My Budget PC Build

Sanchez

Sanchez

Sanchez

Soldato
Joined
20 Oct 2002
Posts
2,718
My grandad's old P3 PC has just about had it. It's ten years old now so it's getting a bit long in the tooth. I've persuaded him to buy a new PC. He already has a i5 laptop that he uses a lot of the time but he does like his desktop too. It's used for browsing the web, email and a little bit of photo editing (red eye that kind of stuff, nothing like Photoshop). I've put together a PC for him but just wondered if anyone had any thoughts on the spec. I've gone for a A8 5600 for the IGP, initially I had a A10 5800 in there but I think that's overkill really. It needs to last him for a good few years too. So, thoughts or substitutions please.

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A8-5600K Black Edition 3.60GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor **FREE SIMCITY PC GAME** (AD560KWOHJBOX) £71.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A75M-HD2 AMD A75 Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £57.98
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-15000C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G186C9K) £49.99
1 x Xigmatek Tauro 500W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £43.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 500GB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA050) HDD £41.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 344 Micro ATX Case - Black/Silver £32.99
1 x LG GH24NS95 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £329.52 (includes shipping : £10.50).

 
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YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A8-5600K Black Edition 3.60GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor **FREE SIMCITY PC GAME** (AD560KWOHJBOX) £71.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A85X-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £64.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EZEX - OEM ** Single Platter ** HDD £56.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-15000C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G186C9K) £49.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020058-UK) £39.98
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x LG GH24NS95 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £334.92 (includes shipping : FREE).



This case has an extra fan and USB3 for the same price ;) Modular PSU too, most of the usual suspects are out of stock too. You can place the order and it will all be shipped once in stock
 
Thanks for the suggestions.

Firstly, why the A85 over the A75? I don't see any real advantage for him. As far as I can see the only differences are the ability to use crossfire (I doubt he'll be playing much Bioshock Infinite ;)) and 8x SATA 3. Am I missing something? The Mini ITX board also means a smaller tower (he has a Asus T2 midi tower at the moment) which covers why I chose that case in the first place. Front USB 3 is a bit a mute point really as he only has printers connected and a USB 2 external backup drive.

The HDD is a good shout though, although he has only used about 100Gb of his current 160Gb drive, for a few extra quid or the B-Grade one it would be silly not to get the extra space.
 
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You've changed the case from the Bitfenix Merc but the Asgard Pro is still better as it has holes for cable management and still has the extra fan installed for the same price :)

We are just trying to get him the best for his cash (funny my buddy Idleman and I have done almost identical builds). The B grade HDD is an option for sure, just be aware it's most likely a refurb'd unit with a 90 day warranty and what ever is left for Seagate to honour.

You have picked an mATX mobo not mini-itx. The A85 is a better chipset with more sata ports available, covers almost all video outputs and has better audio outputs too. Being a full sized ATX mobo there are more PCI slots available too. For the sake of £5 or so I'd pay the extra
 
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Fair enough, I did pick the Asgard Pro initially but thought the Bitfenix was nicer to look at and the 1 customer review wasn't very favourable. Then when I thought I could downsize due to the board I changed my mind again. I'll run it past him and assuming he's okay with the larger case then I'll get it ordered tonight. Thanks to both of you for your help. :)
 
Sanchez said:
Fair enough, I did pick the Asgard Pro initially but thought the Bitfenix was nicer to look at and the 1 customer review wasn't very favourable. Then when I thought I could downsize due to the board I changed my mind again. I'll run it past him and assuming he's okay with the larger case then I'll get it ordered tonight. Thanks to both of you for your help. :)
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No worries mate, remember to link your account for the free P&P
 
Sanchez said:
Will do. Not sure what the deal is with the RAM but it's gone up to £59.99 now!
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Yes you need to keep an eye on that. Prices do fluctuate, that's why it always makes sense to post the basket right before you order.

I'd be using THIS kit instead now bud. With the 1600Mhz kits (which to be fair you could have got away with) now priced almost exactly the same it's a no brainer for any rig ;)
 
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