Hey everyone! I'm planning to build a PC for my dad with a budget of around $600. He mainly uses it for office work, but I want to make sure it's somewhat future-proof as well. His top priority is having a PC that boots up really quickly, haha! I'm looking to buy most of the parts used from eBay, so I'm okay with getting older components as long as I get good value. I'm also considering getting him a 120Hz monitor at a high resolution. I have a couple of questions:
Should I go for Intel or AMD for the CPU? I was thinking about an i5 or i7, but I've heard AMD might be the better option these days. Reliability is key for me. Also, do I need a dedicated graphics card to support a high refresh rate monitor, or will integrated graphics be sufficient?
I've got the rest, like RAM, storage, and cooling, mostly figured out, but I'm open to any suggestions or things I should watch out for since it's been a while since I built a PC. Thanks!
1 Answer
For a quick-booting office PC, I'd recommend picking up a modern mini PC with an NVMe SSD. The latest hardware reduces the chances of Microsoft dropping support in the future, and you'll have the best hardware acceleration for any tasks that might come up. Plus, those high-clock CPUs and speedy storage make for some seriously fast boot times! Personally, I’ve stopped building low-intensity PCs for family since mini PCs offer great performance and cost-effectiveness now.
I didn’t consider mini PCs seriously before, but I’ll look into them now. Why do you prefer them over traditional towers, though? Isn't cooling an issue?
I agree. Mini PCs are definitely the way to go.