PC Build Options

[czerney]

Hi all,

Any comments or gotchas with the existing specs? (PCCG)

ASUS Rampage IV Gene Motherboard $349
Silverstone TJ08-E Black M-ATX/ITX Case $99
Corsair Vengeance CML16GX3M4X1600C8 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 $169
Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 LGA2011 CPU Cooler $89
Intel Core i7 3820 $309
ASUS Radeon HD7950 DirectCu II 3GB $579
Intel 520 Series 120GB SSD $209
Total $1803


Existing Kit:
2 x 1Tb Caviar Black (Sata 2)
1 x 60Gb OCZ SSD (Sata 2)
Corsair HX620 PSU
Dell 2408 1920x1200

Uses:
Gaming - Mainly SC2 / BF3
Virtual Machines (Labs / study)

[insertfunnyname]

It looks like a really good build. But if you are mainly gaming do you really need a LGA2011 X79 system? You could buy a Z68 i7 2600K system and then buy a 7970 with the money you saved. This would probably be a better choice for a mainly gaming system.

Also you are using a micro ATX motherboard and a small case if space isn't a problem then you should looke at purchasing a full ATX motherboard and a larger case.

Its gonna cost you $1237 for the LGA2011 system and for the exact same price you can get:

For $1237 you can buy a i7 2600K, ASUS Maximus IV Gene Gen3 and a ASUS Radeon HD7970 DirectCU II 3GB - this will get you better performance in games.

The i7 3820 is basically a 2700K thats been put onto a X79 chipset.

This post has been edited by insertfunnyname: Mar 22 2012, 03:57 PM

[cohmoddersolo]

It looks like a really good build. But if you are mainly gaming do you really need a LGA2011 X79 system? You could buy a Z68 i7 2600K system and then buy a 7970 with the money you saved. This would probably be a better choice for a mainly gaming system.

Also you are using a micro ATX motherboard and a small case if space isn't a problem then you should looke at purchasing a full ATX motherboard and a larger case.

Its gonna cost you $1237 for the LGA2011 system and for the exact same price you can get:

For $1237 you can buy a i7 2600K, ASUS Maximus IV Gene Gen3 and a ASUS Radeon HD7970 DirectCU II 3GB - this will get you better performance in games.

The i7 3820 is basically a 2700K thats been put onto a X79 chipset.

+1. In my opinion, if you go 2011 socket, you most will get the Intel Core i7 3930K or Intel Core i7 3960X to make it worthwhile. Also with the z68 boards, you can drop an Ivy Bridge CPU in the future.

[Dasa]

new nvidia gpu should be out any day now be interesting to see how it goes
and a new 22nm 1155 cpu from intel should only be a few days away

[insertfunnyname]

If you really want to have a PC now buy a Z68 Gen3 motherboard with the cheapest socket 1155 CPU (like a i3 2100) and use a tempory old graphics card. Then when the new Ivy Bridge CPU's come out you can buy one and when the GTX 670/GTX 660 series come out you can purchase have a good look at those and see if its worth waiting or buy a AMD 7950 which is a excellent card.

[czerney]

Thanks for the comments.
My only thought surrounding going for the x79 as opposed to the z68 was the 2 by x16 pci express ports. Might give option for going crossfire for extra juice as an upgrade option in about 6-9 months if additional games like Far Cry 3 come out.

But that said I'm definitely looking for bang for buck now so I'll look around for a z68 solution.

What's a good robust ATX Asus/Gigabyte z68 mobo?

Also from the latest mag might go the bitfenix case at $99. Looks like it'll do the trick and free up some extra $ there.

[cohmoddersolo]

What's a good robust ATX Asus/Gigabyte z68 mobo?

Gigabyte Z68X-UD3R-B3.

[Dasa]

What's a good robust ATX Asus/Gigabyte z68 mobo?

Gigabyte Z68X-UD3R-B3.

ASUS Maximus IV Gene-Z Gen3 $249
z77 mb should be out soon but not much has changed since z68
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1872/

two 8x slots at pci-e 3.0 should be good enough for cf\sli

i like this case even more than the $99 one
BitFenix Merc Alpha Mid Tower $49

[czerney]

Ok done a bit of rehashing based on z68 advice. Plus reading a few reviews today switched over to nvidia camp as GTX680 appears it's better suited to SC2/BF3 which are the games I'm interested in. http://www.anandtech.com/show/5699/nvidia-...gtx-680-review/

So how would this configuration fare in performance comparison to my original build in the OP?

Intel Core i7 2600K $309.00
BitFenix Raider Mid Tower Case $99.00
Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 Motherboard $155.00
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 680 2GB $675.00
BitFenix Shinobi Black Case with Window $73.00
Corsair CMP8GX3M2A1600C9 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 $79.00
Intel 520 Series 120GB SSD $209.00
$1599

[cohmoddersolo]

BitFenix Raider Mid Tower Case $99.00

BitFenix Shinobi Black Case with Window $73.00

Might want to decide on which case you want. The Bitfenix Shinobi is very nice for the price. Ive got one too. But if there's any chance you're thinking of modding this case, I recommend getting the non-window version, and cut out the side for your own window. The extra dollars for the window version can be used to buy your preferred acrylic window. Just my 2 cents. ;)

This post has been edited by cohmoddersolo: Mar 23 2012, 07:36 PM

[czerney]

I chose a different case more due to cheaper price.

No intention to mod at all.

Edit: Whoops I didn't see your pickup straight off as I had two cases in the list. Thanks :)

This post has been edited by czerney: Mar 24 2012, 11:33 AM

[katalyst]

Ok done a bit of rehashing based on z68 advice. Plus reading a few reviews today switched over to nvidia camp as GTX680 appears it's better suited to SC2/BF3 which are the games I'm interested in. http://www.anandtech.com/show/5699/nvidia-...gtx-680-review/

So how would this configuration fare in performance comparison to my original build in the OP?

Intel Core i7 2600K $309.00
BitFenix Raider Mid Tower Case $99.00
Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 Motherboard $155.00
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 680 2GB $675.00
BitFenix Shinobi Black Case with Window $73.00
Corsair CMP8GX3M2A1600C9 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 $79.00
Intel 520 Series 120GB SSD $209.00
$1599

For my money that's what I'd be buying too.

The Asus boards a good option as well, but I have that Gigabyte board and it has served me well.

[magnusson]

Hey mate, looks like a nice build but if i were you i would replace the intel SSD with a SanDisk Ultra SDSSDH-120G-G25 2.5" 120GB which is only lile 150 bucks. Also what power supply are you planning on using because, pretty sure those cases dont incluse PSU. Other than that looks like a nice build, dont forget to include pictures.

This post has been edited by magnusson: Mar 25 2012, 01:52 PM

[cohmoddersolo]

Hey mate, looks like a nice build but if i were you i would replace the intel SSD with a SanDisk Ultra SDSSDH-120G-G25 2.5" 120GB which is only lile 150 bucks. Also what power supply are you planning on using because, pretty sure those cases dont incluse PSU. Other than that looks like a nice build, dont forget to include pictures.

magnusson, not to be picky, but Intel 520 SSDs are pretty much the reliable-st and best SSDs in the market. Id definitely go for Intel 520s range if I had the money. As for the PSU, he has a corsair hx-620 listed in op.

This post has been edited by cohmoddersolo: Mar 25 2012, 05:03 PM

[fajw]

I like the Intel 520 because of the five year warranty.

[czerney]

Atomic gave the intel 520 a pretty good review. I noticed it had 5 yr warranty as well.

Only thing is I think there's a slight performance difference between the 120Gb and the 240Gb with the latter being a little better.

[Dasa]

intel 520 is still much the same drive as the ocz vertex or corsair sandforce based ssd
but there firmware may be better and 5y warranty is always nice
the sata2 intel ssd are still the most reliable but who wants to pay a heap of cash for a slow ssd

[osama_bin_athlon]

agrees with much of the above stated - I'd recommend considering Asrock, in particular the Z68 Extreme 4 Gen3, which is a fantastic board - I've experienced nothing but problems and disappointment with Asus and Gigabyte boards lately, and stumbled onto the Asrock which I'm rapt in. I've never seriously considered Asrock in the past, but, I reckon that they've nailed it with the Ext4.
an SSD is a must, if you want a responsive, super quick comp....a lot of people are wary of Sandforce controllers at the moment, owing to problems in the recent past - the problems no longer exist, so there's no reason to consider a slower alternative controller. I went with Corsair coz I like their products
no way in the world would I consider a 2011pin solution - I just can't see the value in them - 16x PCIe vs. 8xPCIe? just a few FPS faster...
4 channel memory - same as 3 channel memory - there's little improvement (the 'sweet spot' imho, is the 2500K, so fast, so overclockable.....so cheap)
there's no way that I could bring myself to pay 1K for just a CPU and mobo - not with the 1155pin around

[czerney]

I was looking at the Asrock as well. Historically I've only ever gone the Gigabyte / Asus route. I went the DFI once upon a time way back but had a mess of driver / hardware incompatibility probs..

[nesquick]

Atomic gave the intel 520 a pretty good review. I noticed it had 5 yr warranty as well.

Only thing is I think there's a slight performance difference between the 120Gb and the 240Gb with the latter being a little better.

personally I wouldn't buy a sandforce SSD, to many failures with them in other brands, intel has hardly had the time for us to see if it makes a difference using it in their manufacturing process but I remain skeptical, iv only ever heard good things about the marvel controllers and Intel's own controllers.

edit: ad now days asrock make a fantastic product, I hear of so many gigabyte and asus boards going kaput but never any asrock boards.

This post has been edited by nesquick: Mar 26 2012, 11:42 AM