Honestly for less tech savvy parents all you need to do is just slap in a decent SSD and they'll think you are a computer god.
Here's a "parents build" I did a little while ago. My dad uses his pc just for Microsoft Office, YouTube, and Facebook. I had a spare motherboard from an old HTPC so I build around that.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | AMD A6-6400K 3.9GHz Dual-Core Processor | $48.95 @ SuperBiiz |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-F2A55M-HD2 Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard | - |
| Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $39.89 @ OutletPC |
| Storage | Transcend SSD370 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $57.99 @ Amazon |
| Case | Xion XON-310_BK MicroATX Mid Tower Case | $28.98 @ Newegg |
| Power Supply | EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply | $34.99 @ NCIX US |
| Wireless Network Adapter | TP-Link TL-WN881ND 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter | $17.75 @ OutletPC |
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts | ||
| Total | $228.55 | |
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-28 17:50 EDT-0400 |