Teacher needs some educating

[jodashthegreat]

Budget (including currency): CAD (Teacher Salary....so budget) $1000

Country: Canada

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Muti-tasking workload: running teams meetings with 29 students, while connected to PowerSchool (for attendance and marks), streaming videos on youtube and PowerPoint. This needs to all be done while word documents are open for notes, and internet browser for research, and google earth. 

Other details: New expectations for teachers, I work in a High School and now with the Pandemic, have students in my classroom and students learning distantly from home (at the same time).

My computer is now the most important teaching tool in my classroom, but my current laptop is struggling to keep up with the multi-tasking. 

 

This is my first build, I need help in planning; I need to stay on a (teacher's budget) while keeping up with my performance needs. 

 

Help me Linus (community) I am a teacher who needs some teachin'

[MadAnt250]

13 minutes ago, jodashthegreat said:

(Teacher Salary....so budget)

Hi, welcome to the forum.

If you can give a number, that would help.

[BiotechBen]

You could easily pick up an old workstation (optiplex type, or education special HP, slap an old quadro in for multiple displays, run a few Display port to hdmi adapter a for monitors, and with 8GB of system RAM, be well on your way.

[MadAnt250]

3 minutes ago, BiotechBen said:

optiplex

Yes, the go to low budget system.

[BiotechBen]

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/198570355291711/?ref=facebook_story_share

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/725738811381699/?ref=facebook_story_share

 

[kelvinhall05]

@MadAnt250 @BiotechBen OP seems to have updated post with a budget. I'm also a huge fan of used workstations but they could possibly get a new Ryzen system for that money.

[BiotechBen]

1 minute ago, kelvinhall05 said:

@MadAnt250 @BiotechBen OP seems to have updated post with a budget. I'm also a huge fan of used workstations but they could possibly get a new Ryzen system for that money.

For what the OP is going to be doing, the CAD$1000 budget seems a little high. Saving money wherever possible especially for teachers is something I stand behind being the son of a former teacher.

[BiotechBen]

If the OP doesn't mind spending the money, I'd recommend a system similar to mine:

R5 2600x

RX 480 8GB

16GB 3200 RAM

ASRock B450 Pro4

Seasonic FOCUS GX 550 80+ gold

 

An upgrade to a 3600 would work well too given the $200 price tag at microcenter.

[jodashthegreat]

Some good advice above, I want to computer to be worth it's salt. So I understand used workstations may be usable, but I want a smooth running system as I used this 6-8 hours a day for work. The better the system runs the easier my day goes. 

 

My current laptop is a Dell, with an Intel i3-813OU CPU @ 2.20 GHz, 8GB Ram - but struggles throughout the day managing my multitasking with several monitors/projectors connected, connection to several provincial servers via Microsoft Teams, PowerSchool and Brightspace D2L, also with youtube, word, powerpoint and crome running at all times. Add google earth to the mix and life starts to slow down. 

 

I want need speed and fluidity - so I figure more ram and a decent graphic card would be needed at least. But this is my first build sooo.....I need a tech/build Sherpa

[BiotechBen]

1 hour ago, jodashthegreat said:

Some good advice above, I want to computer to be worth it's salt. So I understand used workstations may be usable, but I want a smooth running system as I used this 6-8 hours a day for work. The better the system runs the easier my day goes. 

 

My current laptop is a Dell, with an Intel i3-813OU CPU @ 2.20 GHz, 8GB Ram - but struggles throughout the day managing my multitasking with several monitors/projectors connected, connection to several provincial servers via Microsoft Teams, PowerSchool and Brightspace D2L, also with youtube, word, powerpoint and crome running at all times. Add google earth to the mix and life starts to slow down. 

 

I want need speed and fluidity - so I figure more ram and a decent graphic card would be needed at least. But this is my first build sooo.....I need a tech/build Sherpa

for a multimonitor setup and transcoding, a quadro with multiple display port is going to be a great value they're designed for big setups and doing number-crunching so they're going to be better for your uses, and if you really don't mind spending money, the previous build I mentioned swapping the rx 480 with a workstation quadro, if you don't want to pay through the roof for a standard gaming card given the current environment.

[alyen]

Have  you tried checking Craigslist in your area. I check for the computer parts daily in my area incase I see something I like or that I can use or keep as a spare backup. Sometimes I make an offer for something incase they don't find a buyer. There are a lot of things listed over priced so you have to do some research into it if you are not sure what a fair price is.

[boggy77]

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel Core i5-10400F 2.9 GHz 6-Core Processor	$176.50 @ Vuugo
Motherboard	MSI B460M PRO-VDH WIFI Micro ATX LGA1200 Motherboard	$137.50 @ Vuugo
Memory	Team T-Force Delta RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3000 CL16 Memory	$154.99 @ Newegg Canada
Storage	Mushkin Enhanced Helix-L 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$128.99 @ Newegg Canada
Video Card	Asus GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4 GB Phoenix Video Card	$191.99 @ PC-Canada
Case	Thermaltake Versa H15 MicroATX Mid Tower Case	$49.99 @ Memory Express
Power Supply	Antec NeoECO Gold ZEN 600 W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply	$79.50 @ Vuugo
Case Fan	Noctua P12 redux-1700 PWM 70.75 CFM 120 mm Fan	$17.95 @ Amazon Canada
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$937.41
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-02-17 12:33 EST-0500

 

[jodashthegreat]

2 hours ago, BiotechBen said:

for a multimonitor setup and transcoding, a quadro with multiple display port is going to be a great value they're designed for big setups and doing number-crunching so they're going to be better for your uses, and if you really don't mind spending money, the previous build I mentioned swapping the rx 480 with a workstation quadro, if you don't want to pay through the roof for a standard gaming card given the current environment.

What exactly do you mean by a Quadro (work station quadro)? Sorry, I am new and trying to keep up with all terminology? I teach world issues and law not computer building. Thanks again for all of your help!

[Avocheeseado]

First of all, if you do not already have multiple monitors, I would 100% recommend it. It will make teaching online so much easier.

For the PC, you don't need anything overkill. I use 16GB RAM and with Teams open, chrome, outlook, word, discord etc. at the same time, just over half of that is being used up.

Here is the PC I would recommend.

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel Core i5-10400F 2.9 GHz 6-Core Processor	$176.50 @ Vuugo
Motherboard	MSI B460M PRO-VDH WIFI Micro ATX LGA1200 Motherboard	$137.50 @ Vuugo
Memory	Team T-FORCE VULCAN Z 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	$94.99 @ Canada Computers
Storage	ADATA Swordfish 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$69.98 @ Amazon Canada
Storage	Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$64.99 @ Canada Computers
Video Card	Asus GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4 GB Phoenix Video Card	$190.99 @ PC-Canada
Case	Deepcool MATREXX 30 MicroATX Mini Tower Case	$39.99 @ Canada Computers
Power Supply	SeaSonic S12III 500 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$56.50 @ Vuugo
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$831.44
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-02-17 13:53 EST-0500

The CPU has 6 cores, which will be able to handle all the programs easily, 16GB RAM which should be plenty, plenty of storage (if you don't think you need 2.5TB worth, then just swap out the HDD to a 1TB one). This has a graphics card too, which is not super powerful but more than enough for streaming on teams, and running the meetings. It will be much better than any integrated graphics.

I hope I could help!

[Avocheeseado]

2 hours ago, BiotechBen said:

for a multimonitor setup and transcoding, a quadro with multiple display port is going to be a great value they're designed for big setups and doing number-crunching so they're going to be better for your uses, and if you really don't mind spending money, the previous build I mentioned swapping the rx 480 with a workstation quadro, if you don't want to pay through the roof for a standard gaming card given the current environment.

I don't think OP needs a quadro??! They are meant for more extreme cases in powerful workstations for professional CAD/CGI. Something like a 1050ti is more than enough! The 1050ti has the NVenc encoder, which will be great for teams and streaming ppt/youtube, and 1x HDMI, 1x DVI and 1x DP, so OP can run 2 monitors (well technically 3 but DVI is bad)

[BiotechBen]

3 hours ago, Avocheeseado said:

I don't think OP needs a quadro??! They are meant for more extreme cases in powerful workstations for professional CAD/CGI. Something like a 1050ti is more than enough! The 1050ti has the NVenc encoder, which will be great for teams and streaming ppt/youtube, and 1x HDMI, 1x DVI and 1x DP, so OP can run 2 monitors (well technically 3 but DVI is bad)

When I mentioned a quadro, I was aiming more toward like a P2000 series quadro, and most older quadros can be picked up for a fair price. A 1050ti should do the trick. The dvi could be run to the monitor with grade tracking software that doesn't need to be anything special. 

[jodashthegreat]

Again thanks for all the information above; I have read everything. My only other comment would be in spending that much ($500-$1000), like I said I want the computer to be worth its salt. So while I won't be gaming Doom Eternal or Cyberpunk2077 all the time, I may want to play some Halo or GTA from time to time. So I want to make sure this system has a CPU and Graphics that can keep up and like I said (the computer should be worth its salt). 

 

Thanks again for all the help, starting to get a clearer picture of what I might be getting into. Looking to build this summer after I finish my Masters and don't have to pay tuition (again...anymore). 

 

Thanks again - all help is appreciated. 

[Avocheeseado]

If you could do with this now, then you could always use an i5 10400 or 10500 with integrated graphics for now, and then add a graphics card when prices return to normal

[BiotechBen]

If you were able to find something like a 1050ti or RX 480 8gb in the used marketplace for around 200-250 that would be perfect. I can report that with my 2600x and rx480 8gb, I can pull around 200 fps playing Halo Reach, and GTA V is pretty optimized so unless you wanna run it 4k, it shouldn't even break a sweat. As well, H.264 transcodes are handled quite easily from MOV to MP4 files with the 480. A HQ720p encoding takes on average about 30 minutes with quality settings cranked in Handbrake.