Desktop Computers

sleevedraw

sleevedraw

Revolver Ocelot
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Voyce said:
Need to build a PC for someone, they're not a gamer so I'm thinking an integrated GPU on an Intel or AMD would be enough.

I was thinking a mini-ITX in this case since there shouldn't be a need to stick in a discrete GPU.

Suggestions on the Board and CPU? looking to spend $5-700 total.
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If it's Grandma checking her email and not doing much else, Athlon 200GE (2C/4T).
If you want slightly more oomph, you can get the Ryzen 3 2200G for about $20 more (4C/4T and an iGPU that's one tier higher) or 2400G (4C/8T) for about $50 more.

Buy the cheapest A320 AM4 board that you can find...with the caveat that if you get the 2200G or 2400G, many old A320 boards may require a BIOS update, so you may need an extra older-generation Ryzen chip to flash the board to the latest version. If you want plug and play, get a B450.

Something like this; complete build, though I haven't checked memory QVL. I also always put a good PSU on a computer no matter how el cheapo it is.

Chromebook would also be OK like Izo says.
 
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Voyce

Voyce

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Nah, they specifically don't want a Laptop. Not sure why, but idc no big deal to build them a pc
 
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mkopec

mkopec

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Actually not a bad idea, the Dell. Back in the Day I bought a Vostro core 2 quad which even came with a screen too for like $600, then I put in a graphics card nvidia 8800GT or whatever it was and had a gaming system for like 5 years back when it was the first quad core...

If youre worried about the bloatware, just buy a windows key and do a fresh install, problem solved.
 
Fucker

Fucker

Log Wizard
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mkopec said:
Actually not a bad idea, the Dell. Back in the Day I bought a Vostro core 2 quad which even came with a screen too for like $600, then I put in a graphics card nvidia 8800GT or whatever it was and had a gaming system for like 5 years back when it was the first quad core...

If youre worried about the bloatware, just buy a windows key and do a fresh install, problem solved.
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Key not required. It is embedded in the BIOS.
 
Lanx

Lanx

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Voyce said:
Nah, they specifically don't want a Laptop. Not sure why, but idc no big deal to build them a pc
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how about a NUC, mini htpc?

i bought one for my basement gym, it works great actually, i couldn't find my rj45 calipers so i used the built in wireless, and it streams youtube and videos over wifi just fine.
 
3301

3301

Wake Up Man
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Voyce said:
... ?
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Even with 2 year pro support and accidental damage, the PC comes in under your $700 price. You build a computer they are calling you to fix it. They get a Dell, they call Dell.

Me personally, I don’t want to be the IT fix it guy for family and friends.
 
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Mist

Mist

Eeyore Enthusiast
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Refreshed my 6.5 year old 4770K PC.

Intel 9700K
Gigabyte Z390 Ultra
Sabrent 1TB ROCKET NVMe PCIe
Cooler Master H500 case
TEAM DARK PRO 3200 C14 memory.

All of it was super cheap on Black Friday.

Only thing I kinda splurged on was a Be Quiet Dark Rock (not Pro) 4 and I'm super glad. This entire PC is dead silent, I replaced the stock CM rear exhaust fan with a PWM Silent Wings 3 that I had laying around from another build, and the 2x front 200MM fans are already very quiet due to low RPMs.

Re-used a recently purchased Seasonic Prime Ultra 750W, my old thrice RMAed EVGA GTX 1080 FTW, and both my Samsung SATA SSDs.

Trying to figure out what to do for mass storage. Quietest option for a NAS?
 
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OU Ariakas

OU Ariakas

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Mist said:
Refreshed my 6.5 year old 4770K PC.

Intel 9700K
Gigabyte Z390 Ultra
Sabrent 1TB ROCKET NVMe PCIe
Cooler Master H500 case
TEAM DARK PRO 3200 C14 memory.

All of it was super cheap on Black Friday.

Only thing I kinda splurged on was a Be Quiet Dark Rock (not Pro) 4 and I'm super glad. This entire PC is dead silent, I replaced the stock CM rear exhaust fan with a PWM Silent Wings 3 that I had laying around from another build, and the 2x front 200MM fans are already very quiet due to low RPMs.

Re-used a recently purchased Seasonic Prime Ultra 750W, my old thrice RMAed EVGA GTX 1080 FTW, and both my Samsung SATA SSDs.

Trying to figure out what to do for mass storage. Quietest option for a NAS?
Click to expand...

Quick question, when you re-used the HD's did you reuse your boot drive? If so, did you just plug it in and it recognized the new hardware and simply booted into windows?
 
Lanx

Lanx

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OU Ariakas said:
Quick question, when you re-used the HD's did you reuse your boot drive? If so, did you just plug it in and it recognized the new hardware and simply booted into windows?
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are you worried about reinstalling OS, lazy? trying having a dual (or more) sata dock Sabrent USB 3.0 to SATA I/II/III Dual Bay External Hard Drive Docking Station for 2.5 or 3.5in HDD, SSD with Hard Drive Duplicator/Cloner Function [10TB Support] (EC-HD2B) i mean yea, rather that reinstalling everything, i just cloned the HDD when upgrading to ssd.

sure you can do it with software, but that was sometimes finicky for me, this is just press a button and clone, you can future proof it too, just buy a m.2 nvme to 2.5 sata enclosure for 8bucks.

what i did find useful was that when i had a HDD failure (either seagate or samsung, one of my last non WD drives) i couldn't copy it or read it off the disk, but i was able to clone it to a larger HDD
 
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Mist

Mist

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OU Ariakas said:
Quick question, when you re-used the HD's did you reuse your boot drive? If so, did you just plug it in and it recognized the new hardware and simply booted into windows?
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The Sabrent Rocket 1TB NVME is now my primary boot drive. However, later in the process, using the BIOS boot manager I was able to boot off the Samsung SSD I was using as a boot drive in the old computer, and it spent about 5-6 minutes automatically knocking out all the drivers. It wasn't perfect but I was able to export some settings that didn't export properly without hassle then switch back to my new boot drive.

I highly recommend a clean install.

PS: I also recommend getting your hands on a Windows 10 Education key. Windows 10 is so much less annoying when you can actually turn off all the bullshit.
 
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LiquidDeath

LiquidDeath

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OU Ariakas said:
Quick question, when you re-used the HD's did you reuse your boot drive? If so, did you just plug it in and it recognized the new hardware and simply booted into windows?
Click to expand...

Don't do this when you are moving from Intel to AMD CPUs.

There are a large number of deep configurations in Windows based on your CPU architecture and your CPU and motherboard hardware.

I tried this and couldn't get my sound or USB ports to work until I did a totally fresh install of Win10.

Take this opportunity to move your Windows drive to a m.2 form factor 256GB or 512GB SSD, trust me.
 
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A

a_skeleton_05

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Yeah, a reformat is general good practice whenever switching to a new motherboard, even if it's the same chipset. You can get away with not doing it these days, but there will be complications
 
OU Ariakas

OU Ariakas

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Man, I fresh installed Win 10 like 5 months ago. I guess I should just do the m.2 anyways.
 
LiquidDeath

LiquidDeath

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Fucker said:
NVME m2. You can get SATA m2's that are total shit.
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Sure, but you can get a SDD that is total shit in any form factor.

All the evidence I have seen is that it is entirely unnecessary to go NVME for anything that is not productivity related, and most of those scenarios are specifically related to moving large amounts of data. As a gaming drive or housing an operating system, there are almost no real world gains to be had.

This also extends to the QLC vs TLC debate as well. The layering really only matters if you are frequently moving large amounts of data. If that isn't something you do regularly, then QLC will do just fine.

All that being said, if there is only a small difference in price for the same size, you should certainly get NVME. If the premium is large, then it probably isn't worth it outside of specific use cases. Oh, and it also matters that your motherboard supports NVME on its on lanes so there is that to consider as well.
 
Izo

Izo

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LiquidDeath said:
Sure, but you can get a SDD that is total shit in any form factor.

All the evidence I have seen is that it is entirely unnecessary to go NVME for anything that is not productivity related, and most of those scenarios are specifically related to moving large amounts of data. As a gaming drive or housing an operating system, there are almost no real world gains to be had.

This also extends to the QLC vs TLC debate as well. The layering really only matters if you are frequently moving large amounts of data. If that isn't something you do regularly, then QLC will do just fine.

All that being said, if there is only a small difference in price for the same size, you should certainly get NVME. If the premium is large, then it probably isn't worth it outside of specific use cases. Oh, and it also matters that your motherboard supports NVME on its on lanes so there is that to consider as well.
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But, but, but...nvme looks cooler and is more expensive so you know it's got to be good, right?
 
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