Cheapest possible computer for my dad

[supremecoconut]

My old father is a simple man, and he just retired. He primarily works on music notation software (he's been doing that for the last 15 years, he's pretty good at it), but it also enjoy to download endless amounts of videos from the internet for no particular reasons, mainly history documentaries and current affairs reportages, ect. I want to try to build him a new computer for him and his simple tasks.

1. Budget & Location

200-400 euro(?), Europe. I doubt it, but if you have to increase the budget just tell the options me anyway. I don't have a lot of experience in this regard.

2. Aim

Music notation software: Sibelius (4+ GB of RAM, 36 GB hard disk space (SSD preferred), ASIO compatible audio interface or sound card)

Chrome: illegal streaming of soccer matches, multiple tabs open

IDM, JDownloader and a Torrent client are always in the background, downloading multiple files simultaneously.

That's it, I'm not kidding. Please be gentle

3. Monitors

One (new) monitor. It shouldn't be small, not to strain his eyes.

We already have an old monitor (hp w2007v) which sometimes he uses in dual fashion. It would be nice if he could still do that with the new one, but it's not necessary (it's VGA).

4. Peripherals

We have plenty of leftover mice and keyboards, installing any OS on my own is not a problem.

5. Why?

Because he now has 3 laptops and an external monitor that he uses sometimes. He uses one for streaming movies and soccer matches with Chromecast (old i3 HP), one for downloading videos (Acer Aspire 3) and one for music notation software (Lenovo Yoga 500). I explained to him how this is just detrimental and he agreed with me on buying a new, single desktop one, leaving the old laptops for parents and friends in need.

Moreover, I wanna use this opportunity to dive in the computer building world, so that I might be better prepared when I will work on my personal rig after I'll get my first paycheck.

 

What I thought to be essential:

- SSD (500GB) and bigger hard-disk to store all his videos

- 12-16GB ram, 8 start to look slow for all his operations imho, but it might be overkill, you tell me

 

What I think I don't need at all:

- graphics card

- more cooling than the pre-included stock one

 

Notes:

- Ethernet connection should be enough, worst case scenario we buy a wifi-usb device

 

How should I go about choosing the cheapest motherboard and CPU for his kind of work-flow? How do I check the overall compatibility of all the components? How many watts I need?

 

Thanks in advance

 

[Bombastinator]

I don’t know what the requirements on notation software are so I’m of little help with that.  I personally suspect they are very low so a cheapest possible build is going to be an old office prebuilt from goodwill, BUT..

I did recently see an article about what was heralded at least as a good piece of music notation software coming out for iPad.  Not the cheapest solution, but apple stuff is handy for old people.

 

looking at the rest of your requirements, I would say an older i7 office prebuilt (will require some haunting of computer recycler websites and maybe some phone work) should net you something with enough power for cheap. if you want to build something a ryzen 3200g on an a series motherboard should net you the same power.  Have to look at the various motherboards to find something with the correct kind of sound in it.  I don’t understand that bit myself.  Wouldn’t need a video card.  It would cost more than the old office pc option but it would be new parts.  

[supremecoconut]

4 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

I don’t know what the requirements on notation software are so I’m of little help with that.  I personally suspect they are very low so a cheapest possible build is going to be an old office prebuilt from goodwill, BUT..

I did recently see an article about what was heralded at least as a good piece of music notation software coming out for iPad.  Not the cheapest solution, but apple stuff is handy for old people.

Actually he is pretty good at it, he's been working with Sibelius for the last 5 years, he just doesn't know how much faster he could be with a computer that doesn't hang for 3 seconds at every popup/prompt. Also, I just wanted to try to build one on my own. But I understand, thanks for the answer anyway.

[GoldenLag]

3 minutes ago, supremecoconut said:

Actually he is pretty good at it, he's been working with Sibelius for the last 5 years, he just doesn't know how much faster he could be with a computer that doesn't hang for 3 seconds at every popup/prompt. Also, I just wanted to try to build one on my own. But I understand, thanks for the answer anyway.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Processor  (€88.80 @ Alza) 
Motherboard: MSI B450M PRO-VDH MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  (€75.98 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  (€64.90 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Storage: Western Digital Blue 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (€59.00 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Case: Thermaltake Versa H15 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  (€38.90 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Power Supply: be quiet! Pure Power 11 400 W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply  (€55.99 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Total: €383.57
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-02-10 19:08 CET+0100

 

so something like this?

 

can certainly cut costs in terms of storage. but this would be a solid system running for a lot of years. 

[Bombastinator]

6 minutes ago, supremecoconut said:

Actually he is pretty good at it, he's been working with Sibelius for the last 5 years, he just doesn't know how much faster he could be with a computer that doesn't hang for 3 seconds at every popup/prompt. Also, I just wanted to try to build one on my own. But I understand, thanks for the answer anyway.

Looked it up.  Sibelius isn’t it though apparently there is stuff associated with iPad.  Not sure if it’s useful to you.

http://www.sibelius.com/products/avid_scorch/index.html