Budget programming PC *Critique/suggestions welcome*

[Pia]

As for the HDD/SSD issue, I think it's a good idea since it's still under budget to get a cheap SSD like a Crucial M4 64GB apart from the Spinpoint F3. It will make the system more responsive all around.

I'd just drop the normal HD and spend the whole HD budget on the SSD. He'll get a pretty fast 90-100GB unit with the $150. That's enough for work, keeping a music collection and personal photos, some games and some rotating media.

I have used 35GB on my "serious" laptop and that includes about 15GB of non-work media already.

If he starts collecting porn or stacks up a huge game collection (while insisting on always keeping them installed), he's better off adding a cheap HD then.

 

[wand3r3r]

I've took the suggestions as alternatives. As of now the cheapest option (including both the SSD and HDD) is $515, with a core i3 2100.

The high end alternative is $685 with the 2500k, better MB, more powerful PSU.

Now just to try make a decision on what's the best alternative. I think if the difference between an i5 2400 and 2500k is only $30 then he may as well get the 2500k with the potential to OC if he wishes. However, the i3 2100 would save $80 (plus a cheaper MB) so up to $130 so that is pretty significant.

The case and so on will need to be decided by him in the end, but at least some parts are clear (RAM, DVD, HDD, PSU).

I also had included a HDD regardless of whether he gets an SSD or not. I believe he'll need more storage then an affordable SSD.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

I've took the suggestions as alternatives. As of now the cheapest option (including both the SSD and HDD) is $515, with a core i3 2100.

The high end alternative is $685 with the 2500k, better MB, more powerful PSU.

Now just to try make a decision on what's the best alternative. I think if the difference between an i5 2400 and 2500k is only $30 then he may as well get the 2500k with the potential to OC if he wishes. However, the i3 2100 would save $80 (plus a cheaper MB) so up to $130 so that is pretty significant.

The case and so on will need to be decided by him in the end, but at least some parts are clear (RAM, DVD, HDD, PSU).

I also had included a HDD regardless of whether he gets an SSD or not. I believe he'll need more storage then an affordable SSD.

Right, but if he's not gonna OC or gonna do a mild OC the Core i5 2400 makes more sense. It's only 5% slower stock while costing $30 less. If he goes that route, he can also go H61 and save money there. By using H61 he can also take advantage of the onboard GPU. In the end, you're saving 50% going for the Core i3, but in multi-threaded applications the i5 2400 is 40-60% faster. The i5 2400 can also be had in the budget, so I see why reason not to go that route.

As far as storage capacity goes, I think it depends on whether he has a need for high storage capacity (500GB or more) and if it can fit into the budget. For $180 you can get an A-DATA S599 128GB SSD. It uses the SF-1222 controller and is a great drive after you install the newer firmware. There's also the OCZ Vertex 2 120GB at a similar price. For the same amount, the 'best' you could do is the Crucial M4 64GB and the Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB. There's also the Kingston SSDNow V+ 96GB at $135, which makes it a great value proposition while also having good performance. He'd be able to store most of his applications there while leaving the rest of media and documents on an HDD.

 

[wand3r3r]

What about the OCZ agility 3 120GB? It's on sale after MIR for $160 at MC and $165 at the egg...

 

[DaveSimmons]

> Programming, homework etc. Probably Visual studio, SQL Server etc running locally.

I'd say you should keep the 1 TB drive in the build, especially if he might want to run some virtual machines for testing -- Visual Studio 2010 by itself is only 2 GB, but a VM can easily grab 10 - 20 GB.

If he ends up installing other development tools like Eclipse for Java/Android, creating some large SQL Server databases, and creating a few VMs then a 96 - 120 GB SSD alone without the 1 TB could run out of space.

 

[wand3r3r]

> Programming, homework etc. Probably Visual studio, SQL Server etc running locally.

I'd say you should keep the 1 TB drive in the build, especially if he might want to run some virtual machines for testing -- Visual Studio 2010 by itself is only 2 GB, but a VM can easily grab 10 - 20 GB.

If he ends up installing other development tools like Eclipse for Java/Android, creating some large SQL Server databases, and creating a few VMs then a 96 - 120 GB SSD alone without the 1 TB could run out of space.

I agree. The HDD is certainly necessary. I fill my 120GB so easily without even trying and have a few HDDs for storage.

 

[mfenn]

Right, but if he's not gonna OC or gonna do a mild OC the Core i5 2400 makes more sense. It's only 5% slower stock while costing $30 less. If he goes that route, he can also go H61 and save money there. By using H61 he can also take advantage of the onboard GPU. In the end, you're saving 50% going for the Core i3, but in multi-threaded applications the i5 2400 is 40-60% faster. The i5 2400 can also be had in the budget, so I see why reason not to go that route.

You're not going to be overclocking the i5 2400 outside of what few MHz you can get from changing the BCLK. That being said, I agree that the i5 2400 from MC is a good choice.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

You're not going to be overclocking the i5 2400 outside of what few MHz you can get from changing the BCLK. That being said, I agree that the i5 2400 from MC is a good choice.

Sandy Bridge CPUs with Turbo Boost but locked multipliers have the ability to do what Intel calls "limited overclocking". What this means is that you can set the Turbo multiplier higher than stock but Intel put a wall as to how much you can raise it. You can get 3.8GHz safely on all cores on stock voltage by doing this, hence there's no point to get a 2500K for a mild over-clock.

 

[wand3r3r]

Microcenter combo deals Does it pay to go with one of these? I think it may be worth spending a few bucks extra and getting up to $130 off retail.

 

[wand3r3r]

I'm thinking one of those MB/2500K deals

Barracuda LP 2TB $60 AR

OCZ agility 3 $160 AR

 

[mfenn]

Sandy Bridge CPUs with Turbo Boost but locked multipliers have the ability to do what Intel calls "limited overclocking". What this means is that you can set the Turbo multiplier higher than stock but Intel put a wall as to how much you can raise it. You can get 3.8GHz safely on all cores on stock voltage by doing this, hence there's no point to get a 2500K for a mild over-clock.

I thought that was only +4 bins off of base though?

 

[mfenn]

Microcenter combo deals Does it pay to go with one of these? I think it may be worth spending a few bucks extra and getting up to $130 off retail.

The UD2H bundle is pretty nice. You are essentially getting the CPU and mobo for $35 more than the street price of the CPU alone.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

I thought that was only +4 bins off of base though?

I don't know the number of bins exactly, but using a BCLK of 105MHz and a 38x multiplier (which is easily attainable on most decent P67 and Z68 motherboards), you can get 3.8GHz on all cores and 4GHz when on a single core. On stock voltage, too.

Source

 

[mfenn]

I don't know the number of bins exactly, but using a BCLK of 105MHz and a 38x multiplier (which is easily attainable on most decent P67 and Z68 motherboards), you can get 3.8GHz on all cores and 4GHz when on a single core. On stock voltage, too.

Source

38x would be +8 bins (4 more than the stock turbo). Very good to know! Thanks.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

38x would be +8 bins (4 more than the stock turbo). Very good to know! Thanks.

No problem.

OP:

The first combo deal with the Gigabyte Z68 mobo + 2500K looks good, but are there any comparable combo deals for the 2400 as well? If not, that combo deal looks like the best choice. You would be on-budget while getting the unlocked multiplier, in case he wants to explore with OCing.

I'd still recommend you go for a cheap SSD like an OCZ Agility 3 60GB or a Crucial M4 64GB plus the Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB. If the budget allows and your friend wants more storage capacity and is willing to give up a bit of performance, for only a bit more you can also have a Kingston SSDNow V+100 96GB. Any of the three SSDs are much faster than any Hard Drive and would make the system very responsive.