Trying to decide on i5-2400 vs the 2500K

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
X

xdc

Junior Member
Jan 12, 2011
4
0
0
Hi guys,

I'm new here and I'm building a PC for an aunt, I can't seem to decide between the 2400 vs 2500k

First of all it's not going to be gaming pc, more of a multimedia PC, with some video editing capabilities and will rely on the Quicksync of Intel. Budget is around $500-600

These are the parts I have so far and the prices that I got them after sales/rebates:

$29.00 ZALMAN ZM500-RS 500 Watts
$28.99 Corsair CMX4GX3M2A1600C9 4GB DDR3 1600MHz
$16.99 ASUS Black 24X SATA DVD Burner
$9.99 Rosewill RCR-IC001 40-in-1 USB 2.0 3.5" Internal Card Reader
$59.00 Kingston SSDNow V Series 64 GB SATA 3 GB


I still have the motherboard and cpu to choose. Because I'm relying on the Quicksync feature, I'm leaning towards the the H67 motherboards and there's not much to chose from http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...1&PageSize=100

Now she wants this computer to last for at least 4-5 years so I'm leaning towards more the 2500k which I can get for $179 (out of stock). The 2400 is $149 (20+ in stock). I don't know if there's a huge difference between the IGP of the two, one being 2000 and the other 3000 not sure it would make a huge difference for her. Planning to add on Blu-ray player later on.

I myself want the 2500k because I'm a gamer, but maybe I'm just not being objective about this. :\

Thanks

Edit: Also I don't I think I have to add a aftermarket cooler for this... right?
Additionally, If I'm reading the H67 specs correctly, I will lose the Quicksync feature if I add a graphics card later on.
 
Last edited:
cusideabelincoln

cusideabelincoln

Diamond Member
Aug 3, 2008
3,275
46
91
Castiel said:
2300 is all she needs and she could even get away with the stock heatsink. Also\
Click to expand...
Let's hold up. How does the IGP affect Quick Sync performance?

Anand tested with the 2500K's IGP, but the non-K have a significantly weaker GPU, which should affect encode rate to some degree.

The 2500 also does have about an inherent performance advantage over the 2300, with its ~20% higher clockspeeds. In this instance I think there would be nothing wrong going with the faster chip with the faster GPU. The real question is waiting for stock.
 
Last edited:
A

AkumaX

Lifer
Apr 20, 2000
12,648
4
81
he can get the 2400 for $150 (microcenter deal), when the 2300 is ~$180

i'd say get the 2400, since you're building a computer NOW (have no idea when MC's gonna get the 2500k back in stock), and you probably don't want to o/c your aunt's computer w/ the 'k.... :p
 
combust3r

combust3r

Member
Jan 2, 2011
88
0
0
HD2000 is not loosing much to HD3000 in QS performance, so 2400 would be a good pick if you want to build a PC for your aunt ASAP.
 
X

xdc

Junior Member
Jan 12, 2011
4
0
0
Thanks guys... so I called my local store this morning and they have 2500k in stock before I checked this thread... So I bought the 2500k for $179, because I know sooner or later this will be sold out, unlike the i5-2400 which they have tons in-stock.

I can always go back and exchange it if, I need to. I've been trying to look on youtube for videos comparing the difference between the HD 2000 vs. 3000 and I can't seem to find any. Does anyone know if what IGP chipset from AMD/ATI this comparable to?
 
X

xdc

Junior Member
Jan 12, 2011
4
0
0
Castiel said:
2300 is all she needs and she could even get away with the stock heatsink. Also\

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-220-_-Product
Click to expand...

AkumaX said:
he can get the 2400 for $150 (microcenter deal), when the 2300 is ~$180

i'd say get the 2400, since you're building a computer NOW (have no idea when MC's gonna get the 2500k back in stock), and you probably don't want to o/c your aunt's computer w/ the 'k.... :p
Click to expand...

AkumaX is right, the 2400 is cheaper than the 2300... the 2300 is not even stock at my store.
 
I

iCyborg

Golden Member
Aug 8, 2008
1,387
94
91
xdc said:
Thanks guys... so I called my local store this morning and they have 2500k in stock before I checked this thread... So I bought the 2500k for $179, because I know sooner or later this will be sold out, unlike the i5-2400 which they have tons in-stock.

I can always go back and exchange it if, I need to. I've been trying to look on youtube for videos comparing the difference between the HD 2000 vs. 3000 and I can't seem to find any. Does anyone know if what IGP chipset from AMD/ATI this comparable to?
Click to expand...
Most reviews look into SB IGP performance. E.g. this site does too:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/...core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested/11

HD 3000 is about desktop AMD 5450.
I see you took 2500K, I think it's a better deal for only $30 more if it's gonna be used for 4-5 years. Faster clock and noticeably better IGP are worth it, even if the unlocked feature will remain unused on H67. I believe QuickSync is not being done on EUs, but on a dedicated HW engine, so no benefits there by going with HD 3000 vs HD 2000.
 
cusideabelincoln

cusideabelincoln

Diamond Member
Aug 3, 2008
3,275
46
91
iCyborg said:
I believe QuickSync is not being done on EUs, but on a dedicated HW engine, so no benefits there by going with HD 3000 vs HD 2000
Click to expand...

Anand says it should make a difference. But exactly how much he never tests.

The decode engine is also reused during the actual encode phase. Once frames of the source video are decoded, they are actually fed to the programmable EU array to be split apart and prepared for transcoding. The data in each frame is transformed from the spatial domain (location of each pixel) to the frequency domain (how often pixels of a certain color appear); this is done by the use of a discrete cosine transform. You may remember that inverse discrete cosine transform hardware is necessary to decode video; well, that same hardware is useful in the domain transform needed when transcoding.

Motion search, the most compute intensive part of the transcode process, is done in the EU array. It's the combination of the fast decoder, the EU array, and fixed function hardware that make up Intel's Quick Sync engine.
Click to expand...

If anyone has links for tests that would be... nice.
 
L

LR6

Member
Sep 27, 2004
93
0
0
What video editing software is she going to use? I don't think that quick sync is supported yet by most popular programs.
 
OBLAMA2009

OBLAMA2009

Diamond Member
Apr 17, 2008
6,574
3
0
in another thread some guy here got an open box 2400 for 110 at mc, that sounds like a deal to me!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom