basic build or buy?

DeadMetal17

DeadMetal17

DeadMetal17

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Joined
9 Jun 2010
Posts
259
Location
Aberdeenshire
My sister n law has just gone through her 4th laptop in 3 years (she never even takes them out the house lol) so i stupidly told her shed be better off getting a desktop pc as she only uses it for some office work/web browsing & tbh mostly binging netflix/disney+ etc. so she now asked me to build her a computer but tbh for all she needs from it im wondering if id just be better off finding something prebuilt (atleast then she can use the warrenty instead of me if something goes wrong xD), anyway id love some feedback/reccomendations :D

Budget around £400 (no monitor or peripherals needed)
 
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What has she done to these 4 laptops? Maybe then you'll get more help, angry punching of screen, drink and pouring wine on them?

Skipping that, just get a cheap 1L micro system from eBay, and vesa mount it to the monitor of your choice. £200 total spend, and you are not creating yet more e-waste.
 
I assume you're asking for help on the build, I'd personally look into the used market. The cheapest prebuilt on OCUK is about ~£620.

Otherwise you could try something like this:
My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £403.90

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In your position though, I'd probably just get her a chrome book, PC hardware is too expensive at the moment to make new custom builds viable. My build above doesn't even include windows, which you'd have to recycle or otherwise acquire to use it (as a windows PC). That said, with the above build there is scope for a significant improvement if you replace the GPU in the future.
 
DeadMetal17 said:
the way she goes through laptops i cant imagine a chromebook being a good idea tho :p
Click to expand...

Given that a chrome book is the lowest point of entry financially it's certainly a better idea than more laptops.
I guess it depends on whether she will actually value the mobility of it, even without taking it out of the house it's some people's thing to want to take it to the dining room, conservatory or bathroom.

In any case unless you plan on going for a hyper low-end build like the above, then the used market will be your friend.
 
Cooler running said:
Total: £403.90​
Click to expand...
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No need to get a separate CPU and graphics card, just get a CPU with integrated graphics. Also no need for 16GB RAM (8GB is fine for office/web/netflix) and can be slower too (2400MHz is fine).

@OP I'd recommend picking up used parts, you could build her a system she'll be very happy with for under £300. Literally as long as it has 8GB of RAM, a solid state drive, and 4 cores, then it's fine. She won't even notice anything more.
 
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