Build Log: Christmas Gift for my Sister

[PSUGuru]

Hello everyone. A little bit back, I made a post about the PC I was going to build for my sister on Christmas. She keeps guessing and keeps getting it wrong. She isn't remotely expecting a PC. The first initial post will be short. Only have one photo, but I do have a fully planned build list. Most of the stuff is old hardware that I have lying around, so as far as value goes, it's great! The used parts came mostly from my old PC.

 

Parts I will be reusing:

CPU: AMD A8-5500. Maybe I'll replace it with an unlocked A10. I can find one for around 30$ and expect a 20-30% performance gain over the A8.

RAM: 2x4gb 1600Mhz from Pariot that I pulled from an old PC I got for 5$. 2x2gb 1333Mhz from ADATA. So, it'll total around 12gb of RAM, which is more than enough.

GPU: NVIDIA GTX 750TI EVGA 2gb. About two years old. Applied some thermal pads on the VRAM (Had some lyin around) and put on new thermal paste. Temps should be very good.

 

Full parts list:

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/wGkHwV

CPU: AMD - A8-5500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor - Semi-decent processor. Can hold its own in less demanding games, like Minecraft, Warthunder, and Battlefield.
CPU Cooler: Phanteks - PH-TC12LS_BK 53.3 CFM CPU Cooler - Was going for a low profile 120mm cooler because of the orientation. The CPU runs really hot for whatever reason. This cooler looks pretty great.
Thermal Compound: CRYORIG - CP7 4g Thermal Paste  - Came with the Cryorig H7 that I have in my current rig. Will be using it for this build.
Motherboard: ASRock - A88M-G/3.1 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  - It had four DIMMs, which was what I was looking for. Cheapest one that had them. Bonus that it's A88x, so If I add a K chip in there, it can overclock.
Memory: Mushkin - Essentials 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1333 Memory  - Pulled out of a potato build. (It had an AMD E-450... yeah...)
Memory: Patriot - Signature 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  - Pulled out of a dead build that I got for 5$. Great value here.
Storage: SanDisk - X400 128GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive - It has an M.2 slot so I figured I might as well utilize it. Two less cables for me to deal with.
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  - Good ol' Hard Drive. 1tb is way more than enough. Might even be overkill.
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card  - Got this for Christmas two years ago for 130$ and it still very much holds its own in modern titles. Will do perfectly for what she is doing.
Case: Cooler Master - Elite 430 ATX Mid Tower Case  - Atrocious case, but better than an OEM case. Very little room for cable management. No AIO support. Great airflow, though. Got this for 5$ with that dead PC build I mentioned earlier.
Power Supply: SeaSonic - 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply - Needed a fully modular unit that was decent without spending too much. Old model, but it will work. The build will only draw around 150-180 watts.
Optical Drive: HP - DVD1265I DVD/CD Writer  - I have 7 of these lying around. Might as well slap one in.
Case Fan: Corsair - Air Series White 2 pack 52.2 CFM  120mm Fan  - Looks cool, is cool. The PC will look good, which is a goal.
Case Fan: Corsair - Air Series White 2 pack 52.2 CFM  120mm Fan 
Case Fan: Corsair - CO-9050017-WLED 66.4 CFM  140mm Fan  
Other: CRJ Blackout All Black 5 Way PWM Fan Hub Splitter  - The motherboard only has two fan headers, so I'll just get fan hub for the fans. I have this in my current system and it appears to be working just fine.
Other: Aigo, Halo LED 120mm 12cm PC CPU Computer Case Cooling Neon Quite Clear Fan Mod 4 Pin/3 Pin (Purple) - This 120mm fan will replace the 120mm fan that goes on the CPU cooler. It will look pretty damn nice.
Other: Enokay 120mm Black Fan Grill / Guard with screws (2 pack)+ 8 Pieces screws - Because the filters in the case are atrocious.

There's a lot of fluff for this build, and that's what I am going for. That's how it looks currently. I know, absolutely ugly, but I just slapped everything together to make sure everything worked.

 

 

Will keep this updated as I get more parts. I suspect it'll be done around mid December.

 

[Crunchy Dragon]

Seems like a good build, I'm planning on getting off the FM2 platform this Christmas haha

[PSUGuru]

1 minute ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

Seems like a good build, I'm planning on getting off the FM2 platform this Christmas haha

For some reason, I've wanted to build her an FX system (Buy it all used, of course). I know the FX lineup is very lousy but there is something appealing about it.

 

Oh well, the A8-5500 will have to do

[Crunchy Dragon]

Just now, QuantumElement said:

For some reason, I've wanted to build her an FX system (Buy it all used, of course). I know the FX lineup is very lousy but there is something appealing about it.

 

Oh well, the A8-5500 will have to do

Back before I made the decision to leave FM2 I was looking at A8s, but I ran into a snag about APUs not being true dual/quad core CPUs which is a problem for me, so for a while I had decided on an Athlon 860K until I realized that if I don't upgrade now, I probably won't for another year and I can't really wait that long haha

[PSUGuru]

Just now, Crunchy Dragon said:

Back before I made the decision to leave FM2 I was looking at A8s, but I ran into a snag about APUs not being true dual/quad core CPUs which is a problem for me, so for a while I had decided on an Athlon 860K until I realized that if I don't upgrade now, I probably won't for another year and I can't really wait that long haha

I went from this A8-5500 to an I7-7700. A 750 ti to a 1060. Imagine the performance bump, haha.

 

I was going to build an AM4 system using the refreshed A10s, but it would look really bland and RAM prices are getting crazy. So, I decided to make it look good and not spend a fortune whilst still having okay performance.

[3 Lions]

It's okay I guess, it's not going to be AAA game machine but for smaller games with simple game engines it's fine. 

[PSUGuru]

1 minute ago, LinusTechTipsFanFromDarlo said:

It's okay I guess, it's not going to be AAA game machine but for smaller games with simple game engines it's fine. 

It can run Battlefield 1 at medium settings pretty well. GTAV isn't that hard either. Really struggles in XCOM 2. Easily plays Sims 3/4. It can hold its own in AAA games. But yeah, it won't be a total machine for it. Just decent enough.