Two questions from a NoOb builder

[Karl Agathon]

I am close to starting my first machine build. Just have a few questions for the more experienced folks here.

1. I had planned to use 1333Mhz ram. is it worth it to jump to 1600Mhz?

2. I was going to go with an i7 2600k, but I am also in the position of being able to buy an X58 980x for a good price. Was wondering what some of you might choose?

I plan on using my machine for moderate gaming and general use (Youtube, music and net surfing etc) Never overclocked before, but plan on learning

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

[Ken g6]

1. No.
2. An i5 2500k. Socket 1366 (and 1156 too) are end-of-life, and hyperthreading won't significantly help what you're doing.

 

[Karl Agathon]

Thanks for your input.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Another vote for 155 + i5-2500k, 2 x 4 GB 1333 1.5v RAM.

Look at AnandTech main site "Bench" tab to compare against the 1336 CPUs.

 

[Ken g6]

In fact, given that avatar, you might want to get this deal on a 2500K at this store! They have motherboard bundles too, though they're hard (for me) to find.

Then you can either get this memory (if you like rebates) or this memory while you're there, or get this memory by mail later.

 

[Karl Agathon]

Thanks for the tip :thumbsup:

 

[T_Yamamoto]

if you have any other questions. post them

 

[mfenn]

1. No.
2. An i5 2500k. Socket 1366 (and 1156 too) are end-of-life, and hyperthreading won't significantly help what you're doing.

:thumbsup: Of course, it really depends on how good a "good" price is. If it's something crazy like $100, then the 980x is the obvious bang for buck leader.

 

[Karl Agathon]

if you have any other questions. post them

Thanks, pretty much have everything almost ready to build. Have to admit that I'm very nervous building a rig from scratch. As unlike most of the users on this site, I have 0 technical education or training. I was considering Digital Storm or Ibuypower for a pre configed machine, but decided to try and build one myself. I hope I dont regret it. As those companies at the very least have tech support, were as I wont have any going with a home build.

 

[BoomerD]

Thanks, pretty much have everything almost ready to build. Have to admit that I'm very nervous building a rig from scratch. As unlike most of the users on this site, I have 0 technical education or training. I was considering Digital Storm or Ibuypower for a pre configed machine, but decided to try and build one myself. I hope I dont regret it. As those companies at the very least have tech support, were as I wont have any going with a home build.

Actually, many of us here have no formal tech education or training...but have done this stuff for years and years.

Building a computer nowadays is, IMO, considerably easier than it was 10-15 years ago. Everything is pretty much "plug and play' with no futzing required...until you start playing with overclocking.

Perhaps the most difficult part of the job is seating the CPU into the socket on the motherboard. It doesn't take much to bend pins...and bent pins can both void the motherboard warranty...and require you to buy another one. HOWEVER, a bit of caution and attention to detail, and it goes together nicely. Other than that, it's pretty much just following the instructions in the motherboard and case manuals...plugging components into the board and to the power supply.

"Connect wire "A" to pin "B," then connect wire "B" to pin "C."(see illustration on page 14-2)

You'll be surprised at how easy it really can be.

 

[TheAdvocate]

Been building for myself since mid 90's, everything from full towers to SFFs. Aside from accidentally bending the pins on one of my AMD cpu's one time (I bent it back and it actually still worked fine for the 2 1/2 years I kept it - so lucky), I have not had many issues.

These days, it's so easy, it's also paint by numbers. I hadn't touched a build in almost 5 years, lots of new tech, asked a couple of questions on here earlier this month, ordered, built after work over 2 nights (I had an issue mounting SSD cause my case is weird), and I've been running the rig in my sig almost effortlessly since. The only adjustment I did was some mild overclocking, but I switched it off since I am not really gaming much ATM.

It's so easy to do, I'd hesitate paying anyone else to do it. They'd have to offer some real value.

 

[StrangerGuy]

Building desktop PCs is relatively easy compared to figuring out how to get the best computing value for your dollar. There is so much misinformation out there trying to get you to buy overpriced stuff that gives hardly anything realistic over the much cheaper ones.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Like Alienwares. 50 dollars more for an upgrade to 8 gb ram. LMAO

 

[mfenn]

Building desktop PCs is relatively easy compared to figuring out how to get the best computing value for your dollar. There is so much misinformation out there trying to get you to buy overpriced stuff that gives hardly anything realistic over the much cheaper ones.

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[StrangerGuy]

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Case in point:

My friend wanted a cheap gaming upgrade over his Q8300 + 9600GT Acer rig since those are really showing their age now. So I got him:

i5 2500 = $209
Biostar H61 mobo = $50
Radeon 6870 = $175 (there was a $100 5770 but it is too slow for a 1080p screen)
Kingston DDR3 1333Mhz 2x4GB = $48
CM Elite 310 casing = $40

Total = $526. Money only at where it matters. Reused 500GB HDD and the perfectly capable FSP 400W PSU.

Sure, no overclocking (he isn't knowledgeable enough anyway), USB3 (still not mainstream yet and easily added with a PCIe card), SATA3 (useless for HDDs), only 2 DIMMs (8GB is more than enough for the near future, besided 8 GB sticks are coming) and only 4 SATA2 ports (more than enough for 99.99% of people).

There, paying extra in this case for a $120 P67 board would have meant he would have actually LOST a lot of performance because it will have meant a downgrade from 6870 to 5770 while gaining nothing meaningful. No reviewer (don't piss off the people who supplies them for things to review) or manufacturer will even want to admit the elephant in the room that even the cheapest H61 performs just as fast as a $300 Z68 board, but anyone with a clue would have known it for years.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Case in point:

My friend wanted a cheap gaming upgrade over his Q8300 + 9600GT Acer rig since those are really showing their age now. So I got him:

i5 2500 = $209
Biostar H61 mobo = $50
Radeon 6870 = $175 (there was a $100 5770 but it is too slow for a 1080p screen)
Kingston DDR3 1333Mhz 2x4GB = $48
CM Elite 310 casing = $40

Total = $526. Money only at where it matters. Reused 500GB HDD and the perfectly capable FSP 400W PSU.

Sure, no overclocking (he isn't knowledgeable enough anyway), USB3 (still not mainstream yet and easily added with a PCIe card), SATA3 (useless for HDDs), only 2 DIMMs (8GB is more than enough for the near future, besided 8 GB sticks are coming) and only 4 SATA2 ports (more than enough for 99.99% of people).

There, paying extra in this case for a $120 P67 board would have meant he would have actually LOST a lot of performance because it will have meant a downgrade from 6870 to 5770 while gaining nothing meaningful. No reviewer (don't piss off the people who supplies them for things to review) or manufacturer will even want to admit the elephant in the room that even the cheapest H61 performs just as fast as a $300 Z68 board, but anyone with a clue would have known it for years.

:awe::thumbsup:

 

[mfenn]

Case in point:

My friend wanted a cheap gaming upgrade over his Q8300 + 9600GT Acer rig since those are really showing their age now. So I got him:

i5 2500 = $209
Biostar H61 mobo = $50
Radeon 6870 = $175 (there was a $100 5770 but it is too slow for a 1080p screen)
Kingston DDR3 1333Mhz 2x4GB = $48
CM Elite 310 casing = $40

Total = $526. Money only at where it matters. Reused 500GB HDD and the perfectly capable FSP 400W PSU.

Sure, no overclocking (he isn't knowledgeable enough anyway), USB3 (still not mainstream yet and easily added with a PCIe card), SATA3 (useless for HDDs), only 2 DIMMs (8GB is more than enough for the near future, besided 8 GB sticks are coming) and only 4 SATA2 ports (more than enough for 99.99% of people).

There, paying extra in this case for a $120 P67 board would have meant he would have actually LOST a lot of performance because it will have meant a downgrade from 6870 to 5770 while gaining nothing meaningful. No reviewer (don't piss off the people who supplies them for things to review) or manufacturer will even want to admit the elephant in the room that even the cheapest H61 performs just as fast as a $300 Z68 board, but anyone with a clue would have known it for years.

:wub: at the bolded. That's what I've been saying in here for a while. You should post in GH more often.

 

[Karl Agathon]

Hi again, would like to thank everyone who provided input. I greatly appreciate it! One more question. Currently eyeing either a Nvidia 570 or 580 EVGA brand GPU. I notice that EVGA sells overclocked versions of these cards and was wondering if paying the extra premium for a "superclocked" version would be worth it. Thanks again!

 

[Ken g6]

Currently eyeing either a Nvidia 570 or 580 EVGA brand GPU. I notice that EVGA sells overclocked versions of these cards and was wondering if paying the extra premium for a "superclocked" version would be worth it.

Never overclocked before, but plan on learning

Given that, I'm going to say "no". You can overclock either yourself. I did get a superclocked GTX 460, but that's because I'm on Linux so I can't run the Windows-based GPU overclocking software. ()

Also, a 580 is 50% more expensive than a 570, for little more performance. Plus, for "moderate gaming", you probably don't need more than a 560ti or Radeon 6950.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

moderate gaming+570 or 580=waste of money

 

[mfenn]

Given that, I'm going to say "no". You can overclock either yourself. I did get a superclocked GTX 460, but that's because I'm on Linux so I can't run the Windows-based GPU overclocking software. ()

Also, a 580 is 50% more expensive than a 570, for little more performance. Plus, for "moderate gaming", you probably don't need more than a 560ti or Radeon 6950.

:thumbsup: Agree.

 

[Karl Agathon]

:thumbsup: Of course, it really depends on how good a "good" price is. If it's something crazy like $100, then the 980x is the obvious bang for buck leader.

Hello again, I came back to this thread because I had remembered you had said the above ^^ its actually the 980, not 980x that I meant to ask about (my fault) and I have been given the chance to buy it new for $200. its currently selling for nearly $600 @ places like Newegg and Amazon. So would that make the price of $200 a relative bargin for the powerhouse that it is?

 

[mfenn]

Hello again, I came back to this thread because I had remembered you had said the above ^^ its actually the 980, not 980x that I meant to ask about (my fault) and I have been given the chance to buy it new for $200. its currently selling for nearly $600 @ places like Newegg and Amazon. So would that make the price of $200 a relative bargin for the powerhouse that it is?

A 980 (the X just means unlocked multiplier) and an i5 2500K are about the same speed. The i5 2500K will run much cooler and needs a less expensive mobo, so no $200 isn't worth it IMHO. If you can get it for $100, then sure but I wouldn't bite for $200.

 

[Karl Agathon]

I guess the whole six core thing got me a little starry eyed lol. Thanks again for yout input!

 

[mfenn]

No prob.