Ignore the prices, these were all bought months ago.
So, if you were going to put $50 or more into this machine, how would you go about it? I know a CPU cooler would be nice, but the video card would be the bottleneck for anything I can imagine doing with the computer anyway, and the motherboard probably isn't a great one for high overclocks. I've never used a second monitor, but lots of people find that very useful. A second video card would likely be overkill for a while (not sure what I'm going to be playing after Diablo 3... if anything) and again the motherboard would limit the effectiveness of that plan.
Ignore the prices, these were all bought months ago.
So, if you were going to put $50 or more into this machine, how would you go about it? I know a CPU cooler would be nice, but the video card would be the bottleneck for anything I can imagine doing with the computer anyway, and the motherboard probably isn't a great one for high overclocks. I've never used a second monitor, but lots of people find that very useful. A second video card would likely be overkill for a while (not sure what I'm going to be playing after Diablo 3... if anything) and again the motherboard would limit the effectiveness of that plan.
What would you do?
Id spend it on a better motherboard since the LX boards are a total pain in the ass to overclock on. Id go with the Asus P8Z68-v or whatever the AsRock equivalent is.
Okay so I am looking at requesting a new workstation, these are the currently recommended specs from a hardware retailer for my primary software package.
Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition i7-3960X 3.3GHz 15MB LGA2011 CPU
ASUS P9 Series LGA2011 motherboard
24GB DDR3-1600Mhz Memory (up to 32GB)
600 GB/10KRPM/32MCache SATA Hard Drive
1TB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive for Storage
Nvidia Quadro 2000 1GB PCI-EXP with Dual Monitor Support
(Driver certified for AutoCAD)
Gigabit Network & 8x USB 2 & 4x USB3 & 1x IEEE 1394a
8-channel HD Audio with S/PDIF out
DVD+/-RW Combo Drive with Nero Software
Super Quiet ATX Mid Tower & 750W Power Supply
Logitech Keyboard and Optical Mouse
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
The question is, what are the performance gains between an i5 & i7? I see most of you guys are rocking OC'd i5 2500k's.
What changes would you make to the above?
0
GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
edited May 2012
If the software package you are running can't make use of hyperthreading, the i7 buys you nothing but higher stock clock speeds. What application is it?
Ignore the prices, these were all bought months ago.
So, if you were going to put $50 or more into this machine, how would you go about it? I know a CPU cooler would be nice, but the video card would be the bottleneck for anything I can imagine doing with the computer anyway, and the motherboard probably isn't a great one for high overclocks. I've never used a second monitor, but lots of people find that very useful. A second video card would likely be overkill for a while (not sure what I'm going to be playing after Diablo 3... if anything) and again the motherboard would limit the effectiveness of that plan.
What would you do?
Having just upgraded to a 27" monitor from a 23" monitor... I would use it to get a bigger monitor.
Just pulled the trigger on my build, sans fans (the GELIDs keep going in and out of stock) and sans video card, since I'm either going to grab the MSI 7870 HAWK, a more differenter 7-series if the prices drop next week like the rumors say, or a magic NVIDIA card that I don't know about yet. Just needed to pony up and get this started or else I was going to lose my nerve.
More thanks to come when the build is complete, but thanks team. You know why.
0
GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
Very seriously considering pulling the trigger on the 256GB Crucial M4...Newegg is sold out, but Tiger Direct still has some at 209.99 :P Thinking about making it a Steam drive.
Got mutiple deliveries of goodies today. http://incindium.padev.net/parts1.jpg
To bad the one part I'm missing now is the motherboard. If I'm lucky it might come tomorrow although it's scheduled for Monday.
The Fractal Design Arc Midi is a really sweet case. It looks like its going to make it a breeze putting this build together.
Edit:
It looked fine on my iPad in spoiler tag. But I changed to just a link cause I have a soft spot for kittens.
Incindium on
Nintendo ID: Incindium
PSN: IncindiumX
0
Just_Bri_ThanksSeething with ragefrom a handbasket.Registered User, ClubPAregular
If you put a picture in a spoiler tag it breaks the auto-resizing.
Also, god kills a kitten.
...and when you are done with that; take a folding
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
A couple questions: The motherboard has few reviews because its a Z77, I gathered. Should I still be concerned?
Also, PSU- I know nothing about these. Voltage calculator for other components suggests I'm looking at around 400w, but I don't really know what that means in relation to what I should buy.
This build is ~$1070 (shipping included) with $75 in mail-in rebates; are rebates at newegg generally kosher? Or is that more manufacturer-dependent?
Rebates are manufacturer-dependent. They usually contract through a third party who may or may not have their shit together. Newegg has no part in the thing other than to tell you it exists.
A monitor being included does alter the complexion of things. With no intent to OC, and given that you don't care about multi GPU setups, I'd go with something like this. Partly because it gets you closer to your budget, and partly because I simply don't trust Biostar. The PSU is solid. Not great, but good enough, it's modular, and the free ODD is nice. You can also save about $25 after shipping if you go with the HAF 912. It's not a looker, but it's probably go the best case/price ratio around.
Awesome advice. I'd prefer the Corsair case for the usb 3.0 on the front, personally. I'll see what else I can swing on the monitor front, though color-correctness is mandatory. If I drop to one 8GB stick of RAM I can probably keep the 2500K, though that would also mean adding a CPU cooler. I'd much rather be adding on RAM piece by piece than swapping out heftier components. Would the Asrock mobo still be good for the 2500k?
Hey guys. I took Alecthar's advice and went with the asrock mobo and i5-2300. I've breadboarded the thing and everything appears to be running smoothly, all fans going nicely. Question: my understanding of monitor connections is that VGA is older and analog and DVI-D is newer and all-digital. My monitor came with both sets of cables, and I don't know what to plug in- one or both?
Still stalling on GPU choices between 7850 and 560 Ti. From what I've been reading as long as it's an EVGA 560 it's pretty much red vs green, I have no brand loyalty or preference so is it that simple?
Also if I was to switch up to a 7870 what would be the nvidia equivalent?
So my motherboard came in the mail today and I've been working on my build. Got it installed with the 3770k and the Hyper Evo 212 cooler and a set of my Samsung RAM. System powered up first try and everything looks ok in Bios other than needing to set the minimum CPU fan speed lower so it wouldn't alarm. Idle CPU temp is 26-28C... Installed the SSD. Now going to install the DVD so I can start installing Windows.
I figure I'll install the 560ti and the other 8megs of Ram later after I have Windows running.
Still stalling on GPU choices between 7850 and 560 Ti. From what I've been reading as long as it's an EVGA 560 it's pretty much red vs green, I have no brand loyalty or preference so is it that simple?
Also if I was to switch up to a 7870 what would be the nvidia equivalent?
I'm getting an Intel i2500k and I'm going to get 8-16 gigs of RAM. I was wondering what Motherboard I should get and why. I have never gotten around to over clocking and such. Don't really care to. But I want tons of RAM and a good board. Also, one that fits in my case.
If you have no interest in overclocking, why are you getting an unlocked processor (that's what the "k" signifies). With the 2500k, you are paying extra for overclocking ability.
Holy crap, I just finished wrestling my new TY-140s onto my NH-D14 (which is extremely annoying because the bezel of the TY-140s is almost too thick for Noctua's mounting clips) but damn if this computer isn't way quieter while also getting lower temps. Also just nice to be able to control my cpu fans from the motherboard.
Edit: Also I have the ugliest fans in history, 2x TY-140 on the heatsink and 3 NF-P14s in the case. I love it.
There are upgrade versions of win7 that cost less than the normal version, but I am not 100% sure you can install a 64bit upgrade copy over a 32bit install?
Even if you can't you could still snag one and just do the install windows then reinstall as an upgrade thing, since you'd be upgrading from a previous version of windows that should be legit within the windows TOS.
If you can get the same price from frys as you can from amazon I don't see why it'd be a bad idea to get stuff from there.
7870 may be overkill if you want to stay at 1680x1050, but it'll definitely last ya for a long time at that res.
I'm not very familiar with lower res panels anymore, I figure pick one in a size you like and it'll be fine if you don't want crazy resolutions out of it.
For a single card and a 2500k you can drop your PSU down to something in the 450-500watt range and be just fine as well. Antec neo eco 520 is a solid pick for that kinda build
The only thing going in Amazon's favor is they dont charge tax (Im not sure what their return policy is for electronic goods, but theyre pretty good about other things).
Just_Bri_ThanksSeething with ragefrom a handbasket.Registered User, ClubPAregular
Having been out of the nuts and bolts of the changes in hardware for years, I find myself in a quandary for choosing a new mobo.
My biggest questions are really about that dual video card setup that many people use. I have a Dell E248WFP as my primary monitor and an LG L1720P as a secondary, currently running off of both ports in a GeForce GTX 550 Ti.
I plan to eventually replace the LG, as it has developed a yellow line down the left side about an inch out. That is really low priority for me though, as it only really ever displays a web browser while I have games going on the Dell. Once I do replace it though, the Dell may very well become my secondary and some new and possibly larger monitor will be primary.
Once I replace the mobo (and proc) I would like to run on my current hardware and perhaps add to it to reduce demand on my current card (and also to make my rig more awesome), if such a thing works the way it does in my head. This is totally not a sure thing though.
Does anyone have any advice on a purchase for me? I would like to commit to the new mobo in the next month.
...and when you are done with that; take a folding
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
I'd see if you can get a price match from newegg rather than amazon. Almost all components that I check from both sites newegg has the same price or cheaper
I've had bad experiences with Amazon. I mean, sure they have a decent return policy BUT both cards I've bought from them haven't lasted more than 6 months.
I just got that same motherboard from Amazon delivered today. Fwiw I ordered my build from 5 different vendors on Tues. night all using the free shipping option if it was available. Buy.com delivered my PSU on Thurs. Tigerdirect(i7 proc), and Microcenter(RAM) and Newegg(everything else except MB) delivered on Fri. Amazon got me my MB today in the mail.
Ordering online will save you a bit with sales tax on top of better prices. The downside is its a pain if you get a faulty component.
Nintendo ID: Incindium
PSN: IncindiumX
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Just_Bri_ThanksSeething with ragefrom a handbasket.Registered User, ClubPAregular
Don't forget better selection. Most stores that stock parts don't have many choices. The Internet has them all.
...and when you are done with that; take a folding
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
0
PunkBoyThank you! And thank you again!Registered Userregular
edited May 2012
Well, it's time I come back to this thread and ask for help on an upgrade! Right now I'm hoping for a better graphics card to run games at high/ultra, but maybe I need to overhaul everything. I would preferably like to change as little as possible but if I have to, I'll do it.
Case: Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply Processor: AMD Phenom II X2 545 Callisto 3.0GHz Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Processor HDX545WFGIBOX Graphics Card: Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard DVD Drive: LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model GH22LS30 LightScribe Support - OEM Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive -Bare Drive RAM: OCZ Blade Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model OCZ2B800C54GK
As for price, I'm not sure what's considered high/low for upgrading...so let's say <$500 for now.
EDIT: Oh dur, PSU. Let's see if I can find that.
PSU: EA-500 500W PSU...I think. It's built in with the case.
PunkBoy on
Steam ID:
The Linecutters Podcast: Your weekly dose of nerd! Tune in for the live broadcast every Wednesday at 7 PM EST, only at www.non-productive.com!
You don't have your PSU there and it may impact what kind of cards you can slot but if I were wanting to squeeze some more life out of that setup I'd probably upgrade to something like a PhenomIIX4 and a 7870. $100-$120 new, depending on which one you get.
Processor upgrade because the older dual cores can end up being the bottleneck depending on what you're playing, and PIIX4s aren't too expensive anymore. $350 or so.
GPU should be plenty for anything out now at 1200p or lower resolutions.
Totals up to a little under $500. You could definitely just grab the GPU and see if your performance is still hampered before deciding to pull the trigger on more CPU, but I can tell you already that some games will in fact be bottlenecked on that dualcore
Day of the Bear on
0
PunkBoyThank you! And thank you again!Registered Userregular
edited May 2012
Hm, looking at the price of the CPU, they don't seem that bad, so I may as well get both. Dunno why there's like, 3 different ones at the top of the page when searching, though. Shouldn't they be the same?
PunkBoy on
Steam ID:
The Linecutters Podcast: Your weekly dose of nerd! Tune in for the live broadcast every Wednesday at 7 PM EST, only at www.non-productive.com!
Hm, looking at the price of the CPU, they don't seem that bad, so I may as well get both. Dunno why there's like, 3 different ones at the top of the page when searching, though. Shouldn't they be the same?
2 of the 3 on Newegg are the same chip, but the more expensive one comes with a fan/heatsink. The 610e is a low energy chip I believe.
Posts
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($169.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z68-V LX ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($109.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Patriot Gamer 2 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Microcenter)
Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Crucial RealSSD C300 64GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 6870 1GB Video Card ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($52.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair 650W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222AB DVD/CD Writer
Monitor: Acer S231HLbid 23.0" Monitor ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1002.91
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-05-04 16:18 EDT-0400)
Ignore the prices, these were all bought months ago.
So, if you were going to put $50 or more into this machine, how would you go about it? I know a CPU cooler would be nice, but the video card would be the bottleneck for anything I can imagine doing with the computer anyway, and the motherboard probably isn't a great one for high overclocks. I've never used a second monitor, but lots of people find that very useful. A second video card would likely be overkill for a while (not sure what I'm going to be playing after Diablo 3... if anything) and again the motherboard would limit the effectiveness of that plan.
What would you do?
Id spend it on a better motherboard since the LX boards are a total pain in the ass to overclock on. Id go with the Asus P8Z68-v or whatever the AsRock equivalent is.
Man, if I had known about that two days ago...
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition i7-3960X 3.3GHz 15MB LGA2011 CPU
ASUS P9 Series LGA2011 motherboard
24GB DDR3-1600Mhz Memory (up to 32GB)
600 GB/10KRPM/32MCache SATA Hard Drive
1TB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive for Storage
Nvidia Quadro 2000 1GB PCI-EXP with Dual Monitor Support
(Driver certified for AutoCAD)
Gigabit Network & 8x USB 2 & 4x USB3 & 1x IEEE 1394a
8-channel HD Audio with S/PDIF out
DVD+/-RW Combo Drive with Nero Software
Super Quiet ATX Mid Tower & 750W Power Supply
Logitech Keyboard and Optical Mouse
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
The question is, what are the performance gains between an i5 & i7? I see most of you guys are rocking OC'd i5 2500k's.
What changes would you make to the above?
Autodesk Navisworks Manage
Autodesk Quantity Take Off
Yes they do use hyperthreading when rendering video.
More thanks to come when the build is complete, but thanks team. You know why.
You know you wanna
ASUS P8Z77-V LK LGA 1155 Intel Z77
Intel Core i7-3770 Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz
2 x G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL9D-8GBSR
SAMSUNG 830 Series MZ-7PC128D/AM 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) Desktop Upgrade Kit
Rosewill HIVE Series HIVE-750 750W Power Supply
Rosewill BLACKHAWK Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Now I'm just waiting for 680s to be stocked so I can complete my build. Until then, I think I can manage with integrated graphics.
Streaming 8PST on weeknights
http://incindium.padev.net/parts1.jpg
To bad the one part I'm missing now is the motherboard. If I'm lucky it might come tomorrow although it's scheduled for Monday.
The Fractal Design Arc Midi is a really sweet case. It looks like its going to make it a breeze putting this build together.
Edit:
It looked fine on my iPad in spoiler tag. But I changed to just a link cause I have a soft spot for kittens.
Nintendo ID: Incindium
PSN: IncindiumX
Also, god kills a kitten.
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
Hey guys. I took Alecthar's advice and went with the asrock mobo and i5-2300. I've breadboarded the thing and everything appears to be running smoothly, all fans going nicely. Question: my understanding of monitor connections is that VGA is older and analog and DVI-D is newer and all-digital. My monitor came with both sets of cables, and I don't know what to plug in- one or both?
3DS: 0447-9966-6178
Also if I was to switch up to a 7870 what would be the nvidia equivalent?
I figure I'll install the 560ti and the other 8megs of Ram later after I have Windows running.
Nintendo ID: Incindium
PSN: IncindiumX
gtx 570 and 7870 are close, 7870 has a slight edge:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/548?vs=518
So I have this case: http://www.corsair.com/pc-cases/graphite-series-pc-case/special-edition-white-graphite-series-600t-mid-tower-case.html
I'm getting an Intel i2500k and I'm going to get 8-16 gigs of RAM. I was wondering what Motherboard I should get and why. I have never gotten around to over clocking and such. Don't really care to. But I want tons of RAM and a good board. Also, one that fits in my case.
Edit: Also I have the ugliest fans in history, 2x TY-140 on the heatsink and 3 NF-P14s in the case. I love it.
At the moment my parts list has me spending 70 quid on an OEM version because my current stuff is 32.
Even if you can't you could still snag one and just do the install windows then reinstall as an upgrade thing, since you'd be upgrading from a previous version of windows that should be legit within the windows TOS.
Fry's price matches and they're down the street in case I get a bad board/memory/card.
Also I thinking of going with the Asus P8Z77V Pro and a HD 7870 to go with my i5-2500k.
Good idea, bad idea?
Anyone got an recommends for a monitor? I don't play at huge resolutions so 1680 x 1050 native would be perfect.
Also need a optical drive.
Oh and Windows 7 OEM or Retail? I'm worried if the motherboard goes bad I'm SOL.
Any help would be awesome.
Other parts of build:
120 GB Intel SSD
Corsair 650 Watt Power Supply
Corsair 600T
7870 may be overkill if you want to stay at 1680x1050, but it'll definitely last ya for a long time at that res.
I'm not very familiar with lower res panels anymore, I figure pick one in a size you like and it'll be fine if you don't want crazy resolutions out of it.
For a single card and a 2500k you can drop your PSU down to something in the 450-500watt range and be just fine as well. Antec neo eco 520 is a solid pick for that kinda build
Processor 7.7
Graphics 5.9 6.5
Gaming Graphics 5.4 6.5
My Samsung 830 SSD gave
Primary Hard Drive 7.9
The stock Samsung 30nm low voltage RAM gave
Memory 7.7
Edit: Was wondering about the graphics scores so I ran it again and the results were more in line. Not sure what the deal with the first run was.
Nintendo ID: Incindium
PSN: IncindiumX
My biggest questions are really about that dual video card setup that many people use. I have a Dell E248WFP as my primary monitor and an LG L1720P as a secondary, currently running off of both ports in a GeForce GTX 550 Ti.
I plan to eventually replace the LG, as it has developed a yellow line down the left side about an inch out. That is really low priority for me though, as it only really ever displays a web browser while I have games going on the Dell. Once I do replace it though, the Dell may very well become my secondary and some new and possibly larger monitor will be primary.
Once I replace the mobo (and proc) I would like to run on my current hardware and perhaps add to it to reduce demand on my current card (and also to make my rig more awesome), if such a thing works the way it does in my head. This is totally not a sure thing though.
Does anyone have any advice on a purchase for me? I would like to commit to the new mobo in the next month.
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
Ordering online will save you a bit with sales tax on top of better prices. The downside is its a pain if you get a faulty component.
Nintendo ID: Incindium
PSN: IncindiumX
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
Case: Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply
Processor: AMD Phenom II X2 545 Callisto 3.0GHz Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Processor HDX545WFGIBOX
Graphics Card: Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard
DVD Drive: LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model GH22LS30 LightScribe Support - OEM
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive -Bare Drive
RAM: OCZ Blade Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model OCZ2B800C54GK
As for price, I'm not sure what's considered high/low for upgrading...so let's say <$500 for now.
EDIT: Oh dur, PSU. Let's see if I can find that.
PSU: EA-500 500W PSU...I think. It's built in with the case.
Processor upgrade because the older dual cores can end up being the bottleneck depending on what you're playing, and PIIX4s aren't too expensive anymore. $350 or so.
GPU should be plenty for anything out now at 1200p or lower resolutions.
Totals up to a little under $500. You could definitely just grab the GPU and see if your performance is still hampered before deciding to pull the trigger on more CPU, but I can tell you already that some games will in fact be bottlenecked on that dualcore
2 of the 3 on Newegg are the same chip, but the more expensive one comes with a fan/heatsink. The 610e is a low energy chip I believe.