What platform / CPU / APU do you recommend for people you build for?

[VirtualLarry]

Just curious. I know that some people have criticized my choices of building entry-level rigs, and some people have mentioned building rigs for other people.

Do you have a "Go to" platform or CPU that you like to recommend to people? Even if you're helping someone pick out a PC at BestBuy and not building, what CPU do you recommend?

I'm curious if everyone else here really recommends i7-6700K to all of their friends and relatives and moms and grandparents.

Or are you willing to go lower on the product stack?

Do you try to perform a needs analysis for the person, to determine the CPU / platform? Or is that too much work to get into, and you just recommend a 6700(K)?

I end up giving away a bunch of systems, so I try to economize as much as possible, while at the same time, delivering an acceptable user experience on the modern web. (So, for example, the rigs I build might play back 1080P videos OK, but not 4K, because most people don't have 4K monitors.) I pretty-much ALWAYS include an SSD, even on the giveaway rigs, and adequate RAM. (RAM's really cheap right now, so that makes it a lot easier to include 4-8GB.)

I don't really have a general "Go to" platform, other than I want something that works with Windows 7 64-bit, Windows 10 64-bit, and Linux Mint (newest version). I shop sales heavily, to find discounted parts.

 

[Shivansps]

Well im my country, its not a recomendation because i work building custom pcs, you cant recomend a I7-6700K, you need like 3 or more months of minimal pay to get one, and just the cpu lol

The best seller is the A4-7300, it provides good enoght performance for both basic use and light gaming (minecraft, lol, dota, etc), and the cheaper monitors are 19" 1366x768 and people gets those as well.

On that same line, the ones who want more gaming focused, jump to A6-7400K and even A8-7600.

I dont have much use for Celeron G1840, it may be better than A4-7300 on cpu, but bulding a rig costs the same and the gain of CPU perf does not make for the loss of IGP perf.

G3260 is recomended as a entry for people who dont want to do any gaming at all, and from there on up are people who wants to do special work on the pc or real gaming so it jumps to I3/I5/I7 and FX6300/FX8350 with and whiout dGPUs depending on the case. Starting from a R7 360 or GTX750TI.
I have to build a new config with a 250X and im yet to decide about using A8-7600 or FX4300.

But for general use it never goes beyond A4-7300 or G3260, depending on gaming needs, altrought some times it jumps to A8-7600 (great and cheap APU btw) or I3-4170.

Unfourtunately, we are forced to have AM1 options for pricing reasons, the 2650 do to price(and yes, with just 2GB), and 5150 do to price and behing quad core, you have no idea of how many want the 5150 over the 7300 and G3260 just because its a quad. AMD released a great evil to the humanity with those damn AM1 never seen since Celeron D era.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Unfourtunately, we are forced to have AM1 options for pricing reasons, the 2650 do to price(and yes, with just 2GB), and 5150 do to price and behing quad core, you have no idea of how many want the 5150 over the 7300 and G3260 just because its a quad. AMD released a great evil to the humanity with those damn AM1 never seen since Celeron D era.

I don't know that AM1 is really a "great evil", but it does seem like a performance regression on the desktop, a means of legitimizing AMD's "small core" APUs that belong in cheap netbooks.

Even overclocked from 1.3 to nearly 1.4Ghz, my Sempron 3850 APU is dog-slow running 64-bit Firefox. (My Atom N2830 in this laptop I'm using now seems faster. Then again, it has a 2+Ghz clock speed, I think.)

Thanks for your response, "from the trenches". That's exactly the type of feedback I was looking for.

Edit: May I ask, do you offer Linux as well as Windows, do you offer a discount for Linux versus Windows, and what distro do you predominantly use, and what's the rough percentage split between Windows and Linux builds?

Edit: I would also like to ask, do you offer a money-back guarantee period? Some time for them to test out the PC, and decide if they like it? I can understand if you wouldn't do that for a custom rig.

I didn't used to offer any sort of money-back (unless I was unable to fulfill the warranty terms on my end, to repair/replace bad parts), but one of my customers basically forced me to give them their money back, as they brought the PC back for a problem, and then said that they didn't want it, it was too slow. (I did give them the opportunity to use the PC before buying it.)

So now I offer them a 30-day money-back guarantee, in most cases, OR a 6- or 12-month warranty (on used / refurb, or new, respectively).

 

[waltchan]

I think stepping up to quad-core unlocked FM1s, like A6-3670K and A8-3870K, offer a lot of big opportunity here. Price is gradually dropping on eBay, $47.80 and $59.50 respectively. They'll come down soon.

For today's socket, I would say A6-7400K FM2+ fits the bill perfectly. I would avoid A4-7300 because it's FM2, only $10 cheaper than A6-7400K, prone to steep depreciation, and doesn't have Crimson driver. A6-7400K overclocked at 4.0GHz has nearly the same single-thread score with Celeron G1820.

 

[Shivansps]

Edit: May I ask, do you offer Linux as well as Windows, do you offer a discount for Linux versus Windows, and what distro do you predominantly use, and what's the rough percentage split between Windows and Linux builds?

No one wants Linux. We sell the pcs whiout OS, we have both versions, Windows 10 Home and nothing, and off course there is a price diff, if someone does not want to pay, we give them instructions on how to download the iso from microsoft web site and install it, MS gives the W10 isos freely to everyone that wants one. And thats why we offer no Linux, having an OS installed overcomplicates the boot up process.
The ones who cant understand that usually pay for Windows license and get the version with OS, some go with one whiout OS and its not my problem what they do with it.

 

[gorion]

Lately most of my friends are just asking for basic computing.. so, depending on budget, I build for them either i3-6100 desktops (last one came out at about 400€ with win7) or g4400.

 

[waltchan]

Lately most of my friends are just asking for basic computing.. so, depending on budget, I build for them either i3-6100 desktops (last one came out at about 400€ with win7) or g4400.

It's just me, but I'll take A8-3870K before i3-6100, assuming I find one with A75 chipset. i3-6100 is really only a dual-core with four-threads, on top of the hefty price here.

 

[ElFenix]

My main goal is to keep people away from tablet processors. i3 would be standard, I think.

 

[escrow4]

i5 and the equivalent "home" chipset, so H170, not the gimped H110 with a 250GB+ SSD. That way when they inevitably junk it up the i5 will still cut through the slop and the SSD will hopefully have some leftover space as opposed to a tiny (and slower) 120GB. I don't recommend the i3 anymore, its a useless pretend quad core. If you want 4 cores and 4 threads get an i5. And not an i5 6400, which is inexplicably cut back compared to the i5 6500.

So, in USD, and not counting cashbacks or cheaper sites from Newegg:

- i5 6500 for $205:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117563

- GA-H170-Gaming 3 for $95:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128863&cm_re=H170-_-13-128-863-_-Product

which has ALC 1150, M.2 and all the modern bits (use ALC 1150 as a guide, if a mobo doesn't have decent sound it likely won't be decent in other specs plus ALC 1150 is really nice for onboard sound). Alternatively, one of the Asrock H170 Performance models.

- 850 EVO 250GB (or 500GB if you can swing it) for $88:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147372

So, for $388 you will have the guts of a workhorse that isn't poky. Add at least 8GB of RAM and you won't any complaints. The modern web is also fat compared to the Core 2 era and you have enough in reserve for that. Drop to a dual core at your own peril.

 

[waltchan]

Hey escrow4, do you have any other affordable solutions you can recommend for VirtualLarry? While I like your list, neither one of us can afford them reliably.

 

[Shivansps]

Edit: I would also like to ask, do you offer a money-back guarantee period? Some time for them to test out the PC, and decide if they like it? I can understand if you wouldn't do that for a custom rig.

I didn't used to offer any sort of money-back (unless I was unable to fulfill the warranty terms on my end, to repair/replace bad parts), but one of my customers basically forced me to give them their money back, as they brought the PC back for a problem, and then said that they didn't want it, it was too slow. (I did give them the opportunity to use the PC before buying it.)

So now I offer them a 30-day money-back guarantee, in most cases, OR a 6- or 12-month warranty (on used / refurb, or new, respectively).

By law we are forced to offer a 3 day test period, they can return it inside the 3 day term, and that applys to everything here, we also offer up to 2 weeks to return it for an upgrade to other model paying the difference, if its in excelent condiction.

Money back is VERY strange to happen, even inside the 3 day term, it has to be something that was our fault, but even on those cases we usually fix it someway.

 

[VirtualLarry]

By law we are forced to offer a 3 day test period, they can return it inside the 3 day term, and that applys to everything here, we also offer up to 2 weeks to return it for an upgrade to other model paying the difference, if its in excelent condiction.

Money back is VERY strange to happen, even inside the 3 day term, it has to be something that was our fault, but even on those cases we usually fix it someway.

Hmm, that puts a better perspective on it.

Maybe I should offer a 30-day "step up" guarantee, rather than a money-back, and then offer the 6/12-month warranty on top of that. That way, I would only have to offer money-back in the case that I can't perform my part of the warranty service, for whatever reason. (Which I don't think has ever happened yet.)

 

[Abwx]

I don't know that AM1 is really a "great evil", but it does seem like a performance regression on the desktop, a means of legitimizing AMD's "small core" APUs that belong in cheap netbooks.

Even overclocked from 1.3 to nearly 1.4Ghz, my Sempron 3850 APU is dog-slow running 64-bit Firefox. (My Atom N2830 in this laptop I'm using now seems faster. Then again, it has a 2+Ghz clock speed, I think.)

At least it is PGA, the day you ll slap a 5350 then come back giving some impressions..

Anyway what s not to like in this plateform.?.

In Germany, wich is the most competitive market in Europe, a 5350 + mITX Asrock (4 Sata + 4 USB3..) cost something like 62€, slightly less than the A8 7600 (alone..) wich is at 66€ there, add 8GB RAM, a 128GB SSD and an ISK 110 case (quite hefty currently) and you have an efficient 30W SFF for 200€..

Indeed when looking at thoses prices, and even if it was a 400€ build, i find that the OS cost is overkill in respect of our times, what is lacking in MS portfolio is some kind of low end offering, say an updated WXP for 30€...

 

[coercitiv]

Hey escrow4, do you have any other affordable solutions you can recommend for VirtualLarry? While I like your list, neither one of us can afford them reliably.

With the amount of junk you mention buying on the forum you can definitely afford what escrow4 mentioned. Both you and VirtualLarry aren't really asking for advice, you just want to continue justifying your purchase decisions.

I can understand where Shivansps is coming from: he is forced to make decisions based on very limited budgets. His logic is clear. But you... I don't see the same pattern in your case. The people Shivansps builds systems for buy once and use for many years. You buy a lot of cheap stuff and change systems often.

You're hooked on getting the best deal ever, keep searching for it, and although each purchase is small, I bet your total $$$ spent on hardware would scare most forum members who bought a 6700K.

Your buying pattern is the embodiment of micro transactions in the hardware world.

 

[Shivansps]

I think stepping up to quad-core unlocked FM1s, like A6-3670K and A8-3870K, offer a lot of big opportunity here. Price is gradually dropping on eBay, $47.80 and $59.50 respectively. They'll come down soon.

For today's socket, I would say A6-7400K FM2+ fits the bill perfectly. I would avoid A4-7300 because it's FM2, only $10 cheaper than A6-7400K, prone to steep depreciation, and doesn't have Crimson driver. A6-7400K overclocked at 4.0GHz has nearly the same single-thread score with Celeron G1820.

There is at least 20% gap in price for a no so big gap in perf, it only worth if you gona overclock it, most people dont. And it has WDDM 2.0 Crimson beta drivers btw, just no OpenCL.

I use 2x2GB 1600 on the A4-7300, the A6-7400K gives an small gaming diff using 2x4GB 1866, and that increases the cost of the entire rig. Ill say if you are building with 8GB go with the 7400K, Otherwise stick with A4-7300 unless overclocking, you just cant notice the difference.

 

[Shivansps]

At least it is PGA, the day you ll slap a 5350 then come back giving some impressions..

Anyway what s not to like in this plateform.?.

In Germany, wich is the most competitive market in Europe, a 5350 + mITX Asrock (4 Sata + 4 USB3..) cost something like 62€, slightly less than the A8 7600 (alone..) wich is at 66€ there, add 8GB RAM, a 128GB SSD and an ISK 110 case (quite hefty currently) and you have an efficient 30W SFF for 200€..

Indeed when looking at thoses prices, and even if it was a 400€ build, i find that the OS cost is overkill in respect of our times, what is lacking in MS portfolio is some kind of low end offering, say an updated WXP for 30€...

Stop, just stop...

 

[ShintaiDK]

Currently LGA1151 obviously.

 

[NTMBK]

I built my sister a Llano system back in 2011, it's served her well. Integrated graphics sufficed for a few years, then I dropped in a 750ti to bring it up to speed. Not a bad little system.

But you know what? That was 5 years ago. I wouldn't build her a Llano system today, and I certainly wouldn't build a dual core one. If I were building her a system today I'd probably look at a Kaveri APU, or Bristol Ridge when that comes out. I really hope AMD makes a good budget Zen APU- two cores with SMT, a good 14nm GPU, fast DDR4 (3200 or bust!).

 

[cytg111]

i3/i5 running on igp .. plenty of plenty for the folk i know.
Of course VR is going to change that .

 

[DrMrLordX]

My main goal is to keep people away from tablet processors. i3 would be standard, I think.

Agreed. I look at what they have used before and try to get them to buy something similar to that, within whatever is their stated price range.

 

[nerp]

It's just me, but I'll take A8-3870K before i3-6100, assuming I find one with A75 chipset. i3-6100 is really only a dual-core with four-threads, on top of the hefty price here.

It still is faster than the A8 in every way, though. Even in tasks that benefit from more cores, still faster.

 

[gorion]

It's just me, but I'll take A8-3870K before i3-6100, assuming I find one with A75 chipset. i3-6100 is really only a dual-core with four-threads, on top of the hefty price here.

A8-3870k is not on sale here. I would never buy used (or on ebay without warranty) for a friend, unless they do ask.

Other AMD options have been considered (A8-7600 for example) but I found that the savings were in the €50 range, but would have come to the expense of more modern mainboard ports/features and slower single-thread performance.

In the end, for the kind of pricing I can find here it doesn't make sense to go with anything else than Skylake.

i3-6100 is a good chip. It's true that's more expensive than a G4400 and it's not a real quad, but it comes with an HD 530 which is a good upgrade over the pentium HD 510. People who come to ask for a system usually don't change it for a long time so I thought that a dual with HT would be better than a pure dual for future-proofing. Should it become too weak for MT tasks in future one could always drop a used i5/i7.

Plus I add an SSD (usually a cheap Crucial BX100) and 8gb ddr4.

 

[gorion]

Indeed when looking at thoses prices, and even if it was a 400€ build, i find that the OS cost is overkill in respect of our times, what is lacking in MS portfolio is some kind of low end offering, say an updated WXP for 30€...

At least here in Italy you can find used Windows 7 licences around 40€. And you can upgrade those to Win 10.
Apparently there is some sort of ruling of the European Court which allow leasing companies and similar to sell the license of the off-lease pc as a stand-alone licence.
Personally activated a few with MS on the phone.

 

[sm625]

x5687 all the way. There is simply nothing out there that even comes close to the value you can get out of a used workstation that comes with a 3.6GHz 4C8T processor, 24GB of rAM, and a legal copy of win 7 for $300. The PSUs on these things are beefy enough to handle a GTX970 easily, giving you unbeatable gaming performance for $600. Especially right now when these can be freely updated to the newest OS.

 

[mikeymikec]

Assuming that it's for the basic/average uses I encounter (basic office apps, web browsing, video playback, Flash games), I go for a bare minimum of a Skylake Pentium, my normal recommendation is a Skylake i3, and if the customer has the budget and wants to try and exploit the usual longevity of one of my PC builds, an i5.

Laptops, Haswell Pentium/i3 or later gen.

I've built something like six or seven i7 desktops to date, very few.