Finding a cheaper sandybridge [1155] motherboard

[MuneebAhmed]

i am building a budget gaming pc. i am looking for:

intel i5 2380p - because i don't need igp, just a good single dedicated gpu (might be radeon 7770)
ram - not more than 8 gb

i was looking for asus p8p67 pro* but it still has something which i don't need; sli/crossfire technology and overclocking. i am not going to use these two.

any recommendations for a cheaper motherboard than the above mentioned; plus recommendations for psu, hdd, and a pc-case would be great because it's my first desktop building experience.


*i also want to understand this dual x8/x8 thingy. are there new graphics card coming with pcie x8 which can be combined together for better experience or it means something else? i don't need this though, just a single gpu

 

[akxpckwb]

Well the cheapest board you can get is one using H61 chipset. Something like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138332
Those motherboards do not support overclocking nor Crossfire/SLI.
For the PSU something with 500watts from a good brand (Corsair, Antec, Seasonic, etc) will be more than enough.
Regarding the HDD these 2 seem to be good http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769 / http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148701

The x8/x8 thing means that when in crossfire/sli both GPU's will run at x8 instead of the normal x16.

 

[MuneebAhmed]

Well the cheapest board you can get is one using H61 chipset. Something like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138332
Those motherboards do not support overclocking nor Crossfire/SLI.
For the PSU something with 500watts from a good brand (Corsair, Antec, Seasonic, etc) will be more than enough.
Regarding the HDD these 2 seem to be good http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769 / http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148701

The x8/x8 thing means that when in crossfire/sli both GPU's will run at x8 instead of the normal x16.

thanks akxpckwb,

i didn't know of h61, it saved my money a lot. but you didn't mention any pc case, i want to have one with good cooling and protection against dust and debris.

secondly, how to check the hdd compatibility, is it only the size 5.25" etc? or something else too

 

[akxpckwb]

I didn't mention cases because I don't know much about them but you could check out tomshardware main page. There is an article about budget gaming cases.
HDD compatibility is not only the size but also what SATA version it uses. I THINK SATA is backwards compatible (as in a SATA 3 HDD can be connected to a SATA 2 slot) BUT I'm not exactly sure.
Also both HDD I linked are 3.5''

 

[MuneebAhmed]

Best answer selected by MuneebAhmed.

 

[nikorr]

This topic has been closed by Nikorr