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Budget i5-2500 questions

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Greetings all:

So i originally was going to build a low end budget amd, but after doing some research I've switched gears & decided to spend a little more & build a decent gaming rig.

Approximate Purchase Date: with in a week.

Budget Range: Around $1000 before rebates.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Games, video editing/gopro camera, photography, music,

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: New Egg, tiger Direct, Amazon

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: a slight preference for asus motherboards & amd gpu.

Overclocking: Most likely not, but i've never had a computer i could oc so if i did it would be basic.

SLI or Crossfire: No, could never justify 2+ gpu'

Monitor Resolution: Plan on getting a 24-27" led

Additional Comments: Trying to keep costs down, but I also don't like to buy crap parts because you get what you pay for. Looking for best bang for your buck. I am not familiar with intel motherboards at all, up until this point i've always researched amd, but times have changed.

So here is what i have come up with so far:

CASE: Cooler master 922: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

CPU: i5 2500 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

MB: ASUS P8Z68 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
asrock http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

GPU: xfx Radeon HD 6950 2GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

PSU: Corsair http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
Seems a little pricey, anything else thats reliable & how much juice do i actually need?

HD: Seagate http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
Should i just get something cheaper until prices & product go back to normal?

RAM: No idea, should i go 8 or just 4 & grab more in a few months when i grab a led?

Am I missing anything besides thermal compound & Windows 7?

thanks

E

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LordSoth said:
Greetings all:

So i originally was going to build a low end budget amd, but after doing some research I've switched gears & decided to spend a little more & build a decent gaming rig.

Approximate Purchase Date: with in a week.

Budget Range: Around $1000 before rebates.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Games, video editing/gopro camera, photography, music,

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: New Egg, tiger Direct, Amazon

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: a slight preference for asus motherboards & amd gpu.

Overclocking: Most likely not, but i've never had a computer i could oc so if i did it would be basic.

SLI or Crossfire: No, could never justify 2+ gpu'

Monitor Resolution: Plan on getting a 24-27" led

Additional Comments: Trying to keep costs down, but I also don't like to buy crap parts because you get what you pay for. Looking for best bang for your buck. I am not familiar with intel motherboards at all, up until this point i've always researched amd, but times have changed.

So here is what i have come up with so far:

CASE: Cooler master 922: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

CPU: i5 2500 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

MB: ASUS P8Z68 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
asrock http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

GPU: xfx Radeon HD 6950 2GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

PSU: Corsair http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
Seems a little pricey, anything else thats reliable & how much juice do i actually need?

HD: Seagate http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
Should i just get something cheaper until prices & product go back to normal?

RAM: No idea, should i go 8 or just 4 & grab more in a few months when i grab a led?

Am I missing anything besides thermal compound & Windows 7?

thanks

E


Go for 8gb of ram, probably a bit more than you'll ever need, but as cheap as it is right now, no point in not getting it. As for the hard drive, I'd get a small one(500g or so), and maybe get a small SSD as well(If you can fit it into your budget). Good SSD's would be the Crucial M4 line or Corsair Force Series 3. Stay away from OCZ SSD's.

Here is GSkill 8g ram and 2500k combofor 265 bucks, it's a good deal.

For power supplies, here's one that's on sale right now, very good PSU for 99 bucks Antec HCG 750w

As for the Hard drive, this is a link to some combos that include the 500g Seagate Barracuda 7200 rpm. There are quite a few that include cases, might check it out and see if you can save some money there, though the case you listed isn't included in a combo.
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1) I would bite the $20 bullet and get the unlocked version of the i5-2500 (i5-2500k) -- you'll be able to overclock quite easily.
2) There's no reason for you to get a 2GB version of the 6950 -- with a single display you'll never feel any real benefit from that second gig.
3) The HX-650 is good, but expensive as you say. A substantially cheaper (but still good) non-modular option would be something like an Antec NEO ECO 620W. Any high-quality PSU in the 550W-650W range should be sufficient for your needs.
4) On the mobo front, both the ASUS board and the ASRock Extreme3 Gen3 you have picked out are good choices.
5) Get 8GB of RAM, either DDR3-1333 or DDR3-1600. Just make sure it's a 1.5v kit and not 1.65v. RAM is so cheap right now that there's no reason not to get 8 gigs.
6) If you can get away with it, pick up a 128GB SATA III SSD (Crucial M4 or similar) and wait to get an HDD until prices settle down. If you can't wait, it's not a big deal, but just be aware that prices are currently at around 200% normal.

ultimabeam said:
1) I would bite the $20 bullet and get the unlocked version of the i5-2500 (i5-2500k) -- you'll be able to overclock quite easily..


I second this. for only 20 bucks, even if you arent going to use the overclocking features, the better onboard video makes it worth it, if your vid card ever goes bad or you have to troubleshoot things
ultimabeam said:
2) There's no reason for you to get a 2GB version of the 6950 -- with a single display you'll never feel any real benefit from that second gig.

Not sure if it's still true, but there were some 6950 2gb's that you could flash the bios to the 6970, which would make it worth it

ultimabeam said:
3) The HX-650 is good, but expensive as you say. A substantially cheaper (but still good) non-modular option would be something like an Antec NEO ECO 620W. Any high-quality PSU in the 550W-650W range should be sufficient for your needs.

This would be a good PSU as well, but doesn't come with a power cord, so if you order it, make sure and get one.

ultimabeam said:
4) On the mobo front, both the ASUS board and the ASRock Extreme3 Gen3 you have picked out are good choices.

Very true, and if you have a choice between the 2, go with the Asus(Asrock is basically a lower quality version of Asus)
ultimabeam said:
5) Get 8GB of RAM, either DDR3-1333 or DDR3-1600. Just make sure it's a 1.5v kit and not 1.65v. RAM is so cheap right now that there's no reason not to get 8 gigs.

This is very important as well, the SB processors are designed to work with 1.5v ram, and if you use something more than .05v higher than that, you technically void your warranty. The ram that's included in the combo I listed is 1.5v.
ultimabeam said:
6) If you can get away with it, pick up a 128GB SATA III SSD (Crucial M4 or similar) and wait to get an HDD until prices settle down. If you can't wait, it's not a big deal, but just be aware that prices are currently at around 200% normal.


Personally I would go with a 64g SSD and a 500g hard drive over a 128g SSD(would be about the same price). It won't take long at all to fill up 128g, and with a 64 you can put your OS and a game or 2 on the drive. Alternatively, you could also use the SRT option on the motherboard, this basically creates a semi-hybrid drive by raiding the ssd and hard drive together. It's a great improvement over just a mechanical HDD, though not as fast as having the SSD as a boot/game drive.


Edit: The SRT option is only going to be available on a z68 board.

You guys rock!
Thanks for all the advice once again!
I'm partial to Asus anyway so it looks like I'll go that route.

Still deciding on the 2500k though.
Not sure if I should just go the 2400 & see what the Ivy bridge comes out with the next year or so. Although with the combo deal it puts it at the same price as the 2500.

On the ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68
it has 2 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots
compered to the ASUS P8Z68-V LX LGA 1155 Intel Z68
which has 2.0
Is the 3.0 something I should be looking for?
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