Big League Chew
Footballguy
In the market to buy my mom a new computer for her telework. Budget is 1500-2k. Which seems like overkill. There will be no gaming on the pc. Mainly database work
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Any PC builders? Looking to build/buy a new compooter (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Big League Chew
- Start date
Ignoratio Elenchi
Footballguy
I'm no expert but the budget and the idea of building your own both seem like overkill. Pretty sure you can get a PC that would suit her needs just fine for like $600.
The Tick
Footballguy
If you aren't trying to customize things for games or some other special application, I think you are better off just buying something. I always use Dell still for my generic PC's, the $600 price range listed above isn't far off. For that type of thing I'd personally just go and grab something like this, add on a monitor and not look back:
https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/desktop-computers/inspiron-small-desktop/spd/inspiron-3471-desktop/nd3471dszfs
I'm sure you can take similar specs and save some more money if you look at other places to buy it, amazon, or one of the computer stores. If this is just for basic work at home e-mail, web, standard Microsoft apps, I'd look for minimum of Intel i5 processor (or AMD equivalent), 8GB DDR4 and that's probably all you need. If she does some specialized work, you may need to consider i7 processor or 16GB ram for the extra power.
https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/desktop-computers/inspiron-small-desktop/spd/inspiron-3471-desktop/nd3471dszfs
I'm sure you can take similar specs and save some more money if you look at other places to buy it, amazon, or one of the computer stores. If this is just for basic work at home e-mail, web, standard Microsoft apps, I'd look for minimum of Intel i5 processor (or AMD equivalent), 8GB DDR4 and that's probably all you need. If she does some specialized work, you may need to consider i7 processor or 16GB ram for the extra power.
Thorpe
Footballguy
Does your budget include a new monitor? Or is she going to keep her monitor? If she only has 1 monitor currently, does she want a 2nd one?
When you say database work, is she going to run her own database on the computer? Or just remote desktop/vp to her company's network and use an application which accesses the database?
When you say database work, is she going to run her own database on the computer? Or just remote desktop/vp to her company's network and use an application which accesses the database?
Big League Chew
Footballguy
Thorpe
Footballguy
$1500 is overkill for a desktop for this.
If it were me, I'd spend the money on a very nice laptop, and plug the monitors, keyboard and mouse into it. That way I only have the 1 computer when I travel.
But if she wants a desktop, I'd get something in the $500 to $750 range. I'd get something small sized with specs: Core i3, 8GB RAM, SSD
If it were me, I'd spend the money on a very nice laptop, and plug the monitors, keyboard and mouse into it. That way I only have the 1 computer when I travel.
But if she wants a desktop, I'd get something in the $500 to $750 range. I'd get something small sized with specs: Core i3, 8GB RAM, SSD
Big League Chew
Footballguy
PlayaHata
Footballguy
This. Get a Dell XPS 13 or something similar with a dock and then you'll have a great laptop and it's still easy to WFH with multiple monitors and full size keyboard, mouse, etc.
Big League Chew
Footballguy
Does database work require any sort of computing power? If not it seems like she would be perfectly suited for a $500 to $700 laptop from Costco or something. Can get an i7 and 12gb of ram in that price range, I assume integrated video would be enough? If the company is paying the 1500-2000 and needs a receipt, I guess you can go hogwild.
For a point of reference, I built a very robust desktop computer with gaming capabilities 18 months ago for $760. I had the case and hard drives already so it might be $900 from scratch assuming you still have a monitor and keyboard.
Edit: Sure, end the thread as I was typing
For a point of reference, I built a very robust desktop computer with gaming capabilities 18 months ago for $760. I had the case and hard drives already so it might be $900 from scratch assuming you still have a monitor and keyboard.
Edit: Sure, end the thread as I was typing
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The Tick
Footballguy
Not outdated, it's just one of the lower end Intel processors. I never recommend these unless that is really all that is in your budget. With all the garbage that continually gets installed in the background on PC's, I think i3's just tend to get overwhelmed in 2-3 years and you feel like your computer is lagging. And I'm not talking viruses, but background stuff for legit programs you install. I think an i5 keeps the computer running much better for a 3-5 year lifecycle.
Rustoleum
Footballguy
I didn’t pay attention when I let my junior tech order me a new desktop and he got one with small SSD and a bigger regular drive. Would be great except Windows 10 apparently makes it a pain to make the other drive the default to install programs to. Outside of registry edits, am I missing something? Seems like it should be easier. We’ve been using Macs a lot so I’ve been trying to do most things from a MacBook Air so I know what my teachers are experiencing firsthand. As a result, I’m not as “ with it” as is I should be with Windows10.
Big League Chew
Footballguy
It’s ridiculous. Microsoft attempts to default to the cloud every time. Such a #### show
I would go higher than 8GB RAM. Look for at least 12, imo. It will really help if she's doing many different things while using her VPN (playing music, excel spreadsheets, etc).
I have an HP desktop that is still running pretty well after 7 years (probably going to upgrade later this year).
I have an HP desktop that is still running pretty well after 7 years (probably going to upgrade later this year).
E Street Brat
Footballguy
I had no problems when I added an m.2 ssd for windows startup. Just changed my first download from c to f drive and now they all default to f.Rustoleum said:
Thorpe
Footballguy
He's talking about the default folder for applications to install to. IE, instead of C:\Program Files he wants D:\Program Files.
It is a simple registry change to change. Microsoft probably didn't want to make this easy because if you lose your other drive, nothing will run.
Applications are something that should go on the SSD anyways, unless they are very large or you rarely use them
It is a simple registry change to change. Microsoft probably didn't want to make this easy because if you lose your other drive, nothing will run.
Applications are something that should go on the SSD anyways, unless they are very large or you rarely use them
Rustoleum
Footballguy
Yeah, I only discovered the issue when I tried to install an Adobe Creative Suite package to test for the rest of the district (For day to day I would mostly only need the full Acrobat and not Illustrator,etc.). Everything was going along swimmingly until I saw the progress bar start rolling backwards.....then had to scroll through the log file to find the “not enough disk space” error.
Ignoratio Elenchi
Footballguy
Gonna hijack this thread - I'm thinking of getting a PC mostly for gaming, but I feel like that gives the wrong impression because we don't play a lot of games so I'm not sure how much I need for what we want to do. No modern FPS's or anything, my kids would want to play Minecraft (with mods) and Roblox. I'd only use it for puzzlers like The Witness, and Tabletop Simulator for remote boardgaming. Not doing anything where speed or quick twitchy mouse movements are important, if that makes sense. Would want it to run smoothly with the highest graphics settings (right now we play on a MacBook air which gets really hot even on low-ish graphics). Any recs for specs I should be looking for, or ballpark cost for a PC that can do the above? Don't want to overpay for specs we might not really need but also don't want to end up with something that won't allow for the best experience in the types of games we play.
I am by no means a computer expert, I don't know what hardware is coming out or anything like that, so feel free to value anyone elses advice over mine. I made a "premium budget" gaming computer 18 months ago, where I just wanted everything at a good performance/$$ ratio, no individual component was top of the line because I feel you pay 40% more for a 10% improvement. First time I made a computer myself and I had no issues, took maybe 1-2 hours including fumbling around time.
It is super dependent on your budget what you get. Do you want to skate by with the cheapest decently functional computer, or do you want to spend a little extra for more power here and there? Also, just browsing prices since I have not looked since 18 months ago, and some prices seem high. I am guessing it is due to Covid stuff affecting shipping but it does not look like a great time to buy some components.
Generally videocards are the most expensive part of a computer if you are going to do any 3d gaming, there is a big price range on these where you can spend $160 for a reasonably powerful one, $300 for one that is 50% more powerful than that, or $1000 on one that is over 100% more powerful than the budget one. CPU have a much more narrow price range unless you go for the crazy top of the line stuff. Ryzen CPU are much cheaper for the amount of power you get compared to intel IMO. I would recommend something like a Ryzen 3600 which is around $170ish. A similarly powered intel chip will be closer to $400-$500.
For example, the computer I built 18 months ago was:
It is super dependent on your budget what you get. Do you want to skate by with the cheapest decently functional computer, or do you want to spend a little extra for more power here and there? Also, just browsing prices since I have not looked since 18 months ago, and some prices seem high. I am guessing it is due to Covid stuff affecting shipping but it does not look like a great time to buy some components.
Generally videocards are the most expensive part of a computer if you are going to do any 3d gaming, there is a big price range on these where you can spend $160 for a reasonably powerful one, $300 for one that is 50% more powerful than that, or $1000 on one that is over 100% more powerful than the budget one. CPU have a much more narrow price range unless you go for the crazy top of the line stuff. Ryzen CPU are much cheaper for the amount of power you get compared to intel IMO. I would recommend something like a Ryzen 3600 which is around $170ish. A similarly powered intel chip will be closer to $400-$500.
For example, the computer I built 18 months ago was:
- GTX 1070 ti $380 (came with a $60 game)
- Ryzen 5 2600 $160
- 2x8 gig RAM $100
- Motherboard $100
- Power supply $80
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Thorpe
Footballguy
That is annoying, but I would blame Adobe before Microsoft. Adobe should have checked the disk space before installing.
Dinsy Ejotuz
Footballguy
I have an i5 quad core that's ~8 years old and the only thing I've ever not been able to do on it is process some of the big work files I use. (like 30 million record files)
Gaming, dozens of tabs/programs open. Etc. Every now and then my work e-mail jams it up for some reason, but I don't think that's capacity.
i3 is probably fine if you just need a basic work desktop, but i5s are old now as well and cheap. i7 or better is definitely going to be wasted based on what you're saying here.
For like $500 you'll be able to get her something good. $1500 is definitely overkill.
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sho nuff
Footballguy
I would think you can find something prebuilt in the 600ish range that would be plenty for that. I just had to quick buy a prebuilt (didn't have time to shop around for parts and build one as we had our main PC lose a mother board and had kids doing schoolwork and other things...). I think I spent about $700 found something on sale...Ryzen 5, RX580 graphics card, 16 gigs of ram and a 500GB SSD (I will add a bigger secondary drive later as this will be our main PC now for photos and such). Runs like a champ.
And got the other mother board replaced so now have that one running too...that was about a 6 year old PC...
I think any of the newer chips Ryzen or Intel of the last few years, and even a low tier graphics card would be fine for the light stuff you are talking about...Id just make sure it had enough RAM..almost all the bargain builds try to stick it with just 8 GB of RAM...if you find one cheap enough, you can then buy more RAM to add (just make sure it has the slots for it).
Dinsy Ejotuz
Footballguy
Iggy, just my two cents since I've been thinking about upgrading my desktop...
If you're someone who might play resource-intense games or might be doing some heavy data lifting or whatever -- like in the next 10 years -- it might make sense to go ahead and build out something way above what you need today.
It's crazy how cheaply you can build a killer desktop today.
If you're someone who might play resource-intense games or might be doing some heavy data lifting or whatever -- like in the next 10 years -- it might make sense to go ahead and build out something way above what you need today.
It's crazy how cheaply you can build a killer desktop today.
