Quote Originally Posted by Jun aka Pekto View Post
I just assembled an AMD A-series PC for my youngest kid:

A10-7850K 3.7 Ghz quadcore APU
Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-H motherboard
8 Gb DDR3-2133
1 Tb Western Digital Blue SATA hard drive
550w Thermaltake PSU 80 Plus Bronze
ASUS DVD-Writer

Two things to consider with my choices:

I went with Western Digital (WD) hard drives because I've had great experience with them. I started tracking my hard drive usage in 2000 and WD lasted the longest with one (2.5" IDE) dying in 9 years, another (3.5" IDE) in 13 years. Both of them died last year. The rest are still working to this day. That said, I have a number of Seagates because they're much cheaper. But, I expect them to have a shorter lifespan than WD hard drives.

Another thing to consider is the RAM type. An AMD APU will use system RAM as its VRAM. So, for me, it's best to get the fastest DDR3 RAM I can put in. Googling around, there is a 20% difference in gaming performance when using DDR3 2133 versus DDR3 1600.

My kid likes her Minecraft with mods. So, it made sense to have the faster RAM. For general computer use and lighter gaming, DDR3 1600 is fine.

It's hard to quantify if that PC is worth it because shop owners have to make a profit as well. To me, the price seems fair.
I'm also building one to replace the one I use for download. I need a small footprint and a descent speed so I have the following:

1. Gigabyte F2A88XN-WIFI mini ITX MB
2. Delta M300W SFX PSU
3. G Skill Sniper 4Gx2 DDR3 2400
4. Silverstone ML05 mini ITX case
5. 128 GB Patriot SSD
6. Still waiting for AMD A10-7870K APU