Simple webbrowsing system

[MG2R]

Hey,
 
I might be building my parents a new system. The idea is to have a small, simple, quiet and reasonably cheap PC that's powerful enough to simply browse the web, play flash (youtube HD, flash games,...) and be used for some simple MS Office stuff. I'd like a computer that is still powerfull enough to play stuff like minecraft fluidly (for my little brother). The most important aspect is that it has to be snappy. They won't do any serious stuff with the PC, but waiting 30 secs for a browser to open isn't acceptable. There is no need for mass storage.
 
I've configured this with PC part picker, but I'm not sure if it'll be enough for the goals I'm setting. OS is Windows 7 Ultimate (already have a copy). Location is Belgium

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A4-3300 2.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($39.97 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock A75M-ITX Mini ITX FM1 Motherboard ($89.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: A-Data Premier Series 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($45.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V+200 90GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($92.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Node 304 Mini ITX Tower Case ($72.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 300W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Mwave)
Total: $381.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-08 15:44 EST-0500)

 

Please do share your thoughts.

[Kuzma]

Seems good to me especially with APUs and web browsers playing nicely with them this seems very good .

[MG2R]

 web browsers playing nicely with them

Did not know this. Are webbrowsers particularly optimised for APU's ?

[MG2R]

Also, does anyone have any idea of the sound levels I may expect from the stock AMD cooler?

[MG2R]

Shameless self-bump after waiting 2 days. I still would like a semi-definitive answer to the noise levels of the stock AMD cooler.

I'm also unsure if the APU will perform well enough in general usage. (as in, it will be snappy)

Anyone care to chime in? I'm willing to offer cookies

[FMA]

Shameless self-bump after waiting 2 days. I still would like a semi-definitive answer to the noise levels of the stock AMD cooler. I'm also unsure if the APU will perform well enough in general usage. (as in, it will be snappy) Anyone care to chime in? I'm willing to offer cookies

 the stock cooler is loud, but not really a deal breaker. i recommend this, its for cpus with a tdp of upto 95W so that 65W apu is gonna run whisper quiet on PWM. APUs are perfect for web browsing and watching hd videos. and it will be able to run the games, wont be the best but options slap on a hd 7770/7790 which are well cheap or even crossfire with a hd 6xxx and save more moneys. also remember with APUs, gaming is improved with faster ram.

[FMA]

Did not know this. Are webbrowsers particularly optimised for APU's ?

chrome can take advantage of the igpu in some tasks.

[brob]

You might consider an Intel solution:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU:  Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($119.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard:  ASRock H81M-HDS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($49.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory:  G.Skill Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($43.92 @ NCIX US)
Storage:  Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Case:  Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($39.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply:  SeaSonic 350W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($39.99 @ Mwave)
Total: $368.86
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-11 01:56 EST-0500)

 

I also made up a build with parts available at fr.pcpartpicker. You'll notice there are some differences which should provide alternative options should part availability and pricing be very different where you are shopping.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU:  Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor  (€105.45 @ Amazon France)
Motherboard:  ASRock B85M-HDS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (€59.45 @ Amazon France)
Memory:  G.Skill 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  (€44.40 @ Amazon France)
Storage:  Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  (€71.23 @ Amazon France)
Case:  Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  (€44.70 @ Amazon France)
Power Supply:  Antec EarthWatts Green 380W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  (€49.65 @ Amazon France)
Total: €374.88
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-11 08:05 CET+0100)

[Giggitygoebbels]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G550 2.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($49.98 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H61M-S1 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($37.48 @ Newegg)

Memory: Kingston 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($35.70 @ NCIX US)

Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($74.99 @ Amazon)

Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 6670 1GB Video Card ($60.38 @ Newegg)

Case: Silverstone SST-SG02B-F-USB3.0 (Black) MicroATX Desktop Case ($62.98 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: SeaSonic 300W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Mwave)

Total: $361.50

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

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-11 06:12 EST-0500)

[MG2R]

Hmmm, lots of Intel solutions. I immediately thought of AMD because of the price/performance ratio usually being better. Will I be better off buying Intel your opinion? If so, why?

 

 

 the stock cooler is loud, but not really a deal breaker. i recommend this, its for cpus with a tdp of upto 95W so that 65W apu is gonna run whisper quiet on PWM.

Do you know this from experience? I'm quite reluctant on any fan that isn't from a well-known corporation. It may be rated for 95W, but so is the AMD stock cooler, as it comes with APUs up to 130W

[brob]

Hmmm, lots of Intel solutions. I immediately thought of AMD because of the price/performance ratio usually being better. Will I be better off buying Intel your opinion? If so, why?

 

Browsing modern web sites requires a decent cpu for a good experience. Waiting while a cpu sorts out all the objects on a page and downloads the various pieces is not the best of experiences. The two cores and hyperthreading of an i3 will provide a far better browsing experience than any two core cpu. Part of the reason Chrome is so fast is the number of parallel processes it uses.

[FMA]

Hmmm, lots of Intel solutions. I immediately thought of AMD because of the price/performance ratio usually being better. Will I be better off buying Intel your opinion? If so, why?

 

 

Do you know this from experience? I'm quite reluctant on any fan that isn't from a well-known corporation. It may be rated for 95W, but so is the AMD stock cooler, as it comes with APUs up to 130W ;)for 

Yes, I wouldnt recommend it unless ive used it, the cooler is a pain to fit but youll only need to do it once. the heat sink in the amd stock is smaller and has a smaller fan, the fan needs  to spin faster under load so is noisier compared to the arctic cooling cooler which has a bigger heat sink and a bigger fan and rubber isolaters. anyway it also does depend on the case, how close you sit to the computer and how sensitive you are to the noises it could make.