(Sorry in advance if this doesn't quite belong in the CPU sub-forum)
I'm building a PC as an xmas gift for my Dad. It'll mostly be an office PC, but he says he'd like to try out some light gaming now and then. Size is an issue, so I'm going for mATX. Also, for simplicity's sake and the fact that I don't live near home currently, I will not be OCing this build before I head home for xmas and give it to him. If I go the Intel route, the build would probably look something like this or something similar: (I don't want to spend more than $600, and I'm always up for trimming that down. Also, just to note, some prices were changed manually below to reflect that MA residents now get the privilege of paying tax on shipments from Amazon...)
PCPartPicker part list /
Price breakdown by merchant /
Benchmarks
CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H81M Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($67.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($52.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($85.34)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.19)
Video Card: Asus Radeon HD 7790 1GB Video Card ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone PS08B (Black) MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec Basiq Plus 550W 80+ Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($68.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $590.01
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-13 23:51 EST-0500)
I also have the ability to stop by Microcenter if I need to to pick up a bundle. Their Intel ones are more expensive than the one I've listed above, and there don't seem to be any decent mATX motherboards to pair with an AMD FX CPU. However, I was looking at some of their APUs.
Microcenter Bundle Link
Factoring in tax, the A10-6800K, A8-6600K, and A6-6400K with motherboard would all be cheaper than my selected Intel CPU/mobo combo up above. (Assuming I select the
Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H which I think is the preferable choice)
I would keep everything else in the listed build the same, except for the CPU/motherboard which would potentially be replaced with an APU/motherboard (The 7790 will handle the gaming). I don't know much about APUs, would any of these APUs be a worthwhile substitution for the i3-4130?