Budget Build

[Fluffygong]

Sooo basically building some cheap for my mum to use for internet browsing, e-mail etc, something that's faster than what she has...some old Dell XPS and will last a while. I'll also use it for gaming when I visit but high graphics aren't required. This is what I'm looking at at the moment.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor (£97.00 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75 Pro4 ATX FM2 Motherboard (£62.10 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: A-Data XPG Gaming Series v2.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£41.40 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£69.90 @ Amazon UK)
Case: BitFenix Merc Alpha (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£32.90 @ Amazon UK) <-- Might swap to an old case I have laying around
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£76.38 @ Scan.co.uk) <---- Already have this
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£12.94 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) (£69.59 @ Aria PC)
Total: £462.21
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-12 04:26 BST+0100)

I could also upgrade the 6950 from my main system and put that into a system with a normal CPU and MOBO choice. Still sticking around the same budget. Not sure if it's worth upgrading my 6950 while I can get a little cash back for it or not!

On a side note, looking to fit a 240mm closed loop cooler, like the h100i into my antec 900, any idea if it'd fit or am I looking at a new case?

[Deleted]

First result Google search "Antec 900 H100i":

(it's possible but...)

http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=222740

Maybe just swap to an H80i or Thermaltake Water 2.0 Pro ?

As for your build, I'd recommend RAM with lower than 1.65v and if you're gonna use the APU for gaming you'll see better results with 2133MHz.

Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133

There are cheaper mATX boards out there unless there is something on the Pro4 you prefer.

AMD A8-6600K is probably slightly better, newer graphics and it's cheaper.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A8-6600K 3.9GHz Quad-Core Processor (£86.39 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: MSI FM2-A85XMA-E35 Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard (£56.13 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£53.49 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£69.90 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Xigmatek ASGARD PRO (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£34.68 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£12.94 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) (£69.59 @ Aria PC)
Total: £383.12
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-12 05:47 BST+0100)

With the mATX board you could also opt for an mATX case:

Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0

[Fluffygong]

There are cheaper mATX boards out there unless there is something on the Pro4 you prefer.

AMD A8-6600K is probably slightly better, newer graphics and it's cheaper.

Thanks for the reply, aslong as the board allows me to overclock a bit that's fine, what's the point in having a chip that can overclock without doing it, I'll probably take the old Hyper 212+ out of my build and use that for a CPU cooler. Is the A8 all round better? Not argueing that it isn't, just backwards of AMD to number it that way! Thanks for the feedback!

[Deleted]

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/675?vs=676

That's the AMD A8-5600K but the AMD A8-6600K is clocked 300Hz higher and has newer Graphics, I'd say they're about the same overall but the 6600K is cheaper so why not, right?

Just make sure you pick a case with enough room for the heatsink then (the Asgard is fine for that).

[Biernot]

In terms of performance, it's roughly A8-6600k = A10-5800k
I think the gpu of the 5800k might be a little bit better, but that's really negligible.

[Fluffygong]

Okay thanks! Looks solid to me, and cheap! Will probably go for the Asgard case as the spare ones I have around the house are old and all have some form of flashy lights on!

As for the water cooler, I think I might aswell take one of the 120m rad ones as it'll save me a bunch of work as from what I can tell it'd just be attached to where my exhaust fan goes atm? Is the NZXT Kraken range generally not liked? Looking at benchmarks http://www.anandtech.com/bench/CPUCooling/772 they seem to cool better than the Corsair range and the noise doesn't seem excessive, but I never see them mentioned here?

Edit - Woops, the Kraken x40 is 140mm so wouldn't fit in! Looks like the corsair h80i wins then!

[Deleted]

Thermaltake Pro 2.0 review:

http://www.overclockersclub.com/revi...rmer_pro/4.htm
http://www.frostytech.com/articlevie...id=2697&page=5
http://www.legitreviews.com/thermalt...-review_1991/7