Some advice on new build (i3 vs i5)

Shaddow1086

Shaddow1086

Shaddow1086

Associate
Joined
28 Sep 2011
Posts
102
Location
Stratford-upon-Avon
So, I am looking to build my parents a new system to replace their current 6+ y/o system that was a budget build at new.

Hopefully want to keep as close to £400 or at least below £500 for the build. I'd imagine most of the cost would go into MB, CPU and ram as I can re-use the case, peripherals and monitor.

In my head, I am thinking of using a Kaby Lake i5 (7500), but wonder if it is worth going down to an i3 (7100)? They just use it for internet (Email / FB / Banking) and some office tasks.
I know they wont need much power, but is it worth investing more into the i5 over the i3?

MB cant imagine will differ. Looking at an ASUS Prime Z270 as the z270 range is not much different in price to the Z170.

8GB DDR4 2400 ram.

Probably get a M.2 hdd for quick boot OS and a standard hdd for everything else.

Seasonic power supply (450W should be plenty).

No GPU as there is no need. Just use onboard graphics. (Single monitor use)

Any advice or recommendations would be appreciated. I always struggle to build a low end system as I try to get for the best. Then I just have to tell myself, this is not for me and all that power is not needed.
That said, the system needs to be good enough to last a fair few years.

Thanks
 
don't get the Kaby Lake i5, either Kaby Lake i3, or Coffee Lake i3 as the Coffee Lake i3 is quad core, same as the Kaby Lake i5, faster and cheaper too.

Kaby Lake i5 -

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £259.84 (includes shipping: £9.90)​
​

Coffee Lake i3

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £230.48 (includes shipping: £10.50)​
​
 
I also wouldn't bother with the M2, yes it is faster, but not in a way that is noticeable for the normal user.


This is just over

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £512.04 (includes shipping: £11.10)​
​


and just under

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £503.04 (includes shipping: £11.10)​
​
 
CODE
My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £459.00 (includes shipping: £11.10)​
​

system isnt going to be put under that much stress for lesser quality PSU with good RMA along with Gigabyte board and support on here along with UK RMA.
small SSD for OS and MS office apps, then HDD for storage of files
 
Thanks for the info guys. Didnt know about the better i3 coffee lake vs the i5 kaby lake.

Probably aim for the coffee lake then. Hopefully be a bit more future proof using latest generation chip.
Alternatively, something I would need much more details about is potentially using Ryzen, but as i've never used AMD and know far more about Intel.

Would the new Ryzen chips of similar budget as the i3 coffee lake be better? or nothing really in it at the lower levels?

Thanks
 
Shaddow1086 said:
Thanks for the info guys. Didnt know about the better i3 coffee lake vs the i5 kaby lake.

Probably aim for the coffee lake then. Hopefully be a bit more future proof using latest generation chip.
Alternatively, something I would need much more details about is potentially using Ryzen, but as i've never used AMD and know far more about Intel.

Would the new Ryzen chips of similar budget as the i3 coffee lake be better? or nothing really in it at the lower levels?

Thanks
Click to expand...

at both ryzen 1200 being 4 cores and 4 threads vs i3 8100 4 cores and 4 threads, intel beats it due to better design hands down, and you'd have to coverclock the 1200 along with more expensive 3000hz ram to try to keep up. you'd be looking at ryzen 1400 which is 3c/8t to match the 8100. also you'll need a GPU unless you get their upcoming APU unit - not sure when its out

ryzen was cracking at launched and forced intel to act fast, they did and 2 cores made a big difference but prices shot through the roof, but with the untouched i3 8100- budget ryzens cant match it for performance wise- though doing IT work, not sure you'd notice that much lol
 
I would go with a Ryzen build for something like this. An R3 1200 would be more than enough for an Office pc. The board will also be cheaper as you can go with an A320 chipset. Just chuck in a £20 gpu for video output.

You could even consider the KabyLake G4560 (2c/4t) if you want Intel as that can also be paired with a B250 chipset board. It is out of stock on here but you should be able to find one for the same price (60 odd quid). Again it should be good enough for web browsing or office use.
 
 
Andythe Random said:
Just for fun, Ryzen build. Stealing orbitalwalsh's PSU and storage -

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £487.99 (includes shipping: £11.10)
​
Click to expand...

i would look at this board instead and graphics card

its a little extra but better for your build

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £217.48 (includes shipping: £10.50)​
​
 
Agreed, a 1050 gtx is not required when the most it will ever process is youtube videos and excel spreadsheets.

Lots to consider now. Userbenchmark website seem to give the i3 a higher score overall, although the R5 outperforms it on multi-core. Although I doubt it will be noticeable at their level of use.

As the price is so similar for the 2 builds, would probably look at staying with intel. (Something I am a bit more familiar with).

Thanks for all the help and advice.
 
just over because i added a case, but without knowing what type you have its hard to be optimistic. but this first one is just for a small light use system.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £513.00 (includes shipping: £11.10)​
​

now heres a couple of just internals with bigger motherboards, mean you dont need to spend that much on a power supply, just picked it as its fully modular so you barely have many cables inside as you choose what you need, single drive, but an ssd so good speedy performance, the usage doesnt require the expensive 16gb kits.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £500.05 (includes shipping: £11.10)​
​

if more storage space is required then heres a good mech drive and given the sale price, its worth having 2tb over 1tb whether its not needed.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £475.01 (includes shipping: £11.10)​
​

heres a ryzen option, as you need a dedicated gpu for these then i added the 1030 as it be more than they will need.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £447.00 (includes shipping: £11.10)​
​

another ryzen build, this time i chose the better quad and a full size atx board, its not the cheapest, but cheapest in stock, so irrelevant it is a gaming board, i also chose a cheaper non modular power supply which is still more power than you need.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £495.00 (includes shipping: £11.10)​
​
 
A lot of these builds are seriously bad recommendations. i3 cpu with z series boards??

My mum had an old 3rd gen i3 laptop which was slowing down. Rather than buy a new laptop I cloned the OS to an SSD and bought a cheap NAS for their photos. For web browsing, its as quick as my 4.4ghz 6700k.

Youre not going to get a new build that uses DDR4 for a price that makes it worthwhile if all they do is browsing and shopping. Given that theres no GPU, im assuming that is all they’re going to do.

Get a 250GB SSD, clone it and clean it up a little and it’ll be as quick as they need it to be.
 
AiiR said:
A lot of these builds are seriously bad recommendations. i3 cpu with z series boards??

My mum had an old 3rd gen i3 laptop which was slowing down. Rather than buy a new laptop I cloned the OS to an SSD and bought a cheap NAS for their photos. For web browsing, its as quick as my 4.4ghz 6700k.

Youre not going to get a new build that uses DDR4 for a price that makes it worthwhile if all they do is browsing and shopping. Given that theres no GPU, im assuming that is all they’re going to do.

Get a 250GB SSD, clone it and clean it up a little and it’ll be as quick as they need it to be.
Click to expand...


You forget , coffeelake I3 or full quad cores now. And easily match i5s of old .
Having to use a z chip for non gaming builds is a pain but next quarter B/H chips will be out dropping the price
Hopefully get £59 boards which would be nice
 
orbitalwalsh said:
You forget , coffeelake I3 or full quad cores now. And easily match i5s of old .
Having to use a z chip for non gaming builds is a pain but next quarter B/H chips will be out dropping the price
Hopefully get £59 boards which would be nice
Click to expand...

Nope didn't forget, still bad suggestions. I could never justify spending over £100 for a motherboard on someone that just browses the web. If you had to buy brand new, a £50 Skylake Pentium would be fine with a £40 motherboard from the clearance section. Why spend £200 on processing power for something even a smartphone can do?
 
AiiR said:
Nope didn't forget, still bad suggestions. I could never justify spending over £100 for a motherboard on someone that just browses the web. If you had to buy brand new, a £50 Skylake Pentium would be fine with a £40 motherboard from the clearance section. Why spend £200 on processing power for something even a smartphone can do?
Click to expand...

Sure snapdragon and apple arm chips have more multi core power then Pents do
 
Regardless of the new i3 being quads now, think you are forgetting there isn’t exactly an error if at all of none Z boards for this chipset, certainly not at the time we made the specs, plus it’s to get the OP started, otherwise might as aswell go kabylake for intel wise.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom