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[Deleted member 302842]

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[Jetster...]

i32100 / gigabyte h61 $103
But get the H67 board

If your not playing games then the 2500K is an overkill. The i3 onboard graphics for 1080P are fine

 

[Zap]

I agree that the Core i3-2100 would be the sensible choice. For motherboard, get either H67 or Z68. Probably the more important thing is to make sure your chosen motherboard has HDMI and DVI outputs for your two monitors (cheap adapters can convert between the two).

 

[Deleted member 302842]

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[mfenn]

the h67 boards they have @ microcenter are only $10 cheaper than the z68 ones, hence the z68 choice.

Which Z68 board is that in particular? I agree with the other posters that you want at least H67 because of your SSD and that the i3 is plenty of CPU power for your uses.

 

[paperwastage]

if you're planning (or even the possibility) of an upgrade to a i5 2500k down the road, the $50 premium for teh Z68 is worth it...

otherwise, H61 works fine

 

[Deleted member 302842]

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[mfenn]

Yeah, Z68's a good choice. DDR3 1600 doesn't really make any difference though.

 

[LagunaX]

i3-2120 actually the graphics are a little better.

 

[mfenn]

i3-2120 actually the graphics are a little better.

Does not matter in the slightest given the OP's uses.

 

[LagunaX]

Sorry, I meant i3-2105 that has the intel integrated graphics 3000 vs. 2000 in the i3-2100.

$20 price difference on the Egg.

This is primarily true for the top Sandy bridge graphics core called Intel HD Graphics 3000. It is considerably faster than AMD Radeon HD 5450, for instance.
In other words, Intel HD Graphics 3000 may become a serious threat to $50-$60 graphics cards. In this case, discrete graphics cards have only one important advantage over the integrated Intel graphics core: they support DirectX 11, which is missing in Intel HD Graphics. However, this functionality is hardly necessary for the level of performance provided by these solutions, anyway.
The junior modification, Intel HD Graphics 2000, is considerably slower. However, it still looks very nice against the background of other integrated solutions. I doubt that anything could threaten the leadership of Intel HD Graphics 2000 and Intel HD Graphics 3000 in their segment, at last not until AMD Llano processors come out.

Why not for an additional $20?

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/graphics/display/intel-hd-graphics-2000-3000_11.html#sect0

 

[Deleted member 302842]

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[mfenn]

Sorry, I meant i3-2105 that has the intel integrated graphics 3000 vs. 2000 in the i3-2100.

$20 price difference on the Egg.

Why not for an additional $20?

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/graphics/display/intel-hd-graphics-2000-3000_11.html#sect0

Why spend an additional $20 for no benefit?

 

[mfenn]

microcenter deal is

i3-2100 & mobo gets you 50 off.
or
i5-2500 & mobo gets you 60 off

i5 cost about 80 more with same board, not sure if worth it for my needs

It isn't.