Spec'ing a £500 PC - Advise please :-)

[jnmann]

Building a cheap PC for a family member. Doesn't need to be anything incredible but want to do the best I can for the small amount.

Will be used for day to day computing, nothing too strenuous!

I'd like something that works quickly so SSD will prob. be essential. I guess built in graphics will suffice if it's a decent cpu. 8Gb memory maybe?

Would need to be fairly quiet but not silent.

Case can be half decent, won't be coming apart very often

No monitor required in this spec, Win 7 should suffice.

Appreciate any advise on this, thank you.

 

[RJC]

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-3240 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £115.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.99
1 x Intel 330 Series 60GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - Retail £69.95
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) HDD £43.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020046-UK) £40.99
1 x Asus P8H61-MX USB 3.0 Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - OEM ** £39.95
1 x Adata XPG Gaming v1.0 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AX3U1600GC4G9-2G) £35.99
1 x BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x Asus 24x DVD±RW DRW-24B5ST SATA ReWriter - Black (OEM) £18.95
2 x OcUK Value SATA-II 45cm Red Data Cable (NLRB-302LOCK) £2.59 (£5.18)
Total : £498.07 (includes shipping : £11.75).

 

[honosuseri]

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A8-5600K Black Edition 3.60GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD560KWOHJBOX) £83.99
1 x Plextor M5S 128GB Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5S) £82.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A85X-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £64.99
1 x **B Grade** Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM £45.00
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-15000C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G186C9K) £41.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020058-UK) £39.98
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x Samsung SH-224BB/BEBE 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.95
Total : £504.97 (includes shipping : £11.75).

 

[jnmann]

Thanks for the quick responses Do you think AMD or Intel is better at this level?

 

[snips86x]

Thanks for the quick responses Do you think AMD or Intel is better at this level?

I would think the A8 would be a better choice, no point having the 'k' if it's not going to be overclocked. Additional heat & power for nothing.

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A8-5500 3.20GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD5500OKHJBOX) £79.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A85X-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £64.99
Total : £155.78 (includes shipping : £9.00).

 

[honosuseri]

I would think the A8 would be a better choice, no point having the 'k' if it's not going to be overclocked. Additional heat & power for nothing.

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A8-5500 3.20GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD5500OKHJBOX) £79.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A85X-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £64.99
Total : £155.78 (includes shipping : £9.00).

You've joined the wrong forum this is Overclockers UK

The A8K is clocked faster (by 400mhz) and you could OC the CPU/IGP easily as it is unlocked. Both APUs can turbo the speed up but the K is still ahead. Trinity does make for a good home PC, the IGP is gaming capable so can handle pretty much anything a casual user will throw at it

Case is a personal preference but I don't like the Merc Alpha/Beta (I have used one). It's too basic for the price having just one fan and no USB3 ports......I think the Asgard is better value myself for the same price.

 

[jnmann]

Would the stock cooler be a little noisy with the AMD CPU?

 

[honosuseri]

Would the stock cooler be a little noisy with the AMD CPU?

I've used the A8K myself. It's a tiny little heatsink but does the job and wasn't what I would call loud at all.

 

[Doomedspeed]

Would the stock cooler be a little noisy with the AMD CPU?

I've used the A8K myself. It's a tiny little heatsink but does the job and wasn't what I would call loud at all.

Sounds good though im sure it would get toasty especially if you do overclock the igpu.

 

[honosuseri]

Sounds good though im sure it would get toasty especially if you do overclock the igpu.

I can't work miracles lol

The stated use was general PC tasks. I simply used the Trinity option as it can play games too which makes it a nice all round basic rig for the price in my opinion