Spec Me - office PC

i5aces

i5aces

i5aces

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29 Jan 2012
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679
Location
Andover
So my mother would like to get rid of her 8 year old laptop for a proper PC because the laptop is slow, I want the new PC to be really responsive and snappy so the upgrade feels worth it.
She mainly uses Office, iTunes and the internet, but she has multiple documents and web pages open simultaneously. We do use Team viewer and Skype quite a lot so will be getting 2 monitors.

The problem is I am struggling to spec for office use and feel I am choosing parts I would want/need instead.

So could you please spec me a tower and OS with a budget of around £900
I would like SSD and at least 2Tb of storage
I keep getting drawn to the intel 256gb M.2 but would this be wasted on such a machine.
 
i5aces said:
I keep getting drawn to the intel 256gb M.2 but would this be wasted on such a machine.
Click to expand...

Recently got an MX300 m.2 and it's super, super snappy. I'll spec something in 128GB flavour if that's ok, nice OS boot drive?

Just tower and OS right, no peripherals or monitors?
 
I have seen there quick,
there is more money for monitors and peripherals as i'm not sure if we want 1080 or 1440 and she wants to touch and feel the keyboard and stuff
 
My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £643.99
(includes shipping: £11.10)
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This should do the job and then some. Small, quiet, bit of room to grow. Could add an m.2 if you need it, though for day to day usage you prob wouldn't notice the extra speed.

Motherboard has 2 HDMI out, so that saves you needing to fiddle with adaptors.

Can get fairly cheap windows keys if you go looking to save some from the retail price.
 
USB windows but can be DVD as I've included a DVD-RW and a basic tower case because; mums. Nice pokey m.2 drive with a 3tb hard drive.

CPU is over specced but it gives longevity to the machine (IMO) with plenty of RAM for dem tabs. Motherboard supports three monitors, I've also included a webcam. There's room in the budget for a modular power supply if you also feel the need.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £846.01
(includes shipping: £12.30)
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PS. I have the same m.2 in 525GB flavour and the system feels incredibly responsive.
 
Last edited:
Just like to note that Starshock's system above is fab for the price.

Our two specs offer a nice set of options, one fully specced up to budget with a lot of future proofing, the other one offering saved pennies and a decent upgrade opportunities.

I'd like to say that it may just be the fresh install, but my MX300 m.2 absolutely flies compared to my Sata MX100.
 
Dell UP2516D monitor. Maybe splash out on a 34" 3440x1440? AOC U3477PQU
Quad core APU. The A10 7700K. Something like that.
A88 FM2 board. MATX or ITX if you want a small case?
2x4Gb of half decent RAM
A 960Gb SSD instead of a HDD? Whatever one offer the most Gb for the £
Antec ISK 600 case.
Any 200-300 watt Bronze PSU.
Retail BD ROM drive?
 
Thanks,
they look much more reasonable over what I was choosing. Apart from a few changes were going to use the I5 build.
Hopefully it will be fast enough
 
It will, although I'd go with a good i3 for her use, I doubt she'd be able to tell the difference and it's cheaper.
Id also ditch the 2tb drive unless she really needs the space, and just have a single 250gb SSD.
 
mattyfez said:
It will, although I'd go with a good i3 for her use, I doubt she'd be able to tell the difference and it's cheaper.
Id also ditch the 2tb drive unless she really needs the space, and just have a single 250gb SSD.
Click to expand...

As programs becomes more multi-thread dependant in the future, you may find the i5 offers better long term performance.

Storage is of course completely dependant on your usage.

I would just get the retail windows and be done with it. I bought an OEM and I regret not just getting a USB (Pro) Retail, I think Windows 10 will be relevant for a while.

i5aces said:
Hopefully it will be fast enough
Click to expand...

Both specs will be very nippy, she should be very pleased.
 
i5aces said:
So could you please spec me a tower and OS with a budget of around £900
I would like SSD and at least 2Tb of storage
I keep getting drawn to the intel 256gb M.2 but would this be wasted on such a machine.
Click to expand...

I bought my mother an Intel NUC box for Christmas and she loves it.

Intel NUC NUC6I3SYK Core i3-6100U "Skylake" Barebones Micro PC £208.29
Microsoft Windows 10 32/64-Bit - USB Pen Drive - Retail (KW9-00017) £74.96
Crucial MX300 275GB SSD M2 2280 6Gbps 3D Nand Solid State Drive (CT275MX300SSD4) £66.66
Kingston HyperX Impact Black Series 8GB 2133MHZ DDR4 CL13 SODIMM (Kit of 2) (HX421S13IBK2/8) £32.49

Total order value £458.88

The NUC has a HDMI port and a mini-Displayport port so can run two monitors.
 
i5aces said:
Thanks,
they look much more reasonable over what I was choosing. Apart from a few changes were going to use the I5 build.
Hopefully it will be fast enough
Click to expand...

For what you described, more than powerful enough. Overkill on overkill TBH.

For builds like this it's the monitor and storage that make the most of the system.
 
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