So, my old TV fell off my dresser and the power supply is shot. So I've been using a super old 36" that's perfectly fine, I mean I don't really use it for anything besides Netflix and I'm not really that picky about resolution. What I want, is something so I can stop relying on my 10,000 degrees xbox for Netflix. Plus, I plan on replacing the Tv sometime. I was going to get a smart TV, but I think it'd be nice having a PC to just carry around willy nilly to my friends houses and whatnot to play some small time games. Plus I don't really wanna pay for a smart TV, and once I get a job I'll have money to upgrade it and whatnot which I couldn't do. My friends could also play with me when they come over and log into their steam.
I just want cheap, and small. I've got tons of things in mind and definite budget. So just toss some builds at me. It doesn't have to be like a barebones system or anything, but I don't want a huge power consumption. I also don't want it to be an all powerful PC. Just good for running a little more intensive games on medium 1080p, and indie games. Like a 650ti is a bit overkill.
Any gaming on this thing'll be done on an Xbox controller.
I could also play some indie games on it with my Mom, ever since she got an iPhone she's been super into indie games on the PC which is awesome to me! But she's never actually owned a computer before and I figure this'd be fine.
This would be highest end: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/IXeu . Most likely I'll be running Ubuntu on it. It'll be used for watching some Live streams, Netflix, and Indie/3rd Person/Valve games..anything good with a controller and I guess some mouse and keyboard playing will work. I'm considering on getting one of those couchmaster things for if I were to decide to play some mouse and keyboard games. Rather than the SSD I probably would go for a caviar blue or green, it's just a possibility. I doubt I'd end up with the SSD though haha. Especially considering this thing will rarely ever be booted, won't play any games that really need to download alot for each game, etc.
Here's the lowest end: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/IWXL All honesty, Idgaf how long this takes for saving since it's more of an extra thing than something I really need. BUT I don't wanna spend alot for no reason. I mean, whichever would be a better option is cool. I kinda favor the A10 build, but idk. It honestly doesn't matter to me. This is more of a project thing. I wanna play newer titles on it using a controller though. Which is why I like the 650Ti build a bit more.
Small form factor itx build = intel build. You said it needs to be cheap, this i3 is good, has 4 threads. Also grabbed a radeon card over nvidia, the 7770 is actually pretty good.
Watch some of Linus's recent video card benchmark videos (he tests it with a 3960x, so minus a frames from his result, but they'll still be @ playable frames)
I chose a non-modular PSU because (if I remember correctly) Logan did a review on the node 304 and said a non-modular is better if your video card is a bit long and won't fit against the bulky cable interface of a modular PSU.
I like the 7770, I just assumed the nvidia would be alot more efficient. But I guess not. And the i3 is indeed good for this haha. Only cpu I'd get besides an APU for it. My reasoning for not picking the node is because I feel like it may not fit inside a backpack or whatever the situation be. I want this thing to be nearly Xbox sized. I also would rather have a quieter/cooler hard drive like the Caviar blue/Green. I think a modular PSU would be fine for this, reason being is that he cards being used are tiny.