Ivy Bridge build specs - yes, 3 months early

grambo

[H]ard|Gawd
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Apr 10, 2011
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As Ivy Bridge CPUs and Z77 motherboards will not be out until sometime in mid to late April, this thread is mostly me talking to myself and getting thoughts written down, but I'm starting to pick up some parts for my build when I see good deals and am curious on your input.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc

PC gaming (BF3, RPGs like Witcher 2, Mass Effect series, Deus Ex etc. etc), web browsing, viewing photos and video (1080p), storing media to play on other devices, MS Office use (light to medium Excel). I generally keep my "base" PC platform for 4-5 years with some interim upgrades to GPU/RAM. This computer will be 5 years old in April with one CPU upgrade and 2 GPU upgrades since then.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

$1,500CAD after selling my old computer (hoping to get $300), so $1,800 before taxes.

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.

Vancouver, Canada (will be purchasing parts from NCIX or Memory Express locally if I can, unless online is significantly cheaper).

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.

CPU, motherboard, RAM, GPU, SSD, PSU, Case, Heatsink

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.

Hard drives for storage (Hitatchi 3K5000 3TB + Seagate 7200.11 1TB), SB XtremeGamer (assuming motherboard has PCI slot, not sure if Z77 will?).

6) Will you be overclocking?

Yes, will be shooting for whatever the Ivy Bridge equivalent of 4.6GHz on SB (e.g. probably 5-5.2GHz depending on how IB clocks), significant but not extreme voltage mods or anything.

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?

24 inch 1920x1200

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

The first week Ivy Bridge CPUs and Z77 motherboards are available. I will be buying other parts in advance when I see really good deals in an attempt to reduce costs.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? etc.

RAID-0 support (Intel), PCI-e 3.0 CF/SLI, USB3, SATA6, eSATA and onboard video. Prefer Intel gigabit network connection.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?

Yes, Windows 7 Pro 64bit.

So far I have picked these parts:

CPU: Intel i7-3770k, possibly i5-3570k, haven't fully decided, part of me wants "top of the line" even though it won't matter much for gaming (for now anyway).
Motherboard: Asus Z77 "Pro" - whatever the ~$180-200 Asus board is that offers SLI/CF (8x/8x is fine), hopefully with Intel Gigabit LAN. Thunderbolt would be nice if they offer it on the first run of Z77.
RAM: No idea, I want 16gb (4x4GB), need to determine if there is any reason to go above DDR3-1600 on IB/Z77
GPU: Waiting to see what Kepler brings. Options would be AMD 7950, Kepler's mid-range (560Ti/570 replacement) or possibly grabbing another 560Ti for SLI rather than selling the card I have now.
SSD: I want 256gb and do not want to spend more than $340-350CAD. Thinking about RAID-0 128gb drives as an option but would prefer one 256gb drive instead. Willing to go SF-2281 with the recent fixes. Crucial M4, OCZ Octane are other options. Intel is out of budget.
PSU: XFX PRO850W XXX Edition (80+ Silver, 70A 12V, semi-modular, Seasonic M12D platform) - already purchased this for $109CAD after rebate.
Case: Corsair 550D or Antec P280. Was set on the P280 (love my P182) but after looking at the 550D, it looks superior in every way (sleek look, construction, noise). I want something industrial looking that is quiet while offering decent airflow. Will likely get the 550D as long as it is $150-160CAD max.
Heatsink: Noctua NH-D14 - already purchased for $59CAD on sale.

Questions:

1) Regarding my soundcard, it is the Creative Labs X-Fi XtremeGamer. I'm happy with the sound quality in games and playing music. Onboard on my old mobo is horrible with lots of interference and just poor quality in general. Has onboard improved to the level I can ditch my card? I haven't been able to confirm if Z77 has PCI ports or just PCI-e which would mean I'd have to buy a new card like a Xonar.

2) GPU options - not sure what I will end up with, it depends largely on Kepler and what the 7950 is selling for in April. If Kepler is not yet out, I will keep my 560Ti and wait until there are reliable benchmarks/reviews to decide. 560Ti SLI could be an option as I could grab another card for about $200 and have performance somewhere between a 580 and a 7970. Downsides to that would be power consumption and any other generic SLI issues (scaling, drivers, micro-stutter). Upside would be low cost option ($200 outlay versus $450 on a 7950 less $125-150 to sell my old card = $300-325 net cost to go to 7950).
 
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Sounds great, but I'm not sure what the point of the thread is? Not a whole lot of point discussing/planning for unreleased hardware.
 
Sounds great, but I'm not sure what the point of the thread is? Not a whole lot of point discussing/planning for unreleased hardware.

Not really much of a point I guess, mostly me thinking aloud. I guess I'm interested in people's opinions on SSDs in my price range, and memory suggestions. The other stuff is either not out yet or I've already decided.
 
Most of the stuff you want/need guidance on aren't out yet. We probably won't know anything until we start reading the final reviews on those products. Likewise, your memory purchase should wait until you figure out which motherboard you finally settle on.

For the most part, the parts that you've already bought are fine. Regarding the SSDs, however, stick to the Crucial M4 or the Samsung 830. If you find a good deal on one of those SSDs, you can grab it now.

As for reusing your sound card, you may want to try out the onboard sound first. But newer motherboards (that cost more than $75) are starting to eliminate PCI slots, so you may want to start looking at PCI-E sound cards (but again, try out the onboard sound first!).
 
Most of the stuff you want/need guidance on aren't out yet. We probably won't know anything until we start reading the final reviews on those products. Likewise, your memory purchase should wait until you figure out which motherboard you finally settle on.

For the most part, the parts that you've already bought are fine. Regarding the SSDs, however, stick to the Crucial M4 or the Samsung 830. If you find a good deal on one of those SSDs, you can grab it now.

As for reusing your sound card, you may want to try out the onboard sound first. But newer motherboards (that cost more than $75) are starting to eliminate PCI slots, so you may want to start looking at PCI-E sound cards (but again, try out the onboard sound first!).

Thanks for the suggestions. I guess DDR3 prices shouldn't rise between now and April, and that way I can ensure there are no motherboard/chipset compatibility issues and figure out what speed to get.

As for SSD, I'm leaning toward the Crucial M4, they have been going on sale here, the 256gb is $389CAD right now so getting close to my $350 price point. Part of me is willing to give SF2281 a try with the recent firmware patches, but then again maybe it isn't worth rolling the dice.

I'll give onboard a shot and see if it has improved substantially. Since I'm only running 2.1 speakers (Klipsch Promedia) and middle of the road headphones without an amp (Sennheiser HD570 from 2002) it's not mission critical to have a soundcard. I mostly care about the quality of sound for music and games.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I guess DDR3 prices shouldn't rise between now and April.
While the probability of that is relatively low IMO, there's still a possibility of that happening.

Before August to September 2011, no one thought that hard drive prices would increase in price. You were able to get a 2TB drive for $75 at one point. But then the Thai floods occurred, wiping out of the hard drive manufacturing plants there. Hence why we're now seeing good 2TB drives for around $180.
 
Another thing to note is that 8GB sticks have been coming down a lot lately, it may well be that by the time ivy comes along there will only be a small premium for 2x8GB over 4x4GB
 
Good points guys. Ideally, I'd rather run 2x 8GB DIMMs over 4x4, for expandability (not that I will likely need even 16GB for the next few years), but also potentially easier overclocking with only 2 slots populated. I don't really want to buy until I am 100% certain about memory speeds on Z77 w/ IB CPUs.
 
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