Good office pc's

[Will Ozellman]

So I'm building some office computers because the old ones are getting slow.

 

I want them to be somewhat inexpensive but the cpu will always be a big part of the total cost.

How much does CPU really affect desktop performance? Simple tasks like web browsing and working in some programs? is a low tier i5 good?

 

As far as the other specs, i'm going for 8 gb ddr3 ram and a small ssd, which combined is only like 80 bucks.

[Nathat23]

For an office PC I would say a Pentium or an i3. An i5 would be overkill.

[jjohnthedon1]

Haswell i3,h97mobo,1stick 8gb ram, corsair cx power supply,

WD hdd, and 120gb ssd to run operating system and most used programs

U can probly get all that into a small atx build for 300 pound

[Xenift]

A amd cpu would work really well, cheap and effective. Along with some on board GPU for some tasks.

Do they need USB3.0?

[Citadelen]

You don't need something as good as an i5, an APU or pentium would be your best bet.

[Sir Asvald]

So I'm building some office computers because the old ones are getting slow.

 

I want them to be somewhat inexpensive but the cpu will always be a big part of the total cost.

How much does CPU really affect desktop performance? Simple tasks like web browsing and working in some programs? is a low tier i5 good?

 

As far as the other specs, i'm going for 8 gb ddr3 ram and a small ssd, which combined is only like 80 bucks.

Budget?

[Xenift]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($66.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Motherboard: ASRock B85M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($47.98 @ Newegg) 

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($29.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($44.99 @ Amazon) 

Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($34.99 @ Micro Center) 

Power Supply: SeaSonic 300W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($35.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Total: $260.93

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-17 06:03 EST-0500

[Krazeehhh]

Id go for something @Xenift posted, looks really good for a office PC, Plus a 500-1tb HDD 

[Krazeehhh]

They might also want an optical drive.  Which can cost them an additional 10-50 bucks depending on if they want bluray or just dvd/cd.  

 

Definetly.

[cragger89]

i3 if they're gonna be used to consume content from places such as Youtube on Chrome as the browser - my Pentium G3258 struggles sometimes to playback smoothly if anything else is going on in the background (it's an HTPC so for the most part this doesn't matter, only 1 piece of software is doing anything at any given time, usually.)

 

Don't skimp on the rest of the build, good quality PSU and cooling fans will make for a reliable and quiet machine which won't draw too much attention to itself.

[Qwerty2323]

I would recommend

gigabyte ga-h170-d3hp (would include new usb 3.1 and usb c)

with i3 6100 

with 8 gb ddr4

case corsair 200R (because it is one of best and cheapest case with front usb 3 support awesome for office)

ssd samsung evo 850 250 over 120 because price difference is 15$

as for psu I m not that sure how much you are ready to pay for it there are many options but generally something like evga 400w or so  

 

dvd drives are rarely used ever nowadays I would recommend buying 1 usb dvd reader/writer for all office and save cash 

 

if you got budget future proofing skylake seems good idea 

[Will Ozellman]

 

i3 if they're gonna be used to consume content from places such as Youtube on Chrome as the browser - my Pentium G3258 struggles sometimes to playback smoothly if anything else is going on in the background (it's an HTPC so for the most part this doesn't matter, only 1 piece of software is doing anything at any given time, usually.)

 

Don't skimp on the rest of the build, good quality PSU and cooling fans will make for a reliable and quiet machine which won't draw too much attention to itself.

Yeah, we just bought an office pc with a pentium and its as slow as an old pc. Im guessing this has to do mostly with the hard drive as no other specs other than size of the HDD is presented.

 

 

I would recommend
gigabyte ga-h170-d3hp (would include new usb 3.1 and usb c)
with i3 6100
with 8 gb ddr4
case corsair 200R (because it is one of best and cheapest case with front usb 3 support awesome for office)
ssd samsung evo 850 250 over 120 because price difference is 15$
as for psu I m not that sure how much you are ready to pay for it there are many options but generally something like evga 400w or so

 

dvd drives are rarely used ever nowadays I would recommend buying 1 usb dvd reader/writer for all office and save cash

 

if you got budget future proofing skylake seems good idea

Okay. It doesnt really have to be future proof. I just want an office pc that doesnt feel sluggish. Fast like my personal high end pc but it's only gonna handle lighter loads.

 

 

Budget?

Dont really have a budget. I just want a office pc that doesnt feel sluggish for the lowest price possible (without compromising on quality too much of course). Also, its hard to say a budget because im not from the states and everything here is alot more expensive but maybe around 300-400 dollars. It doesnt need alot of storage so i guess one ssd would be fine.

[cragger89]

Adding an SSD to anything is going to make an improvement, but an i3 really does do a better job of multitasking than a Pentium. Obviously, we could make these arguments of what is better until you end up with a TOTL gaming rig; so if a Pentium will suffice, that is fine.

[Will Ozellman]

Adding an SSD to anything is going to make an improvement, but an i3 really does do a better job of multitasking than a Pentium. Obviously, we could make these arguments of what is better until you end up with a TOTL gaming rig; so if a Pentium will suffice, that is fine.

Okay, i might aswell go i3 then. The cheap office pc i bought a few weeks ago struggles with even having two different windows up at a time.

[Lawliet93]

What the heck guys??? i3´s for office use??? that´s a job for the AM1 socket from AMD with some quad-core CPU, combine that with an 120GB SSD and you get some nice PC´s for cheaper.

[NumLock21]

Get a i3 with a sshd

[Prysin]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($128.69 @ B&H)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($134.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2800 Memory  ($46.97 @ OutletPC)
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Case: RAIJINTEK Metis (Silver) Mini ITX Tower Case  ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 350W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($32.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $443.62
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-17 10:25 EST-0500

 

 

completely overkill setup. but it will be really good to you,

[Lawliet93]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($128.69 @ B&H)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($134.99 @ Amazon)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2800 Memory  ($46.97 @ OutletPC)

Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($39.99 @ Amazon)

Case: RAIJINTEK Metis (Silver) Mini ITX Tower Case  ($59.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: SeaSonic 350W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($32.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Total: $443.62

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-17 10:25 EST-0500

 

 

completely overkill setup. but it will be really good to you,

 

It´s an Office pc you don´t need an i3 to do the job. AM1 CPU + SSD, that´s a rig he should go for. Why do you even suggest an i3??? It´s overkill

[Prysin]

It´s an Office pc you don´t need an i3 to do the job. AM1 CPU + SSD, that´s a rig he should go for. Why do you even suggest an i3??? It´s overkill

some office tasks DO need computational power. mostly because A LOT of "professional" software is so shitty optimized that they run like ass on anything.

So AM1 would struggle with long as fuck loading times, but an i3 will struggle less.

 

file transfers also need two things:

fast CPU

fast storage.

 

AM1 CPUs will be slower at this too. So simple tasks like file transfers will take a little longer.

 

Skylake supports the latest instruction sets, AM1 doesnt even get remotely close in that aspect. Thus looking to the Future, AM1 is a less compatible platform.

 

Skylake CAN be upgraded to say, an i5 if the company need really complex workloads to be done. AM1 has NO future. you need a new mobo, CPU and RAM to get the full benefit of a new system. especially now that LGA 1150 ITX boards are being sold out at an alarming rate.

[-rascal-]

It´s an Office pc you don´t need an i3 to do the job. AM1 CPU + SSD, that´s a rig he should go for. Why do you even suggest an i3??? It´s overkill

 

They WILL make a difference,. and even more so depending on what software / applications will be used on those systems.

 

Now that I am doing a co-operative education work term with my University, as a Network Engineer (and dealing with IT damage control), the difference between a Celeron / Pentium, and an Core i3 is quite significant. I have a direct comparison because all the Celerons, Pentiums, Core i3, i5, i7, and Xeons are Intel 4th generation processors (LGA 1150) -- with a few exception being 3rd generation (LGA 1151).

 

 

i3's would be the most optimal. Pentiums / low-power APU's are a little on the low side, and Core i5's are a little on the high side.

 

Keep in mind, in an office environment, the desktop real-estate may be premium. Consider small form-factor computer chassis

(i.e. ITX or low-profile micro-ATX since a dedicated GPU won't really be necessary)

I am not saying to order from Lenovo, or cost as much, but use it as a outline (particularly the form factor): http://shop.lenovo.com/ca/en/workstations/thinkstation/p-series/p300-sff/

 

Depending on the situation, an SSD may not be necessary.

If the systems don't get fully powered down over-night, just put into sleep mode, then and SSD isn't exactly necessary. This will be more so if all the data and such are all on their own private servers. At that point, your internal network data transfer rate plays a larger determining role.

 

Micro-ATX, low-profile system

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/V97qTW

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/V97qTW/by_merchant/

 

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($109.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Motherboard: Asus B85M-D PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($44.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($29.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($45.88 @ OutletPC) 

Case: Silverstone ML03B HTPC Case  ($59.99 @ Amazon) 

Power Supply: SeaSonic 350W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($32.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Total: $323.83

 

Note I am using the SilverStone ML03B computer chassis.

The ML03B does support ATX form factor PSU's.

The ASUS B85M does have a USB 3.0 header, so you can take advantage of the front USB 3.0 ports.

 

 

 

 

Mini-ITX motherboard form

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/vXYzqs

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/vXYzqs/by_merchant/

 

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($109.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Motherboard: ASRock B85M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($72.89 @ OutletPC) 

Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($29.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($45.88 @ OutletPC) 

Case: Silverstone ML03B HTPC Case  ($59.99 @ Amazon) 

Power Supply: SeaSonic 350W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($32.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Total: $351.73

 

Again, USB 3.0 header on the motherboard, and seems to have a clean layout design (i.e. SATA ports are together, front I/O are together).

The two fan headers (one for CPU, the other is an optional 4-pin fan header) are right beside each other.

[SteveGrabowski0]

i5-4690k + R9 390

[Bouzoo]

It´s an Office pc you don´t need an i3 to do the job. AM1 CPU + SSD, that´s a rig he should go for. Why do you even suggest an i3??? It´s overkill

 

It's not really, I have around 15 programs opened with 8 Chrome tabs for different apps as well as IE with 4 apps at the same time and we have i3s at workplace. I could easily open 10+ more apps to have everything opened. Even i3s need time processing stuff from time to time. Trust me, they help.

[Will Ozellman]

It´s an Office pc you don´t need an i3 to do the job. AM1 CPU + SSD, that´s a rig he should go for. Why do you even suggest an i3??? It´s overkill

 

So the cpu isn't that important when handling some light load multi tasking? Im not very familiar with amds line of cpus, could you recommend one? What factors would be important for such use (cpu speed, cores etc)? It would also be nice to not have to get a gpu separately

[Lawliet93]

So the cpu isn't that important when handling some light load multi tasking? Im not very familiar with amds line of cpus, could you recommend one? It would also be nice to not have to get a gpu separately

 

First of all, what will the usage scenario be? If you are looking to use an i3 for MS WORD and some internet then go with an AM1 CPU + 8GB RAM and a SSD.

[Will Ozellman]

First of all, what will the usage scenario be? If you are looking to use an i3 for MS WORD and some internet then go with an AM1 CPU + 8GB RAM and a SSD.

Well, we mostly use a program based on what i think is called microsoft business dynamic nav(its like a windows 97 looking program lol). Other than that, we use office programs and internet browsing. As i said earlier, the new pc i just bought slows down by just trying to open two windows at once, which imo is pretty unacceptable for a new computer. They didnt specify any specs for the hdd other than size so i will just build the pcs from now on.