Help spec 1st PC for my nephew?

[cheesyboy]

Sorry to revive this thread but I'm about to buy the parts this weekend and I wanted to ask about your recommendations for a AM3+ motherboard?

Trying to see if I can squeeze in the FX6300

Was thinking an Fx6300 will provide a degree of future proofing.

You'd need a GPU then though - the motherboard graphics wouldn't allow gaming, so would be a total disappointment on Xmas day.

Get a FM2+ mobo, with the best FM2 APU you can (probably an A8). FM2+ mobo would allow an upgrade to Kaveri when they appear in the new year, if more CPU grunt is needed - the A8 should be adequate, though.

[george1979]

Yeah I was planning to buy him a little GPU - maybe a 7750 to start him off as the integrated APU graphics, while good for what they are, aren't gonna be much use for the games he likes.

[george1979]

Also forgot to metion with this that I'm adding another £50 to the budget so £400 total.
I've been swithering over trying to include the fx6300 but I think I'm gonna go with CAT's suggestion of the Athlon x4 760k to save cash. So what I'm looking at now is:

http://www.dabs.com/products/asus-a8...%20a88x&src=16

http://www.ebuyer.com/507066-amd-ath...-ad760kwohlbox



http://www.dabs.com/products/tp-link...6TH.html?src=3

http://www.ebuyer.com/239238-casecom...an-k5-9388blue

http://www.dabs.com/products/microso...J00.html?src=2

http://www.ebuyer.com/272181-kingsto...x1600c9d3b1-4g

PSU - I've made an offer to buy this for £40:

http://forums.hexus.net/classifieds/...m-212-evo.html

I have a Pioneer DVD rewriter drive I can take out of my system since I have the LG Blu Ray drive there anyway.

Also just bought an EVGA GTX 460 on ebay for £57 incl postage.

Oilsheik is selling a 320Gb HDD for £20 so will likely take that. EDIT! - scratch that. The drive was a 2.5" 5400rpm one so I've passed on that. Will go for:

http://www.cclonline.com/product/662...QsHEXqFV8YhfRA


So that gives a total of £384.46. Just need to buy him a keyboard and mouse which should even it out around £400.

[MrRockliffe]

If it's for your nephew, I have a spare i3 with a few months warranty left that I could sell to you? I've also got a 450w PSU (only one 6 pin PCI power though - don't know if the 460 needs more)

I'll put it up on Hexus now if you want so I can make a proper thread?

[george1979]

Which i3 is it? Wondering if its easy to still get a Mobo for it.

[MrRockliffe]

It's an i3 3220. You can get cheap ones on scan that support it for 30 quid

[george1979]

Was that Ivy bridge? How much would you be looking for?

[MrRockliffe]

It is ivy. I'd sell it for 50 delivered.

[george1979]

Been looking into it and it seems like it'd be a good little chip for gaming.

Does it still have the stock cooler and, if so, I'm guessing I'll need to get some thermal paste?

Would you accept £45 for it?

[MrRockliffe]

I had it up for 60,and as you said it's a superb chip. I can't really go that low. I've already been offered 45 for it from a mate and said if I don't get more I'll sell it to him. I bought it back in March and it's been out of my system for a month. It does come with the heatsink (I'd need to buy a new one as I'm using it at the moment - bought my new one second hand and they guy didn't send the cooler with it). Let me know

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

OcUK having a clearout on some older items ATM. This motherboard is new:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...=595&catid=662

This one has a 3 month warranty:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...=595&catid=689

[george1979]

I had it up for 60,and as you said it's a superb chip. I can't really go that low. I've already been offered 45 for it from a mate and said if I don't get more I'll sell it to him. I bought it back in March and it's been out of my system for a month. It does come with the heatsink (I'd need to buy a new one as I'm using it at the moment - bought my new one second hand and they guy didn't send the cooler with it). Let me know

Well Herulach is selling me his PSU so I could buy his cooler from him and that would save you buying one - that's worth £5 of anyone's money surely
(I'm not doing the stereotype of tight fisted Scotsmen any good here lol)

That Z68 board looks good CAT - I saw it on Dabs for a similar price but I read it didn't work out of the box with Ivy Bridge chips?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Well Herulach is selling me his PSU so I could buy his cooler from him and that would save you buying one - that's worth £5 of anyone's money surely
(I'm not doing the stereotype of tight fisted Scotsmen any good here lol)

That Z68 board looks good CAT - I saw it on Dabs for a similar price but I read it didn't work out of the box with Ivy Bridge chips?

I have heard some of them are fine,but you might have a point!!

[george1979]

I have heard some of them are fine,but you might have a point!!

It is really tempting. If I could be sure it'd work I'd be entering my card details now!
The foxconn one is a great price - its just the looks that put me off. Its stupid I know but its for a 9 year old boy so I want it to look 'cool'

[MrRockliffe]

If you don't need the cooler it's less money to send and it'll save me money. I'll pm you about it

[george1979]

Built this system today with a better spec than I had originally planned, thanks to helpful Hexus members, so I've ended up with:

i3 3220 (thanks to Mr Rockliffe)
gigabyte h61m-usb3v
530w BeQuiet L8 PSU (Thanks to Herulach)
CM Hyper 212 EVO (Thanks to Herulach) - This is total overkill for an i3 but its nice to have, load temps peaked at 41C during a quick 10min prime 95 run.
4Gb Kingston HyperX Blu
EVGA GTX460 1Gb (Ebay)
1Tb Seagate Barracuda
Pioneer DVD RW (liberated from my own PC)
Edimax wireless PCI card
Casecom k5-9388

The build went really smoothly. Only hiccups were due to my own stupidity like forgetting to fit the mobo i/o plate and having to take the MB back out.
Only other weird issue is that the front panel audio won't work unless I turn off the jack detection. Not a major problem, I'll just leave it off.
The case was a pleasant surprise - really good value for money. The steel is a bit flimsy but for £22 that is t be expected.



Overall I'm pretty happy with it and I'm pretty sure my nephew will have a good xmas this year

Cheers for the advice guys