Low powered, Work, music, browsing PC

[WillSK]

Hey guys, so my parents need a new build coz theirs is quite literally dying for an upgrade. Since they will only be using it for word processing , browsing and hooking up to ipods and ipads it doesn't need to be anything as fancy as or beloved rigs and if we can keep it small form factor on a nice budget then great.

I'm currently thinking the prodigy is the way to go for the case but as for everything else I wouldn't mind seeing what suggestions you guys come up with. If we can keep it below 450-500 quid with OS then awesome!!

Reckon an SSD is viable on this budget? even if it's just for OS?

 

[NeverBackDown]

z77 motherboard with a low end i3? Paired with an SSHD instead of a ssd? Could save money and give much better performance along with more storage. Go onto ebay or ebuyer and find w7/8 for cheap. On ebay i have gotten Win7 Ult. twice for under $100 compared to the $300 retail price.

gpu wise maybe a 7770 or similar will work decent?

 

[WillSK]

Here's what i've come up with so far. I would like a degree of quality with the build. Something that'll last them a while and the quad core therefore I feel is required. Also Haswell has good onboard graphics should they need it.
Here's what i've come up with so far but any cuts/suggestions welcome! Do you guys think 430w is enough power?

Edit: With an SSHD

 

[Feronix]

I thought this:

With a 60GB SSD for Windows and probably most their apps along with a 1Tb Caviar Blue (7200RPM) for storage.

Went with an i3 cause let's be honest; It's a Hyperthreaded Haswell dual-core at 3.4GHz with Intel HD4400 grapics, which is probably already a bit more than they even need.

Also a Corsair PSU as it's masses cheaper and still pretty good quality. Provides more than enough juice for this system and finally I got the Elite 120 cause it was cheaper. Can always get the Prodigy if you really want though it's a lot bigger and a bit overkill if I'm honest.

 

[yassarikhan786]

Looks like a solid build. Have you considered the Coolermaster Elite 120 as another possible case choice? I recently built a system in one and found it pretty easy to work with.

 

[Sir-Weasel]

consider the cooler master elite 130:
-it's a bit smaller
-it has a dust filter in the front unlike the 120
-more possibilities with where to mount your hdd or ssd (more flexible)
-and it looks better

 

[Feronix]

^ Not (yet) available on Aria though

 

[WillSK]

I thought this:

With a 60GB SSD for Windows and probably most their apps along with a 1Tb Caviar Blue (7200RPM) for storage.

Went with an i3 cause let's be honest; It's a Hyperthreaded Haswell dual-core at 3.4GHz with Intel HD4400 grapics, which is probably already a bit more than they even need.

Also a Corsair PSU as it's masses cheaper and still pretty good quality. Provides more than enough juice for this system and finally I got the Elite 120 cause it was cheaper. Can always get the Prodigy if you really want though it's a lot bigger and a bit overkill if I'm honest.

I'll look into the cooler master but the options just seem a lot greater in the prodigy. Bear in mind my parents wont wanna change for ages after this so this is part of the reason behind the quad core as I would like to think it is slightly more future proof. Also the reason I chose the seasonic was for the gold rating for a very good price and having used an OEM seasonic corsair supply (The HX) I trust the brand

 

[s3ns3]

Here's what i've come up with so far. I would like a degree of quality with the build. Something that'll last them a while and the quad core therefore I feel is required. Also Haswell has good onboard graphics should they need it.
Here's what i've come up with so far but any cuts/suggestions welcome! Do you guys think 430w is enough power?

that seasonic 450 is plenty even for a gtx 770 + i5.
you should get an i3 haswell and a h87 board,not Z87.

 

[WillSK]

that seasonic 450 is plenty even for a gtx 770 + i5.
you should get an i3 haswell and a h87 board,not Z87.

H87 I would be happy to get but I can't for the life of me find a mini ITX H87 so if you can find/suggest one let me know. Yeah I realise the PSU is plenty. My 560Ti will probably go in there once I upgrade so my brother can game on it etc. so figured it'd be nice to have enough headroom for a simple PC like this

Also, i dunno why but i'm skeptical of the i3s for future proofing since everything seems to be gearing towards utilising those cores. What do you think?

 

[blair]

Why are your build so expensive if its only for Word then this will be more than enough and its half of what you got.

 

[looz]

Indeed, AMD APU is enough. Though I would upgrade to A10-6800K for a significant boost in performance.

 

[yassarikhan786]

His brother will also be gaming on the system in the future so I think the quad-core is warranted.

 

[Feronix]

Don't pair up an APU with 1333MHz RAM though, completely destroys the point.

 

[WillSK]

Put it this way guys. Whilst I realise I can definitely save money (budget ram, lower end PSU, Dual core) I still want to maintain a quality of components in the build. I am definitely taking everything you guys say on board as always though so please keep it coming. Already looked at the coolermaster 120/130 and whilst they're nice I think the prodigy is a tad more versatile and cable manages easier.

That said if you guys really do strongly think i'm making a big mistake considering what the build is primarily gonna be used for then obv say so

 

[blair]

when you say quality do you mean performance, cause all the parts i posted are from quality brands.

 

[NeverBackDown]

when you say quality do you mean performance, cause all the parts i posted are from quality brands.

Doesn't make it a quality product.

 

[WillSK]

when you say quality do you mean performance, cause all the parts i posted are from quality brands.

I am looking into that fractal case you linked though. always like the look of their cases

Yes they are respected brands but sacrifices are obv made in their budget lines

 

[akzy]

I think for this price, the AMD side is the way to go, get a cheap a8-5600k, cracking APU!

 

[WillSK]

I think for this price, the AMD side is the way to go, get a cheap a8-5600k, cracking APU!

Will look into the AMD route. One of the other reasons i was leaning more towards intel despite performance was power draw. I believe the haswell chips are more efficient right?