New System - Looking for Critique

[Stormblade]

Hey all,

I'm selling (practically giving away) my old system to a friend who needs one badly. So I did some research, looked up some reviews and came up with some parts. I then read the forums here and realized that I can probably save quite a bit (i.e. I'm spending more money for little or no performance gain.)

Here's the system:

CPU - Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 45nm (Quad-core + HTT, 3.06 to 3.33 GHz, 8MB L3, 130W) - $295
MB - Asus P8Z68-V Pro - $210
Memory - Corsair DDR3 8GB Dominator - $114
SSD - OCZ Vertex 3 240GB - $500
PSU - Corsair TX850 - $140
Case - Antec P193 Black Aluminum - $180
Optical Drive - Plextor PLDS PX-B310U 6x Blu-Ray Combo Super Multi Drive - $120
HD (Storage) - Western Digital Vaviar Black 2TB - $140

The graphics card I already bought and it's an EVGA GTX580.

Purpose: This machine is a multi-purpose machine. I game on it quite a bit, I also do video encoding, web development (Which includes some graphic editing and such). I do plan to expand like adding another card for SLI some time in the future.

CPU - Just from reading a bit on the forums I see that perhaps the i7 is overkill for me? I do plan to overclock but am I going to really see much difference if I go with an i5?

Memory I just don't know any more. I chose those because they were available at my local Frys. I try to get parts locally if I can. Easier to return/exchange etc.

Case - I saw someone recommend that one and I liked the design. Currently I have the Antec 900 but I'm just selling that along with the rest. I'm open to ideas here. The main reason I usually stay away from the lower priced cases is that I've had bad luck with them in the past. Mostly just a pain when you need to mess around inside. I also want good cooling.

Optical Drive - I admit to being a Plextor Fanboy. I've had nothing but Plextor brand drives for many years now. Had a problem only once and they swapped it out for free and even paid for the shipping.

HD - From the reviews I saw this was the top of the 2TB drives. I'll most likely end up adding a second one but we'll see. Seeing as how I haven't used up my current drive space this one drive will last me quite some time.

So any advice is welcome. I won't mind shaving some money off as well

 

[DesiPower]

Isn't your CPU and mobo incompatible?

Besides that, IMHO, it almost seems like you have have gone for overkill for everything else... but its your choice, lookin' goood!

 

[zi0n.]

I'm spending more money for little or no performance gain.)

you're still doing it, :/.

Any specific features you're using from that MB? If not it's OP.

You could grab a cheap 8GB G.SKill Kit.

I wouldn't even think of SLI'ing on the future.. that saves you a few bucks on the psu (resolution you using?)

140$ for a storage drive seems too much..

Isn't your CPU and mobo incompatible?

It is.

 

[Stormblade]

Isn't your CPU and mobo incompatible?

Besides that, IMHO, it almost seems like you have have gone for overkill for everything else... but its your choice, lookin' goood!

Yeah I figured that was probably the case. I tend to try and get near top of the line stuff kinda with the idea of future proofing but I'm open to suggestions right now.

As for the mobo and CPU did something change? The mobo was a late change as I was just looking for a Z68 mobo. It doesn't support the latest i-series CPU? Or did I list the wrong CPU?

Edit: Yeah I listed the wrong CPU that was what I had before I learned of Sandy Bridge

 

[Stormblade]

you're still doing it, :/.

Any specific features you're using from that MB? If not it's OP.

You could grab a cheap 8GB G.SKill Kit.

I wouldn't even think of SLI'ing on the future.. that saves you a few bucks on the psu (resolution you using?)

140$ for a storage drive seems too much..

It is.

Heyas thanks for the reply. When I said paying too much it was a self critique on this build here. It's like I know I'm probably doing it but not sure what to get instead of?

The mobo I basically liked the review I saw here on Anand and added that. I didn't like the limitations of the P67 and H67 so I waited. I had my system spec'd out but then things changed and I tried to swap out parts.

What PSU would you recommend?

As for resolution I guess I tend to play in 1920x1080 but it really just depends on the game.

 

[Stormblade]

Ok here's my attempt at getting out of the overkill bracket.

CPU - Intel Core i5-2500K - $219
MB - ASRock Z68 Pro3 - $120
Memory - Corsair XMS3 8GB DDR3 1333 - $85 or G.Skill Value Series 8 GB - $74
SSD - OCZ Vertex 3 240GB - $500
PSU - Corsair CX500 - $60 or XFX560 - $89
Case - Antec P193 Black Aluminum - $180
Optical Drive - Plextor PLDS PX-B310U 6x Blu-Ray Combo Super Multi Drive - $120
HD - Samsung EcoGreen 2TB 32MB Cache - $80

This is about $300 less than my previous parts. I'm eyeing my case and Optical drive next. Wary about getting a cheap case. Bad experiences and all but I've also never spent more than $140 on one but we'll see. That's something that is preference and won't affect the performance of my system.

Rationale:

CPU - I suspected the i7 was overkill and after reading a bit I think the i5 will do me just fine. Seems like it is the best bang for my buck.
MB - I saw this one recommended on these forums and it looks like a good buy for a good price.
Memory - Just looked up the cheapest 1333s I could find.
SSD - This will be my first SSD and this one seems to get good reviews. Not having had an SSD before I expect I'll be impressed regardless. I wanted more than the 120 ones because I plan to put not just my OS and applications on this but also my games.
PSU - I've always been nervous about the PSU so I tended to go overboard. Let me know if I've gone too far in the other direction. As was suggested I'm not thinking about going SLI later so I don't need tons of wattage.
Case - As mentioned above kinda waffling on this. Don't want to spend too terribly much but wary of the cheaper cases designs. Like how much pain and blood will I spend to remove or replace a hard drive etc.
Optical Drive - I'm open to going away from Plextor. I figure with a new drive I may as well get a Blu Ray re-writable.
HD - Also saw this one recommended here on the forums and a thought struck me. If I'm going to be using a SSD for most everything then my hard drive doesn't have to be top of the line blazing performance. I'd mainly be using it for storage anyway so this drive seems fine. I don't believe I've ever owned a Samsung hard drive.

 

[zi0n.]

Looks way better now, for the case I would look into the antec 300's series or haf series.

Are you really gonna make use of blu ray? generic dvds are $~30. I wouldn't get a green drive even for storage.. I'd much rather get http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152185 x2 and call it a day(has promo code atm).

Remember you got a gtx580 which is power hungry so don't go too low on the psu, anand has them at 490w~ on load(furmark).

 

[Stormblade]

Looks way better now, for the case I would look into the antec 300's series or haf series.

Are you really gonna make use of blu ray? generic dvds are $~30. I wouldn't get a green drive even for storage.. I'd much rather get http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152185 x2 and call it a day(has promo code atm).

Remember you got a gtx580 which is power hungry so don't go too low on the psu, anand has them at 490w~ on load(furmark).

Thanks much for you help. Ok here's the new setup which shaves another $100 even off the previous one.

CPU - Intel Core i5-2500K - $219
MB - ASRock Z68 Pro3 - $120
Memory - Corsair XMS3 8GB DDR3 1333 - $85 or G.Skill Value Series 8 GB - $74
SSD - OCZ Vertex 3 240GB - $500
PSU - Corsair TX850 - $140
Case - Antec 300 - $60
Optical Drive - Asus DRW 24X DVD Burner - $20
HD - 2x Samsung Spinpoint F3 - $120

Basically I went back to the original PSU and decided to try and forget my bloody fingers and went with the Antec 300 which seems to be very popular. I then decided to buy a cheap DVDRW and give THAT one to my friend and take my beloved Plextor outta there so I save there as well.

And finally I went ahead with two HDs for storage which is what I have currently. I'd thought about getting away from that buy just getting one but I suppose two will let me do things like RAID-0 which I used to do long ago.

Anyway thanks so much looks like this is a far more reasonable system.

 

[mfenn]

Man, you're really bouncing between extremes on the PSU. :awe: This XFX 650W is $60 AR and right in the Goldilocks zone for your build.

As for the other components:
- SSD : $500 is really quite a lot to be spending on something as fast moving as an SSD. I strongly urge you to consider buying a 120GB SSD like the Agility 3. I know from personal experience that you really can fit quite a few games on one. Sure, you won't be able to fit every single game you own on one, but is that really worth spending an extra $300 on something that will be really outdated in 6 months?
- HDD : I'd use one of those HDDs to back up the other instead of doing RAID 0. There just isn't much benefit (relatively speaking) in this era of SSDs.

 

[Stormblade]

Man, you're really bouncing between extremes on the PSU. :awe: This XFX 650W is $60 AR and right in the Goldilocks zone for your build.

As for the other components:
- SSD : $500 is really quite a lot to be spending on something as fast moving as an SSD. I strongly urge you to consider buying a 120GB SSD like the Agility 3. I know from personal experience that you really can fit quite a few games on one. Sure, you won't be able to fit every single game you own on one, but is that really worth spending an extra $300 on something that will be really outdated in 6 months?
- HDD : I'd use one of those HDDs to back up the other instead of doing RAID 0. There just isn't much benefit (relatively speaking) in this era of SSDs.

LoL I was hoping you'd reply. I saw you around on the forums. Yeah the PSU I really wasn't sure what to do there but long as the XFX is sufficient I'm fine with that one and it'll save me even more money. Always a plus.

As for the SSD I was really wavering on that one but you do make a good point. Currently I had a Raptor drive with a 140gb capacity. After my OS and all my applications and such I have very little space left. In fact I currently was able to fit only WoW on it. That's why the 240GB capacity looked attractive even though it was expensive.

I guess I'll have to think on that one some. The savings would be attractive and it'd prob be no worse than it is right now space wise. I also partitioned the drive badly so it may not be as bad as I fear.

Thanks much.

 

[Stormblade]

Ok. Here's the system that I may go with after some thought and looking at the savings

CPU - Intel Core i5-2500K - $219
MB - ASRock Z68 Pro3 - $120
Memory - Corsair XMS3 8GB DDR3 1333 - $85 or G.Skill Value Series 8 GB - $74
SSD - OCZ Agility 3 240GB - $229
PSU - XFX 650W - $60
Case - Antec 300 - $60
Optical Drive - Asus DRW 24X DVD Burner - $20
HD - 2x Samsung Spinpoint F3 - $120

This is actually within my budget unlike the previous systems. I was looking at putting at least $300+ on my CC to do it but if I go with this current one I won't have to touch my CC. I'm liking that. So unless I hear something different I'll go with the above. Friend is chomping at the bit to get my current system. Just brought over the money for it so I need to start ordering lol.

Oh and I'm not going to do the RAID-0 thing. Was more idle mutterings. I stopped doing that when EIDEs came out. I backup my system using an external hard drive. WD 1.5TB one.

Anyway thanks so much for all your help.

 

[gorcorps]

Ok. Here's the system that I may go with after some thought and looking at the savings

CPU - Intel Core i5-2500K - $219
MB - ASRock Z68 Pro3 - $120
Memory - Corsair XMS3 8GB DDR3 1333 - $85 or G.Skill Value Series 8 GB - $74
SSD - OCZ Agility 3 240GB - $229
PSU - XFX 650W - $60
Case - Antec 300 - $60
Optical Drive - Asus DRW 24X DVD Burner - $20
HD - 2x Samsung Spinpoint F3 - $120

This is actually within my budget unlike the previous systems. I was looking at putting at least $300+ on my CC to do it but if I go with this current one I won't have to touch my CC. I'm liking that. So unless I hear something different I'll go with the above. Friend is chomping at the bit to get my current system. Just brought over the money for it so I need to start ordering lol.

Oh and I'm not going to do the RAID-0 thing. Was more idle mutterings. I stopped doing that when EIDEs came out. I backup my system using an external hard drive. WD 1.5TB one.

Anyway thanks so much for all your help.

Looks solid. I'm assuming you dropped to a 120gig SSD given the price drop, even though you still have 240gig written. I make due with a 64gig SSD system drive and it's fine. Nothing but the essentials on that, and then a fast F3 for all games. Works out great... loading times for games is still very fast.

 

[Stormblade]

Looks solid. I'm assuming you dropped to a 120gig SSD given the price drop, even though you still have 240gig written. I make due with a 64gig SSD system drive and it's fine. Nothing but the essentials on that, and then a fast F3 for all games. Works out great... loading times for games is still very fast.

Oops that is correct I dropped down to a 120. Now I can upgrade and no need to "borrow" anything. Loving it. I do have a question. Do I need to get a CPU fan or will the stock one be fine?

 

[betasub]

^ The stock Intel HSF is fine for running at default, or a mild overclock. But the i5-2500k has so much potential for overclocking that it's worth considering a mid-range tower cooler like the 212+. Getting an after-market cooler gives you more control over temperature and fan noise.

 

[Stormblade]

^ The stock Intel HSF is fine for running at default, or a mild overclock. But the i5-2500k has so much potential for overclocking that it's worth considering a mid-range tower cooler like the 212+. Getting an after-market cooler gives you more control over temperature and fan noise.

Are you talking about this one?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835103065

 

[betasub]

^ Yes, you've found it! CM's Hyper 212+ has been a solid choice for recent sockets:
Intel Socket LGA1366 / 1156 / 1155 / 775
AMD Socket AM3 / AM2 / AM2+
Like most higher-end air-coolers, it uses heatpipes & a tall tower to fit a large, quiet 120mm fan (not for smaller cases!).

Edit: I notice that the egg also have a "clone", the XIGMATEK Gaia SD1283 for only $30. Anyone on the forum have experience of this one?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233082

 

[Stormblade]

^ Yes, you've found it! CM's Hyper 212+ has been a solid choice for recent sockets:
Intel Socket LGA1366 / 1156 / 1155 / 775
AMD Socket AM3 / AM2 / AM2+
Like most higher-end air-coolers, it uses heatpipes & a tall tower to fit a large, quiet 120mm fan (not for smaller cases!).

Edit: I notice that the egg also have a "clone", the XIGMATEK Gaia SD1283 for only $30. Anyone on the forum have experience of this one?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835233082

The case I'm planning to purchase is this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129066
It's a mid tower. Will that cooler fit properly in that case?

Edit: I for sure won't be getting this from Newegg. Wow how can they justify being almost double the price of others? It's available locally at least.

 

[betasub]

^ Antec 300 is a popular choice, and spacious for a mid-tower. IIRC it's plenty deep enough for tower coolers like the 212+. Hopefully someone currently using this combo can confirm!

 

[gorcorps]

The hyper 212 is nice but definitely tall. It'll fit in most popular gaming cases, but if you have a side fan that's where it'd be a problem. The clone seems to be getting good reviews so you probably can't go wrong either way.

Regardless of which one you go with, make sure you test-install it on your mobo before setting everything up. I had a hell of a time installing the 212 as the instructions aren't great, but once on it definitely cools very well. My 2500k is pretty much room temp until a CPU heavy game gets it going. And even then it doesn't get that hot. I haven't bothered overclocking yet.

 

[mfenn]

Oops that is correct I dropped down to a 120. Now I can upgrade and no need to "borrow" anything. Loving it. I do have a question. Do I need to get a CPU fan or will the stock one be fine?

I was about to demand that you tell me where I could get a 240GB SSD for $230, cause that would be sweet!

The case I'm planning to purchase is this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129066
It's a mid tower. Will that cooler fit properly in that case?

Edit: I for sure won't be getting this from Newegg. Wow how can they justify being almost double the price of others? It's available locally at least.

You should be fine with a 120MM tower cooler in the Three Hundred. Newegg likes to jack up the price on popular items like the Hyper 212+, but the clones (the Xigmatek that was previously mentioned, the Corsair CAFA50, among others) are just as good.

 

[Stormblade]

Thanks for all the advice. My parts shipped today. I got all but the CPU from Newegg and decided to get the CPU and Fan locally at Frys / Best Buy.

Went with the G.Skill memory because with the promo code they were cheaper and it even came with a 2GB Flash Drive.

Best Buy has the 212+ for $30

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Cooler+M...0Fan&cp=1&lp=1

After shipping and taxes it comes out to like 40 cents less than the CORSAIR CAFA50 lol. Oh well. With any luck I'll have my computer built and running HD and Memory tests before the weekend.

 

[mfenn]

I'm kinda impressed that Best Buy sells the Hyper 212+ actually! Good luck with the build and feel free to post here with any questions.

 

[betasub]

Good luck with the build and feel free to post here with any questions.

Seconded. Hope you enjoy the new-build experience!

 

[Stormblade]

Building the system right now. Took off work for tomorrow Taking a break after getting the CPU / CPU Fan and Motherboard into the case. All I gotta say is. Good LORD that's a CPU FAN? It's as big as my case fan. When it got here I first thought they'd made a mistake. Sheesh that's huge.

But happy to report that it fit without a problem. It's kinda close to one of the fans but plenty of room.

And happy to report that so far I have not cut myself on sharp edges and bled for my build....yet.

 

[mfenn]

And happy to report that so far I have not cut myself on sharp edges and bled for my build....yet.

Bleeding is a right of passage

But anyway, glad it's going well!