Budget Build

S

stimike

n00b
Joined
Sep 7, 2010
Messages
31
Hey guys, long time lurker first time poster.

Looking to upgrade my Core2 Duo e7500, I'd prefer i7 if possible and I'm NOT against buying used mobo/ram (though I'd prefer new processor) I'm just not too sure where to look.

I do have family members in MA near a microcenter there and may end up getting them to buy/ship me a i7 950, unless I find a better/more logical deal.

Thank you for all the help :

  • PC will be mainly used for gaming, though I do use photoshop on occasion for making forum sigs.
  • My budget is about $600~$625 dollars.
  • I live in South West Florida
  • I need a processor, motherboard, and ram.
  • I will be reusing my two GTX260's as well as my Corsair TX750w as well as my Coolermaster CM690 (with 3 added 120mm case fans) My CPU cooler will be a Spire Thermax Eclipse II
  • I do plan on overclocking it to 4ghz (or as high as I can go over 4ghz safely on air)
  • Currently I have a 19" widescreen monitor native resolution 1440x900 (I will be upgrading this at a later time)
  • I plan on buying this ASAP, just have to find the right deals
  • Motherboard should have SLI support, I'd prefer USB3.0 and SATA 6gbps but with my budget I'd understand if thats not possible.
  • I do have a legit copy of Windows 7 Ultimate x64
 
Ask your family members to call up the Microcenter near them and ask how much is the Core i5 750 and 760 cost over there.

Also, the Core i7 950 hasn't had a price drop to $200 yet at Microcenter so still not worth it over the Core i7 930 route.
 
stimike said:
As far as I know the i7 950 is 250$ from microcenter
Click to expand...

Still not worth it over the Core i7 930 since for that extra $50, all you're getting is a 206Mhz clock speed increase.

The reason why I asked you to ask your relatives about the pricing for the Core i7 750 and Core i7 760 is that it's been shown that the Core i7 930 CPU is not that much faster than the Core i7 750 or i5 760 in many games. The difference is only 2FPS at most. In addition, it's also been shown that the X58's x16/x16 SLI capability doesn't make that much of a difference over x4/x4 SLI let alone x8/x8 SLI.

So in other words, the extra costs for a X58 motherboard and Core i7 CPU isn't worth it for a gaming PC over the Core i5 750/760 CPUs.
 
lkiller1231 said:
No, for that budget do NOT get LGA1156. No offense but you made a bad choice on the CPU.

i7 930 - $284.99
Gigabyte X58-UD3R, can even support 3-way SLI. $189.99 with a 10% promo code
Corsair 6GB - $129.99
$603. With a better mobo and LGA1366.

If you want you can go a little bit cheaper on the memory - DDR1333 for $119.99, mot much impact on the performance.
Click to expand...

Boom, exactly what I was looking for. Theres an open box deal on this mobo too for like 150$ I think I'll order that and the ram tonight and then have my cousin pick up the i7 950 for 250$ :D
 
Dude, i am a little bit skeptical about open box deals since the packaging kinda sucks.

One little bent on the pin and the mobo is done, I advice you to take on the BRAND NEW route since it is only $189.99 after promo code, and free shipping. So it is only about $20 more.
 
lkiller1231 said:
No, for that budget do NOT get LGA1156. No offense but you made a bad choice on the CPU.

i7 930 - $284.99
Gigabyte X58-UD3R, can even support 3-way SLI. $189.99 with a 10% promo code
Corsair 6GB - $129.99
$603. With a better mobo and LGA1366.

If you want you can go a little bit cheaper on the memory - DDR1333 for $119.99, mot much impact on the performance.
Click to expand...

The deuce? Danny just said that there's not enough of a performance benefit in gaming for an X58 build to be considered practical.

I agree that the OP shouldn't have chosen the i7-875, but even the i5-750 would be a good choice for gaming (especially overclocked).
 
stimike said:
Boom, exactly what I was looking for. Theres an open box deal on this mobo too for like 150$ I think I'll order that and the ram tonight and then have my cousin pick up the i7 950 for 250$ :D
Click to expand...

dude dont get open boxes...you never know what you gonna get...
 
Way I see it, either it'll be DOA and I can return it for another, or it'll work splendidly.

I've read somewhere that they never ship without the I/O shields, anyone have any experience with open box mobo's that can verify this?
 
My open box was missing a chipset heatsink and the I/O shield. It took me about a month -- and quite a bit of begging -- to get both of them from the manufacturer. (Fortunately, they were nice enough to give them to me for no charge.)

Open box boards are hit or miss in at least one way, shape, or form.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top