Help me Tweak My New Rig Design please...

[ChinaCat]

Building a new rig with gaming in mind. I'll work on it as well and plan to do video editing but we'll see if that project comes to pass.

Been out of the loop for a while and would greatly appreciate your wisdom in commenting on this initial design.

Thank you very much in advance.

CPU: I7-2700k, or I7-3820 (Same Price) or I7-3930k (twice the price)

Motherboard: ASUS Rampage IV Formula x79 or ASUS P9X79 Pro X79

RAM: 16gigs Corsair Vengence

Video Card: ASUS ENGTX 580

Hard-drives: 2x Crucial 256 GB m4 SSD SATA 6gb/s

Audio: (unless sound on board is great) ASUS Xonar Essence STX

Power: Corsai Professional Series: Either 850 or 1200

DVD 2x LG WH12LS39K 12x Blu-ray writer

Case: Corsair CC600TWM-White Graphite Series 600T

Windows 7 Professional





@lehtv - Sure.

PLEASE when you POST threads asking for input on system builds tell us...

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

Like I said, gaming is the target as my business needs don't come close to what games require.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

There is no budget per se. My initial design should give you an idea of what's ok with me price wise. Now I'm just trying to understand what your views are on the components I picked and what you may pick and why.

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

USA

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.

I prefer Intel, ASUS, Corsair & Nividia

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

No

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.

Other threads appear to be shooting for a lower end system than what I'm after.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

No over clocking

8. What resolution YOU plan on gaming with.

1980 x 1200 until I get a new monitor down the road. Currently use a 24 inch and can see picking up a 26 inch at some time.

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?

Within 30 days.

10. Don't ask for a build configuration critique or rating if you are thin skinned.

Good advice.

 

[lehtv]

Please answer these questions: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=80121

 

[DominionSeraph]

I'd go 7950 crossfire. The 7950 is the equal of the GTX 580 and uses less power. You're looking at $900 in video cards instead of $500, but you can mitigate that by going with a less absurd motherboard.

 

[ChinaCat]

Thanks DomionSeraph. I'm partial, to the point of bias towards Nividia and just changed that in the answers I gave.

 

[lehtv]

New NVIDIA cards should be released in April. Might be worth it to wait until then before buying a video card (you could still use the PC for everything else with integrated video, and possibly gaming if you can reuse your current video card.)

For a gaming build it's absolutely pointless to build around X79. Games are mildly multithreaded, while the idea with X79 is to support six-core hyperthreaded processors that excel in heavily multithreaded productivity apps. The gaming performance of said processors is similar to i5-2500K. (X79 supports tri-SLI and quad-SLI so this may not apply to multimonitor gaming which needs such graphics card setups for maximum performance; though some LGA1155 motherboards also support tri-SLI.) i7-2600K would strike a good balance between gaming performance, video editing performance, and cost.

Likewise with the 16GB of RAM - pointless for games. Above 8GB RAM is meant for productivity applications. I'd recommend buying 8GB now and adding more if you need to (monitor your RAM use while editing videos.)

You probably won't need 512GB of SSD space. One 256GB SSD should fit all your programs and games, while the rest (media files etc) are fine on a 7200rpm HDD.

An 850W PSU is OK if you intend to upgrade to SLI sometime. 1000W could be justified if your (SLI) setup was heavily overclocked. 1200W is overkill except for Tri-SLI, but you will never need three graphics cards for single monitor resolutions.

The case is a personal choice but I'd recommend you to think more about what you need from a case and less about how cool a case might look on your table.

 

[ChinaCat]

Thank you lehtv.

I will not be using more than one video card.

Originally I was going to use the I7-2700k but the was told the I7-3820 was more powerful and the same price.

You are confirming what I suspected, that for game I won't need multiple cores; so that said, is the 2700 better than the 2600 and for the same price should I get the 2x00 or the 3820?

Good suggestions about the hard-drive. I agree with you. I was just hoping to keep the OS and certain apps on one drive with games on the other. Between games and media space seems to get filled up over time.

Are you saying the 850 power supply is more than adequate if I am not going sli? I read the GTX 580 eats lots of power.

 

[lehtv]

Originally I was going to use the I7-2700k but the was told the I7-3820 was more powerful and the same price.

They perform the same overall, but i7-3820 requires an X79 motherboard which will cost significantly more than a decent Z68 motherboard. And you'll also lose support for the integrated GPU (handy for backup or a secondary monitor) as well as SSD caching and Quick Sync.

You are confirming what I suspected, that for game I won't need multiple cores; so that said, is the 2700 better than the 2600 and for the same price should I get the 2x00 or the 3820?

i7-2600 is easily a better choice here. i7-2700 is just 100MHz faster, pointless to pay extra for. If you don't plan to overclock, you should get the non-K version for $25 less. K signifies an unlocked multiplier. However, I would recommend you to overclock if you want the most out of your CPU. It is not difficult, and all you need is to spend $30-50 on a tower cooler. My choice of CPU would be the i5-2500K overclocked to 4.5GHz, it's the best combination of high performance and value for money. It's just as fast as 2600K for gaming, and at 4.5GHz it'll be similar in heavily multithreaded performance as 2600K at stock speed. On your budget though it wouldn't be wrong to grab the i7-2600 (or 2600K + OC).

Are you saying the 850 power supply is more than adequate if I am not going sli? I read the GTX 580 eats lots of power.

You are correct that GTX 580 eats lots of power - more than any other single GPU. About 250W. Combined with a stock clocked i7 and the rest of the system, you're looking at around 400W of peak wattage. On the whole this isn't very much. Any decent 650W power supply is clearly enough, with room for overclocking and small hardware additions like extra storage drives, audio card etc. An 850W unit is generally agreed to be powerful enough for your average GTX 580 SLI setup.

 

[mfenn]

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: to lehtv's answers. I agree that buying a GTX 580 is rather pointless right now if you're looking for maximum single-GPU performance. The 7970 is faster overall and uses less power. If you absolutely must buy Nvidia, wait for Kepler.

Oh yeah and holy lurker Batman!

 

[ChinaCat]

I knew I'd get wisdom here.

Thank you very much.

I will wait for Kepler and now re-thinking CPU and other aspects of the build.

You guys rock.

 

[ChinaCat]

I decided to pull the trigger realizing by the time the new Nividia's are out they will be very expensive; so I'll just upgrade in a year or so.

And yes, I know I could have saved some money with another CPU; but that's cool.

Thoughts?


Intel Core i7-2700K 3.5 GHz

ASUS LGA 1155 - P8Z68 DELUXE/GEN3

Corsair Vengeance Blue 16 GB DDR3

ASUS GTX570

Crucial 256 GB m4 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s CT256M4SSD2 x 2

ASUS PCI-Express x1 Sound Card XONAR ESSENCE STX/90-YAA0C0-0UAN00Z

LG Electronics WH12LS39K M-Disc 12X Blu-Ray Disc Rewriter and DVD-ROM Drive - x2

Corsair Professional Series Gold 850-Watt

Corsair White Case 600T

WIndows 7 Pro

 

[mfenn]

The CPU, Mobo, RAM, and PSU are all wastes of money. You could have gotten identical (or maybe 5% less) performance for 30-50% less. The GTX 570 is either OK or a waste depending on how much you spent on it. The 600T is merely "OK" for its price class.

EDIT: Oh, and the OS edition is a waste unless you can name a Pro feature that you actually use.

EDIT2: And do you really need two Blu-Ray burners?

I also just looked up the price on that sound card. It's also a waste of money. You could've gotten a real DAC and amp for about the same.

Also just noticed that you got two 256GB SSDs. Somehow I doubt you can name one application that you use that actually needs that kind of IOPS.

So yeah, pretty much every part in your build, with the possible exception of the GPU is overpriced as hell.

 

[ChinaCat]

I won't buy ATI and feel good about the performance price/point of the GPU.

I don't care that I could have saved $50 on the CPU. I got what I wanted.

I like the Power Supply. Used them before and very impressed with its stability & reliability. How much would you have saved me on that assuming your replacement would have been as good? Doubt very much.

I like the RAM. How much would you have saved me on that assuming your replacement would have been as good? Doubt very much.

I'll fill one of the SSD's up alone with games & music I'll be recording & editing.

I have my own reasons for getting the sound card and have much higher end equipment that have no connection to my computer.

Thanks -CC

 

[Charlie98]

I'll fill one of the SSD's up alone with games & music I'll be recording & editing.

...fill up and then some. I think that's why someone suggested a single SSD for the OS and programs, and a larger HHD for media storage. That's what I did, and I've already got over 300GB of music and video on my 500GB HDD... I wish I would have went to a 1TB HDD... but live and learn.

 

[ChinaCat]

@mfenn,

I wanted to apologize for any defensiveness I may have exhibited as a result of your post. I welcome the input. It's just that you weren't clear on what alternatives you would have picked and the reasons why; beyond just saving a few bucks.

Not all of us work in the field of computers and can only go on what information we have the time to find. The general feedback I've received from other places is the final build I selected is solid and should provide excellent performance and reliability for the tasks it will perform; Recording & mixing my live music, video transfers & editing, general office functions, novice web design and gaming.

I don't have money to burn but enough of it that spending an extra $500 to ensure the system meets with my expectations is just fine.

Thank you. -CC

 

[aaksheytalwar]

Wait for Kepler and ivy

 

[ChinaCat]

There is always something to wait for. They will both be expensive at release and I can always upgrade to them in a year or so.

 

[SickBeast]

OP, two words - ivy bridge.

Also, get an i5 instead of an i7. Put the savings toward more memory and a bigger SSD or else a faster video card.

Oh yes, and the GTX 580 is now obsolete. Wait a week and see what Nvidia unveils on the 12th or else buy a new AMD 7950 or one if the other cards they just came out with.

 

[ChinaCat]

In a review of the MB I bought "ASUS s P8Z68 DELUXE/GEN3" the following was written which I assume is true.

"This mobo has handled everything I've thrown at it. It's future proof, offering compatability with PCIe 3.0 (as long as you have the new Ivy Bridge processor)."

If that's the case why can't I just upgrade to a nice Ivy in 12 months instead of waiting x amount of time to spend x more?

 

[SickBeast]

Because you're waiting two weeks to save yourself a future upgrade.

Make sure you get an SSD. If you don't, my crappy phenom ii x4 will be faster than your new rig in the ways that matter most.

 

[ChinaCat]

You made your point and I responded. It's really not that serious. The Ivy will be a 5 to 15% increase and in a year my options will likely be far better than they will be in two months; not two weeks.

http://news.techeye.net/chips/ivy-bridge-to-launch-april-29th

If you read my specs you would have seen I'm getting SSD.

Thanks -CC

 

[SickBeast]

Ivy bridge will give you way less heat and power consumption; the additional performance is a bonus.

If you can get a deal now through micro center or whatever I see no reason not to buy now. I've seen the i5 advertised at 179 which is a good deal and I'm sure you can get cheap i7s in a combo as well.

I don't fuss much over the motherboard personally. They all tend to perform within 1% of one another. I would just take whatever comes in the bundle and bank the savings.

 

[mfenn]

@mfenn,

I wanted to apologize for any defensiveness I may have exhibited as a result of your post. I welcome the input. It's just that you weren't clear on what alternatives you would have picked and the reasons why; beyond just saving a few bucks.

Not all of us work in the field of computers and can only go on what information we have the time to find. The general feedback I've received from other places is the final build I selected is solid and should provide excellent performance and reliability for the tasks it will perform; Recording & mixing my live music, video transfers & editing, general office functions, novice web design and gaming.

I don't have money to burn but enough of it that spending an extra $500 to ensure the system meets with my expectations is just fine.

Thank you. -CC

It's OK. I didn't list alternatives because you've already bought the rig and it's unlikely to change at this point. If you are OK with returning stuff, I would be happy to give you some recommendations.