hi everyone, doing a college task on building pcs and what spec a particular company/charity will need to get its job done!
i dont know if its relavent but the computer is going to have 4gb of RAM and it needs to run microsoft office and a few internet explorer pages at a time.
it also needs to be cheap etc
thanks
As has been stated, any old CPU would do the job. However, to utilize the full 4GB of RAM, you must use a 64 bit operating system.
If you are going to build this yourself, please submit your budget.
Personally, for this use, I would move forward with an Intel Core i3-540, a Gigabyte H-55 chipset board (specific model to be named later), and 4GB of GSkill RAM.
These 3 core components can be had for under $300.00. The CPU mentioned has rather good integrated graphics, thereby circumventing the cost of a video card.
Intel's Core i-3 540 is extremely energy efficient, producing cost savings after the fact.
A system with these components could be completed at (including a copy of Windows 7) and brought in at about the 600 dollar mark.
All that said, a five year old used machine would be able to meet your expectations of performance. The only problem there is, the ability to deal w 4GBs of RAM, which is the province of the 64 bit OS. The driver software is really not available for older machines, and 64 bit XP is patently a really bad, poorly performing idea.
PCWorld, (who isn't the god I pray to, I must mention), ran an article last month, comparing building your own PC at the 500 and 1200 dollar marks. They found that in many cases, the 500 dollar pre-built machine exceeded the performance of the 500 home built, but the 1200 home built ate the 1200 dollar store bought PC alive...! Just something to consider.
That being the case, it partly depends on how patient you are, or can be, waiting for the right parts at the right price to come along, to better the magazine results. If you need it tomorrow, it might be time to hit a Microcenter, or ,(perish the thought) Best Buy.
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