- Sep 7, 2011
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Hi all
So I was asked to help with a cheap build for a friend. I came up with a few ideas on components.
CPU- The first components that came to mind were obviously CPU and GPU, And I straight away thought of the i5-2400, however looking at prices (@ http://pccasegear.com/)
i noticed that the i3-2120 is about half the price. and the g530 is even cheaper. Obviously the i3 isnt a "true" quad core, but how does it stack up against the i5's?
Also, Although the preference was Intel, how well do the new AMD cpu's run. Whats a good one to use
Mobo- Then theres a suitable motherboard to go along with the CPU (I am personally having trouble with finding one, I'm leaning towards an H67 one, simply cause I won't be over clocking, and if I go into the AMD path, I'll need help choosing as I have extremely little knowledge regarding their cpu's.
There won't be any over clocking involved, and its primary use is for gaming, however at the moment, were on a tight budget.
GPU- The graphics card I was looking at was the GTX550TI, but I'm open to the GTX560 or 560TI (and maybe the 7850), the personal preference was Nvidia. There may be SLI/Crossfire options later down the road, and 2x GTX 550TI shouldn't bottleneck the i3 (I believe)
PSU- I was looking at the OCZ ZT 650w, seems like a good price and it's bronze efficiency, so why not, however I'm on a strict budget, so if theres any ideas for a cheaper PSU, please tell
HDD- I was given a 1tb HDD for the build, but I think an SSD (for the OS) would be pretty good, although I could just cut that and stick with the HDD, SSD can always be added later down the road right?
Case- The Antec DF-35 was a preference for my friend, I think he really likes the industrial look, I personally think it looks pretty cool, but it also seems really good with features, and its quite cheap I think, about $109.
Optical drive will probably be a cheap DVD drive, shouldn't be to expensive, $20?
I'm sure I'm missing a component, but I totally forgot.
Anyway, your guidance and opinions will be very useful, thank you
So I was asked to help with a cheap build for a friend. I came up with a few ideas on components.
CPU- The first components that came to mind were obviously CPU and GPU, And I straight away thought of the i5-2400, however looking at prices (@ http://pccasegear.com/)
i noticed that the i3-2120 is about half the price. and the g530 is even cheaper. Obviously the i3 isnt a "true" quad core, but how does it stack up against the i5's?
Also, Although the preference was Intel, how well do the new AMD cpu's run. Whats a good one to use
Mobo- Then theres a suitable motherboard to go along with the CPU (I am personally having trouble with finding one, I'm leaning towards an H67 one, simply cause I won't be over clocking, and if I go into the AMD path, I'll need help choosing as I have extremely little knowledge regarding their cpu's.
There won't be any over clocking involved, and its primary use is for gaming, however at the moment, were on a tight budget.
GPU- The graphics card I was looking at was the GTX550TI, but I'm open to the GTX560 or 560TI (and maybe the 7850), the personal preference was Nvidia. There may be SLI/Crossfire options later down the road, and 2x GTX 550TI shouldn't bottleneck the i3 (I believe)
PSU- I was looking at the OCZ ZT 650w, seems like a good price and it's bronze efficiency, so why not, however I'm on a strict budget, so if theres any ideas for a cheaper PSU, please tell
HDD- I was given a 1tb HDD for the build, but I think an SSD (for the OS) would be pretty good, although I could just cut that and stick with the HDD, SSD can always be added later down the road right?
Case- The Antec DF-35 was a preference for my friend, I think he really likes the industrial look, I personally think it looks pretty cool, but it also seems really good with features, and its quite cheap I think, about $109.
Optical drive will probably be a cheap DVD drive, shouldn't be to expensive, $20?
I'm sure I'm missing a component, but I totally forgot.
Anyway, your guidance and opinions will be very useful, thank you
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