Recommendations for an mATX "spare" machine?

Shiminay

Hi folks,

I have the guts of an mATX machine here that I wouldn't mind turning into something semi-useful. I'd be willing to put a new motherboard and CPU and RAM into it as what's in it (an Asus P5E-VM-HDMI with a Core 2 Quad of some description and DDR2 RAM) has some sort of problem that I'm not all that bothered about trying to fix or get repaired at this stage in its life.

So any recommendations for an mATX board + CPU with integrated graphics? RAM is cheap enough so's not to be too big of a concern. Performance wise, I can see it being used mostly for basic intertubes and stuff, it'd be nice if it could run Minecraft and some non mental games from the Steam library - it'll probably only get used when my girlfriend comes over to visit

Budget - I don't have anything specific in mind, but it'd be great to get away with spending less than €250, but I'm not in any rush to get it put together, so I'd be willing to spend higher for good tech.

TerrorFirmer

Sounds like a good candidate for FM2 APU. For a casual machine, should suffice perfectly. For €250, that said, you also have the option of an matx mobo, respectable S1155 CPU, and high quality GPU. Depends on how willing you are to spend the budget,and just how important visual quality is to you.

Shiminay

Yea, the FM2 APU stuff was the obvious first choice I looked at. I currently have 2 X 6950s in my main machine which will probably get upgraded next year so I was thinking I'd drop one of them in to this spare machine and give one to either my brother or girlfriend - either of whom would make good use of it.

I'll have a quick look at some 1155 builds with dedicated gfx card and see what I can put together too.

Shiminay

Thoughts please?

Item|Price
AMD A10 5800K Black Edition mit AMD Radeon HD 7660D Grafikeinheit, Tray, FM2|€107.83
8GB G.Skill PC3-12800U CL11-11-11-28|€53.21
ASRock FM2A55M-DGS, FM2, mATX|€46.79
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€226.82

BloodBath

Looks fine. Go for the max speed ram you can get with those 5800k chips though. The on chip graphics benefits a lot from high speed ram. 2133mhz would be ideal but if you get 1600mhz stuff that's 9-9-9-24 @ 1.5v it should overclock to 2133mhz with lower timings and more voltage.

Monotype

This board instead? USB 3 + SATA 6Gbps. Only +€3.
http://www.hardwareversand.de/DDR3/73365/MSI+FM2-A75MA-P33%2C+FM2%2C+mATX.article

Shiminay

Revised based on your recommendations:

Item|Price
AMD A10 5800K Black Edition mit AMD Radeon HD 7660D Grafikeinheit, Tray, FM2|€107.83
MSI FM2-A75MA-P33, FM2, mATX|€49.73
8GB-Kit G.Skill Sniper PC3-17066U CL11|€66.12
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€242.67

Monotype

That's a tray CPU; it's likely that it wouldn't come with a heatsink.

BloodBath

This ram is a little cheaper and does the same speed/timings at a lower voltage.

Shiminay

*bump*

OK, so I was all set to order this and did some final reading and it turns out I won't be able to Crossfire the APU with a 6950 which has caused an abrupt halt to proceedings

So instead I put this together.

Item|Price
Special item: ASUS P8B75-M LX PLUS, Sockel 1155, mATX, DDR3|€47.32
8GB Kingston ValueRAM PC3-12800U CL11|€51.27
Intel Core i3-3220 Box, LGA1155|€105.05
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€222.63

No dedicated gfx cause I now have a more urgent need to get this sorted as my g/f's machine has once again gone bang (but that's another day's story) and I think I can take the gfx card from that without too much stress.

Anything glaringly wrong with that list? Will probably order it tomorrow.

tuxy

Well the special item means it's a previously owned and has been returned. I'd say there is chance it could be missing sata cables and stuff like that

Monotype

I suppose it could be worth noting that socket 1155 has about a month before it's obsolete, if you're not aware of that. Of course, you could always upgrade to a more powerful CPU up the line. FM2 is getting new APUs soon and possibly another generation. Kind of depends on your needs really.

Shiminay

Thanks for that guys the immediate need is to get a machine that's working well for my girlfriend. The machine is now probably going to be used for gaming (Skyrim would be the most technically demanding she plays) and intertrons. A new graphics card will probably be on the next items list, but I can't stretch to paying for that too this month. Didn't realise the 1155 was that near to it's end of life - what would you recommend in it's stead? There'll still be plenty of faster 1155 chips floating around for sale - especially if we're moving to a new generation and people will be upgrading.

tuxy

When a new motherboard costs around €50 I wouldn't worry about it being the end of the line for 1155. You can just pick up a cheap motherboard if you upgrade in a few years time. Also you might be able to pick up a cheap i5 or i7 1155 as an upgrade option.