Best config with a 300W P/S for light gaming

[jlopezst20]

I'm just wondering what the best build would be using a 300W P/S is. The plan is to re-use the case (one of those Dell slim towers with a TFX power supply) and as many other parts as possible. I was thinking about a Core i3-2100, but the question is... which low-profile video card would be the best fit for such a system? The most gaming that this PC will see is going to be The Sims 3 @1920x1080 (that's the monitor's native resolution) and it will also be used for web browsing, editing documents in Office, etc.

So the components so far are...

Intel Core i3-2100
4GB (2x2GB) DDR3-1333 RAM
SeaSonic SS-300TFX Bronze 300W TFX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

the motherboard will probably be one with the H61 chipset, as I think it covers the needs for this build perfectly.

Any suggestions for the ideal low-profile video card and/or any other components for this build?

Thanks in advance.

 

[gkay09]

HD 5570 1GB DDR3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102874
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card-game-performance-radeon-hd-6670,2935-2.html

Or if you want something even more powerful - For lower resolutions, this would be better but if 1080p, then the 1GB of the 5570 might be advantageous,...
MSI R5670-PD512 Radeon HD 5670 512MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127523

Both the above cards dont need power also that Seasonic is an underrated PSU, so it will easily handle those cards fine,...

 

[aznshinobi]

Personally I'd wait. For you it seems as though going with Llano when it releases is a better idea. IMO. The chip isn't half bad and the discrete works quite well. You'll end up paying less and using less power too. For your usage Llano is defiantly good enough (web, word docs, minor gaming)
@$135 for a solid APU (or GPU) and solid CPU it's hard to pas up when you pay more for the i3 2100 + GPU

Source: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-a8-3850-llano,2975-19.html
As you can see, the APU 6550D does a solid job of running games. So, it's always an option that's cheaper.

According to Wiki, it should be released, though I think that is the Non-Disclosure agreement is up. Which is why THG released the review.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_Fusion

Others:
http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/amd_a8-3850_ga_a75m-ud2h/15.html
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2011/06/30/amd-a8-3850-review/10

Now remember, if you do go Llano, get DDR3 1600, ram speed actually does matter when it comes down to the APU/CPU.

 

[r3xx3r]

you probably will not be able to reuse the dell case. dell always makes their cases proprietary and they only work with dell motherboards.

 

[jlopezst20]

@gkay09
Thanks for your prompt answer, I actually had been looking at that exact Radeon HD 5670 for this build but will look more into the 5570 as I think it fits perfectly with this build.

@aznshinobi
Thanks for the recomendation, I just finished a build with a E-350 and it's been really good, the things is... the Core i3-2100 is a stronger CPU than the Llanos. I might experiment with one of the Llanos because the concept is quite interesting. But this build is not for me... it's for a relative and they have requested an Intel CPU

@r3xx3r
The slim tower for the Dell Inspiron 545s is NOT proprietary... it fits any Micro ATX motherboard and its motherboard fits in any Micro ATX case

 

[aznshinobi]

Ahhh I see. Well it's there choice. I think in real world application, the 2100 vs A8-3850 there will be little difference.

 

[jlopezst20]

Best answer selected by jlopezst20.