A very basic system

[Prashank]

Hello people of Earth.

 

I am planing a build for my cousin. Its for basic browsing and media consumption with almost no gaming.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($111.99 @ B&H) 

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Blue 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($22.89 @ SuperBiiz) 

Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply  ($23.98 @ Newegg) 

Total: $158.86

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-20 04:02 EDT-0400

 

 

Already have a HDD, monitor and peripherals.

 

So i wanted a recommendation for a mobo and if that CPU is good or something better is possible in this budget?

 

Max budget is max ~250 USD

 

Thanks.

[TheGabblerCV]

Do You Have A mobo? If not you'll need one with a H81 or greater chipset. Otherwise your Golden. What are your plans For the System?

[Windows2000]

Just get a NUC.

[Chasem121]

If its just browsing the web and watching videos, a cheapo AMD APU would probably be the cheapest way to go. A better cpu really isn't going to make that kinda experience any better.

Here is a decent mobo for that i3 if you want to go that route.

Here is a cheaper AMD APU build

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($76.50 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI A68HM-E33 V2 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($41.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Blue 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($22.89 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $141.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-20 04:13 EDT-0400

[alexhelvetica]

Just get a NUC.

I assembled Nucs' and i hate nucs'!!!

They are pieces of shit and 1 of the 18 I assembled was DOA, that isn't good.

[Prashank]

If its just browsing the web and watching videos, a cheapo AMD APU would probably be the cheapest way to go. A better cpu really isn't going to make that kinda experience any better.

Here is a decent mobo for that i3 if you want to go that route.

Here is a cheaper AMD APU build

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($76.50 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: MSI A68HM-E33 V2 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($41.89 @ OutletPC)

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Blue 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($22.89 @ SuperBiiz)

Total: $141.28

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-20 04:13 EDT-0400

 

okay, that mobo then. Thanks

[Prysin]

Hello people of Earth.

 

I am planing a build for my cousin. Its for basic browsing and media consumption with almost no gaming.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($111.99 @ B&H) 

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Blue 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($22.89 @ SuperBiiz) 

Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply  ($23.98 @ Newegg) 

Total: $158.86

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-20 04:02 EDT-0400

 

 

Already have a HDD, monitor and peripherals.

 

So i wanted a recommendation for a mobo and if that CPU is good or something better is possible in this budget?

 

Max budget is max ~250 USD

 

Thanks.

Since you say, almost no gaming, i assume there will be some.

in that case, you want a APU.

why?

Because even if the intel i3, is faster in normal tasks, it will struggle to play any game at more then 15 FPS... which is practically and realistically, unplayable.

The APU will be a little bit slower in CPU tasks, but when you want to play games, it can play every game imaginable at 30 FPS if you do not mind reducing the settings to low or medium. In some games like League of Legends and DotA 2, you can almost max every setting and still have over 30 FPS.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD A10-7850K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($119.99 @ NCIX US)

Motherboard: ASRock FM2A88M PRO3+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($48.98 @ Newegg)

Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($54.78 @ OutletPC)

Power Supply: SeaSonic 350W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($35.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Total: $267.75

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-20 06:07 EDT-0400

perhaps a bit over your budget, but in terms of gaming abilities, this can deliver it when you need it. When you do not, you can take advantage of other features, such as the onboard HD video decoder and encoder. Helping you use less power to play back media files. In the long run, this would save you some money.

There is other goodies, such as programs like Photoshop being able to use the GCN architecture of the onboard video to render images much faster, a feature intel cannot match.

i have built two 7850k systems and i own a 7870k system myself. For not having any graphics card, these APUs are remarkebly strong. They can play even big titles like Battlefield 4, if you feel like it.

For a low end system, i cannot reccomend intel outside of extremely limited situations like office PCs using heavy number crunching programs. But that is the only case, when intel is worth investing in at the low end.

Anything below 450 USD total system cost (cpu, mobo, ram, hdd/ssd, psu, case etc) AMD is a much better buy, performance wise and price wise. You will get a lot more in return then if you buy intel. This is just how it is and unless intel drops its prices a bit, there is no escaping this.