New father & son build project for xmas

[honosuseri]

But if there is a problem with a new board, he`ll be able to diagnose it.

Couldn't agree more with you bud. It's always worth pointing out the option of B grade to save some spondoolies.

If it was me I'd probably consider......

YOUR BASKET
1 x BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Case - Caseking Anniversary Edt. Window £74.99
1 x AMD A8-5600K Black Edition 3.60GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD560KWOHJBOX) £71.99
1 x MSI A75IA-E53 AMD A75 Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £69.95
1 x Patriot Viper "Sapphire Blue" 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-14900C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G186C9KBL) £65.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020059-UK) £55.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £47.99
1 x Pioneer 24x Internal DVR-221LBK DVD Rewriter - OEM £14.99
Total : £413.88 (includes shipping : £10.00).



Small windowed mini-itx case (so he can show it off to his mates). The mobo offers wifi and bluetooth built in, the A8K has a weaker IGP but that won't matter once a GPU is dropped in later. I'd give the windows 8 trial a bash for free, the metro UI should work nicely on the TV and look similar to the Xbox One. The PS4 Dual Shock 4 pad could be interesting for PC use if it's track pad works as a mouse.

 

[Ethan62]

If you wanted to save yourself some money for the time being you could use the 90 day evaluation copy of Windows 8.1.

A few people dislike Windows 8 but personally I like it. I work in I.T. and i've found most of the "gripes" to be people not knowing where stuff is. 90% of the time you will be in desktop mode if not more.

It'll save you £80 for a few months.

I'd help with the spec but don't know much about AMD kit these days.

 

[JasonM]

But if there is a problem with a new board, he`ll be able to diagnose it.

I've had problems with B grade motherboards, it was enough that I only buy retail packaged from now on.

 

[Spudbrains]

I've had problems with B grade motherboards, it was enough that I only buy retail packaged from now on.

I can see where you're coming from, I barely ever buy used stuff just in case it's been mega-overclocked and has a shortened life span.

You're definitely gonna have to be prepared to pay a little more for a decent new one though.

 

[murah]

Couldn't agree more with you bud. It's always worth pointing out the option of B grade to save some spondoolies.

If it was me I'd probably consider......

YOUR BASKET
1 x BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Case - Caseking Anniversary Edt. Window £74.99
1 x AMD A8-5600K Black Edition 3.60GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD560KWOHJBOX) £71.99
1 x MSI A75IA-E53 AMD A75 Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £69.95
1 x Patriot Viper "Sapphire Blue" 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-14900C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G186C9KBL) £65.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020059-UK) £55.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £47.99
1 x Pioneer 24x Internal DVR-221LBK DVD Rewriter - OEM £14.99
Total : £413.88 (includes shipping : £10.00).

This has gotta be a good build for the money, nicely spec'd and I love the show off aspect ! not sure mini mobo is the way to go but certainly for the money a good starter system with a GPU at a later date

 

[Sandycheeks]

Ok thanks so far....

I have arrived at this for now...

1 x AMD A10 6800K - (£102)
1 x ASRock FM2A85X Extreme4-M (£61)
1 x Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze (£38)
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan GOLD 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLYD38G2400HC11CDC01) £65.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £47.99

So thats basically everything apart from the case and OS for circa £325.

Is there a better mobo and cpu combination ?
Thanks again, taking it all in.

 

[honosuseri]

Asrock is a bit pants fella, Gigabyte, MSI and Asus do good stuff. Avoid the A55 chipset as it lacks sataIII and OC'ing options, the A75 is the minimum really to go for.

As I said below my spec if you will definitely add a GPU later then the A8K is a good compromise, you can still OC it's IGP on the A75 mobos. 430W PSU is ok if you won't use a dedicated GPU but I'd prefer 500W if one will be added.

 

[Sandycheeks]

Okay nearly there now....

Hows about this then,

CPU: AMD A10-6800K 4.1GHz Quad-Core Processor (£101.99)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard (£55.60)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£66.47)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£47.02 )
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case (£47.98)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply (£48.03 )
Total: £367.09

Am I correct in thinking the A10 6800K will have better graphics ?
I can probably manage 12 months until getting a GPU.

I feel like Im playing tit for tat with some knowledgable guys here but I am just trying to be a part of this build and make informed decisions rather than just go for someone elses spec.
I mean no disrespect to anyone.

I may end up going with one of the members specs as posted above.

Question - what's a discrete graphics card ?

Thanks, all the help is much appreciated.

 

[Jumper118]

Okay nearly there now....

Hows about this then,

CPU: AMD A10-6800K 4.1GHz Quad-Core Processor (£101.99)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard (£55.60)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£66.47)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£47.02 )
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case (£47.98)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply (£48.03 )
Total: £367.09

Am I correct in thinking the A10 6800K will have better graphics ?
I can probably manage 12 months until getting a GPU.

I feel like Im playing tit for tat with some knowledgable guys here but I am just trying to be a part of this build and make informed decisions rather than just go for someone elses spec.
I mean no disrespect to anyone.

I may end up going with one of the members specs as posted above.

Question - what's a discrete graphics card ?

Thanks, all the help is much appreciated.

A discrete graphics card is one that is not built into the cpu/apu or motherboard and slots in to a pcie slot which are at the bottom of the motherboard.

 

[spoffle]

Thanks for replies !

I will need an os.
I am more familiar with Windows 7 than windows 8 and as they're both roughly the same cost is there any benefit to either ?
I have been looking at the AMD A10 cpus as I keep reading "more bang for yer buck" quotes but on the other hand I have read elsewhere statements like "don't go near AMD" though I have never seen anyone say don't go near intel.

How do you choose a good mobo ?
There are lots to choose from and would like to make an informed decision.
Are there any particular mobos to avoid ?

Like I said, we are both learning as we go and will no doubt be asking a lot of questions but as someone once said to me "the only stupid question is the one you didn't ask"
Thanks.

For the money you're spending, you want to go for an AMD CPU, AMD can't compete with Intel on the high end CPU front, but Intel can't (or maybe won't) compete with AMD on the budget CPU front.

You should use "don't go near AMD" as a method of judging who you take advice from, as people who say that don't know what they're talking about.

 

[shadow_boxer]

Above build looks good.

 

[wndsr]

I remember me and my dad building my first PC many moons ago

 

[honosuseri]

I feel like Im playing tit for tat with some knowledgable guys here but I am just trying to be a part of this build and make informed decisions rather than just go for someone elses spec.
I mean no disrespect to anyone.

The weekly offers are soon to change so these specs will be "wrong" anyway fella. It's important you understand why we make choices so you can spot things worth having on offer, we've already covered B grade too (thanks to my buddy Idleman). It's a bit of a lottery to be fair, the weekly offers can help out big time or do naff all for you. It's true you can find serious bargains in the B grade section from time to time but that's for you to decide.

Am I correct in thinking the A10 6800K will have better graphics ?
I can probably manage 12 months until getting a GPU.

Yes the A10K APU has the better integrated graphics and the faster the RAM and lower the CAS rating the better. AMD have some new APUs due (hence the FM2+ socket) but I don't think we will see those till after crimbo. We are spec'ing FM2 Trinty as the newer Richland APUs aren't really worth the extra money or hassle (most mobos will need flashing to accept the newer APU).

The APUs can be paired with a certain low end (discrete) GPU, this Hybrid Xfire boosts the performance a bit but I'm not sold on it although there are many pre-built systems using it. I'd rather buy a bargain 2nd hand GPU with decent grunt than a new discrete GPU for around the same price. New midrange GPUs with free game offers are also very tempting if you pick the right one although they are out of the budget for now

Half of the fun is picking out what you want it to look like and potentially be. The Prodigy comes in all sorts of colours and there is a mATX version as well as the new Phenom case to look at. I've pointed out the small and "portable" mini-itx option deliberately just to be different, I take no offence to you choosing otherwise. You ideally want a decent 500W PSU, pick a case that you guys like and that determines the mobo size you need.

We look forward to seeing how it goes and would love to see pics of the kit and help you guys along as you go....You can use THIS to post your basket in a fancy fashion. I hope some of this waffle has helped

 

[BurntProc]

I think the best thing about the 6800k is it can crossfire with a 7750, the lesser chips can't. There are some YouTube vids showing off the performance of the combo.

 

[Rhyswh]

You should use "don't go near AMD" as a method of judging who you take advice from, as people who say that don't know what they're talking about.

Exactly! AMD do indeed offer very good value, reliable and decent performance. Sure Intel is better but you have to pay for it! Kinda like comparing a Porsche 911 to a Peugeot 206! Both are good at what they do and for the price you pay!

 

[Sandycheeks]

Hi all,
Quick question....I'm almost ready to power it on (it's not taken me all this time, I've been busy elsewhere) and need advice regarding partitions.
I have a 1TB HDD. I've read about people not setting a partition and also others stating to set partition to 1/3rd of the drive.
I like the idea of having a partition with only the os and applications etc but would not have a clue as to how much space is needed.
I was going to set it at 200GB on the basis that I then have a further 800GB to play with and considering my lad hasn't even nearly filled his 300GB drive on his laptop I think thats OK.
Whats the "norm" if there is such a thing...
Cor, that was a long winded way of asking a relatively simple question !

 

[Divine Pain]

200GB is more than enough.

My OS is currently 50GB with a few programs here and there. 120GB is probably a good number to set just in case you have programs to install in the future. Or if you want to live dangerously set it to 60-80GB

 

[TooMuchCheese]

Give windows a 100 - 200gb partition, then use the rest for whatever..

Windows plonks all your documents, pictures, etc... straight into the OS drive, so it helps to have some wiggle room on space unless you move the folders yourself(Windows supports this, but you'll have to do it manually for each user account on the PC). Other things can still end up on that drive anyway, game saves, game files, temp files, etc..

Programs will also by default go to C:, so unless you're explaining to your son exactly how to install to another drive(just change the drive letter in the installation path) and he actively makes sure to do so during any install of an app/game, then everything will end up on C:.

I personally tend to have D drive for apps, G for games, and C purely for windows. C because it's pretty much the norm, D because it's the first letter after C(easy to remember) and G, because well... G for Games... literally. I also have storage drives, which i stick at the other end of the alphabet, like Y, X, Z... (ie. letters at the end of the alphabet are storage, letters at the beginning are installs).

 

[biuro74]

I've got 13 partitions on my RAID volume, it was created years ago on older RAID volume and then extended in size only, so today I'd change it a bit.

First would be Virtual partition - for swap and TEMPs, depending on physical memory it would be somewhere between 8 and 16 GB. First place on drive is the fastest. Sometimes it counts when you get a virus which tries to destroy everything on C - destroy C files then, you're welcome, virus and destroy all temps

Next three partitions are for different Windowses. 32 GB is fine, but for long shot I'd pick about 48-64GB (stupid program's data, user's data and some idiotical Program Files with no location change at install stage). People saying 100-200GB for system only probably don't know how to configure Windows later (no swap, no hiberfil, no TEMPs, no MyDocuments - really etc).

Next 5 are for different linuxes.
Plus one to linux swap plus one for linux' Documents.

Latest two are for Programs and Data. Data should be at the end of drive (access time which is preferably better:lower for apps than movies, pictures and sound).

It's good idea to partition drive/volume for future reference. If you don't use linux now - you never know if you'd use within a month. Or a year. And then repartitioning would be a little pain

 

[Sandycheeks]

Ok so I've finally finished the build and switched on....everything works !
Noticed the cpu temp at 60 degrees....is this normal ?
The RAM was stating 1595,...I have 2 x 4GB avexir gold 2133 in there (slots 1 & 2)
should the speed be at 2133 or do i need to set it manualy ?
I will post some photos soon.
I have put it all away for now but will get it back out if I need to run tests.
Are there any tests I should run at this stage - NO OS Installed as yet.
Thanks.