I3/i5 / z77ud3 / 6850 budget build

[acheronn]

To begin I am from Australia. So my store choice and prices vary.

I use www.umart.com.au

My build:

Memory:

G Skill 8G(2x4G) DDR3 1600Mhz PC12800 RL 9-9-9-24(CL9D-8GBRL) $59

Mainboard:

Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H $189

CPU:

Intel Core i5 2500K Processor LGA1155 3.3GHz CPU $229
Intel Core i3 2120 3.30Ghz 3MB Cache LGA1155 CPU $125

Graphics Card:

Sapphire HD6850 1G GDDR5 PCIE HDMI DP $159

My thoughts at the moment are on the CPU choice. For games like WOW, BF3, Quake. Will the i3 cut it? Because it is so much cheaper than the i5. And also the mobo choice. If I get the i3 do I need the UD3? Should I go for z77?
The GPU I can't seem to find a cheaper price in Australia. The 7850 are all around the $260 mark. So the 6850 looks like good value to me.

All suggestions and thoughts appreciated!

 

[chulex67]

Mmm For the games u Want to Play I would get an I5 2400 and the 6850 is Still a good value, even more if u can get an 6870 or even the 6950 at 210.

 

[super-smashman]

Well the cool features for Z77 are only accessible with an Ivy Bridge chip which is really above your budget for right now. An i3 will do just fine for games like WoW but you will definitely see smoother gameplay with a faster CPU in more recent games especially if you get a quad-core cpu. The i5 2500K has been so popular for so long because it can feed just about any graphics cards whatever it needs in any game under normal circumstances. It would be a good choice if you plan on upgrading your graphics card in the future or getting a second.

An i3 w/ Hyperthreading and a Radeon 6850 are a good fit though.

 

[acheronn]

Thanks for the suggestions. As I suspected the i5 will be the way to go.

Intel Core i5 2500K Processor LGA1155 3.3GHz CPU $229 (overclock)
Intel Core i5 2400 Processor LGA1155 3.1GHz CPU $195

What mobo would be best for each of these CPU options?

 

[acheronn]

Well the cool features for Z77 are only accessible with an Ivy Bridge chip which is really above your budget for right now. An i3 will do just fine for games like WoW but you will definitely see smoother gameplay with a faster CPU in more recent games especially if you get a quad-core cpu. The i5 2500K has been so popular for so long because it can feed just about any graphics cards whatever it needs in any game under normal circumstances. It would be a good choice if you plan on upgrading your graphics card in the future or getting a second.

An i3 w/ Hyperthreading and a Radeon 6850 are a good fit though.

Thanks for the suggestions. As I suspected the i5 will be the way to go.

Intel Core i5 2500K Processor LGA1155 3.3GHz CPU $229 (overclock)
Intel Core i5 2400 Processor LGA1155 3.1GHz CPU $195

What mobo would be best for each of these CPU options?

 

[boiler1990]

The i3 will actually game very well, and won't bottleneck a mid-high range GPU like the 78XX series. My 560Ti is actually the limiting component in my build, since games are GPU (not CPU) intensive.

If you went with the i3, you could get better performance via a better GPU. I also wouldn't bother with Z77 unless you are looking to upgrade to Ivy Bridge very soon; even P67/Z68 boards can support Ivy Bridge CPUs if the manufacturer provides an appropriate BIOS update (like mine).

 

[chulex67]

What mobo? Well A Z68 if u get the 2500k and a H77 if u get the 2400.