I hope I've done this correctly; there doesn't seem to be an edit button available, I presume due to my last post being more than 24 hours ago. Please fix it up and accept my apologies if I've erred. Thank you.
First of all, my thanks for all your previous help!
Secondly, due to a payroll mishap, I wasn't able to purchase the system two weeks ago. I'd love your opinion on what I've put together to order now, using updated sales. I've managed to keep it all on NCIX for simplicity's sake, but will definitely comparison shop before placing the order.
CPU:
i3 2100 ($120)
MB: H61/67/Z68 MSI or Gigabyte; some options below, would like help deciding. ($80-$110)
PSU:
XFX 450W Core Edition ($55; $35 AR)
GPU: 8800 GS reuse ($0)
RAM: 2x4GB @ 1.5V; some options below, would like help deciding. ($40 approx)
SSD :
Crucial M4 Micron C400 128GB SATA3 ($200)
Optical:
Samsung SH-S243D/BEBE 24X ($16)
Case:
Zalman Z9 Plus ($61; $51 AR)
OS: Windows 7 64bit Home Premium ($90)
Total: $692 CAD + tax/shipping; not including $30+ MIRs, presuming most expensive MB option.
Unresolved decisions:
1) RAM - There are some kits presumably superior to Kingston Value on sale right now; I've narrowed it down to these two:
Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 Vengeance 2X4GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 1.5V ($40) - No rebate to fuss with, but some have complained about its height; think I'm okay with stock i3 cooling? Obviously I'm not overclocking at all, but why not get better RAM for cheaper?
Mushkin Enhanced Blackline Frostbyte PC3-12800 2X4GB DDR3-1600 9-9-9-24 1.5V ($43; $38 AR) - Only benefit off the bat I notice is the standard size.
2) Motherboard - Unlike my initial build, we're now using a SATA3 SSD, which is nice. Other than that, I have no special requirements; don't expect to ever upgrade to more RAM or more than one GPU. Stereo sound is enough; won't be the main multimedia PC. Would like to be able to use the CPU video in a pinch, but that's it.
MSI H61MA-E35 (B3) H61 mATX LGA1155 DDR3 1PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 SATA3 USB3 HDMI DVI VGA ($80) - SATA3 and USB3 for4 $80? Sounds good to me!
Gigabyte Z68M-D2H mATX LGA1155 Z68 DDR3 2PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 HDMI DVI CrossFireX SATA3 ($105) - No USB3. Has CF and 4 RAM slots, but I don't anticipate ever using those.
Gigabyte Z68P-DS3 ATX LGA1155 Z68 DDR3 2PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 2PCI CrossFireX SATA3 HDMI ($110) - No USB3. Full ATX; CF, tons of slots for everything--but again, probably won't need that stuff. HDMI only, which I presume would mean I'm out of luck if I ever need to use the CPU video, as the monitor to be used is DVI. Do DVI>HDMI adapters exist? Still, a hassle regardless.
The
Gigabyte H67MA ($115; $105 AR) seemed like it might be the best of all worlds, but it's shipping within 4-8 business days, and I don't want to wait.
For my uses, any reason to go with anything but the $80 MSI? How important do you think it is to have the Z68 chipset? Certainly open to other brands/models, but these are the most suitable I found on NCIX.
Thanks again!
