PC For Parents

Hardware Hub Build a PC
1

I am working on an affordable build for my parents.  I am trying to target a relatively quiet system that works for browsing the web, email and watching videos.  It also has to be bulletproof.  I live 500+ miles from my parents so I can't have this thing going down.  Looking for general comments on what I have so far.

Parents Computer

I spent a little more on the PSU for two reasons.  Reliability of the Seasonic PSUs and the semi modular helps keep cable clutter down, I am very particular about this.

I spent quite a bit more on the SSD for the quick boot ups and my parents don't need the massive storage.  Also the house is all hardwood floors and the desk the computer sits on had a tendency to amplify the HDD hum.

My one hang up is if I should spend the extra money on an i3 for the HD4400 graphics or the basic Haswell HD graphics will be enough for youtube and the like. From what I have read the basic Haswell HD graphics should be enough for 1080p youtube videos.

2

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/PGbVbv

PSU is non-modular.  Not a whole lot of cables with 360w though, and I tried to fit an i3 in the budget.

3

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/QnyLf7

4

a simple APU build with 6gbs of ram would be the best option

5

I built a PC very similar to this for my sister LINK

It is an absolutely solid machine, no problems at all. I suppose if you wanted it to be more powerful you could use a Pentium G3220 or A8-7600. Of course it will cost a little more.

The machine runs off of a Pico PSU capable up to 90W and uses a laptop charger to power the machine. the little 40mm fan make absolutely no noise at all, I can barely hear it when I put my ear up to it.

6

I like yours

 

You don't need to worry about the Igpu for windows , the hd4000 are fine for most things , and even light gaming .

7

It really doesn't need to be much of a PC, does it. For quite components or off the shelf quite PCs checkout:

http://www.quietpc.com/

Even if you don't buy from them, it'll give you some brand names to look for at your favourite pc components store.

8

Do they need an optical drive? I just told my parents they don't need it anymore. For my mom I actually build a PC with an i3 4150, 8Gb of RAM and an 840 EVO. But for my dad, I just got an i3 Intel NUC, 8Gb RAM and a Plextor SSD. He loves it. It doesn't get more simple and worry-free than that. I have Teamviewer running on their systems, so I can help with issues or just check if everything is running ok at any time.

9

Thank you all for some great suggestions and build directions.  I came up with this new one.

Parents PC

The reasoning.  4GB of ram should be fine for an internet box.  Its not like the shared video needs to be 2GB, 500mb should be fine for youtube.  Leaves plenty of room for windows running a few tabs of chrome and maybe Word or Excel open which is all my parents do.  (Mom looks up food recipes and prints them out)

With the other parts in the build, when this CPU doesn't perform anymore I could snag a FM2+ cpu for cheap and be back in business.  By then though I might need a new rig myself and I could give them my i5 rig with a 7870XT which should make a fine internet box for at least a decade.