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Help with new budget build for a mate
Hi all,
Friend of mine wants me to put together a general purpose PC for him but I'm not particularly up to speed with the latest offerings in the budget end of things. I know the AMD APUs are quite popular at this sort of price point as good all rounders but I'm pretty sure you can get quite capable Intel dual cores for peanuts that will easily handle most day to day tasks.
Uses of the PC: Email/browsing. Occasional excel spreadsheets. Iplayer/watching videos. "Making simple posters" so I'm guessing he will be using something like Photoshop Elements, nothing too taxing. He assures me he will not be using it to play games.
Special requirements: "Low power. Relatively quiet would be a bonus"
Budget: £250 max not including monitor or OS.
OS: I've advised he go for Windows 7
Thanks in advance :)
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
This combo on Scan's Today Only page for £191 looks good, would probably need to replace the PSU though:
1TB Seagate ST1000DM003 Barracuda 7200.14 SATA 6Gb/s 7200rpm 64mb Cache 8ms NCQ OEM
4GB Corsair Value DDR3 PC3-10600 (1333) Non-ECC Unbuffered, 9-9-9-24, 1.5V
500W ScanFX PSU Standard ATX-500 rear 80mm Fan, ATX v2.03, PSU
Coolermaster K-350 Black Mid Tower Performance & Gaming Case with USB 3.0 and Side Window w/o PSU
Gigabyte GA-H61M-USB3V, Intel H61, S 1155, DDR3, SATA II - 3Gb/s, PCIe 3.0 (x16), D-Sub (VGA)/ DVI-D, Micro ATX
Intel Pentium G2020, S 1155, Ivy Bridge, Dual Core, 2.9GHz, 5 GT/s DMI, 3MB Smart Cache, 29x Core Ratio, 55W, Retail
Thoughts?
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
Personally, I'd always go AMD rather than Intel at the bottom end of the market. If price and power draw are the key factors, then socket FM2 with a low end APU makes most sense, so:
A4 4000 - £33
Biostar A55 mobo - £35
4GB DDR3-1600 RAM - £35
1TB hard drive - < £50
mATX mini tower case - < £25
Decent 350W PSU - £30
DVD Drive (because why not ;) ) - £13
Total: £223 for complete base unit.
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
Quote:
Originally Posted by
scaryjim
Personally, I'd always go AMD rather than Intel at the bottom end of the market. If price and power draw are the key factors, then socket FM2 with a low end APU makes most sense, so:
Biostar A55 mobo - £35
That motherboard doesn't have a digital monitor connection, which might be a problem?
Personally, I'd spend a bit more and go with this mobo:
http://www.ebuyer.com/397490-asus-f2...sor-f2a55-m-lk
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
You'll also need to budget for an OEM Windows 7 licence (about £65), although given that your mate isn't interested in gaming, Ubuntu or similar OS might be a way of saving some cash...
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
Or you could get this, with an extended warranty for peace of mind?
http://www.ebuyer.com/407538-zoostor...p-pc-7873-1076
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Jimbobgod1969
Not a bad call actually, it certainly isn't the worst pre-built box in the world :) If you do go that route be prepared to swap out the PSU though; it could be a no-name cheapo deathtrap ;)
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
Thanks for answers so far. I did wonder whether pre-built might be the way to go at this low end. £150 is dirt cheap and would leave some for a 60GB SSD which would probably make it fly.
As for low power I thought Intel had the edge on AMD in that respect?
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
Quote:
Originally Posted by
CAT-THE-FIFTH
Thanks Cat, as ever. Do you not think that some of these components are a bit overkill for the usage of the PC? Especially 8GB of 1866MHz RAM. I was wondering whether the build you have specced up would perform faster in day to day tasks than the Zoostorm above coupled with an SSD (the latter being a much cheaper option).
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
The main problem is the PSU the Zoostom uses,ie,is it something like the OEM FSP PSUs I listed or something really rubbish??
The 8GB of 1866MHZ RAM costs the same as 1600MHZ RAM. The CPU is also a quad core too,which means for general day to day multi-tasking it should be quite smooth. The IGP also is not bad for GPU acceleration too,which is becoming more and more common.
An SSD would no doubt be a good improvement,but I would say the system I suggested should probably be fine for a few years,and have extra performance in the tank if required.
Having said that I have also used an A6-3670K with a Samsung F3 500GB(the same HDD I suggested in the build) under Windows 8 and it was surprisingly snappy.
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Nobull
As for low power I thought Intel had the edge on AMD in that respect?
Load power draw favours Intel, but only slightly at the low end (more significantly at the top end). Idle power draw currently favours FM2 as a platform, and a computer spends most of its time at idle, particularly for web-browsing/office type work.
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
If there's no gaming at all, the A4-4000 is a good choice for general office/web type stuff. Anything over 4gb RAM is excessive. You can get a cheapy Intel CPU for about £10 extra, but it doesn't come with Sim City, and you won't see any performance benefits.
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Nobull
Thanks for answers so far. I did wonder whether pre-built might be the way to go at this low end. £150 is dirt cheap and would leave some for a 60GB SSD which would probably make it fly.
As for low power I thought Intel had the edge on AMD in that respect?
Peak power on the high end parts is better on Intel.
Idle power is better on AMD.
Edit to add: Gah, distraction and lag on posting, beaten to it :D
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
Ahh as ever, decisions. I do think 8GB ram would be overkill for his uses, he can always add more later if needed. I don't want to push his budget too far, I know he'd probably be better spending the money elsewhere. Going to have to relay all this to him.
Thanks for the input so far guys, keep it coming!
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
I don't think you'll get anything lower price. I'd go with scaryjim's suggestion, though personally I would spend a little more on the motherboard (you can get Asus/Gigabyte FM2 ones for about £45-50). You can also cut costs a little by getting 4gb 1866MHz RAM on Amazon for £23, and of course selling Sim City (you'd get at least £15 for it).
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
Quote:
Originally Posted by
CAT-THE-FIFTH
...and you get Nectar points on Amazon purchases.
No, you don't anymore. Sadly. Check here.
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
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!
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
Quote:
Originally Posted by
teppic
You can also cut costs a little by getting 4gb 1866MHz RAM on Amazon for £23
Link?
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Nobull
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).
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
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?
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
Faster RAM is only necessary if you want better performance in games.
That MSI board is fine for a budget build.
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
Quote:
Originally Posted by
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!
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.
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
Quote:
Originally Posted by
CAT-THE-FIFTH
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!
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
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.
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
Quote:
Originally Posted by
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 ;)
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
Quote:
Originally Posted by
scaryjim
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.
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
The A8 5600K is under £70 on Ebuyer with a copy of SimCity:
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/amd-...ebuyer-1603334
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
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!
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
Quote:
Originally Posted by
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!
Flubit??
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
Quote:
Originally Posted by
CAT-THE-FIFTH
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...
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
Quote:
Originally Posted by
scaryjim
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.
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
Quote:
Originally Posted by
CAT-THE-FIFTH
Which of these two would you go for? The cheaper one at £16.56 seems almost too cheap! And it's a higher power rating. Is there any reason to by the more expensive but lower rated one?
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Nobull
Which of these two would you go for? The cheaper one at £16.56 seems almost too cheap! And it's a higher power rating. Is there any reason to by the more expensive but lower rated one?
I have the 400W version,which I took some pictures of:
http://forums.hexus.net/pc-hardware/...-oem-psus.html
The 460W PSU looks like the newer version of the FSP460 60HCN:
http://translate.google.com/translat...en-ac-fsp460/1
Edit!!
I would e-mail CCL Computers to confirm the 460W PSU has a PCI-E power connector as the newer version has one.
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
Is there any reason both Cat and Jim recommended the LiteOn DVD drive when there are LG and Samsung drives for a smidgen cheaper on Ebuyer? I would've thought LG or Samsung would be preferable ordinarily...
@Cat I think I'll go for the 400W supply if it's 80+ certified, thanks for that great little review.
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
Think the Liteon was the cheapest when I looked at it - the Samsung and LG are both showing a ~ £4-£5 reduction now. You may as well grab the cheapest DVD drive you can get, they're pretty much of a muchness.
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
What's your final spec for the PC?
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
Quote:
Originally Posted by
teppic
What's your final spec for the PC?
Was going to post that once I bought all the bits but it's pretty much finalised:
CPU: A8 5600k £69 from Ebuyer
Mobo: Biostar HiFi A85S3 £39 from Flubit
RAM: 4GB Crucial Ballistix £17 from Flubit
HDD: 1TB Seagate Barracuda £42 from Flubit
SSD: 60GB Corsair F60 (new refurb) £25 from me
Case: (expected) Fractal Design Core 1000 £25 from Maplin
PSU: FSP 400W £23 from CCL
Optical: LG or Samsung DVDRW £13 from Ebuyer
Total cost: £253 which should come in comfortably under budget once I shift SimCity.
I think for the price is getting a pretty capable machine and I'm sure it will fly doing everything he needs it for.
EDIT: Just been offered the Fractal Core 1000 for £21 from Flubit so another £4 saved.
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
In the thread for the PSU,supposedly it is not the 80+ version of the FSP. However,it appears that the older version was 80% efficient under 230V but not probably under 110V so did not receive the certification.
Anyway,I use one with an A6 3670K based rig and another forum member(Bagnaj97) uses one with an Athlon II X3 and an HD7770 so its not too bad TBH.
Edit!!
Not having the RAM in dual channel with reduce performance especially with the IGP.
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
Was much cheaper than Dual Channel. I have 2 sticks of 2GB corsair value select he could have but it's only 1066mhz.
What do you think will be better?
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
Probably go with single channel as he could add another stick of RAM later.
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
He's not gaming with it so should be okay. Is there an article anywhere that compares the difference in performance of single vs. dual channel? If it's a big difference I might just get a 2nd stick as he's given me a bit spare and I have saved money on all those flubit purchases.
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
Quote:
Originally Posted by
CAT-THE-FIFTH
Not having the RAM in dual channel with reduce performance especially with the IGP.
I put some figures for single channel v dual channel in my A6-3670k review here: http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-reader...le-review.html
Basically going from a single 1600MHz stick to 2 1600MHz sticks boosts performance by around 20%
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Nobull
I have 2 sticks of 2GB corsair value select he could have but it's only 1066mhz.
What do you think will be better?
Interesting. 2 sticks of 1066MHz RAM will have ~ 33% more bandwidth than a single stick of 1600MHz RAM, so I reckon the 2x 1066MHz sticks will give you between 5% and 10% better gaming performance. However, as CAT says if you stick 1 1600MHz stick in then another can be added later, and 2x 1600MHz sticks will give 50% more bandwidth than 2x 1066MHz sticks, and better performance again.
But here's the thing: if he's not going to play games then it doesn't really matter, and if he is going to play games then he'll be much better off with two faster sticks. So personally I'd stick with the one slower stick.
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Re: Help with new budget build for a mate
I think I'll stick with the single stick then, he ASSURES me it's not for games! I'll tell him if he ever gets the urge it would be worth investing in another stick.
