Building new PC for €300

stevek93

Hi all,

Dad is looking to build a new PC as his current one is packing up going 8 years now so served him well.

Anyways all he does is the likes of email and browse the web so no need to be splashing the cash. Have done up a chart for him here below just want to get a second opinion before I tell him to order, also is there a better cpu for the same money maybe something that I can unlock the cores?



Edit: why I mentioned €300 is he is not sure if he wants the ssd and or the 2tb drive.

spix

Item|Price
4GB G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€14.21
be quiet! SYSTEM POWER BQT S6-SYS-UA-300W 80plus bulk|€30.10
ASRock H61M-DGS, Sockel 1155, mATX|€39.42
Intel Celeron Dual-Core G550 Box, LGA1155|€38.08
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€140.80

cheaper ram
intel cpu uses much less power, its dual core but still very good.
no cpu cooler as stock fan is quiet enough unless running full speed
don't need big psu, this system will use 80w max
motherboard is not sata 6 so if you get the samsung ssd it won't run full speed

Jonny7

If he only browses and emails, get him the SSD.

Great fun watching their expression as they use an SSD machine for the first time, esp going from some old clunker

stevek93

spix wrote: »

Item|Price
4GB G.Skill PC3-10667U L9|€14.21
be quiet! SYSTEM POWER BQT S6-SYS-UA-300W 80plus bulk|€30.10
ASRock H61M-DGS, Sockel 1155, mATX|€39.42
Intel Celeron Dual-Core G550 Box, LGA1155|€38.08
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€140.80
cheaper ram
intel gpu uses much less power, its dual core but still very good.
no cpu cooler as stock fan is quiet enough unless running full speed
don't need big psu, this system will use 80w max
motherboard is not sata 6 so if you get the samsung ssd it won't run full speed

Might pick up that ram as for the rest hed need a board with a hdmi as his current pc is hooked up to the telly in the sitting room and cpu wise rather get something bit more expensive as he wouldn't be upgrading until next 8 years plus once he buys this. Not to worried about the sata 3 as the ssd is fast enough anyways.

stevek93

Jonny7 wrote: »

If he only browses and emails, get him the SSD.

Great fun watching their expression as they use an SSD machine for the first time, esp going from some old clunker

True! Showed him my system last week way blown away he was saying it was like changing a channel on the telly opening programs.

-( i )- Wicker

stevek93 wrote: »

he'd need a board with a hdmi as his current pc is hooked up to the telly

You could pick up one of these if needs be.

spix

stevek93 wrote: »

Might pick up that ram as for the rest hed need a board with a hdmi as his current pc is hooked up to the telly in the sitting room and cpu wise rather get something bit more expensive as he wouldn't be upgrading until next 8 years plus once he buys this. Not to worried about the sata 3 as the ssd is fast enough anyways.

You should go for a sata 2 ssd then, such as the ocz r2.

http://lb.hardwareversand.de/Solid-State-Disk/65434/OCZ+Vertex+Plus+R2+120GB.article

The intel cpu is actually faster than the amd one in some cases. If its just light pc usage there's not going to be any difference except the amd will use more power.

If your serious about not upgrading for 8 years then you should look at a more future proof cpu such as a core i5.

spix

doublepost

Jonny7

stevek93 wrote: »

True! Showed him my system last week way blown away he was saying it was like changing a channel on the telly opening programs.

yup SSD is the single biggest speed boost for a non-gaming system by a long way. Would a 64/128 gig should do him without the need for a mechanical drive? (one of my relatives is still functioning fine on a 7 yr old laptop with 30 gigs HDD)

I'd also go with the celeron dual core over the 945, just less power draw and generally quieter (the stock AMD fans on this chips can be loudish) - it's more than enough processing power for surfing/email.

spix

Another benefit of going the intel route is that the motherboard supports newer cpu's too (incase he ever wanted to upgrade). The AMD am3 is no longer used so you're pretty limited.

marco_polo

spix wrote: »

Another benefit of going the intel route is that the motherboard supports newer cpu's too (incase he ever wanted to upgrade). The AMD am3 is no longer used so you're pretty limited.

Err AM3+ is still the socket for non-APU AMD chips and has another generation of CPUs to come with Steamroller, which won't be here until the end of next year at the very earliest.

That said I'd probably pick the G530 route here it is cheap and plenty powerfull for a browsing PC.

stevek93

-( i )- Wicker wrote: »

You could pick up one of these if needs be.

Yes but not to sure if that would support the audio?

spix wrote: »

You should go for a sata 2 ssd then, such as the ocz r2.

http://lb.hardwareversand.de/Solid-State-Disk/65434/OCZ+Vertex+Plus+R2+120GB.article

The intel cpu is actually faster than the amd one in some cases. If its just light pc usage there's not going to be any difference except the amd will use more power.

If your serious about not upgrading for 8 years then you should look at a more future proof cpu such as a core i5.

Heard bad things about OCZ Samung has the lowest fail rate he wont be upgrading for another 8 year plus so I will need the ssd to last also I can't see that CPU being any good 8 years into the future me thinks.

Jonny7 wrote: »

yup SSD is the single biggest speed boost for a non-gaming system by a long way. Would a 64/128 gig should do him without the need for a mechanical drive? (one of my relatives is still functioning fine on a 7 yr old laptop with 30 gigs HDD)

I'd also go with the celeron dual core over the 945, just less power draw and generally quieter (the stock AMD fans on this chips can be loudish) - it's more than enough processing power for surfing/email.

It would do him fine for the OS but he has a 250gb that is now full to the brim with movies lol.

Going to stick with the AMD as I mentioned he wont be upgrading for next good few years for the socket side of things can always get a second hand CPU if needs upgrading. He also wants USB 3 as he has a external HDD that supports it so I will be sticking to that board cheapest one that I can see that has a HDMI and USB 3.

Does anyone know of a better AMD for the same price something that I can unlock the cores?

spix

There is plenty of intel motherboards around that price point with usb3 (also with sata 6 + hdmi)

http://www2.hardwareversand.de/DDR3/65914/MSI+B75MA-E33%2C+Intel+B75%2C+mATX%2C+DDR3.article

I really think you should consider intel, or at least a newer amd such as the a8 5600k so you have decent graphics power. I don't see any benefits of the phenom II x4 over the celeron g550 for light pc usage.

The onboard graphics on the motherboard you chose is pretty old too (ati hd 3000)

stevek93 wrote: »

Yes but not to sure if that would support the audio?



Heard bad things about OCZ Samung has the lowest fail rate he wont be upgrading for another 8 year plus so I will need the ssd to last also I can't see that CPU being any good 8 years into the future me thinks.



It would do him fine for the OS but he has a 250gb that is now full to the brim with movies lol.

Going to stick with the AMD as I mentioned he wont be upgrading for next good few years for the socket side of things can always get a second hand CPU if needs upgrading. He also wants USB 3 as he has a external HDD that supports it so I will be sticking to that board cheapest one that I can see that has a HDMI and USB 3.

Does anyone know of a better AMD for the same price something that I can unlock the cores?

marco_polo wrote: »

Err AM3+ is still the socket for non-APU AMD chips and has another generation of CPUs to come with Steamroller, which won't be here until the end of next year at the very earliest.

That said I'd probably pick the G530 route here it is cheap and plenty powerfull for a browsing PC.

You're probably right I just assumed it was a goner, don't know much about amd sockets!

spix

Here's a 5600k build, just needs a case.

Item|Price
be quiet! SYSTEM POWER BQT S6-SYS-UA-300W 80plus bulk|€30.10
ASRock FM2A75 Pro4-M, FM2, mATX|€63.33
AMD A8 5600K Black Edition mit AMD Radeon HD 7560D Grafikeinheit, Box, FM2|€95.12
Intel SSD 330 Series 60GB, SATA 6Gb/s|€61.87
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€27.29
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€296.70

stevek93

Right this is more or less what I have sumed up seems good to me thanks for everyones help might change this cpu not to sure about the unlockage.

spix

That cpu is worse than the one you originally chose and more expensive. Motherboard + cpu are not compatible. psu is overkill as you don't have any graphics card. just going to cause more cable mess in case with unused pci-e connectors.

stevek93

spix wrote: »

That cpu is worse than the one you originally chose and more expensive. Motherboard + cpu are not compatible.

Ah my fault for not checking Ill keep the cpu and board I posted first so.

Well looking to add a second drive in near future and over clock the cpu a bit as for the psu side.

spix

stevek93 wrote: »

Ah my fault for not checking Ill keep the cpu and board I posted first so.

Well looking to add a second drive in near future and over clock the cpu a bit as for the psu side.

Still not going to use anywhere near that power... my main gaming pc doesn't use more than 230w overclocked with a high end graphics card.

Honestly the cpu + board you posted first isn't great for how much it costs. The cpu is 3 years old as it is, the onboard graphics is very slow and it doesn't support sata 6.

I'd recommended either the intel g550 (I just built a computer with it today and I can't tell the difference from my 2500k while browsing, and the entire pc consumes 30-40 watts)

Its' cheaper than the phenom, just as fast (unless using a program which utilizes quad core), better onboard graphics, sata 6 (putting a samsung ssd on sata 3 is a waste) and lower power consumption... or the amd a8 5600k, for the same reasons above plus it has very good integrated graphics card.

Tij da feen

Just get a G550 + H61 board, spend a bit more on the board if you want Sata 3. Don't bother going with an AMD processor because the extra graphics power is just wasted on a PC that only used for movies and web browsing. More cores is pretty useless for what the computer is going to be used for so a dual-core will meet all needs for the foreseeable future. Also just go with this for the PSU

U_Fig

Built a htpc there a few weeks ago.

G540 (g550 is the same price)
Asrock b75 chipset (I went itx)
Samsung 830 64gb
Thermaltake element q
Be quiet 300w sfx (comes in atx also)
Isilence CPU heatsink
4gb g-skill ram

Runs movies and browsing perfectly.. Boots in less than 8 seconds thanks to Sara 6gb sad connected to Sata 6gb on mobo and runs as quiet as a mouse..

Also I have tho option to stick in anything up to an i7 in the future if I need to..

Don't go h61 go at least b75 an SSD is wasted on a Sata 3gb port

stevek93

Quick update on this he wanted the faster CPU in the end amd one as I said he won't be upgrading for another 8 years plus so hopefully this serves him well.