- May 26, 2013
- 1,496
- 0
- 11,660
Hey again guys,
Sorry to be a pain. I've updated my Intel build, which is now completely different to one that I posted a week or so ago.
I've had to make quite a few changes because of budget issues, and other factors.
CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor (£91.57 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H40 Liquid CPU Cooler (Purchased For £34.98)
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G43 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£70.79 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£52.99 @ Dabs)
Storage: Sandisk 64GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£43.77 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda Green 1.5TB 3.5" 5900RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card (£152.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: NZXT H2 Classic Silent (White) ATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased For £70.00)
Power Supply: Corsair Gaming 600W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply (Purchased For £64.00)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB DVD/CD Writer (Purchased For £14.99)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£68.35 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £664.42
So this is my new build. I'll be using it for casual gaming and work, as I'm building this for University. As such, I won't be doing any hardcore gaming, because I simply won't have the time.
I've also had to take into account efficiency of the system, as I'll be paying for the electricity bills, and as you may know, we students do not have a lot of money nowadays. This is why I've chosen the 3220 (if you were wondering), as the TDP is low. I didn't want to compromise it's performance with a T variant, however.
I know that a 3220 isn't perfect for gaming, but it's better than my current X4 640, and I've read benchmarks where it (the i3) can outperform an FX 4100, whilst using less than half of the power consumed by the FX 4100. This is pretty attractive to me.
As for the PSU, I've decided against a TX650M, as I was advised that Modular PSUs aren't as efficient (if I recall correctly), and experience increased resistance compared to "regular" PSUs. As such, I've chosen the Corsair GS600, as it appears to be of good quality, and isn't modular. Additonally, my overall system TDP is estimated to be around ~300W on PC Part Picker, so I saved some money by "downgrading" to the GS600 (Approx £20 saved), whilst being able to "future-proof" to a certain degree.
Basically, I'm just wondering if this is a decent computer. This is my first Intel build (although I've built many AMD-based PCs), and I thought I'd try out some entry-level water-cooling, just for the fun of it (young and reckless
).
When I come into some more money, I will most likely upgrade to an i5 3570k.
Sorry that this is an enormously long read - I wanted to cover as many topics as possible.
If you have any further questions, please ask!
Thanks in advance!
EDIT: Just to point out, the HDD is the only component on this list that I actually have. The other ones that say "Purchased for £x" are simply where I've manually entered their price.
EDIT 2: The SSD I've included is optional, which I will or won't purchase based on how much money I'll actually recieve through working over the holidays (I calculated to earn approx ~£900 in total, but there are other things that I need to purchase besides a PC). The SSD would be used to store the OS, Microsoft Office and Adobe CS6 - nothing else.
EDIT 3: Does anyone know if there will be a Desktop Haswell i3, and if so, would it be worth getting over an Ivy i3? Obviously it will be more power-efficient, but I don't know if it'll be worth the premium - depending on how large this premium will be. I can't find a definitive answer on Google of whether there will be Haswell i3s - some people seem to think that Intel will forgo Haswell i3s in regards of desktop PCs.
EDIT 4: I've chosen a Z77 motherboard in anticipation of purchasing a 3570k in the future. The 3220 can't be overclocked and so you would (correctly) inform me that it is illogical to purchase a Z77, had I not included this information.
Sorry to be a pain. I've updated my Intel build, which is now completely different to one that I posted a week or so ago.
I've had to make quite a few changes because of budget issues, and other factors.
CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor (£91.57 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H40 Liquid CPU Cooler (Purchased For £34.98)
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G43 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£70.79 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£52.99 @ Dabs)
Storage: Sandisk 64GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£43.77 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda Green 1.5TB 3.5" 5900RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card (£152.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: NZXT H2 Classic Silent (White) ATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased For £70.00)
Power Supply: Corsair Gaming 600W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply (Purchased For £64.00)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB DVD/CD Writer (Purchased For £14.99)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£68.35 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £664.42
So this is my new build. I'll be using it for casual gaming and work, as I'm building this for University. As such, I won't be doing any hardcore gaming, because I simply won't have the time.
I've also had to take into account efficiency of the system, as I'll be paying for the electricity bills, and as you may know, we students do not have a lot of money nowadays. This is why I've chosen the 3220 (if you were wondering), as the TDP is low. I didn't want to compromise it's performance with a T variant, however.
I know that a 3220 isn't perfect for gaming, but it's better than my current X4 640, and I've read benchmarks where it (the i3) can outperform an FX 4100, whilst using less than half of the power consumed by the FX 4100. This is pretty attractive to me.
As for the PSU, I've decided against a TX650M, as I was advised that Modular PSUs aren't as efficient (if I recall correctly), and experience increased resistance compared to "regular" PSUs. As such, I've chosen the Corsair GS600, as it appears to be of good quality, and isn't modular. Additonally, my overall system TDP is estimated to be around ~300W on PC Part Picker, so I saved some money by "downgrading" to the GS600 (Approx £20 saved), whilst being able to "future-proof" to a certain degree.
Basically, I'm just wondering if this is a decent computer. This is my first Intel build (although I've built many AMD-based PCs), and I thought I'd try out some entry-level water-cooling, just for the fun of it (young and reckless
).When I come into some more money, I will most likely upgrade to an i5 3570k.
Sorry that this is an enormously long read - I wanted to cover as many topics as possible.
If you have any further questions, please ask!
Thanks in advance!
EDIT: Just to point out, the HDD is the only component on this list that I actually have. The other ones that say "Purchased for £x" are simply where I've manually entered their price.
EDIT 2: The SSD I've included is optional, which I will or won't purchase based on how much money I'll actually recieve through working over the holidays (I calculated to earn approx ~£900 in total, but there are other things that I need to purchase besides a PC). The SSD would be used to store the OS, Microsoft Office and Adobe CS6 - nothing else.
EDIT 3: Does anyone know if there will be a Desktop Haswell i3, and if so, would it be worth getting over an Ivy i3? Obviously it will be more power-efficient, but I don't know if it'll be worth the premium - depending on how large this premium will be. I can't find a definitive answer on Google of whether there will be Haswell i3s - some people seem to think that Intel will forgo Haswell i3s in regards of desktop PCs.
EDIT 4: I've chosen a Z77 motherboard in anticipation of purchasing a 3570k in the future. The 3220 can't be overclocked and so you would (correctly) inform me that it is illogical to purchase a Z77, had I not included this information.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram