WIP Build for Sister - $250 USD

[SilicateWielder]

Hey guys, I'm building a rig for my sister, who is autistic. Keeping this in mind I need a rig that is silent, and will be able to take some abuse as she is really rough on electronics. However the financial situation limits me to about $250, if need be we can stretch to an absolute maximum of $300.

 

I already have plenty of monitors as well as a keyboard and mouse so I only need hardware for a tower. I also have a copy of windows 10 on hand as well. The CD drive is necessary in her use case.

This is my current parts list.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD 5350 2.05Ghz Quad-Core Processor 
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Alpine M1 - Passive Fanless CPU Cooler 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-AM1M-S2H Micro ATX AM1 Motherboard 
Memory: Klevv Fit 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 250GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive 
Case: Rosewill FBM-02 MicroATX Mini Tower Case 
Power Supply: Thermaltake 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply 
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer 
Total: $0.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-23 21:02 EDT-0400

 

(For some reason my account is bugged, prices do not show for whatever reason e-e)

 

EDIT: She will be mainly using it for general web browsing, watching videos, and playing light games such as Feral Heart. She also likes to record videos when playing her games. But she has a bad habit of keeping a ridiculous number of applications open at one time. (hence the 8GB of memory)

[suchamoneypit]

2 minutes ago, UnbrokenMotion said:

Hey guys, I'm building a rig for my sister, who is autistic. Keeping this in mind I need a rig that is silent, and will be able to take some abuse as she is really rough on electronics. However the financial situation limits me to about $250, if need be we can stretch to an absolute maximum of $300.

 

I already have plenty of monitors as well as a keyboard and mouse so I only need hardware for a tower. I also have a copy of windows 10 on hand as well. The CD drive is necessary in her use case.

This is my current parts list.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD 5350 2.05Ghz Quad-Core Processor 
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Alpine M1 - Passive Fanless CPU Cooler 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-AM1M-S2H Micro ATX AM1 Motherboard 
Memory: Klevv Fit 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 250GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive 
Case: Rosewill FBM-02 MicroATX Mini Tower Case 
Power Supply: Thermaltake 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply 
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer 
Total: $0.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-23 21:02 EDT-0400

 

(For some reason my account is bugged, prices do not show for whatever reason e-e)

what is she going to use it for?

[Herman Mcpootis]

For just a cheap general use rig, this should be enough.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD 5350 2.05Ghz Quad-Core Processor  ($37.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Alpine M1 - Passive Fanless CPU Cooler  ($10.49 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: ECS KAM1-I(1.0) Mini ITX AM1 Motherboard  ($22.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Crucial 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($13.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Storage: OCZ TRION 150 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($49.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Rosewill FBM-01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($23.26 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic 350W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($32.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer  ($13.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $205.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-23 21:06 EDT-0400

[SilicateWielder]

Just now, suchamoneypit said:

what is she going to use it for?

Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot to add that to the post >_<

 

She will be mainly using it for general web browsing, watching videos, and playing light games such as Feral Heart. She also likes to record videos when playing her games. But she has a bad habit of keeping a ridiculous number of applications open at one time. (hence the 8GB of memory)

[Tedster]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD 5350 2.05Ghz Quad-Core Processor  ($37.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Alpine M1 - Passive Fanless CPU Cooler  ($10.49 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-AM1M-S2H Micro ATX AM1 Motherboard  ($34.58 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: Klevv Fit 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($38.89 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 250GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($25.90 @ Amazon) 
Case: Rosewill FBM-02 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($29.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Thermaltake 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($44.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer  ($18.89 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $241.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-23 21:08 EDT-0400

Ah, the prices show for me.

AM1 is cute!

 

I think you might be okay going for a lower end PSU and staying with the stock cooler, and trying to squeeze an SSD into the budget.

 

[SilicateWielder]

1 minute ago, herman mcpootis said:

For just a cheap general use rig, this should be enough.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD 5350 2.05Ghz Quad-Core Processor  ($37.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Alpine M1 - Passive Fanless CPU Cooler  ($10.49 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: ECS KAM1-I(1.0) Mini ITX AM1 Motherboard  ($22.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Crucial 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($13.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Storage: OCZ TRION 150 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($49.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Rosewill FBM-01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($23.26 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic 350W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($32.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer  ($13.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $205.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-23 21:06 EDT-0400

My state prohibits motherboards from ECS being shipped here (I have no idea  why, but apparently it's illegal)

[Telebubbies]

No Graphics cards? o_o

[Tedster]

Just now, Telebubbies said:

No Graphics cards? o_o

Integrated graphics, and not particularly needing a huge amount of computational power.

[TheKDub]

1 minute ago, Telebubbies said:

No Graphics cards? o_o

There's integrated graphics on the 5350 that will work.

Not like you can get much for $250 USD.

[SilicateWielder]

4 minutes ago, Tedster said:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD 5350 2.05Ghz Quad-Core Processor  ($37.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Alpine M1 - Passive Fanless CPU Cooler  ($10.49 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-AM1M-S2H Micro ATX AM1 Motherboard  ($34.58 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: Klevv Fit 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($38.89 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 250GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($25.90 @ Amazon) 
Case: Rosewill FBM-02 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($29.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Thermaltake 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($44.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer  ($18.89 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $241.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-23 21:08 EDT-0400

Ah, the prices show for me.

AM1 is cute!

 

I think you might be okay going for a lower end PSU and staying with the stock cooler, and trying to squeeze an SSD into the budget.

 

I have an Athlon 5350 in my current rig, the stock cooler is actually pretty loud. 

 

5 minutes ago, Tedster said:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD 5350 2.05Ghz Quad-Core Processor  ($37.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Alpine M1 - Passive Fanless CPU Cooler  ($10.49 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-AM1M-S2H Micro ATX AM1 Motherboard  ($34.58 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: Klevv Fit 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($38.89 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 250GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($25.90 @ Amazon) 
Case: Rosewill FBM-02 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($29.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Thermaltake 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($44.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer  ($18.89 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $241.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-23 21:08 EDT-0400

Ah, the prices show for me.

AM1 is cute!

 

I think you might be okay going for a lower end PSU and staying with the stock cooler, and trying to squeeze an SSD into the budget.

 

In that case, would it be a good idea to change the case to something that includes a 300-400W PSU?

[Tedster]

1 minute ago, UnbrokenMotion said:

I have an Athlon 5350 in my current rig, the stock cooler is actually pretty loud. 

 

In that case, would it be a good idea to change the case to something that includes a 300-400W PSU?

Okay, didn't know it was that loud.'

 

And I'm not sure you should go with the PSU that comes with a case, but you don't even need 100+w to be honest.

[SilicateWielder]

5 minutes ago, Telebubbies said:

No Graphics cards? o_o

Nope, nothing she does requires much in terms of graphics capabilities. Installing an HD 5450 for $30 would actually bottleneck the CPU.

[Tedster]

1 minute ago, UnbrokenMotion said:

Nope, nothing she does requires much in terms of graphics capabilities. Installing an HD 5450 would actually bottleneck the CPU.

I'm not the most sure on that, I have a friend with a 5350 and a GT 730 and it didn't seem to quite bottleneck in some games.

[SilicateWielder]

2 minutes ago, Tedster said:

Okay, didn't know it was that loud.'

 

And I'm not sure you should go with the PSU that comes with a case, but you don't even need 100+w to be honest.

Yeah I know, but it's hard to find a PSU under 400W, unless I opt for a pico PSU

[SilicateWielder]

1 minute ago, Tedster said:

I'm not the most sure on that, I have a friend with a 5350 and a GT 730 and it didn't seem to quite bottleneck in some games.

Really? maybe it's just the HD 5450 I have has the issue then.

[Tedster]

Just now, UnbrokenMotion said:

Really? maybe it's just the HD 5450 I have has the issue then.

Well you have the 5350 itself, you're likely right.

[Hulkbert]

[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Jm3WnQ) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Jm3WnQ/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [Intel Pentium G4400 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80662g4400) | $69.53 @ Amazon 
**Motherboard** | [ASRock H110M-DGS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-h110mdgs) | $52.98 @ Newegg 
**Memory** | [Crucial 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/crucial-memory-ct4g4dfs8213) | $15.98 @ Newegg 
**Storage** | [Western Digital AV-GP 250GB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd2500avvs) | $24.02 @ Amazon 
**Video Card** | [EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Superclocked Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-02gp43753kr) | $99.99 @ Newegg 
**Case** | [Rosewill FBM-05 MicroATX Mini Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/rosewill-case-fbm05) | $29.99 @ Newegg 
**Power Supply** | [Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cx430m) | $28.98 @ Newegg 
**Optical Drive** | [Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-optical-drive-drw24f1st) | $13.99 @ Newegg 
 | *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |
 | Total (before mail-in rebates) | $375.46
 | Mail-in rebates | -$40.00
 | **Total** | **$335.46**
 | Generated by [PCPartPicker](http://pcpartpicker.com) 2016-04-23 21:20 EDT-0400 |

 

 

Any comments anyone? Yes I know it is a bit over budget, but you could just go without the gpu and when you find yourself with more money then buy it.

Edited April 24, 2016 by Hulkbert

[CyberneticTitan]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD 5350 2.05Ghz Quad-Core Processor  ($37.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Alpine M1 - Passive Fanless CPU Cooler  ($10.49 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-AM1M-S2H Micro ATX AM1 Motherboard  ($34.58 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: Mushkin Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory  ($30.98 @ Newegg) 
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($34.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 250GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($25.90 @ Amazon) 
Case: Rosewill FBM-02 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($29.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $239.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-23 21:19 EDT-0400

Fit in a 128GB SSD, but removed the disk drive. Cheaper RAM. Cheaper PSU.

 

If she isn't that tech savvy, set up symlinks for her so that the HDD would be her downloads folder, music, videos, and recording location.

[Tedster]

2 minutes ago, Hulkbert said:

[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Jm3WnQ) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Jm3WnQ/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [Intel Pentium G4400 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80662g4400) | $69.53 @ Amazon 
**Motherboard** | [ASRock H110M-DGS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-h110mdgs) | $52.98 @ Newegg 
**Memory** | [Crucial 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/crucial-memory-ct4g4dfs8213) | $15.98 @ Newegg 
**Storage** | [Western Digital AV-GP 250GB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd2500avvs) | $24.02 @ Amazon 
**Video Card** | [EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Superclocked Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-02gp43753kr) | $99.99 @ Newegg 
**Case** | [Rosewill FBM-05 MicroATX Mini Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/rosewill-case-fbm05) | $29.99 @ Newegg 
**Power Supply** | [Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cx430m) | $28.98 @ Newegg 
**Optical Drive** | [Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-optical-drive-drw24f1st) | $13.99 @ Newegg 
 | *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |
 | Total (before mail-in rebates) | $375.46
 | Mail-in rebates | -$40.00
 | **Total** | **$335.46**
 | Generated by [PCPartPicker](http://pcpartpicker.com) 2016-04-23 21:20 EDT-0400 |

 

 

Any comments anyone? Yes I know it is a bit over budget, but you could just go without the gpu and when you find yourself with more money then buy it.

Yup, my main comment is that you should use the BBCode export instead. Please edit your post accordingly (:

[mpsparrow]

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Celeron G1840 2.8GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($39.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Biostar B85MG Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($37.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($26.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card  ($101.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Rosewill FBM-01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($23.26 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 350W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($32.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $298.19
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-23 21:31 EDT-0400

[Hulkbert]

2 minutes ago, Tedster said:

Yup, my main comment is that you should use the BBCode export instead. Please edit your post accordingly (:

I'm assuming I did it correctly.

[Tedster]

Just now, Hulkbert said:

I'm assuming I did it correctly.

But it looks horrendous, at least to me.

[Hulkbert]

4 minutes ago, Tedster said:

But it looks horrendous, at least to me.

Please tell me how to do it correctly.

[mpsparrow]

1 minute ago, Hulkbert said:

Please tell me how to do it correctly.

All you need to do is click the [bb] button, copy the entire text, and then paste that text in your message.

[Hulkbert]

17 minutes ago, UnbrokenMotion said:

Nope, nothing she does requires much in terms of graphics capabilities. Installing an HD 5450 for $30 would actually bottleneck the CPU.

What you could do is pick up a pc from free geek and put a $100 graphics card in there. (I have no idea as to the viability and effectiveness of this solution but I'm just going to put that idea out there)