Microcenter In Store Only Intel Core i5 2500k + Gigabyte Z68 motherboard $200AR -or- CPU with mATX H61 board $175AR

Fry's lagging behind

Step it up Frys!

Quote from Binar : Fry's lagging behind Step it up Frys!

Trade ya my Microcenter for your Frys anyday!

Anyone know if MC has Rev. 1 or 2 MBs?

I can't believe how cheap it is for this combo.
It does not support SLI/CF however but good for one Vid card. Sounds like a good and cheap deal, though.
Here are some benchmarks:


Vortex.com [vortez.net]

Hexus.net [hexus.net]

Quote from smitdog : I can't believe how cheap it is for this combo. It does not support SLI/CF however but good for one Vid card. Sounds like a good and cheap deal, though. Here are some benchmarks: Vortex.com [vortez.net] Hexus.net [hexus.net]

does anyone know if the combo deal works on open box mobos? It doesn't seem to online when you add to cart, but I wonder if it would in store if you ask

I live like two hours from a microcenter but seeing all these 2500k deals I am about to drive up there and give them a piece of my wallet

Will there be a significant difference between this and AMD X4 840 which I got it from MC for $69.

i've never built a cpu before but am considering. if i put a 6770 in there from today's deal, can anyone recommend what kind of PSU and case I would need? This is just a personal PC for browsing, movies, excel, and maybe to game w/ friends (they all have laptops running at best i7 GT 540M. how about the OCZ-ZS550W that's on front page?

Quote from pokymon : Will there be a significant difference between this and AMD X4 840 which I got it from MC for $69.

Comparison wise, the X4 would see the I5 coming and run like hell before the benchmark started.

I hate these guys. I live about an 8 hour round trip drive from one, but its in an area I used to live in and have friends, so its almost reasonable that I'd make the trip for other reasons and just pick some stuff up on the way home.

That having been said, I managed $275 for this same combo last night and decided that since microcenters best was $225 last week, that was close enough to avoid the drive.

By the way, I bought all the parts for a full system build after being annoyed that there were few non-microcenter deals on the major pieces. So the next few weeks will be FULL of deals on everything just to tick me off!

Quote from Binar : Fry's lagging behind Step it up Frys!

Wonder if Fry's will match this - I bet they will.

Quote from pokymon : Will there be a significant difference between this and AMD X4 840 which I got it from MC for $69.

The 840's Passmark score is 2953.
The 2500k's Passmark score is 6744.
And you haven't overclocked it yet, which is the whole point of getting a CPU with a "k" at the end of its name, since a 10%-15% overclock is basically as easy as flipping a switch with this setup.

Quote from sklar : Comparison wise, the X4 would see the I5 coming and run like hell before the benchmark started.

I know I'm just reiterating but yes!

Quote from frankqfrank : The 840's Passmark score is 2953. The 2500k's Passmark score is 6744.

And thats with Passmark being fairly friendly to AMD's multiple core cpu's. It rates the A6/A8's WAY higher than they actually run in practice.

Quote : And you haven't overclocked it yet, which is the whole point of getting a CPU with a "k" at the end of its name, since a 10%-15% overclock is basically as easy as flipping a switch with this setup.

This is why I bought the 2500k. I'm not going to overclock it right off and just bought run of the mill ram...let it run cool and low power. In a couple of years I'll drop a gpu in it. Couple of years after that I'll buy some rock bottom cheap high speed ddr3 and turn the dials up for a nice 15%+ speed advantage, it'll be like buying a brand new machine. I can probably get 7-8 years out of this setup with no problem.

I did the same thing about 7 years ago when I bought a top of the line core 2 duo machine when those sold at a premium. Still using it.

The 2500k also includes the HD 3000 integrated instead of the 2000 you get stuck with on the other i5's. Thats a plus if you're not going to game.