building some office desktops

darego

back again lads!

i need to build 2 office pcs over the next few weeks so i need a hand picking the parts etc general office pcs this time although i want to stick a cheap gpu in them because i wouldnt mind having a game or 2 on them when i get time

they'll be mostly used for general office work and skyping etc with a bit of web design on 1 of them so nothing fancy please. as cheap as possible! will also need cheap monitors for them also nothing fancy needed

hardwareversand builds will do fine unless somewhere else is cheaper. i can order the monitors elsewhere if theres nice cheap screens anywhere else. i'll sort the OS out myself

cheers

Serephucus

Haven't looked at HWVS, but this build is very similar to what I'll be basing a server on.

Item|Price
Total build cost: €432.66 (inc delivery Free!)
Corsair 430 Watt CX430 V2 Builder Series 80 Plus Power Supply|€39.84
Intel Core i3-2105 3.1GHz LGA1155 3MB|€123.48
ASRock S1155 Intel H61M DDR3 mATX|€49.19
XIGMATEK Asgard Chassis|€32.52
Kingston 4GB HyperX Genesis DDR3 1600MHz DIMM 240-pin CL9|€23.88
Samsung 22x DVD-RW SATA Black|€16.16
OCZ Technology 60GB Vertex Plus Series SATA 3Gb/s 2.5" Solid State Drive|€69.32
HannsG HL195ABB 19" Widescreen 1366 x 768 5MS VGA Monitor|€78.27


Uses the i3 2105, which uses HD3000 graphics, so they'll play Valve games fine as-is. It'll also actually be pretty snappy, as I threw in an SSD (figuring that office crap won't take up much space, and the only HDDs around the same price were 160GB laptop drives)

The following is a cheap-as-possible build, with the first being (IMO) better value for money.

Item|Price
Total build cost: €295.14 (inc delivery Free!)
ASRock S1155 Intel H61M DDR3 mATX|€49.19
Kingston 4GB HyperX Genesis DDR3 1600MHz DIMM 240-pin CL9|€23.88
Samsung 22x DVD-RW SATA Black|€16.16
HannsG HL195ABB 19" Widescreen 1366 x 768 5MS VGA Monitor|€78.27
Intel Celeron G530 2.4GHz LGA1155 2MB|€42.66
Best Value 723 Midi-Tower with HD Audio + 500W PSU|€25.91
Samsung SpinPoint M5 2.5" 160GB 5400RPM 8MB Cache|€59.07

darego

cheers mate, exactly what i was looking for

deconduo

Item|Price
Total build cost: €666.20 + €30 shipping
2 x Intel Celeron G530 Box, LGA1155|€36.81
2 x ASRock H61M-HVS (B3), Sockel 1155, mATX|€41.81
2 x 4GB Kingston ValueRAM PC3-10667U CL9|€16.31
2 x Samsung SpinPoint F4 320GB, SATA II (HD322GJ)|€66.00
2 x Xigmatek Asgard, ATX, ohne Netzteil, schwarz|€31.61
2 x Antec BasiQ VP350|€33.77
2 x Samsung SH-222AB bare schwarz SATA|€16.01
2 x BenQ GL950AM|€90.78


Change the CPU to these if you want a bit more power:
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=41221&agid=1617

Add this GPU for a bit of gaming:
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=49395&agid=1004

Monotype

I think the SSD is a good idea. If it's really only a few office programs and web design, you won't need much space... I suppose it depends on what you mean by "a game or two". You could probably do with central backup.

Paired with the celeron, you'd have fast, cheap office PCs.

darego

cheers

would the Intel Celeron G530 run any games? thinking about going for Serephucus 2nd cheap build and maybe taking the ssd over the hard drive

Monotype

It's not a bad processor (dual core) and would handle most games when paired with a good graphics card at the lower resolutions. I'd say it could even tackle the source engine games alone with its integrated graphics. It really depends on what games you're after though as some demand more than two cores.

I'd avoid using a PSU that comes with a €25 case regardless of what you plan to use it for.

Serephucus

Building on deconduo's build:

Item|Price
Total build cost: €339.84 + €30 shipping
Intel Celeron G530 Box, LGA1155|€36.81
ASRock H61M-HVS (B3), Sockel 1155, mATX|€41.81
be quiet! Pure Power 350 Watt / BQT L7|€37.08
BitFenix Merc Alpha|€31.78
OCZ Vertex Plus 60GB SSD SATA 6,4cm (2,5")|€64.04
Samsung SH-222AB bare schwarz SATA|€16.01
BenQ GL950AM|€90.78
4GB-Kit GEIL Black Dragon PC3-8500 DDR3-1066 CL7|€21.53


Honestly, I'd be a bit hesitant to recommend you that cheap-as-possible build. That PSU is just a bit to cheap, and swapping it out with an even half-decent one, drives the price up to be slightly more than HWVS. The one above is basically deconduo's with an SSD (I changed the PSU because it's - likely - more quiet than the Antec unit, and in that build, it's pretty much the only thing that makes noise).

deconduo

Serephucus wrote: »

Building on deconduo's build:
Honestly, I'd be a bit hesitant to recommend you that cheap-as-possible build. That PSU is just a bit to cheap, and swapping it out with an even half-decent one, drives the price up to be slightly more than HWVS. The one above is basically deconduo's with an SSD (I changed the PSU because it's - likely - more quiet than the Antec unit, and in that build, it's pretty much the only thing that makes noise).

The VP350 is a really good unit for its price, and fairly quiet as well. Have a read of the review here:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Antec/VP350P/1.html

Overall the small Antec performed admirably well regarding voltage regulation with balanced loads. Also it had no trouble at all delivering full power with high operating temperatures, something that probably would have heavily damaged other, similar priced, PSUs. Finally the unit's fan didn't produce much noise even at full load.

Serephucus

That review doesn't really say a whole lot barring the one token sentence. For the sake of €5, if it were me, I'd go with the unit from the company that has a history of very quiet (and good) PSUs. That's just my silent-freak talking though. :P

Jonny7

What kinda games you thinking of running?

The best budget card for around 50 euros is the ATI 5670, that'll actually handle most modern games, starcraft 2, call of duty, etc on medium settings.

Hayte

Serephucus wrote: »

Honestly, I'd be a bit hesitant to recommend you that cheap-as-possible build. That PSU is just a bit to cheap, and swapping it out with an even half-decent one, drives the price up to be slightly more than HWVS.

Aye. I mean I understand the desire to save money where possible but you can get a Basiq 430 (Delta), Earthwatts 430 (Seasonic) or 430D (Delta) for between 45 and 60 quid. Those things are well built, they are efficient, they come with good warranties. If you want your computers to go the distance, you can make a packed lunch for a week instead of buying dud sandwiches from the SPAR, save yourself 20 quid and buy a proper Delta/Seasonic psu that wont start smoking after 3 years of pressing on them.

deconduo

Hayte wrote: »

Aye. I mean I understand the desire to save money where possible but you can get a Basiq 430 (Delta), Earthwatts 430 (Seasonic) or 430D (Delta) for between 45 and 60 quid. Those things are well built, they are efficient, they come with good warranties. If you want your computers to go the distance, you can make a packed lunch for a week instead of buying dud sandwiches from the SPAR, save yourself 20 quid and buy a proper Delta/Seasonic psu that wont start smoking after 3 years of pressing on them.

The VP350 is a Delta OEM as well.

trad

If you want cheap and cheerful try this guy http://www.adverts.ie/desktops/custom-dual-core-celeron-pc-last-10-200-euro/1194362

I bought one and am delighted with it. Not using it for games though.

Fired it up and no files and no history so it was unused.

Monotype

I think the antec would be okay for this situation where you don't want to spend any more. Vastly better than bottom end ones "free" in a case. The lack of a PCI-E connector is a disadvantage but I suppose a 6670 or something would do anyway. Bequiet have had a couple not-so-good PSUs in the past but that one looks pretty good and keeping 82% efficiency at 60W is nice. On the other hand, the 450W amazon is just a few euro more and would handle bigger upgrades (probably not that useful in this case) and it has sleeved cables!

Edit:

Hayte wrote: »

Earthwatts 430 (Seasonic)

The seasonic earthwatts line finished up a few years ago in favour of Delta ones which were a little lower quality, if I recall correctly.

Edit: There's three 430W earthwatts! Newest one has has improved 12V rail rating, hopefully we'll see some reviews.

darego

trad wrote: »

If you want cheap and cheerful try this guy http://www.adverts.ie/desktops/custom-dual-core-celeron-pc-last-10-200-euro/1194362

I bought one and am delighted with it. Not using it for games though.

Fired it up and no files and no history so it was unused.

just checked that there mate, i'll probably buy one of him tomorrow. would i be able to put a cheap gpu in this for some light gaming?

Monotype

Keep in mind that the 2.4GHz celeron in this won't be up to speed of the one recommended above and the motherboard socket is two generations old.

The motherboard physically supports an additional graphics card. However the onboard graphics will be worse and the PSU is likely to be poor and unsuitable for big upgrades.
http://www.asrock.com/MB/overview.asp?Model=G31M-S

trad

darego:
I don't do gaming so haven't got a clue, but it's a grand pc for the price and it'll do what I want.

darego

if i wanted to multi screen these lads would i need a gpu? or would the mobo have an extra vga slot? it will only be word processing multi screening

Monotype

If you were to buy the new system, you can use the integrated graphics for two monitors.
H61 boards come with various combinations of VGA, DVI and HDMI so make sure that your motherboard has what you want and that your monitors have connectors to match.

darego

cheers mate. last question lads i promise! what's the cheapest gpu i could get to stick in it? all i want is a really low end gpu that would be better than integrated graphics but nothing special all the same.

could i get a cheaper one than this 60 quid one?
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=49395&agid=1004

darego

anyone?

Monotype

I clicked earlier but HWV was down. The 6670 would handle any older games and new games at lower detail levels fine. Did you say company of heroes earlier? That would be fine too; the requirements are fairly low.

darego

cheers mate