Check out my Mid Range Gamer

z1ggy

Lifer
May 17, 2008
10,010
66
91
CPU i3-2100
Mobo GA-Z68X-UD3
RAM Ripjaw 2x2GB
Cooling H60 Water Cooling system
CPU GTX460
PSU 550VX
HDD Deskstar 7K3000 1.5TB
Case HAF912
Optical 24X DVD Burner

~$767.91 USD all parts from Newegg, and leaves room for future upgrades

Reuse: External HD, Inputs, Speakers and monitor.

Any suggestions?? Thank you!
 

mvbighead

Diamond Member
Apr 20, 2009
3,793
1
81
Personally, I would drop the water cooler, i3-2100, and the PSU.

I would replace them with an i5-2500k, Hyper212Plus from Amazon, and a $45 Antec EW 430watt PSU.

Personally, I'd rather have a much better processor than invest in a water cooling setup for a lesser CPU. Heck. Maybe use the stock cooling of the i5-2500k, and then throw the water cooler in at a later date if you feel it is necessary.
 

z1ggy

Lifer
May 17, 2008
10,010
66
91
Personally, I would drop the water cooler, i3-2100, and the PSU.

I would replace them with an i5-2500k, Hyper212Plus from Amazon, and a $45 Antec EW 430watt PSU.

Personally, I'd rather have a much better processor than invest in a water cooling setup for a lesser CPU. Heck. Maybe use the stock cooling of the i5-2500k, and then throw the water cooler in at a later date if you feel it is necessary.

I can agree with you I suppose. Although, If I upgrade to an i7-2600 and a gtx60/80 later on, the 430 is going to be too close for comfort for me. But I could probably just sell it on a classified forum for 20 or 30 bucks to supplement a bigger PSU if need be. Also, the h60 is less bulky and looks cooler IMO than the Hyper212+, and is only like $15 more.

However...When I do a power requirement calculation on extreme power supply calc website, It recommends I atleast have 437w available. This was aquired by my settings of an i5-2500 to 3.8Ghz, a gtx460, 1HD, 1SSD (future update) 2 sticks of DDR3, 1 DVD, 1PCI card, 4 case fans and a 15% cap aging. Figure I might get an upgraded GPU or CPU in the future, I dont think that a 430w psu is enough power.
 
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mvbighead

Diamond Member
Apr 20, 2009
3,793
1
81
Just make sure, whatever you do, that you grab a K processor - IE - 2500k or 2600k. Those have unlocked multipliers so overclocking should be much, much easier.

I have a hard time looking at any build and suggesting an I3 when, what basically amounts to a notch below Intel's top tier processor, is a mere $70 more. For an HTPC, sure, why not. But for anything where gaming is the primary purpose, $70 is chump change considering the upgrade you get going from an i3 Dual to an i5 Quad.
 

Murloc

Diamond Member
Jun 24, 2008
5,382
65
91
get a K processor, it's just a few $.

Drop the water cooler. Get any aircooler and it can be just as good. It's also wasted on that cpu.
get a 2500k or 2600k so that you can upgrade the gpu and keep the cpu in the future.
 

z1ggy

Lifer
May 17, 2008
10,010
66
91
get a K processor, it's just a few $.

Drop the water cooler. Get any aircooler and it can be just as good. It's also wasted on that cpu.
get a 2500k or 2600k so that you can upgrade the gpu and keep the cpu in the future.

Okay I will take your advice.

Edit: Not using the earthwatts. Newegg also recommends at least 466w based on the build that I desire. Not to mention I could possible throw in a 580 if iI have the spare change someday.

Is that corsair 550VX a good choice?
 
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mnewsham

Lifer
Oct 2, 2010
14,539
428
136
You wont be throwing in a GTX 580 in there someday, as the next generation of GPU's comes out this holiday season (december?) If you are going to upgrade your GPU so soon then i would just wait until then before doing anything. If you are going to upgrade your GPU in 12+ months then i would worry about the PSU then as it is really only another 50 bucks if you REALLY need the power later on. And remember as GPU's get more powerful we are also seeing better and lower power usage.
 

z1ggy

Lifer
May 17, 2008
10,010
66
91
You wont be throwing in a GTX 580 in there someday, as the next generation of GPU's comes out this holiday season (december?) If you are going to upgrade your GPU so soon then i would just wait until then before doing anything. If you are going to upgrade your GPU in 12+ months then i would worry about the PSU then as it is really only another 50 bucks if you REALLY need the power later on. And remember as GPU's get more powerful we are also seeing better and lower power usage.

This is true. What will most likely happen is I will keep the 460 for 2 years, just like I have kept my 4890 for 2 years now. However, I don't want to replace the PSU if I upgrade to whatever the next step down from top line GPU is. By then It will prob be a GTX 6xx or something like that. That's why I am thinking of just going with the 460. I prob. won't want to spend the extra
cash for top notch GPU this holiday.

What about the Antec BP550 PSU? It's only $55. It has 3 12V rails all rated at about 22A. In two years or so when I upgrade the GPU, I will prob just opt for a large watt PSU then anyway.
 

Davidh373

Platinum Member
Jun 20, 2009
2,428
0
71
I can agree with you I suppose. Although, If I upgrade to an i7-2600 and a gtx60/80 later on, the 430 is going to be too close for comfort for me.

TDP goes down, not up. Unless you suddenly decide you're better off with a top tier $700 GPU (not worth it IMO), the 430W will handle any midrange card up to the 560ti or the 6950 (currently). Newegg is being careful just in case you have a crap PSU like a diablotek or Rosewill, which aren't likely going to output their rated power. A nice 430W Antec, Seasonic, Corsair, or XFX PSU and you'll be golden for any midrange card to come.
 

z1ggy

Lifer
May 17, 2008
10,010
66
91
TDP goes down, not up. Unless you suddenly decide you're better off with a top tier $700 GPU (not worth it IMO), the 430W will handle any midrange card up to the 560ti or the 6950 (currently). Newegg is being careful just in case you have a crap PSU like a diablotek or Rosewill, which aren't likely going to output their rated power. A nice 430W Antec, Seasonic, Corsair, or XFX PSU and you'll be golden for any midrange card to come.

I could pick up the Antec BP550W for $55. Also, I will be getting Ripjaws X memory. Is it best to get a lower Cas lattency w/ DDR3 1333, or a higher Cas like 8 or 9 with DDR3 1600??
 

z1ggy

Lifer
May 17, 2008
10,010
66
91
Get the GSkill 1333 ram without the heatspreaders. You'll thank my when your CPU cooler fits, and you didn't have to spend an extra $10 on useless pieces of metal.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-424-_-Product

Wow that's a great value, thank you I will keep it in mind. However, I dont plan to use an aftermarket right away, b/c with my i3 I won't be over clocking. I will run a stress test and monitor temps under stock HSF.

Also, the ripjaws x I was looking at was 7-7-7-21. I don't really need 8gb of memory as I don't really do a ton of multi tasking, and I'm not running CAD or Matlab on this. This build will be generally for surfing the internet, watching youtube videos, watching some .avi/mp4 etc files and the occasional SC2 and Half life 3 perhaps when it comes out.
 

z1ggy

Lifer
May 17, 2008
10,010
66
91
This. I have 4 slots on my current board and can only use one pair as the fan blocks the slot 1.

Probably won't end up being a huge issue either way..I have always used 4GB(2x2) and never had an issue. It boils down to quantity or more quality. This case the value 8gb with out the heat spreaders, or the 4gb with heat spreaders and better timings.
 

Davidh373

Platinum Member
Jun 20, 2009
2,428
0
71
Also, the ripjaws x I was looking at was 7-7-7-21. I don't really need 8gb of memory as I don't really do a ton of multi tasking, and I'm not running CAD or Matlab on this. This build will be generally for surfing the internet, watching youtube videos, watching some .avi/mp4 etc files and the occasional SC2 and Half life 3 perhaps when it comes out.

Lesser latency only gains you so much. I'd say around a percent of your performance. Having 8GB Ram over 4GB makes a much bigger difference.

b/c with my i3 I won't be over clocking

I'm still confused why you wouldn't get the i5. It is a much better processor for only ~$70 more. If you won't be overclocking there is no need for the K version, which narrows the gap even farther. The i5 2400 is only $55 more, and with the money saved from the watercooling, aftermarket HSF, and I'd also forget Z68 since you'll have a GPU, so an H61 or H67 mobo could save you $40-$50 right there. You should not have a problem affording the 8GB Ram and the i5 for the same price as 4GB Ram and an i3. Substance is what you should be concerned about. How much substance can you get for your money. Watercooling, HSFs, and Low Latency Ram are fringe items to show off how great your rig is, but if your rig has no real power those things are wasted. They'll end up giving you between 2%-5% of your total performance, where a greater amount of Ram and more processor cores will nail down about 20% for the same price.

i3 2100 vs. i5 2400

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/289?vs=363
 

z1ggy

Lifer
May 17, 2008
10,010
66
91
Lesser latency only gains you so much. I'd say around a percent of your performance. Having 8GB Ram over 4GB makes a much bigger difference.



I'm still confused why you wouldn't get the i5. It is a much better processor for only ~$70 more. If you won't be overclocking there is no need for the K version, which narrows the gap even farther. The i5 2400 is only $55 more, and with the money saved from the watercooling, aftermarket HSF, and I'd also forget Z68 since you'll have a GPU, so an H61 or H67 mobo could save you $40-$50 right there. You should not have a problem affording the 8GB Ram and the i5 for the same price as 4GB Ram and an i3. Substance is what you should be concerned about. How much substance can you get for your money. Watercooling, HSFs, and Low Latency Ram are fringe items to show off how great your rig is, but if your rig has no real power those things are wasted. They'll end up giving you between 2%-5% of your total performance, where a greater amount of Ram and more processor cores will nail down about 20% for the same price.

i3 2100 vs. i5 2400

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/289?vs=363

You're right. So I will prob go with the i5/H67 with 8gb of that value RAM, stock HSF. Probably spend a little extra for the 550W Corsair, although those Antecs are rated pretty well on newegg..I will have to do some thinking. That HDD looks like a really good value, so as long as the price stays the same I don't see why I wouldn't get that either. GTX460 looks like the best choice right now as well. That about covers it. Lots of room for GPU/CPU upgrades and I can add an aftermarket HSF later on if I need, too. All neatly wrapped up in a HAF 912 case. Any objections?
 

z1ggy

Lifer
May 17, 2008
10,010
66
91
OP, glad you're listening to David, he speaks the truth.

As for the PSU "debate", there isn't really one. Real-world measurements > Bullshit calculator formulas. Those numbers are with an overclocked i7. Corsair PSUs (except for the CX series) are overpriced for what they are. You can buy the same thing or better for much less.

Ah.. I see. Now I just have one quick point to the whole i3/i5 discussion. The whole reason I was considering the i3 was b/c of budget and the fact I won't be OC'ing right away. Now I understand for only $55 more, I can get the i5 which is much better. BUT for just another $30 more, I can get the unlocked i5, which I can OC when I chose to do so. So that in mind, you would say well hey for just 85 or 90 bucks more, just get the k series! I feel like I should either just get the i3, and keep it for a year then sell it on ebay to supplement the buying of a k series i5/i7. 80% of my computer use is internet surfing, using WMP to watch .avi/mp4 type video. The rest is split between video encoding and gaming. SC2 and HL3 are what I plan to play, and those are coded both very well. Look at portal 2. Im running that on my current system with out a hickup. I don't think I would really notice that big of a difference in those games between the i3/i5. My main goal is to upgrade and future proof for as little money as I can. Im not trying to pinch pennies here, maybe if the i5 is just that great, I will wait an extra month to go for it.

What about this PSU though?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016&Tpk=BP550

PS- How do you make your hyperlinks into a sentence so I don't have massively long links like ^^
 
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wjb663

Junior Member
Sep 21, 2009
13
0
66
I am really interested to see whether you go for the i3 or i5, z1ggy. I am in a similar situation and can offer no real input or advice, but good luck!
 

z1ggy

Lifer
May 17, 2008
10,010
66
91
I am really interested to see whether you go for the i3 or i5, z1ggy. I am in a similar situation and can offer no real input or advice, but good luck!

It's a tough call. Go to the benchmark section on anandtech, and look at the bench between the i3/i5. It's tough to say the results in favor of the i5 are worth the extra $50 or so. System is going to look like this so far:

i3-2100/i5-2400 ( can't decide )
ASRock Z68 Pro3-M ( So I can OC in the future if I get a K series )
G.skill Value Series 8GB
Zotac GTX460
Antec BP550
Deskstar 7K3000 1.5TB HDD
HAF912
ASUS 24X DVD Burner

~$654.91
 

wjb663

Junior Member
Sep 21, 2009
13
0
66
I think I had seen it. It's what really made me consider just getting an i3, but now....Idk.
 

Gigantopithecus

Diamond Member
Dec 14, 2004
7,664
0
71
FWIW you can think about it this way:
Buy an i3-2100 for $125 shipped. If it's fine for your needs, keep it. If you don't like it. Sell it for $110 shipped here on the forums a couple weeks later. Pocket $100. Buy an i5.

Worst case scenario, you lose $25 and maybe an hour of time.
 

z1ggy

Lifer
May 17, 2008
10,010
66
91
FWIW you can think about it this way:
Buy an i3-2100 for $125 shipped. If it's fine for your needs, keep it. If you don't like it. Sell it for $110 shipped here on the forums a couple weeks later. Pocket $100. Buy an i5.

Worst case scenario, you lose $25 and maybe an hour of time.

Most likely scenario, I will buy the i3, unless I come across a really good deal online. Then maybe next summer I will upgrade my 460 to a 480/580. Then maybe if I am looking for another upgrade, go for a lower end Ivy Bridge. Also a nice 23.6'' ASUS monitor would be a nice replacement to my 21'' now.