Double check my home PC build...

jarvis82

jarvis82

jarvis82

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Joined
10 May 2008
Posts
285
Location
Sandhurst, United Kingdom
Home PC for my parents - email, browsing, Skype etc.

Will be running Windows 7, and there will be storage & optical drive in there too...just not displayed as already got them!

Good? Bad?

YOUR BASKET
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 64GB 2.5 SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT064M4SSD2) £74.99
1 x Asus P8H61-I Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £69.95
1 x Intel Pentium G640 2.80GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £52.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced Mini-ITX Case - Black £39.95
1 x Corsair Value 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Low Voltage Dual-Channel Kit £35.98
1 x Antec VP350P 350W '80 Plus' Continuous Power Supply £32.99
Total : £318.84 (includes shipping : £10.00).

 
Does it have to be ITX?

It's very rare for H61 mobos to have sata3 (that one doesn't) which means you don't get the full potential of the SSD. The Toshiba 60GB is cheaper and faster as well.

For general use home PC I tend to suggest AMDs A8 APU but sounds like even the A6 would do.
 
RJC said:
That would be fine, I use the motherboard below in spare system:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-523-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=2265
Click to expand...

That H77 mobo has sata3 though fella :)

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 MSI A75IA-E53 AMD A75 Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £69.95
1 x Toshiba SSD HG5D Series THNSNH 7mm 60GB Solid State Hard Drive - (THNSNH060GCST) £64.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020058-UK) £43.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced Mini-ITX Case - Black £39.95
1 x TeamGroup Elite 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED34096M1600HC11DC) £29.99
Total : £320.86 (includes shipping : FREE).



Ideally the APUs like faster RAM for the IGP but I doubt they are too worried about the gaming performance. The semi-modular PSU will really help in the ITX case.
 
There is a H61 in the original spec though fella which only has sata2 (3 Gb/s) ports, like I said it's rare to find one with sata3 (6 Gb/s). RJC linked a H77 which he has but it is more expensive and as you've shown it does indeed have a couple of sata3 ports.

The FM2 I picked (as did Teppic I see) has four sata3 ports and is priced the same as the H61 and can use faster RAM. I'm sure they could get away with the A6 if they want to keep the price down. The A8 does have a better IGP though and is a quad rather than dual core.

I look forward to seeing what he settles on :)
 
honosuseri said:
There is a H61 in the original spec though fella which only has sata2 (3 Gb/s) ports, like I said it's rare to find one with sata3 (6 Gb/s). RJC linked a H77 which he has but it is more expensive and as you've shown it does indeed have a couple of sata3 ports.

The FM2 I picked (as did Teppic I see) has four sata3 ports and is priced the same as the H61 and can use faster RAM. I'm sure they could get away with the A6 if they want to keep the price down. The A8 does have a better IGP though and is a quad rather than dual core.

I look forward to seeing what he settles on :)
Click to expand...

I agree mate. It would be cheaper, however, for the OP to go for a mATX build.
 
All valued input - many thanks.

Attention to detail needed it seems, since I completely omitted to think about the SSD needing SATA3. But then thats probably because I didn't have an SSD in the initial plan. Basically it has to come in around £350, and I had included a 20" monitor (£90), but my parents reckon they can struggle on with their old 17" square job. Hence I redirected the £90 towards an SSD.

I've no frame of reference whatsoever for AMD chips - other than reviews. Always had Intel.

Just need a system that will last them a good few years!
 
Idleman said:
It would be cheaper, however, for the OP to go for a mATX build.
Click to expand...

Interesting. Sadly size is a factor. My parents are going overseas - they will be wanting to take this PC with them by air!

I'll have a look at Micro ATX cases though. Starting from scratch... oh the stress!! :-)
 
jarvis82 said:
All valued input - many thanks.

Attention to detail needed it seems, since I completely omitted to think about the SSD needing SATA3. But then thats probably because I didn't have an SSD in the initial plan. Basically it has to come in around £350, and I had included a 20" monitor (£90), but my parents reckon they can struggle on with their old 17" square job. Hence I redirected the £90 towards an SSD.

I've no frame of reference whatsoever for AMD chips - other than reviews. Always had Intel.

Just need a system that will last them a good few years!
Click to expand...

Maybe they could embrace the ITX system as a HTPC? Plug it into a HDTV and use it to watch films etc along with general PC use.

The A8 is on par with the intel i3, whilst it uses more power it does have a far superior IGP so we can forgive it for that.


That's just the A6K with 4GB of 1600Mhz RAM. Now I appreciate they probably wont play games but the intel G640 is a more expensive CPU and doesn't stand a chance of being able to do that. I tend to recommend the A8 but it goes to show the A6 is very impressive for the price :)
 
jarvis82 said:
Interesting. Sadly size is a factor. My parents are going overseas - they will be wanting to take this PC with them by air!

I'll have a look at Micro ATX cases though. Starting from scratch... oh the stress!! :-)
Click to expand...

I've used the Coolermaster case, actually it's still in my loft :D, it's a nice case to work with and use :)

As its for your parents you don't need anything to huge as you say and you won't need a high performing PC, my spare uses the Celeron and runs anything thrown at it :)
 
 
One thing to note, while a sata 3 SSD will do better on a sata 3 mobo, it will still run on sata 2 and still be far faster feeling than any HDD.
 
jarvis82 said:
Interesting. Sadly size is a factor. My parents are going overseas - they will be wanting to take this PC with them by air!

I'll have a look at Micro ATX cases though. Starting from scratch... oh the stress!! :-)
Click to expand...

YOUR BASKET
1 x Silverstone Grandia GD05 Desktop HTPC Case - Black (SST-GD05B USB3.0) £79.99
1 x **B Grade** Adata XPG SX900 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (ASX90 (HD-029-AD) £60
1 x Gigabyte F2A75M-HD2 AMD A75 Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £57.98
1 x AMD A6-5400K Black Edition 3.60GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Dual Core Processor (AD540KOKHJBOX) £47.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020058-UK) £43.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED34096M1600HC11DC) £29.99
Total : £333.44 (includes shipping : £11.25).

 
 
 
 
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