We need a new desktop computer and have been wanting to build it myself. I've never done it before but it can't be too hard and I'd like to know how to do it. The computer will be for running a home office with a lot of different business programs. I want it to be fast with plenty of memory and not having to wait when running multiple programs. I want it to be less than $500. Help? Thoughts?
Can someone help me build a desktop computer?
- Thread starter volk06
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With a budget of $500, you are very limited. You want fast and plenty of memory....$500 won't cut it.
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The best thing you can do to make it snappy is by using an SSD. I've seen far too many custom and overbuilt desktop computers get slowed down with a 7200 RPM hard drive. You can configure a system using both an SSD and a platter drive if you need the space.
Check out the Intel NUC or one of its competitors such as the Gigabyte Brix. The Brix runs about $10 less and comes with a WiFi card while the WiFi has to be bought separately on the NUC. The Brix is available with an i7 processor, while the NUCs are only available up to an i5.
Newegg.com or B & H photo would be good sites to buy from. An i3 NUC plus RAM, SSD and Windows 7 or 8 should run less than $500.
I built an i3 NUC desktop last July for $585: 8GB RAM; 128GB SSD; 500GB HDD; Cherry wired mouse & keyboard; USB3 Hub; and DisplayPort adaptor.
BITOG user Quattropete just built an i5 NUC media center, he has posted a couple of times about it in the computer section of this forum.
I would stay away from Atom or Celeron type processors, there is such a thing as too cheap.
Newegg.com or B & H photo would be good sites to buy from. An i3 NUC plus RAM, SSD and Windows 7 or 8 should run less than $500.
I built an i3 NUC desktop last July for $585: 8GB RAM; 128GB SSD; 500GB HDD; Cherry wired mouse & keyboard; USB3 Hub; and DisplayPort adaptor.
BITOG user Quattropete just built an i5 NUC media center, he has posted a couple of times about it in the computer section of this forum.
I would stay away from Atom or Celeron type processors, there is such a thing as too cheap.
Rosewill challenger ATX case $49
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200rpm $59
Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H FM2+/FM2 AMD A88X micro ATX AMD motherboard $75
Rosewill capstone 450W Gold $59.99
G Skill Sniper 8GB (2x4bg) 240pin DDR3 1866 $81.99
AMD athlong x4 750 Trinity quad core 3.4ghz FM2 100w processor $79.99
MSI R7720-1GD5 Radeon HD 7730 1gb 128 bit GDDR5 PCI express 3.0 $69.99
asus xonar DG 5.1 PCI sound card $27.99
asus DRW-24B1ST/blk SATA 24X dvd burner $19.99
Not knowing anything I did a little research and went off to newegg. How does this system look, it costs roughly $525. What am i missing or what looks bad?
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200rpm $59
Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H FM2+/FM2 AMD A88X micro ATX AMD motherboard $75
Rosewill capstone 450W Gold $59.99
G Skill Sniper 8GB (2x4bg) 240pin DDR3 1866 $81.99
AMD athlong x4 750 Trinity quad core 3.4ghz FM2 100w processor $79.99
MSI R7720-1GD5 Radeon HD 7730 1gb 128 bit GDDR5 PCI express 3.0 $69.99
asus xonar DG 5.1 PCI sound card $27.99
asus DRW-24B1ST/blk SATA 24X dvd burner $19.99
Not knowing anything I did a little research and went off to newegg. How does this system look, it costs roughly $525. What am i missing or what looks bad?
Best Buy, Tiger Direct, or even Amazon. Why "built" (really - plug in) what someone can sell you more cheaply, and you know will work. How does one compete with a company which buys hard drives by the semi load? (Apology to Mark Twain) The many heathkits I banged together over the years didn't save me much money, I bought then because they made a number of good things as kits which were NOT sold by anyone else, built or otherwise.
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Originally Posted By: volk06
Rosewill challenger ATX case $49
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200rpm $59
Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H FM2+/FM2 AMD A88X micro ATX AMD motherboard $75
Rosewill capstone 450W Gold $59.99
G Skill Sniper 8GB (2x4bg) 240pin DDR3 1866 $81.99
AMD athlong x4 750 Trinity quad core 3.4ghz FM2 100w processor $79.99
MSI R7720-1GD5 Radeon HD 7730 1gb 128 bit GDDR5 PCI express 3.0 $69.99
asus xonar DG 5.1 PCI sound card $27.99
asus DRW-24B1ST/blk SATA 24X dvd burner $19.99
Not knowing anything I did a little research and went off to newegg. How does this system look, it costs roughly $525. What am i missing or what looks bad?
Looks good to me. Check, recheck and check again the reviews on each component so you don't get a bum one.
If you are looking for speed consider getting a SSD. The end result to you: a 1.5 GHz processor with a SSD will be faster than a 3+ GHz processor with a HDD.
If you are going to run Windows consider getting 16 GB of RAM or buy a single 8 GB stick and buy a second 8 GB stick later if you really need it. Buying a 2 x 4 RAM kit locks you in to 8 GB if you are a cheapskate like me.
Rosewill challenger ATX case $49
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200rpm $59
Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H FM2+/FM2 AMD A88X micro ATX AMD motherboard $75
Rosewill capstone 450W Gold $59.99
G Skill Sniper 8GB (2x4bg) 240pin DDR3 1866 $81.99
AMD athlong x4 750 Trinity quad core 3.4ghz FM2 100w processor $79.99
MSI R7720-1GD5 Radeon HD 7730 1gb 128 bit GDDR5 PCI express 3.0 $69.99
asus xonar DG 5.1 PCI sound card $27.99
asus DRW-24B1ST/blk SATA 24X dvd burner $19.99
Not knowing anything I did a little research and went off to newegg. How does this system look, it costs roughly $525. What am i missing or what looks bad?
Looks good to me. Check, recheck and check again the reviews on each component so you don't get a bum one.
If you are looking for speed consider getting a SSD. The end result to you: a 1.5 GHz processor with a SSD will be faster than a 3+ GHz processor with a HDD.
If you are going to run Windows consider getting 16 GB of RAM or buy a single 8 GB stick and buy a second 8 GB stick later if you really need it. Buying a 2 x 4 RAM kit locks you in to 8 GB if you are a cheapskate like me.
Originally Posted By: Cardenio327
Originally Posted By: volk06
Rosewill challenger ATX case $49
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200rpm $59
Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H FM2+/FM2 AMD A88X micro ATX AMD motherboard $75
Rosewill capstone 450W Gold $59.99
G Skill Sniper 8GB (2x4bg) 240pin DDR3 1866 $81.99
AMD athlong x4 750 Trinity quad core 3.4ghz FM2 100w processor $79.99
MSI R7720-1GD5 Radeon HD 7730 1gb 128 bit GDDR5 PCI express 3.0 $69.99
asus xonar DG 5.1 PCI sound card $27.99
asus DRW-24B1ST/blk SATA 24X dvd burner $19.99
Not knowing anything I did a little research and went off to newegg. How does this system look, it costs roughly $525. What am i missing or what looks bad?
Looks good to me. Check, recheck and check again the reviews on each component so you don't get a bum one.
If you are looking for speed consider getting a SSD. The end result to you: a 1.5 GHz processor with a SSD will be faster than a 3+ GHz processor with a HDD.
If you are going to run Windows consider getting 16 GB of RAM or buy a single 8 GB stick and buy a second 8 GB stick later if you really need it. Buying a 2 x 4 RAM kit locks you in to 8 GB if you are a cheapskate like me.
Is a 2x4gb better than a 1x8gb? Could I upgrade to 2x8gb in the future if I wanted to?
will be running windows 7.
Originally Posted By: volk06
Rosewill challenger ATX case $49
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200rpm $59
Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H FM2+/FM2 AMD A88X micro ATX AMD motherboard $75
Rosewill capstone 450W Gold $59.99
G Skill Sniper 8GB (2x4bg) 240pin DDR3 1866 $81.99
AMD athlong x4 750 Trinity quad core 3.4ghz FM2 100w processor $79.99
MSI R7720-1GD5 Radeon HD 7730 1gb 128 bit GDDR5 PCI express 3.0 $69.99
asus xonar DG 5.1 PCI sound card $27.99
asus DRW-24B1ST/blk SATA 24X dvd burner $19.99
Not knowing anything I did a little research and went off to newegg. How does this system look, it costs roughly $525. What am i missing or what looks bad?
Looks good to me. Check, recheck and check again the reviews on each component so you don't get a bum one.
If you are looking for speed consider getting a SSD. The end result to you: a 1.5 GHz processor with a SSD will be faster than a 3+ GHz processor with a HDD.
If you are going to run Windows consider getting 16 GB of RAM or buy a single 8 GB stick and buy a second 8 GB stick later if you really need it. Buying a 2 x 4 RAM kit locks you in to 8 GB if you are a cheapskate like me.
Is a 2x4gb better than a 1x8gb? Could I upgrade to 2x8gb in the future if I wanted to?
will be running windows 7.
Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Best Buy, Tiger Direct, or even Amazon. Why "built" (really - plug in) what someone can sell you more cheaply, and you know will work. How does one compete with a company which buys hard drives by the semi load? (Apology to Mark Twain) The many heathkits I banged together over the years didn't save me much money, I bought then because they made a number of good things as kits which were NOT sold by anyone else, built or otherwise.
Heathkits? Man, you are dating yourself.
Best Buy, Tiger Direct, or even Amazon. Why "built" (really - plug in) what someone can sell you more cheaply, and you know will work. How does one compete with a company which buys hard drives by the semi load? (Apology to Mark Twain) The many heathkits I banged together over the years didn't save me much money, I bought then because they made a number of good things as kits which were NOT sold by anyone else, built or otherwise.
Heathkits? Man, you are dating yourself.
If I went with a SSD would I need to change my whole system or are HDD and SSD interchange able?
It seems the HDD has a lot more memory for the price? 1 TB vs around 120 or 250gb for a SSD?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147247&cm_re=ssd-_-20-147-247-_-Product
It seems for my budget the HDD would be a better option?
It seems the HDD has a lot more memory for the price? 1 TB vs around 120 or 250gb for a SSD?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147247&cm_re=ssd-_-20-147-247-_-Product
It seems for my budget the HDD would be a better option?
Originally Posted By: KevGuy
With a budget of $500, you are very limited. You want fast and plenty of memory....$500 won't cut it.
I built a home machine for around 700 back in 2003, that was with a new "tall" case tower. If he reuses the case and power supply he can hit the 500 mark.
With a budget of $500, you are very limited. You want fast and plenty of memory....$500 won't cut it.
I built a home machine for around 700 back in 2003, that was with a new "tall" case tower. If he reuses the case and power supply he can hit the 500 mark.
Frankly, the benefit of a SSD can be lessened by putting the extra $$ into physical RAM.
A computer accesses the HD for data and programs; the # of times it needs to do this is directly related to the amount of physical RAM the machine has. If you can load everything into memory at one time you are going to be using for the day's work, the SSD almost becomes irrelevant.
Not disputing the benefits of SSD; it is just a matter of approach.
My home machine has 16Gb RAM; an SSD is no where to be seen.
It is a costly option for what can be categorized as "program startup costs"; Really depends of the workload and 'what you are doing"
A computer accesses the HD for data and programs; the # of times it needs to do this is directly related to the amount of physical RAM the machine has. If you can load everything into memory at one time you are going to be using for the day's work, the SSD almost becomes irrelevant.
Not disputing the benefits of SSD; it is just a matter of approach.
My home machine has 16Gb RAM; an SSD is no where to be seen.
It is a costly option for what can be categorized as "program startup costs"; Really depends of the workload and 'what you are doing"
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Originally Posted By: volk06
If I went with a SSD would I need to change my whole system or are HDD and SSD interchange able?
It seems the HDD has a lot more memory for the price? 1 TB vs around 120 or 250gb for a SSD?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147247&cm_re=ssd-_-20-147-247-_-Product
The only thing that you need to make sure of is that you have a 6.0gbps SATA slot on the motherboard you purchase, otherwise you won't see much of a benefit with an SSD. Plus there may be a quick configuration of the BIOS. FWIW, anyone that says you can't get a fast computer for less than $500 for work applications, is full of it, unless you have to buy all the software too. I have never spent more than $500 on my custom builds.
If you don't want a fancy case, or overspend on a power supply that you don't need, you will be fine. Oh, lets not forget that people spend money on a video card, which is more often the most expensive part, when they don't even need to use anything more than the on-board graphics. If you aren't gaming or watching 1080p movies on a 70" TV, stick with a motherboard that has on-board HDMI and your machine will be fine.
As far as speed, make you sure have plenty of RAM. If you are running 64-bit or even 32-bit, 16GB will be plenty. Doesn't hurt to get more if you find it cheap enough within your budget, and don't buy gaming ram. You don't need heatsinks on your sticks. Get multiple good fans instead -- Much cheaper.
Power supply -- you don't need to even spend $75 to get a good one. Thermaltake, Corsair, and Antec all available on Newegg/Microcenter/Fry's, and are all good for budget builds.
FWIW, you can get performance out of your HDD's by setting up a software RAID. I run a single 120gb SSD for my system drive, everything else is on a 1TB RAID (2 x 500GB HDD's), which also gives you protection from lost data if you were to ever have a system crash due to Viruses or similar. Reinstall the OS on the system drive and voila! All your data is still there.
Get multiple memory sticks. Threading is important to performance. It's better to pull half as much ram from each stick than to pull the full amount from one.
Are you buying your OS or do you have other means of getting it?
If I went with a SSD would I need to change my whole system or are HDD and SSD interchange able?
It seems the HDD has a lot more memory for the price? 1 TB vs around 120 or 250gb for a SSD?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147247&cm_re=ssd-_-20-147-247-_-Product
The only thing that you need to make sure of is that you have a 6.0gbps SATA slot on the motherboard you purchase, otherwise you won't see much of a benefit with an SSD. Plus there may be a quick configuration of the BIOS. FWIW, anyone that says you can't get a fast computer for less than $500 for work applications, is full of it, unless you have to buy all the software too. I have never spent more than $500 on my custom builds.
If you don't want a fancy case, or overspend on a power supply that you don't need, you will be fine. Oh, lets not forget that people spend money on a video card, which is more often the most expensive part, when they don't even need to use anything more than the on-board graphics. If you aren't gaming or watching 1080p movies on a 70" TV, stick with a motherboard that has on-board HDMI and your machine will be fine.
As far as speed, make you sure have plenty of RAM. If you are running 64-bit or even 32-bit, 16GB will be plenty. Doesn't hurt to get more if you find it cheap enough within your budget, and don't buy gaming ram. You don't need heatsinks on your sticks. Get multiple good fans instead -- Much cheaper.
Power supply -- you don't need to even spend $75 to get a good one. Thermaltake, Corsair, and Antec all available on Newegg/Microcenter/Fry's, and are all good for budget builds.
FWIW, you can get performance out of your HDD's by setting up a software RAID. I run a single 120gb SSD for my system drive, everything else is on a 1TB RAID (2 x 500GB HDD's), which also gives you protection from lost data if you were to ever have a system crash due to Viruses or similar. Reinstall the OS on the system drive and voila! All your data is still there.
Get multiple memory sticks. Threading is important to performance. It's better to pull half as much ram from each stick than to pull the full amount from one.
Are you buying your OS or do you have other means of getting it?
I would get a small 128 GB SSD for the operating system, and then get the regular HDD for everything else. You can get the Sandisk ultra plus for about $60 on newegg last I looked. I got that SSD a few months ago, and I would never go back to not having it. It was night and day on my laptop. Great SSD for a nice price.
Edit: Here is the link:
Here it is on amazon
It looks like it went up in price since I got it, now it seems to be cheaper on amazon.
Edit: Here is the link:
Here it is on amazon
It looks like it went up in price since I got it, now it seems to be cheaper on amazon.
Originally Posted By: lugNutz
Originally Posted By: volk06
If I went with a SSD would I need to change my whole system or are HDD and SSD interchange able?
It seems the HDD has a lot more memory for the price? 1 TB vs around 120 or 250gb for a SSD?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147247&cm_re=ssd-_-20-147-247-_-Product
The only thing that you need to make sure of is that you have a 6.0gbps SATA slot on the motherboard you purchase, otherwise you won't see much of a benefit with an SSD. Plus there may be a quick configuration of the BIOS. FWIW, anyone that says you can't get a fast computer for less than $500 for work applications, is full of it, unless you have to buy all the software too. I have never spent more than $500 on my custom builds.
If you don't want a fancy case, or overspend on a power supply that you don't need, you will be fine. Oh, lets not forget that people spend money on a video card, which is more often the most expensive part, when they don't even need to use anything more than the on-board graphics. If you aren't gaming or watching 1080p movies on a 70" TV, stick with a motherboard that has on-board HDMI and your machine will be fine.
As far as speed, make you sure have plenty of RAM. If you are running 64-bit or even 32-bit, 16GB will be plenty. Doesn't hurt to get more if you find it cheap enough within your budget, and don't buy gaming ram. You don't need heatsinks on your sticks. Get multiple good fans instead -- Much cheaper.
Power supply -- you don't need to even spend $75 to get a good one. Thermaltake, Corsair, and Antec all available on Newegg/Microcenter/Fry's, and are all good for budget builds.
FWIW, you can get performance out of your HDD's by setting up a software RAID. I run a single 120gb SSD for my system drive, everything else is on a 1TB RAID (2 x 500GB HDD's), which also gives you protection from lost data if you were to ever have a system crash due to Viruses or similar. Reinstall the OS on the system drive and voila! All your data is still there.
Get multiple memory sticks. Threading is important to performance. It's better to pull half as much ram from each stick than to pull the full amount from one.
Are you buying your OS or do you have other means of getting it?
My uncle has the OS software. He could build it for me but I want to do it myself. How do you set up the smaller SSD and the have the HDD RAID split up in case of a crash or virus? Was planning on windows 7 but open to others, have no experience with linux
Originally Posted By: volk06
If I went with a SSD would I need to change my whole system or are HDD and SSD interchange able?
It seems the HDD has a lot more memory for the price? 1 TB vs around 120 or 250gb for a SSD?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147247&cm_re=ssd-_-20-147-247-_-Product
The only thing that you need to make sure of is that you have a 6.0gbps SATA slot on the motherboard you purchase, otherwise you won't see much of a benefit with an SSD. Plus there may be a quick configuration of the BIOS. FWIW, anyone that says you can't get a fast computer for less than $500 for work applications, is full of it, unless you have to buy all the software too. I have never spent more than $500 on my custom builds.
If you don't want a fancy case, or overspend on a power supply that you don't need, you will be fine. Oh, lets not forget that people spend money on a video card, which is more often the most expensive part, when they don't even need to use anything more than the on-board graphics. If you aren't gaming or watching 1080p movies on a 70" TV, stick with a motherboard that has on-board HDMI and your machine will be fine.
As far as speed, make you sure have plenty of RAM. If you are running 64-bit or even 32-bit, 16GB will be plenty. Doesn't hurt to get more if you find it cheap enough within your budget, and don't buy gaming ram. You don't need heatsinks on your sticks. Get multiple good fans instead -- Much cheaper.
Power supply -- you don't need to even spend $75 to get a good one. Thermaltake, Corsair, and Antec all available on Newegg/Microcenter/Fry's, and are all good for budget builds.
FWIW, you can get performance out of your HDD's by setting up a software RAID. I run a single 120gb SSD for my system drive, everything else is on a 1TB RAID (2 x 500GB HDD's), which also gives you protection from lost data if you were to ever have a system crash due to Viruses or similar. Reinstall the OS on the system drive and voila! All your data is still there.
Get multiple memory sticks. Threading is important to performance. It's better to pull half as much ram from each stick than to pull the full amount from one.
Are you buying your OS or do you have other means of getting it?
My uncle has the OS software. He could build it for me but I want to do it myself. How do you set up the smaller SSD and the have the HDD RAID split up in case of a crash or virus? Was planning on windows 7 but open to others, have no experience with linux
Originally Posted By: BHopkins
Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Best Buy, Tiger Direct, or even Amazon. Why "built" (really - plug in) what someone can sell you more cheaply, and you know will work. How does one compete with a company which buys hard drives by the semi load? (Apology to Mark Twain) The many heathkits I banged together over the years didn't save me much money, I bought then because they made a number of good things as kits which were NOT sold by anyone else, built or otherwise.
Heathkits? Man, you are dating yourself.
Built my first when I was 12. A VTVM. Still going. Got a couple of SWR bridges and a variable voltage power supply still in service as well. There is a rumor on the hobby sites they may return. From time to time they would be called "Griefkits". First line in the troubleshooting section: "Is the unit plugged in".
Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Best Buy, Tiger Direct, or even Amazon. Why "built" (really - plug in) what someone can sell you more cheaply, and you know will work. How does one compete with a company which buys hard drives by the semi load? (Apology to Mark Twain) The many heathkits I banged together over the years didn't save me much money, I bought then because they made a number of good things as kits which were NOT sold by anyone else, built or otherwise.
Heathkits? Man, you are dating yourself.
Built my first when I was 12. A VTVM. Still going. Got a couple of SWR bridges and a variable voltage power supply still in service as well. There is a rumor on the hobby sites they may return. From time to time they would be called "Griefkits". First line in the troubleshooting section: "Is the unit plugged in".
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I would go Intel chip with onboard video, forget the PCI sound card and use MB sound chip. Used to be an AMD fan, but would get stupid software glitches, that went away once I started using Intel. Have built 10 home systems the past 5 - 6 years.
Lifehacker built a $300 & a $600 system for those who still like to assemble their own.
You might find some useful info there.
You might find some useful info there.
Just opinion, unless otherwise specified.
If you have a budget of custom system.
The holiday sales are coming up soon, and there will be bargains out there. Finding a higher spec i5, or lesser spec i7 for the $500 mark is a possibility. If you already have a valid OS, and you want to do it yourself.....
Know what you don't need, know what to spend you money on, know what to save your money on.
Power supplies- The Corsair CX430 is still the value leader. $20 after rebates, even the CX430M made it to the $20 mark a few weeks ago. Not a huge Corsair PSU fan anymore, but this particular PSU has a niche for inexpensive quality PSUs. I am running my son's system (FX8310/ATI 6970) on a CX430.
Hard drives/SSD- Can't put into words how much better an SSD is than a hard drive. Night and day difference in most cases. You really notice the difference when all of your personal machines have SSDs, and your clients machines have hard drives. Hurry up and wait.
240gb SSDs (like an M500) are under $110, and likely to be even cheaper during Black Friday sales. For $100, you should be able to get into a decent SSD in the 240-256gb range soon. Avoid 128gb and smaller drives if possible.
Avoid Seagate drives if possible. Fact: They do have higher failure rates than other brands. No info on Seagate hybrid drives.
Sound cards- not needed.....unless you have some custom audio work that you have to do. Otherwise, save your money.
Video cards- optional in your case. Depends on the CPU/ motherboard combo. Many times on newer systems the onboard video capabilities are more than sufficient for your needs as outlined in the original post.
Memory- 2X4gig sticks preferred. 8 gigs of memory will get you through any foreseeable task.
Get quality basics (motherboard, memory, CPU, power supply), the components that contribute to system stability. Nothing worse than a new system that takes more time troubleshooting than it did to build it.
Don't get hung up on AMD vs Intel. Jr. has an AMD setup, I have an Intel setup. Never have noticed any difference in compatibility (in the 20 years I have been doing this) or performance issues for home/office tasks. Gaming, then we will talk.
Like I said originally, I would look at prebuilt systems first to see what you get for the money. If you want to do it yourself, great. An FM2/FM2+ AMD CPU with an A88 FM2/FM2+ board for $100 to $130 will work. Ditto for a low end Intel. You have choices.
If you have a budget of custom system.
The holiday sales are coming up soon, and there will be bargains out there. Finding a higher spec i5, or lesser spec i7 for the $500 mark is a possibility. If you already have a valid OS, and you want to do it yourself.....
Know what you don't need, know what to spend you money on, know what to save your money on.
Power supplies- The Corsair CX430 is still the value leader. $20 after rebates, even the CX430M made it to the $20 mark a few weeks ago. Not a huge Corsair PSU fan anymore, but this particular PSU has a niche for inexpensive quality PSUs. I am running my son's system (FX8310/ATI 6970) on a CX430.
Hard drives/SSD- Can't put into words how much better an SSD is than a hard drive. Night and day difference in most cases. You really notice the difference when all of your personal machines have SSDs, and your clients machines have hard drives. Hurry up and wait.
240gb SSDs (like an M500) are under $110, and likely to be even cheaper during Black Friday sales. For $100, you should be able to get into a decent SSD in the 240-256gb range soon. Avoid 128gb and smaller drives if possible.
Avoid Seagate drives if possible. Fact: They do have higher failure rates than other brands. No info on Seagate hybrid drives.
Sound cards- not needed.....unless you have some custom audio work that you have to do. Otherwise, save your money.
Video cards- optional in your case. Depends on the CPU/ motherboard combo. Many times on newer systems the onboard video capabilities are more than sufficient for your needs as outlined in the original post.
Memory- 2X4gig sticks preferred. 8 gigs of memory will get you through any foreseeable task.
Get quality basics (motherboard, memory, CPU, power supply), the components that contribute to system stability. Nothing worse than a new system that takes more time troubleshooting than it did to build it.
Don't get hung up on AMD vs Intel. Jr. has an AMD setup, I have an Intel setup. Never have noticed any difference in compatibility (in the 20 years I have been doing this) or performance issues for home/office tasks. Gaming, then we will talk.
Like I said originally, I would look at prebuilt systems first to see what you get for the money. If you want to do it yourself, great. An FM2/FM2+ AMD CPU with an A88 FM2/FM2+ board for $100 to $130 will work. Ditto for a low end Intel. You have choices.
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