Non-Gaming PC

BarginHunter on 27/08/2013 - 18:12

My old laptop is dying a slow painful death so I have decided to buy a PC, due to them being cheaper then a laptop and easier to upgrade.

Unfortunately I don't know a lot about hardware, so I was hoping someone here could help me price a build. My budget is around $600. I don't really play games but I wouldn't mind something that can play the odd game of FIFA or Need for Speed. I'd also prefer something that can play HD videos.
If it's not possible to get something with a graphics card capable of playing those two games then it can be left out and I'll just upgrade later.

I noticed the budget i5 that cplonline have but I'm not sure if that will suit my needs. https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/114558

Computing

Comments

  • _Bruce_ on 27/08/2013 - 18:51

    My old laptop is dying a slow painful death so I have decided to buy a PC, due to them being cheaper then a laptop and easier to upgrade.

    These days even desktops are almost disposable, cheaper for what you get is pretty much the reason to get a desktop.

    Unfortunately I don't know a lot about hardware, so I was hoping someone here could help me price a build. My budget is around $600.

    Most importantly: Does this include the monitor? If you have a good monitor already, great. If not this is probably the single most important part to spend your money on if you are going to use this computer for any length of time.

    I don't really play games but I wouldn't mind something that can play the odd game of FIFA or Need for Speed

    These aren't particularly demanding games (particularly if you don't need the latest NFS). What detail level you get will be your cost trade off.

    I'd also prefer something that can play HD videos.

    Everything today can do this, no problem.

    If it's not possible to get something with a graphics card capable of playing those two games then it can be left out and I'll just upgrade later.

    This is a reasonable option.

    I noticed the budget i5 that cplonline have but I'm not sure if that will suit my needs.

    This is a nice system, add an SSD and it will be great.

    • BarginHunter on 28/08/2013 - 02:07

      I was hoping to get a second hand monitor from gumtree or something.

      • dreadpiratedan on 29/08/2013 - 10:32

        When I was looking for a monitor brand new was the better option.. all the ones I was finding were old models with a new price tag. There's plenty of good cheap monitors to be had nowadays.

  • plmko on 27/08/2013 - 19:02

    Yes that CPL online PC is good enough for what you need, if you can't be bothered looking for parts. You even have enough to either throw in a SSD or a graphics card.

  • zelda707 on 27/08/2013 - 19:16

    the CPL PC + an SSD would be perfect. Note: you might need windows as well which might add another $100.

    If you keep an eye out on the dell site, you might be able to find something cheap. For $399 i got a basic PC capable of playing fifa and need for speed :)

  • scrimshaw on 27/08/2013 - 19:55

    CPL deal expired now.

  • scotty on 27/08/2013 - 23:02

    My old laptop is dying a slow painful death…

    Sounds like you might want to give re-installing Windows a try. Desktop / laptops bought from the last 3-4 years should still be "fast enough" for general browsing / word processing tasks, so if your laptop is not too old, it might actually be software issue.

    • BarginHunter on 28/08/2013 - 02:06

      It hasn't been that long since my last windows install (maybe a year?) The biggest problem is that programs seem to use way more memory than they should thus slowing down my laptop to unbearable levels.

      • scrimshaw on 28/08/2013 - 04:36

        That sounds like a malware problem.

        • BarginHunter on 28/08/2013 - 16:17

          I've got eset running on here and It hasn't said anything about malware.

        • dreadpiratedan on 29/08/2013 - 10:42

          Upgrading to 8gb ram and a SSD or SSHD. A fresh install over that and it should be a goer! Cheaper than a whole PC thats for sure. <$180 realistically

          SSHD 500gb - $92 http://msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=10593
          SSHD 1tb - $139 http://msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=10592
          SSD 128gb - $89 http://msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=10289
          2 of these 4gb kingston ram sticks (for dual channel operation) - $78 http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=7823 - Not sure if there would be any issues since it not a proper "kit" but I don't see why it shouldn't be fine.
          or 1 of these 8gb ones - $73 http://msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=9744

          I'd go the 500gb SSHD and the 1 8gb stick for a total of $165

          EDIT: I recently replaced a friends HDD with that 500gb drive and had good results. A failed windows update was the problem, after fixing that I was shocked at how pathetic the performance was and she had a pretty beastly laptop. Apps would be non-responsive, typing would lag out mid sentence then the letters would start appearing on screen once you stopped typing. The mouse would lag, and things would take ages to load (over 3 minutes to load firefox). It turned out after doing some testing there was a large damaged section of her HDD (to which she then told me she dropped it -_-). Replacing the drive and new OS install and it was good as new/better due to the hybrid drive.

        • BarginHunter on 29/08/2013 - 11:51

          Umm thanks for the advice, but this laptop is not even worth $165, so I really see no benefit in spending anywhere near that much just to have it running for a bit longer. Also it doesn't take ddr3 ram, and the most ram it can handle iirc is 4gb.

  • Riczter on 28/08/2013 - 00:11

    Make sure you get something with an SSD

  • BarginHunter on 28/08/2013 - 02:08

    Well I've missed out on the cplonline deal, so does anyone have any other suggestions?

    Thanks for all the replies so far I really appreciate it.

    • scrimshaw on 28/08/2013 - 04:38
      +2

      Wait for the next deal, probably. If you're impatient, just go to MSY and get them to build you a similar machine, with an ASROCK mobo (I don't think MSY stocks ECS brand motherboards).

      It'll cost you a little more.

      • BarginHunter on 28/08/2013 - 16:18

        That's the problem, how do I know what they're giving me is the best bang for my buck?

        • scrimshaw on 28/08/2013 - 18:06

          Ask us. We'll tell you.

        • BarginHunter on 28/08/2013 - 20:19

          Thanks for that link scrimshaw. I'm in too much of a hurry atm, so I'll try and delay until a good deal pops up onsite, and maybe I'll have a bit more money by then. Feel free to message me if you see something good.

          Thanks.

  • umartsydney on 06/09/2013 - 10:30

    Umart Online Sydney

    If it is not for gaming, i3 should be fine.

    CPU: Intel i3 3220T $155
    Motherboard: ASRock H61MV-ITX $75
    Case: Antec ISK300-150 -Mini-ITX Desktop $99
    Ram: Kingston 4G(2x2G) $50.00
    HDD: Seagate SATA3 1TB $68.00
    ODD: Samsung SATA DVD $18.00

    Total $465.00 including installation (free).

    Power consumption 133~150 Watt

    • BarginHunter on 10/09/2013 - 11:59

      Thanks for the response, but I'm in Melbourne.

      • scrimshaw on 11/09/2013 - 06:43

        They have several branches. One of them is in Melbourne.

        • BarginHunter on 11/09/2013 - 09:56

          It seems they're an online store only though. I'd rather buy from a physical store so I don't have to worry about postage in case of warranty issues. And wouldn't the small form factor of the case make it harder to upgrade in the future?

        • scrimshaw on 11/09/2013 - 10:41

          No computer store in Australia is an online only store. They have a physical address.

        • umartsydney on 11/09/2013 - 10:50

          We have a physical store in Melbourne. Staffs there are really friendly, ask for Alex on 03 9590 - 8688. The store is at 18-20 Palmer Crt Mt Waverley
          3149 VIC. Not sure if it is close to you, but hopefully it helps.

          If you are considering upgrading in the future, may consider M ATX mobo and cases. The price would be cheaper to as the system is not a compact one!

        • BarginHunter on 12/09/2013 - 15:10

          Thanks for the help and the suggestions, I appreciate it.. Unfortunately though, umart in Melbourne is at least an hour's drive from where I live.

    • shaybisc on 12/09/2013 - 14:48

      "Power consumption 133~150 Watt"

      Why is the power consumption so high? I've seen a couple of computer sites put together a system with the aim of maximum efficiency and they chose that very CPU:

      http://www.techradar.com/au/news/computing-components/is-it-…

      http://www.legitreviews.com/2012-budget-mini-itx-desktop-pc-…

      Their results were nothing like that:

      "One of the goals of this build was to have a new small form factor system that was very power efficient, yet powerful. The performance of this system is nothing short of amazing, so you can imagine we were happy when we also saw great power numbers. Even with a discrete graphics card in the system the system was using just 34 Watts at idle and peaking at 86 Watts at full load in the first game test of 3DMark11. When surfing the web and unzipping files the power would bounce around 35-45 Watts, so this system is very energy efficient!"

      "As a gaming rig it is going to leave something to be desired in the speed department, but the fact is, this is a system that can game if you need it to. At 13 Watts idle we almost match our plucked-out-the-air 10W goal and frankly brought desktop power consumption down to laptop levels. We think that's pretty impressive, especially as we haven't had to compromise raw CPU power."

      "Plugging this all together, and powering it up off our standard test PSU a XFX 850w model, we were pleasantly surprised to read idle consumption of 22W and a game load of 36W. At this point we cracked out our Pico PSU and re-ran the system. Impressively, idle power consumption dropped to 15W an improvement of 32 per cent, while load dropped from 36W to 25W again an improvement of 31 per cent.
      There was chatter that lower-power PSUs could fare better, so we tested an older Intel 275W PSU from a BTX system. Clearly the age of the PSU showed through as the power draw of 28W at idle and 39W under load was significantly worse with the Pico PSU being around 47 per cent more efficient."

      I realise they chose all energy efficient components, eg ssd and no hard drive, but still.

  • duneknight on 11/09/2013 - 10:55

    never heard of ESC mobos

    • _Bruce_ on 11/09/2013 - 11:38
      +2

      Thanks for sharing.

  • BarginHunter on 12/09/2013 - 14:59

    So I went to MSY yesterday and asked them to quote me a system, this is what they gave me:

    Intel i3-4130 3.4ghz

    ASUS H81M-Plus Intel H81 S1150/2xdd3/SATA3/Front USB3/dvi/d-Sub/HDMI/MicroATX Motherboard

    Patriot 8GB kit 2x4GB dd3 1333

    Samsung 840 series 120gb sata SSD

    Sapphire SA-7790-2GD5-OC 2GB DDR5

    Coolermaster Gx2 Power 550Watt 80+ bronze power supply

    Coolermaster RC-K350-KWN1 K350 USB 3.0 Gaming Case

    Total: $774

    what do you guys think?

    • qwertyson on 12/09/2013 - 15:14

      CPL deal is out http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/116129#comment-1587916

      its got a INTEL 4600 HD which is adequate for HD videos and the odd gaming. Not sure if FIFA or NFS is a higher demanding game than dota2 or bf3 so i can assume its fine.

    • scrimshaw on 12/09/2013 - 17:36

      Get the CPL deal. It's better than the MSY build. The power supply however appears to be generic.

    • _Bruce_ on 12/09/2013 - 17:48

      This system will be much better for games that the CPL deal. CPL deal will be better for other things.

      Both are fine.

      • qwertyson on 12/09/2013 - 18:04

        "If it's not possible to get something with a graphics card capable of playing those two games then it can be left out and I'll just upgrade later."

        I didn't see this before, if thats the case get an

        i5 4670k - 275
        z87 Asrock Extreme3 - 165
        gpu (intel hd) -
        CM EVO cpu cooler - 45 (optional)
        4gb ram - 45
        Case (mid tower) - under 65
        Antec 520w - 85

                  total - 680$

        Then you have the option of upgrading when it pleases you and be able to overclock to make this beast last longer. So if your considering some bf4 action in the future your able to play it with just a GPU extra. Easily decrease this price by reducing the CPU+MOBO

        • _Bruce_ on 12/09/2013 - 18:12

          Your system is $140 more expensive than the CPL system, has half the ram, no SSD, no HD, no Optical and is hardly any faster. Only real plus the the power supply.

        • qwertyson on 12/09/2013 - 21:37

          More for upgrade ability, sorry. HDD from the laptop.

    • umartsydney on 13/09/2013 - 12:10

      Umart Online Sydney

      For the same system,
      Product Quantity Price Gst Total

      Zalman 600GT 600W 80+ Bronze PSU

      Kingston 8G(2x4G) DDR3 1600MHz CL9 HyperX

      CoolerMaster RC-K350 Gaming Case w/window No PSU

      Samsung 120GB SSD 840 Series SATA III 6Gbs 2xnm Toggle DDR 2.0 NAND 3-Core MDX Controller, 256MB

      Sapphire HD7790 OC 2GB GDDR5 2xDVI-I HDMI DP PCI-E 3.0

      Intel Core i3 4130 LGA1150 CPU 3.4Ghz 3Mb Cache Haswell

      Asus H81M-Plus 2xDDR3 PCI-E 2xSATA3 4xUSB3.0 DVI

      Total $749.00 (including installation and 1 year back to base warranty)

      • BarginHunter on 14/09/2013 - 16:54

        Yes but the closest umart is minimum 1 hour drive away. Closest MSY is 5 minutes.

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