Thomas Peterson7 said:I need an office PC for web browsing, Office apps, and one lightweight accounting program. I stumbled upon this build:
1 x AMD Athlon x4 5350, AM1, box
1 x ASUS AM1M-A (AM1,DDR3,USB 3.0,SATA III,mATx) DVI,VGA
1 x KINGSTON 4GB 1866MHz DDR3L CL11 DIMM 1.35V HyperX FURY Black
1 x SanDisk Z400s 256GB SSD, 2.5” 7mm, SATA 6 Gbit/s - 60mj
1 x MODECOM Loki Case, MINI, black
1 x Power Supply 300W, LC POWER Silver Shield Pro-Line Series LC7300 ATX V2.3/EPS 12V 80 PLUS, 120mm fan, PFC
$632
What do you think? My budget can go higher, but I don't think I need anything beefier given my needs...
This setup is definitely a bit of a mess: it’s basically HTPC parts stuffed into an "adult" computer body.
Since I tend to be a bit of a maximalist, I wouldn't suggest changing too much—crimsonstag84's configuration is actually fine. Just a heads up though: that AMD chip is going to hit a wall pretty fast. It feels like it was designed for totally different tasks, maybe more like tablet/phablet duties with a little extra juice, so its peak performance is pretty limited.
For what you want to do, an Intel solution is honestly a better bet. Why? Because the priorities are just different. Accounting software is usually poorly written; at best, they focus on ease of use (rarely), and mostly they just care about function and fitting whatever weird UI changes come their way. They aren't optimized for anything.
Usually, these things are built with basic tools and rely on external components for reports and stuff—it's all very user-level rather than developer-level. As a result, you end up with an app that isn't heavy on resources, but when you actually need it (like when you're generating massive spreadsheets), having a processor with decent peak performance is a lifesaver. Don't confuse multitasking with just having a bunch of windows open that aren't doing anything; a ton of cores won't help if they're just idling away...
Bottom line? Run away from this one. You'll outgrow it before you know it (speaking as a user), so take a look at those other Intel builds instead.
One tiny note for the "builders" here: if price is the main goal, stay away from cheap "gaming" components. In a professional setting, it looks super unprofessional. Plus, their main selling points—lots of space, cable management room, and especially those huge mesh holes for cooling (especially without filters...)—are totally useless for this. These workstations usually sit there for their entire lifespan without ever being opened (unless something breaks). Aside from the power button, the user won't even know it exists. Space utilization is less than 20%...
Basically, it'll just create noise through those big vents. Cooling is never the priority here, and it'll end up looking like your little nephew is over to play a round of Minecraft during his lunch break... there are plenty of solid, "sealed" cases in this price range too..
