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Need help finlalizing build, which MB

J

Jason1337

Junior Member
Need help finlalizing build, which MB

Ive somewhat pieced this install together. I would like to go i7 only because I wont buy a new machine for at least 3 years. I am torn between the 860 and 920 (same price). From reading here the 860 is/can be better than the 920. I will not be overclocking, I gave that up with my poor old BP6. Ive picked out Corsair PC3-12800 (full specs below). I have decided on the Radeon HD5850, not exactly sure which manufac to go with. Ive also picked out an Intel 80GB SSD for OS and will go reg SATA for storage.

This machine will have W7 Ultimate as its OS. This machine will be used for gaming and software development.

As far as MB's, I dont need frills. Stability, price, and options is what Im shooting for. No on-board video. I want a NIC, audio, pref USB 3.0 support.

I currently am looking at the Intel DP55WB 'Media Series' micro-ATX. This seems to be a no-frills MB, though it seems quite light on slots.

What else would you recommend for this setup?

Finally, as far as case, what is most important to me is quiet. What will best work with this MB? Front access to audio/USB would be nice but not required.

Thanks all!

RAM: Corsair CMD4GX3M2A1600C8 Dominator 4 GB (2 x 2 GB) PC3-12800 1600MHz 240-Pin DDR3 Core i7 and Core i5 Memory Kit
 
Kick that Intel board to the curb.

Pay the extra $10 or whatever for something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157171

It cut off a second link of mine. Anyway, if you want to go even cheaper you can get a mATX board.

The i7 860 will serve you well, since it essentially overclocks "itself" in a sense through its aggressive turbo mode. Very nice chip, though I'd recommend getting it at Microcenter if you can.

Case: Most cases these days are actually very quiet if you set up your HDD properly and use quiet, 120mm fans. This is one of my loves, though: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-057-_-Product
 
Last edited:
Axon said:
Kick that Intel board to the curb.

Pay the extra $10 or whatever for something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157171

It cut off a second link of mine. Anyway, if you want to go even cheaper you can get a mATX board.

The i7 860 will serve you well, since it essentially overclocks "itself" in a sense through its aggressive turbo mode. Very nice chip, though I'd recommend getting it at Microcenter if you can.

Case: Most cases these days are actually very quiet if you set up your HDD properly and use quiet, 120mm fans. This is one of my loves, though: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-057-_-Product
Click to expand...

Perfect

Unless there are any objections, Im moving forward with the GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3 and Antec Sonata Elite.

This still leaves the option issue regarding the 860 vs 920. You mentioned the 860's turbo mode. Is that out of the box working or do I need to set some BIOS info? Overall im looking for out of the box best, but if its truly worth it I could configure the BIOS up, its just not a preference to mess with any of that.

Any final thoughts before I direct my CPU questions to the other forum?

Thanks again,
Jason
 
Will the GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3 allow me to run timing of 6-6-6-20 for the RAM below?

CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GT 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMT4GX3M2A1600C6
 
Those timings are pretty aggressive, I kinda doubt it would be stable on most MBs without a lot of fidgeting and some overvolting, regardless of the fact that it says it's C6. I don't see why that Gigabyte board would hold you back anymore than any other board besides maybe the eVga classifieds, but those are $300+. I expect you'd be able to do 7-7/8-7-? fine and the difference wouldn't be noticeable anyways.
 
Athadeus said:
Those timings are pretty aggressive, I kinda doubt it would be stable on most MBs without a lot of fidgeting and some overvolting, regardless of the fact that it says it's C6. I don't see why that Gigabyte board would hold you back anymore than any other board besides maybe the eVga classifieds, but those are $300+. I expect you'd be able to do 7-7/8-7-? fine and the difference wouldn't be noticeable anyways.
Click to expand...
Should I go with the 7-7-7-20 or 8-8-8-24?

This memory stuff is nuts. Do I need DDR 1600, 1866, or 2000? PC3 12800 or 16000?

How is a guy to decide?
 
PC3 12800 is the same thing as DDR3 1600, it's just a conversion of * 8 to get something like the memory bandwidth vs the frequency. I really would like to find an article to read more about it myself.

Any of the common DDR3 frequencies from 1066-2000 will work fine for you. As I understand it, the higher freqency modules don't perform much better since they require higher timings. For gaming you want to make sure you can get your memory working with good timings for whatever freq you're at. For encoding, benchmarking, and some other things, you can see some real benefit from the higher frequency stuff.

I just noticed that you linked two different DDR3 2x2gb kits in your posts. There is a massive price difference between them.

CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMD4GX3M2A1600C8
$147.99 ($137.99 after $10.00 Mail-In Rebate Card )
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...D4GX3M2A1600C8

CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GT 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMT4GX3M2A1600C6
$269.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...T4GX3M2A1600C6

Between the price, difficulty of getting the expensive stuff stable at those speeds, reliability, and performance difference (probably not noticeable), you can get the first one.

Or depending on what color your MB is, something like this
Kingston HyperX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model KHX1600C8D3K2/4GX
$139.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820104141

That matches GB mbs well, same price but no rebate hassle, and I know firsthand how good Kingston's support is for HyperX memory. Happy shopping!
 
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