Cheap dev build ideas

Abraham

Abraham

Abraham

Soldato
Joined
13 Dec 2002
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Manchester City Centre
I'm looking to upgrade my dev pc, but it's sufficiently out of date enough that it will require a full rebuild. It's also enough years since I built a pc that I'm pretty clueless as so what to go for.

I have the case, PSU and optical drive. Everything else to come really as cheap as poss.

After as much RAM as poss, 16GB pref and an SSD. Clueless as to processor/mobo choice

looking at about £300 budget I think if that's anywhere near doable :s

Any suggestions/help much appreciated :)
 
integrated is fine for now, although i do use 2 screens, can any integrated do dual screens?
also not going to be overclocking
 
Well its not easy getting 16gb ram and a ssd into a £300 budget. This build should perform well providing you'll be using all the cores. The integrated graphics can apparently do dual screens depending on the resolution, but it wont be very quick, however its the quickest I could get in budget. I dont think i've forgotten anything? Except a hard drive, but at the current prices your gonna have to sacrifice a lot of performance to get a decent sized hdd and a ssd.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-309-AM

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-075-OC

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-278-GI

2x these
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-094-KS

edit: if your not going to use all six cores then a sandy bridge i3 setup would be better.

edit2: just realised its a tad over budget but you could sell deus ex to get some money back.
 
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If you're not too fussed about an SSD then this would do:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2300 2.80GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £149.99
1 x Asus P8H67-M PRO Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 MicroATX Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £89.99
2 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £29.99 (£59.98)
Total : £299.95 (includes shipping : FREE).



Motherboard can output to 2 monitors.

If you do want one then something like:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £101.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 64GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT064M4SSD2) £82.99
1 x Asus P8H61-M Intel H61 Chipset (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard **B3 REVISION** £59.99
2 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £29.99 (£59.98)
Total : £304.94 (includes shipping : FREE).



CPU isn't as good but is still quite powerful compared to what some people currently use for dev work.
 
R088ieS86 said:
If you're not too fussed about an SSD then this would do:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2300 2.80GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £149.99
1 x Asus P8H67-M PRO Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 MicroATX Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £89.99
2 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £29.99 (£59.98)
Total : £299.95 (includes shipping : FREE).



Motherboard can output to 2 monitors.

If you do want one then something like:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £101.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 64GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT064M4SSD2) £82.99
1 x Asus P8H61-M Intel H61 Chipset (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard **B3 REVISION** £59.99
2 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £29.99 (£59.98)
Total : £304.94 (includes shipping : FREE).



CPU isn't as good but is still quite powerful compared to what some people currently use for dev work.
Click to expand...

Really £90 on a H67 mobo?!

What about:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £184.99
1 x MSI Z68A-G43-G3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £94.98
2 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £29.99 (£59.98)
Total : £351.35 (includes shipping : £9.50).




great cpu, with a good upgrade path to an i7, overclockable, 16gb of ram too. over budget slightly but i'd get an ssd later, i think a good cpu is probably a better idea first. i'd get this over the above as it's far more future proof.

If its too much, get an i3 like above (2100 or 2120) then get an i5/i7 when you can.
 
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R088ieS86 said:
Because that is £35 over budget and only has 1 video output.
Click to expand...

I know, oops, edited. That MSI one has 2 outputs. I'd really suggest a Z68 motherboard for upgrading later. The H67 really limits future options.

EDIT: OP, is there a reason you won't be overclocking? with the new i5/i7's overclocking is very easy and can really improve performance.
 
If this was a gaming build maybe.
but PCIe3 on a dev build will be pointless (unless its video dev - but as the op doesn't mind using integrated graphics I doubt it is), Ivybridge is unlikely to improve CPU wise that much. Its more likely just going to have a much better iGPU.
The H67s can take i7s as well if hyperthreading is needed.

Overclocking will produce more heat so more money will need to be spent on a different cooler, unless you want to sit and listen to the stock intel fan.
 
R088ieS86 said:
If this was a gaming build maybe.
but PCIe3 on a dev build will be pointless (unless its video dev - but as the op doesn't mind using integrated graphics I doubt it is), Ivybridge is unlikely to improve CPU wise that much. Its more likely just going to have a much better iGPU.
The H67s can take i7s as well if hyperthreading is needed.

Overclocking will produce more heat so more money will need to be spent on a different cooler, unless you want to sit and listen to the stock intel fan.
Click to expand...

okay but this one is the same price as that h67:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-483-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1990

why get fewer features? I didn't spec this one as there is no ETA.
 
The only difference is the ability to overclock, and not that well on that board either judging from the reviews it got. Oh and like you said, no ETA
 
thanks for the replies guys, much appreciated.
2500k was what I'd had my eye on last time I was looking so if that's still a solid choice I'd stretch a bit to include that.

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM
MSI Z68A-G43-G3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
OCZ Agility 3 60GB 2.5" SATA-3 Solid State Hard Drive (AGT3-25SAT3-60G)
Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX)

Is likely what I'll go for I think
comes in about £400, does it seem alright?

In answer to a few questions:
-HDD, everything gets stored on a NAS, so will only be things I'm actively working on that get stored on the machine
-Overclocking, my biggest concerns are memory useage and disk read speed, hence lots of RAM and SSD, I won't rule it out further down the line, hence going for the 2500k
 
Yeah that seems good, only the OEM CPU doesn't come with a cooler so either go retail or buy a separate one:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-001-GD&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395

That Gelid is generally the budget one of choice, but if that's too much a cheaper one will do the trick. The Gelid should allow a decent overclock.

I think that's probably the best idea, the i5 is very good, and at least having the option to overclock seems worth it to me! You can always add RAM later if you think you need it :)
 
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