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Your thoughts on this build please?

F

Fastbird

n00b
Joined
Oct 28, 2010
Messages
27
This is for my father in law......his old computer caught a nasty virus and he just wants something new. He was looking at off the shelf stuff but came to me knowing I like to build and figured I could do better for a comparable price. So here's what I'm looking at. After much deliberation between the Intel vs. AMD processor battle, and comparing performance, price, etc, I settled on going with AMD for his generic usage being mainly internet browsing video watching. He wants a quick, reliable computer, isn't concerned with overclocking or upgrading, and doesn't game. Plus, this is a budget build........was trying to stick around a $500 or so price point. So......on to the components.

Case -- Xigmatek Asgard Pro -- Really like the looks of this case (Fractal Knock Off Anyone?)

Processor -- AMD A8-3850 -- Quad Core, Low power, decent integrated graphics processor.

Heatsink/Fan -- Stock AMD A8-3850 due to no overclocking or anything

Motherboard -- Asus F1-A75M

Hard Drive -- Mushkin Enhanced Chronos 60GB SATA III -- Great reviews and performance

RAM -- G.Skil Ripjaw 8GB (4GB x 2) 1866 -- Going higher speed to take advantage as it boost graphics performance apparently.

PSU -- Raidmax Hybrid 2 RX-530SS -- Cheap, but MODULAR, power supply with decent reviews. Worth a shot.

DVD Drive -- ASUS DRW-24B1ST -- Highly reviewed, nuff said. No need for a BD-ROM or anything, he says he's got a blu ray player for that. Okie dokie.

Toss in a rosewill SATA III cable, and we're looking at just over $494 all at New Egg, though I'll be shopping around on prices. The downer is that this DOESN'T include a copy of Win7. I have a XP-Pro copy all slipsteamed and ready to go with SATA stuff, but it's only 32 bit and won't recognize the full ram. I'm going to try to talk him into $600 to do it or else we'll have to cut some corners somewhere. Only other thing I'd need to coerce him into is potentially a second 500 GB to 1 TB drive for storage, but I need to see how much space he's actually going to be utilizing.

So, what's the consensus on the build? See any major flaws?? I'll be adding a couple of extra case fans (side door, top panel) to make sure cooling is adequate, but I'm looking for anything glaring that I've overlooked. Thanks y'all!
 
Fastbird said:
This is for my father in law......his old computer caught a nasty virus and he just wants something new. He was looking at off the shelf stuff but came to me knowing I like to build and figured I could do better for a comparable price. So here's what I'm looking at. After much deliberation between the Intel vs. AMD processor battle, and comparing performance, price, etc, I settled on going with AMD for his generic usage being mainly internet browsing video watching. He wants a quick, reliable computer, isn't concerned with overclocking or upgrading, and doesn't game. Plus, this is a budget build........was trying to stick around a $500 or so price point. So......on to the components.

Case -- Xigmatek Asgard Pro -- Really like the looks of this case (Fractal Knock Off Anyone?)

Processor -- AMD A8-3850 -- Quad Core, Low power, decent integrated graphics processor.

Heatsink/Fan -- Stock AMD A8-3850 due to no overclocking or anything

Motherboard -- Asus F1-A75M

Hard Drive -- Mushkin Enhanced Chronos 60GB SATA III -- Great reviews and performance

RAM -- G.Skil Ripjaw 8GB (4GB x 2) 1866 -- Going higher speed to take advantage as it boost graphics performance apparently.

PSU -- Raidmax Hybrid 2 RX-530SS -- Cheap, but MODULAR, power supply with decent reviews. Worth a shot.

DVD Drive -- ASUS DRW-24B1ST -- Highly reviewed, nuff said. No need for a BD-ROM or anything, he says he's got a blu ray player for that. Okie dokie.

Toss in a rosewill SATA III cable, and we're looking at just over $494 all at New Egg, though I'll be shopping around on prices. The downer is that this DOESN'T include a copy of Win7. I have a XP-Pro copy all slipsteamed and ready to go with SATA stuff, but it's only 32 bit and won't recognize the full ram. I'm going to try to talk him into $600 to do it or else we'll have to cut some corners somewhere. Only other thing I'd need to coerce him into is potentially a second 500 GB to 1 TB drive for storage, but I need to see how much space he's actually going to be utilizing.

So, what's the consensus on the build? See any major flaws?? I'll be adding a couple of extra case fans (side door, top panel) to make sure cooling is adequate, but I'm looking for anything glaring that I've overlooked. Thanks y'all!
Click to expand...

Not so good of a value at this price. Here are a few reasons why:

1) Despite the superior IGP performance, the A8-3850 has relatively slow CPU performance compared to even most of the dual-core Intel Sandy Bridge CPUs such as the Pentium G850.

2) The so-called "reviews" on that PSU are useless for the most part because most such reviews have absolutely no reference at all whatsoever (or more specifically, the reviewers simply plug it in and works, and have absolutely no other PSU whatsoever or only an extremely shitty PSU to compare the relative performance and reliability to). As far as the Raidmax Hybrid, it is mediocre at best even within its wattage range (in fact, it is more like a 350W or 400W PSU than a 530W PSU in terms of performance). If you are willing to forego the modularity, you can find much better-quality PSUs for just a few dollars more. Plus, it is less than 80% efficient and lacks the total listed rating for the +12V rails combined (indicating an older and/or lower-quality design to begin with).

3) Given the relatively slow CPU performance, DDR3-1866 completely defeats the purpose of a value-oriented build even if it improves the performance of the IGP. It costs a full $20 more per 8GB than the DDR3-1333 or DDR3-1600 RAM we normally recommend.
 
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The major flaws I can see:
- The SSD isn't that good of a choice considering that a slightly larger and more reliable SSD costs only $5 more:
$90 - Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SSD

- That PSU is a total POS as E4g1e noted. No APFC, costs $40 (most good 500W PSUs cost $60), no listing of the total amperage on the +12V rail, and definitely a low quality PSU. I recommend these higher quality PSU instead:
$50 - Antec NEO ECO 400C 400W PSU
$47 - Corsair 430CX V2 430W PSU

- As for the CPU, as E4g1e said, that AMD CPU is fairly slow compared to Intel's dual-core CPUs. Considering that his usage is mainly single-threaded, he's better off with an Intel dual-core like the following:
$88 - Intel Pentium G850 CPU
$128 - Intel Core i3-2120 CPU

With that said, if your father is planning on doing a ton of video, 3D, or audio editing/rendering, then that AMD CPU is the better choice.
 
Duly noted on everything. Readdressing the Intel processors. Wasn't sure if the Quad AMD would out perform the Dual Intel SB stuff or not.

*Edit* Looking at the 1155 motherboards, there's nothing for a low price that has on board usb 3.0 headers. I don't think he'd be using it, but I'd rather it's hooked up for future use should the need arise (the case front panel connector). I'm being picky, I know.
 
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Fastbird said:
Duly noted on everything. Readdressing the Intel processors. Wasn't sure if the Quad AMD would out perform the Dual Intel SB stuff or not.

*Edit* Looking at the 1155 motherboards, there's nothing for a low price that has on board usb 3.0 headers. I don't think he'd be using it, but I'd rather it's hooked up for future use should the need arise (the case front panel connector). I'm being picky, I know.
Click to expand...
What about a setup like this?
80746016.png


USB 3.0, SATA 6Gbps, SSD, i3 dual-core with the latest and greatest IGP at a decent speed, and you've still got a couple bucks to play around with.
 
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Fastbird said:
*Edit* Looking at the 1155 motherboards, there's nothing for a low price that has on board usb 3.0 headers. I don't think he'd be using it, but I'd rather it's hooked up for future use should the need arise (the case front panel connector). I'm being picky, I know.
Click to expand...

That's a fair point. AMD motherboards do tend to be a tad cheaper while having more features.
 
TJH, you've pointed me in a good direction. I'm checking combo deals. Already had the Fractal case saved and I'm sticking with the Corsair PSU mentioned above because of the sleeving...... THANK YOU!!!!
 
IMO, unless you absolutely positively need a mATX case, that Fractal Design Core 1000 case isn't a good buy at $46 shipped considering that the larger, better cable management having, and better cooling NZXT Source 210 case exists:
$50 - NZXT Source 210 Elite White with Black Front Trim ATX Case

Oh and the Source 210 Elite comes with an extra 140mm fan and a USB 3.0 front panel port. So if size isn't an issue, the Source 210 Elite is the better bang for the buck choice.
 
I like NZXT cases for the most part (I have a white H2 Classic that I love) but the Source 210 just doesn't do it for me. I'm exploring cases right now actually.

This is all going to be ordered within 2-3 days tops I would presume.

As for the USB 3.0, I figure screw it. He doesn't use external drives, he doesn't have a new USB 3.0 memory stick or anything, so I don't see the need to have it on the case unless the mobo does, hence my readdressing the cases. I REALLY like that Xigmatek case though.
 
Danny Bui said:
that Fractal Design Core 1000 case isn't a good buy
Click to expand...
He has a point. Check out this thread for an example of what the case looks like populated. It's a very, very minimal case - really, just a place to stick stuff so it's not on the ground. You just mentioned Fractal Design in your first post, so I selected their cheapest option.

If you're looking at combo deals, check out Microcenter. They've almost always got amazing CPU+mobo combos. The board I listed in the newegg deal is actually the same board I have - I picked it up plus a i5-2500K for almost the same price that that i3 combo is on NewEgg. If you don't want the USB3.0, you can actually pick up a (much) lower-end version of that board (The H61-chipset'd GA-H61M-DS2) plus a 2500K right now for about $250.
 
I wish I had a microcenter close by. Closest one is like 1.5 hours. I know their in-store deals are killer, it's how I got my I7-950 for $200 back in early fall 2010. *edit* MC has the I3-2125 for $119 in store, and the I5-2400 for $150 in store, but no combo's to be found.

I'm not feeling that Fractal case after looking at a couple of reviews. Still looking. Chose some low voltage g.Skil ram too, for $50 it'll serve it's purpose.
 
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So.......Microcenter might be worth the drive. They've got the above mentioned I5-2400 in store for $150, and a couple of decent Gigabyte or Asus P67 mobo's that are open box items for under $100.....putting the cpu/mobo combo at only about 15-20 more than the new egg combo for the I3-2105. OR.......their I3-2125 in store price is $119.........wow. Hagerstown MD to Rockville MD.......it's just the beltway......lol
 
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