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Re-tooled Build - what do you think?

B

bwh21

Member
I've done some more research from the last build I posted and all the great feedback. I've tried to decrease costs in components where I can to free up funds for the ones that matter performance-wise. I would appreciate any feedback!!

This is for some HD video editing with Adobe Premiere but primarily will be office work on MS office and web browsing.

I prefer Intel, will be buying in the US and would like to keep the cost as low as possbile without shirking on quality components or performance. I'm shooting for $700-$800.

I'm planning on getting a video card within the next few months so I beleive this build will be able to support a low-range card as well. I just don't have the add'l $150 to spend right now. Currently, I've got this priced at about $720.

Case - $30 Rosewill R218-P-BK Black SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower
PSU - $47 CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS
Mobo - $105 ASRock Z68 PRO3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel
CPU - $300 Intel Core i7-2600 Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W
RAM - $42 G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600)
HDD - $60 SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
Optical - $26 ASUS 24X DVD Burner
OS - $109 Windows 7 Home Premium
 
How much Adobe Premiere are you doing? Is it worth the price premium for the 2600 over the i5 2400 or the i3 2100? Especially when you could get an SSD and make your office work faster?

Given you're not overclocking, is there any reason you need a Z68 board versus an H61 for $70? Except maybe for using the SSD above for caching your HDD?

Just get Windows where you get everything else, for $100.
 
Ken g6 said:
How much Adobe Premiere are you doing? Is it worth the price premium for the 2600 over the i5 2400 or the i3 2100? Especially when you could get an SSD and make your office work faster?
Click to expand...

I probably won't be using it that much to be honest. Maybe a few videos of less than 10 minutes in length a month. I don't know if that's enough to warrant the i7, but I like the power. If it's serious overkill, than I wouldn't mind saving some money and dropping to the i5.

Ken g6 said:
Given you're not overclocking, is there any reason you need a Z68 board versus an H61 for $70? Except maybe for using the SSD above for caching your HDD?
Click to expand...

No, but I thought the Z68 offered more upgrade potential. If it's serious overkill I don't mind using the H61 instead.
 
OK, best buy for the money:
1. Get a 2400, or 2500k if you can afford it or live near a Micro Center
2. Stick with the z68 for upgrade and SSD caching potential. Potentially in this combo.
3. And get that SSD for caching.

Net after all that: $5-$10 savings with the 2400.
 
Ken g6 said:
OK, best buy for the money:
1. Get a 2400, or 2500k if you can afford it or live near a Micro Center
2. Stick with the z68 for upgrade and SSD caching potential. Potentially in this combo.
3. And get that SSD for caching.

Net after all that: $5-$10 savings with the 2400.
Click to expand...

I've dropped it down to the 2500, kept the Z68 and chose a 40GB SSD. Does it matter that the SSD is SATA II and the Mobo is SATA? Will that cause any issues? From what I've read I don't think it will.
 
That's a slow SSD. The M4 I pointed out is 50% faster. (And has gone up by about $8 since this morning. 🙁) But the mobo accepts SATA II or SATA III.

The "2500" exists in a no-man's-land. Get the 2500k for $10 more, if you're going to overclock or want its better onboard graphics, or the 2400 for $20 less if you're not.
 
 
The last parts for my build are being delivered today and I'm excited to start building, but I have a few questions before I get started.

1. After completion do I fire it up without the W7 disc or with it?

2. I read that the mobo has a lot of crap software on it that I want to avoid and I don't know if I install the mobo software before or after the OS.

3. Anything else I should know? I've watched a few different builds done on youtube and am going to pick up some thermal paste and zip ties after work.

4. Which color socket should I install the memory in? There are blue and white sockets.
 
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1. I'd go into the BIOS first and look around, check temps if I can find them.

2. Install Windows first. I rather doubt you need the mobo software.

bwh21 said:
am going to pick up some thermal paste and zip ties after work.
Click to expand...
You didn't get an aftermarket CPU cooler, so you don't need aftermarket thermal paste. The stock cooler comes with pre-applied thermal paste. Just use that - unless you need to re-seat it later.

4. Generally, the answer is "two that are right next to each other at one end or the other." But read the manual.
 
bwh21 said:
The last parts for my build are being delivered today and I'm excited to start building, but I have a few questions before I get started.

1. After completion do I fire it up without the W7 disc or with it?

2. I read that the mobo has a lot of crap software on it that I want to avoid and I don't know if I install the mobo software before or after the OS.

3. Anything else I should know? I've watched a few different builds done on youtube and am going to pick up some thermal paste and zip ties after work.

4. Which color socket should I install the memory in? There are blue and white sockets.
Click to expand...

1. I would boot it up without the Windows disk first and go into the BIOS. There may not be much that you want to change, but you should at least set the clock and make sure the SATA ports are in AHCI mode (or RAID if you want to use SRT).

2. Nope, you don't need any of that stuff. Just download the latest graphics drivers from Intel.

3. Just be careful, take your time, and don't be afraid to ask questions.

4. The mobo manual will tell you which slots to use for proper dual-channel operation.
 
So there is some pasty looking, grey stuff on the bottom of the heat sink on the copper disc. Is that enough?
 
I finally got it together last last and wanted to say a few things on the components and the build in general for posterity.

1. The mobo only includes 2 SATA cables. I needed 3 for my SSD, HDD and optical drive.
2. There was only 3 stand-offs included with the case. The mobo was a PITA to install and still doesn't sit properly in the I/O shield it came with. I assume that's more of a case issue than the mobo though.
3. I was confused by the chassis fan vs PSU fan connections on the mobo until I figured out the PSU fan doesn't need to be connected to the mobo. (most of the materials with the exception of the mobo didn't come with a manual so I had to DL them).
4. The SSD I used was intended for a laptop and was too small for the 3.5" bay. Not a big deal, but it's not very secure in there as I could only use 1 screw for it.
5. I still don't know how to put screws in both sides of anything installed in the drive bays as I can only get access to one side of it.
6. The system is very quick. It boots up in about 8 seconds from the SSD.
7. The OEM heat sink had no issues keeping the CPU at 53 C although I haven't really put any load on it yet.
 
bwh21 said:
2. There was only 3 stand-offs included with the case. The mobo was a PITA to install and still doesn't sit properly in the I/O shield it came with. I assume that's more of a case issue than the mobo though.
Click to expand...
That's odd. Usually the case comes with more than enough standoffs.

4. The SSD I used was intended for a laptop and was too small for the 3.5" bay. Not a big deal, but it's not very secure in there as I could only use 1 screw for it.
Click to expand...
You don't even really need to install it in a drive bay. I leave my SSD sitting freely at the bottom of the case. It's secured by my PSU's excess cables sitting on top of it. 😉

5. I still don't know how to put screws in both sides of anything installed in the drive bays as I can only get access to one side of it.
Click to expand...
You should be able to open the other side door to the case, unless there's something odd about the case?

6. The system is very quick. It boots up in about 8 seconds from the SSD.
Click to expand...
Boot-up time isn't exactly the best indicator of the SSD's true performance. 😉

7. The OEM heat sink had no issues keeping the CPU at 53 C although I haven't really put any load on it yet.
Click to expand...
Seems a bit warmer than what I would have expected, but I don't think we'd know if the heatsink is properly seated for sure until you start putting a load on the CPU and seeing the temps then.
 
bwh21 said:
4. The SSD I used was intended for a laptop and was too small for the 3.5" bay. Not a big deal, but it's not very secure in there as I could only use 1 screw for it.
Click to expand...

Pretty much all SSDs are 2.5" drives. It's not that they're intended for laptops, it's that they don't need to be any bigger and manufacturers can save money by only making one SKU. You can get a converter like this Icy Dock to make it fit properly. Most new higher end desktop cases are actually coming with 2.5" standard.
 
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