Facebook machine on the cheap

[Daikataro]

Greetings everyone, first post here and well, as title says, I would like everyone's help for either building or buying a facebook machine that will mainly be used for web browsing, idle file downloading, possibly 1-man server and seed for torrents when I don't need my connection. Performance on gaming, 3D software and the such is absolutely not required, as I already own a gamer system for that, I would like advice on a good cost/benefit ratio system that can boot decently fast, stay on without issues for extended periods of time and handle basic file transfer and viewing, with maybe office software. So with that said

 

-If I wanted scalability, how much would that set me back? Related to what's the cheapest system/motherboard that can take a recent gen i3 processor and, do I need an i3 or can an older CPU do the job?

-I already own a pretty old PC that I may or may not have already fried. Would it be cheaper to buy the power supply and motherboard, and recycle cabinet, or just buy a pre-built system?

-Already own 2 HDDs as well, both SATA

-Would such a system be factible to, in the foreseeable future, be upgraded to something that can run crysis? Or would I be better off just cheaping out on literally every component, knowing a facebook machine is all this system is, and will ever be?

 

Thanks everyone in advance.

[VolkA]

3 minutes ago, Daikataro said:

Greetings everyone, first post here and well, as title says, I would like everyone's help for either building or buying a facebook machine that will mainly be used for web browsing, idle file downloading, possibly 1-man server and seed for torrents when I don't need my connection. Performance on gaming, 3D software and the such is absolutely not required, as I already own a gamer system for that, I would like advice on a good cost/benefit ratio system that can boot decently fast, stay on without issues for extended periods of time and handle basic file transfer and viewing, with maybe office software. So with that said

 

-If I wanted scalability, how much would that set me back? Related to what's the cheapest system/motherboard that can take a recent gen 13 processor and, do I need an i3 or can an older CPU do the job?

-I already own a pretty old PC that I may or may not have already fried. Would it be cheaper to buy the power supply and motherboard, and recycle cabinet, or just buy a pre-built system?

-Already own 2 HDDs as well, both SATA

-Would such a system be factible to, in the foreseeable future, be upgraded to something that can run crysis? Or would I be better off just cheaping out on literally every component, knowing a facebook machine is all this system is, and will ever be?

 

Thanks everyone in advance.

Since you already have a gaming system and as you said this is mainly for surfing Facebook and stuff, why not just buy a Chromebook?

[Daikataro]

I want a desktop because:

 

-Desktops are plain and simply cheaper. Hands down.

-Desktops are more prone to upgrade than laptops are. Also cheaper to

-My gaming system is already a laptop, I don't need another one.

-Like I said, this will be mainly used idly, plus I already own peripherals so don't need to spend extra for another set of those

 

So I rather have something cheap and reliable, that I can just turn on monitor and do whatever stuff I need done there, without it taking up space on my already cluttered desk.

[manikyath]

if you want to go absolutely facebook machine, look into asrock's Q1900m and Q1900-itx boards.

1 minute ago, Daikataro said:

Desktops are plain and simply cheaper. Hands down.

have you seen chromebooks, dude?

[VolkA]

4 minutes ago, manikyath said:

have you seen chromebooks, dude?

I know right.

[VolkA]

5 minutes ago, Daikataro said:

I want a desktop because:

 

-Desktops are plain and simply cheaper. Hands down.

-Desktops are more prone to upgrade than laptops are. Also cheaper to

-My gaming system is already a laptop, I don't need another one.

-Like I said, this will be mainly used idly, plus I already own peripherals so don't need to spend extra for another set of those

 

So I rather have something cheap and reliable, that I can just turn on monitor and do whatever stuff I need done there, without it taking up space on my already cluttered desk.

Ok. You have your reason(s). But please, just google Chromebook and look at the price first. Then decide.

[Droidbot]

I guess a cheap i3/i5 2nd or 3rd gen Dell prebuilt would be pretty good

[Acorn Eyes]

Raspberry PI

[Daikataro]

Yes I have seen prices for chromebooks, and they are not what I am looking for. While the specs are fine and dandy for laptops, I have zero interest in portability, and I am more interested in using it as a data repository, something which I could not achieve in a chromebook without investing a sizeable amount of money in external HDDs, which defeats the purpose. So in summary:

 

-I do NOT want a chromebook, or any laptop for that matter. Also no raspeberry pis (I use them but for industrial projects, not for this), no all-in-ones, I want a desktop and that's that.

-I want to use it as data repository, so inexpensive data storage is a must. Like I said I already own 2 HDDs that will serve my needs for the immediate future, and want the option to add more, shall the need arise

[Daikataro]

So, since I got no helpful input whatsoever, I figured I might as well just solve my own problem and list the solution here, so someone else could maybe benefit from it. Seemingly, prices for pre-built are not stellar versus just making my own, considering how much hardware I already own, so I decided to buy the cheapest micro-ATX motherboard I could find that supports the 1150 socket, which not only supports decent i5 processors for potential expansion, but also the way cheaper Celeron family so I can start it right away without spending too much on the processor, and won't hurt so bad if I want to upgrade in the near future. A couple PCI slots in case I feel like adding a video card somewhere in the future and that's that. So in short:

 

-I will re-use one of the old cases I got just gathering dust around

-Grabbing an Asrock H81m-vg4 motherboard, so I can use an 1150 processor

-A cheap Celeron Dual Core G1820 for the time being

-4GB of RAM, single stick or two 2GB ones, whichever one is cheaper since if I ever upgrade, I'm jumping straight for 16GB

-250W power source should be more than enough, considering the processor is the only "demanding" component of the set

 

As for storage, I got a really old 160GB HDD that will hold the OS (Win7) and the fairly new 1TB one for all the data storage. Will add more shall the need arise, but for the time being should be enough for regular use. Such a configuration should be good enough for handling standard storage and "server" duties without putting any strain on the components, while still keeping upgrades factible enough.