Cheap yet good ivy bridge build.

TheBuzzer

TheBuzzer

HACK THE WORLD!
Joined
Aug 15, 2005
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1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Mostly simple picture editing and web browsing and some random applications.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$500 dollars max

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
USA

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
Case, Motherboard, CPU, Thermal paste (unless it comes with cpu?), SSD Drive (120gb in size at least), Ram (8gb hopefully)

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
DVD burner, spare hdd (for storage)

6) Will you be overclocking?
mildly

7) 7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
She gotten a 19 inch, maybe she will get a 24 inch in future

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
ASAP if cheap

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
Well as much as possible

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes - Win 64bit

This is a work in progress, will change parts to cheaper. Most likely will just make her buy a cheap dell when it is on sale. However just trying to see if there is any way to make a new comp for cheaper than dell and with better parts.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026 - CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2 (CMPSU-430CXV2) 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - $24.99 after mail-in rebate card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157302 - ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP LGA 1155 Intel H77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - 94 dollars
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Series-...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1336773059&sr=1-1 - Intel 510 Series 120 GB SATA Version 3 2.5-Inch Solid-State Drive - $214.99
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...ffiliateID=Es5Ekr9eEBk-bsMaUkDwnjjaY.Mo.ipBuA - Intel Core i5 3450 Processor 3.1 4 BX80637I53450 - $179.99
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006I2H0YS/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER - Corsair Carbide Series 300R Mid-Tower Gaming Case - $75.84
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002CZAPUQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&m=A119K31BOSN2QF - Arctic Silver 5 3.5G Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Grease CPU Heat Sink Compound - $6.00
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004CRSM4I/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER -Corsair Vengeance 8 GB ( 2 x 4 GB ) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) 240-Pin DDR3 Memory Kit for Intel Core i3, i5, i7 and AMD Platforms SDRAM CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 - $49.99

btw there isnt a gfx card because worker isn't a gamer and most likely the i5 build in gfx is good enough .
 
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It would help if you answered the stickied "ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST!" so that we can help you better.

Though I can tell already that your list is full of issues. The PSU, SSD, RAM, mobo, and thermal paste are not great choices.
 
Danny Bui said:
It would help if you answered the stickied "ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST!" so that we can help you better.

Though I can tell already that your list is full of issues. The PSU, SSD, RAM, mobo, and thermal paste are not great choices.
Click to expand...

well most of the stuff i answered but i will make it eaiser to read. ya it seems like ssd isnt a good choice because it seems to have problems. also of course it isnt great choices becuase i am trying to make it cheap. great choices will go over the sub 500 buget easy.
 
TheBuzzer said:
well most of the stuff i answered but i will make it eaiser to read.
Click to expand...
No you didn't. Questions 1, 3, 8, 9, and 10 weren't answered. That's half the questions there.

TheBuzzer said:
ya it seems like ssd isnt a good choice because it seems to have problems. also of course it isnt great choices becuase i am trying to make it cheap. great choices will go over the sub 500 buget easy.
Click to expand...
Not really. You can still get great parts for cheap. I know of several alternative parts to the PSU, SSD, RAM, mobo, and thermal paste that you listed that are of equal or better quality for lesser or equal price.

EDIT: Ahh you added the questions. Let me come up with a build right quick.
EDIT 2: Do you have a Windows 7 64bit or 32bit?
 
hardest part of the challenge is getting it under 500 dollars with good parts.
 
Ok, just get her a Dell. You're not going to be able to get an Ivy Bridge setup for $500 without going with really shitty parts or using fuzzy math with MIR and such.

Here's the cheapest IB setup I could come up with:
$200 - Intel Core i5-3450
$95 - Gigabyte GA-H77M-D3H Intel H77 ATX Motherboard
$40 - Corsair CMV8GX3M2A1333C9 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$125 - Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SSD
$38 - Antec Earthwatts Green EA380D 380W PSU
$50 - NZXT Source 210 Elite Black ATX Case
----
Total: $548 shipped.

Here's the cheapest SB quad-core setup with a 4 DIMM mobo I could come up with:
$180 - Intel Core i5-2300
$90 - Intel BOXDH67BLB3 Intel H67 mATX Motherboard
$40 - Corsair CMV8GX3M2A1333C9 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$125 - Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SSD
$38 - Antec Earthwatts Green EA380D 380W PSU
$50 - NZXT Source 210 Elite Black ATX Case
----
Total: $523 shipped.

Dropping down to the Core i3 2120 will easily get you under $500 though. For your worker's use, the dual-core Core i3 2120 will be fine.
 
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yep, that is what i thought, best solution is for me to get her a dell and change the hdd to a ssd for more performance boost. also who knows will she later on want a real gfx card for some rpg gaming. i3 should be good but will prob run into problems more if she does later want to game on it. hard to tell how a person will change later on.
 
btw for the ram, is the difference not noticeable at all for PC3-10666 vs PC3 12800?
 
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