New Desktop Advice Required

Idleman · 31 Oct 2012 at 15:31

ROSS_TPO said:
Why an i3 rather an i5?

At the moment, I still run XP but I don't have the disks.

Did you buy the XP OS or did it come with your system?

ROSS_TPO · 31 Oct 2012 at 15:41

Idleman said:
Did you buy the XP OS or did it come with your system?

It came on the system.

Sparx · 31 Oct 2012 at 17:57

Idleman said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte HD 7770 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card w/ FARCRY3 & 20% MOH WarFighter PC Games £99.95
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £89.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) £66.66
1 x Intel 330 Series 60GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - Retail £52.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x OCZ CoreXtreme 500w '80 Plus' Power Supply £32.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £25.99
1 x Samsung SH-S222BB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.99
Total : £509.64 (includes shipping : £11.75).

You could use Win8 preview for a few months(90 days), until you can buy an OS.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/jj554510.aspx

Why i3 over i5? :confused:

Also why a dedicated 7770 GPU? The integrated HD 4000 from the i5-3570K would handle Football Manager fine..

honosuseri · 31 Oct 2012 at 18:23

Idleman said:
You could use Win8 preview for a few months(90 days), until you can buy an OS.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/jj554510.aspx

Very sensible suggestion. The Op can think of it as a long term try before you buy for windows 8

Sparx said:
Why i3 over i5? Also why a dedicated 7770 GPU? The integrated HD 4000 from the i5-3570K would handle Football Manager fine..

Because from his "brief" the i5K sounds a little overkill. I'm guessing he needs an optical drive too. Why are you using the Merc Beta? We have already discussed the Asguard Pro is a better budget case last night :/

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £184.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £83.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) £66.66
1 x Corsair Enthusiast Series TX550M High Performance 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020001-UK) £59.99
1 x BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Case - Black £45.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £25.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.98
Total : £500.69 (includes shipping : £11.75).

Overclockable i5K

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £99.95
1 x Samsung 128GB SSD 830 Desktop Series SATA 6Gb/s KIT with Norton Ghost - (MZ-7PC128D/EU) £89.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £83.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) £66.66
1 x Corsair Enthusiast Series TX550M High Performance 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020001-UK) £59.99
1 x BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Case - Black £45.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £25.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-5280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.98
Total : £505.63 (includes shipping : £11.75).

i3 with SSD

Sparx · 31 Oct 2012 at 18:31

honosuseri said:
Because from his "brief" the i5K sounds a little overkill. I'm guessing he needs an optical drive too. Why are you using the Merc Beta? We have already discussed the Asguard Pro is a better budget case last night :/

You have to mix it up a little sometime! The Asgard isn't even in bloody stock still..

The Merc Beta is still a nice case.

EDIT: I take it back, there are 8 left now.. No doubt they'll soon be gone again though..

honosuseri · 31 Oct 2012 at 18:33

Sparx said:
You have to mix it up a little sometime! The Asgard isn't even in bloody stock still.. The Merc Beta is still a nice case.

EDIT: I take it back, there are 8 left now.. No doubt they'll soon be gone again though..

I don't think you've used one or you wouldn't seriously suggest it. People think it's fine "on paper" for the budget but there are much better alternatives.

Doesn't matter if it's out of stock. The Shinobi's go out of stock quickly too because they are popular, they soon come back in stock. Parts can still be ordered and all the parts will be sent out once everything is in stock.

Sparx · 31 Oct 2012 at 18:36

honosuseri said:
I don't think you've used one or you wouldn't seriously suggest it. People think it's fine "on paper" for the budget but there are much better alternatives.

Doesn't matter if it's out of stock. The Shinobi's go out of stock quickly too because they are popular. They can still be ordered and all the parts will be sent out once everything is in stock.

I've used 3 actually mate I'll have you know! :eek:

I've also built 2 with the Xigmatek.

The Xigmatek is a fantastic case for the money and has a good finish. The Merc Beta is also still a good case, but it does not feel as good quality as the Xigmatek, the only thing that bugs me are the side-drive bays tbh.

Personally I would choose the Xigmatek everytime, but it's still not a completely bad idea to spec it every now and then.

Cases are always down to personal taste anyway, some are completely shocking and not ever worth buying - but I think the Merc Beta does have some good qualities about it that it shouldn't ever be completely ruled out.

honosuseri · 31 Oct 2012 at 18:48

Well you should know better then

When the Merc Beta and the Asguard Pro are the same price but the later has a USB3 port and is tool-free for fitting the optical drives and HDD..........the Asguard wins.

Idleman · 31 Oct 2012 at 19:13

Sparx said:
Why i3 over i5? Also why a dedicated 7770 GPU? The integrated HD 4000 from the i5-3570K would handle Football Manager fine..

As you had already specced an i5 build, I did an AMD build to show the op there are other alternative builds to meet his needs and more. When he asked if the "Amd was better than the i5 for his needs", I told him an i3 would be better. Now, if he was doing a bit of video editing/rendering, then i would say i5. But, as hono has already mentioned, I think it is overkill and a waste of money, which could be better spent. But at least with the Z77 mobo, he has an upgrade path, if his needs change in the future.
I threw the 7770 in for better HD/BD playback and should he want play some other games, in the future.
So, the OP now has a choice of specs, all of which meet his requirements.
I think, if an OP is on a low budget, then he should get the best he can for money/performance. And not the first spec shoved in front of him. But at the end of the day, it`s the OP`s money and therefore his choice.

Idleman · 31 Oct 2012 at 19:16

EDIT: I take it back, there are 8 left now.. No doubt they'll soon be gone again though..

Only 1 now.

Sparx · 31 Oct 2012 at 19:16

Idleman said:
As you had already specced an i5 build, I did an AMD build to show the op there are other alternative builds to meet his needs and more. When he asked if the "Amd was better than the i5 for his needs", I told him an i3 would be better. Now, if he was doing a bit of video editing/rendering, then i would say i5. But, as hono has already mentioned, I think it is overkill and a waste of money, which could be better spent. But at least with the Z77 mobo, he has an upgrade path, if his needs change in the future.
I threw the 7770 in for better HD/BD playback and should he want play some other games, in the future.
So, the OP now has a choice of specs, all of which meet his requirements.
I think, if an OP is on a low budget, then he should get the best he can for money/performance. And not the first spec shoved in front of him. But at the end of the day, it`s the OP`s money and therefore his choice.

Nah no worries, I agree with the AMD build looks good.

I was genuinely querying the i3 vs i5 thing, but yes of course it if is down to the budget. Then he is best to minimise the cost, if he wants to be as tight as possible then yeah an i3 will still do him well.

carpmaster · 18 Jan 2013 at 13:58

This ""Primo 6200i" Intel Core i5 3450 3.10GHz DDR3 Quad Core System [FS-178-OE]" that's being talked about - I don't get it? The motherboard seems to only support SATAII only but they are selling it with a SATAIII drive?

I want one for a relative but can't get this query resolved!