Thoughts on My Ivy Bridge Build?

[Termie]

What does this even mean? Isn't this a technical forum?

He was asking a number of questions about Dell policies and specific monitor characteristics that I really couldn't answer with certainty. So rather than try to answer those questions, I gave him my subjective impressions about the monitor generally. I didn't feel a need to do that on the forum.

 

[mfenn]

He was asking a number of questions about Dell policies and specific monitor characteristics that I really couldn't answer with certainty. So rather than try to answer those questions, I gave him my subjective impressions about the monitor generally. I didn't feel a need to do that on the forum.

I don't see how any of that is confidential. It's your prerogative of course, but IMHO the forum is healthier when useful information isn't squirreled away in PMs.

 

[VitaX]

Disregarding budget, which graphics card would be the better option: GTX 680 or Radeon 7970 at this point in time? I probably won't go SLI, it doesn't seem like I'll have a need to since I don't play real graphic intensive games. Still, I'd like to try one of the best performers at this point in time.

Also, is anything over 8GB RAM, really not needed at this point in time? If that's the case I will cut down and go with the 2x4GB modules rather than the 2x8GB modules in order to save some money.

For the SSD, would you go with Crucial M4, Samsung 840, or OCZ Vertex 4 at this point in time for reliability? Speed doesn't matter a whole lot to me, as I know all three of these are very fast drives and probably hard to even tell a difference in normal use.

Money isn't that great of an issue at this point as long as I stay within 2500 dollars or close to it. Since I'll probably cut off buying the 2TB hard drive completely, and re-use my 2x1TB Samsung F3 drives, that cuts down on that expense.

 

[lehtv]

1. Radeon 7970. $360 AR versus $430 AR for a similar level of performance and more VRAM
2. post #6
3. Crucial m4 is proven the most reliable out of those three but I don't think you would run into any problems with the other two either. Almost all SSD's work fine for most users.

 

[VitaX]

OK, thanks for that information. Seems to be the consensus in this thread here as well: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2285966&highlight=680+7970

By the way, is there any one manufacturer that is considered one of the best for AMD cards? Like how MSI and EVGA are for nVidia. It does seem Sapphire is probably the most recommended. Just curious nonetheless, since I've never really looked into AMD cards.

 

[lehtv]

I often recommend Sapphire because they offer the best value 7950 and 7970 cards, the Dual-X (in my opinion and at the moment). Quality and brand is a bit uncharted territory with little objective data available... But people seem to trust Asus and MSI the most, probably. I think Sapphire, Gigabyte and HIS are fine too, XFX is alright except their coolers aren't that good. I only recommend them if they're on sale. PowerColor is usually budget oriented but their PCS+ cards are quite good, the 7950 PCS+ is one of the quietest and best overclockers.

 

[mfenn]

Another :thumbsup: for Sapphire. Their cards and coolers are quite cool and they often come out on top wrt. price as well. For example, this Sapphire 7970 3GB is currently the least expensive on Newegg at $360 AR.

 

[VitaX]

Just want to confirm something, but say in the future I did go sli/crossfire. Would a 650W PSU be enough to handle that or is it safer to go with the 750W PSU in that case?

And there are two versions of the 7970 on Newegg. The regular and Ghz Version. Should I go for the regular version?

 

[mfenn]

A 650W would work for 7970 CFX, but I'd be more comfortable with a 750W like lehtv recommended. I wouldn't pay any extra for the GHz edition, you can easily overclock a normal one to GHz edition speeds.

 

[VitaX]

OK, thanks for that information. Guess I'll go with a 750W. By the way, does memory speed play a big role when overclocking your CPU? I should be fine with a 1600MHz kit of RAM right? Or should I go for a little bit faster kit?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231568

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1682023152

 

[mfenn]

Sandy Bridge and newer Intel processors run the memory bus asynchronously from the base clock, so there is no need to overclock the memory along with the CPU. Thus, you don't need to worry about fancy overclocker's RAM like you used to.

 

[VitaX]

OK, I think I narrowed down most of this build, here's what I currently got planned:

Motherboard

ASRock Z77 OC Formula

Processor

Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge

Heatsink

Thermalright Silver Arrow

Video Card

SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 7970 3GB 384-bit

Amp/DAC/Pre Amplifier (Already Own)

NuForce Icon HDP

Power Supply

CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX750

Memory

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 1600

SSD

Crucial M4 256GB

Hard Drives (Already Own)

2xSamsung Spinpoint F3 1TB

CD/DVD Burner

SAMSUNG DVD Burner

Case

SilverStone Fortress Series FT02

Monitor

Dell UltraSharp U2713HM

Any thoughts or objections to any of the parts? I have a feeling the main thing that's going to be brought up is "Why that motherboard? For what you plan to do it is overkill." Well the reasoning behind it is quite dumb, but it provides me some security nonetheless. It has the highest rating on Newegg, with hardly anyone talking bad about it. It provides a sense of reliability to me, meaning its a quality made product that hardly any have had problems with. Yeah, i Know I shouldn't take Newegg reviews to heart like this, but for this specific one I suppose I did. This is probably my final consideration here, so if someone can talk me out of it, I'll listen.

It seems from reading reviews though, that the top motherboard manufacturers are ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, and ASRock at this point in time. Who makes the most reliable boards? I guess that will always be up for debate. Though as of late, I keep reading that ASUS has horrid customer support.

After looking around for a while and weeding out choices and the like, I came across these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130660
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131820
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128545
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128558
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128544

Also, I'm a bit hesitant to go with AMD over nVidia, hopefully this is the right call. Like I said in the first post, I'm not too into graphic intense gaming, so the performance difference between the 7970 and 680 don't mean too much to me. But it is cheaper, and looks to offer one of the best aftermarket coolers (From the looks of it).

 

[mfenn]

My opinion is that you're wasting a ton of money on those parts. You could literally have a Crossfire gaming rig today for the same amount of money.

- Mobo: Your two big logic errors here are: (a) assuming that a higher-end motherboard is inherently more reliable. It's not. All mobos are built on the same production lines with the same people and processes. A fancier board does not necessarily undergo a more rigorous QC process and it naturally has more parts on it that can break. And (b) believing that user reviews are in any way, shape, or form indicative of a product's reliability. The sample size is way too small and the respondents are too self-selecting to make them a valid source of information. Bottom line, any mobo can be DOA, no matter if it costs $50 or $300. Get the ASRock Z77 Extreme3 instead. -$130
- CPU: Getting the i7 3770K is pretty pointless if you're going to heavily overclock. Any large overclock is going to require turning off HT anyway. Get the i5 3570K instead. -$100
- HSF: I don't really see the benefit of the Silver Arrow over the D14, and getting the D14 will allow you to save of shipping. -$6 (and some more for shipping)
- PSU: Way too expensive for what it is. The XFX Core 750W is Seasonic made and will do what you need for less. -$60
- Case: We've been over this before, but I'll say it again. The FT02 is a waste of money at $260. It is certainly a very good case with a fancy design, but realistically speaking it doesn't do anything that a $200 (or even $150) case won't do. Silverstone's own RV02 is basically the same case in different cladding. -$80.
- GPU: The $370 saved above gets you another Sapphure 7970, which will greatly improve your gaming performance with no loss in performance on any of the other components.

Even if you don't want to go Crossfire right off the bat, you should set that $370 aside to get yourself a new GPU in 18-24 months.

 

[VitaX]

I chose the i7-3770k because I plan to run 3D CAD software on my computer at home and believe the the hyper-threading will be of use

You're right with my logic about the motherboard, but I already knew that much. It's just hard to choose a board that fits my needs but gets not so great user reviews. I'll keep looking.

As for the heatsink, well that's because the Silver Arrow isn't as wide as the D14 and performs at the same level.
See here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRv4zUCI7pg#t=11m35s

I just like the brand Corsair for power supplies, my current one has always been solid for me. I guess I could go a step down to the HX series and still be fine.

Yeah, I know the case is steep in price. And believe me I did look around at other alternatives, especially the RV02. But to be honest, the outside of the case isn't appealing at all. I'd much prefer something very sleek looking with a normal looking outside nothing fancy. The front of the RV02 doesn't do that for me. But, I am still looking around for others. Most cases do add on unnecessary crap though that just makes people think 'Transformers', and to me that is the opposite of what I want.

 

[lehtv]

Why is heat sink width an issue?

 

[VitaX]

It isn't really an issue, I just liked that feature because then the heatsink itself won't hang over the RAM as much. It has the same cooling capabilities as that of the D14 as well and both are equally priced give or take a few dollars.

 

[mfenn]

I chose the i7-3770k because I plan to run 3D CAD software on my computer at home and believe the the hyper-threading will be of use

You're right with my logic about the motherboard, but I already knew that much. It's just hard to choose a board that fits my needs but gets not so great user reviews. I'll keep looking.

As for the heatsink, well that's because the Silver Arrow isn't as wide as the D14 and performs at the same level.
See here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRv4zUCI7pg#t=11m35s

I just like the brand Corsair for power supplies, my current one has always been solid for me. I guess I could go a step down to the HX series and still be fine.

Yeah, I know the case is steep in price. And believe me I did look around at other alternatives, especially the RV02. But to be honest, the outside of the case isn't appealing at all. I'd much prefer something very sleek looking with a normal looking outside nothing fancy. The front of the RV02 doesn't do that for me. But, I am still looking around for others. Most cases do add on unnecessary crap though that just makes people think 'Transformers', and to me that is the opposite of what I want.

I can understand case being personal preference, as long as you understand that you're paying a ton of money just for the looks.

I'm not trying to be overly harsh here, but the rest of your decision making is based on emotion and not on the technical merits of the components:
- CPU: See my comment above about overclocking. You will effectively turn your 3770k into a 3570k when you overclock.
- Mobo: The Z77 Extreme3 hardly has poor reviews
- HSF: Lehtv made an excellent point.
- PSU: The brand doesn't matter nearly as much as who actually makes the thing. The XFX is a Seasonic, which is the best of the best.

 

[mfenn]

It isn't really an issue, I just liked that feature because then the heatsink itself won't hang over the RAM as much. It has the same cooling capabilities as that of the D14 as well and both are equally priced give or take a few dollars.

You're forgetting shipping. Having to order from FrozenCPU adds ~$10 or so to the price.

 

[Termie]

I can understand case being personal preference, as long as you understand that your paying a ton of money just for the looks.

I'm not trying to be overly harsh here, but the rest of your decision making is based on emotion and not on the technical merits of the components:
- CPU: See my comment above about overclocking. You will effectively turn your 3770k into a 3570k when you overclock.
- Mobo: The Z77 Extreme3 hardly has poor reviews
- HSF: Lehtv made an excellent point.
- PSU: The brand doesn't matter nearly as much as who actually makes the thing. The XFX is a Seasonic, which is the best of the best.

I generally agree with you, but I think it's ok to get "emotional" about a build sometimes, where aesthetics comes into play. For example, the Silver Arrow just looks awesome, way better than the D14. Same could be said about expensive cases, even if they don't function any better.

 

[mfenn]

Why is it that I only find typo's in my posts when they are quoted by somebody else and not in the preview? Is it because the background color is different? :awe:

Anyway, yes I can kind of see the reasoning behind the case and HSF (though who doesn't love the sexy Noctua beige? :awe, but the rest just throw me for a loop.