i3 build anyone?

D

dbee

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Joined
Jul 10, 2009
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Good evening everyone, i am putting together an i3 build for my new office desktop . Was just wondering if anybody here has put one together yet and how they like it. Planning on using the integrated graphics on the chip since it wont be for gaming and so far its at $485 not including a monitor ( already have 4 20" dells ) . Would love to buy everything from Newegg but am gonna have to go with MC in case something needs to be exchanged/returned. this is what i have so far...

EVGA H55v
http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0326189

core i3 530
http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0325943

4GB DDR3 OCZ
http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0322202

CM elite 331 case w/ 350w psu
http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0250924

WD Blue 500gb
http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0252592

Sony DVDRW
http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0308559

Win 7 pro
School discounted $65 :-)

I think this is what i may end up with, anybody have some suggestions to add? I am most interested about the onboard GPU processing within the chip and anybodys experience with it. Once Nvidia's new lineup releases i will probably drop my 260 in there and get a 470 for my current rig. Just wondering if i should go ahead and get a diff case that doesn't include a PSU , which would only run $40 more.

Throw some ideas at me everyone i really wanna hear what you have to say. Particular about the motherboard, there are a few others that look nice and am trying to keep that around $100 .

Thanks all !
 
Hey dbee. Sorry, no experience with these parts. I'm trying to talk a friend into letting me build a similar set up for him.

Wanted to ask, how is Micro Center? I haven't used them before. Prices seem quite a bit better than newegg.
 
Yea i was going to recommend the EVGA one, but they didnt have it on the MC site.
 
You can get an i5 750 build with a decent GPU for less than $200 more, so it will last longer, and will be able to do gaming in the event you ever want it to. Just food for thought. looks like a fun build either way.
 
dbee said:
Good evening everyone, i am putting together an i3 build for my new office desktop... Planning on using the integrated graphics on the chip since it wont be for gaming
Click to expand...

I think the I3 is a good budget option
 
Hey Gunning, MC does have some prices that beat egg's by a few bucks. Could even say alot. Plus you can exchange a bad board same day and not have to go without the rig. They are awesome dude.

My main desktop is an i7 build anyway which i game on. Either way, the i3 can get clock really good. even more when not using the integrated graphics. Along the lines i might even pop a 5750 in along the lines for fun . Mainly tho is to keep it as cheap as possible. One reason i will be using 2 of the 4 20" monitors and not getting a pair of 24's. A PSU would need to added there if a dedicated card came in as well, but those aint too bad.

I know with the rebates it comes down to about 455 plus tax. Anybody see any other cost shaving options :-) I'd love to get this down to $400 .
 
reflex99 said:
I think the I3 is a good budget option
Click to expand...

Well, only because it has integrated graphics. An i5 750 build can be as little as $100 more (without graphics card, but I think newegg has a gfx card for $15) and offer around twice the performance.

It was just a suggestion, personally I would spend 25% more to get 100% more performance, but others wouldn't.
 
First , a $15 GFX card is a big NO NO lol . Second, the i3 is multi-threaded dual core which will work perfect for what i plan on using it for. If i were to spend another 100 on the rig i would rather add another $40 to it for an Intel X25-V . Now that would truly double performance.

If i wanted to spend 200 on a cpu, i would just go all out and build another i7 rig.
 
The Clarksdale's on die gpu really stinks up the joint. I'd probably get an AMD 620 or 630 quad core and a motherboard with integrated video, especially if you are going to drop in a better GPU in the machine down the road.
 
i cant remember if it is this or the other thread, but if you are looking for better graphics performance, someone mentioned the AMD route. You could sacrifice a little preformance and get the Athlon II X4 620, and then get an AMD mobo with ATi integrated GPU, that would preform better than the i3 GPU.
 
As of now, graphics performance means almost nothging to me at the moment. I bet the $15 card would blow out clarkdales on-die GPU. I know its very low performance, but as long as it gets a picture on my monitor, im cool. however i am not planning on using it for gaming at least for now. I can still drop in a dedicated card with clarkdale cant i? A GPU wouldn't go in for at least another year if at all. Again, this is gonna be an office machine and cost is more important than anything else.

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. I'm pretty much set on what im gonna do here, just wanna see if i can shave a few more bucks off.
 
Hey guys n girls, had a couple other ideas for the final build setup. Decided to try an ASUS board as well as an Antec 300 case. I cant trust the included PSU with the other case and would like a few words on some others experience with budget PSU's right around $40. Just something that could still handle a nice overclock and a mainstream PSU in the future.

ASUS P7H55 PRO
http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0326528

Antec 300 case
http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0283272

Coolermaster eXtreme power PSU 500w
http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0295037

I've been looking over things all day and am concerned only with the PSU and the RAM. The OCZ 4 gig kits dont seem to have the greatest reviews overall, anybody help me out on this matter?

Everything else is pretty much solid to my needs. I do see alot of budget PSUs and know the brand quality matters... All suggestions/ideas/help are greatly appreciated thanks everyone.
 
that looks fine, ASUS makes good boards, and coolermaster is a fine brand.

My bro has the antec case, and i like it better than my thermaltake
 
Afternoon all. Got my i3 build up n running with zero problems . Ended up using a BFG 450w PSU, 4GB OCZ Gold along with the H55 Pro in an Antec 300 case. Chose the Coolermaster 212 plus CPU cooler which was on sale for $23. Idle's at 16c ... LOVE it so far. Did the entire build for about $550 and could have even done better with it but didn't want to sacrifice quality. Now, im working on OC'ing the thing . Not used to the ASUS BIOS , but will be good to learn on.
 
Hyper 212+ FTW!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is really underestimated. people see the price and think that it is crap, but it keeps my OC'd Phenom at 21c Idle (~19c ambient)
 
LOL i remember when you was talking bout it in earlier posts calling it the best . BEST for the money easily. was like 35 or 39 and got it on sale for 23. Love the fan mounting brackets, hate the rest of the mounting hardware. tried a quick OC , failed. Learned that i would have to manually tweak down the GPU clock to coincide with the BLCK since they work off each other. After adjusting that, took it to 3.6 NO PROBLEM- idles at 18-20c now without tweaking volttages properly. Just gave it a quick boost to 1.25 to be sure and bumped the vdimm to 1.6 , there is no options inbetween. It goes in .1v increments so its either 1.6 or 1.7 .

Super fast btw, considering no SSD.
 
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