Mid-Range System in Process

[adlnc08]

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
Gaming - Rift, Skyrim, SWTOR, etc.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
Under $1K

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.
No brand preference

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
EVGA GeForce GTX 460 FPB EE 1GB (until prices come down a bit on the next substantial upgrade).

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

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

8. What resolution YOU plan on gaming with.
1920x1200

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Now.

10. Don't ask for a build configuration critique or rating if you are thin skinned.
Okay!
==============================================================
Based on the mid-range system recommendations on this forum, I've already ordered:
i5-2500K (w/free DVD burner, bundled w/Windows 7) and the Samsung 1TB F3.

I haven't decided on a case yet but I'm looking to minimize overall noise. I currently have a P182 with an EnerMax Modu82+ 525W power supply. I assume my GTX460 likely accounts for most of the noise. It gets a bit loud when I play Rift.

I would go with a P183 but I'm concerned about the top fan noise/vibration mentioned in reviews. If the system would work fine with that fan turned off, I might consider it. Otherwise I'm leaning towards the Fractal Design Define R3. The only downside is the $20 shipping cost from Newegg - I could get free shipping on the P183 from Amazon, but they don't carry the R3.

The price went up to $79 on the Antec HCG-520, so I don't know if there's a better choice now. I also don't mind spending more to get a quiet power supply. On the other hand, XFX Core Edition PRO650W is now $60 AR.

I've seen both the ASRock Z68 PRO3 LGA and ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 mentioned - I'm wondering why the latter was described as more "future proof."

Any guidance would be appreciated! This forum was invaluable three years ago when I built my current PC, so I know the advice here is quite sound.

Thanks!

 

[lehtv]

Case If you're looking to minimize noise I highly recommend Fractal R3 from personal experience. Great case to work with, not too pricy, offers a lot of customizability in terms of noise/cooling. But since you already have P182 it's probably be worth it to spend on a new case.

CPU I would recommend overclocking the 2500K to around 4GHz. It's very easy, basically free +20% performance. 4GHz seems to be the MHZ/watt sweetspot (according to this graph, may depend on cooler used). You'd want an aftermarket cooler for OC and usual recommendation is Hyper 212+. If you care about noise though it's not the quietest cooler though not loud either. For quietness I recommend Scythe Mugen 3 (300-1600RPM PWM fan, compact but high performing heatsink).

GPU With regard to your GTX 460 noise - what kind of temps are you getting at load? If low enough, it could allow you to create a lower RPM fan profile in MSI Afterburner.

PSU The 525W enermax should be enough for your system, unless you're experiencing problems with it. I think that's a high quality unit (Golden award from HWSecrets). It's not expensive to buy a new PSU though - XFX 550W and 650W are only $55 and $60 after rebate from newegg. Both are high quality Seasonic-built units, 80+bronze but non-modular. If you want modular, you'll need to look at Corsair TX650M, Seasonic M12II series or Corsair HX series.

So it looks to me that you only really require a new Mobo, RAM, and possibly an SSD. Correct?

 

[Zap]

I currently have a P182 with an EnerMax Modu82+ 525W power supply. I assume my GTX460 likely accounts for most of the noise. It gets a bit loud when I play Rift.

Probably. $1000 can get you quite the system, so no need to keep the potentially noisy card. Speaking of keep, why not keep the P182 and the Enermax PSU? Enermax PSUs aren't that noisy, and the P183 is like a P182 separated at birth.

For graphics card, IMO the ones with dual fans seem to be the most quiet, and don't have to spin up as fast under load.

I've seen both the ASRock Z68 PRO3 LGA and ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 mentioned - I'm wondering why the latter was described as more "future proof."

Marketing? They claim the board is PCIe 3.0 ready with Ivy Bridge support. Unless they stand behind it with a promise to swap you with a new motherboard if their claims don't pan out, I wouldn't pay extra for it (unless it has other features you want).

 

[lehtv]

^ I believe the Asrock Z68 Extreme4 also supports front-panel USB3, unlike the cheap Pro3.

@OP for a mainboard I'd recommend Asus P8Z68-V LE. $130 for a board that has everything you need, apart from SLI. Well it doesn't have firewire or eSATA but those are kind of niche markets. For SLI the Asrocks are probably best value for money.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

^ I believe the Asrock Z68 Extreme4 also supports front-panel USB3, unlike the cheap Pro3.

@OP for a mainboard I'd recommend Asus P8Z68-V LE. $130 for a board that has everything you need, apart from SLI. Well it doesn't have firewire or eSATA but those are kind of niche markets. For SLI the Asrocks are probably best value for money.

:thumbsup:

 

[adlnc08]

Thanks for the comments so far, very helpful!

I plan on putting my old GPU back in my current computer and using it as a spare/office computer. So that's why I'm shopping for a new case and PSU. Thinking about it some more, I can buy a new PSU and if it's too noisy, just swap it for the EnerMax.

With regard to my GTX460, is there a card for under $300 that would give a worthwhile upgrade, and possibly be quieter? I don't usually buy the latest & greatest video card instead going for the 'best bang for the buck' while still having good performance.

I'll check the temps on the card playing Rift and report back. I admit to not really tweaking my system settings, but I'm willing to learn!

So, my updated shopping list:

Case: Fractal R3
PSU: Corsair TX650M ($105AR) or SeaSonic M12II 620 ($100)
CPU Cooler: Scythe Mugen 3 (if I overclock)
MB: Asus P8Z68-V LE ($130) or AsRock P67 Extreme4 ($155)
SSD: Crucial M4
RAM: G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (?)

New Video Card - ?

Thanks again!

 

[mfenn]

@OP for a mainboard I'd recommend Asus P8Z68-V LE. $130 for a board that has everything you need, apart from SLI. Well it doesn't have firewire or eSATA but those are kind of niche markets. For SLI the Asrocks are probably best value for money.

Agree.

OP, you have a solid case and PSU already, so I would leave those alone. Instead, I would get:

i5 2500K $220
ASUS P8Z68-V LE $130
G.Skill DDR3 1333 8GB $42
6950 2GB $255 AR
F3 1TB $60
Crucial M4 128GB $197
Hyper 212 EVO $35
Total: $939 assuming that the 2500K and F3 already count in the $1K

As a side note: Ken and lehtv, have you noticed that AMD is drawing down stocks on the higher-end 6000 series? Seems suspicious to me.

EDIT: OP, have you considered getting a cheap case and PSU like the Antec Three Hundred and the 430CX for your spare computer and just keeping what you have now for the main rig?

 

[adlnc08]

Will the 6950 be a substantial upgrade over my 460GTX, or am I better off living with it for a few months and putting the $250 towards something even better?

Per this chart, it looks like I would want at least a 6970 or GTX 570:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-performance-radeon-geforce,3018-7.html

I don’t recommend upgrading your graphics card unless the replacement card is at least three tiers higher. Otherwise, the upgrade is somewhat parallel and you may not notice a worthwhile difference in performance.

 

[lehtv]

EDIT: OP, have you considered getting a cheap case and PSU like the Antec Three Hundred and the 430CX for your spare computer and just keeping what you have now for the main rig?

I completely agree with this line of reasoning. Your current case and PSU are high quality products, a bit overkill for the office system. For the office system, a CX430 for $25 and NZXT Gamma for $35 are perfectly fine. In order to upgrade your current case and PSU for something better, you'd have to pay nearly three times that.

i5 2500K $220
ASUS P8Z68-V LE $130
G.Skill DDR3 1333 8GB $42
6950 2GB $255 AR
F3 1TB $60
Crucial M4 128GB $197
Hyper 212 EVO $35
Total: $939 assuming that the 2500K and F3 already count in the $1K

Can't really beat that. Also the choice of SSD is kind of subjective. 64GB could be enough for some, especially if used as a cache drive - in which case I suppose a drive with better write speeds than M4 would work better, e.g. Vertex 3. The supposedly questionable reliability of Sandforce drives would be less of an issue too, as the OS obviously wouldn't be housed on the cache drive.

have you noticed that AMD is drawing down stocks on the higher-end 6000 series? Seems suspicious to me.

No haven't noticed that...

Will the 6950 be a substantial upgrade over my 460GTX, or am I better off living with it for a few months and putting the $250 towards something even better?

It's on the order of 30-50% faster. Closer to 50% at your resolution. It's not a bad upgrade, especially if you can sell your 460 for a good price.

Anything more than a 6950 - especially if unlocked and overclocked - and you should buy a new PSU. It'd be cost effective not to have to do that so 6950 2gb is my recommendation. (6970 simply isn't worth the money)

 

[adlnc08]

Also the choice of SSD is kind of subjective. 64GB could be enough for some, especially if used as a cache drive - in which case I suppose a drive with better write speeds than M4 would work better, e.g. Vertex 3. The supposedly questionable reliability of Sandforce drives would be less of an issue too, as the OS obviously wouldn't be housed on the cache drive.

I'm not 100% sold on putting the OS on the SSD, as I don't find Windows particularly slow. A friend talks about how fast it boots up on hers, but frankly I'm a "push the power switch go get a drink and come back" kind of person. I'm never in my chair staring at the screen waiting for it to boot.

The cost of the 128GB drive isn't too bad (unless you compare it to a standard 1TB drive for $50!). But, am I better off with something better quality/faster if I just want to put a few games on it (SWTOR/Rift) and not the OS?

And you all have me just about convinced to reuse my current case & PS. At least I know what the noise level will be!

 

[lehtv]

I think you should go for a 64GB drive then and either use as cache or install windows on it. The former option is better if you have a huge Steam folder (for example). If you do video editing or photoshopping you could use it as a scratch disk (or part of it; and the rest as cache). It doesn't sound like the extra $100 toward a 128GB ssd would be money well spent in your case. By the time you feel like the 64GB SSD should be upgraded to something bigger, SSDs will have fallen in price and improved in performance

 

[adlnc08]

Okay, any recommendations for a good 64GB SSD?

And a friend suggested that I just sell my current MB, CPU and RAM on Ebay and ditch the office computer idea. I have a P.O.S. Gateway there now, so I can just leave it. This appeals to my lazy side.

I can put that money towards the new GPU, and then also sell the 460GTX. I'm going to leave the video card purchase for after I get the computer built though. Looks like my shopping list is almost done (and shorter!).

CPU Cooler: Hyper 212 ($35)
MB: Asus P8Z68-V LE ($130)
RAM: G.SKILL Value Series 8GB ($42)
Radeon HD 6950 2GB: ($255)
SSD - 64GB TBD

Thanks again folks!

 

[lehtv]

So, are you going to use the 64GB SSD as a cache or a system drive?

 

[adlnc08]

So, are you going to use the 64GB SSD as a cache or a system drive?

Well, I'm still reading up on it but it seems like using it as a cache might give me the best overall benefit (i.e. speed up all programs, not just games that I might install on it).

 

[lehtv]

In that case you'd probably be best off with a Sandforce controller drive. I'm no expert on SSD's but as I understand it their overall write speeds are great, on a different level from Crucial M4. E.g. OCZ Vertex 3 60gb or Corsair Force GT 60gb.

 

[adlnc08]

Any thoughts on this motherboard on sale for $165 today?

GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3P LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128506

My current computer has a Gigabyte MB, and I've been quite happy with it.

Thanks!

 

[mfenn]

I'm not 100% sold on putting the OS on the SSD, as I don't find Windows particularly slow. A friend talks about how fast it boots up on hers, but frankly I'm a "push the power switch go get a drink and come back" kind of person. I'm never in my chair staring at the screen waiting for it to boot.

The cost of the 128GB drive isn't too bad (unless you compare it to a standard 1TB drive for $50!). But, am I better off with something better quality/faster if I just want to put a few games on it (SWTOR/Rift) and not the OS?

And you all have me just about convinced to reuse my current case & PS. At least I know what the noise level will be!

Boot times are really just a fringe benefit of having an SSD IMHO. The main thing is that it makes everything you do on your desktop happen instantly.

Go ahead, close out your web browser and open it back up. I'll wait.

OK, back now? See how long that took? With an SSD, it would be instant. Same thing for opening up your normal startup applications. It is a really damn good feeling to be CPU bound upon logging in. :awe:

In that case you'd probably be best off with a Sandforce controller drive. I'm no expert on SSD's but as I understand it their overall write speeds are great, on a different level from Crucial M4. E.g. OCZ Vertex 3 60gb or Corsair Force GT 60gb.

Unless you feel like living on the edge (or have really good backups), you don't want to use the write-back cache functionality of SRT. When using it in the normal write-through mode, write speeds don't really come into play.

Since an M4 64GB is also a good value in the 64GB space, I would stick with that. There is nothing wrong with the Sandforce per se, but they just make me nervous due to the firmware issues. I'll want to see them go 6 months without major issues before recommending them.

Any thoughts on this motherboard on sale for $165 today?

GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3P LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128506

My current computer has a Gigabyte MB, and I've been quite happy with it.

Thanks!

It's certainly nice, but I'm not sold on its value proposition over the LE.

 

[adlnc08]

Boot times are really just a fringe benefit of having an SSD IMHO. The main thing is that it makes everything you do on your desktop happen instantly.

I have a feeling I'll just wind up with the 128GB one.. and I could add another smaller one as a cache when prices come down.

I'm down to picking a MB and SSD - if I get both from Amazon I'll be building my new PC next weekend.

 

[mfenn]

M4 128GB plus P8Z68-V LE gets my vote.

 

[adlnc08]

M4 128GB plus P8Z68-V LE gets my vote.

Well, 50% ain't bad! I went with the P8Z68 but only got a 64GB SSD to use as a cache. I may get a larger SSD later but the cache just seemed simpler for now. I'm also holding off on a new video card until December, or when a really great deal comes along.

Thanks for all the recommendations.. the posters here at Anandtech are beyond helpful!

 

[mfenn]

No prob. Setting up SRT can be a little tricky, so post here if you have problems.

 

[adlnc08]

No prob. Setting up SRT can be a little tricky, so post here if you have problems.

Okay, I have a SRT question!

I did not connect the SSD, nor did I make any BIOS changes prior to installing Windows 7 on my 1TB hard drive. I think I was so happy to boot up on the first try that I just went straight to OS install.

I've now downloaded the most recent SRT drivers from the ASUS website.

edit: Well, this morning I tried to just enable RAID and go from there - Windows definitely did NOT like that! I'm thinking it's probably just better to reinstall Windows from scratch. Will try that next!

 

[mfenn]

Yeah, you should reinstall Windows with the SSD unplugged but with RAID enabled in the BIOS.