MariosX Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Hello I would like to build a PC which will have everything, PC, monitor, keyboard & mouse and wi-fi I will use it mainly for Microsoft Office, Access mostly which will have a very basic & small database and some joomla template website testing. Because I would like it only for the jobs above I do not need anything expensive or extreme, I am not going to use it for Movies or Gaming only for the jobs above. At the moment I have built a PC which will cost roughly 400 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindovermaster Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Raspberry needs ARM software, IIRC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Norris Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 If it's just for MS Office and experimenting with Joomla in a browser you won't need much of a machine to handle it; 2013 only officially requires 1GHz and SSE2 with a minimum of 1GB memory, get an older version and you can go even lower.. got 2007 running on an old junker that's an old 900MHz POS just fine.. the browser would probably be your biggest consumer of memory, but *shrug* that's pocket change nowadays anyway. A C2D or FX6300 will have no issues with that.. my daughter's machine is an FX6300 OC'd to 4.5GHz and it just chews most stuff up without breaking a sweat, even most games. Can't comment on the miniature boxs, although as mentioned above the Pi 2 is still an ARM processor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGHammer Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Raspberry needs ARM software, IIRC. However, the Pi 2 does not - it can run the Technical Preview today. If you are looking for a more traditional PC form-factor, take what you would use for a typical PC upgrade (in terms of hardware) from 2007 - all of it, in fact, will do. What we keep forgetting is that hardware requirements for Windows (and most of the applications there - even, if not especially Office) have been, in fact, flat since the launch of Vista. (I have a legacy notebook from that period running 10 Technical Preview for Enterprises and Office 2013 right now - both in x64, no less. The only relative quibble is the 150GB SATA HDD - which a not-exactly-pricey 500GB SSD easily fixes (and boosts performance as well).) An example of older CPUs and chipsets in combo that can easily handle the task are a tag-team of - don't laugh - Intel Celeron E3400 and Intel G41 (Eagle Lake) No, that's NOT nuts - despite not being a powerhouse at all, G41 has several things going for it. 1. G41 supports all the Core 2 processors in LGA775 (and derivatives that use the same LGA), from Celeron DC E3400 to Core 2 Quad QX6800. My current motherboard is G41-based; while it has a Q6600 today, it originally had an E3400 mounted; the drivers for the changeup were virtualization and gaming - not Office. 2. There are both DDR2 and DDR3-driven versions of motherboards with the chipset. Despite all being mATX (great for small-form-factor cases), most still support a single PCI Express x16 slot, so you can have decent graphics in there. 3. G41 is not an overclocker - at all. That is because G41 (like the rest of G4x) is a CSM (Consumer Stable Model AKA Corporate Stable Model) chipset aimed at cube farms - more stable than cement. (For that reason, seriously consider auctions of either "pulls" with the motherboard that suits your needs, or even whole PCs - and just replace what needs replacing. Your wallet will thank you.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouettus Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 get a used computer off craigslist or something. my daily driver is a core 2 duo from 9 years ago and no hiccups on anything! (4gb of ram). I even transcode video (albeit slow) and do mild photoshop with it. max norris is right. don't bother with a new computer for that. save yourself some money and be good for the environment with a used one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Fahim S. MVC Posted February 10, 2015 MVC Share Posted February 10, 2015 get a used computer off craigslist or something. my daily driver is a core 2 duo from 9 years ago and no hiccups on anything! (4gb of ram). I even transcode video (albeit slow) and do mild photoshop with it. max norris is right. don't bother with a new computer for that. save yourself some money and be good for the environment with a used one. Modern machines are also kind to the environment, but in a different way. They use a whole lot less power than a 9 year old desktop would, especially a NUC, Brix or something similar that use a laptop style power brick. I only bring this up because it is the reason I recently upgraded my 7 year old daily driver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouettus Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Modern machines are also kind to the environment, but in a different way. They use a whole lot less power than a 9 year old desktop would, especially a NUC, Brix or something similar that use a laptop style power brick. I only bring this up because it is the reason I recently upgraded my 7 year old daily driver. What's better for the environment. a tdp of 15 watts instead of 65 or a computer on a landfill? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freak180 Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 lol i wouldnt mind selling you a copy of Office with your new build lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Fahim S. MVC Posted February 10, 2015 MVC Share Posted February 10, 2015 What's better for the environment. a tdp of 15 watts instead of 65 or a computer on a landfill? Really depends on what time period. Reality is that TDP doesn't specify how much a machine uses, just the maximum heat the processor will generate if you kick the bejeesus out of it. An average Core 2 Duo desktop will use about 50W when idling (about 100W at full tilt). A Celeron NUC will use about 4W when idling (about 10W at full tilt). The desktop experience between them will be about the same. An i5 NUC will use 6W when idling and 30W at full throttle. Considering our computers spend more time idling than running at full throttle, especially whilst doing mundane stuff such as office work, or browsing. The amount of the computer that gets thrown away can also be minimised, by using it for spares or recycling various parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+E.Worm Jimmy Subscriber¹ Posted February 10, 2015 Subscriber¹ Share Posted February 10, 2015 if it was me i would get a small factor PC along the lines of those two https://www.neowin.net/news/hp-unveils-stream-and-pavilion-mini-pcs or something similar. depending on how much HDD space and RAM you need. if you don't care about the looks, i would get a used PC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindovermaster Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 However, the Pi 2 does not - it can run the Technical Preview today. Tell me where you see that. It still has an ARM processor. http://www.raspberrypi.org/raspberry-pi-2-on-sale/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strollin Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 However, the Pi 2 does not - it can run the Technical Preview today. ... Nope. MS has stated that they will have a version of Win 10 that will run on the PI 2 but the little machine will NOT run the TP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick H. Supervisor Posted February 10, 2015 Supervisor Share Posted February 10, 2015 Tell me where you see that. It still has an ARM processor. http://www.raspberrypi.org/raspberry-pi-2-on-sale/ Raspberry Pi 2 can run Windows 10 - or at least they are working towards the idea: Because it has an ARMv7 processor, it can run the full range of ARM GNU/Linux distributions, including Snappy Ubuntu Core, as well as Microsoft Windows 10. Source (which is your source.) At the same time, there is Office for ARM tablets. While I can't comment on the comparison between that version and the normal Office, it's still possible to implement from what I can see. EDIT: Strollin has offered a comment before me, although I see no sources. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beanboy89 Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Should be able to find just about any PC to run this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daorbed9 Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 However, the Pi 2 does not - it can run the Technical Preview today. If you are looking for a more traditional PC form-factor, take what you would use for a typical PC upgrade (in terms of hardware) from 2007 - all of it, in fact, will do. What we keep forgetting is that hardware requirements for Windows (and most of the applications there - even, if not especially Office) have been, in fact, flat since the launch of Vista. (I have a legacy notebook from that period running 10 Technical Preview for Enterprises and Office 2013 right now - both in x64, no less. The only relative quibble is the 150GB SATA HDD - which a not-exactly-pricey 500GB SSD easily fixes (and boosts performance as well).) An example of older CPUs and chipsets in combo that can easily handle the task are a tag-team of - don't laugh - Intel Celeron E3400 and Intel G41 (Eagle Lake) No, that's NOT nuts - despite not being a powerhouse at all, G41 has several things going for it. 1. G41 supports all the Core 2 processors in LGA775 (and derivatives that use the same LGA), from Celeron DC E3400 to Core 2 Quad QX6800. My current motherboard is G41-based; while it has a Q6600 today, it originally had an E3400 mounted; the drivers for the changeup were virtualization and gaming - not Office. 2. There are both DDR2 and DDR3-driven versions of motherboards with the chipset. Despite all being mATX (great for small-form-factor cases), most still support a single PCI Express x16 slot, so you can have decent graphics in there. 3. G41 is not an overclocker - at all. That is because G41 (like the rest of G4x) is a CSM (Consumer Stable Model AKA Corporate Stable Model) chipset aimed at cube farms - more stable than cement. (For that reason, seriously consider auctions of either "pulls" with the motherboard that suits your needs, or even whole PCs - and just replace what needs replacing. Your wallet will thank you.) Anything Core2 based is a bad investment IMO. Way too many died from premature cap death. They are still failing. Early Core i based stuff would be a much better option. Also the IO sucks in those Core2 chipsets. +E.Worm Jimmy 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aergan Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Been using a Linx 10 for the last month which is more or less a tablet version of the PIPO X7 (or same as a PIPO W1). No complaints so far for the Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rfirth Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Your cheapest option is to just go out and buy a 7 inch x86 Windows 8.1 tablet. You can buy an HP Stream 7 directly from Microsoft for only $79. Plug that into an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse. goretsky and +E.Worm Jimmy 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
binaryzero Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Buy at least an i-series chip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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