Home office PC for parents

Toker · 30 Jun 2016 at 12:55

Hi all,

Been out the game for a while so getting to grips with current hardware...

My parents need a new home office PC so I've spec'd this up, do your worst

Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black - £54.95
Samsung 500GB 850 EVO SSD - £139.99
Team Group Dark 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC-24000C15 3000MHz - £59.99
Gigabyte Z170-Gaming K3 - Intel Core i5 6600K Bundle - £291.98
Super Flower Leadex GOLD 550w Fully Modular 80 Plus Gold - £67.99
Raijintek Aidos Direct Contact CPU Cooler - £12.95
Dell UltraSharp U2515H 25" IPS - £275.99

£903.84

Borealis · 30 Jun 2016 at 13:02

That's a decent spec, but overkill for an office PC.

Unless the CPU/board bundle works out cheaper, I'd get a non-K i5 or even an i3 paired with an H110 DDR4 board.

For a little less, I'd swap out the Dell 25" for a Dell U2412M if they're still available. It's a very nice monitor and has a very clear, sharp picture.

Toker · 30 Jun 2016 at 13:38

Yeah I thought that, I was being a bit over the top as my dad has zero patience with technology, when it breaks or goes slow it is liable to end up smashed on the patio...

I don't think I want to compromise on the monitor

How about this:

Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black - £54.95
Samsung 500GB 850 EVO SSD - £139.99
Team Group Dark 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC-24000C15 3000MHz - £59.99
Z170-A Pro Intel Z170 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX Motherboard - £82.99
Core i3-6100 3.70GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - Retail £99.95
Super Flower Leadex GOLD 550w Fully Modular 80 Plus Gold - £67.99
Raijintek Aidos Direct Contact CPU Cooler - £12.95
Dell UltraSharp U2515H 25" IPS - £275.99

£794.80

Borealis · 30 Jun 2016 at 13:59

If you're going to stick with Z170, then that board is fine. You could go with something like this and save a bit. It only has 2 RAM slots for a max of 32GB, but 16GB will be fine for years to come.

Personally I prefer Gigabyte and Asus boards to MSI, but that's just my preference.

3000MHz is a good speed for Skylake. Just be aware that high-profile RAM can interfere with the CPU cooler. Also, the i3 comes with a stock Intel heatsink/fan - it's just the K-series CPUs that don't anymore.

That said, for £13 it's a decent little cooler and should be better than the stock Intel one.

You could still go with an i5 like the 6400 or 6500 - they're still true quad-core, just not as fast as the 6600K.

Toker · 30 Jun 2016 at 14:55

Spoke to my old man and he'd like to keep it below £700 so I've taken your advice on monitor and mobo, also went for some lower profile ram to avoid any potential issues and a cheaper psu

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Intel Core i3-6100 3.70GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - Retail= £99.95
1 x Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C15 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK16GX4M2B30= £74.99
1 x Asus H110-Plus Intel H110 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £59.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black (CC-9011023-WW)= £54.95
1 x Samsung 500GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E500B/EU)= £139.99
1 x Raijintek Aidos Direct Contact CPU Cooler= £12.95
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020047-UK)= £47.99
1 x Dell UltraSharp U2412M 24" 1920x1200 IPS Widescreen LED Monitor - Midnight Grey= £199.99

Total: £690.80
(includes shipping: £0.00)

cheesyboy · 30 Jun 2016 at 15:00

I would go way cheaper for an office PC. A dual core pentium would be more than enough - My work PC is an old E7500 and is fine (HDD aside - stick with an SSD), and my home PC is a duel core Athlon - still absolutely fine for internet and office stuff.

No need for a Gold rated PSU, nor one with as much as 550w. You'll only draw about 100w.

And the monitor.... I'm no expert on such, but I don't see why your parents need a £275 monitor for a bog standard office PC. Unless either is a hobbyist photographer, get something for about £120.

Danny75 · 30 Jun 2016 at 23:23

Toker said:
Spoke to my old man and he'd like to keep it below £700 so I've taken your advice on monitor and mobo, also went for some lower profile ram to avoid any potential issues and a cheaper psu

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Intel Core i3-6100 3.70GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - Retail= £99.95

1 x Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C15 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK16GX4M2B30= £74.99

1 x Asus H110-Plus Intel H110 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £59.99

1 x Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black (CC-9011023-WW)= £54.95

1 x Samsung 500GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E500B/EU)= £139.99

1 x Raijintek Aidos Direct Contact CPU Cooler= £12.95

1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020047-UK)= £47.99

1 x Dell UltraSharp U2412M 24" 1920x1200 IPS Widescreen LED Monitor - Midnight Grey= £199.99

Total: £690.80
(includes shipping: £0.00)

No need for 3000MHz RAM, H110 motherboards can only run it at 2133MHz.

PSU can be less wattage (doubt you'll pull 100W with this system) and more quality and warranty.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Super Flower Golden Green HX 350W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black= £40.99
1 x Intel Core i3-6100 3.70GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - Retail= £99.95
1 x Asus H110I Plus Intel H110 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ITX Motherboard= £59.99
1 x Team Group Elite 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C16 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (TPKD416GM2400HC16D= £49.99
1 x Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ITX Mini-ITX Chassis - Black= £47.99
1 x Raijintek Rhea Heatpipe CPU Cooler - PWM - 92mm= £11.99
1 x Samsung 500GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E500B/EU)= £139.99
1 x AOC Q2577PWQ 25" 2560x1440 IPS Professional Widescreen LED Monitor - Silver/Black= £229.99

Total: £680.88
(includes shipping: £0.00)

ITX option. 1440p treat.

ExoMale · 1 Jul 2016 at 20:35

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Asus AM1I-A AMD AM1 (Socket FS1b) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard= £27.95
1 x AMD Sempron 2650 1.45GHz Dual Core Processor - Retail (Socket AM1)= £21.49
1 x Kingston HyperX Fury Blue 4GB (1x4GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Single Channel Kit (HX313C9F/4)= £14.99
1 x Silverstone Strider SST-ST30SF SFX Series - 300 Watt '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply= £41.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Fury 120GB 2.5" SATA 6Gbps Solid State Drive (SHFS37A/120G)= £39.95
1 x Seagate 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache HDD - OEM (ST1000DM003)= £36.95
1 x Silverstone SST-SG06BB-Lite Sugo USB 3.0 - Black= £42.95
1 x Samsung SN-208FB/BEBE Slimline 8x DVD±RW SATA Drive - OEM= £14.99
3 x Asus VE228TR 22" 1920x1080 TN Widescreen LED Multimedia Monitor - Black= £79.99

Total: £507.57
(includes shipping: £26.34)