opinions on 3PCs for office

[oscar6]

I am looking at building approximately 3 PCs for a new medical office.
I need reliability and appreciate performance. The majority of the work will be web-based but we will utilize local programs. Local file storage should be less than 50GB.

1. They will be used for
Webbased:
Electronic Medical Health Record lookup and information generation.
Patient registration and scheduling.
Billing and accounts receivable.
Email
Internet browsing
Payroll

Local:
Quickbooks
MS word/excel

2. Lower the budget the better but I want solid performance with reliable hardware.

3. USA

4. No brand preference. I have been thinking of using AMD 965 quads.

5. All new parts.

6 . No overclocking

7. One 27” screens (1920x1200) or two 19” (1280x1024) screens in portrait mode for each PC.

8. Building in the next month or so.

9. Need OS. Thinking Windows 8 pro. I need to buy a copy and give it a try first as I have been using 7 for a while.

 

This is what I have been thinking:

CPU

AMD PHII BE 965 Quad 3.4 - ($100)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103727



Mobo

AM3+ motherboard (with sata6gb/s and usb3.0)
MicroATX (w/ onboard video)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...=1&srchInDesc=
ATX (w/out video)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...atedMark=False



RAM

8GB DDR3 Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) ($54)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148543



HDD

not sure if I should go SSD or HHD. I have a two Kingston SSDs now that hang/delay for 10 seconds or so after they have been “idle” for a while.

SAMSUNG 840 MZ-7PD128BW 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC SSD ($139)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820147192
(Or would should I just save $40 and get one with 1/3 the write speed?)
SAMSUNG 840 Series MZ-7TD120BW 120GB SATA III SSD ($99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820147188
Western Digital WD Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB 6.0Gb/s ($59)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136769



Case

Basic ATX or microATX case ($40)

ZALMAN ZM-T1 Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mini Tower Computer Case (not sure if a standard PS would fit)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811235042
other microsATX micro tower: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...CE&PageSize=20
MicroATX-mid tower:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...atedMark=False
ATX mid tower:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...atedMark=False



PSU

RAIDMAX HYBRID 2 RX-530SS 530W ($50) Not sure about RAIDMAX. How do they compare to: antec, corsair, seasonic? Modular is always nice.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817152028
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...=1&srchInDesc=



Video

onboard video should be okay. I can also add a low range card later as needed.



Monitor

(height, tilt, + if 19” would prefer pivot “portrait mode”)

19” HP LP1965 (refurb) $85 shipped each
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...irtualParent=1
27”
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...Id=1&name=Yes#



DVD Drive ($20)


Keyboard and mouse


Windows 7/8 pro


MS office







I really appreciate every comment you give me.

Thank you for reading this post (and hopefully commenting),

 

[Torn Mind]

Office computers need no more than a IB or SB Celeron or Pentium. Or, a Core 2 Duo E8400 is also an excellent used/refurb option. Paying for only slightly better performance is not worth it in this case.

As for the case, you'd best to just get the cheapest and unassuming "box" you can since no one is really going care too much.

Yes to SSDs. Conventional HDDs for backup storage.

Raidmax is not a PSU company I'd recommend with confidence, as Andyson is the manufacturer of most of their PSUs.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G2020 2.9GHz Dual-Core Processor ($49.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Biostar H77MU3 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($54.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: Patriot Gamer 2 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($47.98 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 830 Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($109.99 @ Mac Mall)
Case: DIYPC DIY-5823BK (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($26.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 300W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($17.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($90.91 @ Amazon)
Total: $428.81
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-27 22:59 EDT-0400)

Seasonic is one of the best PSU manufacturers and the rig probably uses under 100 watts. I chose the 830 it has developed a reputation of reliability.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

No need to be their on-call tech support, so do yourself a favor and just get a Lenovo ThinkCentre with a Core i3 or AMD Quad-core APU. Do the staff a favor and choose Windows 7 Pro. Hit up the Lenovo outlet if you want to save some money.

The dual-monitor option is nice, but might be tricky for your average office worker to utilize, so I say go with the larger single-monitor option.

 

[oscar6]

Good suggestions. I have thought about sourcing the builds from lev or dell but wanted to ensure they were built with quality components. I will be the owner of the practice and should be able to handle most basic IT including rig troubleshooting. Since downtime is important to avoid, I will have an older yet competent spare sitting around if needed for a quick swap. I figured that with a ssd and a quad with 8gb ram these would fly. My current home system is an e8400 4gb Kingston ssd x1900xt win7 and it does okay most of the time. I also have a amd box that I was playing with for a htpc that did not materialize. I might use that for one of the PCs.

Regarding the ssd, should I be as concerned about the write speed? The pro 840 has 3x the write speed.

Adam

 

[Insert_Nickname]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G2020 2.9GHz Dual-Core Processor ($49.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Biostar H77MU3 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($54.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: Patriot Gamer 2 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($47.98 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 830 Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($109.99 @ Mac Mall)
Case: DIYPC DIY-5823BK (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($26.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 300W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($17.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($90.91 @ Amazon)
Total: $428.81
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-27 22:59 EDT-0400)

Looks excellent. If you want to save a bit, you don't need more then a Celeron G1620 and you can drop the dvd drive. That typically never gets much use in an office pc anyway. Depending on price a cheaper B75 based MB might also be worth a look.

No need to be their on-call tech support, so do yourself a favor and just get a Lenovo ThinkCentre with a Core i3 or AMD Quad-core APU. Do the staff a favor and choose Windows 7 Pro. Hit up the Lenovo outlet if you want to save some money.

The dual-monitor option is nice, but might be tricky for your average office worker to utilize, so I say go with the larger single-monitor option.

Depending on who is on the hook for tech support, a brand-name pc is not a bad idea. Though if you build it yourself, you can repair it with cheap off-the-shelf components. That's not something that should be overlooked. OEMs have a nasty habit of using custom designs, that can be a nightmare to get spare parts for. Both time and money wise.

I find that the one big screen vs two smaller, is a matter of personal preference. So that's a question what you and your workers prefer...

Regarding the ssd, should I be as concerned about the write speed? The pro 840 has 3x the write speed.

Both are more then fast enough for office use, so that should not matter. I would have to give the nod to the 830. It has been on the market awhile, and has a good reputation for reliability. And that's something that matters in an office environment.

 

[Torn Mind]

Good suggestions. I have thought about sourcing the builds from lev or dell but wanted to ensure they were built with quality components. I will be the owner of the practice and should be able to handle most basic IT including rig troubleshooting. Since downtime is important to avoid, I will have an older yet competent spare sitting around if needed for a quick swap. I figured that with a ssd and a quad with 8gb ram these would fly. My current home system is an e8400 4gb Kingston ssd x1900xt win7 and it does okay most of the time. I also have a amd box that I was playing with for a htpc that did not materialize. I might use that for one of the PCs.

Regarding the ssd, should I be as concerned about the write speed? The pro 840 has 3x the write speed.

Adam

The Phenom II is slightly better than the Pentium processor I suggested, but it gobbles up more power and comes at a higher price for that slight gain. Where the Phenom wins the most is in tasks that totally makes use of all 4 cores, such as video editing. I don't believe Quickbooks is very multithreaded, so you're better off saving some money. It seems like the other software you will use are ones that mostly sit idle until you input something into it, so you would not be stressing the CPU that heavily.

Increasing RAM will help a computer get faster if the current usage of programs currently manage to "stuff it full" and force the active programs to use the virtual RAM in the hard drive. But get 8GBs. With RAM prices going up, that means that they will keep some resale value as long as DDR4 remains the standard; RAM from one generation behind is pretty expensive.


Oh, and the Microcenter deal is in store only. The G2020 goes for about $65 at Amazon while the slightly faster G2120 is about $79

 

[Torn Mind]

Looks excellent. If you want to save a bit, you don't need more then a Celeron G1620 and you can drop the dvd drive. That typically never gets much use in an office pc anyway. Depending on price a cheaper B75 based MB might also be worth a look.

Well, I was thinking that the extra L3 cache and slightly higher clockspeeds might come in handy.

Yeah, he probably just needs a drive to install Windows. He could either get an external one or buy an adapter to convert an internal drive into a USB one. If he chooses the latter option, USB 2.0 much slower than a USB 3.0.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812226052

 

[oscar6]

More good suggestions. Thank you.

Good idea with the adapter. I really could do away with DVD drives.

I am still leaning toward the quad. These machines will be used for the long haul and I don't want any regrets. The price delta is not that great. I am not that concerned about the power. Machines will be on only 40-50 hrs/week. I have much great consumption elsewhere in the office and these would hardly be noticeable.

I am leaning toward the 830 SSD now.
What about the southbridge on AMD with SSD's? I am coming up with limited information, other than saying to get the 800 series or higher. Is the performance that much different from the lower southbridge models or vs intel?

B75 Motherboards with intel seem interesting.

What about temp files and swap files on the SSD? Is this still a concern? Should a cheap HDD be employed? (I would like to keep things as simple as possible for duplicity reasons.)

 

[Charlie98]

B75 Motherboards with intel seem interesting.

I have a B75 mobo with a Pentium G620 for my HTPC, it's a pretty capable pair... you should have no problem with a B75 and an IB Pentium (or even an i3) if you went there. QB and Office aren't that demanding.

An SSD is a fine idea but if there is any data you can't afford to lose, you need a backup strategy (that goes for an HDD vs SSD, either way.)

 

[oscar6]

Thanks Charlie. PCs will share a synced data folder via the "cloud". It will also be separately backed up daily on the main PC.

 

[Charlie98]

Thanks Charlie. PCs will share a synced data folder via the "cloud". It will also be separately backed up daily on the main PC.

I figured you had a plan...

 

[frozentundra123456]

Office computers need no more than a IB or SB Celeron or Pentium. Or, a Core 2 Duo E8400 is also an excellent used/refurb option. Paying for only slightly better performance is not worth it in this case.

As for the case, you'd best to just get the cheapest and unassuming "box" you can since no one is really going care too much.

Yes to SSDs. Conventional HDDs for backup storage.

Raidmax is not a PSU company I'd recommend with confidence, as Andyson is the manufacturer of most of their PSUs.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G2020 2.9GHz Dual-Core Processor ($49.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Biostar H77MU3 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($54.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: Patriot Gamer 2 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($47.98 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 830 Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($109.99 @ Mac Mall)
Case: DIYPC DIY-5823BK (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($26.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 300W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($17.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($90.91 @ Amazon)
Total: $428.81
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-27 22:59 EDT-0400)

Seasonic is one of the best PSU manufacturers and the rig probably uses under 100 watts. I chose the 830 it has developed a reputation of reliability.

+1, although if you are concerned about cpu performance, you could go with an i3, but I really dont think that is necessary.

My research lab uses office apps heavily, especially Access data base and I find no slowdowns with an E8400. The pentium would be at least that fast, and the i3 would be faster. I dont see what a phenom would really gain you for these applications. It would use more power, and has no IGP, while the apps are not multithreaded enough to fully utilize four cores.

I have gone almost totally to dual monitors and find them extremely useful for productivity applications. I dont think they are that difficult to use, anyone that can learn office software, quickbooks, etc should be able to use dual monitors. On the other hand, they take up more space than even a large single monitor, and require extra cables to be cluttering up things.

 

[mfenn]

Depending on who is on the hook for tech support, a brand-name pc is not a bad idea. Though if you build it yourself, you can repair it with cheap off-the-shelf components. That's not something that should be overlooked. OEMs have a nasty habit of using custom designs, that can be a nightmare to get spare parts for. Both time and money wise.

Parts might be hard to find for consumer laptops where a particular model will only be produced for a few months before moving on to the new hotness, but it is not true for enterprise-class desktops, workstations, and servers. Parts are guaranteed to be available first-party for 5 years, and even after that spares flood Ebay for cheap because of the massive quantities and long lifecycles of these products.

 

[mfenn]

No need to be their on-call tech support, so do yourself a favor and just get a Lenovo ThinkCentre with a Core i3 or AMD Quad-core APU. Do the staff a favor and choose Windows 7 Pro. Hit up the Lenovo outlet if you want to save some money.

Agree 100%. You want to be spending time making money (and/or treating patients), not doing tech support.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

B75 Motherboards with intel seem interesting.

Forgot...

As a bonus, the B75 also gives you access to Intel Small Business Advantage. That actually a pretty nifty piece of software.

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/small-business/small-business-collection.html

Parts might be hard to find for consumer laptops where a particular model will only be produced for a few months before moving on to the new hotness, but it is not true for enterprise-class desktops, workstations, and servers. Parts are guaranteed to be available first-party for 5 years, and even after that spares flood Ebay for cheap because of the massive quantities and long lifecycles of these products.

Its a question of temperament. Also things work a little differently in my country. Mostly due to small size. Almost every part has to be shipped in. Believe me, there are few things more frustrating then having a component fail Friday afternoon, and not being able to get a replacement for two weeks because no one has it in stock (even the OEM)... :|

 

[VirtualLarry]

I build a daily-driver rig for my mom, with a Biostar B75 mobo (the one with all solid caps), and an IB Celeron G1610. Coupled with an 80GB X25-M G2 SSD, it's blazing fast. I imagine a rig like that would rip through daily business productivity apps with ease as well.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

No need to be their on-call tech support, so do yourself a favor and just get a Lenovo ThinkCentre with a Core i3 or AMD Quad-core APU. Do the staff a favor and choose Windows 7 Pro. Hit up the Lenovo outlet if you want to save some money.

The dual-monitor option is nice, but might be tricky for your average office worker to utilize, so I say go with the larger single-monitor option.

look at those prices on the "scratch and dents" in his second link. ("scratch and dent still means "unused" right?). theys sellin' i3 fa $292. i doubt you could build somethin' like dat. or even a pintium, fa dat price. you wouldnt even have to buy memory. i dont need any computas right now but if i did id git acoupla doze

 

[OBLAMA2009]

Agree 100%. You want to be spending time making money (and/or treating patients), not doing tech support.

sheet--esp. intel--is really durable these days. a coupla years ago i built a buncha core 2 era pentiums with cheapo boards for our office, theyve been up 24 hours a days for years and all work fine and will probably be replaced long before they die. sometime i wish they would die so id have an excuse to go buy some new stuff. i built them at the right time, a year or so before core i came out so all the bugs in the cpus/chipsets had been worked out

 

[oscar6]

Small Business Advantage looks interesting. What chipsets can be used? The USB blocker and sending wireless content to another display look particularly intriguing.

If I were to get the PCs assembled, there would likely be nearly as much inconvenience by having to call companies, wait for repairmen, etc. I'd rather, just quickly swap the PC for another and quickly troubleshoot the PC at my leisure or take to a local diagnostics shop to identify the faulty hardware. If it is a software issue, I'll just reimage. I just don't understand why going with dell/lenevo would be any better, especially if I were to choose good quality hardware.

 

[Sleepingforest]

If I were to get the PCs assembled, there would likely be nearly as much inconvenience by having to call companies, wait for repairmen, etc. I'd rather, just quickly swap the PC for another and quickly troubleshoot the PC at my leisure or take to a local diagnostics shop to identify the faulty hardware. If it is a software issue, I'll just reimage. I just don't understand why going with dell/lenevo would be any better, especially if I were to choose good quality hardware.

I assure you that troubleshooting is often neither quick nor easy. It's often actually easiest (but most expensive) to just get next-day support from an OEM.

 

[oscar6]

The G2020 with a B75 looks like a low cost, low power, medium performance and an easy to upgrade option.

 

[Torn Mind]

More good suggestions. Thank you.

Good idea with the adapter. I really could do away with DVD drives.

I am still leaning toward the quad. These machines will be used for the long haul and I don't want any regrets. The price delta is not that great. I am not that concerned about the power. Machines will be on only 40-50 hrs/week. I have much great consumption elsewhere in the office and these would hardly be noticeable.

You might need a different one since the USB port might not supply enough power by itself.

The quad core won't last much longer than the Pentium, but business apps are not quite that demanding, so either should last a long time.

http://anandtech.com/bench/Product/102?vs=404
The Phenom II actually does worse in the Sysmark Productivity benchmark. Note this is the G850, so the scores are very slightly lower than what the G2020 would have.

 

[Ketchup]

Good suggestions in here, I only wanted to add a couple things. Since you have admitted that you are comfortable with Windows 7, make sure the computers in the office have 7. If you do want to be tech support, you want an OS you are familiar with, not one that has taken such a leap in the UI. The employees will probably appreciate this as well.

The Lenovo route is a very good one. Buy the time you pay for a copy of 7 for each machine, you aren't saving much, and if the machines you buy have a decent amount of RAM (8 GB has always performed well for me), an SSD would be more of a luxury than a necessity.

At the end of the day, you will save yourself much valuable time and could end up having fewer issues than you would have the other way (bad parts, etc).

 

[Gunbuster]

Business line Dell. Good warranty with a single point of contact for repair and driver/BIOS updates.

 

[Insomniator]

Buy Dell's with support.

There is no such thing as non-quality components... besides maybe a PSU. The cpu/mobo/ram/hdd in a dell have just a good a chance of failing as your off the shelf part.