Cheap Office PC for family member

[The_Sandman]

Hey everyone,

 

 

Recently the PC of a family member died because it was too old. I fixed it a couple of times and replaced some things but i think now the time has come to let it rest in piece Now i want to build a cheap office PC that can handle really light office work. In fact the only thing that will ever be done on this PC is writing some things in Word and a little browsing in the internet. So it really doesn't need any power, i think a toaster could handle what this PC is used for

 

Anyways, i have come up with something that's the cheapest i could put together here in Switzerland. I would like to hear your opinions. Is this going to work for what its used for?

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: AMD 5350 2.05Ghz Quad-Core Processor  ($45.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus AM1I-A Mini ITX AM1 Motherboard  ($60.32 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($43.26 @ Mac Mall)
Power Supply: be quiet! 300W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($50.00)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer  (Purchased For $0.00)
Total: $279.54
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-20 03:47 EST-0500

 

 

The other thing i wanted to ask you guys:

 

Is it possible to somehow use the HDD SSD that was used in the old PC and transfer the data to the new system? I have never actually done this before and i would be really glad if i wouldn't have to install all the things again that are on the old drive. The old system was also running Windows 10 (Upgraded from 7).

 

 

Edit: I forgot it myself but there is a 120GB SSD in the old PC, not a HDD like i mentioned above. Sry for confusion^^

[agentagent47]

save up some $ by using your old computer HDD and Ram sticks ( if they are DDR3) how old was your dead PC?

[JohnnyCorporalTech]

All seems great, but by the way it is probably cheaper to buy a pre built PC. Here in Australia, I was going to do a similar setup to you, but I found a few cheeper pre build Dells and HP's.

[The_Sandman]

save up some $ by using your old computer HDD and Ram sticks ( if they are DDR3) how old was your dead PC?

 

I could use the HDD but i don't know how it really works if i don't want to lose the data that's on it. I can't just put together everything with the old HDD and boot right? I have to install a new OS, but how do i transfer the data? Or am I completely wrong?

 

Unfortunately the PC is about 10 years old so i think the Ram is DDR2^^

[The_Sandman]

All seems great, but by the way it is probably cheaper to buy a pre built PC. Here in Australia, I was going to do a similar setup to you, but I found a few cheeper pre build Dells and HP's.

 

Ok, thanks for the tip. But while i was looking around for cheap prebuilt PCs i couldn't find anything cheaper than this setup above. So i think i will stick with that

[agentagent47]

i think its just a plug and play with the HDD, and the SATA port is reversable (i might be wrong on both )

[JohnnyCorporalTech]

I could use the HDD but i don't know how it really works if i don't want to lose the data that's on it. I can't just put together everything with the old HDD and boot right? I have to install a new OS, but how do i transfer the data? Or am I completely wrong?

 

Unfortunately the PC is about 10 years old so i think the Ram is DDR2^^

When I built my PC, I was able to just plug the old HDD into my PC along with the new HDD, Install OS on New on and once booted into windows, pulled all Files off of the old one into a folder on the new HDD. not sure about older HDD's though, they should work. anyone correct me if I am wrong. 

[Loadent]

Just my 2 cents here. I would put a SSD instead. If it is truly only a office computer, a 120 or 256 ish will hold all you will need and will be much more responsive.

[The_Sandman]

When I built my PC, I was able to just plug the old HDD into my PC along with the new HDD, Install OS on New on and once booted into windows, pulled all Files off of the old one into a folder on the new HDD. not sure about older HDD's though, they should work. anyone correct me if I am wrong. 

 

Ok thanks But what about the programms that are on the old HDD? Will they still work if i just plug in the HDD or pull them to the new one? And i know that it is probably not but would it be possible to just use the old HDD and not get a new one without losing the Data that's on it?

[The_Sandman]

Just my 2 cents here. I would put a SSD instead. If it is truly only a office computer, a 120 or 256 ish will hold all you will need and will be much more responsive.

 

Thanks man, you reminded me that there is no HDD in the old computer, the Drive with all the files and programms on it is in fact an SSD^^ Totally forgot about that

[Djole123]

Yeah, Semprons and Athlons are great for office use. You have nailed it.

[happychineseman]

get that intel compute stick if it is all the power you need. If you want to upgrade later then maybe get a used system, for 300 you can get a pretty badass system, like the first scrapyard wars. Otherwise maybe like a hp Stream laptop would do the trick. 

[The_Sandman]

Yeah, Semprons and Athlons are great for office use. You have nailed it.

 

Thanks!

 

get that intel compute stick if it is all the power you need. If you want to upgrade later then maybe get a used system, for 300 you can get a pretty badass system, like the first scrapyard wars. Otherwise maybe like a hp Stream laptop would do the trick. 

 

I've now decieded to go with the setup above. I looked at these compute sticks but said family member is "oldschool" and wants to have an optical drive and stuff that only a desktop PC has. But thanks for your idea

 

Now i only have to figure out a way to transfer the Data from the old PCs SSD to a new one or maybe use only the old one without losing any data.

[JohnnyCorporalTech]

Ok thanks But what about the programms that are on the old HDD? Will they still work if i just plug in the HDD or pull them to the new one? And i know that it is probably not but would it be possible to just use the old HDD and not get a new one without losing the Data that's on it?

 

when I moved the old HDD to my new PC I was able to get most of my programs on to my fancy new SSD, but I was unable to programs such as AutoCAD, Revit or Sony Vegas over, Probably a security feature implemented by the Manufacturer. Also some programmes like Star-Defender were moved but no longer worked with windows 8.1 (Now 10).