Budget office build planning (Canada)

[rip]

How is this for a cheap office online build

No gaming (if there is it will be some easy to run games like CS GO at low settings or older games), just web browsing, running office programs and writing some codes

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD A6-7400K 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($54.98 @ DirectCanada) 
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A68M-HD+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($56.50 @ Vuugo) 
Memory: Corsair 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($29.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Storage: Western Digital Green 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($61.75 @ shopRBC) 
Case: Xion XON-310_BK MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($29.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic 300W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($49.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Total: $283.20
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-04-25 03:12 EDT-0400

 

-Cheapest CPU that has integrated graphics. There are some other A4 out there but seems to be lacking in performance by quite a bit despite costing the same

-Cheapest motherboard. 

-Cheapest SSD that doesn't suck. Despite having bad review it would do fine. It's still better than having a HDD anyway. Already have a Seagate 500GB HDD to reuse. Won't be storing anything much so 120GB SSD + 500GB HDD is more than enough. 

-4GB of RAM. I used a PC with 3GB and 2GB RAM and honestly for an office build 4 should be just fine.

-Cheapest case. Also has a dedicated 2.5" bay for my SSD and a 3.5" bay for a HDD. Which is really nice. But then I think I will be replacing with this for the same price

https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/product/dwsKHx/rosewill-case-fbm01

Because I realized I could reuse an optical drive too. Still debating on that whether to keep ODD in 2017. Honestly, I think I should. I might find some cheap 2.5 to 3.5 bracket somewhere or tape it to the case.

-A cheap PSU from Seasonic. I believe most Seasonic power supplies are good and should be trusted, though not sure if the cheapest would be the same.

-Already have a 1600x900 Dell monitor to reuse (Dell E2013H). It has a VGA and DVI port so the motherboard's output should have no problem as I checked it has VGA, DVI and HDMI. 

-Also have a keyboard and mouse in hand. I have a Windows key. I also have a speaker. And a printer. So I will be connecting 3 USB devices.

 

Current computer to be replaced:

Pentium G640T (2 cores)

2GB RAM

Unknown PSU

And a lot of dust

 

So I guess this would be an upgrade

Can you find a similar spec pre built for the same price?

Did I miss anything? Reading some manuals shows that the motherboard comes with only 2 SATA cables

Though I can still reuse a SATA cable from my old PC. (2 STORAGE DRIVES + 1 OPTICAL DRIVE).

 

Any cheaper pc list without sacrificing performance?

 

 

[BubblyCharizard]

WD Greens are entry level for WD's SSD/HDD, I'd go with a blue or black over green.

 

Your motherboard doesn't support USB 3.0, so expansion drives will operate at 2.0 speeds.

 

Over the A6 (which is now 3 years old), Latest generation Celeron processors would do the trick, allowing for ease of use to upgrade to something faster (i3, i5, or i7) in the future

 

Ryzen doesn't have integrated GPU yet, but once it does, R3 would be a good choice

[rip]

4 minutes ago, BubblyCharizard said:

WD Greens are entry level for WD's SSD/HDD, I'd go with a blue or black over green.

 

Your motherboard doesn't support USB 3.0, so expansion drives will operate at 2.0 speeds.

 

Over the A6 (which is now 3 years old), Latest generation Celeron processors would do the trick, allowing for ease of use to upgrade to something faster (i3, i5, or i7) in the future

 

Ryzen doesn't have integrated GPU yet, but once it does, R3 would be a good choice

What's USB 3.0 has to do with expansion slots? I thought USB and PCI E/SATA drives are different  things?

 

Celeron costs more and isn't faster than A6 actually. An AMD APU is somewhere closer to a Pnetium not  Celeron. For a office build any Intel core would be too much. Upgradability is also not needed. 

 

R3 is again will be overkill. I don't think they have a CPU for $50 CAD. I want to spend less not more. 

 

As for the SSD Wd Blue costs way more (111 Cad vs 60). That increase in price ia not justified when all I run is MS Office and Google Chrome.

[BubblyCharizard]

34 minutes ago, rip said:

What's USB 3.0 has to do with expansion slots? I thought USB and PCI E/SATA drives are different  things?

I was meaning more external drives (say for a backup drive since most offices should be doing backups) or backups could be done on a DVD/Bluray (Google Drive or other cloud storage would work too for smaller ~10GB amounts of data)

 

34 minutes ago, rip said:

R3 is again will be overkill. I don't think they have a CPU for $50 CAD. I want to spend less not more. 

definitely no newer generation CPU/APU will be this cheap

 

34 minutes ago, rip said:

As for the SSD Wd Blue costs way more (111 Cad vs 60). That increase in price ia not justified when all I run is MS Office and Google Chrome.

I beg to differ, WD Blue drives generally last longer in workstation/office PC builds that I have been part of in the past. 

 

I wouldn't expect anyone to have almost 7 years of power-on use from a WD Blue like I have, but when I have had many Green devices die within the first 2 years with ~40 hrs a week usage, so with this taken into consideration, I'd go with the blue again any day. When I build my next PC I might even go red/purple since I almost never turn my pc off.

 

Cheap green drives are meant to draw people in, whereas the blue and black are almost identical in terms of longevity

[Herman Mcpootis]

can you deal with the rebates and afford this?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($81.75 @ Vuugo) 
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-DGS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($44.98 @ NCIX) ask the seller if the bios supports kabylake CPUs.

Memory: Patriot Signature Line 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($34.99 @ Amazon Canada) 

Storage: Team L7 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($59.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Case: Rosewill FBM-05 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($29.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Power Supply: EVGA 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($36.99 @ NCIX) 
Total: $288.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-04-25 05:12 EDT-0400

[BubblyCharizard]

Kaby Lake Celeron, should outperform the dual core a6 without SMT (Hyperthreading)

 

not to mention that the CPU uses a LGA(pins in motherboard) vs a PGA(pins on cpu) connection, which seem to be easier for installation

 

plus if you get bored while working Kaby Lake supports Netflix 4K

 

[Herman Mcpootis]

1 minute ago, BubblyCharizard said:

Kaby Lake Celeron, should outperform the dual core a6 without SMT (Hyperthreading)

 

not to mention that the CPU uses a LGA(pins in motherboard) vs a PGA(pins on cpu) connection, which seem to be easier for installation

 

plus if you get bored while working Kaby Lake supports Netflix 4K

 

i've installed both Intel and amd CPUs before, i can tell you that the amd sockets are much easier to install in, no force needed at all for amd. and with the pins, if you bend one from an Intel mobo it'll be a massive headache(from first-hand experience). with amd you can bend it back pretty easily and even if it breaks you can place the broken pin in the socket and install it and it'll still work anyways.

[BubblyCharizard]

4 minutes ago, herman mcpootis said:

i've installed both Intel and amd CPUs before, i can tell you that the amd sockets are much easier to install in, no force needed at all for amd. and with the pins, if you bend one from an Intel mobo it'll be a massive headache(from first-hand experience). with amd you can bend it back pretty easily and even if it breaks you can place the broken pin in the socket and install it and it'll still work anyways.

never had that issue! maybe I'm just lucky

both should be ZIF (zero insertion force)

 

although on disassembly I have had AMD APU's rip right out of the socket when removing the heatsink most of which were OEM prebuilt. I chalked this down to low quality thermal paste used by the OEM

[Herman Mcpootis]

14 minutes ago, BubblyCharizard said:

never had that issue! maybe I'm just lucky

both should be ZIF (zero insertion force)

 

although on disassembly I have had AMD APU's rip right out of the socket when removing the heatsink most of which were OEM prebuilt. I chalked this down to low quality thermal paste used by the OEM

Intel CPUs will require some force to install when you push the lever down while amd CPUs don't. amd CPUs are prone to those issues though, thermal paste could be abit sticky after some time. you'll just have to be careful, or apply some heat first.

[MadOver]

1 hour ago, herman mcpootis said:

can you deal with the rebates and afford this?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($81.75 @ Vuugo) 
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-DGS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($44.98 @ NCIX) ask the seller if the bios supports kabylake CPUs.

Memory: Patriot Signature Line 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($34.99 @ Amazon Canada) 

Storage: Team L7 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($59.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Case: Rosewill FBM-05 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($29.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Power Supply: EVGA 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($36.99 @ NCIX) 
Total: $288.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-04-25 05:12 EDT-0400

200Gb SSD would be advisable, otherwise he might not be able to do much

 

[rip]

4 hours ago, herman mcpootis said:

can you deal with the rebates and afford this?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($81.75 @ Vuugo) 
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-DGS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($44.98 @ NCIX) ask the seller if the bios supports kabylake CPUs.

Memory: Patriot Signature Line 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($34.99 @ Amazon Canada) 

Storage: Team L7 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($59.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Case: Rosewill FBM-05 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($29.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Power Supply: EVGA 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($36.99 @ NCIX) 
Total: $288.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-04-25 05:12 EDT-0400

Seems really nice but I would not get into trouble of rebates 

And I don't know how that SSD is in terms of quality/speed.

4 hours ago, BubblyCharizard said:

Kaby Lake Celeron, should outperform the dual core a6 without SMT (Hyperthreading)

 

not to mention that the CPU uses a LGA(pins in motherboard) vs a PGA(pins on cpu) connection, which seem to be easier for installation

 

plus if you get bored while working Kaby Lake supports Netflix 4K

 

Yes but Celeron are not cheaper

 

 

 

Netflix 4k on a 1600x900 monitor

 

Did you mean Kaby Lake pentium g4560 with 2 c/4threads?

 

2 hours ago, MadOver said:

200Gb SSD would be advisable, otherwise he might not be able to do much

 

120gb is fine for me. Pretty sure .docx files are lightweight

[Herman Mcpootis]

Just now, rip said:

Seems really nice but I would not get into trouble of rebates 

And I don't know how that SSD is in terms of quality/speed.

Yes but Celeron are not cheaper

at least spend abit more for the g4560, any FM2+ cpus right now are extremely weak and not worth the money.

[rip]

4 hours ago, BubblyCharizard said:

I was meaning more external drives (say for a backup drive since most offices should be doing backups) or backups could be done on a DVD/Bluray (Google Drive or other cloud storage would work too for smaller ~10GB amounts of data)

 

definitely no newer generation CPU/APU will be this cheap

 

I beg to differ, WD Blue drives generally last longer in workstation/office PC builds that I have been part of in the past. 

 

I wouldn't expect anyone to have almost 7 years of power-on use from a WD Blue like I have, but when I have had many Green devices die within the first 2 years with ~40 hrs a week usage, so with this taken into consideration, I'd go with the blue again any day. When I build my next PC I might even go red/purple since I almost never turn my pc off.

 

Cheap green drives are meant to draw people in, whereas the blue and black are almost identical in terms of longevity

 

I want it to be as cheap as possible. I have more things to worry than reliablity of an SSD. 

[rip]

1 minute ago, herman mcpootis said:

at least spend abit more for the g4560, any FM2+ cpus right now are extremely weak and not worth the money.

But they can be overclocked. I will look into pentiums. I thought most Skylake/Kaby were way more expensive. 

How is Intel HD 610 compares to APU?

[Herman Mcpootis]

Just now, rip said:

But they can be overclocked. I will look into pentiums. I thought most Skylake/Kaby were way more expensive. 

How is Intel HD 610 compares to APU?

the architecture itself is very weak in IPC, all the overclocking won't save it from being a bad performer, especially since you picked a dual core variant. a G4560 is a hyperthreaded dual core like the i3 and still quite cheap, pretty great value. not sure, but for just web browsing and cs:go on low-medium the 610 is more than enough.

[Drake10114]

1 hour ago, rip said:

But they can be overclocked. I will look into pentiums. I thought most Skylake/Kaby were way more expensive. 

How is Intel HD 610 compares to APU?

Intel Graphics for Kabylake can do triple monitor setup, so I imagine better than an old AMD platform?

As far as office builds go

I'd go w/ a Pentium G4560 build (basically @herman mcpootis's build). If the motherboard won't support kabylake, a b250/h200 series board will do the trick.

Being on a newer platform allows you to use DDR4 ram, and have upgradability in the future, which will save on money down the road.