This $400 PC configuration will get your work done.

Four cores, four gigabytes of ram (or eight if you fancy), and a video chip that gets you some casual gaming at reasonable resolutions.

All parts are picked with quality in mind, while not forgetting about the balanced performance necessary to get you through the day.

Let’s see what’s in the box!

CPU-GPU

AMD A8-3850 Quad-Core CPU with 6550D GPU – $134.99

The processor is a four-core AMD chip with an integrated GPU.

These chips perform very similarly to i3 cores. For this reason I decided to make another $400 configuration based on the Intel chip later this week.

Even though they’re close in real world performance, in this configuration the A8-3850 AMD A-series chip is included for its graphics core. The Radeon 6550D chip is ready for gaming in virtually any resolution below 1920 x 1080, given you don’t go over-board with the level of details.

No matter what your day job is, this chip probably gets you through and with flying colors.

Technical mumbo-jumbo:

-Number of Cores : 4
-Size of L2 Cache : 4 MB
-Clock Frequency : 2.90 GHz (at 29×100 MHz)
-Max TDP (Thermal Design Power) : 100 Watts
-Socket : Socket FM1
-Supported Memory : Up to 1833 MHz DDR3

AMD has included a stock cooler with the A8-3850, which is not the most silent nor the most effective you can have. It is the most cost-efficient solution.

At this moment you have to part with $134.99 for this CPU, which makes it the most expensive part of the configuration.

As it should be with all computers that are assembled to tackle processing intensive tasks, such as video encoding or batch processing of high-resolution digital photos.

Motherboard

Gigabyte A75M-UD2H with HDMI, USB 3.0 and SATA 6 GBps – $99.99

Gigabyte A75M-UD2H sets you back by $99.99, as does the second, equally promising option: ASUS F1A75-M Pro.

This motherboard fits into Micro-ATX cases, which helps keep down the costs compared to full-size ATX boards. Less space taken, same list of features. Well, kind of. You don’t have as many PCI-E ports, but in a PC made for work you don’t really need them.

A75M-UD2H is nothing short on ports and connectors.

Four USB 2.0 (plus a couple more to connect to the front-panel), 1 PS/2 for that old keyboard you’re still having around. It also has an eSata port and what’s more important for future expansion, USB 3.0.

There are four connectors to make it the perfect fit for virtually any display. They’re as follows: VGA(D-SUB), DVI-D, HDMI and DisplayPort. The last is for connecting Dell professional IPS monitors or –via a simple adapter– Apple Cinema Displays.

For this configuration I chose the Gigabyte motherboard over the Asus version for a few –admittedly non-critical– reasons. The Asus variation comes with no DisplayPort and it hasn’t gathered as many positive customer-feedbacks as Gigabyte A75M-UD2H has.

Memory – RAM

Kingston HyperX 8 GB (2×4 GB) 1600 MHz DDR3 Dual Channel Kit – $53.74
or Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB 1600MHz DDR3 (2×2 GB) – $29.99

Initially I had 8 GB of RAM in mind for this $400 configuration, and it would have been achievable, weren’t it for the optical drive. At the last moment I went for 4 GB DDR3. Reason being, most if not all tasks you encounter can be overcome with just that many.

This change is done to shave $25 off the final price, and I encourage you to ignore it and go for more instead of including the soon-to-be obsolete optical drive (see below).

For this configuration the Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB kit is a balanced choice. While the processor can handle memory modules up to the speed of 1833 MHz, the price difference between 1600 MHz and 1833 MHz 240 pin DIMMs is not justified by the tiny increase in performance.

This version of Kingston HyperX is priced at just $29.99 for the 4GB.

8GB of the same model costs $53.74 at this moment and is a highly recommended upgrade on the config, should you make any.

Please note that 4GB or more RAM requires a 64-Bit operating system to take full effect. It’s because 32-Bit operating systems can’t address more than 4GBs of RAM and that includes virtual memory and video RAM.

Windows XP 64 bit versions are known to have driver incompatibility issues, which is why I recommend using either Vista/7 64-bit Home Premium editions, or a Linux Distribution of your choice.

Case

Cooler Master Elite 341 m-ATX – $36.99

The Cooler Master Elite 341 m-ATX Mini Tower rarely ever wins beauty contests, but at least it offers the kind of quality your PC deserves.

And I’m serious. Do not skimp on quality, because it will literally cut you. Back in the days, when I had more courage than wits, no week passed by without the inside of a cheap case slitting my fingers.

Take it from me, it’s much more fun to type with both hands.

Elite 341 is a case you can put on your desk without shivering every time you take a look at it; designed to be simple yet efficient.

My idea of a decent tower for a $400 PC configuration.

Included within is a 120 MM fan, which pushes hot air out at the back of the case.

Power Supply Unit – PSU

Cooler Master Elite 460W – $29.99

If the power supply blows up — whether it happens three or ten years from now — you want it to go alone, not taking other parts down with it.

It means you’ll want to pick a PSU, which has proper voltage-regulation and the necessary fail-safes in place.

This configuration includes a Cooler Master Elite 460W supply for those exact reasons.

It’s strong enough to power our quad-core workhorse regardless the task at hand, yet not-overpowered in order to save on costs.

With this power supply in place, you can add a mid-range video card to your system later on, should you decide to spice up graphics performance.

Oh yes, the motherboard can form a Crossfire dual-GPU configuration with certain Radeon cards.

How is that for future expansibility?

Hard Drive

Western Digital 1 TB Caviar Blue SATA III 7200 RPM 32 MB – $64.99

Photo editing and video manipulation sucks up storage space like it was going out of style. Using a processor-heavy configuration like this, you’re equipped with the computing power, but not necessarily the storage space required to have the raw data at hand at all times.

To strike a balance between storage, performance and price, I added a Western Digital 1 TB Caviar Blue SATA III drive, which spins at 7200 RPM, currently costs $64.99 and is capable of 6 GBps SATA communication, as is the motherboard.

Should you need additional space, I suggest you add Western Digital 1.5 TB Caviar Green SATA disks, which offer more space but score lower on speed benchmarks.

Reason being is the $59.99 price tag. You may use a Caviar Green HDD as the system disk, but I’d recommend against it.

Modern quad-core systems usually chew through data faster than you can feed them, making the HDD the narrow throughput in common applications. In other words, the hard drive greatly affects how fast the whole configuration feels.

Optical Drive

Lite-On LightScribe 24X SATA DVD+/-RW(Black) – $29.99

In 2011 you’re more likely to download software or receive them on thumb drives than you are to use an optical drive. Given the fact that most people already have older configurations with DVD/CD drives in them, I include a Lite-On LightScribe 24X DVD burner as an optional component.

I’d personally choose to have 8GB ram instead of 4GB and ditch the optical storage drive altogether. It still has its moments, true, but with more and more of our data moving to the cloud I see no reason to cling to disks with ten nails anymore.

Recap

$134.99 – AMD A8-3850 CPU with 6550D GPU
  $99.99 - Gigabyte A75M-UD2H Motherboard
  $29.99 - Kingston HyperX 4GB Memory or 8GB for $53.74
  $36.99 - Cooler Master Elite 314 m-ATX Case
  $29.99 - Cooler Master Elite 460W PSU
  $64.99 - Western Digital 1 TB Caviar Blue SATA III HDD
  $25.99 - Lite-On LightScribe 24X DVD±RW Optical Drive

Total with 8GB RAM and no optical drive : $420.69
Total with 4GB RAM and optical drive : $422.93

Alright, alright, I hear you.

This configuration is not exactly $400. It is, however, a combination of quality parts, which make for a PC with balanced performance.

Notes

This is a net configuration. I chose to go for “box only” configuration, because most folks already have a keyboard and mouse combination they’re accustomed to. It’s also common to have a display hanging around, left behind by the last PC you had.

If, however, you don’t have peripherals or monitor, expect to pay $30 for the former two combined, $100 to $150 for the latter. Logitech and Microsoft mice enjoy unhindered reputation and are recommended for any kind of use. I usually hack away at a $10 Genius keyboard, the cheapest and simplest I could possibly find.

For monitor, I suggest you go for one at least 22″ across, Full-HD (1920×1080) and with a digital input of sorts for laser-crisp text. BenQ makes one called G2222HDL, which can be had for $119.99 at the moment. Another valid option is the ever-so-popular ViewSonic VX2250WM-LED for around $150.

Also note that prices mentioned in this article are correct to my best knowledge at the time of writing this article. They might change.

They are likely to go down over time, but can swing upwards just as well. Please always double-check they’re at least within reason.