In the Philippnies, computers have become more affordable these days as compared to the 90s and early 2000s. You can save a lot more if you take the time to source the individual components yourself rather than buying, for example, a branded PC such as one from Acer, HP, Dell, Lenovo, Asus, etc., or even a pre-assembled whitebox personal computer (or generic PC, since most PCs these days are no longer white or even the more common beige chasses of the 90s).
There are several computer stores - both brick-and-mortar and online which sell computer hardware, and at present, for those of you looking to build your own desktops, the most affordable choices are from AMD, but if you can spare the cash, Intel products seem to have better than average performance. It comes at quite a cost, though.
However, my focus here is on affordability, and for most computer users, particularly non-gamers and light and casual gamers, I hope the following will suffice...
The components you require to assemble a basic system consists of:
- Motherboard
- CPU
- RAM
- Power Supply with all the necessary cords, wires, and cables
- Chassis - ATX, micro-ATX - whichever you prefer - also depends on your motherboard
But these combined are still useless, and will only cause an increase in your electricity bill, so in order to justify our consumption of electricity, and for the system to actually be usable as per the expectations of most ordinary people, you will also need:
- Hard Disk Drive
- DVD-RW Drive
- Mouse
- Keyboard
To decrease the possibility of the early demise of your system, it would also be ideal to have the following:
- Uninterruptible Power Supply
- Power Surge Protector with Multiple Sockets
On to main subject of this post: (One of) [T]he cheapest builds you can get in the Philippines as of August 14, 2014:
The CPU and Motherboard are expected to match each other - one will not function if the other is not designed to be compatible with it. CPU/Motherboard formats recommended as of August 14, 2014:
For AMD AM3/AM3+:
- CPU: AMD Sempron 145 2.80GHz > P1,650
- Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2 > P2,050
Subtotal for AMD AM3/AM3+ CPU and Motherboard: P3,700
For AMD FM2/FM2+:
- CPU: AMD Richland A4 4020 3.20-3.40GHz, HD7480d Dual Core > 1850
- Motherboard: ASRock FM2A58M-HD+ OR Gigabyte GA-F2A58M-DS2 > both retailing for P2,300
Subtotal for AMD FM2/FM2+ CPU and Motherboard: P4,150
For Intel: LGA1150 - look for the word Haswell, which succeeds the previous generation's LGA1155 format (LGA2011 is simply too expensive compared to AMD FM2/FM2+):
- CPU: Intel Celeron G1840 2.80GHz (Dual Core) Haswell Refresh Processor > P1,970
- Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H81M-DS2 > P2,695
Subtotal for Intel LGA1150 CPU and Motherboard: P4,665
Now for the rest of the components which will make your PC usable:
- RAM: Team Elite 4GB DDR3 1333 LODIMM RAM > P1800
- Any brand will do - as long as it'sat least 4GB. Anything less, and your system will eventually crawl - even 4GB is sometimes not enough, particularly when the applications you install have automatically boot with Windows and even Linux, and they not only just start up along with Windows - they even reside in RAM - usually for the whole time your systems is on... So, the more RAM, the better - you can never have enough.
- PSU: Fortress 700W PSU > P590 (I recommended the cheapest, but usually it would be better if you get a better-known brand - usually, the heavier the PSU, the better. The HEC Cougar SL400 400W PSU sells here for 1,570 - that's the lowest-priced of all the reliable PSU brands in the Philippines)
- Chassis: Coolermaster LAN Case 240 > P1050
- Hard Disk Drive: Samsung ST500DM005 500GB 16MB SATA > P2160
- DVD-RW Drive: HP 1265i 24X Multiformat DVD Writer > P850
- Mouse: A4Tech OP-720 Optical Mouse > P180
- Keyboard: A4Tech KBS-720A PS/2 keyboard > P300
- Uninterruptible Power Supply: Intex IT-600V 600VA > P1,450
- Power Surge Protector with Multiple Sockets: Huntkey SZM304 4 Surge Protector 3 socket 1.5meters > P295
- Monitor: AOC E1670SWU 15.6" WLED Monitor > P2,750
- Speakers: Intex IT-301 2.0 > P190 (as with the PSU, the speakers would be better if from a well-known brand - in this case, the Logitech S150 2.0 Digital USB Speaker System sells for P340)
- Headset (highly recommended, especially if there are others with you where you will be using the computer in order to avoid disturbing them): Generic Headsets sell for around P150. A reliable brand would be the A4Tech HS-5P Internet Headset, but for P320, you can get the A4Tech HS-7P, which has good surround sound and base, and if you prefer a lighter one, the Sennheiser MX 80 Earphone will be your best bet for P380.
The subtotal: P13,065
Add to this the CPU/Board combos, and you get the following prices for each complete system,
'complete' being relative depending on what you expect from a complete system, but this is as basic as it gets except for the speakers and PSU, which are a little more expensive than their generic counterparts, but still worth it since this should be considered a relatively long term investment:
AM3/AM3+: P16,765 - this is probably going to be eventually replaced by the FM2s, depending on demand, but they're still a bit cheaper.
FM2/FM2+: P17,215 - has the best integrated graphics options - good for the casual gamers and movie buffs.
LGA1150: P17,730 - good upgrade path to Core i Series CPUs
Hmmm...... OK, so they're more expensive than most netbooks with pre-installed original operating systems, and almost the same price as a few Core i3 notebooks with original operating systems ,
but desktops are upgradable, and in case you eventually decide to become a hardcore gamer, you have less expensive upgrade options
.
Then add the operating system of your choice. Linux is free, though Windows is mainstream when it comes to the sheer number of dependents.
