Desktop pc

I am certainly not a computer geek but recently bought a new PC.
I don't see a SSD on any of these. A must have in 2020.
I am not a heavy user but went with 16GB of RAM.

You can easily eliminate all the 4GB machines from contention, there's no business having less than 8GB in any system in 2020 regardless of price point.

A personal machine might be used for gaming or hobbies like music recording or video editing. So when you start looking at more ram / ssd drive - then you probably want to get a decent video card, and ultimately looking at something with more cores (say an i5, i7, i9 intel.... or anything from AMD.....) . ... once you start down the rabbit hole, one upgrade leads to another. if its just for word processing, internet, and maybe angry birds - just go with the cheapest on your list. for any other gaming or resource intensive hobbies or work - i wouldn't get anything on that list.

the cheap dell i3 is $650? memory express has an i5 system with 8 gigs of ram for $500 right now. spend an extra $100-150 and get a video upgrade and add ssd - be a system that will be good for years.
check out bestbuy or newegg.... you can get some pretty decent systems in the $600-700 price range and the salespeople are generally pretty good at figuring what you need.

She doesn't play games, so I doubt it's for gaming. Maybe occasional video editing but mainly for everyday use like email and internet.

The Dell i3 (small or regular) is in $300 to $400 range.

How is AMD? I used to hear people say AMD is no good, but as I said, I havent been following on pc fir many years so I don't know how things are now.

Is there any difference between the personal vs business version?

gta1216 wrote: ↑ She doesn't play games, so I doubt it's for gaming. Maybe occasional video editing but mainly for everyday use like email and internet.

The Dell i3 (small or regular) is in $300 to $400 range.

How is AMD? I used to hear people say AMD is no good, but as I said, I havent been following on pc fir many years so I don't know how things are now.

Is there any difference between the personal vs business version?

A comparable priced AMD system will have better graphics, which may be useful down the line for gaming or video transcoding. Depending on the CPU, you may also get more physical cores for teh price which will help in multi tasking and certain applications.

You would have to actually post two similar systems with specs for us to compare.

To answer the original question, Dell's "work" and "home" computers" are the same. They may just come with different software like Windows 10 pro. Buy whatever is cheaper.

They're all very smilarly spec'ed. If anything make sure she gets a SSD in there for the OS, a 256gb SSD should be ok... More the better obviously

For a personal PC ... I had built two systems back in 2016 when TIgerDirect was still around. Both machines are still working great!

One PC is upstairs in the home office used strictly for downloading.

The other PC is hooked up to my TV via the Denon Receiver which I now use to stream Youtube, watch my downloaded Blueray quality movies, use it as my music player, stream snooker matches, stream fishing tournaments (do not like using the smart functions on the TV as I hate punching in letter by letter using the stupid remote keys).

Living Room PC (total cost $626 ... most from TigerDirect.ca):
AMD FX-6300 Black Edition 6-Core 3.5/4.1GHz 14MB Cache
Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3
2 x Crucial CT102464BA160B - 8GB DDR3 - 1600 1.5V CL11
Asus DRW-24FIST-U22 DVD ROM
MSI RS450-MD1GD3H/LP Video Card
Boot Drive: 1TB - WD Blue WD10EZEX (partitioned 150GB + 780GB)
Slave Drive: 2TB - Seagate ST2000DM001 (partitioned 500GB + 500GB + 500GB + 500GB) ... for organization of files
Thermaltake TR2-500NL2NC 500W PSU
Mid-Tower Case
Microsoft All-in-One-Media Wireless Keyboard
Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 1850


Downloading PC (total cost $502 ... most from TigerDirect.ca):
AMD FX-6300 Black Edition 6-Core 3.5/4.1GHz 14MB Cache
ASUS M5A97 LE R2.0
2 x ADATA Premier Srs 4GB 240Pin DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) - AD3U1333C4G9-SH
Samsung 24x DVD ROM
Zotac NVIDIA GeForce GT 430 Synergy 1GB Video Card
Boot Drive: 160GB - Seagate Barracuda ST3160812AS
Slave Drive: 1TB - Seagate Barracuda ST31000528AS
Slave Drive: 1TB - Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003
Slave Drive: 1TB - WD Blue WD10EZEX
ASUS VH198T Black 19" 5ms LED Backlight LCD Monitor
CoolMaster i500 PSU
ULTRA XBLASTER MID-TOWER CASE
Aikun BX6200 2.4GHz Wireless Keyboard and Mouse (which I disconnect to use with my work Laptop)


Both PCs have direct connection to the internet via CAT6 cable.

It's probably 15 + years since I last built a computer. I don't think I rememver much anymore. Plus, it seems like parts are so expensive now.

Anyway.. I don't know anything about AMD processors. Any suggestion? I have no recommendation for my friend. She's looking fir a budget pc in the lower US$500 range. She said no Acer - I don't know why, didn't ask either.

gta1216 wrote: ↑ It's probably 15 + years since I last built a computer. I don't think I rememver much anymore. Plus, it seems like parts are so expensive now.

Anyway.. I don't know anything about AMD processors. Any suggestion? I have no recommendation for my friend. She's looking fir a budget pc in the lower US$500 range. She said no Acer - I don't know why, didn't ask either.

Maybe something like this:

https://www.newegg.com/abs-computer-tec ... klink=true

Or like an ultra compact like this:

https://www.newegg.com/asus-pb50/p/1VK- ... A0SB823452


I built something similar for my wife

+1 on a Ryzen APU like the 3200G or the 3400G , get a B450 motherboard , some ram, SSD, Power supply and a nice case and you're set! Should be able to keep it under $500 especially if its USD.. thats like $700 CDN!

The process of building a computer haven't changed much since 2005, sure there are smaller nvme drives and such, and any respectable video cards takes up multiple slots, but generally you're still dealing with the same components, just faster and more advanced. I am sure once you watch a few build guides online it'll come back to you. Windows is easier than ever to install too with windows finding alot of drivers on it's own, not to mention the whole installation process is fast with a SSD.

gta1216 wrote: ↑ It's probably 15 + years since I last built a computer. I don't think I rememver much anymore. Plus, it seems like parts are so expensive now.

Anyway.. I don't know anything about AMD processors. Any suggestion? I have no recommendation for my friend. She's looking fir a budget pc in the lower US$500 range. She said no Acer - I don't know why, didn't ask either.

I am not the friend of the OP, but I do not like Acer either and will not buy an Acer under any circumstances. I also prefer a desktop - and am a female. She sure does sound like me though.

What about this? Today's the last day for the sale at US420 + tax. I know, there's no SSD though.

https://www.officedepot.com/catalog/cat ... at=1461994

Never mind

gta1216 wrote: ↑ What about this? Today's the last day for the sale at US420 + tax. I know, there's no SSD though.

https://www.officedepot.com/catalog/cat ... at=1461994