Budget PC £300

b34st

b34st

b34st

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Hi,
I have been tasked with building a new pc for my sister in law. She doesnt game but needs a pc for internet, word processing, photography etc. Her current pc is 11 years old so anything would be a big improvement for her but that also means she will expect this next pc to last just as long. She has given me a strict budget of £300 here is what I have come up with:

AMD A8-5600K Black Edition 3.60GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor **FREE SIMCITY PC GAME** (AD560KWOHJBOX)

ASRock FM2A75M-DGS AMD A75 Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard

Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU)

Cooler Master Elite 344 Micro ATX Case - Black/Purple

LG GH24NS95 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM

Swift 500W V2 Silent Power Supply

Xigmatek 75 in 1 3.5" Internal Card Reader - (CPH-7SPNU-U01)

any improvements/suggestions with the budget that I have?

Thanks
 
 
 
b34st said:
This looks good but you made the same mistake I made in my first post, forgot the hdd
Click to expand...

I know, but it is difficult to fit it in. What about dropping down to dual core?

YOUR BASKET
1 x ASRock FM2A75M-DGS AMD A75 Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £52.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £49.99
1 x AMD A6-5400K Black Edition 3.60GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Dual Core Processor (AD540KOKHJBOX) £47.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) HDD £39.95
1 x OCZ CoreXtreme 500w '80 Plus' Power Supply £34.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x OcUK 20x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
1 x Xigmatek 75 in 1 3.5" Internal Card Reader - (CPH-7SPNU-U01) £4.99
Total : £294.98 (includes shipping : £11.75).

 
Yeah, with no gaming needs at all it'd be fine to drop to an A6 or A4 processor. It'd be incomparably better to an 11 year old PC.

You could also use a very cheap OEM PSU really, since the system isn't going to use more than 50W or so normally. Bad choice for gaming, fine for this sort of stuff.
 
Idleman said:
I know, but it is difficult to fit it in. What about dropping down to dual core?

YOUR BASKET
1 x ASRock FM2A75M-DGS AMD A75 Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £52.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £49.99
1 x AMD A6-5400K Black Edition 3.60GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Dual Core Processor (AD540KOKHJBOX) £47.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) HDD £39.95
1 x OCZ CoreXtreme 500w '80 Plus' Power Supply £34.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x OcUK 20x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
1 x Xigmatek 75 in 1 3.5" Internal Card Reader - (CPH-7SPNU-U01) £4.99
Total : £294.98 (includes shipping : £11.75).

Click to expand...

Do you think having a better case and psu is more important than cpu power?

teppic said:
Yeah, with no gaming needs at all it'd be fine to drop to an A6 or A4 processor. It'd be incomparably better to an 11 year old PC.

You could also use a very cheap OEM PSU really, since the system isn't going to use more than 50W or so normally. Bad choice for gaming, fine for this sort of stuff.
Click to expand...

Thats why I thought I could get away with a quad core system spend the money on the important bits and save on the rest.
 
If you get a cheaper PSU and 2x2GB RAM instead you should have enough to get the A8-5600K, especially if you sell off Sim City.
 
Last edited:
Its the 1st 2nd & 3rd, rule of overclockers forum. DONT buy a cheapo psu !

Its the most important part of a pc.
 
Decent PSU is certainly worth it if you're looking to last a long time. Actually, even if you're not!

That said, not sure why spec a 500W PSU? Seems significant overkill to me... is it just that most low-power PSUs are rubbish? A quick look suggests the cheapest Seasonic is noticeably pricier :(

If running tight on budget I'd look at 4GB ram as teppic suggested. Its plenty for now and likely will be for a while for the uses mentioned. Quick question: Do you need to budget for an OS in the £300?
 
OEM PSUs are fine for a low power system that isn't overclocked or stressed in any way. They can last for years without a problem. The cheap ones are terrible if you're going to be running a high load overclocked gaming system, of course.
 
David Bisset said:
Decent PSU is certainly worth it if you're looking to last a long time. Actually, even if you're not!

That said, not sure why spec a 500W PSU? Seems significant overkill to me... is it just that most low-power PSUs are rubbish? A quick look suggests the cheapest Seasonic is noticeably pricier :(

If running tight on budget I'd look at 4GB ram as teppic suggested. Its plenty for now and likely will be for a while for the uses mentioned. Quick question: Do you need to budget for an OS in the £300?
Click to expand...

I just speced a 500w because it seemed like a decent but for the price, no i dont need to budget for an OS in the build

teppic said:
OEM PSUs are fine for a low power system that isn't overclocked or stressed in any way. They can last for years without a problem. The cheap ones are terrible if you're going to be running a high load overclocked gaming system, of course.
Click to expand...

I wont be overclocking or stressing this build so I agree with you on the cheaper psu

I have added the better motherboard to the spec here is what I have now:
0g4jh4p

http://www.imageshack.com/i/0g4jh4p

£10 over budget but I think I can talk her into it
 
Your build has an ATX board and a micro-ATX case. If you go for the case mentioned above, it's ATX and the same price.

For her needs, 4GB is absolutely plenty. You'd easily bring it under budget that way.
 
teppic said:
Your build has an ATX board and a micro-ATX case. If you go for the case mentioned above, it's ATX and the same price.

For her needs, 4GB is absolutely plenty. You'd easily bring it under budget that way.
Click to expand...

Thanks for pointing that out I hadnt noticed the change in form factor when I upgraded the mobo.

Well that adds another problem as she has now told me she likes "the little case with the purple bit on it" which means I need a micro ATX board.

I was immediately drawn to this one:

Gigabyte F2A85XM-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 micro ATX Motherboard

however its out of stock, do you think this one will be good enough or wait untill the above comes back in stock?:

ASRock FM2A75 Pro4-M AMD A75 Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard
 
 
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