You'd be frikkin nuts to not stump up the extra for the K chip and P mobo, cant you just borrow the extra from a friend / family / whatever? Then just pay em back on the 1st March!
Wanting onboard graphics really is going to stump the quality of your PC. You can get an i5 2500K, a motherboard and 4gb RAM for £303 which is over your budget, but you can get a cheaper mobo to save £25 (one of your H mobos which gives the onboard graphics) so total would be £278. But, if you keep an eye out for scans daily deals you may be able to save more
this is the problem though, for reasons i wont go into i need to get the pc at the beg of feb i cant wait any longer than that and the absolute limit of my budget is £270 and that is pushing it, oc'ing isnt necessary for me and neither is a discrete gpu as all my gaming is done on my xbox, going for a lynfield option leaves me needing a gpu which goes over my budget and going for a 2500k goes over my budget & also leaves me needing a gpu, like i said if could wait another month i would be defo going for a 2500k but i just cant wait and with all this in mind and sticking within my budget (and wanting the absolute newest tech on my pc for the first time ever lol) it looks like the 2300 is my only choice, it bothers me that i dont have the time to wait to get the 2500k but when you consider that im moving from an e2200@3ghz, xfx geforce 9300 + 4gb ocz ddr667 the 2300 dosnt seem like a bad option, its the whole discrete gpu option thats really stopping me going lynfield or going 2500k as i dont want to go 2nd hand and it puts me way over budget. cant really borrow the money either tbh
Well, I can't understand the reluctanc to go second hand, but then it is none of my business. Like you said the 2300 is a huge upgrade over what you have, and if you are not playing games then to be honest you likely don't need Overclocking power - hell, I play games and have rarely bothered to overclock my systems. I would however keep an eye on scans 'today only' deals as I said before (it changes between 1pm and 2pm each day, likely doing this you can get a 2500 (not K version) an H mobo and RAM for about the same price as the 2300. Today £272 would get you the i5 2500, Asus H Pro mobo and 4gb Corsair RAM (they have had better deals though) so each day up until you order just have a check
If you're not going to overclock and budget is tight, then a 2300/2500 + H67 chipset is the way to go. No point in K chips or P67 if you're not going to use them.
this is exactly what ive been getting at although if i did want to overclock in the future there is a daily deal on scan today has an i5 2500k with an asus h67 board, adding 4gb ram takes it to 270, i can just get a p67 board 7-8 months down the line once a good range of boards have released and the prices settle
You sure its a 2500k? I thought all the offers on today were just 2500. I am building a new PC myself so each day excitedly jump on to see whats on offer Yesterday I got a PSU and case for £95 instead of £118, not a bad little saving
ok made my decision, as of now its going to be an msi h67ma-e45, core i5 2300 and 4gb corsair ram but if i can get a dailly deal from scan on the day that i order thats similar to todays deal (i5 2500k+asus h67 mobo) then i will go for that instead and then in 8-9 months time i should be in a position to get a p67 mobo along with a cheap gpu edit- just noticed its not a 2500k
yep sorry my mistake mnd is still the same price as a 2300 system, i know exactly what you mean, tension building upto to order day lol
i know, oc'ing not essential really considering the performance ill get moving from my current rig an i5-2300/2500
Yes, the 2500k is just worth getting if a today only deal has it at a price very similar to what ou would pay for a non K version - at least then, as you say you can always replace the board one day if you want to. But a good deal on a 2500 is likely the best way to go, it will mean being the same price as the 2300 build
thats what im hoping for now, my other hope is the board they pair with the 2500 in any possible today only deal has at least 1 pci-e x1 and pci (or 2 pci-e x1) that wont be covered up by a dual slot gpu just incase i decide to add a discrete gpu in the future, something like the msi H67MA-E45
ok ive made my choice for either the 2300 or 2500 with the msi-h67ma-e45, in a couple of months i should have the cash to get a new case and cpu cooler as-well, case wise im looking a the nzxt vulcan as im wanting a mATX case with decent cooling potential but the one area im stuck is the cooler, i know the arctic freezer pro would fit but are there any other coolers that i should consider? possibly low profile
