Gaming Rig help

[aldmare]

So I'm going to buy a pre built pc, I know, and I'm sorry.

Here are the specs for the PC I want to buy with a budget of $800

Intel Core i5 750 or the i5 650
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit
4GB Dual-Channel 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
ATI Radeon HD 5450 1GB DDR3
500 GB HD
16x CD/DVD/RW
500W PSU
Integrated Ethernet, sound, etc
Intel H57 chipset

So my questions are,
i5 650 or i5 750?
Is the Intel H57 Chipset going to be a problem performance wise?

Feedback welcome 🙂

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Depends on what games you are interested in playing.

 

[aldmare]

MMO's mostly, but I do enjoy a few RTS.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Whats an MMO

Can you give us a few of the titles you will be playing?

Thanks

And welcome to Anandtech 🙂

 

[aldmare]

Thank you 🙂

Massive Multiplayer Online Game. Everquest 2 is my game of choice. Highly CPU dependent in terms of graphics, which is why I am unsure as to the i5 650 or i5 750. 650 has a higher clock speed but the 750 is quad core.

Starcraft 2 and Dawn of War 2 when they come out.
My friends play Crysis, and they want me to try but my current PC has no chance at running that.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

I think you know the answer to your own question and I encourage you to go for the quad core as you say the games are highly CPU dependent. If you can afford an 860 or 920 i7, that might be a better option.

You don't have to buy a 3 kit RAM kit. Infact, there is a guy on the forums selling an Intel 1366 i7 motherboard for 70 or 75$ Only 2 of the 3 memory slots work and it's just the bare motherboard, but add 125$ for a 2 piece 1.35v DDR3 1600 CL7 Gskill Eco kit.

That leaves the CPU which you can find at MicroCenter for 199$ In-store pickup only. the i7 930 might be the 199$ deal..

If you like that option so far, you are looking at another 300 for a good build. JonnyGuru did a great review on a 520w Seasonic S12 II Bronze PSU which has amazing ripple suppression for its class, i think it's top of it's class in that category and is only 54$ & @ between 219-349w it's still above 85% efficient!

I'd recommend this 500g drive for 54$ and it's comparable to the new VelociRaptors at 3x less the cost!

EDIT: addition info below

Here is the guy selling the Intel 1366 socket i7 board and he just lowered the price to 60$ but i think you need a pay pal account.

 

[MisterDonut]

With a budget like that, no reason to get 1366 at all (IMO of course), and you should be building your own. Unless you already have the processor or the mobo, look towards AMD. Do you have Win7 already? What resolution? You can probably smash together a 955BE + 5770 build under that budget.

And just a side note: the i5-6xx ships are not good values for your money if you're getting a dedicated card.