Intel core i5 pc for 700$

[sudipbond]

Hello, I want to buy a core I5 PC... but my budget is tight... 700$.. can anybody help me out wid the configuration!!???

 

[AMW1011]

Ok:

a) are you building it yourself?

b) what is it for and what do you plan to do?

c) Why must it be the Core i5 series, and which one?

 

[RetiredChief]

A couple of questions answered may help others to provide info.
(1) what is the indended purpose/use of this computer. ie mainly internet/email vs video encoding vs gaming ( which games and at what resolution.

(2) Location, ie where would you be getting your parts from. ie Newegg/tiger direct/zippyzoom, vs locally, do you live close to a microcenter.

Added: a day late and a dollar short, as AMW1011 beat me to the punch.

 

[AMW1011]

I happens.

Though I did forget to ask about his location.

 

[jvollrath]

Hey mate,
I just helped out my girlfriend's mom by building her a computer through ewiz.com. I was searching through newegg and such to figure out the best combination of parts for the cheapest amount (she wanted it around $500, the total with shipping ended up being $570) since I figured building it myself would be cheapest, but it turned out ewiz's PC Building was cheaper, and it saved me the hassle of organizing the wires. Here are the specs I ended up with:

1 Raidmax Ares ATX-801WBP 450W w/Window ATX Mid Tower Case (Black) CA-R801WBP
1 Intel Core i5 Processor i5-750 2.66GHz 8MB LGA1156 CPU, Retail I5-750BOX
1 ECS H55H-M (V1.0) Socket 1156/ Intel H55/ DDR3/ V&A&GbE/ MATX Motherboard MB-H55H-M
1 Super Talent DDR3-1600 4GB (2x2GB) CL9 Dual Channel Memory Kit W1600UX4G9
1 Sapphire ATI Radeon HD4350 512MB DDR2 DVI/HDMI PCI-Express Video Card, Retail AT-435HDMI
1 Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB SATA2 7200rpm 16MB Hard Drive HD-W50AAKS
1 Thermaltake W0093RU Silent Purepower TR2 500W PFC Power Supply (Black) PS-W0093
1 Lite-On IHDS118-04 18X SATA DVD-ROM (Black), Bulk IHDS118-04

Sub Total $518.24
Promotion Savings [CUPID14] -$15.00
Tax $0.00
Shipping $75.27
Total $578.51

With your higher budget, you can definitely go for a better video card, and some other component you wish to upgrade.

Here's the link for the Core i5/i7 builder: https://www.ewiz.com/system_conf.php?preid=67

A few notes: I'm having some problems due to (I'm guessing) temperature problems. The stock hs&f is garbage. I don't know if the ewiz guys sucked it up applying the heatsink, or whether I just have bad luck, but prime95 has my i5-750 reaching 82 C. As such, I'm suffering from random restarts.

I would suggest getting at least the Gigabyte H55M. When I ordered, they had the ECS H55H available and it was $10-15 cheaper, so I went with it. However, looking back over, the features the gigabyte delivers are a lot better (hdmi, digital audio, etc). Also, the ECS audio controller is being funky when I have the front-case audio jacks plugged in... just stay away from the ECS, it's not worth it.

That's my two cents. Hope it helps!