newb needs help !

[cvc]

Hi all ,

Need some assistance as I have no idea what to look for in computers. What I will be using it for is :
- emails , surfing , music , videos
- Ms office programs
- 1 appraisal program
- downloading
- No gaming
Most times I have around 5 browser tabs open , either ms office or the appraisal program running and downloading at the same time. My currant desktop has lasted me 6 years and its time for a new 1. I will be using my monitor , keyboard , mouse. The new one does not need to come with os as I have windows 7. Would like to spend $300 + tax and of course the cheaper I can get things the better.

Either prebuilt or those barebones are ok (friend can build it ) I am in Toronto if that matters.

Thanks !

[great_big_abyss]

AMD A6-3650 APU - $84.98
ASUS F1A55-M LX Plus R2.0 - $65.00
AMD 2x4GB DDR3 1600Mhz RAM - $34.99
Corsair CX430 Powersupply - $44.99
ADATA 120GB SSD - $94.99

Total: $324.95

You'll have to use your existing enclosure, and also buy another, higher capacity harddrive to put all your downloads, as the SSD won't be big enough.
On the plus side, you'll have a nice snappy system with that SSD!

[ShinraCorp]

Originally Posted by great_big_abyss

AMD A6-3650 APU - $84.98
ASUS F1A55-M LX Plus R2.0 - $65.00
AMD 2x4GB DDR3 1600Mhz RAM - $34.99
Corsair CX430 Powersupply - $44.99
ADATA 120GB SSD - $94.99

Total: $324.95

You'll have to use your existing enclosure, and also buy another, higher capacity harddrive to put all your downloads, as the SSD won't be big enough.
On the plus side, you'll have a nice snappy system with that SSD!

Honestly does he need 8 GB? I think 4 is rather perfect for his tasks, but then again the pricing gap between the two are small haha.

But yes the SSD he suggested is pretty great since I'm sure you won't need much space, and you'll see how fast it goes!

Also do you already have a Operating system DVD? To be specific a 64-bit Windows Operating system DVD? (Suggest getting Windows 7 or 8 for the best experience with the SSD, since XP doesn't seem to work well with SSD.)

Also if you're looking for the same parts but cheaper here you go (of course the shipping costs doesn't come into account).

Newegg.ca - AMD A6-3650 Llano 2.6GHz Socket FM1 100W Quad-Core Desktop APU (CPU + GPU) with DirectX 11 Graphic AMD Radeon HD 6530D AD3650WNGXBOX
Newegg.ca - ASUS F1A55-M LX PLUS R2.0 FM1 AMD A55 (Hudson D2) Micro ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
Buy CORSAIR [CP-9020046-US] Corsair CX Series CX430 430W ATX 12V 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply 140mm Fan

[whitewolf23000]

If your doing a build for $300 you don't need an SSD and as said before you only need 4GB of ram.

You could also get a new case with an included PSU like this one.
Cooler Master Elite 350 Black ATX Mid Tower Case 500W 4X5.25 1X3.5 6X3.5INT $57.99

RAM
AMD Performance Edition 4GB 2X2GB PC3-10667U DDR3 1333MHz 8-8-8 1.5V Memory Module $19.99

If you wanted to do an intel build incase you want to upgrade in the future you could get a CPU like this one.
Intel Core i3 3220 Dual Core Hyperthreading Processor LGA1155 3.3GHZ Ivy Bridge 3MB Retail Box $119.99

Motherboard
Gigabyte B75M-D3H mATX LGA1155 B75 DDR3 2PCI-E16 2PCI HDMI CrossFireX SATA3 USB3.0 Motherboard $79.99
This motherboard has USB3.0 incase you get a USB3.0 external hard drive or flash drive.

Total: $279

You can use your old hard drive with Windows and your DVD burner from your old PC. If you don't want to do it yourself get your friend that's building the PC to do it.

[cvc]

thanks for the reply's everyone. I'm thinking I will add a new hard drive as the currant 1 is making a lot of noise. Would I notice any difference with the 8gb ?

[moocow]

If you have a lot of tabs open and a lot of start-up programs then yes. I personally would get 8GB just in case because Windows will take up at least 2GB and Firefox or Chrome can suck up a lot more. It's only $15 more so why not?

[great_big_abyss]

Definitely try to go with an SSD and 8GB of RAM. The SSD will be worth it's weight in gold WRT apparent system performance, especially for your uses. It will make the system feel a lot faster than it actually is (processor wise)