I5-3350p gaming build? Help needed!

[funyunwolf]

Hey guys I'm trying to throw together a quick and simple build for a friend of mine, I'm looking to buy him an i5 and from what I can tell the i5-3350p seems to be sufficient for his needs. The most this build will have to do is run games like WoW, Sims 3, and games to that like on high settings. (Which the GPU I have for him should do just fine, just worried about the processor choice.)

The budget I'm trying to work with is $400, here is what I've thrown together so far, I am new to this whole computer building stuff but from what I've picked I would assume it all fits together proper. But suggestions and or help is tremendously appreciated!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116782 ($189: The i5-3350p processor) It seems to be solid enough for what the above specified was, if anyone has experience with this processor your feedback would be awesome!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157315 ($44: ASRock H61 motherboard) I'm pretty sure this motherboard will be sufficent, from what I gather it's compatible with the CPU and the HD 5770 card that will be used in this rig.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314 ($39: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3) It's on sale at the moment and probably something similar will be at later this month if anything. It's 240-pin and the above motherboard is compatabile with it from what I read, not to mention my friend is adamant about 8 gigs of RAM, which is understandable.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204 ($19: ASUS 24X DVD Burner) Simple optical drive.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769 ($69: Western Digital 500g hard drive)

The other two components are from my old build: A 450w power supply and a Radeon HD 5770 the case is yet to be decided.

So what do you guys think? Is it solid enough? Am I missing something? I'm kinda stumped but so far I think I've hit the mark.

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

That CPU is incompatible with that H61 board (without a BIOS update). You'll need a Sandy Bridge CPU or a H77/B75 board (one or the other).

 

[funyunwolf]

That CPU is incompatible with that H61 board (without a BIOS update). You'll need a Sandy Bridge CPU or a H77/B75 board (one or the other).

Oh, well thank you for pointing that out I had no idea!
Can you recommend any budget motherboards that WOULD be compatible with that processor? And what is your opinion on that processor by the way? Is it solid enough for gaming?

 

[jrau]

That seems like a whole lot of cpu for a 5770 GPU and minimal expectations. What if you went with a i3-3xxx or even a Pentium G2xxx at a lower cost? A Gigabyte H77 or B77 board and the savings could go to a 120GB SSD if you want to get faster boot times or maybe put the primary game on the SSD too.

 

[funyunwolf]

That seems like a whole lot of cpu for a 5770 GPU and minimal expectations. What if you went with a i3-3xxx or even a Pentium G2xxx at a lower cost? A Gigabyte H77 or B77 board and the savings could go to a 120GB SSD if you want to get faster boot times or maybe put the primary game on the SSD too.

Well he was okay with an i3 I just wasn't sure if it was good enough! Do you have any recommendations on an i3 something or another? Also he insisted on the 500 gig drive over the SSD.

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

That seems like a whole lot of cpu for a 5770 GPU and minimal expectations. What if you went with a i3-3xxx or even a Pentium G2xxx at a lower cost?

I tend to agree with that. The i5 is great, but he won't really need an i5.

Here's a decent B75 board: ASRock B75M LGA 1155 Intel B75 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard $64.99

And an i3: Intel Core i3-3220 Ivy Bridge 3.3GHz LGA 1155 55W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 BX80637i33220 $129.99

Although, with the savings getting the i3, I would get a better board (like a Z77). Something like this: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $134.99

With the i3 and the Z77 board, the total is $393.

 

[InvalidError]

With the i3 and the Z77 board, the total is $393.

Since z77's only major feature is overclocking and i3 is non-overclockable, it makes very little sense to pair z77 with i3. h77 would be a much better fit for non-OCable CPUs.

 

[DarkSable]

If he plays wow, then he should know something? Loading screens virtually disappear with a game like that installed on an SSD - It's by far worth it to go with the cheaper processor, since it'll still be plenty for that card, and put in a 90 gig SSD for boot and WoW.9

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

Since z77's only major feature is overclocking and i3 is non-overclockable, it makes very little sense to pair z77 with i3. h77 would be a much better fit for non-OCable CPUs.

True, but I want to leave the option of an upgrade open, just in case, since it still stays within the budget. No real reason not to.

 

[InvalidError]

True, but I want to leave the option of an upgrade open, just in case, since it still stays within the budget. No real reason not to.

Haswell is 6-8 months away. Not much point in leaving upgrade options open when a complete platform upgrade is so close.

Also, if going with i5 is in the cards, it would make a lot more sense to buy the $200 i5 up-front than buying a $120 i3 now and a $180 i5 later. You avoid ending up with a $120 i3 paperweight and save $60 in the process. The h77 board can still be upgraded all the way to i7-3770, just without overclocking.

At this point, I would much prefer spending the $30 difference between z77 and h77 on something else or setting the $30 aside for the next platform upgrade than on "futureproofing" features that are unlikely to ever get used if OP goes with any non-K CPU for the initial build. The platform will likely be too obsolete to be worth upgrading by the time he needs to upgrade.

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

Most people like to keep their options open, regardless of whether or not it makes sense, but I basically agree with you.

I'm slightly worried about the i5 3350p, in particular, though. It's brand new and all the boards that I checked need the absolute latest BIOS to support it. That could definitely be a problem if the board the OP gets is old stock (of course, the same can be said for the i3 3220, too, although it only requires a slightly older BIOS).

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been moved from the section CPU & Components to section Systems by Mousemonkey

 

[InvalidError]

I'm slightly worried about the i5 3350p, in particular, though. It's brand new and all the boards that I checked need the absolute latest BIOS to support it.

That's good to know and not much of a surprise.

I was starting to itch for a temporary build using a G2120 or i3-3220/3225 while waiting for Haswell to come out and prices to stabilize, guess I'll wait a while longer for old stock to shift out. This will (eventually) end up in living room PC rebuild and replace my venerable 13 years old P3-1066.

 

[funyunwolf]

True, but I want to leave the option of an upgrade open, just in case, since it still stays within the budget. No real reason not to.

Hey thanks everyone for all the replies and suggestions! Sorry it took so long to reply but I was at work all day. I will pass along these ideas to my friend and see what he thinks, but in general I think the i3 posted will end up being more than sufficient. And with all the other components I posted plus a computer case that should fill the necessary parts to making a working PC right?

Also as a quick side note, is the i5 2500k better than say an old first gen i7 820? I was considering doing that if it was and just give him what I got now. But with haswell so close I think I'm going to wait on upgrading my rig as for everything I play it goes Max without any issue.

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

Also as a quick side note, is the i5 2500k better than say an old first gen i7 820? I was considering doing that if it was and just give him what I got now. But with haswell so close I think I'm going to wait on upgrading my rig as for everything I play it goes Max without any issue.

The 2500K is better at nearly everything, yes. Also, I assume you mean i7 920.

A comparison: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/47?vs=288

The only things the 920 beats the 2500K in are highly threaded apps, and even then, not by much.

 

[funyunwolf]

The 2500K is better at nearly everything, yes. Also, I assume you mean i7 920.

A comparison: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/47?vs=288

The only things the 920 beats the 2500K in are highly threaded apps, and even then, not by much.

Yeah from what I read I was getting a strong impression that the i5 2500k was better. As much as the upgrade itch is tearing at me I'm probably going to wait until Christmas and get something like a new gen i7 or maybe even a haswell version. (I recently upgraded my personal rig to a GTX 670 ) At least around Christmas time there should be some solid sales.

The only thing for my personal rig I am leery about is I am an avid chess player and as logic would hold, the faster the cpu the stronger my chess program runs. (I use Houdini version 1.5 which can utilize literally 95% of my cpu) So I can't imagine the i5 2500k would be a huge jump on that platform right?

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

The only thing for my personal rig I am leery about is I am an avid chess player and as logic would hold, the faster the cpu the stronger my chess program runs. (I use Houdini version 1.5 which can utilize literally 95% of my cpu) So I can't imagine the i5 2500k would be a huge jump on that platform right?

I honestly have no idea. The 2500K would be better, but by how much? No clue.

I think you're on the right track, though, by waiting until Haswell. That's what I would do.

 

[funyunwolf]

I honestly have no idea. The 2500K would be better, but by how much? No clue.

I think you're on the right track, though, by waiting until Haswell. That's what I would do.

Any speculations as to how much the new Haswel cpus will cost? I'm guessing easily $400 and up for the enthusiast aimed ones?

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

Any speculations as to how much the new Haswel cpus will cost? I'm guessing easily $400 and up for the enthusiast aimed ones?

I would guess along the lines of SB and IB CPU's. I don't see a HUGE price increase coming. So, basically around the same as Ivy CPU's.

The way it is now, it'll be the "Extreme" CPU's that are exorbitantly priced, and there won't be any IB-E's for a while yet (after Haswell is released, if ever).

 

[bigshootr8]

You would spend more getting the next gen processors more likely then not and after ivy bridge I'm pretty sure they are changing sockets. SO there could be other things that change to you may run into ddr4 at some point and among other things that could go down the pipe.

If you can manage to get a 2500 you could stick with your current board you have selected. Which honestly that is a awesome deal for a mobo. Bare in mind unless he plans to overclock he can skip buying a K sku.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115073

Its a little more then the i5 you have there but its probably more suited for your needs.

In the end he could get a new graphics card when he wants one a 6850 would be a good economical choice. I haven't really read to many reviews on the series other than it does really well against Nvidia at the moment. Here is one I found for 139.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150515

 

[funyunwolf]

I would guess along the lines of SB and IB CPU's. I don't see a HUGE price increase coming. So, basically around the same as Ivy CPU's.

The way it is now, it'll be the "Extreme" CPU's that are exorbitantly priced, and there won't be any IB-E's for a while yet (after Haswell is released, if ever).

Well once again thanks for all the help again man, it's been extremely useful, if not necessary! Computer upgrading is such a confusing thing for me, I spent DAYS contemplating a 660ti or a 670. Some of the threads I've read on other websites suggest that the highest end extreme edition i7's will be turds when the new consoles come out, which I find hard to believe.

 

[funyunwolf]

You would spend more getting the next gen processors more likely then not and after ivy bridge I'm pretty sure they are changing sockets. SO there could be other things that change to you may run into ddr4 at some point and among other things that could go down the pipe.

If you can manage to get a 2500 you could stick with your current board you have selected. Which honestly that is a awesome deal for a mobo. Bare in mind unless he plans to overclock he can skip buying a K sku.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115073

Its a little more then the i5 you have there but its probably more suited for your needs.

In the end he could get a new graphics card when he wants one a 6850 would be a good economical choice. I haven't really read to many reviews on the series other than he does really well against Nvidia at the moment. Here is one I found for 139.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150515

(Edit Good point on the upgrade suggestion, I'll have to run it by him.

 

[InvalidError]

Any speculations as to how much the new Haswel cpus will cost? I'm guessing easily $400 and up for the enthusiast aimed ones?

If by enthusiast models you mean equivalent to SB-E and IB-E, probably. But if you decide to wait for Haswell-E, you may have a very long wait ahead of you if Haswell-E is as far behind Haswell as IB-E might end up behind IB.

The i3/5/7 Haswells will likely follow the current $120 / $200 / $300 price points since Intel has to compete against itself if it wants to maintain sales, give or take a few bucks to manage demand between IB and Haswell during the transition period.

 

[funyunwolf]

If by enthusiast models you mean equivalent to SB-E and IB-E, probably. But if you decide to wait for Haswell-E, you may have a very long wait ahead of you if Haswell-E is as far behind Haswell as IB-E might end up behind IB.

The i3/5/7 Haswells will likely follow the current $120 / $200 / $300 price points since Intel has to compete against itself if it wants to maintain sales, give or take a few bucks to manage demand between IB and Haswell during the transition period.

Well in regards to my personal rig I suppose it's all coming down to what the next gen games will be like, people seem to be psyched about the Haswell line.

 

[bigshootr8]

Oh of course Funy was just thinking of how you could save as little by sticking to that board since the board is rather cheap. Even a i5 2400 would be sufficient for WoW I can't imagine a 5770 not being enough honestly.