New Build for my wife

[Vybz]

I am building a PC for my wife. It's a very simple build. My wife does not know or care what goes into these machines she just wants it to be black, cute and works.

Wish List:

• We are building a mini PC, so the case to be some sort of form factor. She likes the Obsidian 250 Mini ITX case.
  
  
• She has become accustomed to using my dual monitor PC so I will to pair this build with 2 nice monitors.
  
  
• Has to have excellent cooling but quiet. We live in a very warm climate so it needs be able to withstand this hot temperatures.
  
  
• Small; Cute; Black; It is going on top of her deck and everything has has looks good. She prefers the simplistic looking cases.

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

Regular Computing nothing very special.

• Web Surfing/Browsing
  
  
• Using Microsoft Office
  
  
• Minor image editing mainly using google picasa

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

$600

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

US

4. IF you're buying parts OUTSIDE the US, please post a link to the vendor you'll be buying from.

N/A

5. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.

No not particularly.

• I don't much like processors that run very hot because i live in a very warm climate. I have have bad experiences with AMD Chips of old. They used to run very hot.

• My wife is into the looks of things. She really likes the Crosair Obsidian 250 Mini case. So i would need this or a similar case. Black and simple.

6. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

No Building from scratch

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

Default Speeds

8. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using?

Nothing Special maybe 1920 x 1080

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?

Will be building it last quarter of this year. Will start building the parts right away.

10. Do you need to purchase any software to go with the system, such as Windows or Blu Ray playback software?

Windows.

The rig

Case:
Motherboard:
CPU:
CPU Fan:
GPU:
Memory:
SSD/HHD :
PSU:
DVD Burner: Do I need this? I know its cheap.

Total:

The Monitors

well?:

 

[whm1974]

As far as the CPU goes, off hand I would recommend an Intel i5 or maybe even a Pentium 4600 for a very basic build.

I recommend at least 8GB of memory.

I will also advise you get a SSD as that will improve your wife's computer experience more than anything else. And maybe a HDD as well for files.

 

[Vybz]

yeah that's kinda what i have been thinking. I want to build a NAS and/or a Plex server so i believe I would just do the SSD if i add a HDD it will be small.

 

[whm1974]

yeah that's kinda what i have been thinking. I want to build a NAS and/or a Plex server so i believe I would just do the SSD if i add a HDD it will be small.

That will work.

 

[VirtualLarry]

http://www.asrock.com/nettop/Intel/DeskMini 110 Series/

It's getting a little dated, but I own two of these units, and they work well enough. They're tiny, and "cute", and black, probably has a decent WAF to it. You can throw in a M.2 PCI-E x4 SSD, and/or some 2.5" HDD or SSDs. (Has capacity for 2x 2.5", but one of them, you have to remove the mobo from the chassis, which could be a PITA. So, practically, if you're lazy like me, it has 1x M.2 PCI-E 2280 SSD, and 1x SATA 2.5" SSD slots.)

Also includes a single-stream Intel 802.11ac wifi PCI-E M.2 short card in the package, and some antennas and pigtails. (Some assembly requiired, can be a minor PITA to get those all installed.)

All in all, though, with something like a G4600 (for the HD 630 graphics), it's a nice little package. Btw, if you are using a Kaby Lake CPU, it WILL take DDR4-2400 SO-DIMMs and work at 2400, so don't worry about that. Also, currently-shipping units should have a Kaby Lake compatible UEFI. (Started being compatible around 1.50, then they went to 7.00.)

 

[Vybz]

http://www.asrock.com/nettop/Intel/DeskMini 110 Series/
It's getting a little dated, but I own two of these units, and they work well enough.

Not sure she doesn't really like those. I also wanted to build it myself. I have been looking at the building guide here but there are no mini ITX machines there and it hasn't been updated in a while and i am way out of touch to make these choices on my own. I have however made a few choices see below.

Case: Crosair - Obsidian 250D - $89.99
Motherboard: Asus - H110I-PLUS - $79.09
CPU: Intel - Core i3-7100 - $115.09
CPU Fan:
GPU: EVGA - GeForce GT 710 - $62.49
Memory: G.Skill - Aegis 16GB (1 x 16GB) DDR4 - $123.99
SSD/HHD : SanDisk - SSD PLUS 120GB - $59.75
PSU:
DVD Burner: Do I need this? I know its cheap.

Total $530.40

So here are my questions for you guys.

1. What do you guys think about the motherboard? Is there anything you guys think would work better?
   
2. I think this i3 is enough. What do you guys think.
3. Should I try the stock cpu fan first? Or is there a nice cheap upgrade around.
   
4. Is there a cheaper case that looks similar to the Obsidian?
   
5. Any other ideas or suggestions?

 

[Yuriman]

The stock cooler is plenty and then some for any of Intel's dual cores.

 

[Torn Mind]

Is a GT710 really necessary? I'd rather give her 32GB of RAM if she's a Chrome freak.

 

[Vybz]

The stock cooler is plenty and then some for any of Intel's dual cores.

thank you all this is the kind of feed back i need.

Is a GT710 really necessary? I'd rather give her 32GB of RAM if she's a Chrome freak.

She want a dual monitor setup so i am looking for a gpu what will do that. if there is something cheaper i can go with that. I would also prefer maybe more memory

 

[lehtv]

Integrated graphics can handle dual monitors just fine, as long as your motherboard has the necessary display outputs for your monitors.

 

[Vybz]

ok have any good MB's with dual monitor outputs in mind?

 

[MadOver]

http://www.asrock.com/nettop/Intel/DeskMini 110 Series/

It's getting a little dated, but I own two of these units, and they work well enough. They're tiny, and "cute", and black, probably has a decent WAF to it. You can throw in a M.2 PCI-E x4 SSD, and/or some 2.5" HDD or SSDs. (Has capacity for 2x 2.5", but one of them, you have to remove the mobo from the chassis, which could be a PITA. So, practically, if you're lazy like me, it has 1x M.2 PCI-E 2280 SSD, and 1x SATA 2.5" SSD slots.)

Also includes a single-stream Intel 802.11ac wifi PCI-E M.2 short card in the package, and some antennas and pigtails. (Some assembly requiired, can be a minor PITA to get those all installed.)

All in all, though, with something like a G4600 (for the HD 630 graphics), it's a nice little package. Btw, if you are using a Kaby Lake CPU, it WILL take DDR4-2400 SO-DIMMs and work at 2400, so don't worry about that. Also, currently-shipping units should have a Kaby Lake compatible UEFI. (Started being compatible around 1.50, then they went to 7.00.)

Thats actually a pretty good concept for home device... interesting..

 

[SMOGZINN]

Personally I would just get an Intel NUC. They are small, they have plenty of power for what you want, and can handle up to three 4k monitors.

 

[Vybz]

Ok guys what about this motherboard. Gigabyte GA-H270N-WIFI LGA1151

I also saw this one ASRock H270M-ITX/ac

What you guys think?