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Internet PC: CPU, MOBO, RAM suggestions please
Hi, I need a basic internet PC, I think the one I have now is on it's way out after taking the free Windows 10 upgrade and having to reset it so much. I built it after getting suggestions here maybe 7 years ago for CPU, memory, and mATX mobo with integrated graphics and that's been sufficient until now. I'd like to put together another cheap PC just for internet use, mATX for the case I've got with integrated graphics (if that would be sensible), plus CPU & RAM, and would grateful for your opinions, thanks :)
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Re: Internet PC: CPU, MOBO, RAM suggestions please
What have you currently got, and can you roll it back to non-Windows 10?
I've just had to reset an upgraded AiO PC to Windows 7 as the latest update had broken the VPN I used for work. The computer only had Chrome, a VPN client and Paint.net installed on it, so failing on one of it's 3 uses was pretty critical!
Some more RAM, an SSD if you haven't got one and a OS downgrade would see you fine for a few more years of web browsing I'm sure.
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Re: Internet PC: CPU, MOBO, RAM suggestions please
i strongly suggest one of AMD's cheap APU's (CPU and GPU on one chip), from last generation, and then Motherboards are cheap too.
DDR3 and you're sorted.
example only
https://www.amazon.co.uk/AMD-A6-7400...ywords=amd+apu
+
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gigabyte-F2...YB3XPT2ZG59H60
that's gonna do a great job for a long time, it;ll play stuff like Minecraft etc, rip through the odd Moviemaker project, eat up web browsing.. and use little electricity (TDP is 65W so itl use less most of the time)
Heatsink is included, ready pasted, and will be near silent.
I'm a great fan of these AMD APU's as you can tell !!
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Re: Internet PC: CPU, MOBO, RAM suggestions please
OP,what parts do you have in your current PC??
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Zak33
i strongly suggest one of AMD's cheap APU's (CPU and GPU on one chip), from last generation, and then Motherboards are cheap too.
DDR3 and you're sorted.
example only
https://www.amazon.co.uk/AMD-A6-7400...ywords=amd+apu
+
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gigabyte-F2...YB3XPT2ZG59H60
that's gonna do a great job for a long time, it;ll play stuff like Minecraft etc, rip through the odd Moviemaker project, eat up web browsing.. and use little electricity (TDP is 65W so itl use less most of the time)
Heatsink is included, ready pasted, and will be near silent.
I'm a great fan of these AMD APU's as you can tell !!
Well that A6 3670K I won here on Hexus 5 years ago is still in use today by a family member:
https://forums.hexus.net/reader-revi...ew-thread.html
All the same parts,apart from me using the SSD for my current build and upping the RAM to 8GB.
However,if I was getting a cheapo APU now,this would be what I would be considering:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/AMD-AD9600-...70_&dpSrc=srch
Its on socket AM4,meaning Raven Ridge will work on it and so will Ryzen.
Luckily the memory controller does not really support RAM faster than around 2666MHZ even with an overclock,so some cheapo DDR4 would do the trick.
It can even run some newish games at lower settings too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAW66_y3vr8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAW66_y3vr8
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Re: Internet PC: CPU, MOBO, RAM suggestions please
Quote:
Originally Posted by
CAT-THE-FIFTH
Can't fault CAT's suggestion, other than to point out that it's cheaper on Scan... ;)
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/amd-...65w-cpu-retail
My only caveat would be to think about the 35W A12 9800E instead - iyou get a higher peak boost clock, 33% more GPU shaders (at the same clock speed), and it's only 35W TDP rather than 65W, so should run quieter & cooler (and will draw a lot less power when fully loaded, although that'll be a rare occasion on a PC used mostly for web browsing). Only down side is it's a LOT more expensive, comparitively: > £90 at scan, vs £56 for the A8 9600....
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Re: Internet PC: CPU, MOBO, RAM suggestions please
Quote:
Originally Posted by
scaryjim
Can't fault CAT's suggestion, other than to point out that it's cheaper on Scan... ;)
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/amd-...65w-cpu-retail
My only caveat would be to think about the 35W A12 9800E instead - iyou get a higher peak boost clock, 33% more GPU shaders (at the same clock speed), and it's only 35W TDP rather than 65W, so should run quieter & cooler (and will draw a lot less power when fully loaded, although that'll be a rare occasion on a PC used mostly for web browsing). Only down side is it's a LOT more expensive, comparitively: > £90 at scan, vs £56 for the A8 9600....
Well,here are some gaming benchmarks of the A6 9500E and A12 9800E:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWwt6uzCbtQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lRMWoGz9D0
Here is a comparison of the A10 9700E and A12 9800E:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cstKEUdJcuA
Here is a comparison of the A12-9800 A12-9800E,A10-9700,A8-9600,A6-9500 and A6-9500E R7 running PUBG:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh9ZdhLY7Y8
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Re: Internet PC: CPU, MOBO, RAM suggestions please
gotta feel the love for the AMD APU's from last gen haven't you?
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Re: Internet PC: CPU, MOBO, RAM suggestions please
FM2+ is a dead socket now and A320 motherboards are pretty cheap:
https://www.scan.co.uk/shop/computer...x-motherboards
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search/r...qid=1510155706
The CPU prices are not massively different either:
https://www.scan.co.uk/shop/computer...apu-processors
Regarding CPU performance,the Bristol Ridge APUs actually increase single threaded performance over Kaveri but at the expensive of some multi-threaded performance due to the lower amount of L2 cache.
OTH,the IGP now can actually use DDR4,and is a newer generation of AMD GPU meaning it has colour compression. It also supports H265 and VP9 too.
AM4 also means you can plonk in Ryzen and more importantly Raven Ridge,which is the AMD APU with Zen based cores and a Vega based IGP.
The only caveat is DDR4 is more expensive than DDR3,but if you are not overclocking,the max support is only 2400MHZ with Bristol Ridge anyway.
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Re: Internet PC: CPU, MOBO, RAM suggestions please
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Aston_B
Hi, I need a basic internet PC, I think the one I have now is on it's way out after taking the free Windows 10 upgrade and having to reset it so much. I built it after getting suggestions here maybe 7 years ago for CPU, memory, and mATX mobo with integrated graphics and that's been sufficient until now. I'd like to put together another cheap PC just for internet use, mATX for the case I've got with integrated graphics (if that would be sensible), plus CPU & RAM, and would grateful for your opinions, thanks :)
Which parts can you take forward? I assume a case, psu, ddr3 and maybe a hard disk..?
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Re: Internet PC: CPU, MOBO, RAM suggestions please
Thank you for all the suggestions I'll have a look and try and take it all in, I've got retail Windows OS & wanted take Windows10 onto next comp so didn't revert it & I think my system's probably on it's way out now (all sorts of errors I cant recall, page in non paged area & so on..) so at least I've got the links if it dies before my next post.
I have
AMD Athlon 7850 dual core 2.8Ghz
ASUS M4A78-EM motherboard
and 4gb ram, details I cant recall but diagram on the manual says DDR2 sockets
Have a 450w Corsair PSU and drives so yeah thought just use those with the CPU,Mobo,RAM
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Re: Internet PC: CPU, MOBO, RAM suggestions please
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Aston_B
Thank you for all the suggestions I'll have a look and try and take it all in, I've got retail Windows OS & wanted take Windows10 onto next comp so didn't revert it & I think my system's probably on it's way out now (all sorts of errors I cant recall, page in non paged area & so on..) so at least I've got the links if it dies before my next post.
I have
AMD Athlon 7850 dual core 2.8Ghz
ASUS M4A78-EM motherboard
and 4gb ram, details I cant recall but diagram on the manual says DDR2 sockets
Have a 450w Corsair PSU and drives so yeah thought just use those with the CPU,Mobo,RAM
I think your system is more than adequate for web browsing activities. I would go with Jim's suggestion. For as little money as possible you could stick in a 2nd hand SSD 64gb~ £20-30 for OS.
I also would think to swap out 7850 for an Athlon x2 250 65w/250e 45w in order to use less power and have a cooler system all round. Would cost about £10-15quid on Ebay.
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Re: Internet PC: CPU, MOBO, RAM suggestions please
While there are ways you can upgrade your existing system, it's alays worth remembering that wanting to build something new is a good reason to do it :)
that said:
Quote:
Originally Posted by
pp05
I also would think to swap out 7850 for an Athlon x2 250 65w/250e 45w in order to use less power and have a cooler system all round. Would cost about £10-15quid on Ebay.
It'd be even better to see if you can find an Athlon II X3 or X4. A quick check on task manager shows each tab I have open in Chrome is running multiple threads; most have 14 threads spawned, and one has 48! I have 18 tabs open, which means that Chrome alone is running ~ 20 processes and handling 200+ threads. Multi-tab browsing needs to be looked at as multitasking; more cores will help. I've just had a quick check and your board is apparently "optimised" for AM3 processors, so you should be good to go :)
Also, if your 4GB of RAM is in 2 sticks, you've got a couple of free RAM slots so you could easily double the RAM to 8GB. In fact, personally, I'd look at upgrading the RAM *before* I thought about getting an SSD - the SSD will make things load quicker; more RAM will help everything to run more smoothly.
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Re: Internet PC: CPU, MOBO, RAM suggestions please
Quote:
Originally Posted by
scaryjim
While there are ways you can upgrade your existing system, it's alays worth remembering that wanting to build something new is a good reason to do it :)
that said:
It'd be even better to see if you can find an Athlon II X3 or X4. A quick check on task manager shows each tab I have open in Chrome is running multiple threads; most have 14 threads spawned, and one has 48! I have 18 tabs open, which means that Chrome alone is running ~ 20 processes and handling 200+ threads. Multi-tab browsing needs to be looked at as multitasking; more cores will help. I've just had a quick check and your board is apparently "optimised" for AM3 processors, so you should be good to go :)
Also, if your 4GB of RAM is in 2 sticks, you've got a couple of free RAM slots so you could easily double the RAM to 8GB. In fact, personally, I'd look at upgrading the RAM *before* I thought about getting an SSD - the SSD will make things load quicker; more RAM will help everything to run more smoothly.
Athlon x3/x4 would be a good swap as well, especially if he can grab 'e' version. I would try and get one as close to the clock speeds as his current CPU. Ram is a good suggestion, he should check his board manual and see if he has dual channel or single channel. That will buy him a little time.
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Re: Internet PC: CPU, MOBO, RAM suggestions please
The main issue I see with that system is the old IGP which lacks decode ability for more modern codecs. I also suspect the hard drive might be going too if there are paging errors(unless the RAM is going instead). The cheapest decode card will full media support is the GT1030 at around £60 to £70,although one of the lower end cards should still suffice if you don't want things like H265 support.
The issue is by the time you spend at least £40 to £50 on a new card,a few more quid on another 4GB of DDR2 and probably a new HDD or an SSD,you are probably looking at close to £100 to £150 anyway. What model of PSU do you have OP - is it a VX450W??
Also,TBH 7 years is quite a long time for a computer.
Personally even though I like getting as much out of a PC as possible,you don't need to spend mega monies to get a massive upgrade though:
https://www.cclonline.com/product/24...-Box-/CPU0500/
https://www.cclonline.com/product/23...board/MBD2218/
https://www.amazon.co.uk/G-SKILL-Rip...rds=2x4gb+ddr4
The motherboards has 4 RAM slots in case you want to upgrade the memory in the near future.
Plus a new HDD or SSD.
https://www.cclonline.com/product/23...board/MBD2218/
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Re: Internet PC: CPU, MOBO, RAM suggestions please
If it really is for internet use only, what about considering an Asus Chromebox??? No need to worry about AV, constantly updated, can run Android apps if you get the right one and is super speedy and never slows down. For internet and basic office apps I really can't rate them high enough.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUSTEK-CHR...GDRBX92GR257TM
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Re: Internet PC: CPU, MOBO, RAM suggestions please
Quote:
Originally Posted by
jimborae
If it really is for internet use only, what about considering an Asus Chromebox??? No need to worry about AV, constantly updated, can run Android apps if you get the right one and is super speedy and never slows down. For internet and basic office apps I really can't rate them high enough.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUSTEK-CHR...GDRBX92GR257TM
That would be my other suggestion if there is a cloud based alternative to paint.net he is happy to use and a Chrome browser vpn extension of the service.