New Budget Spec!

dan394

dan394

dan394

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16 Oct 2011
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Leeds
Hi all, I'm putting together a budget PC that will be cheap enough but still have enough power!

I've already got a case, 500w PSU and a HDD so wouldn't need those, and I will be adding a graphics card at a later date so will be using the on board graphics for a few months.

What I've been looking at so far is:
Motherboard: ASUS M5A78L-M/USB AM3+
Processor: AMD Athlon II x4 Quad Core 645 3.1GHz

Then I'd probably add 6gb RAM to start with, plus a standard Sony optical drive and then GFX at a later date.

Opinions will be gratefully received! Thanks in advance! :)
 
Hi and welcome

Sounds like a reasonable budget build, though a couple of points

RAM - the mobo uses dual channel not triple so its either 4 or 8, not 6, 4 tends to be plenty for most taks incl gaming, only heavy editing/rendering really needs more

PSU - ensure its a good quality 500W, as opposed to a cheapo version, e.g. one supplied with case is normally in this category
 
Have you got a budget in mind? That will help!

I wouldn't go AMD. I know your adding a GPU later but the on-boards on the mobo will be really bad. The Intel Sandybridge offering comes with on-boards built into the chips, these are a lot better than the AMD on boards.
Aswell as that the 1155 socket will last longer than the AM3+ and will support better chips (by the looks of Bulldozer anyway).

Why 6GB? The motherboard is Dual channel; so either 4GB or 8GB would be better; 4GB will be enough. though RAM is cheap so 8GB would be a good choice too. Make sure it is 1.5V

Id go for something like:
MSI H67MA-E35 £62
Intel Core i3 2100 £90
OCZ Gold 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 £23

Total £175
 
If you are on a cheap budget stick with AMD if not go with i5, as for RAM yes u might aswell go for 8GB as it cheap like Doom said.
 
@GTO656: You'll see that the i3 2100 is comparable to the AMD Athlon and Phenom Quad-cores. Though its not overclockable, i don't think he is after that in this build. The 1155 will help for future upgrades too. As Ivybridge and beyond are being lined up to be compatible with 1155.

Can you explain why you think AMD would be better?
 
Thanks all, I've also just noticed that the quad core Phenom is only £5 more than the Athlon so I'd probably opt for that. I would be willing to go Intel, but I like the look of AM3+ because I think I'm right in saying it would be compatible with Bulldozer of I want to upgrade in the future?

My total budget for mobo, processor and RAM is £150 tops so if anyone could post what they'd do that would be a big help! Thanks once again :)
 
AM3+ is compatible with bulldozer but (i think im right in saying) Piledriver will be based on the FM1 socket. You'll be waiting a while to see anything decent on the AM3+. Ivybridge will be on the 1155.

For you £150 budget the Phenom would do well, as it can be overclocked. Though if you haven't got a CPU cooler i won't. Be warned the Phenom's Run hot anyway (well my dad's does)
 
Thanks for those suggestions, would I need a separate cooler for the Phenom or does it come with one? Also does anyone have any Intel specs for around my budget?

Thanks :)
 
My attempt at Intel build:

I3 2100 £90
MSI H61M-E33 £47
OCZ Gold 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 £23

Total: 160

Thats as close as i can get.

One problem i see with danewesley's first spec: is this item. The motherboard.
As it was orignally concieved for AM2+ it lacks HT3.0 It only uses HT1.0; this will affect the performance of your CPU.

For your budget you might aswell go back to what you first posted and add the OCZ gold RAM. That'll be your best bet.

All CPU (if retail boxed) come with cpu coolers; stock coolers. These are not the best but obviously do the job.
 
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