Ivy bridge upgrade time

[davidthemaster3]

Hi guys,

Since Ivy Bridge is out, I decided I wanted to upgrade. Oh and great rebate on the m4 + a nice paycheck this week really helps XD

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
Mostly gaming ... Skyrim, Heroes of Might and Magic 6, Fallout 3 (& New Vegas), GTA 4, Sims 3 with lots of expansions ...
Some programming using Visual Studio 2010 and Eclipse.
Some word processing using Office 2010.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
Around 1500$, but I want to keep it as low as possible ...

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
Canada! newegg.ca and ncix.ca mostly, but open to new suggestions!

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.
No Brand preference

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
Will be using the RAM, DVD drive, Heatsink & Audio card below

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
Will try overclocking, but nothing extreme ... I don't really want to raise the voltage

8. What resolution will you be using?
1920 x 1080

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Note that it is usually not cost or time effective to choose your build more than a month before you actually plan to be using it.
Before the 23rd, cause of the rebate on the crucial m4 256gb

X. Do you need to purchase any software to go with the system, such as Windows or Blu Ray playback software?
No need to purchase any software! I got MSDNA licence, cause I'm a student


So here is my current rig:
CPU : AMD Phenom II X4 840
GPU : HIS Radeon 6850
[FONT=&quot]Motherboard : ASUS M4A88T-M LE AMD880G[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]HDD : Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]SSD : Crucial C300 128GB [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]RAM : G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Audio : Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]DVD : LITE-ON iHAS424-98[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]PSU : Cooler Master eXtreme 500W [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]CPU Heatsink : Cooler Master Hyper 212+[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]CASE : APEX PC-389-C [/FONT]

Here is what I'm currently thinking of getting:
CPU : Intel Core i5 3570K 238.99
RAM : 4 x Samsung 4GB DDR3 1600 4x 23.99 = 95.96
Motherboard : Asrock Extreme4 z77 179.99
GPU : Sapphire Radeon 7850 259.99
SSD : Crucial m4 256GB 229.99
HDD : Seagate Barracuda 3TB 164.99
CASE : Corsair Obsidian Series 550D 149.99
PSU : Antec EarthWatts Platinium 550W 96.99
Total: 1416.89$ + Shipping
But here's the thing ... I need to get the Crucial m4 to get 2.99$ shipping which for me is a savings of at least 50+ $ ...

Any suggestions? I want to lower the total price a bit, so I might hold off on the RAM and HDD and use my old RAM and HDD which would lower the price to ~1155.94$.

Thanks!

 

[lehtv]

CPU You'll get the same performance after overclock on a 2500K $210

RAM Reuse $0. 8GB is most likely enough for your uses.

Mobo
Expensive for what it is, it costs $130 on newegg.com. Gigabyte Z68X-UD3H-B3 ($120 AR) offers the same features as Z77 Extreme4 apart from out-of-the-box compatibility with Ivy. So, 2500K + Z68X-UD3H will cost $89 less after rebate but get you the same performance and features.

GPU
Gigabyte GTX 670 $400. Compare. Paying only $260 for a GPU in a $1500 gaming system is doing it wrong

SSD Awesome. $230

HDD
Great value, but 3TB drives have a higher failure rate, and that drive has only 1 year of warranty. E.g. see here (Barracuda XT is not the same drive but still). If you really need 3TB of space, reuse your 2TB drive and buy a new WD Caviar Black 1TB 7200RPM with 5-year warranty for $110.

Case
Great case but is noise dampening worth $45 over a Corsair 500R? You can also get a decent case for much less, e.g. Core 3000 $70. If you just want to quiet the system down, here are some less expensive alternatives: NZXT H2 White $75 AR, NZXT H2 Black $95 AR, Fractal Design R3 Black $115

PSU
Efficiency alone isn't worth that much. Since your board supports SLI, I'd recommend a PSU that can actually run 670 SLI in the future. It's unlikely you'll ever do it... but if it ends up costing half of a 550W Platinum unit, why not: XFX 650W $53 AR

Total = $1229 after rebate with the additional hard drive and 500R case

 

[davidthemaster3]

Thanks lehtv,

I always have trouble choosing with PSUs ... I'll go with the XFX!

For the CPU/Motherboard, I don't really want to go Sandy Bridge ... cause I'd rather have Ivy now and get PCIe 3.0 right now rather than having to upgrade in the future to get it. I know the added bandwidth PCIe doesn't change anything, but since I can afford it ... why not? And I also don't really like the Gigabyte boards, cause I heard they don't have UEFI bios on the z68 and they are having trouble with their UEFI on z77 boards.
So here's an Asus Board : Asus P8Z77-V Lk 155.99

SInce I'm thinking of getting an Asus board, should I also get an Asus 670 GTX (13$ more than the Gigabyte)? I think the EPU switch on the Asus board works with their GPUs too... although I can wait before buying the GPU ... I'll juste use my 6850 until I buy a new one ... and when the GTX 670 has enough stock to drop prices a bit ...

For the case, I think I'm gonna go with the NZXT H2 Black, because I prefer the black one and it will look better were I'll be putting it.

I know 3TB HDDs have high failure rate, but I thought this one wouldn't, because it only has 3 platters compared to other 5 platter 3TB HDDs. I will hold off on it though ... I still have some room my 2TB WD Black, I was mostly looking for some early advice.

I'll stick with my current RAM, but I'd really like to try a RAMDisk in the future so I'll probably buy some later on anyways.

This would get me at ~900 with shipping and I would still have the money for the GPU later on.

 

[lehtv]

For the CPU/Motherboard, I don't really want to go Sandy Bridge ... cause I'd rather have Ivy now and get PCIe 3.0 right now rather than having to upgrade in the future to get it. I know the added bandwidth PCIe doesn't change anything, but since I can afford it ... why not? And I also don't really like the Gigabyte boards, cause I heard they don't have UEFI bios on the z68 and they are having trouble with their UEFI on z77 boards.
So here's an Asus Board : Asus P8Z77-V Lk 155.99

You didn't mention in the OP that the Asrock Z77 Extreme4 costs $140 after rebate. At that price it's a decent deal, go with that.

SInce I'm thinking of getting an Asus board, should I also get an Asus 670 GTX (13$ more than the Gigabyte)?

It makes zero difference whether your mobo and graphics card manufacturers match. But the Asus card is not currently available, hence I recommended Gigabyte. If you can wait until it's available, it's a good choice as well. They're both fast, overclockable and run cool and quiet.

 

[davidthemaster3]

Sorry I didn't mention the rebate, but I've never tried rebates and I've seen a lot of people complain on forums that they take a while and/or don't work, so I tend to not take them into account. I guess I can always try.

For the Asus GPU with the EPU, I saw an article on OVerclock3d : "There was a minor limitation in our testing procedure in that our Radeon HD 5670 graphics card was not of the Asus variety. If it were, the EPU would have also been able to reduce GPU power consumption as well." source
But I guess it doesn't really matter, 'cause I'm not getting the Asus board.

Since NCIX offers pricematch, think I can combine it with Newegg's price AND use the rebate? It would bring the price down to 154.99 - 40$ rebate = 114.99$ ... which would be really awesome!

 

[lehtv]

For the Asus GPU with the EPU, I saw an article on OVerclock3d : "There was a minor limitation in our testing procedure in that our Radeon HD 5670 graphics card was not of the Asus variety. If it were, the EPU would have also been able to reduce GPU power consumption as well." source

The reduction in power consumption according to that article is 7-9%. That doesn't really bear any practical significance although it might sway the decision towards the same brand of GPU, all other things being equal

Since NCIX offers pricematch, think I can combine it with Newegg's price AND use the rebate? It would bring the price down to 154.99 - 40$ rebate = 114.99$ ... which would be really awesome!

That would be pretty awesome, give it a try

 

[DSF]

Since NCIX offers pricematch, think I can combine it with Newegg's price AND use the rebate? It would bring the price down to 154.99 - 40$ rebate = 114.99$ ... which would be really awesome!

Read the fine print of the rebate form, which should be available on Newegg.

Edit: Nevermind, I think I misunderstood. If you meant that Newegg's price is lower but Newegg is not offering the rebate so you want to price match and then send off for the rebate, I get it now.

 

[davidthemaster3]

I jsut ordered and I decided to change to the Fractal R3, because the NZXT H2 had the USB 3 port with a passthrough cable and it performed better that the H2 in Anandtech's review.

I can't wait for the parts to get here! ... although it takes a while for them a to get ~ week of so ...

I will keep you updated on the final price of the Asrock Extreme4!

 

[mfenn]

The R3 is still a great case, you did well there. Let us know if you run into any problems during the build.

 

[davidthemaster3]

I also decided to go with the Samsung RAM, because I'll be reusing most of the parts to give my bro a computer and upgrade my mom's HTPC.

 

[davidthemaster3]

Well my pricematch on the extreme4 didn't work ... would've been awesom though!

 

[davidthemaster3]

Should I get two Scyth Gentle Typhoons at 1850 RPM for 19.99$? I've been thinking of getting extra fans, because the R3 is fine for stock temperatures, but it could perform better with extra fans when overclocked and I don't want to lose the quiet side of the case for extra performance ...
Forum reviews say they are quiet and perform well.


I'm also checking out the 1tb/platter hard drives from Seagate
2tb 117.99
3tb 164.99
Although lehtv said 3tb hard drives have high failure rates, I assume it is because pervious 3tb hard drive were 5 platters at 750gb/platter, right?
Or the Seagate green
1.5tb 79.99


Any recommendations for the hard-drive?

 

[lehtv]

Since you have a rather large SSD, getting a 5400RPM hdd is not a bad plan at all. Great $/GB. I use only 5400RPM drives besides my SSD, never have any issues with performance. I even have games installed on one of the green drives, Skyrim among others. In fact, it's better on the hard drive because it gives me enough time to read the loading screen tips and bits of info.

 

[davidthemaster3]

That's what I was thinking, my current WD Black is used alot ... I install download lots torrents to it and use it as a share on my network and my family get shared HD videos/music from it frequently while I myself watch other videos ... What I'm trying to say is my drive spins alot, wouldn't the increased latency on the Green drive affect performance?

 

[lehtv]

Yes it would affect performance but whether that has practical implications is another thing.

 

[mfenn]

Should I get two Scyth Gentle Typhoons at 1850 RPM for 19.99$? I've been thinking of getting extra fans, because the R3 is fine for stock temperatures, but it could perform better with extra fans when overclocked and I don't want to lose the quiet side of the case for extra performance ...
Forum reviews say they are quiet and perform well.

Gentle Typhoons are in the top tier of fans, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you'll be accomplishing much by adding them to the R3. I would go with stock to begin with and add/replace fans only if you feel like your temps are too high.

 

[davidthemaster3]

Thanks mfenn!

I guess I'll do that cause they don't have stock for the 2 typhoons at 19.99$ anymore.

While checking the harddrives, I was disappointed to see they only have a one year warranty ... my current Caviar black has a 5 year warranty and I'm only approaching the end of my first year, so I'm not gonna hesitate on the hard-drive anymore

And my order was shipped yesterday ... or the CPU was I guess cause everything else is either waiting for shipment or in back order

It took a bit longer cause I went for the pricematch on the extreme4 and it didn't work so I had to send an additionnal balance to NCIX, so it added to the processing time.

 

[davidthemaster3]

Just got home to see I received the last ordered item! Gonna put it together tonight!

 

[cmdrdredd]

Good Luck! I just built up my new Ivy rig. Couldn't be happier with it. Although I wonder if I should have gone with 16GB of memory just because I can. lol...8GB is enough in reality for me though.

 

[mfenn]

Just got home to see I received the last ordered item! Gonna put it together tonight!

Good luck! Let us know how it goes! (went?)

 

[davidthemaster3]

Well I finished the build yesterday and I managed to install Windows before going to bed ...
I went with 16gb because I could lol although I do plan to try out RAMDisks and my ASrock extreme4 does do a RAMDisk with the Xfast RAM!

 

[Ketchup]

RAMdisk brings back some memories from my DOS/Windows 3.1 days. Congrats on the build. Looks like a good machine there. Looking forward to having the funds the upgrade mine, but the only thing I really would want right now is an SSD.

 

[davidthemaster3]

I really don't regret buying my first SSD (a C300 128gb) ... I bought two at the time, one for my desktop and one for my laptop, and it really makes a difference!

Can't say if there's a difference yet between a C300 128GB and a m4 256GB, but Anand says in his review that the performance differences are barely noticeable in day-to-day tasks, so I don't think I will notice a difference in speed, but I will appreciate the difference in capacity for my steam games

 

[davidthemaster3]

Since I want to go dual screen, should I buy this 23.6 inch Asus VH242H for 169.99$ (with a promo code)?

I currently have a 24 inch Asus VW246H, but since I "recycling" my old build for my brother e needs a screen so I will buy two of the same screen ... I don't really know much about displays and contrast and whatnot, but I will read up on it soon ...

 

[piasabird]

Sounds nice. You should shop around for the monitors. Maybe even look for 27 or 30 inch monitors. I sometimes play games on a 40" Samsung and you have to sit back a little farther to take it all in.