Sons first machine

MasterOC

MasterOC

MasterOC

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So my sons coming to the age where he's constantly looking at the Pute , with Christmas coming up I thought well easy decision . He dosnt need anything fancy just something usable that will play kids learning games and maybe a few Lego games preferably at at least 720p

I've got a 500w corsair PSU and 4GB of 1333 Kingston value

Now I run a 5150 for my TS server and its proved capable at hosting a range of games adequately which leads me to believe these should be at least capable of basic gaming on the CPU side of things.. I really don't think the IGPU will be up to much if anything tbh

The limitation I'm finding is the PCIE is only a 4 x lane in the mobos ... But presumably a card wouldn't need that much bandwidth for the sorta games I have in mind.

Anywho ... Please Spec me something not including O/S or monitor just the tower excluding ram n PSU for the best price possible ... Not nessarly the cheapest but best option ,
 
A Xeon for gaming isn't a great idea. You can either go for an AMD APU (such as a A6/A8) which includes a decent iGPU (comparable to low end GPUs). These will handle simple games easily and may even play games like battlefield 3/4 on low/med settings.

Another option is grab a i5 4430/4440 (locked). This is a pretty powerful CPU for a good chink less than the 4690k. In a years time just add a GPU and he'll be able to play basically anything he wants.
The iGPU on the i5's are pretty good too.

The AMD CPU isn't the strongest (as a CPU) so its best to use it as a CPU/GPU rather than pair it with a GPU.

Another option is a pentium K. It works best when overclocked, so that could be a way of teaching him. The IGPU is the weakest of the 3 but may handle a game on low. Though is cheap so you could add a GPU, such as a R7 250/260.

What budget do you gave in mind?
 
DS had a brain fart but his points are valid, an APU is exactly the right thing for the job here. Something like this + a case and drives

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Kaveri 7700K 10 Compute Core APU w/ Radeon R7 Graphics (4 CPU + 6 GPU Compute Cores) - Retail £99.95
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLRED38G2400HC11CDC01) £69.95
1 x Gigabyte F2A88XM-DS2 AMD A88X (Socket FM2+) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £39.95
1 x SuperFlower Amazon 300W "80 Plus Bronze" Power Supply £37.99
Total : £257.44 (includes shipping : £8.00).



You could scale back the APU a bit if it's for really basic games but this is the latest and greatest (Kaveri). If you can find 4 GB of 2400 MHz mem that would be fine too.
 
Considering he already has (enough) RAM and a decent enough PSU, and needs everything else. That spec won't do.. I can't spec at the moment, as I'm on my phone.
 
If you use the value RAM you have you won't get as much gaming grunt from the AMD APUs since they use system RAM and only really shine with fairly fast speeds. Cheap RAM would really hold one back. And fast RAM is quite pricey atm, so I'd rule out any builds based on that platform.
 
strumpusplunket said:
If you use the value RAM you have you won't get as much gaming grunt from the AMD APUs since they use system RAM and only really shine with fairly fast speeds. Cheap RAM would really hold one back. And fast RAM is quite pricey atm, so I'd rule out any builds based on that platform.
Click to expand...

I have got 2 dimms of patriot viper black mamba 1866 2 x 4 ... Could use those if needs be but was saving those for a secondary build after New Years . But if needs a must
 
I would go z97, with pentium K overclocked on air with an SSD, cooled with a Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure because they are great.

Leave you with a great upgrade route in the future. Cheap too, because all you have to upgrade is the CPU/GPU.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI Radeon R7 250 OC 2048MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card £62.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97P-D3 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £61.99
1 x Crucial MX100 128GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT128MX100SSD1) £54.98
1 x Intel Pentium K Anniversary G3258 Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £49.99
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler £29.99
Total : £269.54 (includes shipping : £8.00).



Add whatever ATX case you like.
 
Threepwood said:
I would go z97, with pentium K overclocked on air with an SSD, cooled with a Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure because they are great.

Leave you with a great upgrade route in the future. Cheap too, because all you have to upgrade is the CPU/GPU.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI Radeon R7 250 OC 2048MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card £62.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97P-D3 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £61.99
1 x Crucial MX100 128GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT128MX100SSD1) £54.98
1 x Intel Pentium K Anniversary G3258 Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £49.99
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler £29.99
Total : £269.54 (includes shipping : £8.00).



Add whatever ATX case you like.
Click to expand...

Anything better then gddr3 versions mind . Dont mind spending a few quid extra
 
 
MasterOC said:
I have got 2 dimms of patriot viper black mamba 1866 2 x 4 ... Could use those if needs be but was saving those for a secondary build after New Years . But if needs a must
Click to expand...

If I was building an APU based light to medium gaming build (which I am actually...) I'd go with a minimum of 2000MHz RAM, ideally faster.

Having said that, 1866MHz RAM wouldn't be terrible. And an A8-7600 can be picked up for around £70 and a decent mobo for around £40. That's a decent budget solution for things like Lego games and the like, but it does sound like you're not averse to spending a bit more for better performance, so maybe a cheaper option but not quite what you're after?
 
Haaaang on, this 660 b-grade can't be ignored! It will make mincemeat of an R7 260X http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1039?vs=1044



YOUR BASKET
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97P-D3 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £61.99
1 x **B Grade** KFA2 GeForce GTX 660 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (6 (GX-038-KF) £59.99
1 x Intel Pentium K Anniversary G3258 Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £39.95
1 x Raijintek Themis Black Heatpipe CPU Cooler PWM - 120mm £19.99
Total : £321.50 (includes shipping : £8.00).



1tb HDD and an MX100 256gb SSD, or to get under £300;

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Z97P-D3 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £61.99
1 x **B Grade** KFA2 GeForce GTX 660 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (6 (GX-038-KF) £59.99
1 x SK Hynix 128GB SSD SH910A SATA 6Gb/s - OEMl (HFS128G32MNB-2201A) £49.99
1 x Intel Pentium K Anniversary G3258 Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £39.95
1 x Raijintek Themis Black Heatpipe CPU Cooler PWM - 120mm £19.99
Total : £291.50 (includes shipping : £8.00).



This SK Hynix SSD is faster than the 128GB version of the MX100
 
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Doomedspeed said:
You don't need an aftermarket cooler to OC the pentium K, though its quieter.. Getting the adios/them is will save you £10-£15.
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Cooler/quieter/push higher, all eaiser.

But the main point is to buy once and not twice. When the time comes to upgrade the CPU.

This way you still save that £10-£15 in the long run... but you have a better item for the whole time.




Edit: Off topic (kinda) I'm amazed at what can be bought for so little nowadays. Kids have never had it so good, and neither have parents pockets. It is amazing.
 
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MasterOC said:
Thanks allot guys that b grade 660 is a banging deal ! Jesus wasn't that long ago I paid 150 quid for one .
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Yep could be a steal, depending on condition and accessories. Surprised it hasn't gone already. I paid £50 some months ago for a 7850 which is a close match but nvidia stuff is always a bit more expensive.
 
joeyjojo said:
Yep could be a steal, depending on condition and accessories. Surprised it hasn't gone already. I paid £50 some months ago for a 7850 which is a close match but nvidia stuff is always a bit more expensive.
Click to expand...

It says 10+ in stock :)
 
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