I am currently buying in components for 2 APU builds for my 7 year old triplets to use for Minecraft (Win10 edition) Youtube and school use. I am planning on refreshing their current pc and building a second new one, meaning some parts can be reused and some to be bought new. For both new and refresh I have bought or have the following 2x Cases - both ATX capable 2x PSU's - 1x Seasonic 430watt and the other is a 600watt Bronze (can't remember the brand atm) 2x Sandisk Z400 128GB SSD - these computers will be used mainly for Minecraft and anything else will be storage on accessible folders on my Desktop. The storage is for OS and any apps installed. 1x Set of 2x2GB Corsair vengeance DDR3 1600mhz ram Various cables and some non brand fans from previous PC builds. 1x Asus HD6850 1GB GPU 2x monitors (1x 22" and 1x24" 1080p) So as it stands, I have a total of £220 to buy in the following 2x APU's 2x corresponding motherboards 1x set of RAM - probably a 2x4GB Corsair Vengeance set to split so each pc has 6GB each So, can anyone recommend a solution to my problem? What should i be looking at? I've had most people i have spoken to direct me to Intel's offerings, but I would like (hopefully) someone's input on the AMD side of things as that is what the kids pc is running on at the moment and I think AMD's APU's may be a good fit for what I want to do. Thanks in advance and any further information to help make a suggestion - feel free to ask.
Do understand that a new motherboard constitutes a new computer in terms of most OEM software licenses - including Windows. So if your current Windows licenses are OEM/System Builders licenses, as the vast majority are, you will need to purchase new Windows licenses too. And note to utilize more than 4Gb, you MUST use a 64-bit operating system. And without ensuring compatibility before you purchase your new RAM, there is no assurance your existing RAM will work on your new motherboard, or with the new RAM. Fortunately with your current being DDR3, compatibility is more likely though I would recommend getting the same speed (or all new RAM). Minecraft, fortunately, is not a resource hungry program. Just for the record, note that APU (accelerated processor unit) is an AMD term. Intel does not use "APU". In fact, Intel does not have a fancy term for their processors with integrated graphics. Instead, they just call them "CPUs with integrated graphics". Also note you don't have to get an APU. You can get a motherboard with integrated graphics and a CPU. Or you can get a motherboard that supports an APU. Or you can get a motherboard, a graphics card and a CPU (or APU but not use integrated). Clear as mud, right? Most cases that support ATX motherboards will typically support smaller micro ATX boards too. The primary difference is fewer expansion slots (for add in cards) and some times fewer RAM slots - typically only 2 instead of 4 or more. With triplets, NO DOUBT budget matters so going with an AMD platform makes sense although once you factor in the prices of all the other components, the differences are not that much. But since you have many of the parts already, and again with triplets, every penny surely counts. I suggest you look here to get an idea of what's out there. Look at the supported RAM and CPUs. If it says None for Onboard Video Chipset, you will need to buy a graphics card too. Finally (for now) if you get a board that supports an APU or has integrated graphics, understand that does not limit you for future upgrades. For example, you can still add a more powerful graphics card down the road. Chew on that for bit and no doubt you will then have more questions and we can help you narrow it down from there.
I'm under no illusion that the budget is going to be VERY tight, possibly even impossible to do what I'm asking, so I am going to increase my budget slightly to £250 for both. With regards to your question about Windows licences, I've already purchased 2 Windows 8.1 Home N 64bit licences which, with the free upgrade to Windows 10, will do just nicely for these two pc's. The licence attached to their current pc is an OEM licence so will stay with the board (DDR2 memory so unusable with anything else) Seeing as I already have the HD6850, I've been thinking it would be a bit stupid to go ahead with the idea of keeping two two spec lists the same - I'm thinking of using the following AMD Athlon x4 860k (£54) MSI A88XM-P33 (£38) HD6850 GPU 2x2GB RAM Set - Corsair Vengeance Blue 1600mhz Then plough the rest of the budget into an AMD APU A10 series APU and a 2x4GB RAM set (and motherboard) Something like the following AMD A10 7850k (£94) MSI A88XM-P33 (£38) Corsair vengeance Pro 2400mhz 2x4GB (£40) add into each of these spec lists a Sandisk Z400 128GB SSD, would these two systems be ideal for my purposes? It is slightly above the new budget of £250 at £265 all in, but I think it is worth spending the extra on the A10 7850 to get the extra 128 graphics cores over the A10 7700k's 384. Any thoughts on my plan before I place the order (doing so tomorrow, for delivery on Monday)
It really is hard to say what is ideal for anyone else but I will say I believe these systems will serve your kids well and should provide many years of good service. The A10-7850 is a nicer processor for sure, but I don't believe 7 year olds will notice any difference with the programs they will run. You could trim a bit off the budget with a different processor. I personally will never use HDs in any of my builds and instead will go with SSDs as you have. Even a slow SSD will run circles around the fastest hard drive. Plus, SSDs consume less power and generate less heat, and should, in theory anyways, last longer with no moving parts. But SSDs will still consume a budget pretty quickly. While 128Gb sounds like a lot, and is plenty for now, that may cause problems down the road - especially if they start to save their own programs and files on the drives too. Photos and songs, for example can really start to consume disk space quickly. If me, I would try to budget for ~250Gb drives. That will also leave enough room so when networked, they be used as backups for the other computer. Corsair Vengeance RAM is designed for overclockers and other enthusiasts. Consequently, it costs more but is not going to provide any better performance for your kids programs. You could trim some more off the budget with different RAM. The only other issue I see is 3 kids, 2 computers.
