Cheap Parents PC

[DirtyFish]

So my parents need a new PC, and I'm lucky enough to be the one to build it for them.

It has to be kept under $500AUD and I want it to have USB3.0, an SSD and to be in the CoolerMaster N200, so mATX.
It's going to be used for reading emails, browsing the web and playing spider solitaire for hours on end, so it doesnt need to powerful, it just needs to last.

I'm thinking something along the lines of this?:

A8-6600K
ASRock FM2A75M-HD+
4GB Single Patriot S 1600MHZ

Antec VP450P

Samsung EVO 120GB

CoolerMaster N200

This comes to $456AUD.

Does this look alright? Or do people think I could build something better for the price?

[Tmh85]

Do they need an SSD? Also for Spider Solitare you need at least 3 780ti's in SLI

[WoodenMarker]

The 6600k is overkill for just those kind of uses. 

Also, why the N200? Do you already have it?

 

You could looks into just getting an Intel NUC and slapping some ram and a ssd into it.

[cxz]

They don't plan to save much?

[FireFox]

Do they need an SSD? Also for Spider Solitare you need at least 3 780ti's in SLI

 

No you don't silly, you need 6 but unfortunately NVIDIA hasn't gotten around to developing the 6-way SLI yet

[flibberdipper]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU:  AMD Athlon II X2 250 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor
Motherboard:  ASRock N68C-GS FX Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard
Memory:  Crucial 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1333 Memory  ($44.58 @ Amazon)
Storage:  Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card:  HIS Radeon HD 6570 1GB Video Card  ($67.98 @ Newegg)
Case:  Cooler Master Elite 370 ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply:  Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive:  Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer  ($26.97 @ Newegg)
Operating System:  Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $389.50
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-06 20:19 EST-0500)

 

It's in USD.

 

EDIT: Whoops, didn't see the USB 3.0 part. Why would your parents need that in the first place though?

[Tmh85]

No you don't silly, you need 6 but unfortunately NVIDIA hasn't gotten around to developing the 6-way SLI yet

Its a very new and demanding truely Next generation game, very revolutionary in the gaming market today

[DirtyFish]

Do they need an SSD? Also for Spider Solitare you need at least 3 780ti's in SLI

They don't NEED an SSD, but I feel as though the extra price is worth it, the machine will probably be turned on and off constantly since "we have to save electricity" and they don't require storage of a HDD.

 

The 6600k is overkill for just those kind of uses. 

Also, why the N200? Do you already have it?

 

You could looks into just getting an Intel NUC and slapping some ram and a ssd into it.

It may be overkill, it fits in the budget though and gives them the option to do a few more things, maybe mum decides to take up Video editing?

Because it looks nice pretty much, and from the store I'm buying from it is one of the cheapest that isn't garbage. They have a rather limited selection.

I know very little about NUCs, but from a brief look they seem to be more expensive for not much, being small seems to be their only outstanding quality?

 

They don't plan to save much?

Of course they want to save, they just feel spending a little bit more will get them a better experience.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU:  AMD Athlon II X2 250 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor

Motherboard:  ASRock N68C-GS FX Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard

Memory:  Crucial 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1333 Memory  ($44.58 @ Amazon)

Storage:  Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($89.99 @ NCIX US)

Video Card:  HIS Radeon HD 6570 1GB Video Card  ($67.98 @ Newegg)

Case:  Cooler Master Elite 370 ATX Mid Tower Case

Power Supply:  Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($59.99 @ Newegg)

Optical Drive:  Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer  ($26.97 @ Newegg)

Operating System:  Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($99.99 @ Amazon)

Total: $389.50

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-06 20:19 EST-0500)

 

It's in USD.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll definitely have a look at them.

[cxz]

They don't NEED an SSD, but I feel as though the extra price is worth it, the machine will probably be turned on and off constantly since "we have to save electricity" and they don't require storage of a HDD.

 

It may be overkill, it fits in the budget though and gives them the option to do a few more things, maybe mum decides to take up Video editing?

Because it looks nice pretty much, and from the store I'm buying from it is one of the cheapest that isn't garbage. They have a rather limited selection.

I know very little about NUCs, but from a brief look they seem to be more expensive for not much, being small seems to be their only outstanding quality?

 

Of course they want to save, they just feel spending a little bit more will get them a better experience.

 

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll definitely have a look at them.

I was talking about saving data.  That SSD will fill up quick unless they do not save anything.  But from your first reply looks like they do not need much storage.

[WoodenMarker]

It may be overkill, it fits in the budget though and gives them the option to do a few more things, maybe mum decides to take up Video editing?

Because it looks nice pretty much, and from the store I'm buying from it is one of the cheapest that isn't garbage. They have a rather limited selection.

I know very little about NUCs, but from a brief look they seem to be more expensive for not much, being small seems to be their only outstanding quality?

They're pretty much just to be small. I was just wondering anyway. 

[FireFox]

Its a very new and demanding truely Next generation game, very revolutionary in the gaming market today

 

Yea, it puts pixel world I mean Minecraft to shame lol

[MEC-777]

Building this in the next few days for my Aunt and Uncle; http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/user/MEC-777/saved/1UBX (CDN prices) Re-using their existing case which is still in great shape.

 

Thought about going with a 120GB ssd because they only had about 40-50GB of data saved on their old hdd, but the cost just doesn't justify it for them. This will still be light-years faster than their old PC even with the HDD.

[brob]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU:  Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($135.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Motherboard:  ASRock H81M Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($69.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Memory:  Kingston 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($49.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Storage:  Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($109.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Case:  Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($49.00)
Power Supply:  Antec Basiq 350W ATX Power Supply  ($43.04 @ Mwave Australia)
Total: $454.04
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-07 14:32 EST+1100)

[DirtyFish]

I was talking about saving data.  That SSD will fill up quick unless they do not save anything.  But from your first reply looks like they do not need much storage.

Yeah literally all they will save on the SSD will be documents, and thats it. If they need to store anything bigger I have a home server for it.

 

They're pretty much just to be small. I was just wondering anyway. 

Fair enough, thanks for the suggestion though.

 

Building this in the next few days for my Aunt and Uncle; http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/user/MEC-777/saved/1UBX (CDN prices) Re-using their existing case which is still in great shape.

 

Thought about going with a 120GB ssd because they only had about 40-50GB of data saved on their old hdd, but the cost just doesn't justify it for them. This will still be light-years faster than their old PC even with the HDD.

I definitely considered going the Pentium or Celeron route, but since I could fit something better into the budget I thought I may as well.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU:  Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($135.00 @ PCCaseGear)

Motherboard:  ASRock H81M Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($69.00 @ PCCaseGear)

Memory:  Kingston 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($49.00 @ Mwave Australia)

Storage:  Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($109.00 @ PCCaseGear)

Case:  Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($49.00)

Power Supply:  Antec Basiq 350W ATX Power Supply  ($43.04 @ Mwave Australia)

Total: $454.04

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-07 14:32 EST+1100)

I was looking at building an Intel based system initially because I know nothing about AMD, but trying to find a Haswell compatible low wattage power supply was a real problem, I looked at the Antec VP450P, Corsair VS350 and CX430 and none of them have are confirmed to work with Haswell so I started looking at the other team.

[WoodenMarker]

I was looking at building an Intel based system initially because I know nothing about AMD, but trying to find a Haswell compatible low wattage power supply was a real problem, I looked at the Antec VP450P, Corsair VS350 and CX430 and none of them have are confirmed to work with Haswell so I started looking at the other team.

The Antec VP450 is haswell certified.

Btw, they'll all work. Haswell-certified just means it can utilize the power saving features.

[DirtyFish]

The Antec VP450 is haswell certified.

Btw, they'll all work. Haswell-certified just means it can utilize the power saving features.

You sure? All the places i have looked it has said the compatibility "has not been confirmed yet" or something along those lines.

Yeah I know you can turn off the C states or whatever yadayada but I feel as if this particular use case would actually benefit from the low power states since its going to be sitting idle for quite a bit.

If it is actually certified, would going the A8-6600K or i3-4130 be a better option? The system would be about the same price using either of those processors.

[WoodenMarker]

You sure? All the places i have looked it has said the compatibility "has not been confirmed yet" or something along those lines.

Yeah I know you can turn off the C states or whatever yadayada but I feel as if this particular use case would actually benefit from the low power states since its going to be sitting idle for quite a bit.

If it is actually certified, would going the A8-6600K or i3-4130 be a better option? The system would be about the same price using either of those processors.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371045

It is

As for the cpu, I'd just go with a celeron or a pentium.

[DirtyFish]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371045

It is

As for the cpu, I'd just go with a celeron or a pentium.

Hmmm, thats odd, is the VP450P different to the VP450?

I'm not trying to build the cheapest system I can and say "that good enough", I have a $500 budget and I'm out to get the best experience for that money, thats why I'm reluctant to grab a celeron or pentium.

Yes what I'm building is probably going to be overkill, but I want it to last and I don't want it to just crumble once you throw something slightly more demanding at it.

[WoodenMarker]

Hmmm, thats odd, is the VP450P different to the VP450?

I'm not trying to build the cheapest system I can and say "that good enough", I have a $500 budget and I'm out to get the best experience for that money, thats why I'm reluctant to grab a celeron or pentium.

Yes what I'm building is probably going to be overkill, but I want it to last and I don't want it to just crumble once you throw something slightly more demanding at it.

I'm thinking it's the same psu.

A celeron or pentium uses the same cores as the i3. It's the same as comparing the i5 to an i7. Getting an i3 is just a waste of money. 

[brob]

Hmmm, thats odd, is the VP450P different to the VP450?

I'm not trying to build the cheapest system I can and say "that good enough", I have a $500 budget and I'm out to get the best experience for that money, thats why I'm reluctant to grab a celeron or pentium.

Yes what I'm building is probably going to be overkill, but I want it to last and I don't want it to just crumble once you throw something slightly more demanding at it.

 

PCCaseGear has a Seasonic G 360W Haswell compliant psu for AU$85.

[DirtyFish]

I'm thinking it's the same psu.

A celeron or pentium uses the same cores as the i3. It's the same as comparing the i5 to an i7. Getting an i3 is just a waste of money. 

Huh, I didn't know that, thanks. I'm tempted to go the AMD side, half because I havent built an AMD system before and half because I'm not 100% sure about the PSU

 

PCCaseGear has a Seasonic G 360W Haswell compliant psu for AU$85.

As much as I love PC Case Gear, I'm going to be buying from MSY since it's much closer and they have the parts I want. Thanks anyway.

[brob]

Huh, I didn't know that, thanks. I'm tempted to go the AMD side, half because I havent built an AMD system before and half because I'm not 100% sure about the PSU

 

As much as I love PC Case Gear, I'm going to be buying from MSY since it's much closer and they have the parts I want. Thanks anyway.

 

You may be interested in this comparison, http://ark.intel.com/compare/77480,77777,76344.

 

I simply quoted PC Case Gear because its web site is easier to use and they tend to have a broader selection.

[DirtyFish]

You may be interested in this comparison, http://ark.intel.com/compare/77480,77777,76344.

 

I simply quoted PC Case Gear because its web site is easier to use and they tend to have a broader selection.

There really is little difference between those processors, interesting.

I guess I have to do some thinking and make some decisions.

[brob]

There really is little difference between those processors, interesting.

I guess I have to do some thinking and make some decisions.

 

Other than raw speed and different cache sizes the big different is the hyperthreading of the i3.It does make a significant difference.