Spec check, cheap coputer please.

Naffy · 13 Sep 2011 at 00:57

Ok, so I'm supposed to be saving up for my new gaming rig but am getting antsy and want something to build. I've been intending for a while now to build my mum a new computer and thought I might do it now.

Trying to keep it as cheap as possible, but also be able to play some games on it. This is what I came up with.

P.S I have a couple of optical drives kicking around somewhere, so I don't need one.

P.P.S If I don't reply it's because I've gone to bed.

Naffy · 13 Sep 2011 at 00:59

Wow, I missed the m out of computer in the title...

Buchanan0204 · 13 Sep 2011 at 04:31

Does your mum really need a 60 quid graphics card?

Buchanan0204 · 13 Sep 2011 at 04:33

I presume you have a PSU your going to use?

olivier renault · 13 Sep 2011 at 08:53

The case comes with some sort of PSU.

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Llano A6-3650 2.60GHz (Socket FM1) APU Processor (AD3650WNGXBOX) with FREE DIRT3 PC Game £83.99
1 x Asus F1A75-M AMD A75 Chipset (Socket FM1) DDR3 Motherboard £60.00
1 x Antec High Current Gamer 400W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £43.99
1 x Fractal Design Core 1000 Midi Tower Case - Black £32.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £31.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9AD3B1K2/4G) £24.98
Total : £292.94 (includes shipping : £12.50).

Naffy · 13 Sep 2011 at 13:25

Yeah mum does need a graphics card surprisingly enough, she likes to game a little. And wants to be able to play Torchlight 2 when it comes out.

Anyway I think I've settled on a build, pretty much everything you suggested Olivier so thanks. Except I added the card again and changed the psu. Oh and removed the ram because I remembered I've got like 8gb of G.Skill 1333mhz kicking around somewhere.

What do you reckon? Still tempted to go for a phenom x4 for the same price, but I think the performance is pretty much identical. Hopefully I'll be able to order this at the end of the week.

jamesfreddie · 13 Sep 2011 at 13:43

The APU includes a GPU capable of playing the sort of game you are looking at.

Mabe you could change the APU (CPU) to a A8 rather than A6

Orcvader · 13 Sep 2011 at 13:47

jamesfreddie said:
The APU includes a GPU capable of playing the sort of game you are looking at.

Mabe you could change the APU (CPU) to a A8 rather than A6

This. The A8 comes with a 6550D, this will be enough for whatever games your mum plays. No need to buy the 6670.

Naffy · 13 Sep 2011 at 14:07

Fair enough, I can always add a GPU later anyway. Thanks guys you just saved me like £50.

Reaper 392 · 13 Sep 2011 at 14:08

if your willing to spend ~£315 on the PC i'd go for something like this with a £55 graphics card. i have literally no idea whats best at that kind of price though so ive just left it out of the budget completely. i'm torn between the pentium 1155's and the i3 2100 for my intel recommendation because the llano A6 is noticeably better than the pentium as a processor, but worse than the i3 2100.

still needs a graphics card
1 x Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £89.99
1 x Lepa W-Series 500W '80 Plus' Power Supply £46.99
1 x MSI H61M-P23 Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard **B3 REVISION** £44.99
1 x BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £31.99
Total : £261.95 (includes shipping : £12.50).

however, if your just looking for as cheap as possible with a small amount of gaming i'd go for this (which is based off of your current build):

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Llano A8-3850 2.90GHz (Socket FM1) APU Processor (AD3850WNGXBOX) with FREE DIRT3 PC Game £99.98
1 x Asus F1A75-M AMD A75 Chipset (Socket FM1) DDR3 Motherboard £60.00
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 ATX '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-430CXUKV2) £35.99
1 x BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £31.99
Total : £275.95 (includes shipping: £12.50).

Naffy · 13 Sep 2011 at 14:19

Yeah I was thinking i3, I'm more of an Intel fan anyway but the Llano seems to perform quite well. And like the other guys said if I got for the A8 I wont need to put a card in, at least not right away. So I think I'll sitck with AMD on this one, pretty much going for the exact (second) build you posted except with the other case.

Thanks everyone for all your help.