The Latest & Cheapest - AMD Llano Build With $ to Spare

I've always been an advocate of the new technologies, but I've always had to spend within reason. The latest and greatest isn't practical. When you've got responsibilities, there are some things that need more priority when it comes to money. Anyway, I don't feel too left out. I do what I got to do and still have the latest technology. If I choose my parts right, I can definitely have a computer that's not a sluggard even after 2 years of use.

So here's my choice for my Latest & Cheapest build:

AMD Llano A4 3400, 2.7 GHz- the latest iteration of AMD techniologies focuses on creating a product with a lot of value. AMD's Llano is it's APU, an Advanced Processing Unit, it's nickname for a CPU+GPU combo on the same physical package. The A4 may be the cheapest of it's siblings, but it isn't the slowest processor out there. It's got 2 cores pumping out 1.9 GHz all while sipping power with it's TDP of 35 Watts. Price: PhP 3,290 (Cash Promo) at PC Hub.

Emaxx A75GM iCafe- Emaxx has been producing low-priced motherboards for around 5 or 6 years now. Teir iCafe series has always been the cheapest of the lot, focusing on just the basics and a price that makes it irrestible to small business owners (re: internet cafe owners) Price: PhP 3,110 (Cash Promo) at PC Hub.

Inwin EC036 ATX w/ 350W PSU- Low-priced ATX case bundled with a 350W PSU that should be plenty if you choose the right parts. It looks good too. 'Nuff said. Price: PhP 1,590 (Cash Promo) at PC Hub.

G.Skill Value Ram 4GB DDR3 1333- I know a bargain when I see one. GSkill has always enjoyed a good rep with geeks for its performance. It don't matter that this is the Value RAM. GSkill is still GSkill. Price: PhP 1,150 (cash Promo) at PC Hub.

1TB Seagate 7200.12 (32mb cache) SATA HDD- I keep harping on how good Seagate is. Well, I'll harp on it some more. They are reliable. And one more thing, 1TB should be more than enough room to store that ",movie collection" of yours ;-) Price: PhP 2,790 (Cash Promo) at PC Hub.

LiteOn iHAS524- Another brand that I've trusted and relied on for many years, these guys have been OEMing for Dell and Sony for the longest time. It's time they get some press, even if it's from a small-traffic blogger like me :) Price: PhP 830 at Enigma.


The final price? PhP 12,760 or around US$ 295. It's cheap and the tech is new. I couldn't ask for more for the money.

Upgrade Itch - Zacate On My Mind (Part II)

Okay, after giving it some thought I've decided to come up with a more budget-friendly edition of my first proposal. I'm still going with Mini-ITX though, but this build won't cost as much as the first one. Let's get to it.

Apex MI-008 ITX Case - Granted this case is bigger than the Antec ISK-100. And it does have a bigger internal power supply. In ITX terms 250 watts is overkill. But it does cost cheaper. The Apex MI-008 is two-thirds the cost of the ISK-100. When you consider that it can accommodate a desktop-sized internal hard drive and DVD drive, the savings increment up. With the added wiggle room, you can also add a PCI Express card. Well, assuming it's got a low enough passive heatsink. So going with the Apex MI-008 does add up the savings when you consider the bottom line.

Asrock E350M1/USB3 - Asrock has been around for a few years and is known to geeks as Asus' budget brand. If you want bang for the buck, Asrock is the way to go. You do have to wait around for Asus to introduce new features in its flagship brand before it trickles down to Asrock motherboards, but the wait isn't all that long. Give props to stiff competition. Features trickle down in 3-5 months after a mid to high-end board is released by Asus. So going back to the Asrock E350M1/USB3, it features the same trio of new tech I'm looking for in an upgrade: DDR3, SATA 6 GB/s and USB 3.0. It has solid capacitors, just like the Gigabyte GA-E350N-USB3.  It also features Xfast USB, a technology that's supposed to increase the speed of both USB 2.0 and 3.0. You can connect your displays using the onboard VGA, DVI and HDMI. An eSATA port is thrown in there for good measure as well. This is prime kit for the money, folks.

4GB DDR3 Kingston HyperX - As with my first build, I am going with Kingston. This time around, I would have a little more to spend after choosing a cheaper Mini-ITX case. HyperX is Kingston's premium line. In  recent years, this line of premium products has expanded to meet every budget. So much so that they now have the Blu (entry-level), Genesis (mid), T1 (extreme enthusiast), LoVo (premium, low-voltage) and the H20 (extreme gaming). I'm picking the Blu with slim heat spreaders and better-than-average performance over most budget RAM. It goes perfectly with the small case.

2 TB Seagate Barracuda XT - Seagate has been my preference for drives ever since I started building. I can only talk of my personal experience when  I say that I never had one fail on me. So I trust this brand more than the other brands I've tried. They weren't joking about the Hitachi 'Deathstar', let me tell you. I've had 2 Maxtors fail on me as well. I haven't tried WD yet, so I'll just say I'm keeping an open mind about them. For storage though, you really need to go with at least half of the largest available in the market. I filled up my current 500GB 7200.11 in just a little over a year. Yes, I know the reviews say the 7200.11 is a clunker that breaks down easily, but I've had one  for 2 years and it's still working. 500 GB is a bit constricted, especially if you are a data pack rat like me. I'm actually just barely getting by, deleting files by the folder when I reach a critical point. So yeah, if you plan on using your drive for a couple of years at least, you need a 2 TB drive.

24X LiteOn DVD Writer - It's LiteOn, it's cheap, it's fast and it's a brand I trust. I've said it once, I'll say it again. This is definitely a bang-for-the-buck drive for your basic burning needs. Plus, this particuar LiteOn model has Labeltag, a burning features that burns a label on the write side of the disk. Well, it does look like a gimmick, I admit. But I would prefer this over having Lightscribe because with Lightscribe you conditon can only use specific media that costs more than your usual blank DVD's. Lightsribed labels also fade in certain storage conditions, like using the wrong disc sleeves. With Labeltag, I can use my favorite Taiyo Yuden's without hesitation.

Budget Gaming Rig

Leo wants a budget gaming rig. He already has his eyes set on a specific 19" wide monitor and he isn't sure what kit to grab. His needs are definitely different from mine, but I did offer to configure a system for him. I recommended going to a local computer stores so if ever a part breaks down warranty replacements or repairs don't put a strain into his tight work schedule. Prices are based off current published prices of Enigma and PC Hub. Here goes...


AMD AM3 ATHLON II X3 445 3.1 GHZ   3,560
According to the Steam Hardware survey only around a quarter of Steam gamers use a quad-core processors and another quarter use single-core CPU's. More than half use dual-core. considering that fact, it could be said that in terms of gaming, dual-cores are more than capable of playing most of current games. Consider also that the hexa-cores from both Intel and AMD were released in the months closing the previous year. Adoption is going to take a while and so will games that will take advantage of 6-core architecture. My rule of thumb? With those facts considered, either get a triple-core or quad-core processor. Since I'm configuring a budget gaming rig, I chose the Athlon II X3 445. This was released around a year ago, but it is still very capable processor. Check out the review on LegitReviews.com. Depending on your luck even, you may be able to unlock a 'fourth core' on this one. This bang-for-the-buck processor is going to be great for multi-threaded games and applications, with actual performance middling between dual-core and quad-core.

ASROCK 880GM-LE 3,090
This motherboard has a nice balanced blend of features for the price. It's got ACC (Advanced Clock Calibration) for when you want to try to unlock extra cores. It comes packaged with Asrock's Turbo UCC, an pre-boot application that helps you unlock cores and overclock without mucking around with the BIOS. It even comes with OC DNA, a Windows applciation that helps you overclock while in Windows. It's ready to take Phenom II hexa-cores when you're ready to upgrade and is Hybrid Crossfire compatible.

GEIL 4GB DDR3 PC10600/1333 1,910
I recommend Geil for this build as it is one of the lowest priced branded RAM. Geil has been around for a few years as well, so I'd rather go with Geil than other new and unproven brands. Add to that, friends tell me they overclock quite well. I don't void warranties as much as they do. I overclock after the warranties are over! Anyway, great brand to go with, even if you're going with their value line. They're solid and stable. They're not expensive. They've had years in experience making memory. These are all pluses for me.
     

SEAGATE 500GB 7200 SATA 2,170
Seagate is the only hard drive manufacturer to ever go out on a limb and say they guarantee their products for 5 years. It takes a lot of cajones to do that. I've never had a Seagate fail on me and I''l stay with them until proven wrong. 500GB is currently the sweet spot in terms of price and provides a lot of headroom for storing those saved games. Now, one thing that helps with speed is the thinnness of thi particular model. Since all it's 500GB's are in just one platter, you can imagine how dense the storage is for this one. That means accessing the data won't take as long as with previous drives since the space in between data has been cut short. So just remember to use the first 300GB's as this is where the prime real estate is. Data is read the fastest in these first 300GB's.


SAPPHIRE HD5570 1GB DDR3 128BIT 2,995    
A great mid-range card that's great for moderate gaming. It supports Direct X11. It's got HDMI, DVI and VGA Connectors. It's got a slim and low profile. It supports AMD's Stream Technology, so you can use the teraflops of computing  power in your video card on stuff like video encoding or transcoding. The computing power that GPU's have these days make them ideal for being re-purposed for other computation heavy tasks like that.  It also supports physics processing to make the watter ripples, car crashes and hair movement more realistics in finer details. It supports Dolby 7.1 sound on it's HDMI connector. Head on over to OverclockersClub.com for their review of the HD 5570

THERMALTAKE 500W Litepower 80 Plus PSU  2,200
Power supplies tend to be the last to be considered in a build. Often people go with cheap power supplies to be able to spend more on other components. But that kind of thinking leads to trouble. The smoking-burning kind of trouble. If you have an unreliable power supply, it can fry your expensive processor and motherboard, possibly burn your computer and cause a safety hazard for your home. Thermaltake is a well-known, very established brand. They have been making cooling products for years. In the last few years, they've expanded into cases and power supplies. For the most part, they have been consistent with the quality of their products. For a review of the Litepower series, check out OverclockersClub.com and HardwareSecrets.

COOLER MASTER (RC-430) ELITE 430 1,950
This is an old case. But for the money it's selling for right now it's great! You can mount 120mm fans on the front and back of the case. It's got space for a couple more up on top. It's got a bottom mounting for the PSU, so cooling comes from the bottom of the case and goes straight out to the back. It's got a tool-free mechanical design to make it easy to add or removed drives. To appreciate it better, you'll need to head on over to Overclockers.com for their review of the unit.

So there you have it folks, what I would get for a budget gamig rig.

UPDATE: I got asked "what about the fragging device like mouse and keyboard? =)" . Here's what I would get:

Upgrade Itch - Zacate On My Mind

When you're the kind of person who builds your own computers, you tend to get a little itchy when new technology gets announced. You get an upgrade itch every so often. Well, I've got it again. I've had my desktop now for close to 2 years and a lot has changed in the last 18 months. One of the most glaring would be AMD's entry into the ITX market with the Fusion platform. They're desktop and notebook products with graphics integrated onto the processor itself, what AMD calls APU's, have been nicknamed Zacate.

I've been looking around at prices and I've decided to mock up a few set-ups that will possibly go into my next build. Here are the parts that I would go with on a small-footprint-energy-efficient build:

Antec ISK-100 - A true Mini-ITX case for the footprint conscious. This is trully small. It measures in at 248 mm (H) x 108 mm (W) x 212 mm (D). It's side about as wide and as high as an outstretched hand. To fit everything in, some sacrifices had to be made. It does fit 2 hard drives, but it will only take 2.5" laptop hard drives. It does not have a power supply in the traditional desktop sense either. Inside the case is a small power board that distributes power to the devices inside. What gives it power is an external AC Adapter, much more common on laptops than in desktops. The AC Adapter is only 90 watts, so that gives you an idea of how energy efficient the parts you choose should be.

Gigabyte GA-E350N-USB3 - This board has all the new goodies. It's got USB 3.0, SATA 6 GB/s ports and DDR3. The integrated graphics also support DX11. Having VGA, DVI and HDMI also give you flexibility when it comes to displays. It's built for durability too. Most Gigabyte boards these days have an extra layer of copper in the board to make them more sturdy in constant use. They also come with 'solid' capacitors that are more heat resistant and don't leak like electrolytic capacitors. All in all a great board packed with features and built to last.

4 GB (2 x 2 GB) Kingston DDR3 ValueRAM - I chose this in particular because I have been using Kingston RAM for more than 6 years now. I have never had any problems with them. Another great thing about certain  ValueRAM models is their size. The one pictured left are low-profile and if you're working with a case as tiny as the Antec ISK-100, every millimeter counts.


320 GB Seagate Momentus - I've always used Seagate, starting with the 1st computer I built. I will continue to do so, since they are the only manufacture ballsy enough to guarantee their products for 5 years. Anyway, since laptop drives are definitely more money per gigabyte of storage, I opted for the current smallest capacity. It would be more practical from cost perspective to get a small-capacity laptop drive to fit the case and a large-capacity external USB drive to store your stuff. And with USB 3.0, the file transfer speeds will not matter so much because it will be fast enough not to bore you from waiting.

2 TB WD My Book Essential (USB 3.0) Drive - When it comes to friends and external hard drives, most of mine recommend Western Digital drives. You may ask why 2 TB? My rule of thumb for hardware has always been to get a hard drive that is half of the current largest capacity. This wiggle room allows me to buy a drive and use it for at least 2 years without feeling the pinch. It has worked for me for years. 2 TB may be a little over half the current 3TB king of the hill, but with the large files these days thos extra GB's will come in handy. Especially when you decide to use your digital camera's 12 mega-pixels full on. You do need to store those memories somewhere.

LiteOn External Optical Drive - I've been using LiteOn for as long as I can remember building PC's. I've only had 1 drive die on me after 2 years, but that was because I really abused it. I would burn 15-20 DVD's for friends in a single sitting. Then again, in hindsight, with that abuse I'm surprised it lasted 2 years. Lesson learned for me. I don't abuse my drives that much anymore. But again, it's a brand I trust. And they don't cost as much as the other major brands. Oh, and a little trivia. LiteOn makes drives for Sony, so if you've got a Sony DVD drive, chances are it was made by LiteOn.