Help with new budget build for a mate

[Bonebreaker777]

...and you get Nectar points on Amazon purchases.

No, you don't anymore. Sadly. Check here.

[Nobull]

What do you guys think of these alternatives?

Thinking of going for this MSI motherboard that has USB3 and SATA3 and is only £43 from Scan. Seems good bang for buck and nicely future-proofed?

And as a compromise between price and performance I was thinking of the A6 6400K for £58 as it's somewhere in between the A8 and A4, does it seem a solid choice? Or do you think the A8 will come in cheaper once Sim City is sold on?

I think I can save a few pounds by going for el cheapo case circa £12 as having spoken to him he's really not bothered about the case. I also think I'll go for one of the cheap FSP PSUs, like such as this 500w 78% efficiency one for £20. Seems a bargain plus with such an overhead it will be running at probably 50% so should be relatively efficient?

Another way to save money is on the RAM. I have a spare 4GB sat in a box that I might just give him. I've also just got an RMA of my 60GB Corsair F60 so thinking I might use this as an opportunity to upgrade to 120GB and sell the brand new F60 to him for £25 which would be a steal and will help me fund my upgrade! Everyone's a winner!

[Nobull]

You can also cut costs a little by getting 4gb 1866MHz RAM on Amazon for £23

Link?

[teppic]

Link?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0057Q4A7G - it's out of stock now.

If you're considering the A6 6400K, I would go for the A8 5600K because it's quad core, and Sim City will bring the price down (it's worth approx. £15).

[Nobull]

Okay think I will go for the A8. The spare RAM I have is slow and I forgot the APU is more reliant on the RAM so I should probably get him a faster 4GB set, any suggestions?

Anyone any thoughts on the Motherboard I linked?

[teppic]

Faster RAM is only necessary if you want better performance in games.

That MSI board is fine for a budget build.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

What do you guys think of these alternatives?

Thinking of going for this MSI motherboard that has USB3 and SATA3 and is only £43 from Scan. Seems good bang for buck and nicely future-proofed?

And as a compromise between price and performance I was thinking of the A6 6400K for £58 as it's somewhere in between the A8 and A4, does it seem a solid choice? Or do you think the A8 will come in cheaper once Sim City is sold on?

I think I can save a few pounds by going for el cheapo case circa £12 as having spoken to him he's really not bothered about the case. I also think I'll go for one of the cheap FSP PSUs, like such as this 500w 78% efficiency one for £20. Seems a bargain plus with such an overhead it will be running at probably 50% so should be relatively efficient?

Another way to save money is on the RAM. I have a spare 4GB sat in a box that I might just give him. I've also just got an RMA of my 60GB Corsair F60 so thinking I might use this as an opportunity to upgrade to 120GB and sell the brand new F60 to him for £25 which would be a steal and will help me fund my upgrade! Everyone's a winner!

MSI has the highest instance of VRM failures with AMD motherboards(especially budget ones),so that Biostar I suggested is probably a better bet.

The A6 is a dual core CPU and the A8 5600K is a quad core. Scan charge a bit more for the A8 5600K but it comes with SimCity too:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/amd-a...hz-100w-retail

A mate bought that 500W:

http://forums.hexus.net/psus/289221-...view-rant.html

Its has under 80% efficiency and lacks modern connectors.

The 400W and 460W FSP PSUs I suggested are based on newer designs and the 400W I actually have used.

[Nobull]

MSI has the highest instance of VRM failures with AMD motherboards(especially budget ones),so that Biostar I suggested is probably a better bet.

The A6 is a dual core CPU and the A8 5600K is a quad core. Scan charge a bit more for the A8 5600K but it comes with SimCity too:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/amd-a...hz-100w-retail

A mate bought that 500W:

http://forums.hexus.net/psus/289221-...view-rant.html

Its has under 80% efficient and lacks modern connectors.

The 400W and 460W FSP PSUs I suggested are based on newer designs and the 400W I actually have used.

Didn't realise the Biostar you had linked had USB3 and Sata3! Yes I will go for that if it's still in stock when he gets the funds to me. I'm not sure about the 5600k vs the 5500, the latter seems to be slightly pricier but I think will give him the performance he needs at a lower power point.

I think you're right about the PSUs as well Cat, just read that review myself earlier today!

Thanks to the moose!

[teppic]

The 5600K will perform really well. The 6500 is overkill for his system, I'd say. You can do a mild overclock on the 5600K using the stock cooler if you want to.

Although the 5600K is rated at 100w, it will use far less than that normally - that's the full load power usage.

[scaryjim]

A mate bought that 500W:

http://forums.hexus.net/psus/289221-...view-rant.html

Its has under 80% efficiency and lacks modern connectors.

Being an FSP branded PSU it's basically industrial, so is designed to provide clean and stable power. Efficiency and connectors are less important in those circumstances. My bet would be that it's basically one of the OEM designs FSP produce for the big companies like Dell and HP, but with a retail sticker slapped on it. High 12v rating means it was probably designed for a box with a high end quad-core box with integrated graphics - older, but not ancient design. There's always a reason that cheap PSUs are cheap

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Being an FSP branded PSU it's basically industrial, so is designed to provide clean and stable power. Efficiency and connectors are less important in those circumstances. My bet would be that it's basically one of the OEM designs FSP produce for the big companies like Dell and HP, but with a retail sticker slapped on it. High 12v rating means it was probably designed for a box with a high end quad-core box with integrated graphics - older, but not ancient design. There's always a reason that cheap PSUs are cheap

That 500W is a waste of time when OEM FSP 400W and 460W PSUs can be had:

http://www.cclonline.com/product/982...t-OEM/PSU0486/
http://www.cclonline.com/product/763...W-PSU/PSU0307/

They both have a PCI-E power connector unlike the 500W one and reviews indicated at 240V they are generally over 80% efficient over 20% load.

Scan must be selling an old version of the FSP500-60HCN,as the 460W version CCL Computers is selling has a PCI-E power connector.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The A8 5600K is under £70 on Ebuyer with a copy of SimCity:

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/amd-...ebuyer-1603334

[Nobull]

Yea saw that on HUKD actually. Going to nab it as soon as he sends the cash. Flubit is looking like it might save me another £25 too!

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Yea saw that on HUKD actually. Going to nab it as soon as he sends the cash. Flubit is looking like it might save me another £25 too!

Flubit??

[scaryjim]

Flubit??

www.flubit.com

Interesting concept - essentially a deal broker that negotiates with suppliers to get you a better price than the published one. Be interested to know how well it works with components - seems like a bit of a specialist field to be able to cut margins much further...

[Nobull]

www.flubit.com

Interesting concept - essentially a deal broker that negotiates with suppliers to get you a better price than the published one. Be interested to know how well it works with components - seems like a bit of a specialist field to be able to cut margins much further...

So far for this build it has saved me £6 on the Biostar motherboard Cat suggested, £2 on this crucial ballistix ram (that was out of stock on Amazon anyway), £6 on the 1TB Seagate HDD (so only £42!). These are the only parts I've bought so far. But I am going to get the 5600K from Ebuyer because I know I will receive the free copy of SimCity which will be worth more than the flubit saving. Thinking of submitting a flubit offer for the Fractal Design 1000 which is £25 @ Maplin atm and for one of the FSP PSUs that Cat has linked.