Advice needed on new system

N

niceplace

Weaksauce
Joined
May 20, 2005
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I am considering building a new system but i havnt kept up with technology so i am a bit lost as to what processor would be best. I have mostly used AMD but i dont mind what make of processor is recommended as long as i can use a ASUS motherboard. I really only use my system for internet browsing but also use a streaming service for the stockmarket. I may do the odd bit of photo editing but thats basically it. I do like a fast responsive system though and i am planning to use a "OCZ 60GB Agility 3 SSD" as the only system drive. So if any one can make some suggestions i would be grateful.
 
What kind of budget do you have to work with and what parts do you need with that budget?
 
I'd wait for the ivy bridge i3's and build something around that.
 
DejaWiz, maybe about £400. I would be needing the motherboard, processor, ssd - (cost around £55) possibly memory, presently have 4 gig of ddr2. I would be using my present case and power supply and running win-XP pro.

RamonGTP, when is the ivy bridge i3 due.
 
Unkown. i5's and i7's have been out for nearly a month now so I'd assume very soon. And yes, you will need memory, the new systesm will use DDR3. Luckily, DDR3 is dirt cheap.
 
So that's about $625 USD.

IB i3 is due probably Late June, Early July at the earliest.

Here's my list (in USD):
Asus P8Z77-V $185
i5-3570K $240
8GB (2x4GB) 1.5V DDR3-1333 or 1600 $40-45
Crucial M4 or Samsung 830 series SSD (128GB should be easy to get under the $160 left out of your budget)

:D
 
Thats not along time to wait to see if the i3 makes an appearance, gives me plenty of time to price up DejaWiz, parts.

DejaWiz, thanks for the recommendations i will price that lot up, dont really need 128GB ssd dont store much. It looks like i can get a decent system well within budget, im delighted.

Just one thing I was looking at the temperature problem with the IB,s is it anything that should concern me considering how i use the comp.
 
Temperature problem only applies when overclocking. At stock clocks, it runs cooler than SB.
 
And even if it runs at a hotter temperature, it still uses less power and generates less total heat.
 
I don't care what other people recommend, you don't need a quad to browse the net with.
I would ignore any build advice using such.
Put the reasonably large difference in price into a larger hard drive, better mobo, or 8gb of ram.
 
Q1DM6 said:
I don't care what other people recommend, you don't need a quad to browse the net with.
I would ignore any build advice using such.
Put the reasonably large difference in price into a larger hard drive, better mobo, or 8gb of ram.
Click to expand...

The mobo suggested is quite good, and in fact can easily get away with spending a decent amount less by going with a z75 chipset instead of z77 which for what the OP is using it for, would make no difference at all. 8gb was already recomended. The size of the SSD was also plenty according to the OP. But I do agree, i5 is completely unecessary (hence my i3 recomendation) so take the savings and, well... Save it.
 
...and my recommendations were based on what's available today in terms of IB, since we don't know for sure when the i3 series will arrive, how available they will be, or how much they will cost. Getting a K series i5 with that budget is a pure win... Much longer life potential than an i3, especially with the better IGP and double the cores. Money well spent.
 
I understand why you made the recommendations though I can't agree that it's money well spent. Core 2 duos are still more then plenty for browsing. Not to mention more 2 cores does virtually nothing for the tasks at hand. You're not going to out run an i3 for word processing.
 
And I get that. My wife's i3-2100 is a screamer, even with fairly newer games. What I'm getting at here is that since the SSD size has already been determined to be sufficient, the amount of memory is more than enough for just about anything, the MoBo is a great choice for the money, that leaves the rest of the budget to maximize the return on investment for one thing: the CPU. Believe me, I would have gotten my wife an i5 or i7 if it was in the budget, just for the potential for a longer life of her system.

Plus, that K series IB lays the foundation for greater overall upgrade potential for the future, such as a dedicated GPU in two or three upcoming generations if the OP wishes to go nuts because of a sudden interest in the newest games or applications that the HD4000 IGP would just not cut it.

I'm just looking towards the future and the list of "what ifs" that can come along for the ride.

If the i3 will do it, and it probably will 100%, then great, go that route and enjoy the money saved.
 
Thanks for the replies all

Been doing a bit of pricing on the kit DejaWiz recommended and the cheapest price i have found including the ssd is £392.81 so it would be within my budget. I have picked these three ram items, which would be the best (The G-Skill is the cheapest) Ram is so cheap now, i remember when 2GB would cost you an arm an a leg.

Geil
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-114-GL

mushkin
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Comp...DDR3+SDRAM+CAS+9-9-9-24+1.5V+?productId=44336

G-skill
http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials...nel+Kit+(F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL)+?productId=46060.

I can understand the differing opinions, the DejaWiz approach is like buying a fast car but only toddling around town at 30mph but if you need the power its there and its a view i lean towards having taken that approach on many things i have bought.

The other opinions saying such a powerful processor is overkill are of course just as sensible, would i ever use it to anywhere near its full potential. Decisions! Decisions!

This then bodes the questions when will the i3 arrive and do i want to wait and can i wait as i have a bit of an impulsive streak.

Decisions! Decisions!

As i said in my first post i am not to bothered about what make of processor i use although saying that i did want to try something different so am leaning towards the intel. But i was thinking i may post my original request on the amd processor forum just to see what amd have to offer or are there rules stopping posting like that.
 
The main thing for the CPU would be if the IB i3's will have the same hardware acceleration characteristics as the i5's on the IGP. By same characteristics I don't mean just as powerful, but be able to accelerate the same type of content as i5's. If so, I really don't see a reason to go with i5 other than you can get them now. Save the money for something else, like a burrito. If not, then there's a stronger case for the i5
 
Another option would be an HD3000 i3 Sandy Bridge if you're not willing to wait for i3 IB to arrive at whatever unknown date that they do. Or a price compromise of an HD3000 i5 vs the 3570K.
 
First decision made, definately going with intel.

Some info on my present system so people know what sort of speed i am getting at the moment;

Processor = AMD athlon 64 x 2 dual core 4200+

Mobo = Asus M2N-E socket AM2

Ram = 2GB ocz ddr2 ram


RamonGTP, i see what you are saying and it may be prudent to wait for the i3, anyone know when there due to make an appearance. My main worry about waiting is what if the
i3 wont be good enough and the i5 has risen in price.

DejaWiz, been looking at a few processors today, what is the difference between these is it just the GHZ

BX80637i53450 - Intel Core i5 3450,1155, Ivy Bridge, Quad Core, 3.1GHz, 5 GT/s DMI, 650MHz GPU, 6MB Smart Cache, 31x Ratio, 77W, Retail


BX80637I53550 - Intel Core i5 3550,1155, Ivy Bridge, Quad Core, 3.3GHz, 5 GT/s DMI, 650MHz GPU, 6MB Smart Cache, 33x Ratio, 77W, Retail


BX80637I53570K - Intel Core i5 3570K,1155, Ivy Bridge, Quad Core, 3.4GHz, 5 GT/s DMI, 650MHz GPU, 6MB Smart Cache, 34x Ratio, 77W, Retail

Could i still use the same mobo with them.

Could someone cast an eye over those 3 lots of memory i mentioned previously, first to see if its the right stuff and which would be the best or are they much the same. Thanks
 
The 3570K has an unlocked multiplier for overclocking and the integrated graphics is HD4000.

The other two have locked multipliers and HD2500 integrated graphics, the only difference is the clock speed.

As for the memory, I'd suggest the G.Skill as my first choice, then Mushkin, lastly Geil. All of them good memory, in my opinion. If you plan on attaching a larger heat sink and fan instead of the included unit from intel, then get some memory that doesn't have tall or gimmicky heatspreaders. Out of your list, the Geil would be the top choice since it doesn't have any heatspreader on it and won't interfere with an aftermarket heatsink. Also look for Corsair Vengeance LP (low profile) memory... it's a bit more expensive compared to other makes or models of RAM, though.

Is the G.Skill Value line memory like this available in your area? Great bang for the buck, imo, and I'm using it in my own system.
 
Lets put i3's performance in a difference perspective. It outperforms AMD's flagship processors in many tasks. But if you're still worried, you can always just go with the i5 for peice of mind. A faster than necessary CPU never hurt anyone, other than a little more money there really isn't a down side. I wouldn't worry about i5 prices going up.
 
A faster than necessary CPU never hurt anyone, i think your right there RamonGTP. Anyway i let my impulsive streak get the better of me and i have bought the i5 together with the Asus mobo, 60GB agility ssd and 8GB Mushkin Enhanced Blackline Frostbyte #996995 (2x4GB) 1600 (PC3-12800) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM CAS 9-9-9-24 1.5V.

DejaWiz, i couldnt find any G.Skill Value not only that but the G-skill i had marked as a maybe was on special offer for the day only and has now risen in price by £10. I found the
Corsair Vengeance LP (low profile) memory which was slightly cheaper than the mushkin but when i looked at the lifetime guarantee it was for 5 years and the muskins was 10 year, so i felt more confident in the mushkin. This coupled with corsair being the only memory i have had a problem with, i was getting loads of BSODS and after a lot of work trying to find the cause i ran memtest 86 and it was one of the corsair modules causing all the hassle.

So just looking forward to receiving my bits and the performance increase i am going to get.
 
Yep, same motherboard would work fine for all of those CPUs. You could consider picking up a used sandybridge i3 cpu as well. The G-series of CPUs is also very cheap, and will be a big pick-up from your AMD system.

niceplace said:
First decision made, definately going with intel.

Some info on my present system so people know what sort of speed i am getting at the moment;

Processor = AMD athlon 64 x 2 dual core 4200+

Mobo = Asus M2N-E socket AM2

Ram = 2GB ocz ddr2 ram


RamonGTP, i see what you are saying and it may be prudent to wait for the i3, anyone know when there due to make an appearance. My main worry about waiting is what if the
i3 wont be good enough and the i5 has risen in price.

DejaWiz, been looking at a few processors today, what is the difference between these is it just the GHZ

BX80637i53450 - Intel Core i5 3450,1155, Ivy Bridge, Quad Core, 3.1GHz, 5 GT/s DMI, 650MHz GPU, 6MB Smart Cache, 31x Ratio, 77W, Retail


BX80637I53550 - Intel Core i5 3550,1155, Ivy Bridge, Quad Core, 3.3GHz, 5 GT/s DMI, 650MHz GPU, 6MB Smart Cache, 33x Ratio, 77W, Retail


BX80637I53570K - Intel Core i5 3570K,1155, Ivy Bridge, Quad Core, 3.4GHz, 5 GT/s DMI, 650MHz GPU, 6MB Smart Cache, 34x Ratio, 77W, Retail

Could i still use the same mobo with them.

Could someone cast an eye over those 3 lots of memory i mentioned previously, first to see if its the right stuff and which would be the best or are they much the same. Thanks
Click to expand...
 
Great choices, niceplace! Please let us know what you think when you get it up and running.
 
Thanks for the input winston9t4 but i had already pressed the buy button.

DejaWiz, sure will.
 
Just a quick update, i am totally blown away with the speed of my new PC absolutely outstanding. 30 seconds to load XP to a working desktop, 3 seconds to load IE8. Everything is just so quick, just a pleasure to use. I am still loading progs and transfering stuff and cant give it as much time as i would like so havnt really acclimatised to it yet.
 
Yeah it takes your breath away, dont know what it will be like say three months down the line but at the moment i couldnt see myself going back to an old style harddrive. I have a sata drive set up as a portable, connects via esata if i leave this switched on when ive turned of the system on turning on again it just kills that fast boot-up. I have had a few goes on a windows 7 PC but i am so used to XP i find it hard to let go. I think XP has been microsofts best effort but when support stops for it i may have to move on. Just got my 32gb patriot usb 3.0 pen drive today and it leaves usb 2.0 for dead, thats two unbeleivable speed increases, im really delighted.
 
I agree, you really should get out of that xp comfort zone. 7 is a much better OS and makes much better use of your hardware.
 
Agreed. Win 7 will have a bit of a learning curve to it of course, but once you get used to it, navigating around is generally a bit faster and better. Oh, and DX11!
 
I may give 7 a go the next time i have to reinstall the os, 8 maybe out by then. Had a bit of time today to start to appreciate my upgrade the speed of the ssd is no doubt aided by the fast processor which runs at around 30 to 32c with system fans runing at about half speed. Not that its got that much to do but it makes for a very quiet box.

The only thing at the moment i have a few niggles with are the mobo, i would have prefered the sata connectors to have been facing upwards as i had a bit of a job connecting the cables due to a steel panel in my case. Another usb 3 header would have been nice and lastly all the Asus boards i have had in the past have had the facility in the bios to start pc from keyboard or mouse but i cant see it in this one. I have posted in the Asus board support thread and hoping the answer will point me to it.

In my last system i had a Radeon X300SE 128mb graphics card, would this be better than the onboard intel graphics.
 
No, the intel IGP is better.

BTW, you appreciate the positioning of the SATA ports when you have oversized video cards. Half my SATA ports would be blocked by my 680 if they werent' facing out towards the front of the case.
 
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OK thanks, that clears the graphics question up. Regarding the sata positioning, i had a lovely steel plate which was just near enough to stop access to them. I could force the top ones in but it was pushing hard against the mobo connector, luckily the steel plate had holes in it so i was able to bend it slightly with a screwdriver. That dont make it easy eh.
 
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