Spec me please..

Naan_H · 20 Mar 2016 at 16:32

Hi everyone,

Im looking to build a pc for my niece who will be 8 yrs old. It will be used for her homework and general internet browsing. As far as gaming, she will only play basic games like she would on a smartphone, which im sure the most basic pc will be able to handle without the need for a graphics card.

I need the full works including case, psu and monitor. I had a budget of £300 in mind but i suspect it will cost more - so please spec me something that will last a good few years and as cheap as possible!

thanks!

stulid · 20 Mar 2016 at 16:58

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Fractal Design Core 1000 & XFX 430W 80+ Bronze PSU Bundle= £44.99
1 x AMD Kaveri A8-7650K 10 Compute Core APU w/ Radeon R7 Graphics (4 CPU + 6 GPU Compute Cores) - Retail= £71.99
1 x Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-HD2 AMD A68 Chipset (Socket FM2+) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard= £39.95
1 x Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-14900C10 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (HX318C10FBK2/8)= £29.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache HDD - OEM (DT01ACA100)= £36.95
1 x AOC E2460SH 24" 1920x1080 TN Widescreen 1ms Gaming LED Monitor - Black= £99.95

Total: £337.02
(includes shipping: £13.20)

Edit 22" Fressync here - https://www.overclockers.co.uk/aoc-...descreen-led-monitor-black-red-mo-034-ao.html

Gze · 20 Mar 2016 at 17:37

Thought about a laptop?

Naan_H · 20 Mar 2016 at 17:40

Gze said:
Thought about a laptop?

Yes family already has a laptop but used by parents, ideally they want a desktop for her use only.

Naan_H · 20 Mar 2016 at 17:48

stulid said:
My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Fractal Design Core 1000 & XFX 430W 80+ Bronze PSU Bundle= £44.99

1 x AMD Kaveri A8-7650K 10 Compute Core APU w/ Radeon R7 Graphics (4 CPU + 6 GPU Compute Cores) - Retail= £71.99

1 x Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-HD2 AMD A68 Chipset (Socket FM2+) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard= £39.95

1 x Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-14900C10 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (HX318C10FBK2/8)= £29.99

1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache HDD - OEM (DT01ACA100)= £36.95

1 x AOC E2460SH 24" 1920x1080 TN Widescreen 1ms Gaming LED Monitor - Black= £99.95

Total: £337.02
(includes shipping: £13.20)

Edit 22" Fressync here - https://www.overclockers.co.uk/aoc-...descreen-led-monitor-black-red-mo-034-ao.html

That looks great stulid, i take it the AMD A8 is the best option here? Im out of touch, i last built a pc 2 years ago.

Any reason why you recommend the freesync over the 24" you originally selected?

Danny75 · 20 Mar 2016 at 17:57

Can't really beat that spec for the money.

For an extra pound get the newer Toshiba P300 1TB with approx. 200MB/s read/write speeds and more cache, since the OS will be going on it and there's no SSD, every little will help make it snappier.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/tosh...rmance-hard-drive-hdwd110uzsva-hd-044-ts.html

Naan_H · 20 Mar 2016 at 17:58

Danny75 said:
Can't really beat that spec for the money.

For an extra pound get the newer Toshiba P300 1TB with approx. 200MB/s read/write speeds, since the OS will be going on it and there's no SSD, every little will help make it snappier.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/tosh...rmance-hard-drive-hdwd110uzsva-hd-044-ts.html

Thanks for that, just need add a keyboard and mouse combo and should be good to go

stulid · 20 Mar 2016 at 17:59

Naan_H said:
That looks great stulid, i take it the AMD A8 is the best option here? Im out of touch, i last built a pc 2 years ago.

Any reason why you recommend the freesync over the 24" you originally selected?

Its got as GFX core equivalent to a R7 240/250, Freesync is support by the APU and so you get no screen tearing when turned ON, but it probably doesnt matter for a 8yr old that aint going to be playing fast action driving or first person shooters.

Naan_H · 20 Mar 2016 at 18:30

stulid said:
Its got as GFX core equivalent to a R7 240/250, Freesync is support by the APU and so you get no screen tearing when turned ON, but it probably doesnt matter for a 8yr old that aint going to be playing fast action driving or first person shooters.

Yes its not really for gaming at all, its really to help with schoolwork and her development. I think i would rather have a bigger monitor if i'm honest, will probably future proof that little longer.

Gze · 20 Mar 2016 at 19:14

Would get a Pentium/i3 instead, especially with the Skylake IPC.

Danny75 · 20 Mar 2016 at 19:44

Gze said:
Would get a Pentium/i3 instead, especially with the Skylake IPC.

Things is an i3 takes it even more over budget, and the Skylake Pentium has 510 graphics not the 530 on i3's+. The graphics seem considerably better on the 7650K (according to benchmarks out there).

Gze · 20 Mar 2016 at 20:43

Also, do you need operating system?

Naan_H · 21 Mar 2016 at 23:08

Danny75 said:
Things is an i3 takes it even more over budget, and the Skylake Pentium has 510 graphics not the 530 on i3's+. The graphics seem considerably better on the 7650K (according to benchmarks out there).

Gze said:
Also, do you need operating system?

Yes think i will stick with the AMD as its within budget. I have windows 7 that i can install but is the windows worth upgrading to windows 10?

Franksie · 22 Mar 2016 at 10:49

you can upgrade your Windows 7 licence to Windows 10 for free

Naan_H · 27 Mar 2016 at 16:31

Guys i shall be ordering this weekend, just realised i am going to need a wifi dongle - any recommendations? cheap but effective if possible!

stulid · 27 Mar 2016 at 22:27

Two choices,

PCI-E card with antenna that sticks out.

USB dongle that also sticks out of a port.

I'm not so clued up on them, I know Wireless N is the thing to have.

jpod · 28 Mar 2016 at 01:23

That Fractal Design case is really nice to work with, just helped a mate build one up.

Naan_H · 14 Apr 2016 at 23:39

Just a update - have this up and running now. The case is really nice, cheap but very easy to work with. no case fans so will need to add some in at some point.

Its been a while since i did any bios tweaking; are there any settings i need to change in the bios or am i ok just to leave it at stock?

stulid · 15 Apr 2016 at 00:01

It should have one fan already fitted at the front.

Check xmp is set so the ram is running at its correct settings.

Naan_H · 15 Apr 2016 at 00:21

stulid said:
It should have one fan already fitted at the front.

Check xmp is set so the ram is running at its correct settings.

No definitely does not have one at the front. Product description says 'not included'.

All reviews of the case shows that it comes with one. Strange. worth contacting OcUK about?