PC advice

[stealthee]

Long story short my HD (most likely) fried on my PC and I'm on the lookout for replacing my whole setup.

I'm weighing options between buying a name brand pre set up, or building my own.

In buying a name brand setup all i have to do is plug it in and go, but it will likely be loaded with bloatware.

In building my own I don't have the bloatware, but I have the added cost of the OS and other software, such as Microsoft Office.

That aside what are the current "industry standards" for PCs? My setup was good when new but just couldn't seem to keep up anymore.

How much RAM should I shoot for? What speed processor? I'll probably aim for a 500GB HD which should be more than enough considering I had a 140GB on my current PC and was only about 50% full with much of it being music and videos. Also plan on getting external HD as a backup so I can avoid this in the future.

I'm not a gamer, but I would like to overbuild or overbuy whatever I decide on so that my computer will last for years again. My old PC lasted 9 years.

Let me know your thoughts. Thanks in advance.

[NickS VR4]

Any chance you are affiliated with a job that allows you to get a Home use Program copy of Office? Govt/Military typically have access to this, which allows you to buy a professional copy of office for ~$10.

As far as specs, i've been out of the game, but know what I want to build next to replace my server. If this is your standard PC, no gaming, but just browsing the internet, doing office work, etc. 8GB of RAM is likely fine.

[stealthee]

Considering I was running on 2GB RAM I'd love 8. Lol

I work for an electric motor repair/machine shop. I doubt they have home use Office.

Some of the pre-built PCs I have seen with 8gb RAM looked to run around $500. I see I can get Windows 10 and Microsoft Office for about $200, but I haven't yet researched mobos and other necessary hardware for a total.

[NickS VR4]

Pick Parts, Build Your PC, Compare and Share - PCPartPicker

[sergechronos]

Considering I was running on 2GB RAM I'd love 8. Lol

I work for an electric motor repair/machine shop. I doubt they have home use Office.

Some of the pre-built PCs I have seen with 8gb RAM looked to run around $500. I see I can get Windows 10 and Microsoft Office for about $200, but I haven't yet researched mobos and other necessary hardware for a total.

AMD A10-7870K, NZXT Source 210 (Black) - System Build - PCPartPicker

This would be what I would build for someone in your situation (with a slight mark up for labor of course :P )

You don't game, and the AMD CPU has pretty good built in graphics. This includes a copy of Windows (although if you have your old serial number and a Windows install disc, you can often call them and tell them your hard drive died and they will sometimes reauthorize it.) Assuming you can reuse your old monitor, mouse and keyboard of course for cost savings. Heck, you could even reuse your old case if you wanted to save an extra 30 bucks there. You don't really *need* office, you can get OpenOffice which works just about as well IMO and is free.

In regards to your original questions:

The real issue with buy a premade is that most premade from the major makers is older tech (I've still seen a few at stores with DDR2 memory for instance) and you pay a premium for it. If you are capable of building your own, you can generally get a better computer for the money.

The amount of RAM you would need is dependent on how you use the system, but DDR3-1600 is dirt cheap right now so 8gb should be relatively "futureproof" based on your current usage. The hard drive I recommend a 1TB because it is just $10 more than a 500gb, always nice to have more than you need, especially since programs and videos and such are getting bigger and bigger all the time. Of course, the most noticeable upgrade you could make would be to a solid state drive, but they are fairly expensive comparatively, you could go so far as to get a small one for the OS and a bigger traditional drive for programs if you so dare, but that's getting a bit more involved than I think you want to.

[stealthee]

The advice is much appreciated. I've been looking around on my phone at different things and almost feel like I'm in over my head in trying to build my own.

[IPD]

I'm a laptop-only guy, so everything I buy is pre-built. That said, there's some things that I could consider "bare-min" quality for being "future-proofed". Must have 4 core CPU minimum; your PC will choke on tasks without at least 4. Must have 8GB RAM minimum; I can hit 2.5GB of ram JUST with my browser. You can get by with onboard (bundled) graphics if you're not a gamer. I'd HIGHLY recommend a small SSD as your boot drive. 64GB SSD should be sufficient for a boot drive (my boot SSD is sitting at ~53GB currently. Then you can add a HDD of whatever size you want--but bear in mind that 2TB passport drives are in the $100 range now, so unless you NEED the storage on your pc, that might be an alternative. You should be able to find 64GB SSD for ~$60 or so.

HDMI out is VERY nice. With HDMI, you can use any old "high-def" TV as a monitor (I can use my 720P, 37" from 2007 as a PC monitor, for example). Only problem with this is, onboard graphics tends to choke on running multiple/duplicate screens. It's really up to you how gucci you want to get.

Office will NEVER be bundled with a PC--unless it's a rare case. Open Office does work for some people, but for those who have to use the programs on a regular basis, MS office is hands-down the way to go (no compatibility issues, etc). Get Windows 10--7 is EOL by 2020, and you want a PC for a decade. Worst case, you can try finding a laptop that has everything already in it. That's what I did with my MSI. I swear by MSI. Both of mine have been fantastic.

[NickS VR4]

As someone running a high end chromebook (Pixel LS), the high end ultrabook processors should be enough (they are dual core + hyperthreading). I run Ubuntu on it, and it is very powerful. (i7-5500u). Other than that, what he said.

[IPD]

I'm just not sold on dual-core anything being "future proof" enough.

[Mikes2nd]

get a refurb off dell or Lenovo outlet.

Get a "convertible" with a touch screen if your smart.