Help to select a CPU/MB/Ram bundle for £200

Sixshot84 said:
Quite tempted by the G3258. I could get a decent MB with it so could add ram or a better cpu when I can afford it. To be honest, it may be fine for my needs looking at reviews.

Is it worth getting a z97 over one of the cheaper H boards that can over clock this?
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The H97 should be able to overclock but for futureproofness/use of faster RAM and more features etc, I'd spend £4 and get the likes of what snips specced/a Z97P-D3 motherboard - if you go for a i5k or i7k used in the future, allows for decent overclocking
 
Sixshot84 said:
Quite tempted by the G3258. I could get a decent MB with it so could add ram or a better cpu when I can afford it. To be honest, it may be fine for my needs looking at reviews.

Is it worth getting a z97 over one of the cheaper H boards that can over clock this?
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Don't bother getting the G3258 unless you plan on overclocking it..!

That's one of the annoying things about it, the CPU is really cheap but you have to spend £65+ on a Z97 motherboard for guaranteed compatibility / overclocking capability. If you're not overclocking, you're probably better off with an i3 in a £40 motherboard, cos those have hyperthreading and G3258 doesn't, for a similar price (for CPU + MB combined).
 
ShakeNBake said:
Don't bother getting the G3258 unless you plan on overclocking it..!

That's one of the annoying things about it, the CPU is really cheap but you have to spend £65+ on a Z97 motherboard for guaranteed compatibility / overclocking capability. If you're not overclocking, you're probably better off with an i3 in a £40 motherboard, cos those have hyperthreading and G3258 doesn't, for a similar price (for CPU + MB combined).
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You can now overclock on H/B motherboards and a Z97 board allows for over clocking of K CPUs should the op decide to upgrade to an i5/i7 in the future
 
So am I right in thinking I could get an Hxx motherboard (starting from around £35), use it to overclock the G3258. Then if I wasn't happy with the performance I could stick an i5 or something in at a later date, but wouldn't be able to overclock that (even if it's a K version), unless I got a Zxx MB?

I'm tempted to get a cheaper MB (some have fan control too by the look of it), then either just save the extra £40 or so, or possibly get 2x8gb Ram instead
 
I don't think 16GB RAM will make all that much difference doing photo editing, some yes but not worthwhile in this budget - video editing then yes, you'll need it.

If you can find an extra ~£20, this is what I'd do.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-4330 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £91.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97P-D3 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £65.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38GM1600HC11DC01) £61.99
Total : £229.57 (includes shipping : £8.00).



i3 and an overclockable motherboard with a decent set of RAM.

However, if you don't want to spend £30 over

YOUR BASKET
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan GOLD 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLYD38G2133HC11ADC01) £65.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97P-D3 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £65.99
1 x Intel Pentium K Anniversary G3258 Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £52.99
Total : £194.57 (includes shipping : £8.00).

 
Shivy011 said:
8320 isn't much good on photo editing :(
8GB RAM should be a minimum really
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Lightroom 4 supports multicore rendering so I don't see what you're getting at? Also unless it is some seriously large images 8GB of RAM is fine. I edit high definition video on an i7 with only 8GB of RAM and never hit any issues.

Sure an i5/i7 may be more powerful but on a budget those AMD processors are more than adequate.
 
LordSplodge said:
Lightroom 4 supports multicore rendering so I don't see what you're getting at? Also unless it is some seriously large images 8GB of RAM is fine. I edit high definition video on an i7 with only 8GB of RAM and never hit any issues.

Sure an i5/i7 may be more powerful but on a budget those AMD processors are more than adequate.
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:o didn't know it supported multicore, but programs such as photoshop etc are single core only which the Pentium beats the AMD hands down. I do agree though the AMD processors are better generally, but for this I'd say Intel is favourable, simply adapting to what is needed
 
Shivy011 said:
:o didn't know it supported multicore, but programs such as photoshop etc are single core only which the Pentium beats the AMD hands down. I do agree though the AMD processors are better generally, but for this I'd say Intel is favourable, simply adapting to what is needed
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Photoshop has had multi-core since version 3! Almost every editing package out there now supports multi-core and a lot of the higher end packages even support GPU offload. GPU offload is great for video editing / photo editing.

Whilst I agree that for single core performance Intel is the way to go, I don't want the OP thinking they need Intel for photo editing.
 
Oh, I read on other threads with other people photo editing still only supports single core

Well I suppose it's the OPs choice, imo Intel is the way to go, you get great single core performance either way but you could upgrade to an i5k/i7k in the future, whereas with AM3+ (dead socket) you couldn't upgrade too far but could still upgrade
 
Thanks again guys.

I think I'm going to go with the G3258 for now. My last decision is whether to go with one of the ASRock/Asus H61 boards that support OC'ing the G3258, or go with the Z97 board which has been linked to (only around £30 more), which would have more features and a better upgrade path (even to Broadwell I understand). It pushes my budget a bit though especially as I've decided I need a new powersupply too...
 
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