New Build; Need Advice

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
O

Optimi

Junior Member
Mar 29, 2012
10
0
0
1. What your PC will be used for?

The computer will be used for moderate gaming (about 5 hours a week). Games are not too intense (Starcraft II, Diablo 3, etc.). I also use the computer to stream movies and TV shows (using Serviio) to my HDTV.

2. What your budget is?

Budget is around $600-720 CDN. But I am a cheap bastard, so I would enjoy saving money anywhere I can.

3. What country you will be buying your parts from?

Either Canada or the U.S., whichever is cheaper for the part in question.

4. Do you have a brand preference?

I have no brand preference. But have been looking at Intel (Ivy Bridge) and nVidia (GTX 560 Ti 448) items.

5. Do you intend on using any of your current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

I am only putting together a new build to donate my current build to my brother, who’s laptop is on the fritz. So most parts will be new.

For information though, here is the current setup:

AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition
ASUS M4A785-M motherboard
4 gig DDR2 Ram
nVidia GeForce 8800 GT
Samsung 500gig SATA HD
Seagate 320gig IDE HD
Acer AL2216W monitor

I am somewhat inclined to keep the Acer monitor (because I am cheap) and the Samsung drive. Looking to have an SSD as my main OS drive though. However, if there is room in the budget, I would consider a new monitor.

6. Do you plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

Default speeds, but would like the flexibility to overclock in the future.

7. What resolution will you be using?

1080p or 1200p

8. When do you plan to build it?

I was hoping to wait till Ivy Bridge comes out.

9. What are some other considerations you have?

-Prefer a video card that has an HDMI port to connect to my HDTV. Under my existing setup, HDMI is only on the motherboard, so when playing games using the 8800 GT, the HDMI plug is not functional.

-Prefer to limit power consumption and noise. I find the 8800 GT quite loud at load, so a new card at a similar or lower dB level would be great.
 
lehtv

lehtv

Elite Member
Dec 8, 2010
11,897
74
91
8. When do you plan to build it?

I was hoping to wait till Ivy Bridge comes out.
Click to expand...
Right. Well, I hear the dual core parts won't be out until June (hope I'm wrong), and the quad cores aren't really suited for your budget especially as you want an SSD too. But I wouldn't say it's worth waiting till June for. The benefits are mainly in power consumption and IGP performance, neither of which are that relevant to you (i3-2100 is already a cool 65W part).
 
Last edited:
O

Optimi

Junior Member
Mar 29, 2012
10
0
0
Yes, but does the Intel i3-2100 have the necessary 1.21 gigawatts to sustain time travel? :confused:

I was thinking of the i5-2500K; maybe that is too powerful for my needs though. You've given me something to ponder.
 
Charlie98

Charlie98

Diamond Member
Nov 6, 2011
6,292
62
91
Optimi said:
I was thinking of the i5-2500K; maybe that is too powerful for my needs though. You've given me something to ponder.
Click to expand...

The 2500K is a solid processor but you are aiming at a $600-700 build, something has to give.

Tell your brother he needs to chip in... :p
 
O

Optimi

Junior Member
Mar 29, 2012
10
0
0
That would be fair, but circumstances dictate otherwise.

Any recommendations on a GPU? EVGA GTX 560 TI 448 was $239 last week, but at regular price, it is out of my budget.
 
lehtv

lehtv

Elite Member
Dec 8, 2010
11,897
74
91
Assuming roughly the following build:

i3-2100 $130
H61 or H67 motherboard $60-90
2x4GB DDR3 $40
64GB SSD $100
430W-550W PSU $40-60
Case $40
DVD $20

Would leave up to $290 for a graphics card ($720 total budget). However if you also need to buy a copy of Windows, you'd have to settle for a 6870 or find a particularly good deal on a 560 Ti.
 
Last edited:
O

Optimi

Junior Member
Mar 29, 2012
10
0
0
Thanks. The GTX 560 ti 448 requires 550W. So if I were to get that card, I should likely get 600W to be safe, no?
 
lehtv

lehtv

Elite Member
Dec 8, 2010
11,897
74
91
With an i3 that consume only 65W, 560 Ti 448 could in theory be run on a 430W power supply - but those never have more than 1x 6pin PCIe connectors. XFX 550W $45AR is the best deal I can find on a quality psu.

However, I would recommend 7850 2GB over 560 Ti 448. More VRAM can come in handy, and it consumes only 110-120W of power at stock. It also overclocks better than 560 ti 448.
 
DSF

DSF

Diamond Member
Oct 6, 2007
4,902
0
71
Optimi said:
Thanks. The GTX 560 ti 448 requires 550W. So if I were to get that card, I should likely get 600W to be safe, no?
Click to expand...

Keep in mind that manufacturers have to give those recommendations as single numbers because there's no way for them to control for all the variables in a build. Number of other components in the system, power needs of the CPU, quality of the power supply, etc. As a result, they generally overestimate by a good margin.

If you get a quality 550W PSU like the one linked above it'll be more than enough.
 
J

jaydee

Diamond Member
May 6, 2000
4,500
3
81
I'm not sure you really need a whole new build. What are you doing that you find the Phenom II X2 BE not enough cpu? Have you tried unlocking the other two cores? What you listed (gaming, streaming media) isn't that CPU limiting.

I'd just buy a Crucial/Samsung SSD for $140-$150 on sale, $200-$250 on a video card and pocket the rest of your budget for another year or two. Maybe jump to Haswell or the generation after that.

i3-2100 is an upgrade over PII 555BE, but not a huge one. If your not video encoding or 3D rendering, I'm not sure how much real-world difference it makes. If he can unlock another core or two, it's about even performance tradeoff.
 
Last edited:
O

Optimi

Junior Member
Mar 29, 2012
10
0
0
The computer is fine for my needs (though likely wouldn't be very good for Diablo 3), as noted above though, I would like to donate it to family.
 
H

happyboy

Member
Mar 28, 2012
26
0
0
CPU: i3-2120 or i3-2100
GPU: GTX 460
PSU: 750w Corsair TX
All Other: ??

I built my system for under $600 and it plays everything from GTA IV at medium settings to Battlefield 3 at medium settings. These are core intensive as well as GPU intensive games and my system plays it without any hitch.
 
T_Yamamoto

T_Yamamoto

Lifer
Jul 6, 2011
15,007
795
126
^no reason to get a i3-2120
also....750 watts for a build that could run on 430 watts? xD
 
O

Optimi

Junior Member
Mar 29, 2012
10
0
0
Any idea why the i3-2120 ($119.99 + tax) is cheaper than the i3-2100 ($124.99 + tax) at TigerDirect.ca?
 
O

Optimi

Junior Member
Mar 29, 2012
10
0
0
Here's how I went:

Case - Antec Three Hundred = $36.94
RAM - G.SKILL Value Series 8GB = $54.22
PSU - Corsair CMPSU-600CXV2 = $67.79
GPU - MSI N560GTX-TI Twin Frozr II/OC GeForce GTX 560 Ti = $268.36 ($238.36 with $30 MiR, if and when that comes in)
CPU - Intel i3-2120 = $135.59
MOBO - ASUS P8H61-M = $69.81
DVD - SAMSUNG CD/DVD Burner - $19.19
Total (with tax and shipping) = $651.22

Last pending item - SSD - Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB = $103.95
This was previously on sale in March for $79.99; would love to get a similar price, but may just bite the bullet soon.

Grand Total = $755.17

Thanks for all the input people.
 
lehtv

lehtv

Elite Member
Dec 8, 2010
11,897
74
91
Decent choices overall. Antec HCG-520 for $45 would've been a better PSU choice, and this HD6870 for $168 AR would've been nearly as fast for $70 less. I'd recommend returning the PSU and GPU you got for a full refund and buying those two.

How come you didnt get the discount on the 560 Ti though? The site shows the price as $230 no rebate until 4/4.
 
O

Optimi

Junior Member
Mar 29, 2012
10
0
0
The price for the 560 Ti, was $199.99 with a $30 rebate. So I paid $229.99 + 13% tax + $8.50 or so for shipping. All the prices I used are final (tax + shipping). So the difference between the the PSU is around $15; the video card around $35.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom