Looking to build two low to midrange PCs for my kids

[Hades]

I think it is time to build each of my kids a PC of their own. They seem to want a desktop rather than laptop. They will mostly be used for low to mid range gaming. E.g. Minecraft, Supreme Commander 2 and The Sims but obviously I would prefer them to be expandable as they use them more in the future. E.g. able to take a midrange gfx card. I don't need keyboards, mice or screens as I have some spares (luckily two Dell 2407s).

I have no preference on Intel or AMD. I would probably prefer ITX or MATX for space but would need it to accomodate a midrange gpu in the future. No firm budget but obviously cheaper is better as I am building two.

Would an ITX or MATX system with integrated graphics be sufficient or do I realistically need a discreet gpu?

Any suggestions on mobo, cpu, case or a barebones system would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[ShivP]

mATX would still be able to fit in a discreet GPU, even mini-itx would but if you have the space mATX would be great
Seeing as you wanted expandability, I don't think an APU is the way to go, more like something with a Pentium + low-end discreet graphics. You can then slot in an i3/i5/i7 in further down the line, as well as better graphics cards
An APU is an excellent idea, but doesn't offer much in terms of upgradeability, however they are quad-core CPU's (not great performance, but still something) and the on-board graphics is excellent for the games your kids will be playing

Here's something to look at perhaps, Intel Pentium + Discreet graphics

YOUR BASKET
1 x PowerColor Radeon R7 265 Dual-X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £99.95
1 x Gigabyte Z97M-DS3H Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £68.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLD38G2133HC11ADC01) £65.99
1 x Intel Pentium K Anniversary G3258 Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £52.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £46.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £38.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 344 Micro ATX Case - Black/Blue £32.99
1 x Raijintek Aidos Direct Contact CPU Cooler £12.79
Total : £434.68 (includes shipping : £12.50).



At ~£880 all in for both, you're looking at two very capable systems

APU system

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Kaveri 7700K 10 Compute Core APU w/ Radeon R7 Graphics (4 CPU + 6 GPU Compute Cores) - Retail £119.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLD38G2133HC11ADC01) £65.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A88XM-D3H AMD A88X Chipset (Socket FM2+) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £53.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £46.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £38.99
1 x Cooler Master Elite 344 Micro ATX Case - Black/Blue £32.99
1 x Raijintek Aidos Direct Contact CPU Cooler £12.79
Total : £385.82 (includes shipping : £11.75).



Considerably cheaper, still excellent performance

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I think it is time to build each of my kids a PC of their own. They seem to want a desktop rather than laptop. They will mostly be used for low to mid range gaming. E.g. Minecraft, Supreme Commander 2 and The Sims but obviously I would prefer them to be expandable as they use them more in the future. E.g. able to take a midrange gfx card. I don't need keyboards, mice or screens as I have some spares (luckily two Dell 2407s).

I have no preference on Intel or AMD. I would probably prefer ITX or MATX for space but would need it to accomodate a midrange gpu in the future. No firm budget but obviously cheaper is better as I am building two.

Would an ITX or MATX system with integrated graphics be sufficient or do I realistically need a discreet gpu?

Any suggestions on mobo, cpu, case or a barebones system would be appreciated.

Thanks.

We play Supcom2 and mates play Minecraft and The Sims.

The IGP on the A10 5800K can run these games fine on reasonable settings and is around £80.

I would wait a few weeks until OcUK releases the A8 7600 at around £70 to £80.

These with fast RAM should be sufficient for the games. The A8 7600 looks pretty decent for the price - fast RAM is now cheap and the IGP performance is comparable to a £40 to £50 graphics card.

Regarding CPU choices,if you intend to get a GPU now,I would get a Haswell Core i3 or an FX6300 with a £50 motherboard. Either would give you more leeway if your kids decide to run a broader range of games - even at 4.5GHZ a G3258 cannot always beat a Core i3 in games(it can also stutter in some of them too like Thief and Watch Dogs).

 

[Danny75]

YOUR BASKET
2 x MSI Z97I AC Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £94.99 (£189.98)
2 x Intel Core i3-4130 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £85.99 (£171.98)
2 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £74.99 (£149.98)
2 x TeamGroup Vulcan GOLD 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLYD38G2133HC11ADC01) £65.99 (£131.98)
2 x MSI HD 7770 GHz Edition 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £65.99 (£131.98)
1 x BitFenix Phenom Mini-ITX Cube Case - Arctic White £49.99
1 x BitFenix Phenom Mini-ITX Cube Case - Midnight Black £49.99
2 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £46.99 (£93.98)
2 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £38.99 (£77.98)
Total : £1,071.96 (includes shipping : £20.10).




Around £525 for each as shipping is free for you. WiFi and Windows included. Able to go up to i7 CPU and powerful GPU.

No DVD re-writer, maybe get one external for both, but they will take an internal each if preferred (removing front panel is necessary to access them).

Played with two MSI Z87i mini-ITX mobos and they are great, expect the Z97 version to be just as good.

Stock cooler is absolutely fine for i3.

Kids can choose white or black case. This one is nice for kids too, with colour-changing leds on the exterior. Access to internal DVD re-writer is easier as front has a door which swings open:


YOUR BASKET
2 x BitFenix Colossus M Mini ITX - Black £53.99 (£107.98)

 

[Hades]

Thanks all.