Advice on Intel HD 2500 vs HD 4000 graphics?

[barnabas1969]

EDIT: He says that the CPU is compatible with all Q77 chipset motherboards, which makes perfect sense to me. The only possible difference I can imagine between the 3470S and 3475S is the voltage. I'll check on that.

ARK says their the same (though for some odd reason it highlights the Bus Type as different, even though they're both listed as DMI).

That doesn't list the Vcore. I haven't found it anywhere yet. I'm leaning toward believing the ebay seller. Waiting for his reply. He's been real good at writing back to me so far, and one user has posted a positive review on his purchase of the 3475S from this seller. Apparently, this guy has a bunch of them to sell, but he's only listing them one at a time. All of the completed listings for the 3475S on ebay were sold by this same guy.

[barnabas1969]

I think I have a deal. He's willing to sell the DQ77KB and the i5-3475S together for $295. That's $165 for the CPU and only $135 for the motherboard (listed for $149 on NewEgg, but out of stock). He wrote that he guarantees that they'll work together or he'll refund my money.

I also found a case that I like better than the Silverstone. After looking at pictures on Amazon, I see that the Silverstone case is kinda ugly. There's a company in Taiwan who makes a case called the Morex 887. It's really nice looking, and even comes with a built-in squirrel cage case fan, internal compartments that make better use of the air flow, front panel USB ports, a CIR-compatible IR receiver (that plugs directly into the Intel motherboards) in the front that is supposedly compatible with Media Center (with an included MCE remote), and several other nice features.

The Morex case is available for sale from MitxPC for $135 (without PSU) or $149.95 including a 90W PSU. That's an incredible price for the PSU, but I need a 160W, according to the Intel documentation for the motherboard. I also have a spare 120W PSU on-hand, left over from my old HP laptop.

EDIT: I should mention that the Morex 887 case is not listed by itself on the MitxPC website. I had to contact them directly via e-mail to get a quote for the case. I then called them to confirm that it will come with all the other niceties. They sent me a PayPal invoice for the sale. It's bought and paid for!

I guess I'll be returning the Silverstone case to NewEgg.

[staknhalo]

Where are you finding the case on its own? Edit^ Ah, I see

[barnabas1969]

MitxPC also had the Intel cooler for $10 less than Newegg, and they offered to put it in the box with no additional shipping charge (total shipping is $14.54 from CA to FL via FedEx ground). Sold!

I can't wait to get the case. It has a large area on the front (the heat sink sits behind this area) that I think I can mod to fit an LCD. I already have an nMediaPC display sitting in a box. It caused instability problems with my current HTPC when plugged into the motherboard USB ports (but worked fine when connected to an old USB PCI card). If it works well with the Intel motherboard's USB headers, I'll take the case to a local machine shop to have a hole cut to fit the display in the front of the case. That would be cool!

[richard1980]

Unbeknownst to me, Intel actually resolved the 0-255 issue in the latest driver (9.18.10.3165). I know it's not a concern for you, but I wanted to update for other viewers.

[staknhalo]

Nah, it's good to know, thanks.