For mom

[MewMew]

Budget (including currency): 300-500 CAD

Country: Canada

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Web browsing 

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): No current existing parts (read on) She's upgrading from an AMD A9 with integrated graphics (one of those all-in-one computers). I'd want her on 720p for her eyes. Looking for anything compatible with AM3 board with a very low ram speed that's affordable.

 

[8tg]

Go to eBay and get an old office pc:

 

Whatever fits the budget, the coffee lake ones are pretty cheap, sometimes you can get them for even cheaper. eBay sellers kit them out as ready to use ordeals.

 

Plug it into whatever monitor with the remaining budget and you’re good to go.

No point in DIYing something like this, especially not on AM3. (Am3 in 2023????)

[birdflyer]

I agree with @8tg, but I would recommend looking for something a little less integrated, and preferably not from HP.

Something like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/275954109420?hash=item4040258bec:g:urgAAOSw5mxktV3l

Or like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/295813015645?hash=item44dfd4685d:g:ZVAAAOSwPBRkrqXU

 

might be a better option, if you were to go with the recommend (used) route for this budget.

[Eigenvektor]

1 hour ago, MewMew said:

I'd want her on 720p for her eyes.

If your mother has bad eyesight, you want as big a screen as possible, more so than a specific resolution

[treestain]

7 minutes ago, birdflyer said:

but I would recommend looking for something a little less integrated, and preferably not from HP.

Definitely. The only good thing about mini pc's like that is their extremely low power draw. Made for a neat server when raspberry pi's were stupidly expensive. (so long as you avoid the ones running off of an emmc)

[GeorgeMKane]

2 hours ago, MewMew said:

Budget (including currency): 300-500 CAD

Country: Canada

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Web browsing 

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): No current existing parts (read on) She's upgrading from an AMD A9 with integrated graphics (one of those all-in-one computers). I'd want her on 720p for her eyes. Looking for anything compatible with AM3 board with a very low ram speed that's affordable.

 

Kind of the best I could do here. Wouldn't recommend trying to refresh an AM3 motherboard, especially if it came from an AIO (or was it from something else?). Anyways, yeah, comes with keyboard, mouse, speakers, and monitor.

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/7mvmPF

 

Alternatively, get an i3 or Ryzen 3 desktop tower, and a decent monitor. If bad eyesight, maybe go for a 27" monitor.

[MewMew]

All my mom does is sit on facebook everyday, scrolling like an addicted person. The appeal of a 'phone being a computer' isn't drawing to her because of her eyesight and she can't use a small touchpad because she's constantly in these... debates... I get to hear about over the phone lol

It is a very shitty computer - she's still using a hard drive and is used to loading speeds relative to a WD green, (incredibly slow). She likes the low form factor of a micro ATX case so I'm just going to go in that direction. I like your suggestion on refurbished micro micro(?) builds but that has too much in it for her. What I mean is I could probably stay around AM3 territory and get her a micro atx case and motherboard with 8-12gb of ram with a sata ssd for under 500CAD. My mom is in that territory where she's 'old and doesn't care' if it's the latest thing. But thanks these were insightful.

[brob]

Canada Computers has a special on some barebones mini PC. 

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 4600G 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($115.00 @ Amazon Canada) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Performance 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2666 SODIMM CL18 Memory  ($54.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Storage: Western Digital Blue SN570 500 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($37.50 @ shopRBC) 
Custom: ASRock DESKMINI X300W Mini / Booksize Barebone System  ($240.00) 
Total: $447.49
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-08-02 11:41 EDT-0400