Ars System Guide November 2015: Bargain Box

The Bargain Box is the most basic box in the hierarchy of Ars System Guide rigs. It has no intent beyond providing the necessities—a solid, affordable, basic computer. This is the basic “office” box (or “mom,” “dad,” or “grandparent” box, if you will).

This places the Bargain Box squarely against the cheap, pre-built boxes from the big OEMs. Dell, HP, Acer, Lenovo, and their ilk all benefit from vast economies of scale that the individual builder could never hope to achieve. By the time the big OEMs add up hardware discounts alone, building it yourself is a so-so idea in terms of value, at best. Add in the cost of the operating system, and the equation really goes out the window.

But for the enthusiasts who believe every single part matters, those who want to know exactly what components they’re using and can justify a few bucks more to that end, the Bargain Box matters. The time needed to build it yourself is time well-spent. This is a project for those who simply want to understand why certain choices are being made, to see what benefits some components bring compared to others, and to appreciate where a better component is worth the extra expense—either in performance, utility, or reliability (sometimes all three!).

For the enthusiasts building Bargain Boxes, this guide makes sense.

Bargain Box Basics

Again, there’s only one goal for any Bargain Box: provide essential computing needs that most light users will encounter. We define this as Web browsing, photo storage, office-type tasks (documents, spreadsheets, e-mail), streaming, and the like. Yet even with zero focus on serious gaming, the Budget Box (even with discrete GPU removed) is probably significant overkill for the average Bargain Box user.

While one of the primary distinctions in the Bargain Box compared to pre-built boxes is the ability to pick and choose your own components, there are plenty of other differences. Our build has enough storage to make it truly versatile for such a low-end box and enough processing power to make its tasks comfortable. We aim a little higher than strictly necessary in both because we feel the slightly larger disk and faster processor offer the most value. Particularly for storage, we feel that a terabyte of storage via a mechanical hard disk gives more flexibility than a small solid state disk (SSD) in the Bargain Box, although that is obviously up to the builder.

In standard Ars fashion, we include peripherals such as a monitor, mouse, and keyboard for the Bargain Box. With such a wide array of components available aimed at the low end and modest performance requirements for the Bargain Box, the choices are quite numerous for many of the components.

The Bargain Box is targeted around $400, which seems to be the current sweet spot for similar systems from big OEMs once you add in the cost of a monitor. The operating system cost is not included in this, whereas an OEM box will generally throw in Windows at the same price point.

Without rehashing the cost argument too many times, adding in the OS cost typically blows the value part out of the water for the Bargain Box builder. For those concerned about value, though, there’s still at least one important utility for the Bargain Box. It can be a reference point for the basic specs any system should meet.

Operating Systems

The main weakness of building it yourself at this price point is the cost of the OS. OEMs typically include Windows on their systems, which means that $329 or $399 special includes Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10. Sadly, the individual system builder has to account for the software cost as well as an expense.

Typical choices include:

• Windows 7: some flavor of Windows 7, typically Windows 7 Home Premium. Usually sold in versions that include Service Pack 1 (SP1) built-in, 64-bit Windows today is what most end users are used to.
• Windows 8.1: the basic version of Windows 8.1 drew considerable flak with its user interface (UI) changes, but underneath it’s fundamentally the familiar OS that we’re all used to. Now that Windows 10 is out, there’s largely no reason to go with Windows 8.1.
• Windows 10: Microsoft’s newest and most shiny operating system to date. Think of it as a more polished version of Windows 8.1, aided by the return of the Start Menu. With a free upgrade to Windows 10 being offered to most Windows 8 license holders, it’s hard to say no.
• Linux: the free alternative for many. For typical Bargain Box tasks, Linux actually works out quite well. Office suites such as LibreOffice and OpenOffice, Web browsers such as Firefox and Chrome, a ton of photo editing software, etc… A plethora of distributions are available as well to match individual tastes in operating systems—Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Fedora, Debian, etc.. This choice is also Linux’s greatest weakness as the sheer number of distributions can be overwhelming. It loses some of the ease of use baked into Windows (or OS X) when you dig deep enough. That is likely what’s most daunting to would-be users.

Bargain Box

We do two flavors of Bargain Box, one powered by Intel and one powered by AMD since both companies produce competitive offerings in this price range. A few bucks more here or there changes things, but that goes both ways.

We also discuss alternative components in the individual component recommendations, which is of particular importance in the price-sensitive Bargain Box. An alternative component might be cheaper one day, or a more capable one could be on sale for the same price a few days later. The Bargain Box is one system where additional features for a few bucks more might really break the budget for many, so we try to exercise restraint.

Common components:

• Mushkin Enhanced ECO2 2x4GB (8GB) DDR3L-1600 1.35v CL9 = $31.99
• Western Digital Blue 1TB = $51.99
• Fractal Design Core 1000 = $35.99
• Corsair CX430 = $42.99
• Viewsonic VA2055SM (19.5-inch, 1920×1080) = $99.99
• Logitech MK120 wired desktop = $14.99
• Speakers (no specific recommendation) = $15
• Sub-total: $292.94

Powered by Intel:

• Intel Celeron G1820 retail = $39.99
• MSI H81M-E34 = $50.99
• Total: $383.92

Powered by AMD:

• AMD A4-7300 retail = $49.99
• Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-HD2 = $47.99
• Total: $390.92

Both systems offer similar performance. And at this level of performance, the stereotypes of the last few generations (Intel holding power consumption and per-thread performance advantages, AMD with faster graphics) mean a lot less than the zealots would like to believe they do.

Processor

• AMD version: AMD A4-7300 retail
• Intel version: Intel Celeron G1820 retail

The lower end of both AMD and Intel’s desktop processor lineups is aging well. Newer processors occupying the very lowest end, such as AMD’s Kabini (socket AM1) and Intel’s Bay Trail-D-based Celerons, sip power but sacrifice a bit too much performance for too little cost savings in our eyes, making their slightly older, significantly faster Richland and Kaveri (AMD) and Haswell (Intel)-based brethren better choices.

Intel’s Haswell-based Celeron chips hold down the lowest end of Intel’s full-fat desktop chips, even though Intel’s new Skylake chips have already begun shipping in higher-end parts. AMD builders will find updated Richland and Kaveri APU’s retain the same Piledriver core as the previous Trinity APU but with slight tweaks for improved performance and power consumption.

Intel Bay Trail-D and AMD Kabini are both mobile-first products that are now potent enough to compete in the low-end desktop space, but in our experience, as well as in benchmarks, performance compared to their full-blown desktop brethren is still lacking. Sticking with a Haswell-based Celeron or Richland (or Kaveri)-based APU is the sensible thing for the Bargain Box. If one is keeping score, Intel is probably the way to go over AMD for performance.

A few bucks more for the faster AMD A6-7400K or Intel Celeron G1840 isn’t much of a stretch, but given the modest performance goal of the Bargain Box and the price/value we’re trying to keep, passing on CPU upgrades is probably the smart thing to do unless there’s a specific need for them. If CPU upgrades are deemed necessary, then more in-depth research into the actual applications being used and how much more CPU they can handle is probably a good idea before spending more money.

AMD’s A4-7300 processor is based on AMD’s code-named Richland APU, with a single code-named Piledriver tile, 3.8ghz base/4.0ghz turbo clock speed, 1MB L2 cache, and 65W TDP. Intel’s Celeron G1820 is based on Intel’s code-named Haswell architecture, with a 2.7ghz clock speed, 2MB L3 cache, and a 54W TDP. Both CPUs include a heatsink/fan as well as a three-year warranty in their retail boxed versions.

Motherboard

AMD:

Intel:

• AMD version: Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-HD2
• Intel version: MSI H81M-E34

While basic boxes need only a basic motherboard, that no longer has to mean bare-bones. USB 3.0 is built into almost every modern chipset today, and even budget desktop motherboards now have virtually everything a modern system would need built-in. Don’t expect to find USB 3.1 Gen 2 just yet in this price range.

The main differences in budget motherboards, aside from USB 3.0, are the number of memory slots (two or four) and video output options, which is usually some combination of the following: DisplayPort, HDMI, DVI, and/or VGA. Form factor is also a choice. We find micro-ATX boards to be the optimal size. Standard ATX boards offer additional expansion the Bargain Box does not need, and the selection of mini-ITX motherboards is more limited.

For AMD builders, AMD’s lowest-end A55 and A58 chipsets (which lack USB 3.0) are the main cost-cutting move to avoid. Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-HD2 features AMD’s A68H chipset with socket FM2+/FM2 support, two DDR3 sockets, one PCI-e 3.0 x16 slot, one PCI-e 2.0 x1 slot, and one PCI slot. Four SATA 6Gbps ports, 7.1 channel audio, gigabit Ethernet, 2x USB 3.0 ports, and 4x USB 2.0 ports (plus headers for four more USB 2.0 ports), plus VGA, HDMI, and DVI outputs. A three-year warranty is standard.

For Intel builders, MSI’s H81M-E34 features Intel’s H81 chipset, two DDR3 sockets, one PCI-e 3.0 x16 slot and two PCI-e 3.0 x1 slots, two SATA 6Gbps ports and two 3Gbps ports, 7.1 channel audio, gigabit Ethernet, 4x USB 3.0 ports and 2x USB 2.0 ports (plus headers for two more USB 2.0 and four more USB 2.0 ports), as well as VGA, HDMI, and DVI outputs. A three-year warranty is standard.

With so many choices in basic boards that meet the Bargain Box’s needs and the fluctuating nature of component prices, some equivalent models to consider for AMD builders include the MSI A68HM-E33 V2 and Asus A68HM-K. Equivalent boards for Intel builders include the MSI H81M-P33 (fewer video outputs) and Asus H81M-K. Spending a few bucks more on higher-end boards tends to get more display connectivity options, more memory sockets, more SATA ports, and more USB ports. Getting motherboards with Wi-Fi built-in tends to be a substantial premium as far as the Bargain Box is concerned; a separate Wi-Fi adapter is generally going to be more affordable.

Bargain Box builders hoping to use Intel 6th generation Core i-series parts such as the Pentium G4400 will find the Gigabyte GA-H110M-A (DDR4 memory supported) or the GA-H110M-S2PV (DDR3L memory support) to be viable options. The socket LGA1151 motherboard selection for Skylake processors is still in its infancy at the moment, but selection is improving quickly.

Memory

Mushkin Enhanced ECO2 2x4GB (8GB) DDR3L-1600 1.35v CL9

8GB is the bare minimum we feel is realistic in a modern desktop box. Open more than a few applications and having more than 4GB of memory becomes beneficial almost immediately as even a few tabs in Firefox or Chrome in addition to OS overhead cause 4GB to feel very cozy. Systems with a hard disk in particular get painful when it comes time to look for scratch space.

Two 4GB memory modules ensure both memory channels for the CPU are populated for optimal performance, JEDEC-spec low voltage 1.35v ensures optimal compatibility, and DDR3L-1600 memory at a reasonable CL9 latency is a sweet spot of value and performance.

Those who want maximum performance can spend a pittance more on slightly faster 2x4GB (8GB total) DDR3-1866 CL9 1.5v memory, but the actual performance in typical Bargain Box tasks is virtually imperceptible. The Bargain Box builders who do stress the integrated video will see more of a difference, but again, it’s not a big one.

Potential Bargain Box builders looking at Intel Skylake processors will need to make sure they select the right memory; Skylake motherboards support either DDR4 or DDR3L memory, and hence Skylake system builders will need to pay attention to what they buy.

Sound, communications

Network card: none (onboard)

Sound card: none (onboard)

Onboard sound and gigabit Ethernet more than suffice for Bargain Box users.

Bargain Boxes that need Wi-Fi have a plethora of wireless adapters to choose from, such as the TP-LINK TL-WN822N (802.11n, USB, 2.4ghz), Asus PCE-N15 (802.11n, PCI-e, 2.4ghz), TP-LINK TL-WDN4800 (802.11n, PCI-e, 2.4/5ghz), and the much higher-end Asus PCE-AC68 (802.11ac, USB, 2.4/5ghz). Experience in the Orbiting HQ is a little thin on third-party wireless adapters, but for reviews, we find SmallNetBuilder to be an excellent reference.

Storage

Western Digital Blue 1TB

More storage or better performance? An affordable 120GB or 128GB SSD, such as the Kingston SSDNow V300 or Sandisk Ultra II, is almost the same price as a 1TB hard disk and offers vastly superior performance at the expense of considerable storage space.

The popularity of cheap cloud storage helps make a smaller SSD practical, and those with modest but not quite 120GB of storage can always spend a little more to find a 240GB or 250GB SSD to be a possible solution. The preference for a big hard disk comes down to local storage of all of your data and immediate access as opposed to depending on network speeds and the cloud.

For builders looking to maximize their savings, a smaller hard disk saves a few bucks.

We choose the flexibility offered by a terabyte of storage space over a small SSD, although individual Bargain Box builders should choose whatever works best for them.

In total, 1TB per platter, 7200rpm, 64MB cache, and a two-year warranty seem to be standard for most desktop hard disks today.

Case and power supply

Fractal Design Core 1000

Corsair CX430

The value cases to buy appear to be the Fractal Design Core 1000 and the NZXT Source 210. The Core 1000 has the advantage of a front USB 3.0 port for motherboards with an internal USB 3.0 header, so it gets the nod over both the NZXT Source 210 and the larger Antec VSK4000E.

We could go even cheaper on the case, but quality and design start to take serious compromises with overly restrictive fan grilles, less-than-solid drive cages, questionable construction (which can lead to additional noise and vibration), sharp edges, and more.

Some slightly more spendy alternatives include the Corsair Carbide 100R and Coolermaster N200. They’re both nicer, but they bring relatively little additional functionality to the Bargain Box.

Fractal Design’s Core 1000 is an excellent micro-ATX tower case for the money, with two 5.25-inch bays, a very flexible drive cage (up to 3×2.5-inch or 2×3.5-inch) with vibration damping, excellent airflow and a filtered intake, one included 120mm fan, one front USB 3.0 port and one front USB 2.0 port, plus front panel audio jacks.

Power supplies are fairly straightforward. The Bargain Box’s extremely modest power needs mean a picoPSU could easily power it, but a standard ATX power supply is cheaper. Seasonic SS-300ET, SS-350ET, eVGA 100-W1-0430-KR, and Antec’s Earthwatts Green EA-380D are worth a look if the Corsair isn’t on sale. Even 300W is significant overkill for the Bargain Box, but finding quality, high-efficiency power supplies smaller (aside from the picoPSU) is an almost impossible task for Bargain Box builders.

Corsair’s CX430 is 80 PLUS Bronze certified, packs a single +12V rail with 32 amp maximum output, a single PCI-e 6+2 pin connector, four SATA power connectors, three 4-pin molex connectors, a low-noise 120mm fan, and a three-year warranty. It’s also on sale fairly often, which definitely helps.

Monitor

Viewsonic VA2055SM (19.5″, 1920×1080)

Affordable LCD monitors all tend to be pretty similar in performance. We spend a little extra for the higher resolution of a 1920×1080 panel instead of a 1600×900 or lower resolution, but even that isn’t much more money today.

The main benefit to larger, more expensive monitors in the Bargain Box’s price range isn’t resolution but simply a larger panel with bigger pixels, which may be easier on many users’ eyes. Acer G227HQLbi and Asus VS229H-P are both 21.5-inch screens instead of 19.5-inch, and the Acer G246HYL is 23.8-inch. There’s also the LG 23MP47HQ and Asus VS247H-P, among many others, to look at. Keep in mind that many of these monitors use the same or very similar LCD panels inside, so a little shopping and attention to spec sheets might save some money.

While we don’t expect great color or viewing angles out of LCD monitors in this price range, the MVA panel in the VA2055SM (and the IPS panels in the Acer G227HQLbi and LG 23MP47HQ) are a pleasant find. IPS and MVA/PVA panels generally provide better colors and viewing angles at the expense of a slower response time than the TN panels more typically found on similar monitors.

The Viewsonic VA2055SM is a 19.5-inch panel with 1920×1080 resolution, 25ms response time, VGA and DVI inputs, 178 degree/178 degree viewing angles, 3000:1 static contrast ratio, 250cm/m^2 maximum brightness, and a three-year warranty.

Mouse, keyboard, and speakers

Logitech MK120 (keyboard and mouse)

Speakers: no specific recommendation

The Logitech MK120 is a decent wired keyboard and mouse combination for most users. Microsoft’s Wired Desktop 600 is another popular one for a little more. Going wireless, Microsoft’s Desktop 800 and Logitech’s MK520 are both reasonable options. With value being paramount, we stick with the very conventional wired Logitech MK120 as the default recommendation for the Bargain Box.

We emphasize that personal preference and comfort are huge factors in choosing a mouse and keyboard. Something that is comfortable to use is often worth a few bucks more. Looking around the Orbiting HQ, we see a huge spread of keyboards from bog-standard 104-key wired USB units to battered Microsoft ergonomic keyboards to the Apple-standard wired and wireless units to fancy ones with mechanical key switches—some even with fancy lights. Costly and fancy is not a prerequisite, but individual user comfort definitely is.

We have no specific recommendations for speakers in the Bargain Box’s price range. Something to output something resembling sound and music is about as good as it gets here; even at twice the price most speakers in this category are best described as mediocre. For the money, a headset or headphones may be more cost-effective.

More than a Bargain Box

While the Bargain Box itself is aimed at a lowest-reasonable-cost price point for basic computing, the guts within the Bargain Box are fast enough to handle many other tasks, often with slight or no hardware changes.

We can only cover a few possibilities. These often cost a little more, quickly eroding the Bargain Box’s value as a basic, affordable computer. Still, these potential upgrades show the Bargain Box’s versatility as a base system.

Going cheaper

Less memory, hard disk

The Bargain Box takes some small splurges in this update. A 1TB hard disk and a case with a front USB 3.0 port both run another couple of bucks, and stepping down to a smaller hard disk might save $2 to $5. A cheaper case gets a little dodgy as far as design and build quality, but there’s plenty out there that would save another $5 to $10 that we haven’t brought into the Orbiting HQ for examination.

Another area of potential savings is to take a performance hit with a cheaper, slower CPU/motherboard combo in the form of an AMD Kabini or Intel Bay Trail-D part. There are a few CPU/MB combos available, such as the ASRock QC5000M (with A4-5000 integrated), that save the most money. A separate CPU and separate motherboard still save money, but this negates much of the savings. The Gigabyte GA-AM1M-S2H motherboard plus an AMD Sempron 3850 quad-core are significantly more expensive than the ASRock combo. Going Intel Bay Trail-D, such as the ASRock Q1900M PRO3 CPU/MB combo, doesn’t save quite as much as the cheaper AMD Kabini-based combos, but it does save a few dollars.

It’s a substantial performance hit to take, but it’s an option for Bargain Boxes that will only see light use.

Rough math suggests you can save $10 or $20 economizing on case and storage, potentially another $40 or so going with a cheaper CPU/motherboard combo—but before getting to that point, don’t forget to check what deals HP/Dell/Lenovo/etc. have to see if all that trouble is worth it. If saving every last dollar is the utmost priority, buying a pre-built in this price range is almost always the smarter thing to do.

HTPC

Suitable case, skip monitor, go to wireless keyboard/mouse + add remote

The Bargain Box has ample processing power for a modern home theater PC. You can slim things down with a more suitable HTPC-friendly case such as the Silverstone ML05 (mini-ITX motherboard required) or ML03B/ML04B (micro ATX), making sure the motherboard used has HDMI out, and maybe a shift to a smaller 2.5-inch hard disk or SSD to reduce heat output and improve cooling. Don’t forget a suitable power supply either, depending on the requirements of the case chosen. Some take standard ATX units, others require an SFX unit. All of these tweaks cost a little to a lot more depending on the exact components chosen, but that’s only if looks matter to the end user.

A wireless keyboard/trackpad setup and a remote are also necessary items to round out an HTPC, and those who want over-the-air (OTA) or cable programming will need a tuner. A monitor, obviously, can be removed from the spec since an existing TV would be used.

A full discussion of what constitutes an HTPC—as well as alternatives such as the Nvidia Shield Android TV, Roku 3, or Amazon Fire TV to name a few—is far beyond the scope of the Bargain Box, but suffice it to say, the Bargain Box guts could be easily adapted.

Storage server

Drive bays, drives, and SATA ports

A storage server is the easiest transition for a potential Bargain Box base; the processor used in the Bargain Box has plenty of horsepower for simple storage, and the motherboards all drop in their faster brethren (AMD, Intel) if heavy-duty transcoding horsepower is required.

Higher-end motherboards with more SATA ports give expansion potential for storage. AMD boxes are the cheaper way to go, as motherboards with the A78 chipset support up to six SATA 6Gbps ports, while the AMD A88X chipset offers up to eight (respective examples include the MSI A78M-E35 and Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-HD3). Intel chipsets top out at six SATA 6Gbps ports, so higher-end motherboards with third-party SATA controllers are necessary for more than six ports. If only six ports are enough, most H87 and H97 boards should work fine, such as the MSI CSM-H87M-G43 and Gigabyte GA-H97M-HD3.

The power supply recommendation in the Bargain Box has plenty of power to go around (it may need a few SATA or molex-to-SATA power splitters), so the only other adjustment needed is a case with more drive bays and suitable cooling. Lian Li’s PC-V358B (micro ATX) or Fractal Design’s Node 304 (mini-ITX motherboard required) are just two of many affordable options, while the more conventionally shaped Fractal Design Define Mini is also an excellent choice.