Basic web browsing PC

[CLXIV]

I'm putting together a new setup for my dad, just because of Windows 10 end-of-life (he's on a Haswell i3 so not officially allowed to use Windows 11). How does this look?

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i3-12100 3.3 GHz Quad-Core Processor (£98.97 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte H610M K DDR4 Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard (£51.48 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Kingston FURY Beast 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (£28.98 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Crucial T500 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (£58.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: SHARKOON M25-V ATX Mid Tower Case (£44.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: be quiet! System Power 10 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£51.37 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £334.77
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-02-28 08:36 GMT+0000

 

[DaemonForce]

Looks solid. For basic web browsing, we are well into the age of Chromium, which is by its very nature a memory hog.
95% of my daily activities are web related and streams are the majority. Memory usage typically looks like this:

So whatever the usage I'm sure it's fine.

 

[CLXIV]

Cheers buddy. Yeah I get him on Firefox anyway but Windows 11 RAM usage is pretty horrific. I know some is cache but it's not always great at releasing it.

As you say, 16GB should be ample.

 

[Shihab]

Memory consumption shouldn't be an issue for a purely web browsing build. a single or a couple of tabs wouldn't -typically- gobble 16GB. And if several tabs do consume that much, OS (and I think the browser itself has some forms of it) paging to disk would take care of the overflow. And considering there isn't any other use, experience shouldn't be annoyingly degraded.

 

[Kwadratowicz]

About windows 11 if it is only for web browsing, mayb use UnattendedWinstall by memstechtips, it disables all bloatware from the start if You install new windows.
And You can add retrobar and Open Shell Menu so that He is not angered by stupid windows 11 ui.

 

[Frick]

Looks solid. For basic web browsing, we are well into the age of Chromium, which is by its very nature a memory hog.
95% of my daily activities are web related and streams are the majority. Memory usage typically looks like this:
View attachment 387132
So whatever the usage I'm sure it's fine.

I have 8GB at work and Chrome is fine. It all depends on what "basic web browsing" means to you. One window and no tabs (as my parents do it) or five windows with 70 tabs (as I do it at home)?

@CLXIV If you want to save money (and space) you can always get something like this. I have something similar at work and it's great.

 

[AusWolf]

Why does your dad need Windows 11 just for web browsing?

 

[CLXIV]

Thanks @Frick that's a good idea but he's got plenty of space and money (good to avoid ewaste though for sure).

@AusWolf Windows 10 support may end later this year so Windows 11 keeps the system secure (by Windows standards anyway). Tried introducing him to Linux before but he couldn't get along with it (and if it was going to run Linux it certainly wouldn't need 16GB).

 

[eidairaman1]

Cheers buddy. Yeah I get him on Firefox anyway but Windows 11 RAM usage is pretty horrific. I know some is cache but it's not always great at releasing it.

As you say, 16GB should be ample.

You can have basic browsing with 6 or 8G

 

[GerKNG]

you can get a 512GB/16GB Intel N150 Mini PC for ~200€. i have two as HTPCs and they are really good, tiny and already come with W11 Pro.

 

[nomdeplume]

that's a good idea but he's got plenty of space and money

Sentiment being internet machine implies banking and other sensitive activities increasingly reliant on up to date OS and browser builds that can be furthered with a more secure business SFF. Or maybe even a workstation tower if his interests expand that fully. Any modern processor/NVMe/mobo is going to be OP. Why not get rock solid reliability and power delivery.

This is one case where you might wish to spread the budget across chain of devices he uses to access internet and secure passcodes.

 

[jak_2456]

This might be an unpopular idea, but why not get a low-cost business PC and install ChromeOS Flex on it? It'll be a lot cheaper, fast enough, and much easier to keep running. ChromeOS is a great OS in the sense that you don't need to worry about updates and the OS very much gets out of your way. While it is somewhat limited as far as what it can do, it works great for web browsing. Or better yet, try putting Chrome OS on your dad's pre-existing PC.

 

[nomdeplume]

Before too much momentum builds towards something explicitly diverging from initial parts list. If recipient's primary usage is consuming media then a Q chipset or business oriented PC loses luster.

Just to expand closer to original parts list. Core Ultra 3 or non-K Core Ultra 5 with DDR5 6000 might be an interesting alternative in a few months. Pace of making consumer hardware redundant seems to be quickening. Older W11 builds are already being discouraged. For internetting purposes this is effectively other side of that coin you might consider.

Build you listed is surprisingly good for surprisingly low costs that might not exist in near future. Not a bad option if you go that way.

 

[dgianstefani]

Yeah I'd vote a Core Ultra based system too, even if it's a mini PC.