Homework computer for 1st yr, 2018 edition

Phibsboro

I am the go-to uncle for all things techie when it comes to Kris Kindle for my nieces/nephews. This year I've got another one starting secondary and the mammy is directly me towards a PC for his room. I did the same for his big brother two years ago and based it on an ASRock H110M-HDS mobo with a Core i3-6100 CPU. They are all console gamers so no need for anything other than mobo graphics.

Would anybody have any initial thoughts on what the best entry level mobo/cpu combo is now, two years later?

Serephucus

Something based around a Ryzen 2200G sounds like a solid bet. A320 board would likely be fine, maybe B350 if you want to factor in upgradability down the line. 8GB RAM, 250-500GB SSD, etc. Just out the door so can't do a full spec for you, but that should get you started.

K.O.Kiki

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Processor (£93.90 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: Asus - TUF B450M-PLUS GAMING Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£86.92 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Team - Vulcan 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£62.97)
Storage: Kingston - A400 480 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£49.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: RIOTORO - CR480 ATX Mid Tower Case (£37.21 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - ECO 430 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£40.47 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £371.45
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-11-29 13:21 GMT+0000

Phibsboro

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Processor (£93.90 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: Asus - TUF B450M-PLUS GAMING Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£86.92 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Team - Vulcan 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£62.97)
Storage: Kingston - A400 480 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£49.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: RIOTORO - CR480 ATX Mid Tower Case (£37.21 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - ECO 430 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£40.47 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £371.45
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-11-29 13:21 GMT+0000

Thanks for that, probably a tad over budget but it gives me some ideas.

K.O.Kiki

Phibsboro wrote: »

Thanks for that, probably a tad over budget but it gives me some ideas.

You could get a 240Gb SSD but the 480Gb offers better cost/Gb.

There are cheaper motherboard options (A320/B350 chipsets) but they'll have crap capacitors, bad VRM cooling, need a BIOS upgrade, or a combination of all 3; and you'd only save €30-40.

Funny thing about RAM, that 8Gb DDR4-3000 kit is as cheap as DDR4-2400 right now :pac: (found on CCL).

Do not cheap out on the PSU.

Phibsboro

Got this bundle from CCL eBay shop,

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CCL-3-7GHz-AMD-Ryzen-3-2200G-Bundle-8GB-Gigabyte-A320M-S2H-Motherboard-/113327681911

Normally 195GBB + delivery but its 15% off site wide on eBay so was 177GBP delivered to PM. So say 200eur total, delighted with that, below the equivalent parts of the 2016 machine by about a tenner.

K.O.Kiki, I take your point re the PSU, if it was for my own build I'd be looking for something that would take me through at least 2 major upgrades. The problem is these homework builds have a definite budget as I'm supposed to stay within Kris Kindle amount. The kids also aren't particularly into their tech - I actually did the build with the lad in 2016 but he wasn't totally taken by the process and was astonished when it didn't work the first time we plugged it in (totally my fault as it turned out!). So this isn't a hobby build, its a get the absolute best value for money at this point in time (without endangering them with a really ****e PSU!). For the 2016 build I got an Aamzon Warehouse special on a case/PSU combo and it was grand.

TerrorFirmer

If this is literally a homework PC - and will never be needed for games - you can shave a ton off that.

G4400, H110M board, even 4GB DDR4 would be grand - and is there a need for a 500GB SSD? Fair enough if they are downloading a good bit of stuff, but if it's purely for homework/browsing/bit of watching, a 120GB would be fine, maybe a 240GB if you really wanted to push the boat out.

Throw it into a basic case, and even a half-decent budget PSU will be fine, eg. Kolink 300W core is about £23 new on OCUK or Ebuyer and would be perfect for such a build.

Phibsboro

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

If this is literally a homework PC - and will never be needed for games - you can shave a ton off that.

G4400, H110M board, even 4GB DDR4 would be grand - and is there a need for a 500GB SSD? Fair enough if they are downloading a good bit of stuff, but if it's purely for homework/browsing/bit of watching, a 120GB would be fine, maybe a 240GB if you really wanted to push the boat out.

Throw it into a basic case, and even a half-decent budget PSU will be fine, eg. Kolink 300W core is about £23 new on OCUK or Ebuyer and would be perfect for such a build.

I looked at the G range in 2016 and ended up pushing it up into the I3 in the end, though I can't remember why! I have bits and pieces lying around that I add to the bought elements so maybe I needed something specific from the I3/MB combo. In this 2018 build for example I have one of those lovely Korean 27" 1440p monitors that I've been trying to repurpose for a while now, so I have my fingers crossed that the A320 board is outputting dual link on that DVI, even though the spec says 1080p max.

K.O.Kiki

K.O.Kiki

Oh just realised you meant "1st year" as in primary school, not college.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - A8-9600 3.1 GHz Quad-Core Processor (£55.95 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Asus - PRIME B350M-K Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£61.00 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Team - Vulcan 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£62.97)
Storage: Western Digital - Green 240 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£29.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: CiT - CIT-F3BLACKBLUE MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£31.49 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - ECO 430 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£40.47 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £281.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-11-29 15:12 GMT+0000

Still upgradeable, solid starter.

However I don't think you'll find a single board capable of 1440p off the motherboard DVI header.

Phibsboro

Ended up building this with the bundle linked above and a cheap case/psu combo from Amazon. One interesting thing I wasn't expecting is that the bundle came assembled from CCL, which was a nice bonus as I haven't put together a Ryzen cooler yet (that's assuming the cooler isn't somehow attached out of the box?). Obviously not such a bonus if you don't intend using the stock cooler!

Another interesting point is that I hooked it up to my main monitor, a 40" Sammy 4K. The motherboard in the bundle had a HDMI out that is obviously just channeling out the APU HDMI and to my amazement it delivers a rock solid 4k 4:4:4 60Mhz picture. This is actually better than my main rig which has a nVidia card in it that can only get to 30Mhz. I think I may go Ryzen 5 for my next build for myself, maybe into an ITX format in anticiation of doing an on-desk build for a sit/stand desk.

Finally just in case anyone finds this thread while searching for info re the Korean monitor, I realised I had accidentally thrown out the power supply and stand during the last year of not using it so I donated it to a mate who has the time and patience to get it back together. So I never did find out if the motherboard DVI would drive it at 1440p.

Thanks again for initial steer towards Ryzen, definitely the way to go.