Hi, I hope it’s OK just to tag onto this thread, rather than starting a new one!
I’ve intended for many years to have a go at PC building, but I guess always a little intimidated by it all. Understandable enough, I guess, especially if it’s a high-spec PC, given the cost of failure! Anyway, it’s just occurred to me that my mum, who can’t move around very freely, would benefit from having a PC connected to her big TV, rather than having to use the ancient thing that she still uses in a poky little room upstairs. I’ll admit that there’s a selfish side to this, of course, because it would be a good opportunity for me to practise on a low-spec unambitious PC.
I’m just writing on this thread to see if there are any significant advances on what was written above. It was only 20 months ago, so I suppose things won’t have changed all that much. But then again, you never know. If there’s any revolutionary change, please let me know. The only non-negotiable prerequisite here is of course that it’s going to be sitting in my mum’s living room, so she’s of course not going to tolerate an ugly black box. Is there a place somewhere that you can find attractive but flexible cases? I’m in the UK, by the way (hence mum and not mom).
The only other things I can think of are just that:
of course it needs to be able to connect to the TV, but I assume that there’s no such thing as a PC without HDMI.
although of course it’s primarily for my mum, I would like to be able to use it myself whenever I’m at her place, so would want to do a dual boot Ubuntu/Windows install (with Windows as default of course, so as not to confuse her). I’m fairly used to doing that stuff by now, so think I don’t need too much advice about that. It’s just about making sure that I’ve got UEFI to make the dual boot install much easier, isn’t it?
I’d want it to have a wireless keyboard and mouse (preferably ergonomic in both cases) that she could use comfortably from the sofa.
Ha! She’s actually accusing me of wanting to turn her into a complete couch potato, but it’d definitely be better than what she’s got now :~)
I am going to be honest with you but don’t take it to harsh. I don’t think your mom would benefit from this. Myself has worked with building pc’s for others including some lesser able-ed people for years now. Building the PC would be fun and learning for you but she’d be better off with a tabled for as far as I can see. Maybe you could name a specific task she does on the PC that needed to be done on a PC?
For a “Roku-type” box capable of doing some light browsing and play emulation games, I would say, go with a small mini-ITX box and a 3200G or 3400G. You have two decent options.
External brick, get an ASRock A300 Deskmini, 8 or 16 GB SO-DIMM RAM, a 3400G and an NVMe or 2.5" SSD. Done!
Internal PSU is a bit more interesting. I’d like to recommend the J-Hack Pure Mk 2 as a base. Then, I also recommend something like the following:
I guess because the building process is part of plan, specifically with standard PC components.
But I would agree that some sort of small barebone like a NUC makes a lot of sense as a TV-computer. A pi is probably not optimal since it sounds like the “mom” is using windows.
@heatopher I would suggest first to hook up the old PC to the TV for a test drive. Doesn’t have to be perfect but both of you might get a feel of things and potentially discover fundamental flaws in that idea. After that it would be good to know the use case for the new system and what the old machine has inside of it.
Hey Guys, thank you all very much for your replies. I’ve been a bit busy doing other stuff, but will contemplate all these suggestions over the next week or so.
I just realised that the 3200G and the B550 are incompatible since the 3200G and 3400G are Zen+, not Zen2. B550 only supports Zen2 and above. I have updated the post to reflect the current situation.
So either go with the Aorus B450I Pro or wait until the 4400G is out later this month. I don’t think going with the more expensive X570 ITX boards is worth it. I would most probably wait for the 4400G.
Keep us posted on what you do choose to put together in the end, and give a few pics ya?
Hi, thanks for this one. I think you got the spirit of what I want to do. Some of the suggestions have gone off a bit into fantasy-worlds. Honestly I was only very dimly aware of raspberry pis, for instance, before reading here, and heaven knows how my mum would deal with that. For her purposes there just needs to be familiar old Windows. And I certainly can’t be asking her to learn to use Ubuntu I want to provide something useful for my mum, while learning a bit for myself (and having the bits and pieces that I want on the PC, whenever I’m at her place). Still, I have learned rather a lot from reading these replies!!!
I’m the first to admit that there’s a selfish element to this, because I do want to have a go at building a relatively modest PC. I’ve never been scared of opening them up to install storage, memory or peripherals, but of course starting from case, motherboard, CPU, PSU, cooler and fans… that’s a very different matter.
Now, specifically about this J-Hack box that you’ve suggested… Is it a horizontal box, like something from back in the 80s? I hadn’t thought about that, and of course it could presumably sit inconspicuously in the cabinet underneath her TV, which would get around all the aesthetic issues. The only problem is that I’m not sure that I can get this particular case in the UK No sign of it on the UK Amazon anyway. Is this one equivalent?
Silverstone Milo Series ML06B-E Mini-ITX Chassis
(I would have put a link, but it’s not allowed :~)
Anyway, there’s no rush for now. I’m the one who’s keen to do this project, but slowly in my free time. My mum is as technophobic as you expect most people to be by her age. But she does use that ancient computer sometimes (today for instance she was writing an email about something) , so I’m pretty sure that she would benefit from something that she could use without having to move from the comfort of the living room.
I would like to argue that whats the difference between Windows and Ubuntu if all she would do is to click the Firefox or Chrome icon and browse the web?
Ah, from the UK. The Milo case is around 2x the volume of the J-Hack (7 vs 3.1 liters). Yes, the case is horizontal. J-Hack does ship to the UK, but there will most probably be added customs and shipping fees. This is the cost of low volume case manufacturers. For a more local supplier, check out Lazer3D that custom 3D prints every case by hand. I would revise the build like this in that case:
Do note price fluctuations will occur, and the 3400G / B450 should be upgraded to a 4700G / B550 if you will be waiting a few months.
This will be a great entry-level gaming system capable of 1080p@60Hz gaming without much slowdowns if you run at medium settings. It will truly shine in emulation though, where it will be capable to play PS2, Xbox (original) and Wii U titles. Just install RetroArch on a separate SSD and you’re good to go!
Hi, and thanks again of course. Needless to say that my mum isn’t interested in gaming (well, maybe there are a few mums who are, but presumably not many). To be honest I know very little about all that stuff myself, and hence I had to look up RetroArch. But anyway, I suppose that it goes without saying that a PC which is good for gaming at any particular moment is one which will last a good long time. And I like the look of this customisable case., albeit that the choices about the design are a little bit overwhelming if anything.
And having said that, if the J-Hack guys do indeed deliver elsewhere in the world as you say, I may well go with that choice if the shipping cost is not too exhorbitant. Let’s see. I’ve had a look at a few videos about building, so should be feeling pretty confident by the time I get around to this. I crossed a threshold the other day when I opened up my laptop to replace the wifi card. That was a bit hairier and scarier than anything I’ve ever done inside a PC
Update on this, J-Hack do normally deliver worldwide, but (a) they’ve had too many orders, and (b) they’re not shipping outside the US (and Canada, I suppose) while the Covid crap is on. I got an email back saying that they’ll be taking new orders from December But that’s OK - as I said before, no rush.
By that time I suppose I’ll be wanting to get the more advanced motherboard, eh?
That still depends if the Ryzen 4300G will be released to the general public or not. I suspect it will be released once the 4xxx series is unveiled in October.
Hey, I’m returning to this thread after a loooooong time, I realise sorry, but I’ve been busy with other stuff. In the end, my mum wasn’t too bothered about getting a new PC of any kind (slightly predictably) and like I said I ended up doing other things.
However, I’ve just had a bit of trouble with my ancient PC, and it looks like I need to be thinking about sorting out a new one. Unfortunately it seems to be a very bad time for this, looking at the price of graphics cards in particular, so I’m wondering if it’s precisely this kind of mini-Pc that is the best value for money right now, especially for someone like me who doesn’t care too much about gaming. I’d be happy to pass this one on to my mum eventually to sit under her TV, once the prices of the more cutting-edge PC components are more reasonable (fingers crossed).
Buuuuuuut it looks like this isn’t easy either. As far as I can see, these J Hack guys have an enormous backlog, and anyway I’m not sure if they’re shipping outside the US. Actually I can’t even create a name and password on their website, so not sure that they’re even active, which is a shame because that box is exactly what I would be wanting to build (and I do want to BUILD - I have the urge to do so!)
This company in the UK make something similar:
If the J Hack option is no good, can I get to something more or less like the spec mentioned by wertigon with this “UK Option”?
Well, sorry for bumping. Hope it’s OK to revive for another week or two!
I want to provide something useful for my mum, while learning a bit for myself (and having the bits and pieces that I want on the PC, whenever I’m at her place). Still, I have learned rather a lot from reading these replies!!!
No sign of it on the UK Amazon anyway. Is this one equivalent?
But that’s OK - as I said before, no rush.