant for 4-5 years.

[Fasauceome]

2 minutes ago, Fireball927 said:

You underestimate the caliber of spreadsheets my Dad has made. Turns out the more math you use, the better CPU you need  

In all seriousness, I just wanted 4-6 cores to keep this thing relevant for 4-5 years.

For large spreadsheets, max I'd do is the 2400G, and even that's a bit much.

[Akira Shimazu]

2 minutes ago, Fireball927 said:

You underestimate the caliber of spreadsheets my Dad has made. Turns out the more math you use, the better CPU you need  

In all seriousness, I just wanted 4-6 cores to keep this thing relevant for 4-5 years.

just go with 3200G

[Bombastinator]

3 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

For large spreadsheets, max I'd do is the 2400G, and even that's a bit much.

True.  3200g is cheaper than 2400g right now though.

[Fasauceome]

12 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

True.  3200g is cheaper than 2400g right now though.

yes but only 4c/4t instead of 4c/8t and the single threaded performance is negligible

[Tristerin]

25 minutes ago, Fireball927 said:

You underestimate the caliber of spreadsheets my Dad has made. Turns out the more math you use, the better CPU you need  

In all seriousness, I just wanted 4-6 cores to keep this thing relevant for 4-5 years.

Agree with you, I use a Xeon E-2276M.

 

23 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

For large spreadsheets, max I'd do is the 2400G, and even that's a bit much.

Negative - I deal in this.  Large calculations in excel require many threads.

 

EDIT - especially if you link multiple files, tables, pivots and macro it all in series - if your CPU hangs up you get into read only issues etc.

[Bombastinator]

6 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

yes but only 4c/4t instead of 4c/8t and the single threaded performance is negligible

Right you are.  Missed that bit.  I was seeing 4/4. 

[Bombastinator]

4 minutes ago, Tristerin said:

Agree with you, I use a Xeon E-2276M.

 

Negative - I deal in this.  Large calculations in excel require many threads.

 

EDIT - especially if you link multiple files, tables, pivots and macro it all in series - if your CPU hangs up you get into read only issues etc.

More than 8?  If so 3400g won’t help either.

[Fasauceome]

11 minutes ago, Tristerin said:

Negative - I deal in this.  Large calculations in excel require many threads.

 

EDIT - especially if you link multiple files, tables, pivots and macro it all in series - if your CPU hangs up you get into read only issues etc

I'd think then that a 1700 might be a better call

 

the 3600 is just so good for gaming, while a workhorse PC might fare better from other selections

[Bombastinator]

3 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

I'd think then that a 1700 might be a better call

 

the 3600 is just so good for gaming, while a workhorse PC might fare better from other selections

1700s seem to be getting expensive for new ones.  2700? It’s still cheaper than a 3600 unlike new 1700s