Intel Core i3-550 Clarkdale 3.2GHz 4MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 73W Dual-Core

[Santilli]

This caught my eye. 115.00, built in HD graphics, and blindingly fast????

Thoughts?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...1-Index-_-ProcessorsDesktops-_-19115065-L018C

Motherboard suggestions?
Ram?

 

[Santilli]

Check that:

I was looking ath this cpu first:

Intel Core i5-2500 @ 3.30GHz

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115073

6700 on Passmark?!

 

[Handruin]

This caught my eye. 115.00, built in HD graphics, and blindingly fast????

Thoughts?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...1-Index-_-ProcessorsDesktops-_-19115065-L018C

Motherboard suggestions?
Ram?

I built a PC for my mom using the i3-540 at $89.99. I didn't feel the extra cash was worth going for the i3-550 which is less than 200 MHz faster. I guess it all depends on what you're planning to use the system for, but it was plenty fast for my mom.

 

[Mercutio]

They're zippy for budget systems, though subjectively they aren't much different from upper-end Core2s.

Motherboard: Gigabyte H55M-USB3
RAM: DDR3 from one of the usual suspects (Crucial, Corsair, Kingston, Mushkin)

 

[Handruin]

I ended up going with this:

Core i3-540
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0341728

4GB Crucial DDR3 1333MHz (2x 2GB)
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0307438

GIGABYTE GA-H55M-UD2H motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128421

Antec Three Hundred case
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0283272

Seasonic 520W Power supply that is 80%+ efficient bronze certified
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151094

500GB Samsung drive 7200 RPM 16MB cache
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0340804

DVD/RW drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118039

 

[time]

Congratulations Santilli, Newegg/Intel has successfully scammed you.

The blurb on that page refers to the 2500K, which comes with the new and very much faster HD 3000 graphics.

The actual chip for sale, similarly to the i3 variants, comes with HD 2000 graphics, which isn't much different from the old (and slow) Intel HD graphics.

At the same clock frequency, Sandy Bridge appears to be maybe 10% faster than the old i3/i5 series.

 

[Santilli]

Congratulations Santilli, Newegg/Intel has successfully scammed you.

The blurb on that page refers to the 2500K, which comes with the new and very much faster HD 3000 graphics.

The actual chip for sale, similarly to the i3 variants, comes with HD 2000 graphics, which isn't much different from the old (and slow) Intel HD graphics.

At the same clock frequency, Sandy Bridge appears to be maybe 10% faster than the old i3/i5 series.

HMMMM. Time, first off, scammed usually means you bought the product. Or, perhaps, you might be correct, in that scammed means you spent researching a product, and wasted time due to false advertising.

THANK YOU for pointing the misinformation out.

More I think about it, the more I'd be inclined to go with this:

Intel Core i5-2500 @ 3.30GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115073

If I upgrade the HTPC. Thing is, it works, and very well with the existing components in place.

 

[LunarMist]

You think it was deliberate?

 

[CougTek]

If I upgrade the HTPC. Thing is, it works, and very well with the existing components in place.

Why upgrade then? Do you absolutely want to give perfectly good computer parts to the poors of your area?

 

[Chewy509]

You think it was deliberate?

To place in different gfx cores based on the K suffix, may be result of the unlocking of the chips multipliers to allow overclocking. The older HD2000 may play more nicely with high overclocks than the new HD3000 gfx core.

The other thought is, most people buying a K suffix chip will most likely have a discrete gfx card as well, so any loss of performance on the builtin gfx core won't have any affect on them.

 

[time]

Chewy, it's the other way around. The expensive K-suffix chips are the one with the HD 3000. Oddly enough, these seem to be the ones sent to reviewers.

Most Sandy Bridge chips only have HD 2000. :???:

 

[Adcadet]

The lowest-end Sandy Bridge with the better video that I've heard of is the 2500k, which goes for $225. The cheapest H67 boards (H67 allows you to use the on-die graphics stuff, P67 does not) currently available start for ~$75 and go up from there. Not sure that's a bargain for a HTPC compared to what you can do on the AMD front for a HTPC or even with an older i3 Clarkdale. If you are OK with the lower-end graphics but think Sandy Bridge offers some advantages, you could save some money with the 2300 for $190 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115076). But I doubt you're thinking about a truly budget HTPC (which from what I figure includes a max CPU cost of $100).

My AMD-based HTPC build is detailed here: http://www.storageforum.net/forum/showthread.php?t=8201&page=2&highlight=HTPC.
It's overkill for a HTPC, although not for video editing.

 

[Chewy509]

Chewy, it's the other way around. The expensive K-suffix chips are the one with the HD 3000. Oddly enough, these seem to be the ones sent to reviewers.

Most Sandy Bridge chips only have HD 2000. :???:

Sorry, I thought it was the other way around?

That certainly is a WTF, as it'll be the low end using the internal gfx, not the high end unlocked parts.

 

[Chewy509]

I just did a quick comparison between the i7-2600 and the i7-2600K to see what else is different in addition to the different gfx cores.

It's interesting to note the the K part is missing VT-d and Intel TXT support, which are very useful if you use any virtualisation technologies or software such as VMWare, VirtualBox or VirtualPC (including XP Mode on Win7)...

Source: http://ark.intel.com/Compare.aspx?ids=52213,52214

 

[Stereodude]

Intel's own tables have been known to be very error prone. No idea about those specifically though.

 

[blakerwry]

It's interesting to note the the K part is missing VT-d and Intel TXT support, which are very useful if you use any virtualisation technologies or software such as VMWare, VirtualBox or VirtualPC (including XP Mode on Win7)...

Source: http://ark.intel.com/Compare.aspx?ids=52213,52214

That's something I hadn't read in the reviews. However, it's important not to confuse VT-d with traditional VT (aka VT-x). I don't know that anyone is actually taking advantage of either of these technologies (VT-d, TXT) in the consumer space. Both technologies also require a fully supported stack (Mobo, CPU, OS) if I remember correctly, so I wouldn't count on them working unless you've specifically validated every components for support.