About to purchase. Any Advice

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KevinO

[H]ard|Gawd
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KevinO said:
This is a gaming rig mainly just for SW:TOR but would like to future proof for a bit. I mainly just play MMO's and overclocking while nice it is not a necessity.

ASUS P8Z68-V LX LGA 1155 Intel Z68
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
EVGA 015-P3-1580-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi)
Antec High Current Gamer Series HCG-750 750W
Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III
Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
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There are a few poor values in that setup:

1) The case. That Antec 300 Illusion is severely cramped and is completely lacking in cable management features for the money. Worse, it is hellishly overpriced at $76 shipped. There are plenty of better-quality and roomier cases with far better cable management features for equal or lower price. Plus, the GTX 580 you're planning to use actually eats up two of the hard drive bays because the card is 10.5 inches long. And installing any hard drives in a bay that's in-line with the PCI-e x16 slot will restrict the length of the graphics card to only 9 inches long in that case.

2) Speaking of the GTX 580, it is also overpriced for its performance even though it is now the second-fastest GPU on the market (behind AMD's new Radeon HD 7970). In fact, for gaming its performance is not even 20% faster than a GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448-Core - but it costs 70% more money.
 
Thanks Eagle for those notes. Any advice on a case? I haven't built a computer in 5-6 years and love my antec cases but yes I don't want to be cramped and have good air flow.
 
KevinO said:
Thanks Eagle for those notes. Any advice on a case? I haven't built a computer in 5-6 years and love my antec cases but yes I don't want to be cramped and have good air flow.
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Search the forums for posts by Gen[H]ard moderator Danny Bui. He has some good recommendations for cases - and pay close attention to the more recent posts that mention a list of his "recommended" cases.
 
One last question if anyone can help. Is there really any difference between the ASUS P8Z68-V LE and the ASUS P8Z68-V LX minus the LX having some turbo boost functionality. The LE has better reviews and thinking about changing the LX for an LE
 
KevinO said:
Thanks Eagle for those notes. Any advice on a case? I haven't built a computer in 5-6 years and love my antec cases but yes I don't want to be cramped and have good air flow.
Click to expand...
I recommend the following cases:
$50 - NZXT Source 210 Elite Black ATX Case
$50 - NZXT Source 210 Elite White with Black Front Trim ATX Case
$88 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58 ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58W ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case
$98 - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance ATX Case
$100 - Corsair Carbide Series 400R ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$120 - Lian Li PC-9F ATX Case
$120 - Fractal Design Define R3 Arctic White ATX Case
$125 - Fractal Design Define R3 Black Pearl ATX Case
$130 - Fractal Design Define R3 Silver Arrow ATX Case
$125 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$130 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Full Tower ATX Case
$130 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-002OR Black Finish w/Orange Trim Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - Antec P280 ATX Case
$140 - Antec Performance One Series P183 V3 ATX Case
$143 - Cooler Master HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$144 - Silverstone RV03B-WA ATX case
$160 - Corsair Graphite Series 600TM ATX Case
$160 - Silverstone RV02B-W ATX case
$164 - Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$178 - Silverstone RV02B-EW ATX case
$190 - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ATX Case
$230 - Silverstone FT02B ATX Case
$270 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Full Tower ATX Case
KevinO said:
One last question if anyone can help. Is there really any difference between the ASUS P8Z68-V LE and the ASUS P8Z68-V LX minus the LX having some turbo boost functionality. The LE has better reviews and thinking about changing the LX for an LE
Click to expand...
There are differences but considering that the LE has free shipping and the LX does not, the LX actually costs the same as the better reviewed LE. So even without the features difference, the LE is still the better choice for the money.
 
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A new GTX 580 is obsolete thanks to the recently released 7950 however if you're dead set on one, get a used one for $340 or less (check for sale forum, saw one there). The 6970 still provides better bang for the buck and if you're trying to future-proof, the 7800 series and Kepler will be out before mid-year (looking at you Kepler), so better to go mid-range now, upgrade later this year.
 
KevinO said:
One last question if anyone can help. Is there really any difference between the ASUS P8Z68-V LE and the ASUS P8Z68-V LX minus the LX having some turbo boost functionality. The LE has better reviews and thinking about changing the LX for an LE
Click to expand...

The LE has better onboard audio and 2 additional USB 3.0 ports.
 
Heads up, the 128GB M4 is on sale at Microcenter this weekend, it's in the hot deals section.
 
edge929 said:
A new GTX 580 is obsolete thanks to the recently released 7950 however if you're dead set on one, get a used one for $340 or less (check for sale forum, saw one there). The 6970 still provides better bang for the buck and if you're trying to future-proof, the 7800 series and Kepler will be out before mid-year (looking at you Kepler), so better to go mid-range now, upgrade later this year.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't call the GTX 580 obsolete yet. Its Kepler-based replacement hasn't arrived.

However, I do agree that the GTX 580 is overpriced compared to the HD 7950. The GTX 580 is worth obtaining for Adobe Premiere Pro or any other program that uses NVIDIA's CUDA technology -- even then, I'd recommend the used card route as well.
 
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