Quick suggestions on Sandybridge build

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guitarguy6

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Oct 29, 2007
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Hey folks, my friend wants to upgrade his Q8300 rig to something more current. We will be re-using some of his parts. He is a gamer and budget isn't to much of an issue. What I have picked out thus far (Canadian prices):

GA-Z68X-UD4-B3 $150

i5 2500k $230

GSKILL Sniper Low Voltage Series 8GB PC3-12800 $55

Asus ENGTX580 DirectCU II $530


OCZ 120GB Vertex 3 $200

What do you guys think?
 
guitarguy6 said:
Hey folks, my friend wants to upgrade his Q8300 rig to something more current. We will be re-using some of his parts. He is a gamer and budget isn't to much of an issue. What I have picked out thus far (Canadian prices):

GA-Z68X-UD4-B3 $150

i5 2500k $230

GSKILL Sniper Low Voltage Series 8GB PC3-12800 $55

Asus ENGTX580 DirectCU II $530


OCZ 120GB Vertex 3 $200

What do you guys think?
Click to expand...

First off, ditch that OCZ SSD: OCZ has had a reputation for poor customer service. Plus, the Vertex 3 is based on a Sandforce controller that has had random BSOD issues in Windows. Newer firmware versions may fix the random BSOD problem, but I cannot vouch for that improvement.

Second, that is an unbalanced system between the CPU and GPU: The GTX 580 is way, way overkill for an i5 even at 2560x1440: With such an imbalance, many of the games will become CPU-limited even at that resolution.

Third, you did not mention which monitor resolution your friend is planning to use. As a result, I will not be recommending a GPU until that information is revealed.

Fourth, that Gigabyte Z68 motherboard is one of those boards that are actually "gimped": Not only does it not have a video out at all whatsoever (and thus cannot tap into the IGP of any desktop LGA 1155 CPUs), but it also does not support Virtu, QuickSync or SSD caching (support for those features is permanently disabled at hardware level by the motherboard manufacturer). As such, that board is not much more than a glorified P67 motherboard that doesn't support any of those features.

Fifth, which PSU is he going to get? I cannot recommend any sort of upgrade at all without the PSU being mentioned.

And please, answer the sticky at the top of the page: "ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST".
 
Sorry for the missing information.

He has a Coolermaster 850Watt PSU
Games at 1920X1080 on a 32" HDTV
I chose the Gigabyte Z68 based on reviews and features, at $150 it's priced the same as P67 counterparts. Is there a better P67 choice arund that price?

Are you sure the GTX 580 will be CPU limited by an i5 2500k?

Edit: I'm not to savvy with SSD's, what is a good price/performace nowadays? I have an OCZ Vertex 2 60GB that I never had an issue with so I chose an OCZ but am definitely open to suggestions.

Thanks
 
guitarguy6 said:
Sorry for the missing information.

He has a Coolermaster 850Watt PSU
Games at 1920X1080 on a 32" HDTV
I chose the Gigabyte Z68 based on reviews and features, at $150 it's priced the same as P67 counterparts. Is there a better P67 choice arund that price?

Are you sure the GTX 580 will be CPU limited by an i5 2500k?
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Which 850W Cooler Master PSU? Coolermaster is known to offer both good and shitty PSUs at the same wattage.

The Z68X-UD4, as I stated above, offers virtually none of the features that distinguish its implementation of the Z68 chipset from its P67 predecessor. This makes it effectively an overpriced P67 motherboard even at $150 CAD. The true Z68 boards with the UD4 in their model name are the GA-Z68XP-UD4 (which has an HDMI port)

And yes, at 1920x1080, the GTX 580 will be limited by the i5-2500K unless that CPU is heavily overclocked to more than 5GHz. In fact, the GTX 580 itself is way overkill at 1920x1080.
 
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I agree that the GTX 580 is a bad choice because of it's price/performance ratio - but it won't be CPU limited by an overclocked 2500K. A better choice is a GTX 570 or 6970, which offer 90% of the performance at 75% of the price.

If you want to stick with Gigabyte, you can get the Z68XP-UD4, which supports HDMI, or the Z68X-UD3H-B3, which also supports HDMI.

The Crucial M4 is the SSD you want to look for, right now.
 
coolermaster 850watt silent pro
I couldn't find a similar price/spec P67 board. Suggestions?
Also need recommendation on SSD.
He wants to future proof so we're for sure going GTX 580. We will probably OC the CPU to atleast 3.60GHz but even at stock where have you seen evidence that it will bottleneck the 580?

Thanks! Looks like we'll take the Crucial M4 128GB for $210.
 
guitarguy6 said:
He wants to future proof so we're for sure going GTX 580. We will probably OC the CPU to atleast 3.60GHz but even at stock where have you seen evidence that it will bottleneck the 580?
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Totally depends on the resolution. I still stand by the fact that the GTX 580 is way overkill for 1920x1080 in virtually all games. Even future ones. This is because most PC games these days (yes, including some of the latest titles) are straight ports from their console versions (which were written for much weaker GPUs).
 
guitarguy6 said:
He wants to future proof so we're for sure going GTX 580. We will probably OC the CPU to atleast 3.60GHz but even at stock where have you seen evidence that it will bottleneck the 580?
Click to expand...

I have a 580 at 1920x1200 with a 2600K at 4.6GHz, and the CPU is not the bottleneck. Some games are more CPU dependent than others (Skyrim, for example), but turning up the graphics detail is the easy answer to that problem.
 
You know that what I posted about the system being CPU-limited when equipped with the GTX 580 came from my video editing experience. Most games do not take anywhere near full advantage of such high-end CPUs or GPUs. Certain video editing programs, on the other hand, do make heavy use of both the CPU and of the CUDA features. And under those circumstances, a GPU-heavy but not-so-CPU-heavy system would simply be a waste of money. But with most games, things are usually different.
 
E4g1e said:
You know that what I posted about the system being CPU-limited when equipped with the GTX 580 came from my video editing experience. Most games do not take anywhere near full advantage of such high-end CPUs or GPUs. Certain video editing programs, on the other hand, do make heavy use of both the CPU and of the CUDA features. And under those circumstances, a GPU-heavy but not-so-CPU-heavy system would simply be a waste of money. But with most games, things are usually different.
Click to expand...

I just assume that anyone talking about bottlenecking is talking games. Video encoding can take pretty much whatever you can throw at it, so I understand what you mean there.
 
guitarguy6 said:
I couldn't find a similar price/spec P67 board. Suggestions?
Click to expand...

Need this question answered first:
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.
 
Danny Bui said:
Need this question answered first:
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.
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Needs USB 3, Sata-3, no onboard, no firewire. Must support SLI.

Basically looking for a good board for overclocking that supports SLI between $150 and $200 canadian $$$.
 
So I talked my friend into the 570 instead of the 580. Final build will be this unless a better board is suggested in the next 7 hours lol

GA-Z68X-UD4-B3 $150
i5 2500k $230
GSKILL Sniper Low Voltage Series 8GB PC3-12800 $55
Asus ENGTX570 DirectCU II $340
Crucial M4 120GB SSD $210
 
Forceman said:
I agree that the GTX 580 is a bad choice because of it's price/performance ratio - but it won't be CPU limited by an overclocked 2500K. A better choice is a GTX 570 or 6970, which offer 90% of the performance at 75% of the price.

If you want to stick with Gigabyte, you can get the Z68XP-UD4, which supports HDMI, or the Z68X-UD3H-B3, which also supports HDMI.

The Crucial M4 is the SSD you want to look for, right now.
Click to expand...

I have the UD3H-B3, 2600k, 64GB M4 SSD, g.skill RAM. Using integrated graphics for now. I would spend the $10 for the UD3H. It may be nice to have the onboard video option if you ever have issues with the video card.

The larger size SSDs look to have better write speeds by around 100MB/s iirc (I didn't realize this when I bought mine.. but it is still extremely fast)

I would just go for the regular voltage RAM. That is what I have (sniper F3-12800CL9D-8GBSR - 2 sets) I have mine at 1600, stock voltage

If you are wanting to overclock, I would suggest getting an aftermarket heatsink. Stock is fine for the general overclock (under 80°C at 4.2 GHz on this i7) but if you are going to keep it overclocked, you will want to keep the temps as cool as possible. I have a Thermalright True Spirit on its way to try out ( http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1652288 ) There are other units that may be available from newegg (the true spirit is only available form one distributor at the moment and cost $20 for shipping to Canada.) I believe the 212+ is one of them.
 
Final build was i7 2600k, Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD4, Crucial M4 128GB SSD, GSKILL Sniper Low Voltage Series 8GB PC3-12800, EVGA HD GTX 570, Corsair 850Watt PSU.

The build is damn fast and my buddy is very happy. Thanks for the advice on the Crucial M4 128GB. Blows my OCZ Vertex 2 out of the water.
 
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