Budget rig, help?

Jar-man

Jar-man

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Hi Guys,

Please advise on my choice of specs (before you think 'here it goes again', I've read the previous threads on new pcs:D).

I've always loved AMD deep down inside but should I rather stick with the Intel i5 2500 CPU?

I've seen this special at www.zones.co.za: R3899 for a i5 2500, 4gig DDR3, 500gig HDD. Is it worth it? -I know I live in JHB but a plan can be made.

My budget is R5000 most and the purpose would be developing with Visual Studio and light gaming.
I don't see the need for a SSD for now and I will definitely need a Graphics Card with multiple screen support.

Thanks,
Jarrod.
 
With that budget I see nothing wrong with amd. I'd say get an 1100T or something along those lines.
 
Sounds pretty good, try get another 4GB stick of RAM in there if you can, its dirt cheap at the moment
 
Is that R5000 budget including the graphics card? What features are you looking for in a motherboard?

Try go the AMD route. And try to get from somewhere else other than Pczone, their customer support is shocking.

Worked this up, it's R36.07 over but the case, PSU, motherboard, Ram and hard drive are all better brands and have better warranties.

http://www.prophecy.co.za/ in used in this quote:

Case: R334.82
Coolermaster RC-311B-SKN1 , Elite 311 , black with Silver highlight
Product Page

PSU: R684.68
CORSAIR CX500 + Eps12v
Product Page

Motherboard: R644.56
Asus P8H61-M LX : all-in-one LGA1155 mb
Product Page

CPU: R2025.21
Intel Core i5-2500

Ram: R200.64
Corsair CMV4GX3M1A1333C9 4G d3-1333 C9

Hard Drive: R978.12
Wd7500AARX 750Gb S6G Green 64m

Optical Drive: R168.04
LG GH22NS30/40/50/70 , 22x , Sata

Total: R5036.07
Shipping is free, or you can pickup from them either way, they are in Johannesburg.

You could:
...get the Seagate Hard drive listed on their site but it's 250GB has a 1 year warranty and only saves R233, so not worth it.
...get a cheaper case but I wouldn't recommend it, the graphics card you get might not fit in the case.
...get a cheaper brand/smaller size stick of ram, but it's not worth it.
 
Last edited:
NomNom said:
Is that R5000 budget including the graphics card? What features are you looking for in a motherboard?

Try go the AMD route. And try to get from somewhere else other than Pczone, their customer support is shocking.

Worked this up, it's R36.07 over but the case, PSU, motherboard, Ram and hard drive are all better brands and have better warranties.

http://www.prophecy.co.za/ in used in this quote:

Case: R334.82
Coolermaster RC-311B-SKN1 , Elite 311 , black with Silver highlight
Product Page

PSU: R684.68
CORSAIR CX500 + Eps12v
Product Page

Motherboard: R644.56
Asus P8H61-M LX : all-in-one LGA1155 mb
Product Page

CPU: R2025.21
Intel Core i5-2500

Ram: R200.64
Corsair CMV4GX3M1A1333C9 4G d3-1333 C9

Hard Drive: R978.12
Wd7500AARX 750Gb S6G Green 64m

Optical Drive: R168.04
LG GH22NS30/40/50/70 , 22x , Sata

Total: R5036.07
Shipping is free, or you can pickup from them either way, they are in Johannesburg.

You could:
...get the Seagate Hard drive listed on their site but it's 250GB has a 1 year warranty and only saves R233, so not worth it.
...get a cheaper case but I wouldn't recommend it, the graphics card you get might not fit in the case.
...get a cheaper brand/smaller size stick of ram, but it's not worth it.
Click to expand...

Wow thanks NomNom, the pricing is great. Cosstech is also quite cheap but not sure about the service.

With regards to the M/B - 'Asus P8H61-M LX : all-in-one LGA1155 mb', does DDR3 1600 make a big difference?
 
Last edited:
Anyone know of a good priced M/B that has x4 DDR 3 slots, that will support i5 2500?

I'm leaning towards the i5 2500 or can someone talk me out of it, for something else?

Also looking for a good priced GFX Card with multiple screen support?

Thanks for the help thus far.
 
Here's my final specs, any other suggestions for a MB under a R1000 that can Over-clock?

CPU: i5 2500k - Esquire, R1930
MB: Biostar TH67+ - Computersonly, R899 ...Only drawback is that the rear panel only has 2 usb 2.0 ports
RAM: x2 Kingston 4gig DDR3 1333 - Esquire, R400
HDD: Seagate 500gig - Esquire, ~R705
CASE: (Still looking, want a red and black case) - ~R400
PSU: (Still looking, and thinking of a 500w) - ~R500

I haven't found a good enough Graphics card so I can wait, apparently the i5 2500k has a intel HD3000 that's not that bad for now.

I came across this on another forum,
First off, you do not want any H61, H67 or anything but P67 or Z68 IF you ever want to OC any SB 'K' CPU; only P67 or Z68 as of today can OC.
Click to expand...
 
jarrodr said:
Here's my final specs, any other suggestions for a MB under a R1000 that can Over-clock?

CPU: i5 2500k - Esquire, R1930
MB: Biostar TH67+ - Computersonly, R899 ...Only drawback is that the rear panel only has 2 usb 2.0 ports
RAM: x2 Kingston 4gig DDR3 1333 - Esquire, R400
HDD: Seagate 500gig - Esquire, ~R705
CASE: (Still looking, want a red and black case) - ~R400
PSU: (Still looking, and thinking of a 500w) - ~R500

I haven't found a good enough Graphics card so I can wait, apparently the i5 2500k has a intel HD3000 that's not that bad for now.

I came across this on another forum,
Click to expand...

You will not be able to overclock that CPU with that motherboard. Also try to get a Western Digital Hard Drive since they carry 3 Year Warranties, if you can not get one for the same price then Seagate will have to do. That PSU I listed for you above is the upmost minimum I would recommend anyone. When looking for a case, look out for how much space length wise you have for graphics cards, that case I listed for you above has the ability to remove it's HDD cage if you require more space for a graphics card.

You say you are looking for a black and red case, have you seen this one? It comes in a black/red finish.
GIGABYTE X4 ATX Chassis

Edit: AFAIK you need atleast a P67 chipset motherboard to overclock a 2500k CPU.
 
Last edited:
Now the decisions come:
Go for the (1)i5 2500k, a P67 MB and get a graphics card later on or
go for the (2)i5 2500, Asus P8H61-M LX and a mid-range graphics card now?

I love how budgets start of small, then comes need vs want:twisted:.
 
I did a budget uprade through PC Zone recently and the service was top notch. The H61 Mobo's aren't that bad. In some cases they are just as good or better in performance than the P67 mobo's. Whatever you do stay away from Biostar. I had bad experiences with Biostar. Also those AMD CPU's can lag behind the i5 2500. If overclocking is a must then rather get the newer Z68 mobo's.

BTW, I took your second option and I'm really enjoying the PC now :)
 
jarrodr said:
Now the decisions come:
Go for the (1)i5 2500k, a P67 MB and get a graphics card later on or
go for the (2)i5 2500, Asus P8H61-M LX and a mid-range graphics card now?

I love how budgets start of small, then comes need vs want:twisted:.
Click to expand...

IMO option 1 will last longer.
 
jarrodr said:
Now the decisions come:
Go for the (1)i5 2500k, a P67 MB and get a graphics card later on or
go for the (2)i5 2500, Asus P8H61-M LX and a mid-range graphics card now?

I love how budgets start of small, then comes need vs want:twisted:.
Click to expand...

Depends if the graphics card later on is high-end or not... :twisted:

:D
 
First off, thanks for all the helpful posts. I've ordered the components and now I wait, my budget was 5k but delivery, insurance and unexpected tweaks pushed it to ~5900.

Intel i5 2500k,
ASRock Z68 Pro3 Gen3 Intel Z68 Chipset ATX,
Coolermaster Hyper Evo Cpu Cooler,
x2 Cosair 4GB DDR3 1333,
Seagate 500gig Sata 3,
Coolermaster Elite 431 Chassis,
Coolermaster Extreme Power 500W.
 
jarrodr said:
does DDR3 1600 make a big difference?
Click to expand...

Most people will tell you "No", and that's mostly right. However, for AMD Llano and Bulldozer builds, its recommended you start with DDR3-1600 for Llano and DDR3-1866 for Bulldozer to get the most back out of your RAM. An overclocked Llano chip makes great use of the extra bandwidth if you're planning on using the integrated APU for anything, and Bulldozer only performs well at 1866Mhz because the platform requires extra bandwidth because its designed for multi-threaded workloads.

Good going on choosing the i5 2500k, that'll last you quite a while. In a year and a bit, trade it in for Ivy-Bridge E and enjoy about a 25-30% boost in applications and games. What graphics card are you putting in there?
 
Well for now no graphics card, need to save up for a good / ok-ish one. The Intel HD3000 isn't that bad for now, well I won't be doing hardcore gaming.
 
jarrodr said:
Well for now no graphics card, need to save up for a good / ok-ish one. The Intel HD3000 isn't that bad for now, well I won't be doing hardcore gaming.
Click to expand...

What size screen are you using? You could get away with snagging a Radeon HD6670 as a stop-gap option until Nvidia's Kepler filters down into the lower ranks, and forces price wars with AMD,
 
I have mucho faith in the psu. Please don't fail me now.

I have a Samsung 23 sw. Would the Hd6670 be exceptable for demanding games?
 
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