Upgrade To Sandy Bridge CPU And Motherboard At 200$ Budget.

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djabhi003

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Jun 25, 2011
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I Am upgrading from a core 2 duo E4500, i have a budget of tight 200$(+~40$). I am from india and the budget is converted from indian rupees into dollars, so no newegg deals for me. i already have:-

Ram: 4gb stick of corsair ddr3 1333 mhz
PSU: Corsair GS600 600W 80+ Certified
Gpu: ATi 6750
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1 TB 7200.12
Cd/Dvd: Sony With Bluray Support
Display: Acer 15.6 At 1280 x 1024

I want a motherboard and sandy bridge cpu for an exact 200 - 240$, store price. i am not looking to overclock,require only 2 DIMM slots, have interest in crossfire(but if no motherboards with 2 pci-e slots are available for this budget, then its fine).
i have no idea on the motherboard , but for the cpu i was looking at the i3-2100 and i5-2300. the i3 is well within my budget, haven't checked the local price of the i5 yet.

Edit: Budget Is Between 200 And 240$ Exact. Thats the best i could scramble together. Purchase within 2 weeks
 
Solution
The Intel® Core™ i5-2500K is a great processor but it isnt a must have processor. With your budget the Intel Core i3-2100 or the Intel Core i5-2400 is really where I would be focusing on. The Intel Core i3-2100 is a good processor that should work well for you as you go to college. So unless you are looking for a world class gaming machine or high end audio/video work you should be happy with a Intel Core i3-2100, H61/H67 board and 4GB of DDR 3 memory and that should be right at your budget.

Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

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