Sandy Bridge Build

[Michigan PC]

I'm building a sandy bridge pc and have most of the parts I need. Now I need to decide on a motherboard and a video card.

I have the follow parts:

Lian-Li V354 mATX case
1 x Antec TruePower New TP-550 550W
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3
3 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
Intel Core i5-2400 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz

I planned on getting a 2gb HD 6950 (possibly flashing to 6970) and then maybe getting another one for crossfire down the line. Keep that in mind when selecting an mATX board.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming, programming, and web development
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$150 for a motherboard, and ~$275 used for a video card (generally prefer AMD gpus)
3) Where do you live?
Houston, TX
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.
Motherboard and Video Card
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
See above
6) Will you be overclocking?
Not necessarily
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
I have a 30" Dell 3007wfp-hc
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Within the next couple weeks
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.
Crossfire Support, USB 3.0, and SATA 6Gb/s
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 64 bit

 

[tiraides]

If you wanted to overclock, you should have gone with either the Core i5 2500k or the i7-2600k. Both of those processors have unlocked CPU multipliers, which would have allowed you to easily overclock them. Though I've heard of non-k processors being overclocked, I haven't followed how well they perform or how far they can go.

That said, if you still want the option of overclocking, go with a P67 board. I'd recommend the Asus P8P67-M Pro, but it's currently out of stock at NewEgg (and overpriced nearly everywhere else).

You may not be able to find the 2GB 6950 available used, but a new card ranges between $275 and $310, if you can afford one. (However, given your resolution and preference for gaming, you really need two -- and a much more powerful power supply.)

 

[Michigan PC]

Thanks for the input. The parts I have are the remains of a server - I"m just trying to utilize what I have.

 

[bastage]

Well if you want to run crossfire you pretty much need to spend 150 on the board. Since you don't have a k series cpu though I would go much cheaper and look at a 75 dollar board and invest the extra towards the gpu.
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[AthlonXP]

I would also stick with one video card, my buddy set up a similar rig and had some heating issues with 2 cards in there.

 

[tiraides]

AthlonXP, was your friend pushing 1920x1080 or 2560x1600? If the latter, how was his performance with one card?

I'm not trying to criticize your comments, but I thought that a high-end, single-GPU card at the latter resolution could only generate good frame rates at medium settings, at best, in many of today's graphically-intensive games. (I didn't make this assessment off of one particular review, but rather a culmination of all of the recent reviews on some of the best cards available within the past couple of years.)

That said, I fully agree with you on the heat issues (and forgot, for a moment, that the OP was using a mATX case).

 

[Michigan PC]

Thanks for all of the input

What about starting from scratch with the following? :

Case
Lian-Li V354 mATX mini tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...300&cm_re=lian_li_v354-_-11-112-300-_-Product

Processor
Intel i5 2500k Sandy Bridge 3.3Ghz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072&Tpk=i5 2500k

Video Card
Sapphire HD 6950 2gb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...914&cm_re=saphire_6950-_-14-102-914-_-Product

Motherboard
Biostar TH67+ mATZ LGA 115
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138296

Power Supply
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...true&Keywords=crossfire&Page=1#scrollFullInfo

Hard Drive
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1tb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136534

Memory
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231426

I understand that the 6950 (which I plan on flashing to to 6970) won't be able to max everything on my large monitor. In the future, if I chose to pick up another for crossfire, would the motherboard and case be alright? Would the psu handle the load?

I'm open to criticism - thank you very much.

 

[E4g1e]

Thanks for all of the input

What about starting from scratch with the following? :

Case
Lian-Li V354 mATX mini tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...300&cm_re=lian_li_v354-_-11-112-300-_-Product

Processor
Intel i5 2500k Sandy Bridge 3.3Ghz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072&Tpk=i5 2500k

Video Card
Sapphire HD 6950 2gb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...914&cm_re=saphire_6950-_-14-102-914-_-Product

Motherboard
Biostar TH67+ mATZ LGA 115
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138296

Power Supply
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...true&Keywords=crossfire&Page=1#scrollFullInfo

Hard Drive
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1tb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136534

Memory
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231426

I understand that the 6950 (which I plan on flashing to to 6970) won't be able to max everything on my large monitor. In the future, if I chose to pick up another for crossfire, would the motherboard and case be alright? Would the psu handle the load?

I'm open to criticism - thank you very much.

Wrong motherboard chipset. The H67 motherboards cannot access any of the unlocked multipliers at all. As a result, the K-series CPUs can only run at stock speed. If you're going to get an H67 motherboard, you might as well stick with your originally selected i5-2400.

 

[bastage]

Wrong motherboard chipset. The H67 motherboards cannot access any of the unlocked multipliers at all. As a result, the K-series CPUs can only run at stock speed. If you're going to get an H67 motherboard, you might as well stick with your originally selected i5-2400.

Agreed.. My recommendation in dropping the mobo was based off of using the existing CPU. And to be honest unless your planning for massive overclocks I would probably go with your listed build minus the CPU & just use the i5-2400 you have now. You could use the extra cash to invest in a SSD instead & you will get more performance gain from the use of a SSD then you will from having a OC 2500k over the 2400

 

[Michigan PC]

The parts were coming from a server that I think I will just continue to use in it's current position - so this build is from the ground up

 

[tiraides]

Now that this is a ground-up build, what's the new budget?

And is it safe to assume that you'll need all of the parts for a PC tower?

 

[Michigan PC]

hmm budget - I think going with a 6950 2gb and a i5 2500k are wise decisions, so I suppose whatever the rest comes out to be with quality parts will be okay by me.

I do have an extra lian-li v354 that I would like to use if possible - but other than that I'd need everything. My big questions are whether the mATX case (though it has a bunch of room) will hold me back, and to make sure I'll be able to pick up another 6950 for crossfire in the future.

(and to make sure psu and motherboard will be able to handle that)

I'll probably pick up an 80gb ssd in the FS/T forums as well

 

[tiraides]

Are you willing to buy the following?

$225 - Intel Core i5 2500k
$82 - Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 2x4GB DDR3 1333 kit
$150 - Asus P8P67-M Pro P67 mATX motherboard
$275 - XFX HD-695X-CNFC Radeon HD 6950 2GB
$65 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s HDD
$18 - Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS SATA DVD burner
$150 - Silverstone Strider Plus ST85F-P 850W modular power supply
$25 - Silverstone PP05 PSU short cable kit
=====
$990 - Subtotal (not including shipping, taxes, or rebates)

The motherboard currently being out of stock -- and other P67 microATX boards not arriving yet -- makes things difficult. Until a better (or cheaper) alternative arrive, it's best to stick with the P8P67-M Pro for the time being. But I don't know when NewEgg will restock or other retailers will be more realistic with their pricing (the board's street price is around $150, but several places are charging upwards to $200 for it).

I planned the build around you using your spare v354 case. As part of the decision-making, I went with the Silverstone PSU because it offers a smaller physical profile than other 850W power supplies. To take advantage of that profile, however, you'll have to spend money on the Silverstone PP05 short cable kit (which certain PSUs, like the Corsair HX series, automatically include for no additional charge).

 

[bastage]

I planned the build around you using your spare v354 case. As part of the decision-making, I went with the Silverstone PSU because it offers a smaller physical profile than other 850W power supplies. To take advantage of that profile, however, you'll have to spend money on the Silverstone PP05 short cable kit (which certain PSUs, like the Corsair HX series, automatically include for no additional charge).

So the pp05 kit has very short cables & may actually be too short for a v354. They were very good when I used the kit in my q11, but even now with my Pitstop t7 I have had to switch back to all stock cables.

& where in the hell did you come up with corsair giving you short cables Included. They just flat out dont have short cables & to my knowledge the only alternative to the silverstone strider series with the pp05 kit is the seasonic fully modular & the short cables custom made by performance-pcs (of which the cables cost more then the silverstone psu & cables combined).

And you mention the HX series specifically, Well its impossible to have a short cable kit on the HX series PSU's because they are not fully modular. The AX series it can be done, but I haven't heard nor seen anything about corsair doing so.

 

[tiraides]

The HX620 and HX650 models have a combination of long and short cables... but you're correct in stating that the Corsair modular PSUs aren't fully modular. That was why I went with the Silverstone PSU. But I didn't realize that the PP05 kit was unnecessary for the V354.