Second hand desktop for my Dad.

tokyoracer

(Not actually from Tokyo).
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Hi chaps.

It's been a while since I've been shopping for (modern) computer stuff. The last time I got my rig was a good 5 years ago or more, so obviously technology has moved on and I simply haven't kept much up to date with it since I bought mine.

My Dad is still using an ancient AMD 3500 939 CPU and simply put, it isn't upto the task of performing modern tasks anymore and he's been eyeing up some systems advertised at a local computer shop window.
They're offering sub Intel i-series (Core-2 and Pentium) machines for around £60 per tower, but from my experience, I think it's probably worth spending a little extra for something like an i5 system to have something that's going to age a little more gracefully over time. Speaking from experience, my PC a pretty old generation now and I'm still really happy with my i5's performance, not to mention my overclock is still as reliable as ever after a number of years of use.

So he's has tasked me to look for a second hand machine for around £100 and after looking, I see you can get Intel i5 machines around £80 - £120 without too much trouble on eBay (mostly HP 6200 machines). To me atleast, it seems like an i5 system would be the better and most cost effective solution but ofcourse that's only part of the story and there are countless different configurations for the budget.
Memory and other factors also come into it too but these are things easily added later on and are generally cheaper bits of hardware so these are not as vital IMO.

So question is; for the money, what would be best?
Should I go ahead with the easy option and just use a local place or should I hunt on eBay for a more modern machine? And if so, what should I be looking for/avoid?

Thanks in advance.
 
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You haven't described what he uses the computer for but I'd go for a Ivy Bridge i3 or i5 and a 8GB of RAM. You should be able to get a decent PC for 150€. Add an SSD and you've got a decent computer for everyday use.

I'd buy locally only, if they offered some sort of warranty and you potentially save on postage. Otherwise, it's all the same.
 
When I advise people on getting a PC, they always question my advise that they should definitely get an SSD, even though I think I express it quite clearly that it is the single most important component in any PC when it comes to usability and performance. 'I just need it for Youtube, FB and wordprocessing, so surely a cheaper regular harddrive can do?'.. NO! Cut costs on anything else, but make sure to have an SSD for your system drive. To get them a bit cheaper, they can be found second hand. :)

AMD's Zen-based CPUs offer really good value for money, but I doubt many of those have wandered into the second-hand market by now so I'm with Half-Saint on the CPU and memory choice.
 
SSD's aren't needed for a standard use desktop. A normal Western Digital HD would be fine. Way more storage for your money.
 
SSD's aren't needed for a standard use desktop. A normal Western Digital HD would be fine. Way more storage for your money.

Price per GB has fallen drastically in the past 5-6 years. In my opinion, there's simply no excuse for not getting an SSD nowadays.
 
SSD's aren't needed for a standard use desktop. A normal Western Digital HD would be fine. Way more storage for your money.
Yeah, just like plain cooking oil will provide much cheaper calories than healthy foods..

Due to streaming, cloud storage etc., many people are not really needing much local storage space. I'd much rather have a 120GB SSD than a 2TB HDD for a system drive. Even the fastest mechanical HDD you can get is uselessly slow when it is used as a system drive. So if you need both speed and space, just combine the two and add a HDD to your SSD-based system.
 
All depends on usage & funds.
Of course. But I will still argue that most people would benefit from cutting costs on the CPU, motherboard, etc. instead to offset the extra cost of having an SSD. With a mechanical drive, for general Windows usage it doesn't make much of a difference if you have a Celeron or an i5 if the system spends 95% of its time grinding on the HDD..
 
Thanks chaps. He'll most likely be using it for social media, YouTube, eBay, printing, etc. So GFX isn't too important, nor is RAM frequencies and other gaming focused stuff.

I spotted a 2-3 year old 3.2GHz i5 Dell machine that on sale for around his budget and better still, it's in a proper profile case so expansions will be alot easier for the future if required.

It seems that my hunch was right to go for an i-series CPU.

[EDIT] He's got a Dell Vostro 260 in the end. 3.10 2nd gen i5 and 8GB of DDR3 RAM. I'd call that a success. Cheers guys. Now just need to find a cheap basic (but useable) GFX card so I'll post a wanted thread.
 
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