What CPU

[Donut417]

My mom approached me a week or so ago stating she was thinking of having me build her a new PC. Part of the reason is she what something physically smaller. Her computer is in the living room. 

 

Her current specs

• HP Computer
• Athlon II X4 (645) @3.10Ghz 
• Foxconn Motherboard 2AB1
• 6Gb DDR3 PC3-10700
• ATI Radeon HD 4200 (on board I think)
• Build in WiFi that works about half the time 
• 1Tb hard drive
• Windows 10

What would be a good CPU to get her in to? Im thinking im going to go with a Micro ATX or Mini ITX motherboard. Ive seen a Gigabyte ITX board that would work, but they all seemed to be geared for Gaming. Not sure if Ill use the Ram out of this machine. I might use a stick, I want to give her 8Gigs of Ram. 

 

All she does on her machine is facebook, facebook games, and she has a iPod so she may put music on that. Im just wanted to figure out a good direction to go on a CPU. Something she can grow in to. 

[PlayStation 2]

Just throw a half-potent GPU in there and get an SSD. That CPU is still surprisingly good for daily tasks and even gaming.

Get her a mini-ITX board that supports AM3 CPUs and a better case.

[007agentHP]

a8 7600k or a10 7850k

or something beefier that'll last longer

i5 5675c (broadwell graphics are insane if you can find it in stock)

[z97]

I want to give her 8 gigs of something else if you catch my drift

 

Kidding Um whats your budget on the build?

[Donut417]

She hasnt given me one. Id like to stay around 500-600. However if I could use her current chip that might be good too. Ill talk to her to see if she thinks her machine is fast enough for her. 

[HKZeroFive]

She hasnt given me one. Id like to stay around 500-600. However if I could use her current chip that might be good too. Ill talk to her to see if she thinks her machine is fast enough for her. 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 645 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($56.54 @ OutletPC) 

Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory  ($29.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($38.99 @ NCIX US) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.98 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GT 740 2GB Superclocked Video Card  ($82.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Case: Fractal Design Node 804 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($74.99 @ NCIX US) 

Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($53.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Total: $387.47

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-26 22:41 EST-0500

 

Like some people said, try to reuse some parts and get a cheap GPU so you can splurge some money on a nice MicroATX case.