Cheap system for my daughter

[Jack Bauer]

Looking to replace my daughters CPU/motherboard/memory and maybe add a SSD. This is one of three PCs in the house so I want to keep it cheap but have the option to upgrade later.

The trouble is I don't keep up to date these days and the low end of the market is even harder to follow as I am struggling to find benchmarks etc.

With this in mind I am looking for some suggested system specs. I had hoped to stay within £200 for the core CPU/motherboard/memory, but am a little flexible.

Considering something based round;

Pentium Dual Core G4500 3.50GHz or similar priced AMD (I have no idea here)

Open to other options. PC is used for standard desktop tasks, but focus should be gaming.

Other points;

Can overclock if worth it but this is not my main PC so I don’t maintain it, so heavy OCing is out.

Want up to date motherboard features/ports but not really looking for a high end product. Just something that will do the job. CPU is more important at this price.

Newest generation CPU slot I can get for future proofing.

M.2. slot for harddrive would be good.

Grateful for any suggestions for these. Thanks for the help.

 

[mickyflinn]

The i-3 is a great cpu especially for gaming at 1080p, the motherboard desnt have an m2 slot but an ssd is generally fast enough. Also gone for 1 x 8gb of ram so you could add another stick later.

You could make adjustments to suit budget.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Asus H110M-K Intel H110 (Socket 1151) DDR4 Micro ATX Motherboard= £47.99
• 1 x Intel Core i3-6100 3.70GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - Retail= £109.99
• 1 x Samsung 250GB 750 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps Solid State Drive= £59.99
• 1 x Kingston Fury Black 8GB (1x8GB) DDR4 PC4-17000C14 2133MHz Single Channel Module - Black (HX421C14FB2= £34.99

Total: £263.46
(includes shipping: £10.50)
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[wedrum]

£110 for an i3 is a lot to throw down, have you considered buying used as you will get a far far better system.

 

[pandem0nium]

What are you doing about graphics?

If just using the igp, then it'd be best to got for an apu build.

If not, maybe go for a pentium k and overclock it in a capable h81 board.

 

[mistersprinkles]

I would urge you to go used. You can pick up something like an early i5 with a GTX 5XX/GTX6XX or GTX750Ti and 8GB of RAM and a case and power supply for pretty cheap, certainly in budget. Older parts, yes, but higher performing older parts. Your daughter would be able to play games at pretty respectable settings this way.

Is it future proof? No. It's not. You won't be able to upgrade down the line the same way you would if you bought a Z170 board and a low end i3 6XXX or something like that but in terms of bang for your buck used is where it is at.

I do not sugges that you buy used storage. Buy a new HDD/SSD, but the rest of the stuff, if it has been well cared for over the years, is safe to buy used.

Having said that I am running a WD HDD from 2007 on my mom's bedroom HTPC and it shows no errors (freaky, I know) but that is an exception rather than the rule.

 

[Jack Bauer]

Thanks for the help.

Will consider cpus from the MM.

She has a AMD 7870 or similar which is good enough for her games right now. Would have to check the spec but close enough. Will pass on my graphics cards over time so no problem here.

Is there anything from AMD worth consider?

 

[mistersprinkles]

In a sense, yes, the FX 8 cores are quite cheap now. You need a motherboard with a beefy power delivery section to properly suppor them, and they need to be overclocked to reach their full potential.

Also, if you don't mind an older platform, the i5 4460 is an affordable i5 from the Haswell family. You can pair it with an affordable motherboard and be off to the races with good performance. It would pair nicely with that 7870.

Personally I would be looking for a first or second gen used i5 with 8GB of RAM and an entry level motherboard. These things will not be very expensive (at least they aren't in Canada) to buy used.

 

[sastusbulbas]

Out of curiousity, what are the current specs of your daughters machine, and what games are intended?

From what I gather there is no real world benefit over standard SSD with M.2, sure in benchmarks, buit little a budget PC for home use will utilise considering the outlay versus GB.

In fact, one of the biggest benefits of upgrading old hardware could well be USB 3, though most kids just don't fully utilise old hardware and my kids dont use USB drives, and most old hardware benefits from an SSD to such an extent it can prolong the upgrade itch. My kids still don't manage to tax their old Q9550/8gb ddr2 system. Though they have managed to max out their SSD, and I currently have a 500gb Samsung 850 Evo and surplus MSI HD-7950 to fit in their machine.

Their current machine was still playing games last year with and E8400 dual core and 4gb of Dominator GT and an HD-7950, Crysis, BF3, Bioshock, Planetside 2, WoT, Minecraft, Unturned, to name a few.

 

[PowerPie5000]

I used a mix of new & used bargain parts when building my daughters PC...

* Intel Core i5 3550 Ivy Bridge CPU
* MSI B75MA-E33 Micro-ATX Motherboard
* 8GB (2x4GB) Corsair DDR3 1600 RAM
* 2GB MSI GTX 660 GPU
* 500GB WD HDD (might add an SSD later)
* 500W Aerocool Integrator PSU (cheap but does the job just fine)
* Sharkoon MA-I1000 Micro-ATX Tower Case
* Sumvision LED keyboard & mouse
* 24" 1080p HP Monitor
* Xbox 360 Wireless Controller
* Windows 10

.... Admittedly it's probably a bit overkill for a 4 1/2 year old girl who plays Disney games (and that silly Goat Simulator game which she loves!)

 

[meldarthx]

honestly best to find out what she be gaming at - rez size; what games she plays etc and will she continue to play.....

 

[sastusbulbas]

I am in the exact same boat myself, my daughter is 6yrs old and with some new bedroom furniture about to be done she has a PC like her brothers have in mind.

I wanted to use some spares to build my lads a new PC, but cannot justify the expense of a decent 1150 cpu as their current system simply does a good enough job with the Q9550 and 8gb of DDR2.

I have another more basic LGA 775 system with an E8500 I think and 4gb of ram, no drive, 350w Corsair budget PSU.
I could probably put a 450w Corsair PSU and passive HD-5750 from an old HTPC in that.

If I had money to burn it would be an i5 or i7 for the spares list build, with a 750ti for the daughter, but those old tech items are just too expensive to justify in comparison to a new platform.