£300 office PC build, help me out guys?

Drejko

Drejko

Drejko

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So the parents PC has just go kaput and we need a new one, ofc i'm not going to buy a retail PC, but i'm stuck on what lower end parts are good, i like the i3 processor and seagate SSHD's but i'm wary to what other low end parts are good, would only be looking to spend up to or around £300 though :/ would be happy using the HD 4600 graphics in the i3 though so no need for a GPU, any suggestions welcome :D
 
 
ExRayTed said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-4150 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £97.99
1 x Crucial BX100 250GB SSD SATA 6Gbps 7mm Solid State Drive (CT250BX100SSD1) £68.99
1 x MSI H81M-E33 Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £34.99
1 x BitFenix Neos ATX Tower Black/Silver £29.99
1 x EVGA 430W 80 Plus Power Supply (100-W1-0430-KR) £28.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Fury Black 4GB (1x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C10 1600MHz Single Channel Kit (HX316C10FB/4) £19.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £7.99
Total : £302.44 (includes shipping : £11.25 Ex.VAT).

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What about this?
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I disagree. 8GB ram for any modern system is entirely justified. After you load up the OS, open a couple of web browsers, some browser tabs (which inevitably have flash or other crud in them). And MS Word / Openoffice etc. Then you're already firmly in swap territory on any 4GB system.

Everything else looks great though I'd agree that an HDD isn't really called for until you actually fill up the SSD.
 
dreamcat4 said:
I disagree. 8GB ram for any modern system is entirely justified. After you load up the OS, open a couple of web browsers, some browser tabs (which inevitably have flash or other crud in them). And MS Word / Openoffice etc. Then you're already firmly in swap territory on any 4GB system.

Everything else looks great though I'd agree that an HDD isn't really called for until you actually fill up the SSD.
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What utter tosh - you make that up did you?

Here's a screenshot of my computer. I have 5 browser tabs open, 4 of them flash intensive, an 8gb MKV file running, an open word document and an 18mb powerpoint running. Total peak RAM usage on Windows 7? 2700'ish mb. That's also while running a Plex server, dropbox and other miscellaneous pieces of software.

I stand by my original suggestion - 4gb is enough for a home computer not running games or other RAM intensive programs

F4yjFh2.jpg
 
Nah. You're either just very lucky or showing a system in it's best state. It's not proof of anything. Memory leaks can destroy all that. 1 well running system does not make a any kind of a representative statistical average. I've spoken to enough other people over time who all struggle around this limit and agree that 4GB isn't enough for them.
 
dreamcat4 said:
Nah. You're either just very lucky or showing a system in it's best state. It's not proof of anything. Memory leaks can destroy all that. 1 well running system does not make a any kind of a representative statistical average. I've spoken to enough other people over time who all struggle around this limit and agree that 4GB isn't enough for them.
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Ok so it's your opinion then? Based on anecdotal rumour? I'll take empirical evidence from the 5 pc systems running in my house added to the 20 or so I've built over the last 2 years over your opinion when being asked to spec a pc. Also using 'memory leaks' as a defence for advising double the ram is like installing a bigger petrol tank because there's a hole in in it.

Advising people to spend their money needlessly is irresponsible, especially so when your evidence is based on 'people you've spoken to'
 
ExRayTed said:
when your evidence is based on 'people you've spoken to'
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... so I guess that you don't believe that *your* advice comes under that same criteria then?

Not that I believe what you are saying is actually any kind of a general consensus amongst people these days. Although it certainly was previously (some few years ago). Yet at the very least having 2 people with different views shows there is some level of uncertainty as to which is best. And having a larger number of opinions then becomes something valuable for them to chew on.

For example if 3 more people come forward and say 'get just 4GB ram, it's enough'. Then that's going to look like you were right all along. If 3 more people come along and say 'get 8gb'. Then not so much, is it?

It's just my personal opinion and I can't speak for anybody else. And neither can you. That's entirely the whole point and basis of these forums / discussion.

Furthermore you then also say that my advice is irresponsible. My advice is partly based on the fact that DDR3 prices have fallen recently. Which means that its now a better time to buy that kind of RAM than at other times.

So I so fail to see how my advice is in any way irresponsible. But especially when the suggested price difference between those 2 upgrade options costs approx. 10% of the user's total stated budget. :D

dreamcat4 said:
've spoken to enough other people over time who all struggle around this limit and agree that 4GB isn't enough for them.
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I merely was also trying to convey how I'm not really so alone in holding this specific view / opinion. ;)

To clarify:

I also have 4GB myself ram. This system. And also for a long time on another previous system, which broke a couple of months back. It's not something I 'just made up because I felt like arguing with you'. I've been using these 4GB systems for a long time. Both Core2Duo BTW. And I know I can't possibly recount the number of times memory has gone short and the system has let me down. It has been such a common occurrence.
 
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It's worth considering with Outlook open and some fairly large Excel spreadsheets you can easily hit the 4GB wall.

Having said that...All the PC's we spec for customers are equipped with 4GB and apart from a few individuals (CAD users mainly) we never need to increase it.

I find Windows 10/8.1 (Update 1) a little easier on the RAM too. Windows 7 tends to use the most.
 
dreamcat4 said:
... so I guess that you don't believe that *your* advice comes under that same criteria then?
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No. Clearly I have tested and put up results where-as you have not.

dreamcat4 said:
Not that I believe what you are saying is actually any kind of a general consensus amongst people these days. Although it certainly was previously (some few years ago). Yet at the very least having 2 people with different views shows there is some level of uncertainty as to which is best. And having a larger number of opinions then becomes something valuable for them to chew on. For example if 3 more people come forward and say 'get just 4GB ram, it's enough'. Then that's going to look like you were right all along. If 3 more people come along and say 'get 8gb'. Then not so much, is it?
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Only when these opinions are based in fact and reality. Having a few people with ill-informed opinions doesn't make a statement any more true.



dreamcat4 said:
It's just my personal opinion and I can't speak for anybody else. And neither can you. That's entirely the whole point and basis of these forums / discussion.
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Again - I'll take empirical evidence over your opinion thanks.

dreamcat4 said:
Furthermore you then also say that my advice is irresponsible. My advice is partly based on the fact that DDR3 prices have fallen recently. Which means that its now a better time to buy that kind of RAM than at other times.

So I so fail to see how my advice is in any way irresponsible. But especially when the suggested price difference between those 2 upgrade options costs approx. 10% of the user's total stated budget. :D
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It absolutely is irresponsible - it is not your money is it? When the budget is high enough then the efficacy of more ram really doesn't matter as much. When the budget is £300 then it matters more.



dreamcat4 said:
I merely was also trying to convey how I'm not really so alone in holding this specific view / opinion. ;)

To clarify:

I also have 4GB myself ram. This system. And also for a long time on another previous system, which broke a couple of months back. It's not something I 'just made up because I felt like arguing with you'. I've been using these 4GB systems for a long time. Both Core2Duo BTW. And I know I can't possibly recount the number of times memory has gone short and the system has let me down. It has been such a common occurrence.
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Again I'll reiterate - I have 5 computers of varying specs in my house, from an i7 monster to a Haswell Pentium. None of these uses more than 3gb of ram on day to day stuff, no matter how many browser windows or Word documents I have open. Justifying your argument for 8gb of RAM for a £300 basic home computer by saying 'well it's my opinion' really isn't good enough when it isn't your money. Have a bit more respect for the people asking for help and justify your position with facts rather than opinion. I also fail to believe your 4gb Core2Duo (which I've recently upgraded from by the way) slows to a crawl on day to day tasks with 4gb. Utter nonsense. I had no such trouble.

I fear this has turned into a bit of a debate and has de-railed the thread somewhat so I'm out of this now out of respect for the OP.

[edit] Just for the sake of helping support my point here's another screenshot. I have 7 flash-heavy browser windows open, Sony Vegas editing suite running, a 10gb MKV playing, 2 large excel spreadsheets, 2 large Word documents, 3 very large Powerpoint files open plus all my programs running in the background (Plex etc) and guess what? Still only 3.5gb used. All on Windows 7 64bit which has been pointed out is not great at memory management.[/edit]

wCLlbaz.png
 
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No need to argue but tbf 4gb is plenty for an office system.

I have just replaced a 120+ computers in my office and some people here like to keep half a dozen spreadsheets open and a ton of chrome tabs and still have plenty of memory to spare.

If any of the PCs in my company started running out of RAM i would either check their usage to make sure they are not doing anything they shouldn't be or check to see if something is wrong with the PC.

The spec ExRayTed has listed is pretty much what most people in my company use now, except with the case being a fairly discrete one so as to save space. I very much doubt your parents will even use the PC as intensively as some of the people here (who leave chrome windows open for weeks in case they need to find the page again -.-).
 
With regards to the argument. The more RAM you give windows the more it'll take. I mean this is a work laptop (running just excel, chrome, notepad, AD). Yet with 16gb its somehow using over 7gb. Its work laptop so I didn't spec it. somehow HP GPS is using 1.2gb but that'll be a dodgy build.

The only reason I may look at 8gb myself if i was doing a build now is the price. I remember when I still had DDR2 and DDR3 was mainstream. It was just too expensive. But thats when DDR1, DDR2, DDR3 all came close together. I can't see that being the same problem with DDR3 but its one of those things you wish you had a crystal ball for.

So you both have valid points.

Back on topic. Would something like this be of interest? it'll cost more once you add it all up but its small.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-015-IN&groupid=43&catid=2476
 
^
Have a few of those low power usage broadwells in the office too. They a great little things and will run all the standard stuff.

If you want to know anything about them i can give a small insight from my experience.

I have used those sort of things to replace the 'till PCs' in all our shops of which the shop staff also use to open excel/word/e-mails and do all the internet browsing stuff they are not suppose to be doing.
 
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