Need advice for buying a CPU on BUDGET

[Bubba-Hotepp]

I only quickly read Bubba's long post. Skimmed rather. Not sure about the AMD route.. The FX line is just not worth it when you can get a nice cheap H77 board and pair it with a 3450 and get the same result. A 3450 at stock is probably equivalent to 4-4.2ghz FX 6100; minus the extra performance thread-wise. Which even then I wouldn't be surprised if the FX lost. And also considering the 3450 without IGP will max out at 50w; vs the FX 6100 130w+ rating and once OC'd goodbye power conservation.

But I do like you've gone back to the Intel route . I do agree on the 2500K though; I myself actually bought a Z77 board and the 2500K at the same time, simply because the 2500K required less cooling for a nice OC then the 3570k. And for a gaming rig; made no difference.

But for single screen gaming at 1080p; and for a gaming rig only; the i5 3450 will do perfectly fine. OC'ing really doesn't help a lot for 1080p or less. It really only helps some badly threaded games where higher clock speed means more; but even then 3.5ghz isn't slow for an Ivy proc (turbo mode). If the OP isn't comfortable with Oc'ing; or has no desire to; I see little reason to buy him an overclockable CPU. Though I would stick with that board you picked; just because its only 20 ringits more expensive than the H77 version. But the 3450 is almost 100 ringits less than the 2500k. But again if the aim is budget; the drop to the H77 paired with the 3450 is still the better choice. Over 100 ringits saved for (at stock) slightly better performance and slightly lower consumption (though negligible)

The FX series have really gotten a bad rap from for the most part fanboy spin and poorly done reviews. You have to remember that most reviews that came out were done A)Pre Patch and B)at stock speeds which ignores one of the FX's main strenghts. If the prices were similar where he's at and an i3 cost the same amount as an FX-6100 here I would have easily recommended to him. But when I saw that it's more expensive than a 2500K my jaw hit the floor, those prices are rediculous. Same goes for the locked i5 series. With the 6100 cheaper here than the locked i5's and give similar or slightly better (better in multi-threaded apps) it's a good option vs those i5's. With the kinds of prices he has it changes things drastically.

Do you know anyone with a 3450? Now I'm curious to see how they compare to each other. I'd love to run CPU bound benchmarks with someone and see how it all pans out (preferably someone objective and we can just run an objective comparison without any biased opinions on either chip).

= =" wao i gone for college for like 3 hours and the amount of essay has came out lol, really appreciate the help guys.

Actually my total budget its RM 2200 if possible no more (havent include GPU , i getting all other parts first , i will have to suffer with my Sapphire 5830 Xtreme 1GB with my new PC build at the moment)

So i should change to Seasonic / Silverstone PSU instead then ? Cooler Master aint bad too i seen many Americans used them. Maybe its not so popular there, but most actually uses Cooler Master , i can get a 650W 80+ BRONZE too from RM 279 for Cooler Master

Bubba how you know of Compuzone ? I actually is taking the price from there lol , but they dont sell the PSU and CPU cooler i want from there.
But i be buying most parts from that shop. So you guys can take a reference what my country here got and the price from that price list.

But as i mentioned before very earlier , well i know this is a OC Forum , but sadly i dont OC , i dont tend to OC too....so i dont think there's any point i getting a 2500 K since i wont OC it. So my question stands , is 3550 worth the extra 55 bucks compare to 3450.

Another thing it worries me , i just actually found out the H77 and even the Z77 Mobo from Gigabyte its actually a Micro ATX , i was wonder since its smaller, i worry my GPU will touch the HDD cage of my casing , will it ? Or since the Mobo is smaller you will actually place it lower than the normal size ATX Mobo , i hope you understand what i mean.

I just want a PC which my hardwares either the GPU / CPU or any what so ever , will bottleneck my other parts or anything.

I want a PC able to play all most recent 2012 released games and upcoming 2013 games, with MEDIUM to HIGH graphics , i don't even demand ULTRA. If possible maybe my PC can still last for all the games for the next 3 - 4 years (starting from now 2012 )

Thats all i want , i want a gaming PC , but not a hardcore extreme gaming PC , since its aint cheap to get a PC here actually , dont know about US , if i include GPU now total build be like 3 K then.

That being said , to show how hard to build a PC here, simple , a Manager salary here maybe only 4 - 6 K per month ! Im still a student and im building a PC worth 3 K !

Unless your a business man , i think money will come easier then well if you have good business daily.

One most last thing , let's not forget to add in a new copy of Windows 7 64 BIT costing RM 269 =)
( i wonder is it even 64 BIT on the price list if its 86 BIT.....****..... even more expensive than i calculated then)

I just did a search in google for "malaysia pc parts" and I think it was the 3rd result down in the list. I figured since they had a shop in the capitol that most people there have heard of it and so I downloaded their price sheet.

So, with OC'ing not being a factor and a budget of 2200 ringgits I would have recommended an i5-2400 but since there the 3450 is the same price then the choice is easy. You really won't see a difference between the 3450 and 3500 in gaming. With all of that in mind I'll update the list to this

CPU - i5-3450 $575 ringgits
MB - GIGABYTE H77M-D3H $299 ringgits (make sure to upgrade the bios to F5 if it doesn't come with it)
Mem - 1600C9 VENGEANCE $229 ringgits
PSU - Either of these
Corsair 600W GS ( A/80+ ) $279 ringgits (before anyone decides to knock corsair read the review)
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Corsair-GS500-Power-Supply-Review/1571/11
OR this
Seasonic 620W S12II ( A/80+ ) $299 ringgits
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Seasonic-S12II-Bronze-520-W-Power-Supply-Review/954/10

Total before GPU = $1402 ringgits (used seasonic price so knock off 20 if you get the corsair)

Many Amercians who don't know about power supplies****. Don't buy cooler master power supplies. Go with a Seasonic or Silverstone PSU.

The two versions of windows there, you want the 64bit. If it says 86; it actually means its 32-bit. So don't buy that .

Also your HD 5830 is still an alright card. Not the greatest; but hey. It'll work for now for sure. =). And you'll find it perform a bit better with your new setup.

EDIT: oh and 'Amercians' also = rest of the world. The problem with cooler master power supplies is that they have a lot of mediocre/bad PSU's that have high wattages, like 650-750W. And they're often cheaper than quality 500-600W units. So people see it and go 'HEY, HIGHER NUMBER, CHEAPER PRICE, MUST BUY'. I cannot tell you how many times I've had to correct PSU choices in builds for my local e-tailers facebook page/discussion page for those wanting to build computers...

 

[Knufire]

(before anyone decides to knock corsair read the review)

This forum is the closest thing you'll get to a Corsair PSU fanboy group. xD

 

[Bubba-Hotepp]

This forum is the closest thing you'll get to a Corsair PSU fanboy group. xD

And that's precisely how people get misinformed. It's NEVER a good idea to simply say X manufacturer is always good or bad. 90% of them don't manufacture their own PSU's and they typical use 2-3 source manufacturers, so the same Brand (Corsair, Xigmatek, etc) will vary in quality and build from one product line (example Corsair gaming series) to another. Which is precisely why you need to look over an in depth review like the type they do at HS which does an internal inspection and full range of load tests and even overload tests. That is how you decide on which PSU is a good buy and which PSU's you should avoid. Personally I have the Rosewill Hive series which was an excellent buy for the money and received the "gold award" from HS. And it's turned out to be an excellent PSU of course. But I see no reason why the Corsair GS600 is a "bad buy" when all evidence points to the contrary. I would choose other options considering price etc. But in his case that's one of the more affordable choices on the list and is just as good as the Seasonic 620 that's sold at the same store.

 

[Knufire]

And that's precisely how people get misinformed. It's NEVER a good idea to simply say X manufacturer is always good or bad. 90% of them don't manufacture their own PSU's and they typical use 2-3 source manufacturers, so the same Brand (Corsair, Xigmatek, etc) will vary in quality and build from one product line (example Corsair gaming series) to another. Which is precisely why you need to look over an in depth review like the type they do at HS which does an internal inspection and full range of load tests and even overload tests. That is how you decide on which PSU is a good buy and which PSU's you should avoid. Personally I have the Rosewill Hive series which was an excellent buy for the money and received the "gold award" from HS. And it's turned out to be an excellent PSU of course. But I see no reason why the Corsair GS600 is a "bad buy" when all evidence points to the contrary. I would choose other options considering price etc. But in his case that's one of the more affordable choices on the list and is just as good as the Seasonic 620 that's sold at the same store.

Most of the people on these forums, myself included, are well aware of what you're saying. Most of Corsair's line is Channel Well, while the higher ends are Seasonics.

HS, while they do good reviews, is a bit liberal with the award giving. The site generally accepted to be the best is Jonnyguru.com.

 

[Bubba-Hotepp]

Most of the people on these forums, myself included, are well aware of what you're saying. Most of Corsair's line is Channel Well, while the higher ends are Seasonics.

HS, while they do good reviews, is a bit liberal with the award giving. The site generally accepted to be the best is Jonnyguru.com.

I'll check out Johnnyguru. I don't necessarily only pay attention to their "awards". However when you review all the results they post on the load tests you get a very good idea how a PSU performs. Likewise I've seen PSU's that have "Passed" or been given "awards" by other review sites that when HS runs theirs the PSU actually poses a fire risk.

Just looked over jg and there aren't many reviews of PSU's. Many of the models out now haven't even been reviewed on that site. Other than that the reviews are on the same level as HS. Teardown and full spectrum of load tests. (so yes I would agree that JG is another good source of hardware reviews)

 

[Gh0sT-NoVa]

Well i guess this basically settles everything for me =)

Yeah another thing about the SATA , so there's only HDD , DVD and SSD uses SATA ports right.

If i were to use SSD , its best i plug it in on the SATA 3 6GB/S right , for maximum speed, well i aint getting one anytime soon i guess but for future knowledge =)

Im curious what's the total cost for everyone's current build here, write in USD , i can just convert it its simple =)

Basically for my build if including GPU , its only 1 K USD , i think thats pretty cheap for you guys lol , but you guys can just get an Xbox for 300+ right , it cost 900+ here now

 

[MongGrel]

I always loved this review, I've loved this PSU ever since I bought it thought I'd throw it up here for grins and giggles

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=142

 

[Knufire]

Well i guess this basically settles everything for me =)

Yeah another thing about the SATA , so there's only HDD , DVD and SSD uses SATA ports right.

If i were to use SSD , its best i plug it in on the SATA 3 6GB/S right , for maximum speed, well i aint getting one anytime soon i guess but for future knowledge =)

Im curious what's the total cost for everyone's current build here, write in USD , i can just convert it its simple =)

Basically for my build if including GPU , its only 1 K USD , i think thats pretty cheap for you guys lol , but you guys can just get an Xbox for 300+ right , it cost 900+ here now

Mine was about $1200 three years ago. Also picked up an Xbox for $200 maybe 2 or 3 years ago as well, almost 4.5x the price over there.

 

[Gh0sT-NoVa]

Yeah i know Knufire its a sad case ,since USD is 3 X our money so almost everything we buy its 3 X more expensive here.

Mind telling me any idea how much a Manager of a company earns per month ? Sort of a survey for myself.

Also not to mention that games over here are least 130 - 160 depending on popularity , they never even go down even if their old. Unless we speak of 5 years old or more ! Which still only down to maybe 30 bucks and so u can never c 5 bucks original games !

Currently USD has drop to 3.0 some times 2.9 if lucky. When economy was better 3 - 4 years ago , USD was like 3.8 X more ! Pound was 7.0 !

I play this online game paying membership every month , back then 3.8 X the price was killing lol , now its 3.0 well cheaper by alot , you guys play WOW its like 15 bucks per month right , we have to pay like 60 bucks per month here !

 

[wingman99]

I'll check out Johnnyguru. I don't necessarily only pay attention to their "awards". However when you review all the results they post on the load tests you get a very good idea how a PSU performs. Likewise I've seen PSU's that have "Passed" or been given "awards" by other review sites that when HS runs theirs the PSU actually poses a fire risk.

Just looked over jg and there aren't many reviews of PSU's. Many of the models out now haven't even been reviewed on that site. Other than that the reviews are on the same level as HS. Teardown and full spectrum of load tests. (so yes I would agree that JG is another good source of hardware reviews)

Who is HS? I would like to read all the reviews.

 

[Richierichdolla]

I would say go for the intel cpu and if you get any k series intel cpu from microcenter you will get 50$ off so I would do that even on a budget

 

[Knufire]

Who is HS? I would like to read all the reviews.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/

IMO, they're second to Jonnyguru/OKWolf's reviews. Jonnyguru.com frequently links to them as well.

I would say go for the intel cpu and if you get any k series intel cpu from microcenter you will get 50$ off so I would do that even on a budget

He's across the Pacific Ocean, a bit far away from the nearest Microcenter.

 

[wingman99]

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/

IMO, they're second to Jonnyguru/OKWolf's reviews. Jonnyguru.com frequently links to them as well.

I have been reading jonnyguru for years, however i like HS pushing the PSU to the MAX and also testing for failure, i like that kind of testing the best, i have talked to wolf about doing that and he said he does not have enough time.

My HX 620w will actually do 740w and stay in specification.

 

[Bubba-Hotepp]

I always loved this review, I've loved this PSU ever since I bought it thought I'd throw it up here for grins and giggles

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=142

That's hilarious. That review rocks

Well i guess this basically settles everything for me =)

Yeah another thing about the SATA , so there's only HDD , DVD and SSD uses SATA ports right.

If i were to use SSD , its best i plug it in on the SATA 3 6GB/S right , for maximum speed, well i aint getting one anytime soon i guess but for future knowledge =)

Im curious what's the total cost for everyone's current build here, write in USD , i can just convert it its simple =)

Basically for my build if including GPU , its only 1 K USD , i think thats pretty cheap for you guys lol , but you guys can just get an Xbox for 300+ right , it cost 900+ here now

I paid $129 for my FX-6100 ($10 off sale normally $139), I bought my Asrock 990FX Fatal1ty Pro MB for $130 as an open box purchase on Newegg (normally $179), My HD5870 I think I paid *trying to remember* $300 maybe back in Jan 2010? Something like that. I bought my Auzentech X-FI Forte sound card for $26 used on Ebay, My wife gave me my HAF 922 2 years ago for Christmas and I think she paid $70 as a Black Friday deal, I paid $59.99 for my Rosewill Hive 650 on Newegg when they had a sale, My G-Skill sniper series 2100MHz 2x4GB memory was $65, and I paid $80 for my Corsair H50 2 years ago and $25 (after using best buy reward coupons) for the H40 I used to modify it into a dual radiator loop after I was modding the H50 and dropped the pump which then wacked against the counter (with the cover off) and knocked an IC off of the control board. Total = roughly $885 give or take.

I have been reading jonnyguru for years, however i like HS pushing the PSU to the MAX and also testing for failure, i like that kind of testing the best, i have talked to wolf about doing that and he said he does not have enough time.

My HX 620w will actually do 740w and stay in specification.

I never heard of JG until today. From what I've read it looks to me like another site I'll have to add to my favorites bar as an invaluable resource like hardwaresecrets.

 

[Mjolnir]

Listing my parts over the time this computer was compiled would take too long... Overall since I got my first real computer in my own room; I'd be looking at 5-6k worth of parts (some still have, some not, etc). AUD. >.>

If you were to count JUST what I have now.

66 for mouse, 120 for keyboard, 100 for case, 700 for RAM/CPU/Board/Cooler, 175 for PSU, 420 for G Skill Falcon 2 years ago, 150 for the Crucial M4, 99 for the WD Green. 800 for the screen. Win 7 ult 64 another 190 odd. 2 years ago. + Current speakers and headphones (100-120/300 respectively), about 3.2k AUD? Ish? For current parts only.. Between case swaps, system swaps, etc, 5-6k+ easy..

 

[Knufire]

I never heard of JG until today. From what I've read it looks to me like another site I'll have to add to my favorites bar as an invaluable resource like hardwaresecrets.

Don't forget our own reviews here by Bobnova and the reviews over at [H] (HardOCP).

 

[Gh0sT-NoVa]

What is a Microcenter lol ?

About PSU its still a very confusing thing , some said that a normal build 600 W will do or even 500 W will do , but i dont meant entirely normal , something like mine.

Some say you least need 700 W or 800 W.

Some say efficiency its most important , Wattage its small matter.

And what PC would actually really , seriously need a 1300 W PSU ? ?

I seen a PC build actually uses 2 X 1300W PSU LOL !

 

[Frakk]

What is a Microcenter lol ?

About PSU its still a very confusing thing , some said that a normal build 600 W will do or even 500 W will do , but i dont meant entirely normal , something like mine.

Some say you least need 700 W or 800 W.

Some say efficiency its most important , Wattage its small matter.

And what PC would actually really , seriously need a 1300 W PSU ? ?

I seen a PC build actually uses 2 X 1300W PSU LOL !

Can you round up what you have? in most cases you don't need more than 700w.

He said with a 750w XFX in his rig Which incessantly is also Sea Sonic, most of the the really good ones are, not just Corsair

 

[Knufire]

What is a Microcenter lol ?

About PSU its still a very confusing thing , some said that a normal build 600 W will do or even 500 W will do , but i dont meant entirely normal , something like mine.

Some say you least need 700 W or 800 W.

Some say efficiency its most important , Wattage its small matter.

And what PC would actually really , seriously need a 1300 W PSU ? ?

I seen a PC build actually uses 2 X 1300W PSU LOL !

Microcenter is just a US store that usually has really good sales on stuff, lol.

For the actual PSU number, just add up the TDP of the CPU and the GPU, and add 50-100W or so for RAM/HDD/Fans/Motherboard, etc. That's theoretically how much your computer would draw at full load. Thing is that overclocking increases that number.

Efficiency is simply this. If your computer is 80% efficient, and your parts need 400W, you're actually drawing 500W from the wall. It just helps with the electricity bill.

 

[Bubba-Hotepp]

Microcenter is just a US store that usually has really good sales on stuff, lol.

For the actual PSU number, just add up the TDP of the CPU and the GPU, and add 50-100W or so for RAM/HDD/Fans/Motherboard, etc. That's theoretically how much your computer would draw at full load. Thing is that overclocking increases that number.

Efficiency is simply this. If your computer is 80% efficient, and your parts need 400W, you're actually drawing 500W from the wall. It just helps with the electricity bill.

TDP is Heat Dissipation not power consumption.