Girlfriend's new build

[Arinoth]

Its that time where her E6400 system is having some issues trying to handle playing some of the more modern video games at higher graphical settings with a HD3650 installed in it. I thought i'd pick some brains and get some people's input before pulling the trigger and having her spend her money on the few items we need to buy for her system.

I am looking to make it either a 1155 or 1156 build as i'd like it to last her about threeish years. What she wants is the ability to play games at her single monitor's maximum resolution (1600 x 1200) and essentially have the frame rate and eye candy of my summer system
(i7 940 @ 3.8GHz, HD 5870).


Parts we've already bought or already have
GPU: XFX 6870
PSU: Corsair 750W
Case: CM690

What we need to buy for the budget of 300$ from NCIX (i have PP and willing to price match too)
RAM: 2x2 GB of RAM (looking to spend around 50$)
Mobo: Around 100$ (doesn't need USB 3.0 or SATA3)
CPU: Preferably some kind of quad core 150$

If i missed mentioning anything or anything needs more explanation dont hesitate to ask.

[headsh0t]

What games is she playing? Other than games, just used for web/videos?

[Arinoth]

Knew i forgot something
L4D2
Mass Effect 1-2-3
Dragon Age 1-2
Borderlands
Dawn of War 2
Batman AA

She also uses photoshop quite a bit when she does some work when not in the office for her job (business marketting)

[_dangtx_]

easy. either an i3 1156 530/540 + your choice of giga board or 2500k and your chocie of 1155 p67 board. nothing in between.

[headsh0t]

I would try the 6870 with current CPU and see how everything plays; not happy, get an m-ATX mobo and an i3 540 or you could even try to find a cheap Q series and keep your current mobo/ram.

NCIX.com - Buy NCIX Silent Bundle Deal Intel Core i7 2500K Unlocked LGA1155 CPU & Noctua NH-U12P SE2 120MM Heatsink - Core i7 2500K & NH-U12P SE2 In Canada.

20 $ gift card

this weeks sale

Ya I don't think that's gonna fall under the $300 price mark with a motherboard and RAM.

[Stock]

$250 for a CPU/Mobo...wasn't there a i5-760/1156 motherboard combo from NCIX over Boxing Day at that price? I think if you're really set on a quad-core, going with AMD will be your best bet.

[Arinoth]

Here is what i'm thinking, as it comes in just slightly over budget
CPU: Intel Core i5 2300 Quad Core Processor LGA1155 2.8GHZ Sandy Bridge 6MB NCIX.com - Buy Intel Core i5 2300 Quad Core Processor LGA1155 2.8GHZ Sandy Bridge 6MB - BX80623I52300 In Canada.
MOBO:
Gigabyte H67M-D2 mATX LGA1155 H67 DDR3 2PCI-E1 1PCI-E16 CrossFireX SATA3 Motherboard NCIX.com - Buy Gigabyte H67M-D2 mATX LGA1155 H67 DDR3 2PCI-E1 1PCI-E16 CrossFireX SATA3 Motherboard - GA-H67M-D2 In Canada.
OR
ASUS P8H67-M LX mATX H67 LGA1155 2PCI-E16 PCI-E1 PCI HDMI VGA Sandy Bridge Motherboard NCIX.com - Buy ASUS P8H67-M LX mATX H67 LGA1155 2PCI-E16 PCI-E1 PCI HDMI VGA Sandy Bridge Motherboard - P8H67-M LX In Canada.

RAM: Mushkin Enhanced Silverline Stiletto 4GB 2X2GB PC3-10666 DDR3-1333 9-9-9-24 Dual Channel Memory Kit NCIX.com - Buy Mushkin Enhanced Silverline Stiletto 4GB 2X2GB PC3-10666 DDR3-1333 9-9-9-24 Dual Channel Memory Kit - 996768 In Canada.

[ilya]

See if PMing will bring you within budget: http://expc.ca/search.html?sfield=&search=sandy

[draemn]

Not even considering AMD? Not sure if you can get a good gaming CPU from AMD for under $150 as they do tend to perform worse than intel procs in gaming...

I'm confused about the $200 CPU... are you getting a better price through PM or something? There are some things to consider Sandy Bridge for if you care about those features (full PCIe bandwidth for SATA3/USB3.0, etc), but there is almost no over clocking headroom in non-k SKUs. What about the i5-750 or 760?

With price match you can get an i5-750 for just under $200 and it has 8MB cache vs 6MB and the same stock 2.8 Ghz but a higher 3.3Ghz turbo boost along with o/c headroom (you can usually o/c right up to the turbo speed at default specs and leave turbo on). Also, if you're spending $200, someone has a sale for the 2500k @ $215 which is totally worth the $15 as you can push close to 4Ghz at default with the stock cooler.

Of course, remember that the H67 series of mobos allows you to o/c the IGP (when unlocked) and the P67 allows you to o/c the CPU but disables the IGP afaik... I don't know much else about if the H series limits anything else compared to the P series. Can you find any boards without crossfireX/SLI support? That should cut cost on the mobo.

[draemn]

NCIX.com - Buy Gigabyte H55M-S2V mATX LGA1156 H55 DDR3 1PCI-E16 2PCI 6SATA Sound Video GBLAN Motherboard( - GA-H55M-S2V In Canada. PM @ $74
or
NCIX.com - Buy MSI H55M-E33 mATX LGA1156 H55 DDR3 PCI-E16 PCI-E1 PCI SATA2 GBLAN Audio VGA DVI HDMI Motherboard - H55M-E33 In Canada. MIR @ $75
+
NCIX.com - Buy Intel Core i5 760 Quad Core Processor Lynnfield LGA1156 2.8GHZ 8MB Cache Retail Box - BX80605I5760 In Canada. $199

A little cheaper for the 1156 option, but with some benefits and disadvantages... As for running just stock CPU + dedicated GPU, you get slightly faster turbo boost speeds + more cache. I'm still in shock that intel hasn't dropped the prices of the lynnfield chips (lga 1156) to be competitively priced against sandy bridge.