RENAMED: Validate my i5 2500/z68 build

[Starbuck1975]

My current system was on its last legs last summer, but due to budget constraints, I couldn't build the system I wanted to. I primarily use my system for gaming, and I want to start using it for home video creation. I purchased a copy of Vegas Studio HD for this purpose, which works at a crawl on my current build.

Last Fall, I put together an AMD build, with a 1090T and Gigabyte 870 as the core of my system. Price was why I didnt pull the trigger.

The AMD build finally came into budget at around the same time as the release of Sandy Bridge. Last month, after recommendations from this forum, I put together a Sandybridge build with a 2500K and ASUS P8P67 Pro as the core. With deals currently available, I can put together a build literally this weekend within my budget.

I realize I am falling into the trap of waiting for "the next big thing", but I have a few thoughts given what will come to market in the next month or so.

1. All of my builds have been AMD, so I am definitely more comfortable with AMD as a company. The Mobo offerings for Bulldozer also look enticing. Should I wait for Bulldozer at this point? I would definitely choose Bulldozer over Sandybridge if Bulldozer comes in at or below the same price point for comperable or better performance. I havent seen anything on pricing, and benchmarks thus far are nonexistent.

2. The arrival of the Z68 also offers an interesting alternative to the P67, as it combines features of the P67 and H67 into one chipset. However, not enough MOBO reviews out there for me to make a decision on a Z68 build.

So, given that I've waited this long, should I continue to wait. Some other thoughts. I am not an enthusiast in terms of manual overclocking, I've always used the overclocking utilities provided by MOBO manufacturers. I also tend to hold onto a core system for a very long time, swapping out GPU and CPU as needed to extend the life.

 

[BD231]

Sandy Bridge *IS* the next big thing so you were right to wait up until now, however waiting any longer would be a waste. You won't see any big gains over that line of CPU's in the coming year, especially at such a good price point.

 

[Blain]

My current system was on its last legs last summer, but due to budget constraints, I couldn't build the system I wanted to. I primarily use my system for gaming, and I want to start using it for home video creation. I purchased a copy of Vegas Studio HD for this purpose, which works at a crawl on my current build.

Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum system requirements...
Microsoft® Windows® XP (SP 3 or later), Windows Vista® (SP 2 or later), or Windows 7
1 GHz processor (multicore or multiprocessor recommended for HD)
200 MB hard-disk space for program installation
1 GB RAM (2 GB recommended for HD)
Windows-compatible sound card

* Are your two old HDs in a RAID array or just single drives?
* How is their health?

 

[mfenn]

If you're not feeling the pressure to upgrade, then it might worth waiting to see what Bulldozer brings.

My personal feeling is the Bulldozer will be more of a "return to true competition" rather than "knock the stuffing out of Sandy Bridge". Thus, I'd personally go ahead and get Sandy Bridge now (there are some nice $130 Z68 mobos out).

 

[Zap]

Yeah... your Athlon X2 3800+ is probably what is keeping your system at a crawl right now.

Bulldozer will be possibly in September (latest rumors?). If you wait until then, then Ivy Bridge will be right around the corner in January/February (latest rumors?).

It isn't that Sandy Bridge is bad, so you don't necessarily have to wait. If Sandy Bridge was underwhelming, then of course you should wait. But it isn't.

 

[Starbuck1975]

Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum system requirements...
Microsoft® Windows® XP (SP 3 or later), Windows Vista® (SP 2 or later), or Windows 7
1 GHz processor (multicore or multiprocessor recommended for HD)
200 MB hard-disk space for program installation
1 GB RAM (2 GB recommended for HD)
Windows-compatible sound card

Yes my current system meets the minimum specifications. I can edit and create movies no problem. Its the transcoding and burning that takes forever, and if I so much as consider opening up another application in the process, my system freezes.

* Are your two old HDs in a RAID array or just single drives? How is their health?

I have never really understood the benefit of a RAID array for my use. I essentially have a primary boot drive and a back-up drive. They both seem to be working fine, although I am starting to hear mechanical noises when my system accesses the drives, so I am guessing they are about to fail. For my new rig, I intend to go with an SSD boot drive and two WD Caviar blacks for redundant back-ups.

 

[Starbuck1975]

there are some nice $130 Z68 mobos out

I am surprised that the z68 boards are coming in at a lower price point than the P67 boards for comperable features. I read an article, I dont recall where, that made the claim that the z68 chipset is the one Intel should have launched SandyBridge with.

 

[Blain]

HDs going bad can kill system performance.
I noticed a nice performance bump (transcoding), when I setup a RAID 0 array.

Of course there's no redundancy with this array. But drives are so dirt cheap that a third HD can be used for backing up.
Yes, an external HD via USB 3 or eSATA would be perfect for this situation.

2 x 500GB WD Black WD5002AALX (single platter, 32MB cache, 7200rpm, 5 year warranty) = Sweet, low cost RAID 0 array which blows away your current 250GB last-leg HD.

For backup... BUFFALO DriveStation Combo 4 (supports firewire 1394a which you have).

Total cost = about $220 shipped

 

[mfenn]

I am surprised that the z68 boards are coming in at a lower price point than the P67 boards for comperable features. I read an article, I dont recall where, that made the claim that the z68 chipset is the one Intel should have launched SandyBridge with.

Yeah, it makes no sense to me either. Take a look at the ASRock Z68 PRO3 and the Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H.

As for drives, I like your idea of going for an SSD plus big spinning disk. I'd take a look at the OCZ Solid 3 60GB and 120GB. They're about the least expensive way to get the SF-2xxx chipset right now. As for spinning disks, you can't go wrong with the $65 Samsung F3 1TB.

 

[Starbuck1975]

Ok, so with budget in the mix, I can essentially afford one of two options:

1. Go with the P67 chipset ASUS P8P67 PRO, Intel 2500K, two 500GB HDs (one for non-boot drive files/programs and one for back-up), and one 80GB SSD to use as a boot drive

OR

2. Go with the Z68 chipset, Intel 2500K, two 500GB HDs (one boot, one back-up) and one small SSD drive to use as a cache.

It's essentially a wash on price.

As for spinning disks, you can't go wrong with the $65 Samsung F3 1TB.

Isn't the Spinpoint a SATA3 drive? Price being the obvious differentiator, but were I to use the SSD as a cache, taking advantage of the Z68 features, can I get away with a SATA3 as opposed to a SATA6 drive?

 

[Starbuck1975]

Ok, I decided to go with am i5 2500K build with a z68 MOBO. Just want to validate my build before pulling the trigger.

CPU: i5 2500K - I want to use the UEFI overclocking features on the Mobo
MOBO: ASRock z68 Extreme 4 - Decided against their vanilla board due to port & component limitations. Gives me forward expandability. This seems to be a well reviewed board at a competitive price point. The only other one I would consider is the ASUS PRO Z68, but its considerably more expensive.
BOOT Drive: WD Caviar Black 500GB (mfenn I am open to the Samsung if you think using an SSD cache mitigates the need for a SATA6 drive)
BACKUP Drive: WD Caviar Black 500GB (decided against an external back-up, as I will probably do redundant back-up of photos and media on Carbonite)
RAM: Mushkin Enhanced Silverline (2x4GB) - Mushkin is not on the ASRock supported list, but does come up on the newegg memory search utility for this MOBO. Should I be concerned?
SSD- Intel 320 40GB: Use as a cache to take advantage of the Z68 chipset. I may drop this entirely. I went with Intel due to reliability concerns for other manufacturers, but I am open to other suggestions.
OS: Win7 Home Premium 64bit
CASE: Antec 900
DVD R/RW Burner: Asus SATA OEM

Salvaged Components:
eVGA GEFORCE 8800GT: Will upgrade GPU later, this one seems fine for my current needs.
PSU: Enermax Liberty ELT500AWT ATX12V 500W PSU (Can I push this system with this PSU?)

 

[Davidh373]

ASRock z68 Extreme 4

Why did you make this choice? Seems to me like you're just throwing away $50

BOOT Drive: WD Caviar Black 500GB (mfenn I am open to the Samsung if you think using an SSD cache mitigates the need for a SATA6 drive)
BACKUP Drive: WD Caviar Black 500GB (decided against an external back-up, as I will probably do redundant back-up of photos and media on Carbonite)

You may want to double your capacity with these for $5 more each.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-185-_-Product

RAM: Mushkin Enhanced Silverline (2x4GB) - Mushkin is not on the ASRock supported list, but does come up on the newegg memory search utility for this MOBO. Should I be concerned?

No need to be concerned. RAM is RAM

SSD- Intel 320 40GB: Use as a cache to take advantage of the Z68 chipset. I may drop this entirely. I went with Intel due to reliability concerns for other manufacturers, but I am open to other suggestions.

This is a bad decision. Spend $30 more and get a 60GB OCZ drive. Faster speeds and more space. I'm also not sure when this caching thing came about, but it would seem to me that it would be much more valuable as your OS drive.

CASE: Antec 900

Do you need something like this? It could save you $40 to go with the Antec 300.

PSU: Enermax Liberty ELT500AWT ATX12V 500W PSU (Can I push this system with this PSU?)

Well, does it likely have the output? sure. Is it a bad PSU?... Horrendous...

 

[mnewsham]

SATA 6Gb/s on a mechanical drive is stupid, most current SSD's can't saturate even SATA 3Gb/s, the samsung drive performs almost identical to WD blacks.

 

[Starbuck1975]

You may want to double your capacity with these for $5 more each.

SATA 6Gb/s on a mechanical drive is stupid, most current SSD's can't saturate even SATA 3Gb/s, the samsung drive performs almost identical to WD blacks.

Great, that is what I wanted to confirm. Since the SATA6 mechanical drives are a waste, I will go with the Spinpoints.

Why did you make this choice? Seems to me like you're just throwing away $50

I may need to take another look. I chose the more expensive board for the extra device ports, but since I am now going with SATA3 mechanical drives, will rethink the MOBO decision.

This is a bad decision. Spend $30 more and get a 60GB OCZ drive. Faster speeds and more space. I'm also not sure when this caching thing came about, but it would seem to me that it would be much more valuable as your OS drive.

I've been debating back and forth on the merits of an SSD boot drive. Sure, the speed is incredible, but I've gone this long with mechanical drives, but worth considering. Also, which OCZ drive, the Vertex 2? I've heard Intel is the most reliable of the SSD vendors.

Well, does it likely have the output? sure. Is it a bad PSU?... Horrendous...

Why horrendous. The reviews when it came out were largely favorable? Ive had no problems with it. Curious to your comment.

 

[Davidh373]

Why horrendous. The reviews when it came out were largely favorable? Ive had no problems with it. Curious to your comment.

I don't know about when it came out, but Enermax PSUs are cheap and poor quality these days. If you were going off Newegg reviews, a lot of people write reviews like "It works and it was $15!!! Holy crap!" and then in 6 months when their computer doesn't work they are wondering why.

Enermax PSUs (like many other brands) are cheap for a reason. They aren't reliable. I wouldn't trust one in my system for more than a week until I could get a new one in the mail from Antec, XFX, or Seasonic.

 

[mnewsham]

Can't speak for all enermax psu's but the one I have used (in a friends build) was $300 bucks (he bought it without my approval) works very well good efficiency and great reviews, now diablotek....

 

[mfenn]

I don't know about when it came out, but Enermax PSUs are cheap and poor quality these days. If you were going off Newegg reviews, a lot of people write reviews like "It works and it was $15!!! Holy crap!" and then in 6 months when their computer doesn't work they are wondering why.

Enermax PSUs (like many other brands) are cheap for a reason. They aren't reliable. I wouldn't trust one in my system for more than a week until I could get a new one in the mail from Antec, XFX, or Seasonic.

David, you're way off base here. Enermax PSUs are high quality, though they usually price themselves out of the market.

 

[mfenn]

I agree with mnewsham 100% with regard to his recommendations.

I've been debating back and forth on the merits of an SSD boot drive. Sure, the speed is incredible, but I've gone this long with mechanical drives, but worth considering. Also, which OCZ drive, the Vertex 2? I've heard Intel is the most reliable of the SSD vendors.

Intel is very reliable, but IMHO 40GB is too small for an SSD. I also think that Z68's caching algorithm is too limited to give you good performance in all situations. One of the main benefits of an SSD (IMHO) is consistent high performance.

So, I guess the upshot is, if you can only afford 40GB, then you might as well just skip the SSD for now and save up some more money. If you can swing another $35, I'd recommend the OCZ Solid 3 60GB.

Why horrendous. The reviews when it came out were largely favorable? Ive had no problems with it. Curious to your comment.

It's fine, and your power requirements aren't going to be going up greatly.

 

[Davidh373]

David, you're way off base here. Enermax PSUs are high quality, though they usually price themselves out of the market.

... I did not know that... <.<

So, I guess the upshot is, if you can only afford 40GB, then you might as well just skip the SSD for now and save up some more money. If you can swing another $35, I'd recommend the OCZ Solid 3 60GB.

I agree 100&#37;

It's fine, and your power requirements aren't going to be going up greatly.

This is probably true (like 99.9999% sure since it's you mfenn). I wouldn't worry if that is the case.

 

[Starbuck1975]

The heck with it. I am going to go over budget, so might as well accept it. I already went ahead and purchased several components. Need to find tune the last few:

What I've got:
PSU: Enermax Liberty 550W - appreciate the concerns on the PSU, but going to see if it works with my new system.
GPU: 8800GT - I think I can get away with my existing GPU for the time being

What I ordered:
CPU: i5 2500K
BOOT Drive: Samsung SpinPoint 1TB
Back-up Drive: Samsung SpinPoint 1TB
RAM: Mushkin Enhanced Silverline (2x4GB)
OS: Win7 Home Premium 64bit
CASE: Antec 900 - complete indulgence on my part, I've grown tired of my nearly decade old case and lack of tool-less features.
DVD R/RW Burner: Asus SATA OEM

What's left to decide:
Still debating between the ASUS P8P67 Pro and the ASRock Z68 Extreme 4. The guys at Micro Center talked me out of a Z68, and I almost went with a P67 bundle...until I remembered, even with the bundle, the P67 and Z68 is a wash on price. Of course, the ASRock Z68 is out of stock currently at newegg, which gives me a few more days to debate. I like what I've read about both the ASUS and ASRock.

SSD- Ok, I am debating between the Intel 320 80GB and OCZ Solid 3 60GB. The Solid comes in at a cheaper price, is SATA6 and sufficiently large for a boot drive...I've just heard mixed reviews on the quality of OCZ products. mfenn, you and others have recommended the Solid on a few occasions. Is price driving that recommendation, or is it truly the best performance/reliability/bang for your buck option out there now?

 

[mnewsham]

How the

Spoiler

fuck

hell did you get talked out of Z68? it is what P67 SHOULD have been in the first place.

 

[Starbuck1975]

How the

Spoiler

fuck

hell did you get talked out of Z68? it is what P67 SHOULD have been in the first place.

Probably the fact that they had P67s stacked to the ceiling and not one Z68 in stock.

 

[mvbighead]

Personally, I would be much for the idea of caching of the Z68, as managing a small OS space for Win7 can be cumbersome.

As to your selection on SSDs, I would go with an Intel as well. I have a Corsair Force 80 at home that just recently took a dump, and I presently have an OCZ Vertex 2 in my work laptop, which is great, but I am constantly managing the used space to ensure there is plenty free. Granted, if I had a secondary drive, it wouldn't be the issue that it is now. But if I were buying as you are now, I would think the caching aspect of the Z68 and a reliable SSD would be ideal, for me anyway.

 

[Starbuck1975]

Personally, I would be much for the idea of caching of the Z68, as managing a small OS space for Win7 can be cumbersome.

As to your selection on SSDs, I would go with an Intel as well. I have a Corsair Force 80 at home that just recently took a dump, and I presently have an OCZ Vertex 2 in my work laptop, which is great, but I am constantly managing the used space to ensure there is plenty free. Granted, if I had a secondary drive, it wouldn't be the issue that it is now. But if I were buying as you are now, I would think the caching aspect of the Z68 and a reliable SSD would be ideal, for me anyway.

Thank you for the input. So are you sugggesting I purchase an SSD for the sole purpose of using it as a cache, taking advantage of the Z68 capabilities, and use a mechanical drive for my OS? Or do I get a sufficiently large SSD, partition it, use one partition for the OS and another as the cache for my two mechanical drives?

 

[mvbighead]

Thank you for the input. So are you sugggesting I purchase an SSD for the sole purpose of using it as a cache, taking advantage of the Z68 capabilities, and use a mechanical drive for my OS? Or do I get a sufficiently large SSD, partition it, use one partition for the OS and another as the cache for my two mechanical drives?

Personally, I would give the cache thing a whirl. A small, cheap SSD should get you the improvements where you need them. Your disks will still be fast for the vast majority of other stuff, but the SSD should provide the snappy feel most come to expect with an SSD. Perhaps a bit slower, but less that needs to be managed.