Extreme Budget APU based system.

[monte79]

Approximate Purchase Date: this month

Budget Range: as close to or under $350(I don't count shipping in that price; most things are free or close to it anyway)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: 7yr old kid, internet games, school work, movies. Few games for older people, racing mostly possible military games.

Are you buying a monitor: not with this budget, it will borrow one of my dell 2208WFP for now.



Parts to Upgrade: Case, PS, Motherboard, CPU, RAM, HardDrive, Optical Drive

I would really like to use BluRay and SSD if possible, but I realize with this budget I may not get either one.

Do you need to buy OS: NOT INCLUDED IN BUDGET; more than likely will be Win8

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: mainstream places, newegg, amazon, possible ebay, tiger

Location: MO, USA

Parts Preferences: AMD APU Based; I don't think I can do intel on this budget

Overclocking: probably not; options don't hurt though

SLI or Crossfire: In the future maybe

Your Monitor Resolution: currently use 1680x1050; but I'm a autocad user so I like lots of real estate

Additional Comments: I like it to look nice, so window is cool, led fans, nice killer color combos, what looks neat and clean.

I would like the motherboard to have the Bolton D4 A88X that way I can update processors to the Kaveri or the next APU since I read it would share the same socket.

I was looking at this combo deal to start with(AMD A10-6800k 4.1GHz Quad-Core CPU, Asus A88X Motherboard, NZXT 220 Mid Tower Case)
APU Combo

or

MSI A88XM GAMING FM2+ / FM2 AMD A88X (Bolton D4) SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard, AMD A8-6600K Richland Quad-Core 3.9GHz Socket FM2 100W Desktop Processor - Black Edition AMD Radeon HD 8570D
MSI BOARD APU Cobo





What do you think? I'm just not current enough on some of this and need a little direction. Thanks in advance.

 

[miit123]

I could provide you the apu build if you want but this is a good non apu build with os and just costs 400$.

CPU: Intel Pentium G3220
MOBO: MSI H81M-P33
RAM: A-Data XPG V1.0 4GB
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB
GPU: MSI Radeon R7 250X 1GB
CASE: Thermaltake Commander MS-I ID
PSU: Corsair Builder 430W
OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit
Total: $406.83

 

[miit123]

If you don't want it, I could suggest a apu build too. But this will be better. And if you don't mind, replace r7 250x with a 260x which makes your build probably 450$ including os. And probably 350$ without OS.

 

[monte79]

Well, ok I guess that would be subjective that it's "BETTER" but according to CPUBoss benchmarks most the APUs I looked up beat that Pentium. But it is REALLY CHEAP.

Is the MB you chose able to upgrade later on down the highway? I firmly believe if I get a nice foundation I can have a decent computer for my kids for a long while.

 

[monte79]

go ahead let me see your APU build as well, if you don't mind.

Thanks for the reply...

 

[miit123]

[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/vGqwyc) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/vGqwyc/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [AMD A10-7700K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/amd-cpu-ad770kxbjabox) | $159.98 @ OutletPC
**Motherboard** | [MSI A78M-E45 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-motherboard-a78me45) | $59.99 @ Micro Center
**Memory** | [Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/kingston-memory-hx316c10fbk28) | $74.99 @ Amazon
**Storage** | [Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezex) | $54.98 @ OutletPC
**Case** | [Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-case-spec01redled) | $33.99 @ NCIX US
**Power Supply** | [EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-100w10500kr) | $29.99 @ NCIX US
| | **Total**
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $413.92

This is a good apu build. You need at least 400$ for a GOOD apu build coz if you are building a pc from a apu, you need good ram.
But my point of saying is that, if you buy a haswell build, then it would be good for the future. So if you buy this

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($59.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI B85-G41 PC Mate ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.24 @ Amazon)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card ($124.99 @ Micro Center)
Case: Enermax ECA3253-BL ATX Mid Tower Case ($47.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $442.16
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

You could buy a good i5 or i7 LGA 1155 processor along with a good GPU which will be a huge upgrade with low cost. And this even costs less than the apu build.(this is what I think)Choice is yours.

Happy to help