Okay so I have managed to get a PC build for -£400 with Windows 8.1, now I plan to build something similar to sell to customers for cheap brand new gaming PCs.
Here is the part build list.
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/Q9nhGX
If I was to build it for customers I would charge +£50 for build /w Windows 8.1, and of course, they get to keep the disk for Windows, I had to go with 8GB 2k RAM for these reasons.
1 - Windows x64 - Better to have more than 4GB RAM, and saves me and the customers having to install it again just to upgrade to x64 later, as I don't trust PAE in Windows.
2 - Better for the APU - It has been proven, for gaming 8GB is the magic set, it adds a few FPS, and for the APU it has more RAM to utilize and has faster RAM, again giving more FPS in games, also RAM is dirt cheap.
Feel free to copy this, and if you build it, post your experiences.
For the OP's own computer that might be fine but if the OP is planning to sell PC's to customers I would advise against it.
Those keys have probably come from a volume licence agreement, so whilst valid and functional anyone using them may not actually be fully compliant with Microsoft's licence terms. This does not necessarily mean you are running a pirate copy but it can put someone selling machines with them on into a legal grey area.
This might not be the case, but as a usual rule if something seems to cheap to be true it probably is.
In the UK the OP could find himself in a small claims court if he sold a machine as fully licensed only for the new owner to be told by Microsoft they are not entitled to support because they are in breach of the licence agreement. Far safer to use OEM copies of windows as they are intended and accept a smaller profit margin on each machine sold.
the thing is, selling like this is better for marketing towards the customer anyways, they get to keep the copy of Windows, and unless they do not know how to install Windows, they don't have to return to me and be charged again for my labor.
Adding to that its safer because I have had multiple PCs upgraded from Vista to 7, all legally with codes, and people who are idiotic come to me saying they are illegal because it has a vista code on it.
That doesn't surprise me. The legalities of software licencing can be a nightmare and whilst some practices are perfectly legal Joe Blogg's won't understand; it's far easier as a sole trader not to have to deal with support nightmares trying to explain.
Imagine this, the RAM acts as an external memory buffer for the APUs graphics cores, it works the exact same way as it would if the memory was on the PCB like a dedicated GPU is, and that RAM on there is stupid fast.
Dual Channel just increases the theoretical bandwidth but nothing noticable in real world performance.
If you can, get 8GB dual channel 1866Mhz+ Memory, although you cant upgrade as easily which is why I picked single stick, you will cover both bases.
If you're looking for cheap games check G2A website https://www.g2a.com/r/stockroom. One of the best online stores. They have good prices and a large assortment.
Dual channel gives a noticeable improvement though, especially in windows. I wouldn't be concerned of customers wanting to upgrade RAM on an APU unless they use it for video editing or something.
i would personaly switch the apu out for a Athlon 860K with a dedicated gpu. will be a bit more expensive, but offcourse much better gaming experiance. Because an APU will not perform that well as an dedicated gpu. like a GTX750Ti, or a R7-260X, R9-270 (X)
you see not every one is well educated with todays pc hardware, and if you sell a pc as a "gaming" pc, then atleast make sure it can play most todays games.
other good config options could be an i3-4150 + GTX750Ti, R9-270 (x) Or a FX6300 with the a 270 (x).
All these cpu´s are similar priced atm so yeah, think about it. ☺