Advice for barebone system

[dy2k]

I want the best bang for the buck to build up to date rig.


Approximate Purchase Date: This month or the next one

Budget Range: $500

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming

Parts Not Required: Hard drive

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Any that is cheap and good

Country: New York, USA

Parts Preferences: Intel I5 2500k or AMD equivalent but is cheaper

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: No

Monitor Resolution: 1024x768

Additional Comments: I will need a case, power supplier, mobo, ram and either air or water cooling for the cpu.

I was thinking maybe I would wait for the Ivy bridge processor to come out to get the I5 2500k cheaper or getting and AMD alternative cheaper but on par. And buy everything in separate bundles excluding the hard drive and maybe use my old video card for the resolution I am using currently (Ati HD 5750)

 

[ScrewySqrl]

for $500, assuming you have teh HDD, Windows, and use your 5750, you should be able to go with this:

i5-2500K: $225
AS Rock Z68 Pro Gen 3: $110 (ready for PCIe3.0 cards, just only 1 so no crossfire)
Patriot 8 GB DDR3-1600: $35
Corsair CX 500 PSU: $60
DVD Burner: $16
Rosewill Blackbone case: $40

$486 plus shipping.

 

[bliq]

I just put together a build like this for my boss.

There are a couple Microcenters in the New York area. If you are near enough to one, they sell Z68/i5-2500K bundles for as low as $279. If you don't care about Z68, there are other, cheaper options. You could also pick up 8GB of HyperX RAM for $30. it's 1333 but I guess it depends if you plan to overclock or not. all the other stuff is fine, and can also be bought at microcenter for about the same prices. So compared to Sqrl's build, it probably saves you a little money. no shipping but you pay tax.

another alternative if you don't have a sata 3 hard drive is to do an i3-2100/H61 build for now and use the savings to pick up a much better video card. If my calculations are correct, you could buy that combo for about $100 after bundle savings and about $10 in rebates at MC (there's one down the street from my office so I check them often). add 8GB for $30. and everthing else equal, you come out to $245, leaving you more than $250 to choose a video card. This might be a good choice for a gaming system where you might not necessarily need 4 physical cores. (the i3 i think has hyperthreading so OS will see 4 cores though)

 

[dy2k]

Thanks anonymous1 will keep that in mind. And ScrewySqrl that was about the same list of hardware I was thinking of.
Bliq I will check out micro center they seem to have fair prices. I would rather go for the I5-2500k just to have overclocking if I ever need it for future games. But would you guys recommend me waiting for prices to drop on the I5-2500k or just go for it?

 

[ScrewySqrl]

just go for it, given intel's two previous generations, they won't drop prices.

only reason to wait is for ivy bridge

 

[dy2k]

Best answer selected by dy2k.

 

[dy2k]

Thank you ScrewySqrl ^^