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Low Power Gaming/General (Re)build

C

charre

Junior Member
First off, This is my first thread and post. So I'd first like to say "Hi, glad to be here"

Down to Business.

With Ivy Bridge landing in the next few months, I am considering configuring my AMD rig into something smaller and lower power..

Usage: Gaming, Office, Media. Nothing in the i7 range required.

Current Rig: Phenom II 955, Radeon 6850, 8gb memory, 500w Antec, 870 chipset, and Full Tower.

Budget: 300$ (Flexible if good argument is proposed)

Goal: Upgrade to something leaner, more efficient, and will take up alot less desk space.

Any advice is very much appreciated and I will be happy to provide further information.
 
1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

Media, Games, Office

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

300-400$

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

USA

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.

No preference as long as its a good product.

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

Listed in OP. Looking for Case, MoBo, and CPU.

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.

Yes.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

Default

8. What resolution YOU plan on gaming with.

1600x900 or less.

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?

As soon as Ivy Bridge is out.

10. Don't ask for a build configuration critique or rating if you are thin skinned.

Ok.
 
There are plenty of mATX cases suitable for a gaming build in the $40-100 range. Would a mATX mini tower be small enough?

Are you looking to upgrade to a Sandy Bridge CPU, or Ivy Bridge? If Ivy Bridge, wait until they are released so we know model numbers and pricing. Note that the quad core CPUs will be out in the first week of April, while dual cores will be out at a later time. IF Intel follows historic pricing schemes, to get a decent quad core you will need to budget around $180-230 for just the CPU.
 
Yea I was looking at the the i5-3450 for approx. 184. a 100-120 m-atx board with one pci 16x slot and a couple of usb 3.0 would be good. I just don't know alot about intel chipsets. AMD has somewhat spoiled me in that regard.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Intel-Ivy-Bridge-CPU-LGA1155,14325.html

I am definitely looking to cram this into a pretty small case. I am not sure if I want to go into something quite as exotic as one of those cube-like cases, but if there is a good one out there I will definitely give it a look.

Just to re-iterate, This is an upgrade.
 
Yes, the memory is not even a year old. In fact, the build is pretty recent. I bought an AMD 900-series chipset with a "cheap" processor to tide me over until bulldozer, which turned out to be a bust. So I want to switch gears.
 
General Kenobi said:
The lower end i5 IBs should cost around 184 USD according to CPU World. Tom's Hardware quoted the aforementioned article as credible.
Click to expand...

Note that those prices are probably what Intel sells them for, in 1000 quantity. They are NOT street prices.

Of course actual cost may vary, because Intel does channel rebates based on volume, and they also have lower 10,000 unit pricing. Also, some places such as Micro Center are famous for using CPUs as a loss leader, which is why they only offer CPUs in-store, not online.
 
charre said:
9. WHEN do you plan to build it?

As soon as Ivy Bridge is out.
Click to expand...

We can give you some vague recommendations like, "you should be able to get an IB quad core, mATX mobo, and mATX case with your budget", but we can't really get specific until we see how CPU street pricing shakes out and what mobos are available.
 
mfenn said:
we can't really get specific until we see how CPU street pricing shakes out and what mobos are available.
Click to expand...

Right, and whether or not Newegg and other popular vendors price them above normal to take advantage of early adopters. 😵 It has happened before!
 
Here's a though: I have heard that intel may try to clear their stock of sandy bridge when ivy comes out. Maybe I could snag a i5-2400(S)/mobo bundle at that time. I am not extremely well read on the new ivy architecture, but isn't it just an improvement of intel's integrated graphics, more efficient power consumption, with a modest 7-15% performance increase? If I can snag an in-win dragon-slayer case or something in that price range and maybe I can escape this in the sub 300-350 range. (maybe come out even better if I can sell my mobo/cpu on ebay for a little extra scratch)
 
I wouldn't bank on any special discounts. Individual retailers have done so, but just to clear them from inventory and AFAIK not sponsored by Intel themselves. For instance Micro Center knocked another $20 or so off the price of a Core i7 920 when the 930 dropped in price to match the old 920 price. Micro Center did that to clear their own stock. Other retailers did not.

Ivy Bridge will have roughly the same performance/clock as Sandy Bridge, but with a better IGP, lower power draw and potentially higher overclocks. We will find out much more in 2 months.
 
Well. I have found a cheaper solution. I bought a neat little lian li mini tower for 100 bucks that supports full size atx. I think I will hold out on the hope that piledriver doesn't suck. I do have an Asus 970 board. Thanks for all the advice. My 955 may be old but it doesnt feel that way when its paired with my ssd. Had to do some soul searching and found that I sort of was just in the mood for a build rather than having a tangible need. The price estimates definitely aided in coming to this revelation -.-
 
charre said:
Well. I have found a cheaper solution. I bought a neat little lian li mini tower for 100 bucks that supports full size atx. I think I will hold out on the hope that piledriver doesn't suck. I do have an Asus 970 board. Thanks for all the advice. My 955 may be old but it doesnt feel that way when its paired with my ssd. Had to do some soul searching and found that I sort of was just in the mood for a build rather than having a tangible need. The price estimates definitely aided in coming to this revelation -.-
Click to expand...

:thumbsup: good on you! Many people would have run out and bought a new machine that they didn't really need.
 
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