Spec me a AMD system

AsaTDi · 18 Mar 2014 at 19:52

Hey guys,

I'm in need of a new system, as my old one has seen better days....

I'm not looking to spend more than £400

The PC will be used for general office stuff, internet & HD video playback, photoshop/lightroom (Editing RAW files).

I have a 128gb SSD drive that can be used in the system for the operating system.

Items I need:

Case (Black) with front USB ports
AMD CPU
Suitable motherboard
Suitable graphics card (HDMI) (Good enough for playing online HD video with good framerate.I also do photo editing)
Blu-Ray / DVD Writer/Reader
8gb memory (That enough??)
2TB HDD for backup
PSU (Not sure what 'W', may do some overclocking in the future?)
Also need windows 7 64bit... which version is best and can you still buy OEM?

Anything else you guys can think of?

Many thanks guys

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 18 Mar 2014 at 22:13

The motherboard has 4 RAM slots meaning it will be easy to upgrade the RAM if you need more,and the motherboard has VRM cooling.

At least from my experience of Lightroom,RAM quantity and drive speed are very important factors.

Its a shame OcUK don't sell the XFX PRO 450W,as it would be ideal for the build and uses decent parts. The CX430M is the next best alternative available on OcUK unless you go for the Seasonic G 360W. The other 400W+ PSUs in the same price range appear to use worse capacitors.

foster grant · 19 Mar 2014 at 00:31

Are you absolute about AMD ?...I'm asking because after using AMD for all of the PCs I have ever had...and just this week gone over to Intel ..I don't think I'll be going back to AMD .

But whatever you choose ...good luck with your build and enjoy

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 19 Mar 2014 at 01:46

***OFF TOPIC***

OFC lets compare a £100 to £115 FX8320 or £80 FX6300 to a £150+ Core i5 or £200+ Core i7. So you spend more and get a faster CPU.Big deal.

I know loads of people using AMD and Intel CPUs(including the newer ones and people with 100s of games in their Steam libraries),and the AMD CPUs are perfectly fine in many scenarios,especially considering their prices.

The best ever SC2 player I ever met for example was using a Phenom II X4 965 and an HD6870 and was in the Diamond League. He was not a hardware enthusiast. Thats a game which runs much better on Intel chips looking at benchmarks. He blew away everyone else including those who had Core i5 CPUs(me included). Go on a hardware forum,and it would "you could never run SC2 properly on that rig if you play seriously".

The general problem is on hardware forums quite a few people,are more worried about chopping and changing hardware since its their hobby(which is fine if you acknowledge it as mucking around with new hardware is fun),and then making threads worrying/measurebating about 76.95fps vs 63.21fps(when they already have decent enough hardware),then justifying spending £100s more on new shiny, when in reality they are still getting better results than 90% of all PC gamers worldwide. I have been there,done that and ****ed away enough money.

***BACK ON TOPIC***

Now just to keep things even here is the Intel equivalent of the rig I suggested:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-492-IN
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-466-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=2576

That motherboard gives you 4 RAM slots too,meaning you can easily add more RAM if required.

Boomstick777 · 19 Mar 2014 at 11:27

I'm not sure why anyone would choose to buy into a dead socket at this point though (AM3+)

If it must be AMD, FM2+ would seem a wiser choice for future upgrade options.

Because the performance / power use difference is just so vast in the favor of Intel at this point. I would not recommend any AMD setup over an Intel one..

AMD have abandoned the CPU race (For now), in favor of APU and software integration. I would suggest that people do the same and go with Intel for a desktop PC machine.

AsaTDi · 19 Mar 2014 at 13:09

Many thanks for your advice guys - I wasn't aware of the differences between Intel and AMD CPU's.... I thought it was merely down to 'value for money' ?

Would the on-board graphics chip-set be sufficient for what I need?

Thanks

subbytna · 19 Mar 2014 at 13:43

If it's the Kaveri or the A10 chips then the graphics you get with those chips will be fine. If it's not then you might want some sort of graphics oomph with a dedicated card. Intel chips will need a graphics card for sure.

Danny75 · 19 Mar 2014 at 15:28

Here's an Intel build within budget, for comparison.

The nice thing about the new Haswell onboard graphics is that you could try them, and see if you get along just fine with 2D editing (some claim to, with no lag*). 3D editing would definitely require a discrete GPU. One could be added for £25 or so only if necessary. HD Video playback should not be a problem with onboard.

* http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3538634

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-4130 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £83.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02733) £73.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £59.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan GOLD 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLYD38G1600HC9DC01) £59.99
1 x Asus H81M-PLUS Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £40.99
1 x EVGA 430W 80 Plus Power Supply (100-W1-0430-KR) £29.99
1 x Zalman T4 Micro-ATX Case USB 3.0 - Black £22.99
1 x Pioneer 24x Internal DVR-221LBK DVD Rewriter - OEM £17.99
Total : £399.52 (includes shipping : £8.00).

You can upgrade all the way to an i7 in future, with this.

Can't fit in a BluRay. Unless you use Windows 8 free for 3 months instead.

Note that the onboard graphics of this chip are HD 4400 not the HD 4600 that you get with an i3-4330 and above. But it's only very slightly slower, and still considerably faster than older Intel chip graphics.

rhysduck · 19 Mar 2014 at 15:37

If you really wanted an AMD build for that budget, I've built 3 AMD builds all under budget that I can give you the spec for (all bought from OcUK btw!)

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 19 Mar 2014 at 16:35

I already suggested in post 4 what Intel bits I would substitute for the AMD bits in the build in post 2.

However,I would avoid the EVGA budget PSUs. They use CapXon caps in the primary and a mixture of CapXon and Teapo in the secondares - the Corsair uses a Japanese main capacitor,but uses CapXon and Teapo in the secondaries,so overall its a bit better.

The XFX PRO 450W is just a better choice,since it uses almost all Japanese capacitors,and uses a ball bearing fan too. However,OcUK does not sell them.

If the OP can stretch their budget I would get this PSU:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-020-SS

It is extremely efficient,well built and has a long warranty too:

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=313

Danny75 · 19 Mar 2014 at 17:15

@ Cat

By all means stretch budget for PSU and for mobo if possible. But I'd say Japanese main capacitors aren't essential for low wattage systems. And you do get a 3 year warranty. So being what they are, the EVGA's are priced very well imo, and fit within the budget while incorporating the latest protections.

Point is, they don't have to be "avoided" for such builds/budgets. Can better be done, for more money? Sure, agreed.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 19 Mar 2014 at 17:54

CapXon are a bit meh though ,and the CX430M at least as a Japanese primary,and modular cables for around £6 more. Plus its an 80+ Bronze supply,which makes it a bit more efficient than the EVGA 430W.

However,the XFX PRO 450W is simply the best PSU for around £35.

For cases like the Zalman T2 and T4,the PSU will be taking over some of the venting of hot air,so the better build has advantages there.

Also, PS and LR can eat up RAM. Hence having a motherboard with additional RAM slots is important,so the OP can add another 4GB to 8GB at a later date easily.

AsaTDi · 19 Mar 2014 at 18:21

Thanks again guys, some good input

rhysduck, yes please share your AMD build specs, if you don't mind?

Thanks

AsaTDi · 20 Mar 2014 at 14:47

CAT-THE-FIFTH said:
The motherboard has 4 RAM slots meaning it will be easy to upgrade the RAM if you need more,and the motherboard has VRM cooling.

At least from my experience of Lightroom,RAM quantity and drive speed are very important factors.

Its a shame OcUK don't sell the XFX PRO 450W,as it would be ideal for the build and uses decent parts. The CX430M is the next best alternative available on OcUK unless you go for the Seasonic G 360W. The other 400W+ PSUs in the same price range appear to use worse capacitors.

CAT-THE-FIFTH - I have used this spec - Although i purchased the XFX PSU from a competitor.

I also added another 8GB of memory (same brand) to bring it to 16GB - Also bought a LG Bluray writer from a competitor too

Also added on a better CPU cooler and 120mm fans

Anything else I need?

Many thanks

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 20 Mar 2014 at 16:19

You should be fine as long as you have a screwdriver. You will need to set the RAM to 1866MHZ as the A10 5800K only can run that kind of speed for RAM,and anything higher is technically overclocking.

The Zalman T2 has a maximum cooler clearance of 140MM BTW.