Best bang for the buck?

[imported_browsing]

Thinking of putting together a mid-range system for my girlfriend. She does some gaming but nothing incredibly graphic intensive. Here's what I've got so far-- I'm trying to find out which core2 would be the best bang for the buck on this without needing an overclock. She isn't comfortable with it.

Asus P5Q Pro
SAPPHIRE 100245L Radeon HD 4850 512MB
G.SKILL (2 x 2GB) F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ
PCP&C 750W Silencer

I know that some of it is overkill but I want to make it vaguely upgrade friendly if she does decide to throw a few more dollars into it six months down the road.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Right now thinking either a q6600 or an e8500, if that helps narrow it down.

 

[boglwe]

I love both the Q6600 and the Q9550. I think the price is right for both. AS for Core 2 Duo's I know not, i have never owned one. But they do seem to be better for gaming a bit, but for many major applications Quads are bit better.

 

[Denithor]

If you're seriously considering an upgrade "six months down the road" just get an e5200 ($80) which is plenty of power for light gaming & general use. Drop in a Q9550 a year from now (if even needed then) for probably $150.

 

[imported_browsing]

Well, that's more my idea than hers, so take upgrading with a grain of salt. She doesn't do too much but I'd prefer a processor with more than 2mb cache.

 

[MyLeftNut]

I would suggest to build as cheap as possible as well, like Denithor said, E5200. With that, you could OC with the cheapest components.

 

[MagickMan]

Really hard to pass on an E8400 for $160, even without OCing it's a great chip.

 

[edplayer]

Originally posted by: browsing-- I'm trying to find out which core2 would be the best bang for the buck on this without needing an overclock.

Best bang for the buck Intel cpu is the E5200

Why do you have a PCP&C 750W Silencer listed? If that is supposed to be "vaguely" upgrade friendly, what do you consider really upgrade friendly, a 2000W PSU?

A good quality 450W~500W psu could handle a quad core and a high end video card with room for overclocking.

 

[cubeless]

do the 5200, set it to 266fsb, don't tell her... a cpu that gives better perf will cost u 2x as much...

and the ocz 500w psu for $25 ar at newegg is more than sufficient for a friendly system...

get a quad later if needed...

 

[JMapleton]

I recommend the e5200 as well, quad core is not worth it yet and don't think it will be for another 2 or 3 years.

Also the psu is too much, you don't need much more than 450w for that system.

 

[ultra laser]

Are you seriously getting a 750W PSU for that meager system?

 

[edplayer]

One more thing, if you get that PSU, not only will it cost you more upfront, but you will pay more everday (in electricity) because it will have such a light load on it

Originally posted by: browsing
She doesn't do too much but I'd prefer a processor with more than 2mb cache.

if 2MB cache nightmares are keeping you up all night, consider a E7200/E7300. They are $100/105 at Microcenter if you have one near you. And they have 3MB of L2 cache

 

[imported_browsing]

Thanks for all the input guys. I always way overbuy on power supplies because I've had one or two horrible experiences with cheap ones in the past. These machines get left on 24/7 in apartments/houses that we're not always at-- so I'm definitely looking for reliability. I know this is the cpu section but if anyone has some rock solid mid-range picks that could still easily handle 4850s crossfired, I'd love to hear them. Also, yes, I'd really rather not go covertly overclocking the system. It's just something that needs to be reliable and good enough to game on a monitor up to 22". The upgrade comment was only if the bottom drops out of the price of the core2s with the new i7s coming out.

The $180 range looked good to me given what you get. If you guys really think she can get by with a cheaper processor, I'll probably go with it, but I just wanted something for general use and gaming that would last her a few years. I've been out of building since the initial launch of core2 back in late '06.

 

[Cheex]

Best bang-for-buck:

Pentium Dual Core = E5200
Core 2 Duo = E7300
Core 2 Quad = Q6600

 

[cusideabelincoln]

600W OCZ ModXStream Pro is a damn good deal. Hell, after rebates all of OCZ's power supplies on newegg right now are damn good deals. Although, I wouldn't get the 600W or 500W StealthXStream. They only have 3 SATA connectors, which are all on the same cable. So if you have a SATA HDD and optical drive, it can be quite a pain to connect the power to each if you like the HDD at the bottom of the case and the optical drive at the top. Luckily, the cable is pretty long and I was able to do so in my case without needing to get a molex->SATA power adapter.

 

[OCGuy]

E8400. Save some money on the PSU, get yourself one of those badboys.

Minimum E7300, as was suggested before.

 

[poohbear]

lol that psu is overkill!!! take the money saved from buying a quality 450wt psu and spend it on a better cpu. a cheap antec earthwatts will do just fine, i swear total wattage is way overrated by some people. I ran 8800gt sli w/ a quality enermax 420wt psu.