Build me a PC good enough for the next 3yrs for under $600

[syndicate1]

I need a general family PC built that will be used to check emails, burn dvds, write docs, play the odd game and stream stuff over the network.

Again....budget is under $600

I already have ms office 2007 and windows 7 ultimate 64bit

thx

 

[Ilya]

$600 US or Canadian?
What exactly are you looking for? Desktop or laptop? What size of screen? Any brand preference? Do you want to build it yourself or are you going to purchase? On-line or at a local store?

 

[Ilya]

There are a lot of "Back-to-School" deals under $600. It all depends on what you need.
For example, here are a couple of choices in laptops:

Sony - VAIO Laptop
$579 at Best Buy
Model: VPCEE22FX/WI | SKU: 1148554
AMD Turion™ II Processor 2.3GHz
15.5" Display 1366 x 768
4GB DDR3 RAM, expandable to 8GB
320GB Hard Drive

Dell Inspiron 15R
$599 Direct from Dell
Intel Core i3-350M 2.26Gh
15.5" Display (720p)
4GB DDR3 RAM, expandable to 8GB
500GB Hard Drive

 

[avg1joe]

email, burn, stream, write? A pentium 4, xp era computer can do all that. If you can't find one for free, you are not trying hard enough.

What are the system requirements of the games you are playing or want to play in the future? That is going to determine what hardware you need more than the other things you are doing.

Flash Player 10 hardware decoding was supported by certain newer video cards but I can't find the list of supported hardware at the moment. If you stream a lot of tv or movies in flash format you might look into that.

To compare processors try this page:
PassMark - CPU Benchmarks - List of Benchmarked CPUs

 

[diogen]

Build me a PC good enough for the next 3yrs for under $600

Does this include a monitor? Look here in the microATX section
Guide to Building a HD HTPC - Page 472 - AVS Forum

Diogen.

 

[avg1joe]

Who is playing the games? You or the kids? How old are they? Do you have a functioning computer now? Are the other family members 13 or 27 and are they less careful on the internet than you or more tech savvy than you?

Let's say you have a teenager in the house, that you are the one who plays some heavy duty games and that you are posting these messages on your office computer because your home computer just died. In this scenario you want to take that $600 and get the teen an older mac for $100-$150 and spend the rest on a rig for you to play games on. Then you setup parental control software on the kids rig and lock them out of yours. If the rest of the family screws up their computer, you are still gaming and can just do a reinstall on theirs.

In my experience you can explain until you are blue in the face what you should and shouldn't do on the internet to your kids and spouse. They smile and nod. Having their computer down for a week or so while you are still computing brings the lessons home. Of course if your wife is the one who breaks the other computer, let her use yours while you are fixing it. Know how to choose your battles.

Two computers are better than one. Remember parental control software.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

$600 US or Canadian?
What exactly are you looking for? Desktop or laptop? What size of screen? Any brand preference? Do you want to build it yourself or are you going to purchase? On-line or at a local store?

When I checked the exchange rate the other day, the US and CAN dollar were almost the same.


I am sure you can buy a decent machine for less than $600, and have the benefit of a warranty, whereas I bet you will spend pretty much the same amount buying components.

Yet, the real thing that struck me by the OPs post was the 3 year thing. I barely last three years on any computer these days; and I would be shocked if one that you were using for family usage (particularly if tweens or teens are involved) would last three years.

 

[harshness]

email, burn, stream, write? A pentium 4, xp era computer can do all that.

If said computer is running XP, yes. If it must run Windows 7 with a number of service packs, it has to have a lot more oomph. Just the security software for a modern XP machine begs for 1GB of RAM or greater.

 

[DodgerKing]

When I checked the exchange rate the other day, the US and CAN dollar were almost the same.


I am sure you can buy a decent machine for less than $600, and have the benefit of a warranty, whereas I bet you will spend pretty much the same amount buying components.

Yet, the real thing that struck me by the OPs post was the 3 year thing. I barely last three years on any computer these days; and I would be shocked if one that you were using for family usage (particularly if tweens or teens are involved) would last three years.

Which is why it is better to build your own. It is much easier to upgrade and update all of the parts as time goes on.

I built my own PC about 6 years ago and still using it. I have since updated the graphics card a couple of times, processor, memory several times, and harddrive. I have since maxed out what it can do on the current mother board. My next part will be a new mother board. By buying parts and upgrading one part at a time, as needed, I have been able to make this PC keep up with the latest technology without having to fork over hundreds of dollars to buy a new computer.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Which is why it is better to build your own. It is much easier to upgrade and update all of the parts as time goes on.

I built my own PC about 6 years ago and still using it. I have since updated the graphics card a couple of times, processor, memory several times, and harddrive. I have since maxed out what it can do on the current mother board. My next part will be a new mother board. By buying parts and upgrading one part at a time, as needed, I have been able to make this PC keep up with the latest technology without having to fork over hundreds of dollars to buy a new computer.

I used to build all of my machines, but have found int he last five years that it is much cheaper and easier to just buy a whole machine. The upgrade path is ok, but I am not convinced its a better deal in the current environment. Of course if you do it because you enjoy it, that is entirely different.

 

[Ronnie-]

I am curious if those that build their own, upgrading a piece at a time, keep up with a running tab and compare that to buying a new one when a total upgrade time comes along. The price difference can not be that great I would not think.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

I am curious if those that build their own, upgrading a piece at a time, keep up with a running tab and compare that to buying a new one when a total upgrade time comes along. The price difference can not be that great I would not think.

MY thought as well.

 

[DodgerKing]

I am curious if those that build their own, upgrading a piece at a time, keep up with a running tab and compare that to buying a new one when a total upgrade time comes along. The price difference can not be that great I would not think.

Probably no cheaper, but I don't have to fork over $500+ at one time. I spend a few bucks here and later a few more bucks.

 

[diogen]

To build or to buy is very personal.

Desktops I always build, did so for the last 10+ years.
Although upgradability is overrated, having each part the right one is worth the trouble.
And if it costs $800 or so (today), it is cheaper to build.

Diogen.

 

[syndicate1]

Thanks guys....

To answer a few questions asked here so far:

$500 Canadian or slightly over.

I am talking about a desktop in the basement for everyone's use

I have a widescreen monitor, mouse, keyboard already

The kids will play the games, they are under 14yrs old but not into heavy gaming

 

[lsilvest]

I am curious if those that build their own, upgrading a piece at a time, keep up with a running tab and compare that to buying a new one when a total upgrade time comes along. The price difference can not be that great I would not think.

For quite a while in recent years it was no more economical to build than to buy. Recently, I was checking prices for a friend, and found that I could save him quite a bit by building as I was surprised at just how much higher prices are now than in previous years.

Even if the cost is the same building has a number of advantages:
1. Better parts for comparable price
2. Design specific for user's needs
3. Better warranties - usually a year on bought units, 3yrs on mobos and psu, 3 to 5 years on video cards, 3 to 5 years on drives.
4. Much better features available - especially for connections.
5. Not locked into proprietary bios
6. Operating system not tied to specific machine.
7. Upgrading much easier.

I do my upgrades by watching for extreme bargains by subscribing to newsletters and ads from retailers. I get a lot of software free and hardware at great prices. My system gets upgraded constantly at very low prices. I then use the old parts for another system that I can sell or give to a family member or friend.

Almost forgot the biggest reason to build: Self-satisfaction and feeling of accomplishment.

 

[diogen]

For quite a while in recent years it was no more economical to build than to buy.

Depends on the price point, between $500 or $5,000...
There was always a price point starting at which it was cost effective to build.
And by cost effective I mean labour costs being zero...

Diogen.

 

[harshness]

The kids will play the games, they are under 14yrs old but not into heavy gaming

This is likely to change radically in the ensuing three years.

 

[mdram]

im no pc genius but i would make this suggestion
get an amd based system with an am3 socket, 4 slots ddr3(2x2gb), full size mobo
put the min cpu in you think you need, and try onboard graphics

get a decent psu(650w+) and case for future expansion

you can easily add more ram, stronger cpu, and graphics

 

[JimK2]

You can sometimes find good deals on refurbished Dell PC's at "Dell Outlet"
http://www.dell.com/content/default.aspx?c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh&~ck=mn

GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2 Socket 1156/ Intel P55/ DDR3/ - eBay (item 270589313622 end time Sep-03-10 01:11:07 PDT) $102
Intel Core i7 I7-860 2.8 GHz Processor BX80605I7860 - eBay (item 270625118532 end time Sep-20-10 12:17:08 PDT) $270
G.Skill Ripjaws 4GB (2x 2GB) DDR3-1600 PC3-12800 Ripjaw - eBay (item 140444255461 end time Aug-30-10 11:51:46 PDT) $90
XFX ATI Radeon HD 5770 1 GB - eBay (item 300456980561 end time Sep-17-10 01:42:50 PDT) $145
Western Digital SATA 500GB 7200RPM Desktop Hard Drive - eBay (item 120611343505 end time Sep-18-10 14:09:55 PDT) $40
New OCZ GameXStream ATX12V v2.2 EPS12V 850W SLI PSU - eBay (item 160470459307 end time Sep-17-10 22:53:51 PDT) $85
INTERNAL SATA CD/DVD±R±RW DVDRW PC BURNER DRIVE WRITER - eBay (item 170505789379 end time Aug-26-10 01:13:46 PDT) $27.83
New ATX Mid-Tower Desktop Computer Case (slight defect) - eBay (item 220600493000 end time Sep-01-10 17:41:01 PDT) $28
TOTAL $787.83

GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2 Socket 1156/ Intel P55/ DDR3/ - eBay (item 270589313622 end time Sep-03-10 01:11:07 PDT) $102
NIB Intel Core i7 860 2.8GHz Quad Core Processor - eBay (item 250685985950 end time Aug-24-10 09:45:22 PDT) $190-$220 (Don't over bid and you will get a good price)
G.Skill Ripjaws 4GB (2x 2GB) DDR3-1600 PC3-12800 Ripjaw - eBay (item 140444255461 end time Aug-30-10 11:51:46 PDT) $90
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD4350 HD 4350 1GB DDR2 HDMI PCI-E - eBay (item 200509990152 end time Sep-17-10 22:13:55 PDT) $55.99
500GB 3.5" Seagate SATA 7200 Barracuda - eBay (item 140444430896 end time Aug-30-10 21:20:21 PDT) $30
New OCZ 600W OCZ600MXSP ATX12V V2.2 /EPS12V Modular PSU - eBay (item 190433079254 end time Sep-18-10 07:50:28 PDT) $68
INTERNAL SATA CD/DVD±R±RW DVDRW PC BURNER DRIVE WRITER - eBay (item 170505789379 end time Aug-26-10 01:13:46 PDT) $27.83
New ATX Mid-Tower Desktop Computer Case (slight defect) - eBay (item 220600493000 end time Sep-01-10 17:41:01 PDT) $28
TOTAL $621.82

NEW!!! GIGABYTE GA-H55M-S2H Socket 1156/ Intel H55 - eBay (item 380244045004 end time Sep-16-10 12:59:41 PDT) $86.75
Intel Core i5 I5-750 2.66 GHz Processor 1156 - eBay (item 220656819417 end time Sep-18-10 00:33:01 PDT) $176
G.Skill Ripjaws 4GB (2x 2GB) DDR3-1600 PC3-12800 Ripjaw - eBay (item 140444255461 end time Aug-30-10 11:51:46 PDT) $90
500GB 3.5" Seagate SATA 7200 Barracuda - eBay (item 140444430896 end time Aug-30-10 21:20:21 PDT) $30
INTERNAL SATA CD/DVD±R±RW DVDRW PC BURNER DRIVE WRITER - eBay (item 170505789379 end time Aug-26-10 01:13:46 PDT) $27.83
NEW OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ500MXSP 500W SLI 80 PLUS PSU - eBay (item 120611457059 end time Sep-18-10 23:18:46 PDT) $49.87
Antec ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - eBay (item 190433597650 end time Aug-27-10 12:53:48 PDT) $22.51
TOTAL $482.96

Windows 7 upgrade ~$100 (You only need the upgrade version)
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit OS Upgrade from Win XP - eBay (item 130422206112 end time Aug-24-10 22:17:40 PDT)

Windows 7 upgrade $29 (You need to order from an .edu email address)
Buy Cheap Windows 7 for Students at $29.99 via Win741 Ultimate Steal Offer » My Digital Life

I found a new Antec Three Hundred pc case on Craigslist for $20 and was only 20 miles away. Fry's sometimes have killer deals on motherboard and cpu combo's
Fry's Electronics Ad

Youtube has lots of instruction videos on building PC's
YouTube - Building a Core i5 Gaming PC