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Need help finishing the details

M

Meown

n00b
Joined
Nov 5, 2011
Messages
46
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming. WoW, SC2, Skyrim, DIII, CS:GO

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
kinda flexible, but i'm ebaying stuff to afford it so keep budget in mind. maybe $650-$850 for the parts i need to buy.

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

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, Mobo, VGA, cpu cooler, possibly a SSD

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Antec 900 case
Antec TP-750 psu
Creative X-Fi Fatality (pci)
Sata dvd/rw
misc sata 7.2krpm HDDs
I already purchased the gskill ripjaw X 8GB DDR3 1600 ram yesterday from newegg.

6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes. Fingers crossed for 5ghz, but at least 4.5

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
Dell 24" @ 1920x1200 or a Samsung 40" TV @ 1080p

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
within the next few weeks, if not sooner

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.
USB 3.0 would be nice, as would 6gbSATA if I go with a nice SSD.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Yes, 64bit W7HP



So what I've decided on:
Intel 2500k
Corsair H80 closed-loop cooler

What I need help deciding:
Mobo. Brand/Model, I have no idea what's good right now.
Video card: I'd like to stay nvidia. Debating between 570 or 560ti448
How much of an improvement will I see using a SSD for my OS? (if I can budget it)

Last note: Unless there's significant savings elsewhere, I'd prefer to shop at newegg for the no-interest financing with my preferred account.
 
Meown-------> How much of an improvement will I see using a SSD for my OS? (if I can budget it)
Click to expand...

Hello,

Im sure one of the technical wizards here will be along shortly. I don't claim to be and expert but I can answer one of your questions based off my own person experience. That is the amount of improvement you will notice with a SSD Drive versus Mechanical.

I would rate upgrading to an SSD Drive...... As one of the biggest bangs for the buck (Gear Head Comparison: Its Kind Of Like Adding 373 Gears To A Stock 5 Speed Mustang 5.0) If you have the money to upgrade. This is a must do in my opinion and especially since the cost of Hard Drives have almost doubled from the
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"Floods"
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There is not a whole lot of difference in price if you compare it to a well know 7200 rpm drive other than the space you will give up. It was worth it to me and I never saved things on the drive of my gaming rig anyway. I could not believe the amount of speed I gained from upgrading to my SSD. The start up for my computer (Its A Beast) and I am not exaggerating. I went from, well you know what typical start times are on a window base unit and it variates from one machine to the other, based off a lot of factors...... To literally being on my desktop and ready to play........... In 15 to 20 seconds with no log in screen and Express Gate Off...... It hits around 25 to 30 seconds with those two activated...... I timed it! and most people don't care about how fast a computer shuts down but I noticed a difference on that too. It powers down from the time I hit shutdown, in like 6 to 8 seconds. This being with no updating or anything before shutdown. I was floored by the performance and I didn't even go into how fast multiple windows open up, data transfer from computer to 3.0 USB and the opening of most programs is just insane. I have yet to find anything to complain about on mine.

But Its Alright I Guess..... I'm not overly excited about it.....lol

I am in no way affiliated with the sales or mass production of SSD drives....Ha!...... This was my opinion based off my experience with a higher end gaming rig. The results could be very different from one build to the other and compatibility between different brands. I feel very sure that it would at least speed everything up in a decent build by a very noticeable amount. I purchased the Intel 320 Series 120Ggb (Link Below)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167050

Good luck with your build and I hope this info helps with your decision, Frontrunner
 
I'd go with either the Asus P8Z68-V or one of the Gigabyte models, or one of the cheaper MSI ones:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128498
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128512
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131792
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130618

Or, since you don't have any real requirements, motherboard-wise, you can save some money by getting a P67 board instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130583

As for video card, the GTX 560 Ti 448 is almost as fast as the GTX 570, and is still $30 or so cheaper, so I'd probably go for one of those:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130738
 
That p67 at under $100 is perfect.

I'm thinking now of the evga classified version of the ti448. I Iike the way it looks.


right now I'm sitting at about $775 without the ssd. I think I'll just try to save up a while longer to buy the ssd after i get the system setup.
 
thanks again for the help :) last call for suggestions.

What I have:
Antec 900
Antec TruePower New TP-750 750W
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Creative X-Fi gamer something Fatality (original, pci)

What I have in my shopping cart:
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge
MSI P67A-G43 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67
CORSAIR H80
EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 448 Cores Classified 1280MB

SSD I haven't decided yes or no too yet:
OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3-90G 2.5" 90GB

Anything you would change up?
 
SSD wise, I'd go for the more reliable and better supported Crucial M4 SSDs.

Considering that you're from California, I recommend buying as much of your parts as possible from Amazon.com as Amazon.com does not charge taxes to CA residents.

In fact, you might as well change your video card as a result: That GTX 560 448 Core will cost $334 after taxes and shipping. The slightly faster eVGA GTX 570 is only $7 more with free shipping and no taxes:
http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Mini-HDM...ZD5W/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1323416343&sr=8-2
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
^ Agreed. I have the Hyper 212 Evo, basically almost identical to the 212+, and I have my i7-2600k at only a meager 4.5GHz, but so far it's never gone over 40 degrees even while under load.

A SSD should be high on your list of priorities. I just recently switched to one, and the load time difference is ridiculous. Windows 7 literally takes all of 3 seconds to boot. Kind of regretting getting only 64GB instead of a 128 now, but sadly I already stretched my budget as it was finishing my build back then. Will probably be picking up another 128GB over christmas =D. Crucial M4 is probably the best choice for SSD.
 
Is there really that little of a benefit with the H80? In the reviews I read it looked like it was performing pretty nicely and I always worry about heat issues.

That $70 is tempting though and is a good reason to drop the H80/OCZ and switch to a 212+ and 64GB Crucial M4.
 
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It's not that much better than a good air cooler (within a couple of degrees at most, probably less). Biggest advantage is that it clears up space around the CPU if you have a cramped case, and it exhausts the CPU heat out the back of the case, which isn't a big deal if you have a decent case with decent cooling. The $70 is much better spent on a SSD.
 
The H80 is really just for e-peen status, and a lot of people pay the premium for that status. Of course, if you're gonna spend all that money for it, no one's going to then go "oh yeah but it performs about the same as a HSF". They'll all claim its amazing, it keeps the CPU chill code, etc. But look at any decent review site, compare the actual results for the two, and you'll see that the performance boost from the H80 is minimal at best, and only worth it if you have cramped interiors.

As for SSD, the Crucial will give you better read/write rates, and most importantly of all, it's reliable. A lot of people who got the Vertex 3 have had it completely shit out on them, causing valuable data loss. I'd rather pay the premium for the safety of mind that my precious data isn't going to get wtfwiped. However, there's always the much more likely chance that you'll get one that doesn't shit out. It's just a gamble I don't want to take with my data =P
 
Thanks very much for the help! Hopefully I'll be ordering the parts later today :D
 
Ordered! Went with the 212+, 64GB M4, and the galaxy gtx570 for $290, all from amazon (except the mobo) for free shipping and no tax. <3 all!
 
So I'll be getting the last few parts in today, I'll be sure to take pics and post them up in here later.

Quick question though: With the 212+, should I use the cooler master thermal paste that comes with it, or would AS5 be better? I already have both, just wondering which to put on.

Thanks!
 
The default thermal paste is fine. You would want to be careful with AS5, since it is conductive, and can short out your MoBo if you get it anywhere else, and also requires time to cure. MX5 would be a better choice if you don't want to use the default, but I'm using the stock paste with my Hyper 212 Evo, and it works just fine.
 
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