Intel vs AMD Low Budget

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SKPingYT

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Aug 24, 2015
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So recently, I decided to build a pc for my Grandma. She will be using the web and watching a lot of videos. I didn't know whether I should go with AMD or Intel. Amd has their Kaveri line of APU's. I really don't want to buy a graphics card for this build. I just want to use the onboard HDMI on my motherboard. On the other hand, I wanted to get an Intel I3, to be specific an Intel I3-4160. My budget is around $300-$400. Intel perform pretty well against AMD. I currently have an AMD setup and I am loving it. I really trust AMD with their products. I want this PC to be a well rounded machine. This PC needs to be SILENT. I might add some noctua fans. I really need help in picking up a heatsink. My case will be the corsair 100r silent. I could fit a Cooler Master 212 EVO, but I would have to replace the fan with a Noctua NF-F12 since it is relatively quiet, and has good static pressure.

-Thanks guys for helping out
 
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there are 3 things old people do on computers, web browse email and facebook, watch videos they are sent(and if they are taught, Netflix), and play solitaire.

I pick the APU because of video acceleration, and a discrete modern cpu is going to have more power than is needed even at the budget level for her purposes. graphics power is the only thing that will give you any benefit. Maybe your grandma plays DX11 3d solitare lol. for the same price, I'd pick more graphic power over cpu power. Speed of ram doesn't matter as long as cpu/mobo support it, it is the amount that matters, and 4GB is ok, but 8GB is really wanted. I support office users in a internal helpdesk, we are moving to 8GB because our old office users are maxing out RAM at...
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giantbucket

giantbucket

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Nov 17, 2013
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AMD for a simple no-GPU low-cost movie & facebook machine. and in my case, a Scythe Orochi cooler. discontinued, but works perfectly FANLESS. plenty of other coolers that can run fanless, especially on the 65W Kaveri chips, especially since Grandma won't be overclocking it or gaming at ultra-god settings.

no fans. just passive cooling of an AMD Kaveri.
 
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DeadlyDays

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Mar 29, 2013
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AMD APU's are great for budget buys, great performance per cost for budget machines. I built one for my uncle because initially I told him to just get a prebuilt locally, then I went to the store with him, looked at the machines, and almost spat on them in disgust. They had 4 year old desktops selling for $600 dollars that I wouldn't sell someone for 300$.

Yea, grab a cheap AMD APU, atx or mini-atx, a nice looking case, 4GB of ram minimum, 8GB if you find a good deal, 500GB hard drives are a good price point, and get a cheap aftermarket fan because the APU's can get warm. Intel integrated on all but the very newest procs are still worse for price.
 
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NightAntilli

NightAntilli

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Jun 12, 2014
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To watch videos, an AMD APU is probably the best choice. You don't need crazy single core CPU performance for this, and the APU has some nice video acceleration. How's this for starters?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD A8-7600 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($79.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus A88XM-A Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($47.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($41.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1300 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($43.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($21.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $274.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-30 20:59 EDT-0400
 
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synphul

synphul

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Mar 11, 2011
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The i3 is plenty for those tasks. With a budget of $300-400 I think it might be difficult outfitting it with noctua fans. If you consider the price of a 212 evo with the addition of a noctua fan, why not just get a noctua cooler to begin with? $25 evo + $20 fan is a $45 cooler. Going with a $35 cryorig h7 would give better performance both cooling and noise than the 212 evo and save $10, avoid ram clearance issues and is a shorter cooler in case you go with a smaller case.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4170 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($114.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($66.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($30.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 350W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($33.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $355.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-30 21:01 EDT-0400

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD A8-7670K 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($91.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A78M-D3H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($52.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($30.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 350W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($33.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $318.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-30 21:08 EDT-0400

Comes out to about a $30 difference. Neither includes a cpu cooler, optical drive (not sure if needed) or an os. Adding a cooler and os will push both over $400. The ssd isn't much more than a 1tb hdd and eliminates drive noise plus provides faster boot times and smoother performance especially on a lower powered system. There's not a whole lot of room to cut prices down much lower to fit those other things into the build and keep it under $400. Much less adding noctua fans.

The igpu of intel vs amd is a moot point when it comes to web surfing and watching videos. The amd apu's do have better integrated graphics but would only be noticeable during gaming not watching videos. For that type of use either are sufficient and will do the job. Anything more powerful than playing hd video for watching video makes no difference.
 
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DeadlyDays

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there are 3 things old people do on computers, web browse email and facebook, watch videos they are sent(and if they are taught, Netflix), and play solitaire.

I pick the APU because of video acceleration, and a discrete modern cpu is going to have more power than is needed even at the budget level for her purposes. graphics power is the only thing that will give you any benefit. Maybe your grandma plays DX11 3d solitare lol. for the same price, I'd pick more graphic power over cpu power. Speed of ram doesn't matter as long as cpu/mobo support it, it is the amount that matters, and 4GB is ok, but 8GB is really wanted. I support office users in a internal helpdesk, we are moving to 8GB because our old office users are maxing out RAM at 4GB nowadays from tabs/windows open.

I'd go with harddrive > SSD because old people tend to like photos, lots of photos. Never make you grandma delete anything, ever. Cheaper to get a 500GB WD black than a decent density in SSD, and the WD black will last her longer. SSD are fairly reliable now, but harddrives are way way more mature and my wd black has lasted me since 2008 no problems. I have SSD's that fail, and SSD's heat up and stop working or slow down under intense heat. google has told us heat doesn't play much of an effect on harddrive lifespan unless very hot, using their own statistics on consumer grade drives(which are massive because they go through ALOT of drives)
 
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SKPingYT

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Aug 24, 2015
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Thank you guys and gals for all of your answers. I truly appreciate it. I think that I am going to grab and AMD A10-7850k apu. It seems to be a decent apu and better than the a10-7870k. I just have on more question. Is the stock fan on the cooler master 212 evo quiet? Thanks
 
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