building a budget PC. advice?

[THRESHIN]

been a while since i've done a build....especially a budget one. looking to update my dear old dad's computer for his birthday....he's still using an athlon xp 1600 system i built back in 2001!

so for the most part we're talking very basic tasks. email and web browsing, maybe the odd game that is not taxing on the system/video at all. mostly enjoys point and click adventure games such as machinarium.

struggling with what cpu to build this around....i'm thinking AMD simply due to needs and cost. the A6 3650 seems like a reasonable choice, any other suggestions? thought of intel i3 but just doesn't seem worth it on a cost/performance basis. maybe a low end phenom 2 quad? onboard video would do just fine as well.

also, since i have no idea what these lower end systems are like for power (seems low) whats a reasonable power supply to be looking at? obviously something like the corsair 650HX i use in my rig would be stupid overkill...

 

[Deleted member 88227]

Can you answer the sticky questions?

 

[THRESHIN]

sure whatever makes people happy. i'm not looking for specifics on what exact part to buy so much as what parts in the bargain bin are the best bang for the buck right now.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
- already stated in original post.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
low as possible without compromising build quality. say $400 give or take. i dont care on - taxes and shipping, finding where to buy is not the problem.

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
- same as above, do not need advice on where to buy

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
- just looking for help selecting a cpu right now and what to expect for PSU load. i can happily select one on my own.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
- see above.

6) Will you be overclocking?
- not sure yet, do not need help here either.

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
- unknown at this point, 1920x1080 max. since we're not getting into games, this is a bit of a moot point.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
- this month

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? etc.
- do not need help selecting a mainboard.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
- 64-bit win7. arent all cpus 64-bit by now anyways?

 

[Dangman]

In terms of price to performance, the A6-3650 is an ok choice. However for the planned usage, you don't need a quad-core at all. For the kind of usage you've described, this dual core CPU should be more than enough:
$70 - Intel Pentium G620 CPU

Before you ask, outside of video, 3d, and audio editing/rendering tasks, the Intel Pentium G620 will outperform the A6-3650 and many Athlon II CPUs. With the money you save from going to a seperate CPU, you can put that towards an actual video card like the HD 6670 which provides far greater GPU performance than the GPU portion of the A6-3650.

As for the Core i3 not being worth it on a cost-perforamnce basis: That's not exactly true: It's dependent on what you're planning on using the PC for. For gaming, the $120 Core i3 2100 and $130 Core i3 2120 are the big winners hands down as they outperform far more expensive Phenom II X4 970 and 980 BE CPUs which are priced around $160 and $180 respectievly.

Power wise, a solid 400W PSU is more than enough. I recommend these two PSUs:
$45 - Antec NEO ECO 400C 400W PSU
$45 - Corsair 430CX V2 430W PSU

 

[THRESHIN]

great thanks for the help danny. i'll look into those and make a decision from there, thats all i was really looking for. i just havent been up to date so much on the hardware last couple years, especially low end.

 

[Dangman]

No prob.

Though I forgot to add one thing:

With Intel CPUs, you want to aim for RAM rated at 1.5V as voltage higher than that can cause CPU damage over time. In addition, Intel CPUs do not see any real world performance increase above DDR3 1600 speeds. Hell there's barely a difference between DDR3 1333 and DDR3 1600 speeds.

 

[Excalibur55]

I also strongly recommend the G620. My new system is a month old now and I'm completely satisfied with this CPU. For everyday use and even some gaming with a good card, I see no better choice at this moment for a low budget build. Plus the upgrade path is better with Intel than with the competition from AMD at this moment.

 

[THRESHIN]

i'll give the intel G620 another look, but to be honest guys first glance its not impressive at all. i'd much rather spend an extra $40 on something better, just seems much better value to me. i do NOT plan on upgrading this computer at all as its primary function is email and web browsing with some very very mild games on the side. the longer that this system is still useable, the better. that means a slightly better cpu might be in order.

that lead me to look at the i3 and even saw a nice deal on previous gen i5. as nice as they are, intel onboard graphics is nothing but a steaming pile as it always has been. putting in a video card ups my cost and is most likely unnecessary.

i'd like to have the option there to drop in a card later, but at the same time there is no need for it right now when onboard will probably do for the entire lifespan of the system. its just nice to know that option is there if for some reason its needed later.

so that leads me back to the AMD A6 and A8 cpus....i'm going to take a look more closely, but it seems like even though the cpu portion is slower i believe that the fact that its reasonably decent integrated graphics (for this type of system) outweighs that.

really not seeing a clear answer here...

**EDIT: from what i'm seeing, even the A6 is faster than the G620 and it offers the onboard graphics. the price difference is $30 here. i can't buy a decent video card for $30. i think the G620 is out.

 

[Dangman]

that lead me to look at the i3 and even saw a nice deal on previous gen i5.

Why not the Intel Pentium 840?

so that leads me back to the AMD A6 and A8 cpus....i'm going to take a look more closely, but it seems like even though the cpu portion is slower i believe that the fact that its reasonably decent integrated graphics (for this type of system) outweighs that.

Again, not really. Remember: The $70 Pentium G620 outperforms the $140 AMD A8-3850 in the CPU portion. You can then use the $70 to get the HD 6570 which outperforms the GPU portion of the A8-3850. The A8-3850 only becomes a good buy over the Pentium G620 + HD 6570 setup if there are plans to do video, 3D, or audio editing work.

EDIT:

**EDIT: from what i'm seeing, even the A6 is faster than the G620 and it offers the onboard graphics. the price difference is $30 here. i can't buy a decent video card for $30. i think the G620 is out.

Not really:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/403?vs=406

 

[E4g1e]

i'll give the intel G620 another look, but to be honest guys first glance its not impressive at all. i'd much rather spend an extra $40 on something better, just seems much better value to me. i do NOT plan on upgrading this computer at all as its primary function is email and web browsing with some very very mild games on the side. the longer that this system is still useable, the better. that means a slightly better cpu might be in order.

that lead me to look at the i3 and even saw a nice deal on previous gen i5. as nice as they are, intel onboard graphics is nothing but a steaming pile as it always has been. putting in a video card ups my cost and is most likely unnecessary.

i'd like to have the option there to drop in a card later, but at the same time there is no need for it right now when onboard will probably do for the entire lifespan of the system. its just nice to know that option is there if for some reason its needed later.

so that leads me back to the AMD A6 and A8 cpus....i'm going to take a look more closely, but it seems like even though the cpu portion is slower i believe that the fact that its reasonably decent integrated graphics (for this type of system) outweighs that.

really not seeing a clear answer here...

**EDIT: from what i'm seeing, even the A6 is faster than the G620 and it offers the onboard graphics. the price difference is $30 here. i can't buy a decent video card for $30. i think the G620 is out.

The A6 and A8 CPUs are also out, for that matter: As Danny noted, the CPU portion of both of those APUs is relatively weak, closer to those of the low-end Athlon II x3 and x4 CPUs. And none of those CPUs are as fast as even a G620, let alone an i3 or an i5, in lightly-threaded apps.

 

[THRESHIN]

thats strange, if you check legit reviews you'll find that the A6 and A8 cpu portion are faster in most tests:
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1665/1/

now i'll have to start checking other sources and comparing to see how legit that review really is.

you know an athlon 2 might even be worth a look....many amd mainboards come with reasonable onboard graphics.

the limiting factor here is cost and overall performance guys. i'd love to pick up an i3, but lets face it - the intel onboard graphics is garbage. that necessitates buying a graphics card which would be low end and any savings from the G620 disappears, forget the i3 setup.

however if i can find other reviews that show the G620 being significantly faster than the amd options then it might be worth another look. i don't mind putting more into this build IF the gains are there. so far i'm not seeing that.