- Joined
- 1 Mar 2014
- Posts
- 61
Hi Cat-The-Fifth, thanks for your input, very interesting. Where did you find those graphs?
Before I opened this thread I thought my budget might be a bit tight, mainly because I'd been browsing a number of websites selling ready-made PCs and they tended to be quite expensive. I didn't consider including a discrete GPU because I was trying to save money and thought I could manage without one. However after looking around this morning, and seeing boomstick's suggestions, I think my budget is enough to include a graphics card. Then I could also use 1600MHz RAM which is a bit cheaper.
I reckon I have two choices: keep the cost as low as possible, or spend £600+ for an i5 build.
For example I could go for a 7850K/4330 build with a graphics card and a B85 board (as suggested by Martini) and still come in around £450. Something like this:
CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor (or 7850K?)
Motherboard: MSI B85I Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard (or AMD equivalent?)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case
This wouldn't use much power so I could probably use the stock cooler (Intel's are ok, right? - I'd get a separate cooler for an AMD)
Or I could go for an i5 build similar to boomstick's suggestion, with a Z87 motherboard and 250GB SSD. I could overclock it (if I learn how to do this!) which would require an aftermarket cooler. I reckon this would cost around £650; a £200 difference.
I'm now wondering whether the difference in performance between an i5/Z87 motherboard, and a 4330/B85 setup is really worth the difference in price? Would I notice a marked increase in the speed of everyday operations such as opening/closing tabs, switching between tabs, using apps/programs and watching iplayer, etc? Are the core i5 4 cores so much better than the i3 dual core and AMD 4 cores (like the 8750K)?
Are there any other factors I should be taking into account?
Before I opened this thread I thought my budget might be a bit tight, mainly because I'd been browsing a number of websites selling ready-made PCs and they tended to be quite expensive. I didn't consider including a discrete GPU because I was trying to save money and thought I could manage without one. However after looking around this morning, and seeing boomstick's suggestions, I think my budget is enough to include a graphics card. Then I could also use 1600MHz RAM which is a bit cheaper.
I reckon I have two choices: keep the cost as low as possible, or spend £600+ for an i5 build.
For example I could go for a 7850K/4330 build with a graphics card and a B85 board (as suggested by Martini) and still come in around £450. Something like this:
CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor (or 7850K?)
Motherboard: MSI B85I Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard (or AMD equivalent?)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case
This wouldn't use much power so I could probably use the stock cooler (Intel's are ok, right? - I'd get a separate cooler for an AMD)
Or I could go for an i5 build similar to boomstick's suggestion, with a Z87 motherboard and 250GB SSD. I could overclock it (if I learn how to do this!) which would require an aftermarket cooler. I reckon this would cost around £650; a £200 difference.
I'm now wondering whether the difference in performance between an i5/Z87 motherboard, and a 4330/B85 setup is really worth the difference in price? Would I notice a marked increase in the speed of everyday operations such as opening/closing tabs, switching between tabs, using apps/programs and watching iplayer, etc? Are the core i5 4 cores so much better than the i3 dual core and AMD 4 cores (like the 8750K)?
Are there any other factors I should be taking into account?