Upgrade time!

[Jehuty]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
It will mainly be used for gaming, but I will also be using it for Photoshop.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Max of $2,500, tax and shipping included. I would like to emphasize this build on power and speed, but if I can keep it under 2k I would love that.

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

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.

• RAM (At least 16gigs -- 32 would be ideal)
• CPU
• GPU (Looking at 680s -- will also be looking for a water block for it)
• SSD
• Motherboard

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

• Corsair HX620
• Corsair Obsidian 800D
• Corsair H50
• Triple fan radiator / pump / reservoir
• HDDs (I have a 1TB I use for storage and I will be using 2x 7200 230GB Samsung in RAID for applications)
• Auzentech Prelude soundcard

6) Will you be overclocking?
If I do, it will be discrete OCing.

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

• 47" Samsung LED TV (1080p, 120hz)
• 24" Sceptre LCD (1080p)

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Probably within a month or two unless the deals make it worth getting now.

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)? UEFI? etc.
I doubt I will be using Firewire -- I do plan for future SLI support, just not this second. I don't know what the benefits of UEFI are

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 Ultimate 64bit.

Hello! I haven't updated my PC in a long time, so I thought I'd turn to you guys for advice. I haven't listed any parts because I've been out of the game for a long time, and I know you guys are a wealth of info. I am not sure if the PSU and CPU cooler are viable at this point or if I should even reuse the hard drives I have right now. It should be noted that it's my main medium for entertainment (netflix, music streaming, etc), so it will see a lot of use.

 

[Dangman]

SSD wise, I recommend the Crucial m4, Plextor M3, Intel 520, Corsair Performance Pro, and Samsung 830 series SSDs.

Did you mean 320GB drives or 250GB drives? In any case, I'd recommend new drives anyway. I recommend this drive:
$110 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

Here's a rough build:
$240 - Intel Core i5-3570K CPU
$190 - Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H Intel Z77 ATX Motherboard
$98 - Corsair Vengeance CML16GX3M4A1600C9B 4 x 4GB DDR3 1600 RAM
--
Total: $528 plus tax and shipping.

If you plan on using SLI, I would recommend a larger PSU just to be on the safe side. This should do the trick:
$156 - Corsair HX750 750W Modular PSU

 

[Deleted member 250781]

I own the Corsair HX750 750W Modular PSU. Good PSU! no issues thus far...

 

[Jehuty]

Did you mean 320GB drives or 250GB drives?

Haha, that was a total typo of mine. I meant 320. I like your recommendation, but I do have a question about that: why 3.0Gb/s and not 6.0?

Putting your recommendations into account, this is what I have thus far:

$110 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$240 - Intel Core i5-3570K CPU
$190 - Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H Intel Z77 ATX Motherboard
$98 - Corsair Vengeance CML16GX3M4A1600C9B 4 x 4GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$156 - Corsair HX750 750W Modular PSU[/QUOTE]
569.99 - Zotac GeForce GTX680 4GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0
214.99 - Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD2 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive

--
This bumps it up to $1,579 plus tax and shipping. I realize I haven't taken the water block for the video card into account, but I don't know if I should even get that 4gb card. Will it give me any advantages in future proofing?

 

[Jehuty]

I own the Corsair HX750 750W Modular PSU. Good PSU! no issues thus far...

Corsair has yet to let me down! I have a lot of trust in the brand.

 

[Dangman]

Haha, that was a total typo of mine. I meant 320. I like your recommendation, but I do have a question about that: why 3.0Gb/s and not 6.0?

When it comes to regular hard drives, SATA 6.0Gb/s doesn't provide any sort of performance boost. Simply put: Hard drives can't use all that bandwidth. They're not even close to the 3.0Gb/s limit.

$240 - Intel Core i5-3570K CPU
$190 - Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H Intel Z77 ATX Motherboard

You can shave off $30 if you buy the CPU and mobo from this combo link before July 1st:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.951182

569.99 - Zotac GeForce GTX680 4GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0

I'd avoid ZOTAC due to QC and CS issues. I'd stick with Asus, eVGA, Gigabyte, or MSI.

I realize I haven't taken the water block for the video card into account, but I don't know if I should even get that 4gb card. Will it give me any advantages in future proofing?

If you're planning on gaming on 3 monitors, the 4GB would give you an advantage now. There's a low chance that it might be useful later on if you're using one monitor.

 

[Jehuty]

When it comes to regular hard drives, SATA 6.0Gb/s doesn't provide any sort of performance boost. Simply put: Hard drives can't use all that bandwidth. They're not even close to the 3.0Gb/s limit.

Ah, I see -- I thought it was weird I didn't see more advertisement for (regular) 6.0Gb/s drives.

You can shave off $30 if you buy the CPU and mobo from this combo link before July 1st:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.951182

Thanks! There's also a $10 gift card that comes with it.

[edit] that was weird. I refreshed the cart and the gift card wasn't there any more, however the price was adjusted.

I'd avoid ZOTAC due to QC and CS issues. I'd stick with Asus, eVGA, Gigabyte, or MSI.
............
If you're planning on gaming on 3 monitors, the 4GB would give you an advantage now. There's a low chance that it might be useful later on if you're using one monitor.

I use my main monitor (47") for gaming and I use the other monitor for IMs and webpages / streaming (netflix, etc).

Having said this, would you say I'm okay with the HX620 in the short run if I'm running this with 1 680 or should I also upgrade that from the get-go?

 

[Dangman]

I use my main monitor (47") for gaming and I use the other monitor for IMs and webpages / streaming (netflix, etc).

For single monitor game, you should be fine. Though look around the Video Card subforum just in case.

Having said this, would you say I'm okay with the HX620 in the short run if I'm running this with 1 680 or should I also upgrade that from the get-go?

The HX620 will be fine for one GTX 680.

 

[slh28]

Not worth getting the 4GB 680 unless you're thinking of going multi monitor gaming in the near future. At $570 it's over 40% more expensive than a $400 2GB 670 and definitely won't give 40% more performance, more like 10%.

 

[Jehuty]

Hi,

So, the closer I get to shopping the more I look at options -- Danny, you recommended the
GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD5H model -- but I am looking at the UD3H model and the differences seem minimal:

UD5H

• USB Ports (Total) x16
• FireWire Ports x1
• Ethernet Ports x2
• PS/2 Keyboard/Mouse None

UD3H

• USB Ports (Total) x14
• FireWire Ports None
• Ethernet Ports x1
• PS/2 Keyboard/Mouse Both

I've never used FireWire, and no more than 1 ethernet port (why would you need 2 anyway? that always seemed odd to me) -- having said that, what is the advantage of the UD5H? There's a $50 dollar premium attached to it.

 

[Dangman]

no more than 1 ethernet port (why would you need 2 anyway? that always seemed odd to me) --

A few reasons:
- A spare NIC to give to a virtualized server
- To do NIC teaming ( a feature really only supported by high-end routers/switches)

having said that, what is the advantage of the UD5H?

Well a few things you didn't list:
The UD5H has an extra 3 SATA 6.0Gb/s ports so if you plan on attaching lots of hard drives, the UD5H will be your best bet. The UD5H also comes with an Intel NIC which is guaranteed to be far more reliable and has faster lan transfers than Realtek NICs

There's a $50 dollar premium attached to it.

Normally the price difference is $30 but prices on the UD5H has gone up. For $30, I would totally recommend the UD5H over the UD3H if one can afford it. At a $50 difference, not really worth it unless you really want an Intel NIC and more SATA ports.

 

[E4g1e]

The UD5H also comes with an Intel NIC which is guaranteed to be far more reliable and has faster lan transfers than Realtek NICs

Gigabyte's 7-series mobos no longer have Realtek NICs. Instead, those (Gigabyte) 7 series mobos that do not have Intel NICs have Qualcomm Atheros NICs.

 

[Dangman]

Gigabyte's 7-series mobos no longer have Realtek NICs. Instead, those (Gigabyte) 7 series mobos that do not have Intel NICs have Qualcomm Atheros NICs.

Ahh missed that little detail.

 

[Jehuty]

Just an update:

I went ahead and bought the RAM, CPU and Mobo -- I'll wait until I can get a hold of the deal for the SSD -- I think I'm gonna go for the Sandisk deal and not the M4 deal that's out right now.

I'm also waiting on a $10 gift card from NE before I purchase the mechanical hard drive, too.

Last thing I'll purchase is the video card -- since I'm going to go with water cooling, do I still need to get the backplate?

 

[Dangman]

What Sandisk deal?

 

[E4g1e]

What Sandisk deal?

The problem with the SanDisk SSDs is that all of the current ones are based on the Sandforce SF-2281 controller. And there is a major bug in all SF-2281 based SSDs that does not allow 256-bit AES encryption at all (it is limited to 128-bit AES encryption). This problem cannot be fixed at all; it is a serious limitation of the controller itself.

 

[Jehuty]

What Sandisk deal?

This one.

The problem with the SanDisk SSDs is that all of the current ones are based on the Sandforce SF-2281 controller. And there is a major bug in all SF-2281 based SSDs that does not allow 256-bit AES encryption at all (it is limited to 128-bit AES encryption). This problem cannot be fixed at all; it is a serious limitation of the controller itself.

The encryption wouldn't have any impact in performance or reliability right? this limitation is only applicable if I want to encrypt my drive?

 

[Dangman]

This one.

It's a Sandforce that's not from Intel. So I wouldn't recommend it. I still recommend the Crucial M4 instead.Not to mention that both deals make the Crucial M4 256Gb and the Sandisk 240GB the same price. The Crucial gets you 16GB of extra space. So from a price per GB standpoint, the Crucial M4 is still the better choice. Then there's the added reliability and stability.

The encryption wouldn't have any impact in performance or reliability right? this limitation is only applicable if I want to encrypt my drive?

That particular limitation, yes only applicable for encryption. But considering the Sandforce history, I'm not willing to recommend one to people.

 

[Jehuty]

It's a Sandforce that's not from Intel. So I wouldn't recommend it. I still recommend the Crucial M4 instead.Not to mention that both deals make the Crucial M4 256Gb and the Sandisk 240GB the same price. The Crucial gets you 16GB of extra space. So from a price per GB standpoint, the Crucial M4 is still the better choice. Then there's the added reliability and stability.

Well, I went and did it. I purchased that M4, and I also scored a $10 gift card after chatting with a Newegg sales rep for another promo they released for the 3570k.

 

[Jehuty]

Update:

I received all the components and put them together. This thing is a beast now. I am very happy with my purchase - I'd like to thank everyone for their input, you guys made a world of difference with what I would have gone with. Once again, thanks

 

[Dangman]

You're welcome. Good to see the build is working fine for you.