Building cheap low end system - Opinions?

lawrence281

lawrence281

lawrence281

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So i'm building my mum a cheap computer,mainly for typing/browsing, and streaming/downloading movies. And i'm planning to overclock the CPU.
I've made a list of the cheapest parts possible, feedback would be appreciated :)

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Pentium K Anniversary G3258 Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £57.59
1 x Antec High Current Gamer 520W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.95
1 x Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (TW3X4G1333C9A) £41.99
1 x Gigabyte H81M-D2V Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £40.99
1 x Kingston 30GB SSDNow S200 Drive SATA 6Gb/s 3 2.5" (9.5mm height) Solid State Hard Drive - (SS200S3/30G) £34.99
1 x Zalman T2 Plus Mini-Tower USB 3.0 - Black £19.99
Total : £260.10 (includes shipping : £8.00).

 
If it really is just typing & browsing & videos, you can go a lot lower spec on the CPU. And over clocking seems pointless

Maybe an AMD AM1 setup, even. Save enough to get a bigger ssd. Can't see 30gb really cutting it
 
Is overclocking really required for the intended purpose?

Save some cash and throw in a decent sized HDD for the bulk of the stuff, 30GB SSD is soon filled, constantly shuffling files around on such a small disk is a royal PITA.
 
cheesyboy said:
If it really is just typing & browsing & videos, you can go a lot lower spec on the CPU. And over clocking seems pointless

Maybe an AMD AM1 setup, even. Save enough to get a bigger ssd. Can't see 30gb really cutting it
Click to expand...

I mean why not? ocing a cheap card, would only make it more value for money for the extra speed
 
lawrence281 said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Pentium K Anniversary G3258 Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £57.59
1 x Antec High Current Gamer 520W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.95
1 x Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (TW3X4G1333C9A) £41.99
1 x Gigabyte H81M-D2V Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £40.99
1 x Kingston 30GB SSDNow S200 Drive SATA 6Gb/s 3 2.5" (9.5mm height) Solid State Hard Drive - (SS200S3/30G) £34.99
1 x Zalman T2 Plus Mini-Tower USB 3.0 - Black £19.99
Total : £260.10 (includes shipping : £8.00).

Click to expand...

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Pentium K Anniversary G3258 Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £57.59
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16001104G-2CW) - Blue Light £49.99
1 x SK Hynix 128GB SSD SH910A SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (HFS128G32MNB-2201A) £49.99
1 x Gigabyte H81M-D2V Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £40.99
1 x Antec VP350P 350W '80 Plus' Continuous Power Supply £31.99
1 x Zalman T2 Plus Mini-Tower USB 3.0 - Black £19.99
Total : £260.15 (includes shipping : £8.00).



Don't even need 8GB memory but for 5 pence more, why not? :)
 
Well your basically looking at an HTPC.

Why do you need an SSD?

Why do you need 500w PSU.

For an AMD system with integrated graphics, higher bandwidth memory helps, sadly not much choice of 4gb though.

I would have stated 120gb as a minimum, it is unrealistic to have a PC with no storage without a NAS and even at that, 30gb is pathetic, that storage requirement died with Windows XP, and light Linux Distro's. Even my XBMC media centre has a 120gb SSD only, and streams from elsewhere.

I thought AMD integrated graphics outdid Intel on the budget end of the market?

YOUR BASKET
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLRED38G2133HC11ADC01) £65.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A88XM-HD3 AMD A88X (Socket FM2+) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £49.99
1 x AMD A6-6400K 3.90GHz (Socket FM2) APU Richland Dual Core Processor (AD640KOKHLBOX) £47.99
1 x Kingston 120GB SSDNow V300 Drive SATA 6Gb/s 3 2.5" (7mm height) Solid State Hard Drive - (SV300S37A/120G) £46.99
1 x Antec VP350P 350W '80 Plus' Continuous Power Supply £31.99
1 x Zalman T2 Plus Mini-Tower USB 3.0 - Black £19.99
Total : £272.54 (includes shipping : £8.00).



Or smaller.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte F2A88XN-WIFI AMD A88X (Socket FM2+) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £77.99
1 x Antec ISK-310 Mini-ITX Case - Black/Silver w/ 150W PSU £64.99
1 x Kingston 120GB SSDNow V300 Drive SATA 6Gb/s 3 2.5" (7mm height) Solid State Hard Drive - (SV300S37A/120G) £46.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £41.99
1 x AMD A6-5400K Black Edition 3.60GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Dual Core Processor (AD540KOKHJBOX) £39.95
Total : £281.51 (includes shipping : £8.00).

 
Last edited:
sastusbulbas said:
Well your basically looking at an HTPC.

Why do you need an SSD?

Why do you need 500w PSU.

For an AMD system with integrated graphics, higher bandwidth memory helps, sadly not much choice of 4gb though.

I would have stated 120gb as a minimum, it is unrealistic to have a PC with no storage without a NAS and even at that, 30gb is pathetic, that storage requirement died with Windows XP, and light Linux Distro's. Even my XBMC media centre has a 120gb SSD only, and streams from elsewhere.

I thought AMD integrated graphics outdid Intel on the budget end of the market?

YOUR BASKET
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLRED38G2133HC11ADC01) £65.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A88XM-HD3 AMD A88X (Socket FM2+) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £49.99
1 x AMD A6-6400K 3.90GHz (Socket FM2) APU Richland Dual Core Processor (AD640KOKHLBOX) £47.99
1 x Kingston 120GB SSDNow V300 Drive SATA 6Gb/s 3 2.5" (7mm height) Solid State Hard Drive - (SV300S37A/120G) £46.99
1 x Antec VP350P 350W '80 Plus' Continuous Power Supply £31.99
1 x Zalman T2 Plus Mini-Tower USB 3.0 - Black £19.99
Total : £272.54 (includes shipping : £8.00).



Or smaller.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte F2A88XN-WIFI AMD A88X (Socket FM2+) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £77.99
1 x Antec ISK-310 Mini-ITX Case - Black/Silver w/ 150W PSU £64.99
1 x Kingston 120GB SSDNow V300 Drive SATA 6Gb/s 3 2.5" (7mm height) Solid State Hard Drive - (SV300S37A/120G) £46.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £41.99
1 x AMD A6-5400K Black Edition 3.60GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Dual Core Processor (AD540KOKHJBOX) £39.95
Total : £281.51 (includes shipping : £8.00).

Click to expand...

The smaller option looks interesting, 150W only would be enough? Like the case, its small and compact, exactly what i was looking for
 
This should be fine if you're looking for a basic setup just for web browsing and watching movies ;). I included a slightly larger SSD than the original 30GB you chose, but i'd personally go for a cheap larger mechanical drive for storage.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £41.99
1 x Kingston 60GB SSDNow V300 Drive SATA 6Gb/s 3 2.5" (7mm height) Solid State Hard Drive - (SV300S37A/60G) £37.99
1 x EVGA 430W 80 Plus Power Supply (100-W1-0430-KR) £32.99
1 x MSI A55M-E33 AMD A55 Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £28.99
1 x AMD A4-4000 3.00GHz (Socket FM2) APU Richland Dual Core Processor (AD4000OKHLBOX) £25.99
1 x Zalman T2 Plus Mini-Tower USB 3.0 - Black £19.99
Total : £197.54 (includes shipping : £8.00).

 
PowerPie5000 said:
This should be fine if you're looking for a basic setup just for web browsing and watching movies ;). I included a slightly larger SSD than the original 30GB you chose, but i'd personally go for a cheap larger mechanical drive for storage.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £41.99
1 x Kingston 60GB SSDNow V300 Drive SATA 6Gb/s 3 2.5" (7mm height) Solid State Hard Drive - (SV300S37A/60G) £37.99
1 x EVGA 430W 80 Plus Power Supply (100-W1-0430-KR) £32.99
1 x MSI A55M-E33 AMD A55 Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £28.99
1 x AMD A4-4000 3.00GHz (Socket FM2) APU Richland Dual Core Processor (AD4000OKHLBOX) £25.99
1 x Zalman T2 Plus Mini-Tower USB 3.0 - Black £19.99
Total : £197.54 (includes shipping : £8.00).

Click to expand...

As long as its not slow during streaming or lags its fine haha
 
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