1K i5-2500k Final Build- Critiques and Suggestions

[WTFO]

Approximate Purchase Date: This Week
Budget Range: $1K
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Streaming, music, movies,
Parts Not Required: OS, [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]Keyboard[/COLOR][/COLOR], Mouse
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg
Country of Origin: u.s.
Parts Preferences: intel build
Overclocking: yes -->4.2
SLI or Crossfire: no
Monitor Resolution:1920x1080
Additional Comments: I am building this rig for my wifes parents and pretty much the only instruction given was to stay near the budget and that it should be fast. Build is mainly going to be used for streaming, music(creating, recording, tweaking), movies, not a gaming [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]pc[/COLOR][/COLOR], although there may be some light gaming(not crysis). Always like to get the opinions of the more tech sauvy before i buy a build just incase i messed up on compatibility or there is some price/performance item that i missed. The only upgrades this rig will ever see are when i change out parts, so it needs to last a few years before it needs an overhaul. Critique the hell out of it if i missed the mark somewhere. Thanks.


Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case



ASRock P67 PRO3 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard



Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K



GIGABYTE Ultra Durable VGA Series GV-R685OC-1GD Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX ...



Antec TruePower New TP-650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE ...



G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBXL


SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive


LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS-324-98B


Acer S231HLbid Black 23" 5ms HDMI LED-Backlight LCD monitor Slim Design


Either Depending On Pricing At Time Of Purchase:


COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel ...



Scythe SCMG-2100 Sleeve CPU Cooler


Subtotal: $1,100.00 Before Promos which will be minus another $50

 

[de8212]

RAM is overkill. I think most would recommend something along the lines of this RAM.

 

[Anomaly1964]

RAM is overkill. I think most would recommend something along the lines of this RAM.

His RAM looks cooler...lol!

Really, if $10 breaks your build, you're already overspending...

 

[de8212]

His RAM looks cooler...lol!

Really, if $10 breaks your build, you're already overspending...

Yep, and it's the same RAM I bought (2x4GB kit) but I bought mine when it was on sale for cheap.

He said

Critique the hell out of it

so I figured I would point out something obvious. Maybe somebody can find a cheaper video card and PS to shave off another few $ and before you know it, you've saved $50 - $100.

 

[mnewsham]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161348
$150

 

[Anomaly1964]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161348
$150

HIS - funny name...

 

[dmw16]

You are overclocking a rig for your wife's parents?

 

[WTFO]

RAM is overkill. I think most would recommend something along the lines of this RAM.

i think the ram is fine, you really went for it with that ill give it to you.
yeah im going to OC the build for them. why? said they wanted a really fast comp and yes its fast enough as it is, but why would i leave it where it is when i can have some fun oc'ing it.The psu is on sale, good price, and storage will be 3 hard drives. newegg calc says i only need 550, so 650 isnt a stretch for the price. Havent ever bought any HIS products, products and customer service any good. Ive got Gigabyte hardware so thats what i know and was comfortable with.

 

[de8212]

i think the ram is fine, you really went for it with that ill give it to you.
yeah im going to OC the build for them. why? said they wanted a really fast comp and yes its fast enough as it is, but why would i leave it where it is when i can have some fun oc'ing it.

The RAM is fine and will work but I think the consensus of the posts I have read about SB is that RAM has zero impact on overclocking.

Maybe I am wrong though.

 

[dpodblood]

RAM is fine. Seeing as how they aren't going to be doing any heavy gaming I wouldn't bother with the overclock. Go with the regular 2500, drop the aftermarket cooler, and get a cheaper video card. No need for a HD 6850 when a GTX 460, or GTX 550 will be cheaper and serve them just as well. If you do as I recommend you can drop down the PSU to a 550 watt unit as well. Take some of that saved money and put it into an 80 gig SSD that will make the PC feel a hell-of-a lot faster.

 

[tcG]

I agree with trying your best to fit an SSD in there... it will make a huge difference in speed for their particular type of use.

 

[WTFO]

The RAM is fine and will work but I think the consensus of the posts I have read about SB is that RAM has zero impact on overclocking. Maybe I am wrong though.

The purpose of this ram has no bearing on the OC itself. 1.5v or less is whats recommended for 1155 boards, and this ram is fast, cheap, and GSkill is reputable.
@dpodblood i agree, about the OC, ill drop the cooler and an HDD and pick up a c300 instead.

 

[Patrick Wolf]

The 460 for $120 (450 is $100).
http://www.evga.com/products/prodlist.asp?switch=20

212 is cheaper at superbiiz.
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php...2-Plus-RR-B10-212P-G1-120mm-Sleeve-CPU-Cooler

8GB maybe overkill, but maybe not.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820226095

Maybe this monitor instead. PVA panel.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824001463

Also agree on the SSD.

 

[WTFO]

good find on the 460 and the 212+. yeah 8GB would be wasted on this kind of build. any reason samsung monitor over acer, or just a brand preference??

 

[de8212]

Also, I think buy.com had the 212+ for ~28.xx shipped.

 

[mfenn]

good find on the 460 and the 212+. yeah 8GB would be wasted on this kind of build. any reason samsung monitor over acer, or just a brand preference??

PVA > TN basically.

Also, that mobo is overkill for a basic machine. An H67 board like the MSI H67MA-E35 will be fine. The RAM is also overkill, you do not need fancy heatspreaders. Go for normal DDR3 1333 for $40. Also also, the PSU is way overkill. A GTX 460 or 6850 machine needs far less than 650W. The Corsair 430CX is a steal for $20 AR.

Finally, you are out of your mind (IMHO) if you're going to overclock a machine for your wife's parents. That's just a support nightmare waiting to happen. Sandy Bridge is plenty fast enough for desktop tasks. An SSD will make far more of a difference in perceived performance than an overclock ever would.

 

[WTFO]

@mfenn the reason i have a 650w is that there will be multiple HDD(2) and an SSD(c300 64GB). newegg psu calculator recommends 550w. the psu is 80+ Bronze @ $50 instant off. Im not big on MIRs bc sometimes you dont get them and its an ass pain. dpodblood made sense earlier in the thread about not OCing and gettig an SSD with the extra $$. I dont really care about fancy heat spreaders or cool looking ram, this ram is as previously stated fast, cheap, and from a reputable RAM producer(its only $10 more). The MOBO, you may have something there, when i started this i kinda got carried away and started building a machine for me haha. This has kind of morphed now and a newer more suitable MOBO may be the way to go, good eye on that i overlooked it.

 

[betasub]

PSU calculators FTL. Usually they are designed to encourage you to buy/spend way above your real requirement.

Let Intel's Turbo handle any overclocking for your wife's parents (unless you are really available 24/7 to handle o/c related problems).

 

[WTFO]

@betasub..yeah thats what ive leaned towards now bc i wont be handy to help with there questions first hand so they will either have to look it up(highly doubtful) or try and explain it to me over the phone(comical at best). ill post a rebuild today.

 

[gr8erimage]

My experience with family pc priorities is:

1. Reliable
2. Great everday performance
3. Small, decent looking case
4. Quiet
5. Cool
6. Showoff performance

IMHO, from your specs, it seems like you are addressing 6, before 3-5.

With that in mind, I would scrap the discrete GPU idea. Use the HD3000 on the i5-2500k on an H67/H61 board. The IGP will give them more than enough graphics power for their everyday use and still be able to handle some light gaming. Don't even worry about overclocking, you're just asking for trouble.

Budget in an SSD. Huge performance increase in every taks and quiet!

Get the smallest, quietest case possible. If you follow the above recomendation, you can use the stock HSF, and a much smaller power supply.

Also, don't be afraid to come in under budget!

You'll win more points with a realiable, sleek, small, quiet, cool system than one that gets a few more fps at the expense of a large case, loud fans, and lots of heat.

 

[Athadeus]

Finally, you are out of your mind (IMHO) if you're going to overclock a machine for your wife's parents. That's just a support nightmare waiting to happen. Sandy Bridge is plenty fast enough for desktop tasks. An SSD will make far more of a difference in perceived performance than an overclock ever would.

How is an overclocked SB system a support nightmare? 2/3 of my personal systems that I've sold I left OCed, it was the 1/3 that was not OCed that had stability problems, and none of them were as easy to OC as SB.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Lessons I've learned over the years:

1. Never build a computer for relatives. It's your fault if they screw something up, and it's your responsibility to fix it for the life of that computer (and then some) ;p

2. When a non-techy person says they want a fast computer (and especially if they don't really play games beyond farmville) what they really mean is they want to browse the web fast. No amount of overclocking is going to help them once they start downloading all the crap they download and the 30+ browser "helper" toolbars, malware, etc. They don't know how to differentiate computer speed versus network speed. It is all the same to them.

3. In addition to #2, they won't ever actually look at their virus scanner/malware scanner to verify it is working, until they get a virus and/or their pc crawls to a halt.

4. Never build a computer for relatives.

Good luck

 

[gevorg]

My experience with family pc priorities is:

1. Reliable
2. Great everday performance
3. Small, decent looking case
4. Quiet
5. Cool
6. Showoff performance

IMHO, from your specs, it seems like you are addressing 6, before 3-5.

With that in mind, I would scrap the discrete GPU idea. Use the HD3000 on the i5-2500k on an H67/H61 board. The IGP will give them more than enough graphics power for their everyday use and still be able to handle some light gaming. Don't even worry about overclocking, you're just asking for trouble.

Budget in an SSD. Huge performance increase in every taks and quiet!

Get the smallest, quietest case possible. If you follow the above recomendation, you can use the stock HSF, and a much smaller power supply.

Also, don't be afraid to come in under budget!

You'll win more points with a realiable, sleek, small, quiet, cool system than one that gets a few more fps at the expense of a large case, loud fans, and lots of heat.

Seconded! Totally agree on using HD3000 for graphics and SSD for boot drive.

 

[LuluTheMonk]

For a "parent" computer with little to no gaming, how about something like:

SILVERSTONE SUGO SG02-BF $74.99
Intel Core i5-2500 $209.99
ASUS P8H67-M PRO $124.99
G.SKILL Value Series 4GB $39.99
Antec EarthWatts Green EA-380D $49.99
Crucial RealSSD C300 128GB $254.99
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 1TB $54.99
And then pick out a monitor that will suit there needs. I would go with the HP ZR22W but that's just me.

With the C300, and 2500, it will be blazing fast (you could probably get away with using the i3 2100, and then get the ZR24W or equivalent 24" IPS panel). They get a computer with a small foot print, gorgeous monitor, that is substantially faster than what they have now.

*edit*
One last note about overclocking. You will see real world benefit of maybe 10-15%, at the cost of stability and BIOS tweaking that you will always be on the hook for. As others have stated, in the long run, simply not worth it IMO.

 

[mfenn]

How is an overclocked SB system a support nightmare? 2/3 of my personal systems that I've sold I left OCed, it was the 1/3 that was not OCed that had stability problems, and none of them were as easy to OC as SB.

I know that Sandy Bridge is easy as hell to overclock. That doesn't change the fact that overclocked machines are more likely to have problems than non-overclocked ones. You're putting extra strain on all components involved and if/when something goes wrong, that's yet another variable that you have to take into account over the phone.