New computer for a friend, is this a decent build?

[By Your Leave (The Cursed Sign o]

Hey guys, wanting to build a computer for a friend of mine in a couple of months, as he's only 16 and been saving a while I'd rather it was less. BUT the word is the max budget is £600 (Which I doubt because parents and so on) I AM IN THE UK which means that Graphics card options are MORE EXPENSIVE than everywhere else, which kinda sucks.

I've done a potential build, but I was wondering what advice you guys could give me on it? I'm no master builder, but I've done a few builds in my time (For family members and so on) but just wanted to make sure everything was balanced and so on and so forth.

It's an AMD build, but If people advise me to do an Intel that will be ok.

I was thinking something like this; http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/Livingonadreamvf%40gmail.com/saved/3Sks

Bare it in mind that's not including an OS and we're aiming to be more powerful than an Xbox 1/PS4 with this kind of budget. Though I can imagine that would be tricky, please use Amazon if possible and avoid Ebuyer (Because of their couriering service) if you're adding and taking away to my list.

Really appricate the help from this.

Andy.

[Rove]

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/Rove/saved/20oQ

[By Your Leave (The Cursed Sign o]

Question, why the one ram socket as opposed to two? I thought if it was in two slots it would work better?

[Rove]

True 2 sticks might be faster than one, on the other hand 1*8GB stick leaves more room for future upgrades all the way up to 32GB instead of only having room for 24GB with 2*4GB and later another 2*8GB.

If you aren't going to 16GB in the next 3 years then go ahead and get yourself 2 sticks instead.

[By Your Leave (The Cursed Sign o]

Originalmente postado por Rove:

True 2 sticks might be faster than one, on the other hand 1*8GB stick leaves more room for future upgrades all the way up to 32GB instead of only having room for 24GB with 2*4GB and later another 2*8GB.

If you aren't going to 16GB in the next 3 years then go ahead and get yourself 2 sticks instead.

Ah ok, thanks very much. 500 sounds like a lot for him, but would dropping the PSU to something like a Corsair builders 500 be a good move? I think 500 would be too high, it IS a good build though if he can raise the funds for it and I will be putting it in his direction when I next see him!

Also, I was thinking of giving him my 6850 for now, would that do the trick? I know it's an older card however and would need an upgrade sooner rather than later.

[_I_]

budget? (currency, usd/euro/cad/peso ect..)

location?
are you near a microcenter?
http://www.microcenter.com/site/stores/default.aspx

do you need an os? (windows/steam/linux/mac)

do you need any accessories? (keyboard/mouse/monitor/speakesr/gamepad)

for a £300 budget, go with an i3 if you have a dedicategd gpu and want upgradability

[By Your Leave (The Cursed Sign o]

Originalmente postado por _I_:

budget? (currency, usd/euro/cad/peso ect..)

location?
are you near a microcenter?
http://www.microcenter.com/site/stores/default.aspx

do you need an os? (windows/steam/linux/mac)

do you need any accessories? (keyboard/mouse/monitor/speakesr/gamepad)

for a £300 budget, go with an i3 if you have a dedicategd gpu and want upgradability

So we have a 600 budget MAX, though less is better as he's 16 and about to go into College (What we have at 16+ over here)

OS we need, but I've found an OEM version of Win 7 for an additional 30+

He's got Mouse, Keyboard and a monitor already, so it's just essentially the box now.

[Rumpelcrutchskin]

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/2ZV0Z

This is cheaper version:

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/2ZVgu

[_I_]

@Rumpelcrutchskin;
those look good, could get the 2tb hdd instead, its only about £12 more for twice the storage
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st2000dm001

[By Your Leave (The Cursed Sign o]

Some PC building advice (Involves APU's and Cable management)

Sorry for the two threads but I am curious about something and thought you guys could help, as from what I have seen you know more than I do about computers and hey, I figured might be a good place to learn some things.

So I have a few questions that I'd like to have answers too.

Ok so, the situation is this. I was building a computer for someone (and not listening to my advice I may add) and they came up with these specs.

AMD 6800 APU
Gigabyte F2A55M-DS2
8GB Crucial Ballistix Ram 1600
AMD HD7770 GPU
(After the unbranded cheap PSU melted) XFX 450w PSU
CM Storm Scout case.

The cable management is dire (He did that bit after not listening to me when I said to leave it for me to do it) and I'm just wondering how much of an effect does cable managment have, sure your tempratures will be better, but by how much and what effects do other things like case and fans have on it?

As-well as he's using a dedicated GPU with an APU that strikes me as a little odd. As far as I'm aware the APU is both an intergrated graphics part and a CPU in one, so surely by adding a GPU into the mix it gets rid of the GPU part of the APU and leaves it to the CPU (Which I am assuming isn't very strong) am I right on this and is it a stupid thing to do when building a PC?

Thanks

Andy.

Edit: Also, for crossfiring setups how much difference do they make, as I've always heard it's better to go for one better GPU than going for two not as good ones.

Is that right?

[_I_]

cable management isnt as critical as it used to be
sata are much thinner than ide(pata) cables and will not block airflow

if the unbranded psu died, it may have taken components with it
look for burn marks on everything
mobo connectors, gpu connectors, drive

[By Your Leave (The Cursed Sign o]

I'll do that when I'm at his. Mainly because he seems to believe that hoovering his PC is a good idea, (He's got dust filters so dust shouldn't be an issue...) but he's really funny about me having a look inside his pc because cable management apparently takes ages and stuff. I like doing it, so it's no issue to me. It also helps with being able to get to componants too, right?

[_I_]

yes, having cables out of the way will help with troubleshooting and upgrades
easier to check fp headers and fans and bios reset jumper if needed
make sure the wires dont stop fans from spinning