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$400 - 500 mutlimedia/light gaming i5 Intel PC

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March 16, 2012 5:43:32 PM

Hello,
I primarily use this machine to make home videos of the kids, and some xplane/flight sims, that's not to say if the machine couldn't handle it I wouldn't play a few games.
I have spousal approval so strike while the iron is hot. Purchase asap. I have a MicroCenter right by the house and would like to take advantage of the $50 off Mobo with CPU purchase. Here is what I am looking at
Intel i5 2500K is the CPU ($180)
Debating between Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 (135) and Asus P8268-V Gen3 ($129) and Asus P8268V Pro Gen3 ($150) mobos
need RAM, Case and PSU advice as well. I don't really care about what the case looks like as it will be out of sight. I have an older XFX PVT95GZAFG GeForce 9500 GT 1GB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Video Card that I will reuse unless I find a good deal.
Also, I am knocking the idea around to get a 60g SSD for the OS, but that really depends on to total build price.

I have keyboard, mouse, optical drive, HDD.
Thanks in advance.
Jason

More about : 400 500 mutlimedia light gaming intel

March 16, 2012 5:45:13 PM

at $500, you're far better scaling down a bit.

i5-2400
H61M-U3S3
8 GB RAM
500 GB HDD
and a 6790/6850
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March 16, 2012 6:05:48 PM

The price difference for the i5-2400 to the 2500k unclocked is $30...is that worth it or would I even use it? Also, I can get the Asus P8Z68-V LX for the same price as the H61M-U3S3. 3 yr warranty vs 90 days, plus I have heard the Z68 is better, but don't know if that's just fluff or not. Any brand for the 8 GB ram? Sorry for the list of questions, I haven't been in the market to build since the days of the Pentium 4....yep old school. I am replacing an old dell dimension 5100 P4 with hyperthreading, so I am sure anything will be faster. Thx
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March 16, 2012 6:07:51 PM

Oh, and I don't need any HDD as I have have a 1TB for my OS (if I don't go with SSD) and 9 TB on various drives for storage. So that will save me some money on that front.
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March 16, 2012 6:33:00 PM

The microcenter 2500K @$180 is a great deal.
It is probably more than you need.
A 2100 at $99 will do just as well They also have a 2100 bundles, so check that out.

I would plan on reusing the 9500GT which will be better than the integrated graphics.
You could always replace it if you get the fast action gaming bug.

Pick your favorite motherboard vendor, they are all good.
Lower price does not mean lower performance.
If you buy a 2500K, you will want a Z68 based motherboard so you can OC.
Otherwise any will do. You should be able to find one <$100.

The only case vendor that I would trust with a bundled psu is Antec.
The Antec NSK 4482 is a nice basic case with an included 380W earthwatts green psu. $70 after rebate. The psu is good enough for any graphics card that needs only one 6 pin pcie power connector. With the upcoming 28nm cards needing less power, there should be ample graphics update choices in the future.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Definitely try to include a SSD in the build for the os and a few apps. Everything you do will feel much quicker.A 60gb SSD should be fine. Look first to Intel 520 series, or Samsung 830 series. They have the resources to do SSD's well.
Expect to pay $1.30 per gb.

No need for expensive ram. 8gb is good, and if you are using 64 bit enabled editing apps, look at 16gb. More ram allows more work to be done in ram instead of doing ard drive i/o for work files.
This ram will do fine.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
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