Worth building a pc?

[Clarence Boddicker]

I’ve just tried to help my dad upgrade to win 11 and his cpu isn’t compatible. The pc’s a bit slow now so probably time for a new one anyway.

I thought that I could build one for him so that it’s upgradeable in the future but I’m not sure if it’s worth it or not as a cheap mini pc can probably do everything that he needs it for. He just uses it for general office type stuff, word, spreadsheets etc, banking, music, video and web browsing. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[jms198]

An ex corporate one would be easiest and if cheap enough just get another one in the future. I got my in-laws something a few years ago for not a lot.

You can remove the hardware restrictions from W11 AFAIK.

You're using an SSD?

 

[Clarence Boddicker]

Yes it’s got an ssd.

 

[Zefan]

Worth considering a laptop with a dock if it would be of any benefit to him.

 

[Clarence Boddicker]

Well I’ve mentioned an ex corporate one or a laptop and he’s adamant that he wants a desktop and something new, so I think I’ll build one for him.

I’ve put this list together but am unsure which motherboard to go with, just wondering if any one has any suggestions? I’m also open to a different cpu, I just went with intel as I’ve recently built an intel pc so it’s familiar, but would be happy to go with and.



My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AeroCool Trinity V2 Mini Tower PC Case - Black (SKU: CA-23J-AE) = £41.99
• 1 x Intel Core i5-12400 2.50GHz (Alder Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-6AL-IN) = £139.99
• 1 x Thermalright Assassin Spirit 120 Evo Dark CPU Cooler - 120 mm (SKU: COO-TLR-02667) = £19.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK16GX4M2B3200C16) (SKU: MY-456-CS) = £35.99
• 1 x be quiet! SFX-L Power 500W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-139-BQ) = £89.99
• 1 x Crucial P3 2TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 3.0 NVMe Solid State Drive (SKU: HD-078-CR) = £131.99

Total: £467.93 (includes delivery: £7.99)​

 

[mickyflinn]

12400 is decent enough you want a matx b760 motherboard with that case do you need WiFi ?

Gigabyte B760M DS3H AX DDR4 (LGA 1700) DDR4 Micro-ATX Motherboard

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Personally up the memory to 32gb it's cheap enough and won't have yo worry about it again.

Team Group Vulcan Z T-Force 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey

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Don't need such an expensive m2 this is a solid option bl.

WD Black SN770 2TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS200T3X0E)

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PSU as standard atx goes in that case up to 159mm your choice is a little expensive for a budget build.

 

[Clarence Boddicker]

Thanks Micky, I’ll go with your suggestions and I’ll have a look for a cheaper psu.

 

[Sparx]

I take it his current rig is old / not upgrade able?

 

[mickyflinn]

Thanks Micky, I’ll go with your suggestions and I’ll have a look for a cheaper psu.

Your welcome.

Mite want to watch this video about that case so your happy with it.

 

[SpellowHouse]

I’ve just tried to help my dad upgrade to win 11 and his cpu isn’t compatible. The pc’s a bit slow now so probably time for a new one anyway.

I thought that I could build one for him so that it’s upgradeable in the future but I’m not sure if it’s worth it or not as a cheap mini pc can probably do everything that he needs it for. He just uses it for general office type stuff, word, spreadsheets etc, banking, music, video and web browsing. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

I think a lot comes down to your ability to precisely spec what he needs. Having built it yourself, you can then support it, changing out components as necessary.

However, the downside is that if something goes wrong, then it can be difficult and expensive to sort out what. Often the only thing you can do is randomly swap out components until you find out what the problem is, and if you don't have any spare components to swap then you can see the problem.

 

[Clarence Boddicker]

I take it his current rig is old / not upgrade able?

No its just a cheap acer from pc world.

 

[Clarence Boddicker]

Your welcome.

Mite want to watch this video about that case so your happy with it.

Yeah to be honest, I’m a bit unsure about it. I’m going to have a look around for something else around that sort of size. How many case fans would you recommend, do you think just an exhaust will be enough or will it need an intake as well?

 

[mickyflinn]

Yeah to be honest, I’m a bit unsure about it. I’m going to have a look around for something else around that sort of size. How many case fans would you recommend, do you think just an exhaust will be enough or will it need an intake as well?

It's about the smallest matx case it's just the fans really could change them with some arctics .

Airflow ideally 2 in but one in one out is ok preferable but there's no GPU so an exhaust could do it.

Have you looked at intel nuc and minis pc ?

 

[Fluffybob]

Maybe you should consider the SFF offerings from HP/Lenovo etc? You can get monitor mountable units for around 300 squids and save on desk space too.

 

[Clarence Boddicker]

It's about the smallest matx case it's just the fans really could change them with some arctics .

Airflow ideally 2 in but one in one out is ok preferable but there's no GPU so an exhaust could do it.

Have you looked at intel nuc and minis pc ?

I did consider mini pc’s but I think I’m just going to build him this one instead.

I might go with this case instead, it’s a bit bigger but at least it comes with pwm fans.

Kolink Stronghold M Micro-ATX Case - Black Window

Order Kolink Stronghold M Micro-ATX Case - Black Window now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk

 

[mickyflinn]

I did consider mini pc’s but I think I’m just going to build him this one instead.

I might go with this case instead, it’s a bit bigger but at least it comes with pwm fans.

Kolink Stronghold M Micro-ATX Case - Black Window

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www.overclockers.co.uk

I like that case I've recommended it before.

PSU

be quiet! SYSTEM POWER 10 550W

 

[Clarence Boddicker]

Don't need such an expensive m2 this is a solid option bl.

WD Black SN770 2TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS200T3X0E)

Order WD Black SN770 2TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS200T3X0E) now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk

Thinking about it, Im going to put the os on a 1tb sn770 and get him a seperate 1tb ssd for a d: drive. Would you recommend getting a second sn770 for the d: drive or something different?

 

[mickyflinn]

Thinking about it, Im going to put the os on a 1tb sn770 and get him a seperate 1tb ssd for a d: drive. Would you recommend getting a second sn770 for the d: drive or something different?

Doesn't really matter he's never going to take advantage of the speed for his use unless he suddenly gets the urge for gaming and then still a sata SSD is fast enough.


Just price it up and see if worth saving a few quid compared to others but there good drives.

 

[ED209]

Thinking about it, Im going to put the os on a 1tb sn770 and get him a seperate 1tb ssd for a d: drive. Would you recommend getting a second sn770 for the d: drive or something different?

This is what I do with my PC.

1TB Samsung 970 Evo, 150GB Windows and the rest as a games partition