Advice for first build

You can get Windows 8.1 free for three months. That's what I did. Or you could always use Ubuntu, which is free and reasonably easy to use.

That PSU isn't the most efficient in the world. I'd get one of BeQuiet's 400-500w units. I had one myself and they're very quiet.

Idleman is right about the RAM: the faster the better with integrated graphics, although I'm not sure how relevant that is if you won't be gaming. That orange/gold TeamGroup RAM is a bit of an eyesore, but it is at a great price at the moment.

As you've got the money to spare, I'd get an aftermarket CPU cooler: the stock one will do a job, but it won't do it quietly.

If you want to spend a bit more you could look at the Gigabyte Sniper FM2+ honosuseri mentioned. Not sure how I managed to forget that, as I've got the Intel version. It's a very good board, with great onboard sound.
 
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Venom1991 said:
So I don't know how that 'your basket' view
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It's BLACK MAGIC ;)

Your brief sounds more like a HTPC than anything really. Have you considered running the rig through a large HDTV instead? There are some lovely HTPC cases with a "Pro amp" look or even funky mini-itx cases......

YOUR BASKET
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £86.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A85XN-WIFI AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £86.99
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 TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01) £55.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020059-UK) £55.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H80 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler *Manufacturer Refurbished Unit - 90 Day Guarantee £39.95
Total : £482.48 (includes shipping : £8.00).

 
You said the CAS timings should be low. How much better is the first one over the second then? Enough to make a difference?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-037-TG&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1387

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-052-TG

So I'm probably going to stick with the mobo cpu combo I posted up there. As I really don't know enough to go looking for a different pair. I'll look for faster RAM, such as the two in this post. And that PSU isn't actually the one I've got my eye one but it's close in price and make. I know the one I've selected is reliable so that's why I chose that one.

An interesting idea honosuseri. I'll check all that out, but I don't really have the right room shape or setup to have a proper HTPC. At least not for a few years. And I have a large hdtv to hook it up to if I want to watch the odd film or something on it.

Thanks for all the help so far guys. Very helpful.
 
The 2400MHZ kit at C11 will be faster than the 2133MHZ kit at C11, also the 2400 kit is cheaper.
 
Ok, thanks. Apart from the extra USB 2.0 ports, I can't tell much of a difference between the two mobos suggested. Also I've just found a few different CPUs. Can someone explain the differences between them and which would be best for me?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-451-GI

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-464-GI

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...ktdetailseite&emcs2=MB-464-GI&emcs3=CP-355-AM

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...ktdetailseite&emcs2=MB-451-GI&emcs3=CP-327-AM

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-328-AM
 
Board depends on the case you end up with as you have a itx and mATX sized ones linked there.
 
Oh yeah, just realised that. Pretty stupid mistake.
It seems, if I'm willing to spend about £100 on a chip, that one like this would be best:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-355-AM&groupid=701&catid=1967&subcat=1944

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-346-AM&groupid=701&catid=1967&subcat=1825

But would I be restriced in which boards I use them on? And this one seems good for £70

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-340-AM&groupid=701&catid=1967&subcat=1942
 
Why do none of the AM3+ chips has integrated GFX? Why would you need a graphics card? To connect the monitor to? So you couldn't plug a monitor directly into a mobo if the CPU doesn't have integrated graphics? Are there any down sides to going through a cheap GFX card? Worse detail?

What the differences be between this board and CPU:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-349-GI&groupid=701&catid=1903&subcat=2046

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-338-AM&groupid=701&catid=1967&subcat=1825

And this pair:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-464-GI

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-327-AM&groupid=701&catid=1967&subcat=1946

I've definitely learnt a lot these past two days! Thanks.
 
Venom1991 said:
Why do none of the AM3+ chips has integrated GFX? Why would you need a graphics card? To connect the monitor to? So you couldn't plug a monitor directly into a mobo if the CPU doesn't have integrated graphics? Are there any down sides to going through a cheap GFX card? Worse detail?

What the differences be between this board and CPU:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-349-GI&groupid=701&catid=1903&subcat=2046

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-338-AM&groupid=701&catid=1967&subcat=1825

And this pair:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-464-GI

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-327-AM&groupid=701&catid=1967&subcat=1946

I've definitely learnt a lot these past two days! Thanks.
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The first Cpu and mobo combo has no graphics.

The second combo wont work, because you have an Intel 1150 mobo with an AMD Cpu.

If you went will the Piledriver, you could just get a cheap Gpu.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 5450 1024MB GDDR5 Low Profile PCI-Express Graphics Card £19.99
Total : £29.59 (includes shipping : £8.00).

 
That second mobo's not an intel board. It's a, "Gigabyte F2A88XM-D3H AMD A88X Chipset (Socket FM2+) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard". That's an AMD board isn't it?

So what would be the performance/visual difference between a socket FM2+ board and chip, and an AM3+ board and chip and graphics card (like the graphics card above)?
 
Idleman said:
Well aware of that mate. But it is a cheap stopgap, if the OP goes for the Piledriver.
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When I said I don't want a graphics card I was under the impression that you would only get one if you were planning to play video games on your PC. Which I'm not. But if a better graphics card would make tv and films look better with a CPU without integrated HD; better than an FM2+ board with a CPU with Integrated HD and no graphics card. I'll consider it. depends on the price I suppose.

It seems as though it will be easier to get an FM2+ board and a CPU with Integrated graphics.
 
stulid said:
The APU will easily beat a HD 5450 in the GFX department.
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So the cheaper FM2+ mobo with the APU chip would look better than the AM3+ mobo with the Piledriver CPU linked earlier and the HD5450 graphics card linked earlier? But presumably the Piledriver would be a faster, yet cheaper, chip on a more expensive board requiring a graphics card?
Oh it's starting to get confusing again lol.
 
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