This one.
My PC is on the fritz again, and I may have to just build a new one.
I’m thinking about the linked kit. If I do, I’ll build it and add in the HDDs from my dying desktop and my dead laptop. The laptop drive doesn’t need to stay, but I need some pictures and documents off of it.
I don’t game much anymore, but I would be interested in using it as a media center. I’ll need to add a video card with HDMI out to do that.
Are there any big issues with adding those drives and the video card to that kit? Will that PC do just fine for general home use?
Perfectly reasonable pile of kit, though the price isn’t very impressive. The “combo discount” is only $40, and I know that the SSD alone is at least $40 overpriced. (Actually Newegg will itself sell it to you for $110, but not if you click on the link which says $150… ) If you’re patient, and you’re willing to shop around and wait for deals, you can probably cheaper versions of most components. WAG, you can probably get that or something very similar for $350-$400, but that entails hours of research, and weeks of waiting for the right sales.
ETA:
I just bought this case for $40, the M4 and other quality SSDs routinely go on sale for $80-$100, here’s a reasonable $30 power supply, etc. That’s $60-80 in savings already…
Couple of things you want to think on:
Power supply is crap - biggest issue is that it is not 80 plus - so it will cost you $$ over the long haul vs buying a better one.
No non-stock CPU cooler - you want something like a hyper 212+ or evo.
A llano using build in graphics can be a reasonable choice, but it isn’t really very good without overclocking - build it around a $15 more chip in the A8-3870k - $100 w/promo code (AMD A8-3870K Unlocked Llano 3.0GHz Quad-Core Desktop APU with DirectX 11 Graphic AMD Radeon HD 6550D AD3870WNGXBOX - Newegg.com)
Llano is basically the one processor that does benefit quite a bit from faster memory speeds because of the integrated graphics - get yourself some 1866/1.5v memory at least, for similar cost, ie something like
Mushkin Enhanced Redline 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model 994104 - Newegg.com
(cheapest 9/9/9 1866 ram with not terribly huge heatsinks)
Make those changes and you’ll have a system that is probably nearly twice as fast at gaming (when fully overclocked) vs the one you specced out.
Edit to add, seconding the watch for deals (check slickdeals.net religiously). Right now for example, I’d be looking at the agility 4 for my SSD (http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/79640/amazon.com-128gb-ocz-agility-4-2.5-sata-iii-mlc-internal-solid-state-drive-ssd-agt425sat3128g). Not quite as good as the M4 but decent, newer tech, and half the price.