Choosing CPU and cooler?

[DrZeto]

Hi! I’m building a new rig.

My priorities are:

- It must be future proof as I upgrade infrequently.
- I prefer the most bang for the buck.
- Good quality of the components.
- It must be quiet (no water cooling).
- Applications are primarily gaming (the latest games).

These are the components I’ve looked at so far:

CPU - Intel Core i5 3570K 3,4Ghz (Ivy Bridge)
Motherboard - Asus P8Z77-V
Graphics - ASUS GeForce GTX 670 2048MB DirectCUII TOP
RAM - Corsair 16GB (4x4096MB) CL9 1600Mhz VENGEANCE (low profile)
PSU - Corsair AX 750W 80+ Gold
Case - Fractal Design Define R4
CPU Cooler - Noctua NH-D14

Now for some questions and thoughts.

1. Regarding the processor, I’ve understood that you get more bang for your buck with the Core i5 3570K instead of a Core i7 3770K. As we know, 3770K Hyper not affect gaming that much, if anything at all. But how will the situation be in 3-5 years? Maybe it's worth it to spend a little extra on a processor with HT?

I will also in the near future (1-2 years) run SLI, and then maybe HT is not a bad idea. I read somewhere that a 4-core processor with HT can better "manage" an SLI configuration?

2. In the case of the CPU cooler, I chose the Noctua NH-D14 because in the future I’m going to overclock the processor. Have also read that Ivy Bridge have some heat problems. Is this cooler overkill? Perhaps there are other, cheaper that works well with my configuration, and will also work when I overclock?

Grateful for all answers, thanks in advance

 

[fffblackmage]

This belongs in the General Hardware subforum.

- It must be future proof as I upgrade infrequently.

If it's going to be future-proof, why would you need to upgrade?

Make sure you're answering the questions in this thread.

This thread is also excellent for reference and as a starting point for your build. The good news is that you're not underbuying anything, but you're overbuying in almost every category (the case is probably the only thing I wouldn't change, good choice too).

Personally, I like the Thermalright HR-02 Macho for cpu cooler. The included fan is quiet, and for silence, you can use the heatsink passively.

 

[oceanside]

I upgrade pretty infrequently as well. I'll give you my reasoning for skipping Ivy (right or wrong). Earlier this year I had two P4's and elected to upgrade to a 2500k, an SSD and big air. Since I'm likely hanging onto it for 6-10 years, and with the inspiration from IDC and HondaCop, I decided to lap. I had tremendous results (thanks guys!) with a NH-D14 -10degC at load with liquid metal ultra. Actually, found that I had a paste bubble as both the IHS and NH-D14 were both slightly concave. It's at 4.4GHz and it doesn't climb higher than low-mid 50's loaded(IBT) Pretty happy with the nuggets of wisdom I gleaned from this forum. Awesome upgrade all-in-all.

The second P4 will likely wait a while for a few reasons. First, I really don't trust the paste and gap between the IHS and the Die on Ivy, long term. Will it last ten years like my soldered P4's without serious degrading, will the paste degrade?? Second, I don't want to be locked into having two machines with the same socket and chipsets (like with the P4's). Will wait and the next upgrade will be a soldered lid, even if I have to spend more $$ on Intel's Enthusiast line.

You will not regret the NH-D14 one bit. Well designed cooler, and quiet.

 

[PrincessFrosty]

I'd suggest something similar to what I'm running, a 2600k with a good cooler like the ThermalRight TRUE Spirit 140.

It's a great balance between price and performance in the high end segment and sets you up for a good overclock which is the key for great speeds now and future proofing, I'd say this kit is quite hard to beat in terms of value for money in the high end segment.

The 2600k is a real sweet spot, it has one of the biggest headrooms for overclocking, the extra cache compared to the cheaper 2500k variant, but runs cooler than the IvyBridge variants so can usually achieve higher overclocks.

The ThermalRight TRUE Spirit 140 is one of the best air coolers around at about half the price of similarly performing coolers, runs very quiet.

 

[DrZeto]

This belongs in the General Hardware subforum.


If it's going to be future-proof, why would you need to upgrade?

Make sure you're answering the questions in this thread.

This thread is also excellent for reference and as a starting point for your build. The good news is that you're not underbuying anything, but you're overbuying in almost every category (the case is probably the only thing I wouldn't change, good choice too).

Personally, I like the Thermalright HR-02 Macho for cpu cooler. The included fan is quiet, and for silence, you can use the heatsink passively.

Hi, thanks for your reply.

I agree that this maybe belongs in the General Hardware subforum, but I don't know how to move it, and maybe moderators are the only ones that can.

"If it's going to be future-proof, why would you need to upgrade?". Well, what I meant when writing upgrade was upgrading by buying a completely new computer. And by future-proof I meant that it should last 5-6 years. I realize that playing the latest future games six years from now on a computer with the specs I've listed will not be as smooth (with everything set to high) as playing the games of today. But I want them to atleast run fairly smooth with the graphics set to a medium or low.

Questions and answers:

-What YOUR PC will be used for: I thought that was quite clear in my post, it's for gaming.

-What YOUR budget is: Irrelevant in my case. As I wrote I'm after the most bang for the buck. It doesen't matter what the pricetag is as long as the price is justified by the performance gain.

-What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from: Irrelevant in my case, I have contacts all over the world, so I can get my hands on pretty much any component.

-IF YOU have a brand preference: This is also clear in my post, I'm building an Intel based rig.

-If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts: This question is irrelevant to my inquiry in this thread.

-IF YOU plan on overclocking: This is also clear in my post. I am gonna overclock in the future.

-What resolution will you be using: 1920 × 1080

-WHEN do you plan to build it: Now, otherwise I wouldn't be asking for help.

-Do you need to purchase any software to go with the system: No, and irrelevant to my question.

When you say that I'm overbuying everything, is that in regards to my future-proofing statement in mind?

 

[DrZeto]

I'd suggest something similar to what I'm running, a 2600k with a good cooler like the ThermalRight TRUE Spirit 140.

It's a great balance between price and performance in the high end segment and sets you up for a good overclock which is the key for great speeds now and future proofing, I'd say this kit is quite hard to beat in terms of value for money in the high end segment.

The 2600k is a real sweet spot, it has one of the biggest headrooms for overclocking, the extra cache compared to the cheaper 2500k variant, but runs cooler than the IvyBridge variants so can usually achieve higher overclocks.

The ThermalRight TRUE Spirit 140 is one of the best air coolers around at about half the price of similarly performing coolers, runs very quiet.

Thanks for your reply. This is very interesting, I think you have a very good argument here I know that Ivy Bridge uses the Sandy Bridge microarchitecture, and that Ivy Bridge suffers from heat problems. But my knowledge about differences of the two stops here. Are there any arguments for choosing Ivy bridge? I mean comparing 2600k and 3770k, is there any benefit (in any aspect) really to choose the 3770k?

 

[PrincessFrosty]

Ivy Bridge does slightly more work per clock, so clock for clock they win out, but if you plan on overclocking you're likely to hit a limit of about 4.5Ghz with IvyBridge whereas SandyBridge will top out between about 4.8Ghz and 5Ghz depending on your chip and what vCore you're willing to put through it. That generally speaking makes the Sandybridge chips the overclockers choice.

If you're going to have a 24/7 overclock to get the most out of your chip but you don't want to spend a fortune the 2600k is pretty much the best balance, high overclocks, decent temps, larger cache than the i5 range and hyperthreading for 8 logical cores.