Hey all, I'm not too fond with the lower-end scale of things, and was just wondering if anyone can give me any advice or suggestions in how this following rig will look: He doesn't play any games, he mainly uses it for web surfing, some occasional word processing and likes to stream films etc. I do want it to last as long as possible, what do you guys think? Thanks in advance.
I'd change the PSU for a 430w builder series to save £20 and get a different case. If you definitely want to go uATX then I can recommend the Fractal Core 1000. It's only £30 and lovely. I'd also go for a dedicated GPU. Although the other option is to go for socket AM1. Now the boards have come down in price it's a reasonable option. You lose on processing power but gain in GPU power. With that said, if money is your concern and that's literally all he does, there's no reason you couldn't go Brazos where you can get board and attached CPU for £100. But that's only if that's actually all he does. What's the motivation? Budget? Performance? Long lasting? Noise? That CPU is super overkill for what he wants but if budget is no issue then... meh. EDIT: Does he need a HDMI port?
It'll use 150W of power max so get a cheap PSU Maybe get a nicer monitor? http://www.scan.co.uk/products/23-lg-ips231p-ips-led-monitor-full-hd-dvi-vga-1920x1080-8ms-250cd-m-50000001 +some £20 speakers Obviously its slightly overkill currently for pure web browsing and such but it should last 5 years +
Ok, will swap out the PSU, case and hard drive. As for the motivation, it's a bit of both, he just wants it to last long, to be quiet and not too expensive either (under £500 mark with everything). No, he doesn't need HDMI. I think I overkilled it a little bit since I'm used to my high-end stuff
Looks pretty good to me. I'd be happy with all of that, bar the case. Get a cheap Coolermaster or Antec case. I'd get the cheapest Corsair PSU, or other main-brand PSU. You don't need much power, but you don't want to buy rubbish.
Meh, here we go. It sounds like he uses it for a lot of media so I've treated him to a good monitor, a nice soundcard and some lovely speakers. If he uses it for audio/video mostly, focus on those areas. This is about what I'd do for £500 for what you need. If you absolutely do not wish to get the sound card and the speakers then I would definitely go for i3 2100 and a suitable board. Give me a few minutes, I'll stick another build together.
This would also be a delightful option. The SSD would be very lovely and make things super speedy for him. If you found the i3 onboard GPU doesn't give you enough grunt over time it'd be easy enough to stick in a £30/£40 GPU down the line. Personally I can't decide which I'd go for. They're both good options, I just prefer the shiney audio of the other but the SSD and CPU of this one probably make it a better build for most. Also, don't change that HD. The Samsung F3 is the one you want as far as mechanical drives go. EDIT: Don't forget you're entitled to free delivery from Scan as well as you're a B-T member with over 20 posts. You'd also probably knock a few quid off of this build if you wait for today only tomorrow as the CPU and Mobo will very likely be on and maybe a few other bits if you're lucky. Spend the extra on a better front 120mm fan, a rear 92mm fan and a CPU cooler.
Looks great, thanks everyone else for the recommendations. Only thing I'm a little bit skeptical about is the AMD CPU, I'm not really a fanboy or anything, but surely the i3/i5 packs much higher CPU power right?
Yeah it does but that AMD has a proper on die GPU which smashes the HD2000 GPU (The one on the intel) to pieces. Given your dad is into media that's why I've suggested it. Long term it would be better on a GPU front. I can't imagine anything more annoying than building a PC for media and then getting stuttering on Hi Def stuff. Ideally you'd want the 2100 with a discrete GPU, something like a GT 520...
You're right, those new APUs from AMD look pretty promising in the gpu department, pretty nice indeed. I'll ask him a few more questions before finalizing the type of setup, thanks again
As i have read the i3 benches better to a similar AMD of the same price.. But i have AMD and its great all the same.. building a PC for a friend this week for similar use and went for the this... Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz LGA1155 3MB £93.82 Asus P8H61-M PRO REV 3.0 LGA1155 Intel H61 DDR mATX (B3 Stepping) £69.99 Kingston ValueRAM 4GB (2x2GB) 1333MHz DDR3 Non-ECC CL9 DIMM 240-Pin £24.99 Corsair 430 Watt CX430 V2 Builder Series 80 Plus Power Supply £34.99 Antec One Hundred Black ATX Mid Tower Case £44.98 Kingston 120GB HyperX SATA 6Gb/s 2.5" Solid State Drive £169.99
No worries. One other point to make is that the APU will cope super easily with what his requirements are, and if you ditch the soundcard and the speakers for an SSD you'll see awesome performance. Which of those you do depends on how shiney you want it to sound. Feel free to give me a shout if you've any other questions.
If this is your first time with a lower end AMD system, I would go for a full out quad core. It *is* possible to unlock a triple or dual core to a quad core, but - especially with new processors - you have to think why those cores have been locked in the first place. Also, quad core doesn't cost a huge amount more.
This is a different situation. These are FM1 CPUs not AM3, in any case the 2100 absolutely destroys most of the phenom x4 stuff. AMD are no where at the moment in anything but FM1.
So what's wrong with paying up £14 more for an A6 3650 but get the extra core? I mean, you even get .2GHz more speed as well!
I have read the same too, hence build i put together was this way... im after a 2500k for myself as im a little buit more demanding user.. Get the i3 2100
You're right, that's a better move if going down the AMD path. Note to self: Just because something is not in stock at Scan, does not mean you shouldn't suggest it .
Stick to the i3/i5 tbh. Those apu's are not fast for a desktop/workstation regardless of the gpu in them.
