Cheap GPU or integrated graphics for budge build/non-gaming?

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dnbman

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Aug 11, 2012
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I'm thinking about building a small box for my parents who don't do a lot of gaming but might use it as a media box for movies and such.

Are modern integrated graphics sufficient, or would it still be worth spending a little extra money on a cheap graphics card, like this Radeon HD 5450?

Is the main benefit having the HDMI port? Will there be much notable difference in graphics performance?

If it helps, I'm thinking about a cheaper AMD quad core processor on microATX. 4 gigs ram. And probably a dual boot of Chrome OS and Win 7.
 
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MeteorsRaining
The iGPU is more than fine, AMD's APUs are good for this job and light gaming, you don't need a descrete GPU. And HDMI is fine, as your parents will likely connect it to TV, and HDMI transmits sound as well as video, so it's advantageous over DVI. And the setup seems quite fine to me.
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MeteorsRaining

MeteorsRaining

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The iGPU is more than fine, AMD's APUs are good for this job and light gaming, you don't need a descrete GPU. And HDMI is fine, as your parents will likely connect it to TV, and HDMI transmits sound as well as video, so it's advantageous over DVI. And the setup seems quite fine to me.
 
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pearcenc

pearcenc

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im building a small pc for some family as well, i have looked thru 90% of options. i basically decided on a cheap amd quad core(like you also picked) and a cheap gpu (a gt 440) because it should EVERY thing they want and more, and encase they need something more in the future it is easily upgradeable, always plan ahead
 
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dnbman

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Thanks Meteor.

Pearcenc, have you thought about dual boot at all? I've hears so many great things about Chrome and older less sophisticated tech users. I've used it a lot myself and like it.
 
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pearcenc

pearcenc

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i forgot to add something, you should be able to pick up a decent cheap amd 4x and a decent cheap gpu for less then a quad core apu. also i was giving my thoughts on the best solution, not saying i had the same problem
 
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geofelt

geofelt

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A cheap $50 discrete graphics card will not perform any better than modern integrated graphics.
Integrated will be perfectly adequate for all but fast shooter games.

I love small boxes.

Look at the dimensions of the lian li Q02.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112370
It is tiny.
I have built two with the case and included psu.
Inside, put a intel dual core cpu , it need not be particularly fast, a $50-$70 G series would be fine.
Most any lga1150 ITX motherboard will do.
Use a SSD fot the os and perhaps a hard drive if you will store video files which are large.
 
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pearcenc

pearcenc

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my problem with duel boot is old people who are not willing to learn. they all learned how to use computers on windows.
i try to teach them and they never use it. also old in this case refers to people who were over the age of 30 when dos/ mac came out.
 
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dnbman

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Looks very cool! Might try a similar build. Thanks!
 
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