Good PC for watching videos

[tobydruHot]

I want to build a new pc but i won't get the parts before I ask you guys.

This computer will before watching videos on YouTube and also playing small games ( Minecraft, Terraria, TF2, etc.)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233 CM HAF 912

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136795 WD 500 GB

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182044 Rosewill 500W psu

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104266 Kingston Hyperx 8Gb

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157236 ASrock H61M/U3S3

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115090 Intel I3-2105

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986 Windows 7 64-bit

I will be using the on board HD 3000 graphics. My budget is under 550$, as of right now.

 

[tsnor]

Your should be fine for video viewing. From a random review, they all say the same thing. "...So, we can conclude that the hardware video decoder in Sandy bridge processors does its job just fine, so these CPUs will be perfectly fit for a media center PC even without an add-on graphics card. Especially, since the computational capacity of the Sandy Bridge processors is sufficient for it to playback any video content, even the most exotic one, without any help from the hardware decoder..."

For games you are locked to low settings with intel hd 3000, until you add graphics card. Your choice of 500 w PSU gives you flexibility to add graphics card later. FWIW here is intel's list of games they think will run on HD3000. http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/intelhdgraphics3000_2000/sb/CS-032052.htm

fyi, the sata cables needed by your HD will come with MB. your psu has plenty of cables so you should be all set.

 

[aznshinobi]

The integrated 3000 kind of sucks to be honest. I don't know about 2000/3000HD on TF2 but I know that my 4 series IGP on my laptop can play TF2 at 10 FPS. Haha. Fail...

I suggest that you get Llano, for your purposes you'd actually save more money.
Check out the $400 build here.
http://www.squidoo.com/electronicandmore
Just get the ram you were planning to get and it should be good to go. For your purposes Llano is a better way to go imo.

 

[tsnor]

I was thinking llano too, then thought that later $100 adds a great card like hd6770. If you go llano then you have llano cpu. If you go with Toby's build then you have a sandybridge cpu. Agree that llano build will be stronger day one for games. Think I'd rather have the sandybridge based system given I keep systems for a while.

Actually, if it were me I'd target a manufacturer refurbish system based on i5-2500. They typically go for less than $400 from auction sites like ubid. I've bought many systems like that including an i7-2600, HD6770 based system last week for $550. (If you go this route only buy stuff with warranty from HP or some other manufacturer, not from a refurbisher. You want product from manufacturer sales returns, not a used POS).

 

[aznshinobi]

^ Hmm, the Llano would offer the ability to CF early on as well though. You could get a lower end 6570 and pair it in CF with the APU on the Llano and get CF results, course it's not fully perfected yet. But in the future when it is, it'll be a solid performer for the price.

As for 6770, the 6770 is $120. $115 at lowest.

 

[tsnor]

^ Hmm, the Llano would offer the ability to CF early on as well though. You could get a lower end 6570 and pair it in CF with the APU on the Llano and get CF results, course it's not fully perfected yet. But in the future when it is, it'll be a solid performer for the price.

As for 6770, the 6770 is $120. $115 at lowest.

agree with you on price. Newegg says: $114.99, $94.99 with Rebate, $4.99 Shipping. But i never get the rebate because i always mess up sending it in. So the $100 was an approximate future number and I was not considering the rebate.

Not so sure I agree with you on llano crossfire. It hurts rather than helps once you get a reasonable size card. So in the future you'd probably be better off turning it off and just using the new card. I got one of the HD5850 re-issues from Sapphire for $150 list. I wonder if the re-issuing of older tech using new pcb board for low price will be done again. Guessing in future any $100 spent would not go crossfire. But llano option is a good one and is both cheaper and initially faster than the i3 based system for gaming.

Net: for me, I'd still be going with manu refurb. and my HP refurb did cost $550 with shipping and did have an Hd6770 and an I7-2600 plus all the usual stuff you get with PC. (HP Pavilion Elite HPE-550f Intel Core i7-2600 3.4GHz 8GB 1.5TB)

 

[aznshinobi]

^ The 5850 isn't selling anymore, even Amazon has run out of stock of that 5850 that we at Tom's were recommending so much.

As for the CF I think it's a solid plus.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4476/amd-a83850-review/6
Though it still needs quite a bit of tweaking in order to get to the sweet spot.

True, as of now, it is not worth Hybrid Crossfiring the APU. Drivers just aren't there yet.

 

[tsnor]

Yes, I learned about the 5850 from Toms, missed the $139 at newegg, got in at $149 at amazon. Thanks to everyone who ref'ed it. Am very glad I got it. Wish it was my in my pc, i'm still running gtx 260 1.8.

I totally agree that llano makes a good gaming platform for $$s and is greener than a solution with separate CPU and GPU. I still have a q6600 with HD3850 card in limited production and it is playable and probably comparable to llano.

Peace. We can disagree on crossfire on llano. The support is limited to video cards that can crossfire through the PCIe slot vs using external cables.

I guess it's reasonable that someone will spend $85 for 6670 which gets 15% to 30% better framerates than stock when crossfired with APU vs. $115 for 6770 which gets 50% better framerates than stock 6670 but can't use the apu in crossfire.

 

[aznshinobi]

I do agree that the CF isn't really worth it. But I think in the future, it could possibly be worth it. Depending on how great they get the scaling up to.

 

[tobydruHot]

Okay, I read everyone's comments and still can't decide. I need a straight answer i3 or the APU. I pick Intel at the beginning because that i know that brand. I don't know that much about amd products.

 

[tobydruHot]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103942
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157260

 

[tobydruHot]

Is the 6550D better than the Intel HD 3000 Graphics
And what about the heat the apu generates compared to the i3 (I will be using this pc for about 4 to 6 years and i dont want to get a new apu because it burned out).

 

[tobydruHot]

I'm going to go with the I3-2100 with 2000 hd graphics because 3 months after i build this system im going to get a 6770. Thank you for the answers because i got to learn more about AMD. Thank you

 

[tobydruHot]

Best answer selected by tobydruhot.