AM1 PCs - completed build

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VirtualLarry

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,587
10,227
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Picked up some Sempron 3850 quad-core AM1 APUs for $20. (See my Hot Deals thread. Deal is dead now.)

Looking to do some extreme low-cost builds.

Lost out on some ITX AM1 ECS mobos for $20 ea. (I actually ordered them, but newegg cancelled the order due to OOS.)

The MSI ITX board is $30, but also OOS.

I'm thinking, either Newegg is discontinuing AM1 stuff, or the mobo mfgs are. It seems that the selection of ITX AM1 boards with HDMI is shrinking. Now they mostly seem to have mATX.

My question isn't just about the cheapest board, but about a synergistic budget combo, of board, case, and PSU.

The mATX boards wouldn't be bad, if Newegg still carried the Xion mATX w/PSU cases for $40 with $10 MIR. But they don't seem to.

Edit: Prefer to purchase at established online stores that take Paypal. That means no Amzn. Preferably Newegg and Ewiz. Edit: Maybe I should check Directron, haven't ordered from them in a while.

Edit: I purchased a few of these from Directron.
http://www.directron.com/wt02.html
They were $36.99 (ITX case + PSU, support 5.25in drive) + $~7.50 ship.
http://www.winsis.com/product_detail_68.html

Now I guess I just need to pick out some ITX AM1 boards.

Edit: Well, I went for a couple of these Asrock ITX boards:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157490

They were the cheapest ITX boards at Newegg for AM1.
The good news is, they have four SATA6G ports. The bad part is, it only has 3 eggs. Oh well.

Edit: Now to find some SSDs. I wish Newegg had more factory refurb Corsair Force LS 60GB SSDs for $35.

Edit: Picked up a couple of these (hopefully they won't be cancelled):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820753055
Went OOS right after I ordered.


====

$20 AMD Sempron 3850 AM1 1.3Ghz quad-core 25W
$38 ASrock AM1 ITX mobo (w/HDMI, 4 SATA6G, USB3.0)
$45 Winsis mini-ITX case + PSU (support 5.25in DVD drive)
$50 Apotop 120GB SATA6G SSD
$13 SATA DVD-RW drive
$25 Gskill 4GB DDR3-1600
$6 Ultra N150 USB wifi
$0 Linux Mint 17.2 64-bit OS
total: $197
 
Last edited:
Yuriman

Yuriman

Diamond Member
Jun 25, 2004
5,530
141
106
If you can get a good deal on these parts, that certainly makes for a cheap PC. However, I raise my eyebrows a bit on the part selection if they're not on sale, as it's within spitting distance of a Haswell Celeron or Atom NUC in price, which are respectively considerably faster, or considerably smaller and more power efficient.

One issue with piecing together a PC like this is that you get hit with shipping costs on all of the individual pieces. Additionally, Newegg often offers free shipping on more expensive items.

Current Newegg prices:

Sempron 3850: $38
ASRock ITX board: $35 + $5.50 shipping
Winsys case + PSU: $45 + $13 shipping
WiFi card: ~$9 shipped
Total: $145.50


Celeron G1820: $43 (amazon)
ECS H81 ITX board: $45
Case + PSU + WiFi card: same
Total: $155
(faster)


Bay Trail NUC: $133
(better integrated WiFi, doesn't use a sketchy free PSU, smaller footprint, less power, similar desktop performance, supports M.2 SSDs in addition to 2.5" drives)

Zotac ZBOX CI320 nano: $128


~

I feel these options are better than an AM1-based machine, depending on your intended use.
 
VirtualLarry

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,587
10,227
126
It's def. watchable, but it's skipping frames and running at 100% CPU. I don't know if HW accell. is working or not.

I installed Win7 64-bit Sp1 HP, installed the drivers off of Asus's site for that board, installed newest MPC-HC off of SourceForge, downloaded the trailer (didn't want to stream in Flash Player in Waterfox).

My display is only 1366x768, and I can't view Task Manager if MPC-HC is full-screen.

Edit: My N2830 laptop is skippy too.
 
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