Home PC - £400

ya a boot drive aka 60gb ssd is strictly os + 1 or 2 applications
i know it sounds simple to move all the media files to the hdd, but add in parents, gf, younger siblings, random downloads...and it all goes down the drain...
 
TheSkateyBird said:
With the budget would it be an idea to go with one of the AMD APU rigs and add a 60GB SSD?
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I suggested a small SSD to begin with, as i thought the rig was just for general use at the start but as you said yourself it would be too small.

Llano A6 vs G840

G840 uses less power for a start, wins in gaming benchmarks and is just generally better. Yes the Llano is better for encoding slightly but it uses more power the G840 when doing so. The G840 can use the GPU to assist with encoding as i mentioned so that evens that battlefield. The 6850 smashes the APUs gaming performance.

This is getting silly now to be honest It's gone from arguments to spend more to get an i3, once that was out of reach it feels like a "this'll do" attitude go AMD has taken over.

I balanced the spec to last weeks offers and I did the same again for you this week. I've asked for just over £450 (that was the budget), in short she has got a very capable general PC which infact is better than a current gaming console for gaming. I also ensured the warranty was good too, go look what you can get at a local store and it wont come close to the spec I did and it will have a one year warranty ;)

I'm all for discussion, if my choice of case doesnt suit that can be changed. Changing the socket and CPU and losing the 6850 is a mistake in my eyes but every one is welcome to an opinion.
 
I don't know why I started going for a "get as much in budget as possible" although I understand what you are saying about the 6850 it just seems a little overkill to me for the Sims and therefore I though of going onboard which is where the APU jumped out at me which then added the possibility of an SSD. As for power consumption wouldn't the addition of a 6850 make this irrelevant, or are the efficient cards at idle?

Edit: Speaking of current gen consoles her primary gaming is done on a PS3, annoyingly should have mentioned that earlier. Sorry.
 
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YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A6-3670K 2.70GHz (Socket FM1) APU Processor (AD3670WNGXBOX) **£10 Cashback** £85.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x SanDisk Extreme SSD 120GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - (SDSSDX-120G-G25) £77.99
1 x Gigabyte A75N-USB3 AMD A75 (Socket FM1) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard ** FREE NEXUIZ GAME ** £71.99
1 x Thermaltake Element Q mini-ITX HTPC Case - 220W Power Supply £56.99
1 x GeIL Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £33.59
1 x Cooler Master GeminII M4 Low Profile CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/1156/1155/775) £21.95
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £12.98
Total : £445.46 (includes shipping : FREE).



If i was forced to spec the Llano. Mini itx so it's a nice small unit to move if necessary. Someone will bitch about the PSU no doubt but remember you aren't asking much of it.

Got you a good sized SataIII SSD in there. I would buy the intel system but just to show im open to compromise I've tried it your way lol
 
Thank you for enduring the struggle of speccing Llano :P The PSU will be fine and the idea of a mini itx build will be appealing I'm sure as the PC currently live in their living room.

I'll put forward the Pentium build with the 6850 and the Llano build with their ups and downs and let them make the final decision. Thanks to all to others who have specced interesting alternatives!
 
TheSkateyBird said:
Thank you for enduring the struggle of speccing Llano :P The PSU will be fine and the idea of a mini itx build will be appealing I'm sure as the PC currently live in their living room.

I'll put forward the Pentium build with the 6850 and the Llano build with their ups and downs and let them make the final decision. Thanks to all to others who have specced interesting alternatives!
Click to expand...

It was a struggle lol I'm only teasing I don't mind offering some help. Have you got much experience building computers? Mini-itx probably isnt the most friendly place to start.

Hope we have helped more than we have confused. In truth there is no real right or wrong answer. In my eyes to pay over £400 it has to offer really good value for money......or else they could have just bought a llano laptop for £400ish (that would only have a one year warranty granted)
 
TheSkateyBird said:
Lol, I've built 4 full atx systems and a micro atx HTPC. Any reasons for difficulties with the ITX? And yes, definitely helped more than hindered the process!
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No worries then, mini-itx you have less room to work with in the case. Nothing wrong with it but not the easiest place to start building thats all. Happy to help bud
 
honosuseri said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A6-3670K 2.70GHz (Socket FM1) APU Processor (AD3670WNGXBOX) **£10 Cashback** £85.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x SanDisk Extreme SSD 120GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - (SDSSDX-120G-G25) £77.99
1 x Gigabyte A75N-USB3 AMD A75 (Socket FM1) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard ** FREE NEXUIZ GAME ** £71.99
1 x Thermaltake Element Q mini-ITX HTPC Case - 220W Power Supply £56.99
1 x GeIL Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £33.59
1 x Cooler Master GeminII M4 Low Profile CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/1156/1155/775) £21.95
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £12.98
Total : £445.46 (includes shipping : FREE).



If i was forced to spec the Llano. Mini itx so it's a nice small unit to move if necessary. Someone will bitch about the PSU no doubt but remember you aren't asking much of it.

Got you a good sized SataIII SSD in there. I would buy the intel system but just to show im open to compromise I've tried it your way lol
Click to expand...

The awkward moment when that PSU sets fire to whole system and then the house :p:p (just kidding)

Either get A6-3500 system or get intel system, pretty simple :D Getting 3670 or 3870 beats the whole point.
 
Lazder said:
The awkward moment when that PSU sets fire to whole system and then the house :p:p (just kidding)

Either get A6-3500 system or get intel system, pretty simple :D Getting 3670 or 3870 beats the whole point.
Click to expand...

A6 3500? I can choose between the A4 3400 or the A6-3670K. Seeing as the APU i picked is multiplier unlocked it's easier to overclock. Any over clock to the APU improves the IGP along with the CPU performance. The IGP is better in the K editions too and seeing as the IGP is what's swinging the argument i've used the better APU.

Of course then we can start arguing over the PSU for overclocking etc etc. I think i've done about all i can on the budget
 
Touch wood Lazder :P I agree that there is little more that can be done with the £450 after 3 pages containing various specs. I will, a previously said put honosuseri's Intel and Llano builds forward to her family. Thanks and good night!
 
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