Basic reliable PC

[DaveTheWave]

Hi,

This is my 1st post ever and even if I watched every possible videos on building a PC I still never built one or know much about them.

What I can't find is guidance on building a good reliable basic PC for someone who just does basic Excel stuff and web browsing. 

My mom lives out of town, does charity work for the locals, accounting for local nonprofit and has no access to any tech support.

I was thinking of getting her a basic but solid PC that she can rely on for 5-10 years.

I heard the i5 is very reliable but I can't tell if it's too much or too little.

Any PC building pros here and give me a basic list of reliable parts that would make her life easy for many years?

Should I get what ever prebuilt is on sale at BestBuy?

 

Thanks!

 

[Moonzy]

would a laptop suit your mom better?

or you have a need for a desktop?

[Aereldor]

Hey, welcome to the forum. In the future, posts like this go in 'New Builds and Planning', a moderator will move this thread for you. 

Building a PC is fairly easy for a first-timer, and will save you money. However, it comes with having to truobleshoot it yourself. The advantage of buying something from best-buy is that your mom doesn't need to troubleshoot anything herself and can just return the system, or presumably take it to geek squad. 

A laptop may serve her better too, especially because under warranty, manufacturers will ship you boxes for repair or arrange pickups, and service the thing for free. 

[Cat101]

What's your budget?

Get a laptop or prebuilt.

(This will not last 10 years) 

Maybe 3-6 years

 

This is what I would say if you really wanted to build something basic and reliable:

CPU: Ryzen 3 1200

GPU (USED/Refurbished): HD 7570, 7700

PSU: Name Brand 400-500w

MOBO: A320M or B350

Case: Get whatever you want with decent airflow

Ram: 8GB Gskill Value

Monitor: HP 20KD or 21KD

Mouse: Logitech M180

Keyboard: Logitech K270

[Biomecanoid]

5 minutes ago, DaveTheWave said:

Hi,

This is my 1st post ever and even if I watched every possible videos on building a PC I still never built one or know much about them.

What I can't find is guidance on building a good reliable basic PC for someone who just does basic Excel stuff and web browsing. 

My mom lives out of town, does charity work for the locals, accounting for local nonprofit and has no access to any tech support.

I was thinking of getting her a basic but solid PC that she can rely on for 5-10 years.

I heard the i5 is very reliable but I can't tell if it's too much or too little.

Any PC building pros here and give me a basic list of reliable parts that would make her life easy for many years?

Should I get what ever prebuilt is on sale at BestBuy?

 

Thanks!

 

A basic simple computer won't last 5-10 years it will be obsolete soon. For a PC to be still a valid contender in 10 years time it must be a top specs PC today.

It terms of reliability a Desktop PC will outlast a laptop

[kelvinhall05]

Chromebook.

[aisle9]

8 minutes ago, DaveTheWave said:

Hi,

This is my 1st post ever and even if I watched every possible videos on building a PC I still never built one or know much about them.

What I can't find is guidance on building a good reliable basic PC for someone who just does basic Excel stuff and web browsing. 

My mom lives out of town, does charity work for the locals, accounting for local nonprofit and has no access to any tech support.

I was thinking of getting her a basic but solid PC that she can rely on for 5-10 years.

I heard the i5 is very reliable but I can't tell if it's too much or too little.

Any PC building pros here and give me a basic list of reliable parts that would make her life easy for many years?

Should I get what ever prebuilt is on sale at BestBuy?

 

Thanks!

 

For your mom's case, I'd look for an Optiplex 390 or 790 on eBay. If you go for a small form factor version (called "SFF"), that's usually the cheapest. Make sure it has an i3 or i5 (no Pentiums, basically), 8GB of RAM and a 500GB or bigger hard drive. You can do all of that for under $100 very easily, and Optis are tanks. For a very simple, very basic use case, that's your most cost-effective option.

 

If portability is helpful, grab a ThinkPad T420 with 8GB of RAM and a 500GB+ hard drive or, bonus points, an SSD.

 

Going new will cost more, period.

[Biomecanoid]

3 minutes ago, BlueScope819 said:

Not really you can get an 8 core Ryzen laptop with upgradeable memory and storage (the two most common things to upgrade) for like $650

(The Acer Swift 3)

 

DaveTheWave said he doesn't know much about computers so he can't upgrade his PC on his own, he probably needs something he gets once and last him a long while. Also if you build your PC with an SSD drive in the future your most important upgrades are CPU and RAM. RAM is easy to install CPU not so much.

[pythonmegapixel]

1 minute ago, Biomecanoid said:

A basic simple computer won't last 5-10 years it will be obsolete soon. For a PC to be still a valid contender in 10 years time it must be a top specs PC today.

It terms of reliability a Desktop PC will outlast a laptop

I'm not sure that's correct. Here's a quick graph I made to illustrate my point, with the left axis representing the competitiveness of the hardware and the bottom axis representing time. The red line represents the PC.

%3CmxGraphModel%3E%3Croot%3E%3CmxCell%20id%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3CmxCell%20id%3D%221%22%20parent%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3CmxCell%20id%3D%222%22%20value%3D%22A%22%20style%3D%22text%3Bhtml%3D1%3BstrokeColor%3Dnone%3BfillColor%3Dnone%3Balign%3Dcenter%3BverticalAlign%3Dmiddle%3BwhiteSpace%3Dwrap%3Brounded%3D0%3B%22%20vertex%3D%221%22%20parent%3D%221%22%3E%3CmxGeometry%20x%3D%2280%22%20y%3D%22420%22%20width%3D%2240%22%20height%3D%2220%22%20as%3D%22geometry%22%2F%3E%3C%2FmxCell%3E%3C%2Froot%3E%3C%2FmxGraphModel%3E

If you're just working in Microsoft Office and browsing the web then pretty much anything capable of running Windows will do, but will become obsolete very quickly because it will quickly get to the "unusable" section. In the same time, a high mid range PC might reduce in competitiveness and become closer to a low mid range PC.

 

The point I am trying to make is that, if you only need performance equivalent to budget hardware, then you need not buy a top spec PC, even if it needs to last many years. But if you need performance equivalent to a mid range PC then you probably do need to buy a top spec PC.

[DaveTheWave]

wow so many answers thanks everyone! here's some notes.

* no laptop

* zero gaming so I thought it could last her at least 8 years? I don't know...

* I'm ok up to 400$ US or 500$ Can

* I was thinking i5 just to have a mature firmware and no fuss

[pythonmegapixel]

10 minutes ago, kelvinhall05 said:

Chromebook.

Have you even read the OP's request?

 

FIrstly the user requires the ability to run Excel, which can't be done on a Chromebook. And migrating to Google Docs probably isn't an option because she has to work with others.

 

Secondly, she requires a reliable, well built machine. A Chromebook is anything but. It's made of cheap plastic, has pathetic specs, and is designed to last a few years before being replaced. Also, Google's tendency to keep changing things is no good for someone who comes across as less tech savvy and doesn't have access to tech support.

[Quickstrike]

6 minutes ago, DaveTheWave said:

Hi,

This is my 1st post ever and even if I watched every possible videos on building a PC I still never built one or know much about them.

What I can't find is guidance on building a good reliable basic PC for someone who just does basic Excel stuff and web browsing. 

My mom lives out of town, does charity work for the locals, accounting for local nonprofit and has no access to any tech support.

I was thinking of getting her a basic but solid PC that she can rely on for 5-10 years.

I heard the i5 is very reliable but I can't tell if it's too much or too little.

Any PC building pros here and give me a basic list of reliable parts that would make her life easy for many years?

Should I get what ever prebuilt is on sale at BestBuy?

 

Thanks!

 

wow so many answers thanks everyone! here's some notes.

* no laptop

* zero gaming so I thought it could last her at least 8 years? I don't know...

* I'm ok up to 400$ US or 500$ Can

* I was thinking i5 just to have a mature firmware and no fuss

 

Hi Dave.
It's also probably better for you not to cut your PC building teeth on someone else's productivity PC.

There are good suggestion in this thread. Personally I would recommend an Acer Aspire, HP Pavillon or a Dell Optiplex. I worked on an optiplex for years and that thing never gave my any trouble.

 

[GoldenLag]

3 minutes ago, pythonmegapixel said:

If you're just working in Microsoft Office and browsing the web then pretty much anything capable of running Windows will do, but will become obsolete very quickly because it will quickly get to the "unusable" section

"Ok" prebuilds from 2008 with a 20$ SSD still does suprisingly well even today, 12 years later. 

 

So for basic tasks as described by OP can be served by a very cheap machine. 

 

3 minutes ago, DaveTheWave said:

I'm ok up to 400$ US or 500$ Can

So located in Canada?

[Moonzy]

8 minutes ago, pythonmegapixel said:

If you're just working in Microsoft Office and browsing the web then pretty much anything capable of running Windows will do, but will become obsolete very quickly because it will quickly get to the "unusable" section.

that is assuming you're constantly doing more and more demanding task

a PC that can run a task today will do the same thing 10 years later

5 minutes ago, DaveTheWave said:

* no laptop

* zero gaming so I thought it could last her at least 8 years? I don't know...

* I'm ok up to 400$ US or 500$ Can

* I was thinking i5 just to have a mature firmware and no fuss

alright, no laptop

 

a decent desktop quality could last u a while, i recommend u get a PC from boutique shops like cyberpower or origin PC to ensure you get the good stuff, the price may be higher though, but you can ensure the parts you get is decent to good quality

pc from bestbuy could come with questionable parts, namely the PSU

 

i recommend intel system if u just want reliability and less fuss, especially since it has integrated GPU

 

also, an SSD will boost her computing experience by a bunch, so could consider having it in your PC

[pythonmegapixel]

8 minutes ago, DaveTheWave said:

wow so many answers thanks everyone! here's some notes.

* no laptop

* zero gaming so I thought it could last her at least 8 years? I don't know...

* I'm ok up to 400$ US or 500$ Can

* I was thinking i5 just to have a mature firmware and no fuss

How about a used Dell OptiPlex? Find the newest one you can with reasonable specs, and obviously buy from a reputable seller.

 

Businesses get rid of them after just a couple of years, but they tend to be simple, well-built, well thought-out and easily maintainable machines, and are designed for exactly the kind of work you describe. You might want to replace the storage though, some of them have dodgy hard drives

[kelvinhall05]

5 minutes ago, pythonmegapixel said:

FIrstly the user requires the ability to run Excel, which can't be done on a Chromebook. And migrating to Google Docs probably isn't an option because she has to work with others.

Most people I know who "use basic Excel spreadsheets" could easily use Google Sheets, and the rest of gsuite for that matter.

7 minutes ago, pythonmegapixel said:

Secondly, she requires a reliable, well built machine. A Chromebook is anything but. It's made of cheap plastic, has pathetic specs, and is designed to last a few years before being replaced.

Chromebooks are made of plastic, yes. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. Those poor laptops get abused by schools and kids all the time and are still chugging happily away after years of abuse. If OP spent a little more ($400-500) they can get a nice, metal laptop that's built well and will feel very nice and premium.

7 minutes ago, pythonmegapixel said:

Also, Google's tendency to keep changing things is no good for someone who comes across as less tech savvy and doesn't have access to tech support.

Right, because Microsoft bricking computers with Windows updates is more user-friendly, sure.

[Catsrules]

Generally speaking this is what I consider the minimum specs you want it to have

8GB of ram

256GB SSD drive

1080p Display

 

Processors are a little bit harder to generalize just because of how many variations there are. But yes an i5 or ryzen 5 is a good place to shoot for.

 

With these listed specs your looking at around $600-$800US for a new laptop, I haven't priced out a desktop in awhile but I would guess it is around $500-$700US. Especially during Covid-19 computers are becoming a hot item.

 

I would stay away from Chromebooks as I don't know what software your Mom requires for her job. For example accounting software like Quickbooks will not work on a Chromebook.

 

 

Oh, and if she it working for a non profit, it doesn't hurt to ask if the non profit has some type of IT support, if they do they may be able to get you discounts on hardware and software.

 

I volunteer IT services at a non profit and I am able to get a lot of software for them free/cheap because of the non-profit status. Check out https://www.techsoupcanada.ca/en

 

[pythonmegapixel]

1 minute ago, kelvinhall05 said:

Most people I know who "use basic Excel spreadsheets" could easily use Google Sheets, and the rest of gsuite for that matter.

Yes.... but this particular user does the accounts for a local charity. Do you really think they want to be dealing with uploading and downloading stuff from Google Drive, making sure they select the right format to export to, etc etc?

 

1 minute ago, kelvinhall05 said:

Chromebooks are made of plastic, yes. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. Those poor laptops get abused by schools and kids all the time and are still chugging happily away after years of abuse. If OP spent a little more ($400-500) they can get a nice, metal laptop that's built well and will feel very nice and premium.

If you're going to spend that much, then why on earth would you buy a Chromebook and not a Windows machine?

 

1 minute ago, kelvinhall05 said:

Right, because Microsoft bricking computers with Windows updates is more user-friendly, sure.

This is a vast minority of users. Don't forget, you don't see forum posts saying "I installed Win10 versrion XXXX and it went fine". I've installed all the updates on my personal machine, as have many others I know, and never had a bricked device.

 

Anyway, all of this is a moot point because OP has now explicitly advised us that (s)he is not looking for a laptop.

[GoldenLag]

23 minutes ago, DaveTheWave said:

wow so many answers thanks everyone! here's some notes.

* no laptop

* zero gaming so I thought it could last her at least 8 years? I don't know...

* I'm ok up to 400$ US or 500$ Can

* I was thinking i5 just to have a mature firmware and no fuss

You building it or are you buying a prebuild/OEM machine?

 

Only things to note is that it should have an i3 or r3, with 8-16GB of ram. And a 120gb or bigger SSD. 

[dizmo]

Welcome to the forum!

 

Based on what she's doing, you can get pretty much anything and it will run the programs she needs. I was doing basically the same thing on a 7 year old ultrabook with a mobile i5 (2c/4t), 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD. I wouldn't recommend the 4GB of RAM, but it goes to show you don't need an i5.

 

There isn't really an "unreliable" CPU. It comes down to the entire system. Here's a build I'd consider if you want new parts:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 3200G 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($125.25 @ shopRBC)
Motherboard: MSI A320M-A PRO MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($84.99 @ Memory Express)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory  ($54.99 @ Memory Express)
Storage: Western Digital Blue SN550 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($79.98 @ Amazon Canada)
Case: Cooler Master MasterBox E500L ATX Mid Tower Case  ($55.97 @ Vuugo)
Power Supply: be quiet! System Power 9 400 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($59.99 @ Canada Computers)
Total: $461.17

 

You can change the storage around if she has any use for mass storage, or can get away with a smaller SSD.

I'm not sure how she is with workload, so it might be worth going with a 256GB SSD and 16GB of RAM. Price would be about the same.

You didn't state whether you're in the US or Canada, and used both pricing, so I picked the Canadian site.

 

However, as others have pointed out the Optiplex Dells are also an excellent value. With a little hunting you can get a 4th gen i5, 8GB RAM 500GB HDD system for about $100US. Throw in an SSD, and you've got a pretty good system. I'd do some housekeeping things though, such as replacing the thermal compound on the CPU.

 

You could also consider buying a prebuilt direct from Dell, they usually have pretty good sales close to school starting.

 

35 minutes ago, Cat101 said:

What's your budget?

Get a laptop or prebuilt.

(This will not last 10 years) 

Maybe 3-6 years

 

This is what I would say if you really wanted to build something basic and reliable:

CPU: Ryzen 3 1200

GPU (USED/Refurbished): HD 7570, 7700

PSU: Name Brand 400-500w

MOBO: A320M or B350

Case: Get whatever you want with decent airflow

Ram: 8GB Gskill Value

Monitor: HP 20KD or 21KD

Mouse: Logitech M180

Keyboard: Logitech K270

Odd choices. Why would you even bother with a GPU? Just get an APU and call it a day.

Also, you're completely incorrect about the longevity of a laptop.

34 minutes ago, Biomecanoid said:

A basic simple computer won't last 5-10 years it will be obsolete soon. For a PC to be still a valid contender in 10 years time it must be a top specs PC today.

It terms of reliability a Desktop PC will outlast a laptop

It absolutely will, especially for the things she will be doing on it.

Not sure what you're using as a metric for saying it'll be obsolete. Gaming? Which isn't even a concern?

32 minutes ago, aisle9 said:

For your mom's case, I'd look for an Optiplex 390 or 790 on eBay. If you go for a small form factor version (called "SFF"), that's usually the cheapest. Make sure it has an i3 or i5 (no Pentiums, basically), 8GB of RAM and a 500GB or bigger hard drive. You can do all of that for under $100 very easily, and Optis are tanks. For a very simple, very basic use case, that's your most cost-effective option.

 

If portability is helpful, grab a ThinkPad T420 with 8GB of RAM and a 500GB+ hard drive or, bonus points, an SSD.

 

Going new will cost more, period.

Agreed, I'd also add an SSD. Even for a slightly more than basic use case they're decent machines.

 

You could get a far better Thinkpad than the T20 with his budget.

19 minutes ago, DaveTheWave said:

wow so many answers thanks everyone! here's some notes.

* no laptop

* zero gaming so I thought it could last her at least 8 years? I don't know...

* I'm ok up to 400$ US or 500$ Can

* I was thinking i5 just to have a mature firmware and no fuss

Don't include currencies for countries you're not buying from, they're not relevant to you.

So, are you in the US or Canada?

 

You don't get any extra firmware updates with an i5 over an i3 or any other CPU.

14 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

a decent desktop quality could last u a while, i recommend u get a PC from boutique shops like cyberpower or origin PC to ensure you get the good stuff, the price may be higher though, but you can ensure the parts you get is decent to good quality

pc from bestbuy could come with questionable parts, namely the PSU

 

i recommend intel system if u just want reliability and less fuss, especially since it has integrated GPU

 

also, an SSD will boost her computing experience by a bunch, so could consider having it in your PC

CyberPower or Origin are likely going to be a lot more expensive than they need to be. I wouldn't really go with them.

You can easily get something from Dell for far less. They've built way more systems than either of the other two, they know what they're doing.

 

You can get AMD CPUs with integrated GPUs

9 minutes ago, kelvinhall05 said:

Most people I know who "use basic Excel spreadsheets" could easily use Google Sheets, and the rest of gsuite for that matter.

 

Chromebooks are made of plastic, yes. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. Those poor laptops get abused by schools and kids all the time and are still chugging happily away after years of abuse. If OP spent a little more ($400-500) they can get a nice, metal laptop that's built well and will feel very nice and premium.

 

Right, because Microsoft bricking computers with Windows updates is more user-friendly, sure.

I mean, you could, yes, but an organization isn't going to change their entire way of doing things to cater to you.

While I could use Google Sheets, I'd much rather use Excel.

 

Kind of stretching with the Microsoft bricking things. It affects so few users.

[Moonzy]

5 minutes ago, dizmo said:

You can easily get something from Dell for far less. They've built way more systems than either of the other two, they know what they're doing.

Dell i agree, the others im not too sure tbh

5 minutes ago, dizmo said:

You can get AMD CPUs with integrated GPUs

i just wouldnt recommend AMD for a less fuss experience

[aisle9]

8 minutes ago, dizmo said:

You could get a far better Thinkpad than the T20 with his budget.

Oh, wow, I guess the budget was added after my post?

 

For $500, you're approaching T480 territory and can almost afford a broken 2009 MacBook Pro, but OP doesn't want a laptop, so moot point.

 

If it's an Opti, you're into the realm of a 7050/7060 for that kind of money.

[dizmo]

17 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

Dell i agree, the others im not too sure tbh

i just wouldnt recommend AMD for a less fuss experience

Did you even bother looking at their sites? Or just spouting off some names you know?

Origin

Cheapest gaming machine: $1,600

Cheapest workstation: $1,400

 

CyberPower

Cheapest gaming PC (only kind they offer): $850

 

Both of which are USD, and the CyberPower is grossly overkill for what she needs. You'd be better off getting a better CPU and ditching the GPU.

 

For what the system is being used for, there's no difference between setting up an AMD system and an Intel one.
What's this "fuss" you speak of?

 

15 minutes ago, aisle9 said:

Oh, wow, I guess the budget was added after my post?

 

For $500, you're approaching T480 territory, but OP doesn't want a laptop, so moot point.

 

If it's an Opti, you're into the realm of a 7050/7060 for that kind of money.

Perhaps, I didn't notice.

Agreed, though I'd probably go with a T460 since they're quite a bit cheaper and the performance wouldn't be that different. They also get better battery options, though I guess that'd be more of a moot point being a desktop queen.

 

The 7060 would be a pretty good machine for the money.

[AngryBeaver]

For low intensity usage like that you are best off getting a cheap laptop/desktop since you will be hard pressed to build something comparable without going used for the price.

[aisle9]

2 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Perhaps, I didn't notice.

Agreed, though I'd probably go with a T460 since they're quite a bit cheaper and the performance wouldn't be that different. They also get better battery options, though I guess that'd be more of a moot point being a desktop queen.

 

The 7060 would be a pretty good machine for the money.

There is a pretty hefty difference between the T460 and T480: core count. The 480 shipped with Coffee Lake-U processors, all quad core. The T460 was Skylake-U, 2C/4T. And given the OP's use case, that doesn't really make any difference at all, but the T480 probably has a little longer shelf life before obsolescence sets in. If I were buying something for the next 5-7 years, that'd be it.

 

The 7060 is a beauty. There are only three new-build Dell product lines I'd touch with my own money: Optiplexes (duh), Precision laptops and Precision desktops. Everything else can rot, but those three lines have been consistently gold almost since day one.