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New i3 build, little help here guys

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Ok so as the title states I am planning an i3 build. So far i've got the following:

Case - Casecom 6788 £26.00 (This doesn't change)
CPU - i3 530 £94
Motherboard - ASUS P7P55D iP55 £111
RAM - OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) £90
Cooler - Scythe Zipang 2 £45

TOTAL: £366

Now I will use the current hard drive, and graphics card. And I already have a new PSU on the way (Corsair HX520), however I am looking at reducing the overall price, looking at changing the motherboard, but no clue what is what these days so I am a little out of my depth. Anyone give me any ideas?
:toast:


EDIT:

Revised list

 
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If this is to replace the PC in the specs, why not save yourself the cash for RAM, and use the 4GB you already have? I'm probably just being thick here, you've likely explained why already, so ignore me if that's the case.
ASROCK P55 PRO £89, could easily save you a bit of cash, but it depends on how you feel about an ASROCK. Most of the other motherboards seem to be mATX at the lower price points.
Gigabyte GA-H55-UD3H £95, if you'd prefer a Gigabyte, but the layout is a little bit impractical if you decide to get a Crossfire system running, a dual-height card in the second PCIe slot would be right at the bottom of the case, although the lowest slot, I imagine, is the one running at 4x speed.
 
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so u r planing to downgrade from core 2 quad to core i3 dual? what r u using ur pc for?
 
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so u r planing to downgrade from core 2 quad to core i3 dual? what r u using ur pc for?

not much in all honesty. The only thing the Quad is being used for is to crunch. that and the occasional supreme commander game.

If this is to replace the PC in the specs, why not save yourself the cash for RAM, and use the 4GB you already have? I'm probably just being thick here, you've likely explained why already, so ignore me if that's the case.
ASROCK P55 PRO £89, could easily save you a bit of cash, but it depends on how you feel about an ASROCK. Most of the other motherboards seem to be mATX at the lower price points.
Gigabyte GA-H55-UD3H £95, if you'd prefer a Gigabyte, but the layout is a little bit impractical if you decide to get a Crossfire system running, a dual-height card in the second PCIe slot would be right at the bottom of the case, although the lowest slot, I imagine, is the one running at 4x speed.

Was thinking about keeping them, are the sticks i quoted better/worse?
 
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i agree. only keep the ram if it works at 1.65v or less. otherwise buy the new set.
 
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How about this Gigabyte GA-P55-UD5 Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard a little more and is a this week only offer (till Wednesday I believe) at £119.99 is suppose to be £141.99.

Specs

- CPU: Intel Core i7/Core i5 Processors (Socket LGA1156)
- Chipset: Intel P55 Express
- Memory: 4x DDR3 DIMM 2200 / 1333 / 1066 / 800 MHz (Max. 16GB) / Dual Channel / Intel Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)
- Expasion slots: 3x PCIe 2.0 x16 Slots, 2x PCIe x1 Slots & 2x PCI Slots (Supports ATI CrossFireX & NVIDIA SLI Technology)
- Storage: 1x Floppy, 1x Ultra DMA 133/100/66, 10x SATA 3Gb/s (RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10) & 2x eSATA 3Gb/s
- LAN: Dual RTL8111D Gigabit LAN
- Audio: ALC889A 8-channel High Definition Audio CODEC
- 3x IEEE 1394a
- 14x USB 2.0
- 1x PS/2 COMBO (Keyboard & Mouse)
- 1x S/PDIF Out (Optical)
- 1x S/PDIF Out (Coaxial)
- 12+2 Phase Design
- 2oz Copper PCB
- Smart6 (QuickBoot, QuickBoost, Recovery, DualBIOS, Recorder & TimeLock)
- Dynamic Energy Saver 2
- DES2 LED Hardware Design
- Smart TPM
- XHD (eXtreme HardDrive)
- AutoGreen
- Precision OV

-------

or this Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H Intel H55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 microATX Motherboard at £74.99. which is knocking a lot of the price :)

Specs

- CPU: Intel Core i7/Core i5/Core i3/Pentium Processors (Socket LGA1156)
- Chipset: Intel H55 Express
- Memory: 4x DDR3 DIMM 1666+(OC) / 1333 / 1066 MHz (Max. 16GB) / Dual Channel
- Expasion slots: 2x PCIe 2.0 x16 Slot & 2x PCI Slot (Supports ATI CrossFireX Technology)
- Storage: 1x Ultra DMA 133/100/66 & 5x SATA 3Gb/s & 1x eSATA 3Gb/s
- LAN: RTL8111D Gigabit LAN
- Audio: ALC889 8-channel High Definition Audio CODEC
- 2x IEEE 1394a
- 12x USB 2.0
- 1x PS/2 COMBO (Keyboard & Mouse)
- 1x S/PDIF Out (Optical)
- 1x DisplayPort
- 1x HDMI
- 1x DVI
- 1x D-SUB
- 2oz Copper PCB
- Smart6 (QuickBoot, QuickBoost, Recovery, DualBIOS, Recorder & TimeLock)
- Dynamic Energy Saver 2

-----------------

One what caught my eye was this Asus P7H55-M Pro Intel H55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 microATX Motherboard at £89.99

Specs

- CPU: Intel Core i7/Core i5/Core i3/Pentium Processors (Socket LGA1156)
- Chipset: Intel H55 Express
- Memory: 4x DDR3 DIMM 2133(OC) / 1333 / 1066 MHz (Max. 16GB) / Dual Channel / Intel Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)
- Expasion slots: 1x PCIe 2.0 x16 Slot, 1x PCIe x1 Slot & 1x PCI Slot
- Storage: 1x Ultra DMA 133/100/66 & 6x SATA 3Gb/s
- LAN: RTL8112L Gigabit LAN
- Audio: Realtek 8-channel High Definition Audio CODEC
- 12x USB 2.0
- 1x PS/2 Keyboard
- 1x S/PDIF Out (Optical)
- 1x HDMI
- 1x DVI
- 1x D-SUB
- Asus GPU Boost
- Asus TurboV and Turbo Key
- Asus Express Gate

But why don't you go on ahead and have a look for yourself what other's overclockers have in store :)
 
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I'd say keep the RAM you've got now, saves you the money, and it'll make very little difference, unless you later want to upgrade, in which case it'll be easier to upgrade with 2 x 2GB sticks, just slot in 2 more sticks into the spare slots, rather than rearranging things.
Tech2's suggested 'boards look alright, I stuck to ATX only because the price difference is minimal, but if you're not bothered by ATX/mATX, I'd say save even more by going mATX.
If you use your current RAM, use the £75 Gigabyte board Tech2 linked, you can build it for £240 rather than £366.
 
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You may not be able to keep your current memory. What Lizard says is very close if your current memory won't run at 1.65v or less I would drop them. That's the limit on the onbaord memory controller for the G6950 all the way up to the most recent i7x.
 
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You may not be able to keep your current memory. What Lizard says is very close if your current memory won't run at 1.65v or less I would drop them. That's the limit on the onbaord memory controller for the G6950 all the way up to the most recent i7x.

I did not know that, bet that screws a few upgraders/early adopters.
 
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You may not be able to keep your current memory. What Lizard says is very close if your current memory won't run at 1.65v or less I would drop them. That's the limit on the onbaord memory controller for the G6950 all the way up to the most recent i7x.

As far as i know they run at 1.5volts.

I'd say keep the RAM you've got now, saves you the money, and it'll make very little difference, unless you later want to upgrade, in which case it'll be easier to upgrade with 2 x 2GB sticks, just slot in 2 more sticks into the spare slots, rather than rearranging things.
Tech2's suggested 'boards look alright, I stuck to ATX only because the price difference is minimal, but if you're not bothered by ATX/mATX, I'd say save even more by going mATX.
If you use your current RAM, use the £75 Gigabyte board Tech2 linked, you can build it for £240 rather than £366.

A revised list:





Keeping the current RAM, and bumped it up to an i5.
 
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bump it up all the way to i7-860 then
i dont see what u r trying to achieve here, ur system seems more then fine as is
 
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bump it up all the way to i7-860 then
i dont see what u r trying to achieve here, ur system seems more then fine as is

You should read a few post's by the original poster and a couple of others posters.

so u r planing to downgrade from core 2 quad to core i3 dual? what r u using ur pc for?

not much in all honesty. The only thing the Quad is being used for is to crunch. that and the occasional supreme commander game...
 
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I did not know that, bet that screws a few upgraders/early adopters.
Well there was no real advantage to ddr3 when they first came out.

As far as i know they run at 1.5volts.



A revised list:

http://img.techpowerup.org/100316/Capture528.png



Keeping the current RAM, and bumped it up to an i5.

You need to make sure before you order and realize you can't use it. Check the stickers on the memory if the voltage isn't printed look up model number. Also no real reason to get the i5, as the i3 will clock pretty crazy, might as well save a few pennies and not worry about it.
 
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Agree with Kenshai, the i3 seems pretty good for the price, what's the difference other than the clock speed? They both have HT, VTx, EM64T, C1E, Execute Disable Bit, Enhanced Speedstep and both are dual cores, and both have integrated graphics. The main difference is the Turbo Boost on the i5, but since some of the lower-end ones only OC up to 266MHz more with Turbo Boost, you're better off just OCing yourself really. I say save the money, I'd spend it more wisely somewhere else (like booze)
 
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Agree with Kenshai, the i3 seems pretty good for the price, what's the difference other than the clock speed? They both have HT, VTx, EM64T, C1E, Execute Disable Bit, Enhanced Speedstep and both are dual cores, and both have integrated graphics. The main difference is the Turbo Boost on the i5, but since some of the lower-end ones only OC up to 266MHz more with Turbo Boost, you're better off just OCing yourself really. I say save the money, I'd spend it more wisely somewhere else (like booze)

Booze is a wonderful thing.

I will check all that tonight, thanks for the advice.
 
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