Input on rig for my brother

[Waldie]

Hey everyone, it's been quite a while since I last posted on the forums, but I'm back and looking for advice and general input on a rig I am putting together for my brother. He's looking for something similar to mine, which I believe is still in my sig, but I've noticed some interesting things while I've been hunting parts for him. I'll lay out what I have right below, and add some comments below that so you know what I'm thinking at the moment. I'm more afraid of screwing up spending someone else's money than I was spending my own money on a build.

He's looking for the same thing mine is used for, everyday use, and some decent gaming with good graphics, and a bit of upgradeability for down the road (hence the SLI mobo, LGA1156 instead of LGA775).

Processor:
Intel Core i5 650 Dual Core Processor Clarkdale LGA1156 3.2GHZ Hyperthreading 4MB Cache Retail Box

Motherboard:
EVGA P55 ATX LGA1156 DDR3 SLI CrossFire 3PCI-E16 1PCI-E1 2PCI Sound GBLAN Motherboard

Video Card:
EVGA E-GEFORCE GTS 250 738MHZ 1024MB 2.2GHZ DDR3 PCI-E Dual DVI-I HDTV Out Video Card

Hard Drive:
Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB 7200RPM 32MB Dual Proc 3.5IN Sata Hard Drive Oem 5YR Mfg Warranty

Case:
Coolermaster CM 690 II Advanced ATX Mid Tower Case Black 4X5.25 1X3.5EXT 6X3.5INT *No PSU*

PSU:
Corsair TX650W 650W Atx 12V 52A 24PIN Atx Power Supply Active Pfc 120MM Fan

Memory:
G.SKILL F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK PC2-8500 4GB 2X2GB DDR2-1066 CL5-5-5-15 240PIN Dual Channel Memory Kit

Ok so first off, I do have an optical drive and a couple additional case fans picked out, but not going to bother putting them down. Planning on picking up monitor and keyboard/mouse at Costco as well.

Now, my build was at the beginning of the Nehalem era, so I didn't want to go with the expensive i7's at the time, being a poor student. I think it's a good move to go with the i5 for my brother's though, since it's not that much more expensive and is a bit more powerful, with higher base clock, and the Lynnfield having hyperthreading and turbo boost. I love the eVGA motherboards, too, and they don't seem to carry the nVidia chipsets for the LGA775 anymore at NCIX or DirectCanada. I wanted thoughts on going with the LGA1156 over a LGA775, and anything I would have to consider that it doesn't appear I have taken into account in my parts selection.

Also, I wanted to get him the same card I have, the GTX 260, but I don't see them available anymore either, really, which is why I went with the GTS 250. If anybody had any input on that part, especially, I would appreciate it.

Lastly, only real difference from my build was selecting the new CM 690 II instead of the original.

Sorry for the long post, hoping for some good feedback fairly quickly, he wants to order all the parts tonight so I can build it for him next time I'm home from school.

[MarkOne]

Good build but you will bebetter to change the cpu for I5 - 750 , it have 4 cores, OC like hell. you can oder a 212+ with it too , your memory, try to find 1333, or 1600 if you plan to OC a little bit

[Waldie]

My brother won't be doing any OC'ing though, and doesn't really do anything multi-threded, I figured the four logical cores with the hyperthreading on the i5-650 would work well enough, and it's $50 cheaper than the i7-750 right now. He's a student as well, and not in engineering like I am, so he won't make all his debt back as quick as I will.

[dragoonxx]

erm...the memory you have listed is DDR2, P55 is DDR3

[Waldie]

How about this memory? On sale for $99 at NCIX.com after MIR, and it won't add any shipping to my order from them.

OCZ OCZ3G1333LV4GK 4GB DDR3 2X2GB DDR3-1333 PC3-10666 CL 9-9-9-20 Dual Channel Memory Kit

[MarkOne]

those OCZ are crap.....

[Hunt]

Originally Posted by Waldie

My brother won't be doing any OC'ing though, and doesn't really do anything multi-threded, I figured the four logical cores with the hyperthreading on the i5-650 would work well enough, and it's $50 cheaper than the i7-750 right now. He's a student as well, and not in engineering like I am, so he won't make all his debt back as quick as I will.

The i5-650 is showing at $205 at NCIX, while the i5-750 is $220, or price match with Newegg.ca @ $209. It's definitely worth the extra $4.

[geokilla]

What's your budget? I'm going to assume you'll spend $300 for the RAM, CPU, and motherboard. Nothing else needs to be changed.

NCIX.com - Buy AMD Athlon II X4 620 Quad Core Processor Socket AM3 2.6GHZ 2MB Cache 95W Retail Box - ADX620WFGIBOX In Canada.
NCIX.com - Buy Biostar TA790GXB3 ATX AM3 AMD790GX DDR3 2PCI-E 2PCI RAID Video Sound CrossFireX Motherboard - TA790GXB3 In Canada.
NCIX.com - Buy Corsair XMS3 CMX4GX3M2A1600C7 4GB DDR3 2X2GB DDR3-1600 CL 7-8-7-20 Core i5 Dual Channel Memory Kit - CMX4GX3M2A1600C7 In Canada.

I'd consider changing the GPU as well. What resolution does your brother game at? If it's anything above 1680X1050 or 1600X900, I'd suggest this. NCIX.com - Buy XFX Radeon HD 5770 850MHZ 1GB 4.8GHZ GDDR5 2XDVI HDMI Display Port DIRECTX11 PCI-E Video CARD- - HD577AZNFC In Canada.

[Waldie]

Ok, true. For some reason reaching the product page through the menus instead of through the sale page didn't bring up the sale, it brought up the regular price instead. Still though, it's four logical cores vs four cores, since the 650 is dual core but has hyperthreading, and the 750 doesn't have hyperthreading, and the i5-650 has a higher base clock of 3.2 GHz vs 2.66 GHz. i know the 750 has a larger cache, but is there any other benefit to getting it over the 650, especially for someone who will not be doing any overclocking of any sort?

And @geokilla:
Thanks for the input, but I really dislike AMD and ATI... no real reason for it, but I'm a real big Intel and nVidia guy. The Athlon II doesn't seem to be nearly on the same level as the i5's, and likewise with the motherboard. I appreciate the attempt for a cheaper build, of course. My brother wants a cheap build to a point, but he wants a bunch of performance as well. I guess value would be a better word than cheap.

[MarkOne]

Originally Posted by Waldie

Ok, true. For some reason reaching the product page through the menus instead of through the sale page didn't bring up the sale, it brought up the regular price instead. Still though, it's four logical cores vs four cores, since the 650 is dual core but has hyperthreading, and the 750 doesn't have hyperthreading, and the i5-650 has a higher base clock of 3.2 GHz vs 2.66 GHz. i know the 750 has a larger cache, but is there any other benefit to getting it over the 650, especially for someone who will not be doing any overclocking of any sort?

don't be foul by HT.. they do not replace real cores as for the 3.2 of the 650. you just put 166 in the bios instead of 133, nothing else to adjust and you are at 3,5