New build help

[Dangman]

Not to be like this, but the Patriot RAM is the only thing kinda bugging me (u know how this can get, and I apologize for quad-guessing, but I can only afford to do this like once every 4 years so...) I've always been a Crucial/G.Skill/Corsair man, can I get a quick reason why that Patriot (and they look SO pedestrian, not to be so superficial!) is better than say (beside the few bucks cheaper things... $20 wont make or break me if performance is noticeably better, if thats why you recommended the 1600 for $35 ):

G.SKILL Ripjaws X (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900)
G.SKILL Sniper (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) - (Customer Choice Award Winner if that means anything)

These also have awesome ratings and a lot of them too... am I missing something?

Yes you are missing something/not reading: As I said earlier in post #6: "In addition, it's also been shown that current Intel CPUs do not see a noticeable performance increase in real world apps and games from RAM speeds higher than DDR3 1333. So you'll be fine with that DDR3 1600 RAM."

So to make that clearer: You won't notice an iota of real world performance difference between any DDR3 1866 RAM and DDR3 1600 RAM. Hell there's barely a difference between DDR3 1600 and DDR3 1333 RAM. Hence why I recommended that Patriot RAM: it's gonna provide you the same performance as those G.Skill sets. Why pay more money for no real world performance increase? See why now?

However, if you really want G.Skill, this G.Skill RAM set isn't a bad choice at all:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231416

Also, I am thinking about using my brand new ATI 4870 laying around for now until I find a better deal for a vcard... these are so easily swappable with no almost no work, I dunno if I wanna spend $230 for the 560 Ti right now, bec I wont need it right away until I upgrade all my software anyways, and MW3 on XBOX is robbing all my game time with my buddies (curse them for being on XBOX!!! I loathe that controller... love my mouse to point and shoot)...

If you want to, go for it.

 

[GreatestOne]

Sorry about that, I guess with all the parts flying around I've lost track, my apologies... and I guess its a subliminal thing where I see all these cool looking designs and heat sinks and the Patriot looks like they are not even trying, but I assume the heat dissipation of their design is not an issue at all... just makes me wonder why they have 4/5 eggs while all the 2 gskills have perfect.

And the XMP certified thing makes no difference? Seems like some people dropped an egg or 2 for that on the Pat...

Its not that I am saying u r wrong, its that usually i just go by the ratings, like the top 1600 Ripjaw has 910 5/5 avg ratings while the Pat has 55 ratings at 4/5... we all respect the Newegg ratings so obviously there is something here that I am not seeing, and this will help me for future purchases too... in my head, there is 0% chance I would buy the Pat over that RJ to save $10 just by looking a the numbers and aesthetics as a bonus... I hope I'm making sense and not just pissing u off now.... not my intention.

 

[Dangman]

Sorry about that, I guess with all the parts flying around I've lost track, my apologies... and I guess its a subliminal thing where I see all these cool looking designs and heat sinks and the Patriot looks like they are not even trying, but I assume the heat dissipation of their design is not an issue at all... just makes me wonder why they have 4/5 eggs while all the 2 gskills have perfect.

The low ratings are mainly due to the following:
1) Compatibility issues
2) DOA issues
3) Rebate issues.

If you feel a bit safer with G.Skill, just go with the G.Skill RAM I linked to earlier.

And the XMP certified thing makes no difference? Seems like some people dropped an egg or 2 for that on the Pat...

Not really IMO.

 

[GreatestOne]

You prefer the Sniper over the Ripjaw, or does it really not matter... I look at the specs and I dont see anything that would make me want one over the other except for well, aesthetics, unless I should read into how many more ratings RJ has, but then again that can be due to the the fact that the Sniper is newer maybe, I have no idea... almost makes me wonder why are they even making 2 of what seems like identical specs... these arent exactly like automobiles coming in difference colors.

 

[Dangman]

You prefer the Sniper over the Ripjaw, or does it really not matter...

I just went with the cheapest G.Skill DDR3 1600 RAM and that happened to be the Sniper. So basically I choose by price as Ripjaws and Snipers are virtually the same in quality and performance.

 

[E4g1e]

212+ ordered, $20! (even tho the coupon should have expired, lucky) I jus heard bec of the smaller size it doesn't do as well on the high OC end, but whatever, as long as I am over 4.0, I"ll be happy.

Not to be like this, but the Patriot RAM is the only thing kinda bugging me (u know how this can get, and I apologize for quad-guessing, but I can only afford to do this like once every 4 years so...) I've always been a Crucial/G.Skill/Corsair man, can I get a quick reason why that Patriot (and they look SO pedestrian, not to be so superficial!) is better than say (beside the few bucks cheaper things... $20 wont make or break me if performance is noticeably better, if thats why you recommended the 1600 for $35 ):

G.SKILL Ripjaws X (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900)
G.SKILL Sniper (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) - (Customer Choice Award Winner if that means anything)

These also have awesome ratings and a lot of them too... am I missing something?

Also, I am thinking about using my brand new ATI 4870 laying around for now until I find a better deal for a vcard... these are so easily swappable with no almost no work, I dunno if I wanna spend $230 for the 560 Ti right now, bec I wont need it right away until I upgrade all my software anyways, and MW3 on XBOX is robbing all my game time with my buddies (curse them for being on XBOX!!! I loathe that controller... love my mouse to point and shoot)...

Both of those RAM kits are way too expensive compared to the actual real-world performance benefit over standard DDR3-1333 (PC3-10700) RAM. In fact, the real world performance benefit is less than 1 percent - but the price increase (just for the RAM) is more than 70 percent. Translated into your current maximum budget for the entire build, the price increase is still more than four times higher than what the performance increase justifies. Compared to the $35 price of standard DDR3-1333 RAM (for 8GG via two 4GB sticks), I would not pay more than about $43 total for that same amount of DDR3-1866 RAM.

 

[GreatestOne]

Thanks, I'm clear now on the reasons... I guess I am just suck almost irrationally on the designs, aesthetics, my past preferences/experience, and the newegg ratings, but I'll go for the $44 Sniper/Ripjaw probably...

Ignoring better reason, I ordered that 2500K from that site for $210... lets see what happens, should get a tracking # tonight.

Motherboard query... I have an old SB Platinum card I am using and still fine... I am assuming that "using the onboard sound slows down your processes" is not true anymore? (Apologies if I am like 5 years behind on this comment)... but what bothers me is that GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 ($130) has 3 analog ports and one optical... it supports 8 channels, I have a 7.1, so choices:

1. Use an adapter from my 5 audio jacks from the speakers to the onboard optical port
2. Keep using my SB card until it fries
3. Get another MB with the connections already built in and use it and bid my trusty SB card good bye

 

[Dangman]

Motherboard query... I have an old SB Platinum card I am using and still fine... I am assuming that "using the onboard sound slows down your processes" is not true anymore?

No longer true. Not for a long time now.

(Apologies if I am like 5 years behind on this comment)... but what bothers me is that GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 ($130) has 3 analog ports and one optical... it supports 8 channels, I have a 7.1, so choices:

1. Use an adapter from my 5 audio jacks from the speakers to the onboard optical port
2. Keep using my SB card until it fries
3. Get another MB with the connections already built in and use it and bid my trusty SB card good bye

Use your SB card.

 

[GreatestOne]

In the DDR3 1600 models, whats the main difference between the 1.5 and 1.35V, related to speed, heat, reliability, etc.....? It seems the 1.35V are just slightly more expensive.... kinda reminds me of the lower voltage AMD processors, but this may be a whole different thing......

And prices already dropped on the 560 Ti...

GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) GV-N560UD-1G [[ $193 AR NE ]]
EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 01G-P3-1561-KR [[ $210 AR NE ]]

Of course the EVGA has to be a bit faster but I'm pretty sure these differences dont mean diddly.....?
(GB) (EVGA)
Core Clock 822MHz 850MHz
Shader Clock 1644MHz 1700MHz
Eff Mem Clock 4000MHz 4104MHz

 

[GreatestOne]

Thanks for all your help guys, just finished, posted great on second try after I plugged in the power cord (always helps.) Here is an image... didnt worry about aesthetics on the cords, just got them out of the way of the fans. Maybe a little over budget but whatever, I wont build another one for myself for prob another few years. (Final list in my new sig)

 

[Dangman]

Nice!

 

[GreatestOne]

Thanks man!