Not so long ago, we have already brought to your attention a couple of inexpensive game assemblies. But what if you don't need a gaming computer? You may not like games, or you may already have a game console at home. In this case, it makes no sense for you to spend money on assembling a full-fledged gaming computer and you should limit yourself to a simple PC for office programs, web surfing and watching movies. Let's try to assemble a computer for home and office.
Criterias of choice
When choosing components for a working PC, you must proceed from two main parameters: budget and sufficient performance. We decided to prepare two PC assemblies, one of which will fit into the budget of 20,000 rubles, and the other – 30,000 rubles (excluding the cost of the monitor and peripherals – keyboard, mouse, printer).
When working with text information and surfing the Internet, a large amount of RAM is not required, especially since when using an SSD, almost all information is dumped into a fast cache on a medium, and not into RAM.
The motherboard should also not have unnecessary functions, but it is necessary that it be reliable and durable, for which the material of electrolytic capacitors is usually responsible. In budget models, they are most often the reason for the early failure of the board. Requirements for the board also include an HDMI output so that you can connect your computer to a large TV to watch a movie at home if necessary.
We collect an office / home computer for 20,000 rubles: optimal components
The power supply must be sufficient to ensure the smooth operation of the entire system, but it must also provide reliable operation, low noise and durability. In addition, the power supply must have enough connectors for connecting hard drives.
As a system drive, it is better to have a solid state drive with a capacity of 240 GB or higher. For data storage, in fact, any HDD with a capacity of 1 TB or more is suitable. Hard drives are more reliable and can recover data in the event of an unexpected system crash.
We assemble an office / home computer for 20,000 rubles: optimal components As for the case, there are no special requirements for it – it should be convenient enough not only in terms of everyday use, for example, for connecting flash drives on the front panel, but also for servicing internal PC components, i.e. have easy access to components.
CPU
As we said, we have prepared several assemblies of an inexpensive home computer. The first of them provides for the use of the budget AMD Athlon 200GE processor. Of course, there is no need to expect any special feats from a processor costing about 5,000 rubles. Nevertheless, this is a perfectly balanced 2-core APU with integrated Vega 3 graphics, the performance of which is enough for word processing, watching movies, surfing the web, and even simple games.
If your budget is not so tight, we recommend looking at the much more interesting AMD Ryzen 3 3200G for 14,000 rubles. This 4-core processor uses much faster Vega 8 graphics, suitable also for HD gaming with a fairly comfortable FPS. Well, he copes with office programs and web surfing just with a bang.
Both processors have integrated graphics, so we don't have to spend money on a discrete graphics card. Moreover, for a home / office PC, this is absolutely unnecessary luxury.
RAM
If you have chosen the AMD Athlon 200GE processor, we will continue to save further. A home / office PC does not need to have a lot of RAM. Therefore, we decided to install only 4 GB of AMD DDR4 2133 RAM in it. Later, you can increase its volume to 8 GB by purchasing an additional bracket of the same series. In the meantime, this acquisition will cost you only 1,560 rubles.
When buying an AMD Ryzen 3 3200G, using 4GB of RAM doesn't seem like such a good idea anymore. And we decided to “be generous” a little by including an 8 GB Crucial DDR4-2666 bar in the assembly. But remember that due to the use of integrated graphics, this solution can only be called a temporary compromise. And in order to realize the full potential of this APU, in the future you will need to upgrade the assembly with another RAM module capable of working with Crucial DDR4-2666 in 2-channel mode.
Motherboard
Here we did not highlight any one assembly. ASRok A320M-HDV R4.0 motherboard is perfect for each APU model we select. This motherboard, although it does not have any unique features, is highly reliable due to the use of solid capacitors and ASRock Full Spike Protection technology, which protects its components from sudden power surges.
With all this, the motherboard has a very affordable price tag of 3820 rubles, so it doesn't make much sense to look for something even more inexpensive. And it provides all the necessary functions of an office / home PC in full, including the HDMI output so much needed by many to connect a TV.
Storage devices
If your budget is tight, then you can easily do without using a solid state drive, limiting yourself to one hard drive. This approach is quite applicable when using an assembly on an AMD Athlon 200GE processor. But we would not really advise saving on such a component of the system – when using an SSD, the speed of the computer increases many times, which can be clearly seen even by the boot time of the operating system.
We recommend using the ADATA Ultimate SU650 as a system SSD. Of course, the speed of a SATA SSD cannot be compared to M.2 drives with a PCIe 3.0 interface, and even more so PCIe 4.0. But it is quite suitable for a home computer, helping to save some more money. Well, the reliability of this drive does not cause any complaints at all.
If you plan on using your computer to store movies, photos and other content, then you definitely cannot do without a hard drive. The best choice here is the Western Digital WD10EZEX with a volume of 1 TB. This is a time-tested classic, known for its reliability, and you don't need more from the HDD.
Power Supply
None of the assemblies we have prepared has any high power consumption. Therefore, the main criteria when choosing a power supply for a PC were its reliability and low price. There are a lot of such power supplies, but in the end we opted for a very inexpensive Chieftec ELP-400S with a power of 400 watts. The power supply is characterized by quiet operation, high reliability and excellent performance for its price.
Frame
Despite its compact size, ExeGate BAA-108 offers two 2.5 “drive bays and three 3.5” drive bays. It has the ability to install two additional 120×120 mm fans, and on the front panel of the case is the entire set of ports, including two USB connectors and headphone and microphone outputs.
As for the design of the case, there are no special delicacies – the usual, austere appearance, equally well suited for home and office.
Outcomes
As a result, we got two PC builds. One of them, worth 17,500 rubles, can easily cope with office programs, web surfing and watching movies, while the other will cost 30,700 rubles and, among other things, will allow you to take your heart out in not the most demanding games.
Assembly number 1
- AMD Athlon 200GE: 5063 rub.
- AMD 4GB DDR4 2133MHz DIMM: 1560 rubles.
- ASRok A320M-HDV R4.0: 3820 rub.
- Western Digital WD Blue 1 TB WD10EZEX: 2970 rub.
- Chieftec ELP-400S: 2732 rub.
- ExeGate BAA-108 Black: 1450 rub.
Total: 17 595 rubles.
Build number 2
- AMD Ryzen 3 3200G: 13 890 rubles.
- Crucial 8GB DDR4 2666: 3130 rubles.
- ASRok A320M-HDV R4.0: 3820 rub.
- ADATA Ultimate SU650 240GB: 2700 rubles.
- Western Digital WD Blue 1 TB WD10EZEX: 2970 rub.
- Chieftec ELP-400S: 2732 rub.
- ExeGate BAA-108 Black: 1450 rub.
Total: 30692 rubles.
Read also:
- Putting together a gaming computer: inexpensive but powerful
- All in one: the best all-in-ones for different tasks
