Parts for longevity?

[patrick.glock]

Hey everyone.

 

I'm going to be building a non-gaming PC for a family member soon.

The budget is going to be at least $850 and at most $1,200. (USD of course)

Since this is my first non-gaming build and at such a high budget, I thought i'd ask before rushing head long into this.

 

A few side-notes:

I'm looking at at least 10 years of use out of this.

Mostly going to be for streaming videos, facebook, and longish term data keeping.

Probably won't be cleaned very often.

Keyboard, Mouse, and monitor are optional.

I have a case, but it's very old. I'd rather not use it, so if there are some good options cases for airflow and such that would be appreciated.

I've already considered going the i7-5930k, GTX 980 TI, ASUS ROG motherboard in a cardboard box with no memory, storage, or power road. Didn't receive high praise.

 

A few questions though.

How long would an SSD last under normal, everyday use?

Would it be better to invest in a more expensive pre-build PC?

 

The person is coming off an old PC that has Windows XP, Maybe 250GB HDD, under 2GB ram, and at best a dual-core CPU under 2GHZ.

 

Do you think Windows 10 would be to large a leap from Windows XP?

 

My only thoughts on the build would be.

i5 or i7 CPU.

Antec PSU.

ASUS Motherboard.

8GB ram.

SSD boot with HDD C: Drive or SSHDD hybrid drive.

Blu-ray player.

Small dedicated graphics card for pushing HD video, Nvidia of course.

 

Thanks for any input and help,

Patrick

[Fictionvl]

Since this wont be a gaming PC, I don't recommend going for a 980Ti and saving that money for a bigger size SSD. also I'd recommend going for 16 gigs of ram, simply for multiple windows and multi tasking, I recommend getting a 750 Ti for the graphics card,and an i5, there's no need for overclocking here at all.

 

going from Windows XP to 10 IS a huge leap, but he'll get used to it, also an SSD has no moving parts which lowers the failure rate, so I recommend going for atleast a 500GB SSD, just with another 1TB HDD, that should be enough for data storage. he can use the SSD for every day use, while have the 1 TB HDD as a back up drive type of thing. 

[nsprinkle11]

Before I explain what my choices would be for this build, I would like to say that 10 years without upgrades is a little impractical. So some of the choices I make will be a mix of future proofness and leave a little room for upgrade. 

 

SSDs will pretty much last forever. They have become extremely more reliable then they used to. Just make sure you pick up a good brand like Intel or Samsung (they have very nice ssds). I recommend the SSD + Hard Drive route. For 10 years of use, I would recommend a 256 or 240gb ssd just to have plenty of room on your fast ssd and at least a 2gb hdd to pair with it. I personally recommend Western Digital for hard drives.

 

Definitely don't get a pre built computer. They will be ridiculously over priced and more difficult to upgrade if needed.

 

If the person jumps into windows 8 I don't think it will be too difficult. There is something you can download for windows 8 that will actually give him a start bar and make it much more similar to older windows versions. Windows 10 actually brings back the start bar I believe so the jump won't be too difficult.

 

A high end i5 like the i5-4590 will be plenty good for several years. You get quad core and high performance.

 

The brand of motherboard isn't that important as long as it has the socket of your cpu. Just read reviews on different motherboards to find a nice reliable one. But yes ASUS makes nice motherboards.

 

8gb ram will be fine for now but in 10 years you will probably need more. My recommendation is to get a 1x8gb stick so then later you can slide in another 1x8gb stick if needed. 

 

Get a Corsair or EVGA power supply. They both come with awesome warranties and are very reliable. You won't have to get a very big one, just like 400w.

 

As for a dedicated gpu, you probably won't need one yet. Intel graphics will be able to video playback just fine. If you need one at a later date, you'll have a free slot where you can just slide one in.

 

I hope this helps some. As I said, it's kinda tricky to recommend parts because I don't personally expect a computer to last 10 years without upgrades. That's why I left in room for upgrades and also made attempts at choosing parts that will last a long time. 

[patrick.glock]

First off, thanks for the suggestions.

 

Since this wont be a gaming PC, I don't recommend going for a 980Ti and saving that money for a bigger size SSD. also I'd recommend going for 16 gigs of ram, simply for multiple windows and multi tasking, I recommend getting a 750 Ti for the graphics card,and an i5, there's no need for overclocking here at all.

 

going from Windows XP to 10 IS a huge leap, but he'll get used to it, also an SSD has no moving parts which lowers the failure rate, so I recommend going for atleast a 500GB SSD, just with another 1TB HDD, that should be enough for data storage. he can use the SSD for every day use, while have the 1 TB HDD as a back up drive type of thing. 

 

Thanks for the info on SSD's, I'm always worried about those. Most info I had gotten was old and about failing SSD's.

 

Before I explain what my choices would be for this build, I would like to say that 10 years without upgrades is a little impractical. So some of the choices I make will be a mix of future proofness and leave a little room for upgrade. 

 

SSDs will pretty much last forever. They have become extremely more reliable then they used to. Just make sure you pick up a good brand like Intel or Samsung (they have very nice ssds). I recommend the SSD + Hard Drive route. For 10 years of use, I would recommend a 256 or 240gb ssd just to have plenty of room on your fast ssd and at least a 2gb hdd to pair with it. I personally recommend Western Digital for hard drives.

 

Definitely don't get a pre built computer. They will be ridiculously over priced and more difficult to upgrade if needed.

 

If the person jumps into windows 8 I don't think it will be too difficult. There is something you can download for windows 8 that will actually give him a start bar and make it much more similar to older windows versions. Windows 10 actually brings back the start bar I believe so the jump won't be too difficult.

 

A high end i5 like the i5-4590 will be plenty good for several years. You get quad core and high performance.

 

The brand of motherboard isn't that important as long as it has the socket of your cpu. Just read reviews on different motherboards to find a nice reliable one. But yes ASUS makes nice motherboards.

 

8gb ram will be fine for now but in 10 years you will probably need more. My recommendation is to get a 1x8gb stick so then later you can slide in another 1x8gb stick if needed. 

 

Get a Corsair or EVGA power supply. They both come with awesome warranties and are very reliable. You won't have to get a very big one, just like 400w.

 

As for a dedicated gpu, you probably won't need one yet. Intel graphics will be able to video playback just fine. If you need one at a later date, you'll have a free slot where you can just slide one in.

 

I hope this helps some. As I said, it's kinda tricky to recommend parts because I don't personally expect a computer to last 10 years without upgrades. That's why I left in room for upgrades and also made attempts at choosing parts that will last a long time. 

 

I also think that 10 years is a bit impractical. However it's about how often this person even thinks about getting PC upgrades or a new PC.

I do enjoy my EVGA PSU. I might just go with 2x8GB right off the bat. I'll have to find out which version of windows they enjoy more, I have a windows 7 and 8 PC I can let them test out.

 

Thanks again,

Patrick

[Nena Trinity]

FX-83XX is very good for non-gaming!

 

But mobo can be hard to pick some has poor VRM thingies and may fry.

[brob]

Depending on when you buy, I would suggest a Broadwell or Skylake processor. They have excellent iGPU so a discreet gpu will not be needed.

 

Go all ssd. Experiments suggest that the average ssd lifetime is measured in PB writes or more than 270MB a day every day for 10 years. Put a good, automated backup scheme in place. (RAID is not backup.)

 

Spend a bit on the psu and get something very good. The Seasonic G Series 450W would be an excellent choice. As would their M12II 520W EVO model. Although it is a bit on the large side for this sort of build. Antec HCG 520W is very similar.

 

16GB of memory if the 10 year life time is a real expectation. 8GB would likely suffice for quite some time given the described usage.

 

Stay with the stock cooler or a good air tower. An AIO would not be appropriate as it would likely need replacing well before 10 years have passed.

[patrick.glock]

FX-83XX is very good for non-gaming!

 

But mobo can be hard to pick some has poor VRM thingies and may fry.

 

I love that whole, "Well it works..mostly..kinda..so we'll list it on our site." thing they have going for the high-end FX chips.

 

Depending on when you buy, I would suggest a Broadwell or Skylake processor. They have excellent iGPU so a discreet gpu will not be needed.

 

Go all ssd. Experiments suggest that the average ssd lifetime is measured in PB writes or more than 270MB a day every day for 10 years. Put a good, automated backup scheme in place. (RAID is not backup.)

 

Spend a bit on the psu and get something very good. The Seasonic G Series 450W would be an excellent choice. As would their M12II 520W EVO model. Although it is a bit on the large side for this sort of build. Antec HCG 520W is very similar.

 

16GB of memory if the 10 year life time is a real expectation. 8GB would likely suffice for quite some time given the described usage.

 

Stay with the stock cooler or a good air tower. An AIO would not be appropriate as it would likely need replacing well before 10 years have passed.

 

I was thinking about those new Skylake, but seemed a bit excessive. It also seems it might still be a month or several until those are out.