Check my spec - advice on budget machine

[altitude2k]

Wonder if I could get you chaps to look over my proposed spec for a budget PC. It'll be a Christmas pressie for my little brother, who's only 7 coming up to 8. Primarily it'll be something he can play his Cartoon Network web games on, Lego factory designer and school work, but also something he can use for some proper gaming. No need for Crysis 2 @ 60fps @1080 or anything, but needs to be good enough for new games over the next few years. Getting him F1 Race Stars and the Lego games, for example.

In terms of budget, looking at around £350 for the tower. Fast enough to last him, and cheap enough so that after 3 years my Mum can choose to just write off the cost or maybe upgrade. In that respect, upgradeability is also something to consider.

Anyways, onto the bits:

Processor
Intel i3 3220 Ivy Bridge - £91

Motherboard
Asus P8H61-MX R2.0 socket 1155 (with built in audio) - £38

RAM
8GB Crucial DDR3 1600 (1.5v for i3) - £27

Graphics
Sapphire AMD HD7750 1GB DDR5 - £80

HDD
Seagate 3.5" 500GB - £42

Optical drive
Samsung DVD writer - £13

Case
Coolmaster 330 with 500w PSU and fan - £57

So unless there's something I've forgotten, that's the lot. £348.

Couple of questions though. It's been some time since I've built a rig, will I be needing any additional internal cables? Fans?

Any compatibility issues I may have overlooked? Also, is the case and PSU a bit overkill for the guts? I checked, and that bundle was about as good a price as you could build yourself with lesser components.

In general how capable a machine would this be? And perhaps some of these parts could even be found cheaper.

Thanks in advance.

[scaryjim]

For your purposes, an A10-5700 APU plus decent FM2 board would be a better choice. Wouldn't need the discrete graphics card then, and there'll be at least one more generation of APUs on socket FM2 - 1155 is EOL after Ivy Bridge.

What kind of monitor will it be hooked up to?

[altitude2k]

For your purposes, an A10-5700 APU plus decent FM2 board would be a better choice. Wouldn't need the discrete graphics card then, and there'll be at least one more generation of APUs on socket FM2 - 1155 is EOL after Ivy Bridge.

What kind of monitor will it be hooked up to?

Probably just a standard widescreen, 1920x1080. What would the graphics performance drop be like using the AMD APU for graphics as opposed to a discrete GPU? Assuming there would be one. And I assume that a GPU could be added at a later date for some more oomph?

Any recommendations for the mobo?

[Willzzz]

Well the A10-5700 would be cheaper, but it would also be less powerful. It's a perfectly good choice, but not a flat out better choice.

It's rarely worth upgrading a CPU with one that is only one generation ahead. Most people would wait 2-3 generations these days.

[altitude2k]

Well the A10-5700 would be cheaper, but it would also be less powerful. It's a perfectly good choice, but not a flat out better choice.

It's rarely worth upgrading a CPU with one that is only one generation ahead. Most people would wait 2-3 generations these days.

So better to stick with the i3 and then upgrade the discreet card when it starts to struggle? I've also read that the A10 is pretty much at the limit of speed for FM2 socket...

[scaryjim]

The A10 is the top *current* APU, but there will be another generation, with another step improvement in both the CPU and GPU, and it will drop straight into the FM2 motherboard you've already got. The same simply can't be said for the i3 system.

And here's the other thing that can't be said for the i3 system: if you want to play games on it at 1080p the i3 simply won't do that acceptably, regardless of the quality settings, without a discrete GPU. The A10 probably will. So you get an initially lower expenditure on a system that will almost certainly meet all your requirements.

And if, down the line, it turns out that you do need more GPU power, you can just drop any discrete GPU into the A10 system. The CPU performance of the A10 is pretty close to the i3. So you don't have to buy a GPU now, and you don't have to *upgrade* a GPU later: you just add one. No wasted money. And GPU prices are likely to decline, or a new, better, GPU come out, in the meantime.

If you were talking genuine gaming rig I could see an argument for going Intel, because their CPU performance is ahead of AMDs, but when you're looking for a general, entry-level machine that can do a bit of everything, particularly for an 8 year old (who is not going to care that he can't run 8x AA ultra quality 1080p at 60fps), planning to buy a discrete GPU when there are APUs out there capable of providing an adequate experience seems wasteful. Try the A10-5700, save the £80, then if you need a GPU add one later. Makes more sense to me (and I'd be willing to bet a small amount of money on an 8 year old being more than happy with the performance of an A10 system).

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I assume you have Windows 7 or Windows 8 already??

A mate recently did a build with an A10 5800K for someone in a similar situation in the OP(I think the kid is around 12). The main gaming focus of the system was primarily to run something like Minecraft which it did perfectly well at decent settings at 1920X1080. It even ran a few other well known games reasonably well.

Moreover,the Coolermaster 500W in that bundle is a bit average. I would get something a bit better,which would can re-used in the long run.

Edit!!

I would look at this PSU:

http://www.cclonline.com/product/554...tion-/PSU0202/

Its made by Seasonic.

[Bagnaj97]

http://www.ebuyer.com/lists/list/67823 That's pretty much the build I recently did (hey, don't blame me for the LED fans and case - I was told to make it flashy for a kid!). I tested it using my monitor (1080p), not the one on that list. I didn't check FPS, but Skyrim and Crysis were perfectly playable on somewhere between medium and high at 1080p, Portal 2 I maxxed out and turned on 4x AA without problems.

As others have said, the CPU is similar in performance to the i3, but with very good integrated graphics. If you were to add a discrete GPU later on then the CPU should be fast enough still. Or you can buy the next gen of FM2 chips when they're available to get both a CPU and GPU upgrade.

[Willzzz]

Yes, as I said the A10 is a perfectly good choice if you want to come in under budget, the i3 is a better choice if you want to add a discrete card.

And yes, I think an 8y old is going to be perfectly happy with the cheaper system.
I don't think either is particularly upgrade friendly, but I don't think that matters too much, both would happily last 3 years.
Potentially they could be recycled as a HTPC, in which case it might be nice to look into smaller form factor motherboards.

[altitude2k]

It's an excellent argument, actually. And I assume you can add the GPU in CrossFire with the APU?

[Willzzz]

You can add certain GPUs to 'crossfire' with the APU. I believe the 6670 is the main one.

Any 7 series or above won't work with the current gen APUs.

[Willzzz]

http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/cpu/46...cs-evaluation/

[altitude2k]

Thanks for all the advice. I've taken the plunge and gone and bought the lot - including the recommended tower and power supply rather than the one I chose. Even ponied up for the blue LED fan

£390 in total including monitor, speakers, mouse and keyboard. OS already sorted.