Hey all. I have been asked to build a i5 rig and wanted to know if you have any suggestions on it. The majority of use will be video encoding, music/video streaming to 42" HD LCD, non-intensive games (@ 1900x1080 res), work related (spreadsheets etc) so the rig will never really be fully taxed which can be seen as a bit of a waste but I was told it had to be an i5 build. Cheers. The pricings are all in AUD. CPU: Intel i5 750 $235 http://www.lmc.com.au/products/CPU/Intel/570131/Intel_Core_i5_750[2.66GHz/8MB/LGA1156]_[BX80605I5750] MOTHERBOARD: Gigabyte P55A-UD4p $222 http://www.lmc.com.au/products/Motherboard/Gigabyte/570943/Gigabyte_GA-P55A-UD3P_[Intel_P55/LGA1156/DDR3/ATX] RAM: G Skill 4G DDR3 1600Mhz PC12800 9-9-9-24 CL9D-4GBNQ $159 http://www.umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&id2=153&bid=7&sid=49310 PSU: Corsair HX650 $160 http://www.lmc.com.au/products/Powe...Corsair_650W_HX-650_ATX_Modular_Power_Supply_[CMPSU-650HX] GPU: XFX HD 5770 $189 http://www.lmc.com.au/products/Grap...FX_ATI_Radeon_HD5770_1GB_DDR5_PCI-Express2.0_[11S-HD5770-1GBA] MONITOR: Samsung 21" HD LCD monitor P2250/P2350 $180 HDD: Western Digital 1TB SATAII 32M 3GB/s $126 http://www.umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&id2=129&bid=7&sid=40995 OPTICAL: Lite-On IHAS324 24xDVD $39 http://www.lmc.com.au/products/DVDR.../Liteon_iHAS-324_24x_DVD±RW_Black_SATA_Retail INPUT DEVICE: Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop 700 V2 $42 http://www.umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&id2=40&bid=7&sid=52219 SPEAKERS: Logitech LS11 Black 2.0 $25 http://www.lmc.com.au/products/Soun...ogitech_LS11_Black_2.0_Stereo_Speaker_System_[980-000049] OS: Win 7 Home Premium $122 http://www.umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&id2=45&bid=7&sid=50675 CASE: NZXT Lexa S Mid Tower Case $113 http://www.umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&id2=139&bid=7&sid=55271 TOTAL: 1490
For a PC that does light gaming the HD5770 is plenty sufficient and I see no reason to upgrade to a bigger card in the future, so the 650W PSU is a waste. You will do absolutely fine on a 400W CX unit. However, finding these in Australia seems to be a pain, the best "value" unit I can find in Australia is the 550W VX. To guarantee compatibility I usually recommend Corsair RAM over G-Skill. Do you really need the P55A-UD4P for a system like this? http://www.lmc.com.au/products/Motherboard/Gigabyte/571601/Gigabyte_GA-P55-USB3_[Intel_P55/LGA1156/DDR3/ATX] This board will do just fine and costs $70 less. Rest of the stuff is fine, but be advised that budget basic speakers like those will sound worse than those fitted to a TV.
I'm worried the 5770 @ 1980x1080 wouldnt cut it if the buyer starts to play crysis for example. I know the people I'm building it for and currently they only have a laptop but they play xbox 360 & love their tech so once they start getting into it, if they start exploring its potential I want them to be able to play around and have some headroom, which means crossfire or a GPU upgrade, not to mention overclocking. You are right, even I think the PSU is too much, but its just incase they do any of the above. I will take note of compatibility and switch to Corsair 4GB XMS3 PC3-12800 (DDR3-1600) @ $165, wont blow out the budget I want to get better speakers & peripherals too but that raised up the price a little too much. Sorry I forgot to mention the 1500 AUD budget.
If they start playing top end games at 1920x1080, an HD5770 is going to be a bit of an issue I agree, but even the 550W VX PSU will be able to handle an HD5970, so I still disagree with using the 650W modular.
I used a 4870X2 (similar power usage to the HD5970, possibly slightly more) and an overclocked Q9550 (which uses a lot more power than a stock i5) with three hard drives off an HX 520W with no problems, because the power draw from the unit was about 395W peak.
People commonly overestimate how much power PC components use. Assuming a good brand you're really limited by what connectors a PSU has, not what its wattage rating is. Since changing to an i5 (running at 4.1Ghz) and using two of the said 4870X2s, my total power draw in the most demanding games is around 715W, plenty short of the 850W rating of my PSU.
