For the Wife (iMac replacement build)

[lieder1987]

Hey guys,

 

My wife's imac is starting to act up more and more (the fan will once a week go up to full RPM and wont stop unless I put a vacuum to the back cover, weird right?) so it is time for it to go. She wants something with similiar specs but is willing to go back to Windows because Apple has been going down hill lately. If the specs were higher that would be fine, but she wants the build to be as cheap as possible and under $500 if possible (including monitor). Oh and the case and monitor "need to look nice and not be so sharp looking."

 

I have built several on PC part picker but wanted to see if you guys could help and give me some more options. 

New iMac specs:

2.8GHz Processor 
1TB Storage

2.8GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor

Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz

16gb

1TB hard drive1

Intel Iris Pro Graphics 6200

1920-by-1080 sRGB display

 

Thanks.

[Hunter115]

if you can wait a ryzen 4 core could be fine and maybe a cheap gpu for display out put

[manikyath]

how about something like an intel nuc?

 

see of it as a DIY mac mini: you get the nuc, you slap in ram and a hard drive, and you toss on your favourite OS.

[pbx2]

11 minutes ago, lieder1987 said:

My wife's imac is starting to act up more and more (the fan will once a week go up to full RPM and wont stop unless I put a vacuum to the back cover, weird right?)

3

Have you tried cleaning the dust out of it...

[stealth80]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($59.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI B250M PRO-VD Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($65.99 @ B&H)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory  ($52.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.33 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon RX 460 2GB WINDFORCE OC Video Card  ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Case: BitFenix Nova ATX Mid Tower Case  ($30.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Samsung S22E200B 21.5" 1920x1080 60Hz Monitor  ($96.00 @ Amazon)
Total: $495.27
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-03-25 07:37 EDT-0400

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, stealth80 said:

Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon RX 460 2GB WINDFORCE OC Video Card  ($89.99 @ Amazon)

why?

 

if the wifey is on a mac, i SERIOUSLY doubt she does anything that requires even an RX460...

[stealth80]

6 minutes ago, manikyath said:

why?

 

if the wifey is on a mac, i SERIOUSLY doubt she does anything that requires even an RX460...

I didn't actually realise that the Pentium came with IGPU

 

But its wrong to assume that just because she's using a mac, I've got a MacBook pro ...

[manikyath]

Just now, stealth80 said:

I didn't actually realise that the Pentium came with IGPU

 

But its wrong to assume that just because she's using a mac, I've got a MacBook pro ...

i know someone that used to use a macbook pro, when he switched to an entry level gaming pc he realised how many frames a modern system can *really* push in portal 2.

[stealth80]

Just now, manikyath said:

i know someone that used to use a macbook pro, when he switched to an entry level gaming pc he realised how many frames a modern system can *really* push in portal 2.

so that mac user also played games ..

[stealth80]

I guess something like this then

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-7100 3.9GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($109.73 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI B250M PRO-VD Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($65.99 @ B&H)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory  ($52.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.33 @ OutletPC)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($41.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Samsung S22E200B 21.5" 1920x1080 60Hz Monitor  ($96.00 @ Amazon)
Total: $466.02
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-03-25 07:49 EDT-0400

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, stealth80 said:

so that mac user also played games ..

yes. which is what the RX460 is made for, and if OP would do anything else GPU accelerated, chances are that things would look very different

[manikyath]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/wBP6jc

when going fully custom i'd say something like this.

 

quick runtrough:

-i5 (quadcore)

- small mobo, with on-board wifi, if she ever decided she hates cables

- 8GB ram, upgradable to 16 without tossing sticks

- 1TB hard drive, i dropped in a toshiba, but it's up to you to pick between WD blue, toshiba, or seagate barracuda. they all cost pretty much the same, and some people have strange opinions about hard drive brands.

- a TINY case, this thing is pretty much shoebox size.

- totally overkill power supply, but there's not really anything lower end that's decent enough for my standards

[lieder1987]

23 minutes ago, pbx2 said:

Have you tried cleaning the dust out of it...

There is really no way without fully taking off the screen. If I cant find something that she "likes" in the amount she wants to pay then I will order the tools to do this. That is what I assume the problem is because otherwise why would the VAC help, but again it could just be bad hardware.

[lieder1987]

Thanks for all the suggestions and so quickly. I didn't consider a Pentium as I was trying to match the i5 but that might work just fine.

 

She wont be playing much  games. The only thing might be the Sims but that also is not likely. She uses it mostly for interneting, youtube, and office.

[pbx2]

8 minutes ago, lieder1987 said:

Thanks for all the suggestions and so quickly. I didn't consider a Pentium as I was trying to match the i5 but that might work just fine.

 

She wont be playing much  games. The only thing might be the Sims but that also is not likely. She uses it mostly for interneting, youtube, and office.

 

Get a cheap laptop?

[lieder1987]

She prefers the desktop experience. Having the 21" or bigger monitor and having it be stationary.