Help me build a 350 dollar pc

[jveneziano]

Hey guys I have been asked by a friend to build him a pc in this price bracket. He is going to be using this to just go on the internet, YouTube vids, word processing and just general computer stuff no gaming. He just wants it to be pretty fast and snappy. I have build a few high end gaming pc's but nothing with AMD. I'm just looking for some suggestions on hardware that will get me in this bracket.

 

[Itachiii]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2C7YhM

This would do the job. OS not included though.

 

[Cezar]

Memory has super fast timings, but the drive is 5400RPM. Will it work productively together?

 

[Cezar]

I think more ram is better.

 

[Itachiii]

Memory has super fast timings, but the drive is 5400RPM. Will it work productively together?

Haven't seen anywhere memory freq/timings being bottlenecked by the HDD's RPM. The system 'lag' is due to HDD being slow, not the cooperation of HDD-RAM. The only situation where RAM and HDD are interacting is when you use 100% of your memory and it has to write data on the HDD. So yes, they will be just fine together. It's just that in a 350$ pc, you can't afford a SSD, obviously.

More ram for his use would be a waste.. He just wanna surf the net and use Word. I don't see the need for more ram.

 

[Cezar]

I think 8gb is must have. I can experience lags with 4gb when I am browsing from my laptop. I have usually 20+ tabs, so if the person likes having many tabs at once I would suggest 8GB of ram. And when I reach this limit of around 20 tabs, I have to close half of them.

These sticks have timing 10 10 10 30 and work at 1866

Edited.

And if the difference in productivity between green and blue wd drives is substantial, it is better to switch to blue. They are several dollars more expensive.

 

[jveneziano]

Thank you guys I wasn't sure if I needed to go with one of AMD's quadcore processors to have a snappy system or if the dual core would be fine. And for the ram on some desktops that I have worked on with 4gb windows never really uses more then 2-3 I have noticed when doing regular computer tasks. So I don't know if 8 is overkill or will cause a laggy system. And he is a real good friend so I have a spare 128gb samsung pro I'm going to be installing for him as a boot drive.

 

[Itachiii]

Thank you guys I wasn't sure if I needed to go with one of AMD's quadcore processors to have a snappy system or if the dual core would be fine. And for the ram on some desktops that I have worked on with 4gb windows never really uses more then 2-3 I have noticed when doing regular computer tasks. So I don't know if 8 is overkill or will cause a laggy system. And he is a real good friend so I have a spare 128gb samsung pro I'm going to be installing for him as a boot drive.

Pretty fine then! I'm currently on Transcend 3gb RAM 1333MHz and I have absolutely no lag doing normal stuff, I browse and work on photoshop as well on dual monitors. 8gb for that system is an overkill and I went with 1600MHz just to give it a smoother experience since I assumed he wouldn't be using a SSD. 8gb is a must on gaming machines, no need for an office pc though.

 

[bob4933]

My htpc runs 4gb of ram for browsing and daily activities just fine. Clean install of OS and smart/responsible browsing is imperative to keeping your system clean and running well.


What I would say, get a single 4gb stick of ram. If he wishes to add another 4gb, he can simply get another stick instead of replacing everything.

 

[Cezar]

Sorry, I gave link for so-dimm those are for laptops.

 

[caddi daddi]

when some one wants a cheap 27/7 web surfer, not much of a rig, I get the a refurb hp from microcenter, $160 add monitor, mouse and keyboard and they are ready to go.

 

[bob4933]

when some one wants a cheap 27/7 web surfer, not much of a rig, I get the a refurb hp from microcenter, $160 add monitor, mouse and keyboard and they are ready to go.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...1287&cm_re=refurbished-_-83-281-287-_-Product


had a laugh xD

"3.5 Floppy Disk Drive for Dinosaurs"


Heres a decent one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...0630&cm_re=refurbished-_-83-280-630-_-Product



And some options going up in price

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...6868&cm_re=refurbished-_-83-266-868-_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_re=refurbished-_-9SIA4GH1J73920-_-Product

 

[Theocnoob]

For $350 you will NEVER build something with the same bang for the buck as an OEM system. A Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc will give you better value for your dollar, and will include tech support and a copy of Windows. And probably a keybo/mouse too.

Building your own doesn't become lucrative until you hit a little over 500 bucks before Windows.

 

[Cezar]

Just a reminder for buyer, refurbished parts have 90 days warranty.

 

[jveneziano]

Thanks for all the help guys I don't think he wants to go refurbished at this time. So this is the list that I came up with let me know what you guys think, I think it should be a pretty snappy system.

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/partlist/

 

[Theocnoob]

Thanks for all the help guys I don't think he wants to go refurbished at this time. So this is the list that I came up with let me know what you guys think, I think it should be a pretty snappy system.

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/partlist/

That's an awesome build. Don't forget the CPU cooler. Can't really overclock on the stock one.
You'll want an ALC/AIO liquid cooler with that tall RAM, as most large air heatsinks will interfere with it. I really like that RAM though it performs very well for the price. I recommend it a lot. Nobody's had issues. A lot of other people on the forum recommend Team Xtreem too.
Can I just ask you though how we went from a budget of $350 to $1467.68? Seems like a pretty big leap at 4X ++ the original budget.
Did I miss something?

 

[jveneziano]

I know the processor is capable of overclocking but I am pretty sure I wont need to for what he will be doing with it. Is the stock AMD cooler good for that processor at stock clock speeds?

 

[bob4933]

Thanks for all the help guys I don't think he wants to go refurbished at this time. So this is the list that I came up with let me know what you guys think, I think it should be a pretty snappy system.

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/partlist/

350, give or take a thousand, what is this?

That said, considering thats my build, I am confused a bit... did you copy/paste the wrong link? (even has the mistaken z87 board on there as well haha)

 

[jveneziano]

sorry I think I posted it wrong

correct link is http://pcpartpicker.com/p/tBTJP6

total should be 354

 

[jveneziano]

also I am not totally set on that motherboard if you guys have a better suggestion let me know