Building Computer, any additional advice?

[pbf98]

Case: Nzxt Phantom

MOBO: Undecided

Processor: Undecided .. deciding which i7 to go with

RAM: G.Skills RipJaws 8Gb (2x 4) DDR3 1600

Video Card: EVGA 01G-P3-1556-KR GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) (1Gb DDR5)

HD: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 7200 RPM 6.0Gb/s

DVD: LG Black 12x Super Multi Blue

Power Supply: Corsair 800w

I already have a heatsink .. the Cooler Master V6 brand new in box so I don't think i'd need one of them
I am also debating SSD .. my new computer at work has one for the OS and a couple programs, and I love it! but I'm just not sure if it will be worth the extra $$ for a fast start up

The main use will be every day internet browsing, music recording and processing, and a little gaming on the side.
I want the ability to have SLI down the line if I decide I would like it.

Any suggestions on a MOBO or Processor, I'd prefer the Mother Board to be under 200.. I don't need an over the top one, just one that will serve my purpose, and maybe later be able to add a Sound blaster sound card.. If you have a suggestion on the processor, the price is expected to be higher being I'm looking at i7s.

So what do you think of what I have so far?

 

[NYCHitman1]

I think you should go with one of the 448 cores GTX 560's.

This one: Newegg.com - MSI N560GTX-Ti 448 Twin Frozr III PE/OC GeForce GTX 560 Ti - 448 Cores (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

As for SSD, you could always just get a small 60 gig for OS - it is definitely worth it for the performance bonuses.

SSD: Newegg.com - Corsair Force Series 3 CSSD-F60GB3A-BK 2.5" 60GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) or Newegg.com - OCZ Agility 3 AGT3-25SAT3-60G 2.5" 60GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

 

[pbf98]

Heck an extra 100 isn't bad for 60Gb.. someone was trying to tell me that I should get a 512Gb SSD .. So I think that will be a yes to add to the setup

What sets that card above the I listed, I do notice it has a little extra memory and a higher memory-interface, but I'm not 100% sure the memory interface is

Thank you

 

[NYCHitman1]

It's a PCI Express 2.0 x16 MemI. These are the new and improved GTX 560's that perform almost as good as GTX 580's without the high price tag. One of our fellow guides here has one and he can attest to it's awesomeness.

 

[pbf98]

Alright thank you for your contribution of knowledge I'm going to be ordering some of the for sure parts today after work, like the case, memory, HD SSD

 

[NYCHitman1]

Alright thank you for your contribution of knowledge I'm going to be ordering some of the for sure parts today after work, like the case, memory, HD SSD

Great choice on the RAM, btw. I have the same exact set and love it. Just out of curiosity - Why are you looking at the ivy bridge CPUs?

 

[pbf98]

lol not quite sure what ivy bridge is, I haven't pieced together a PC in years haha, assuming it is in relatence with the i7s, I'd like a processor that will be still be decent standing in a couple years, my last computer I built had a Intel Pent IV 3 GHz single core, and it lasted and kept up with the gaming I did back then. All the i7s i have been looking at are sandy-bridge .. since I just googled ivy-bridge haha

But I am always open to suggestions, I haven't made any final decisions as far as processor or mother board goes.. quite frankly I'm not up to par on mobos

Now that I have also done a little more looking I am left with another question..
I had the understanding that the mother board is what decided what type of ram you could have ie DDR3 1600 .. and in doing a compare on processors there was spot that listed different RAM types called: Integrated Memory Controller Speed, and of the 5 I had chosen to compare, only one of them listed 1600.. and it was the odd one out of the socket, I was looking for an LGA 1155, but this one brought up a LGA 2011
can someone shed light on this for me?
Thanks

 

[NYCHitman1]

lol not quite sure what ivy bridge is, I haven't pieced together a PC in years haha, assuming it is in relatence with the i7s, I'd like a processor that will be still be decent standing in a couple years, my last computer I built had a Intel Pent IV 3 GHz single core, and it lasted and kept up with the gaming I did back then. All the i7s i have been looking at are sandy-bridge .. since I just googled ivy-bridge haha

But I am always open to suggestions, I haven't made any final decisions as far as processor or mother board goes.. quite frankly I'm not up to par on mobos

Now that I have also done a little more looking I am left with another question..
I had the understanding that the mother board is what decided what type of ram you could have ie DDR3 1600 .. and in doing a compare on processors there was spot that listed different RAM types called: Integrated Memory Controller Speed, and of the 5 I had chosen to compare, only one of them listed 1600.. and it was the odd one out of the socket, I was looking for an LGA 1155, but this one brought up a LGA 2011
can someone shed light on this for me?
Thanks

LGA xxxx refers to the CPU socket type. That's basically how you will select your mobo. If I'm not mistaken, the 3rd gen Sandy Bridge chips use socket LGA 2011. I'm gonna assume that you accidentally wrote i7s by accident. (I meant to say 3rd-gen Sandy Bridge previously, not Ivy Bridge - sorry for the confusion).

CPU: Newegg.com - Intel Core i7-2700K Sandy Bridge 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623i72700K
Mobo: Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3P LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

1600 refers to the memory standard on the RAM port.

 

[pbf98]

Ironically that is the i7 I had just started looking into now.
Additionally I had picked out 6 mother boards to look at last week, and that is one of them as well, and that is why I was looking for the LGA 1155 socket and not the 2011, since all the mobos i had chosen had the 1155.
I also think I read into my question a little more and discovered that the RAM will still work, just not at its clock speed if the processors Integrated Memory Controller Speed is lower..
So it looks as if I have a completed computer.
Thanks again, I think I will be going with the suggested video card as well.

subtotal 1668.88
including a monitor 23 LED Backlit HD

 

[NYCHitman1]

Ironically that is the i7 I had just started looking into now.
Additionally I had picked out 6 mother boards to look at last week, and that is one of them as well, and that is why I was looking for the LGA 1155 socket and not the 2011, since all the mobos i had chosen had the 1155.
I also think I read into my question a little more and discovered that the RAM will still work, just not at its clock speed if the processors Integrated Memory Controller Speed is lower..
So it looks as if I have a completed computer.
Thanks again, I think I will be going with the suggested video card as well.

subtotal 1668.88
including a monitor 23 LED Backlit HD

You should try out the modular PSU also. I have the Corsair 850w enthusiast series. Allows better airflow due to better cable management.

 

[pbf98]

I do like better cable management, I cannot stand messiness from cables .. and from the looks, its only about another 50$, and it does look nicer too

 

[johnlgalt]

I'm the one that has almost that card lol - I actually went with this card instead, since eVGA has given me perfect service after the sale (no other company can say that yet): Newegg.com - EVGA 012-P3-2068-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 448 Cores Classified 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card (It's out of stock right now, and it seems it is still priced higher than the MSI card, for whatever reason, everywhere I looked).

That card is basically a crippled 580 (the same way that the 580 GPU is used to make the 570 by disabling a core set, the 580 GPU is made into this 560 448 Core by disabling more than one core set - but it's still a beast of a GPU. A serious beast. I now need ot verify just how much of a beast it is with a true Dx11 game, but I'm hung up on non DX11 games right now lol...ME3, Skyrim, NFS: Shift 2: Unleashed, .... etc.

Hitman's right - I got an 80 GB Intel X25-M gen2 SSD for system, and it screams. I also have an older i7 mated with a relatively newer LGA1366 motherboard, but it screams right along....my 965 EE is still a beast in its own right, and it actually supports triple channel memory, so my 12 GB of RAM are having a blast.

Full specs:

System Manufacturer/Model Number
The Beast Model V
OS
Windows 7 Enterprise x64 SP1 | Windows 8 build 7989
CPU
Core i7 965 EE @3.6 GHz
Motherboard
eVGA x58 Classified3
Memory
3 * 4GB Mushkin Enh Redline CL7 DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3-12800)
Graphics Card(s)
eVGA 560 Ti 448 Core Calssified + eVGA GTX260 SSC (PhysX)
Sound Card
Realtek HD Audio (onboard)
Monitor(s) Displays
2 * Acer X213Wbd
Screen Resolution
2 * 1680 x 1050
Hard Drives
1 * Intel X-25M G2 80 GB SSD Sata II |
2 * Seagate 1 TB 32MB Cache 7200.12 SATA II
PSU
ThermalTake BlackWidow TX TR2 850 W
Case
ThermalTake Level 10 GT (Black)
Cooling
Corsair H100 CPU | 2 * TT 140mm TriLED | 2 * Antec TriCool
Keyboard
Logitech G15 Keyboard
Mouse
Logitech MX Revolution '06
Internet Speed
Cable - 15Mbit down / 5 Mbit up advertised (30 / 6 act.)
Other Info
Wacom Bamboo Touch |
Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1850 |
Optimus STAV-3400 AV Receiver |
Bose 301 Series III Speakers (Main channel) |
Bose 161 Speakers (Surround) |
Optimus 3 way 100-W speaker (Center) |
Logitech Clearchat PC Wireless Headset
Microsoft LifeCam Studio

Pics: https://picasaweb.google.com/111546607566425652004/TheBeastV?authuser=0&feat=directlink

I'd love to be able to upgrade again (adding a second 560 in SLI would be neat, but throwing a 680 up and making the 560 a PhysX would be ....flabbergasting lol

My next rig will probably be a couple of years down the road, I might upgrade this one piecemeal since it works so well already, but for now, I'm extremely happy with it - and at the end of the day, it's what you want and can afford that makes the difference.

 

[pbf98]

well I know things that I want and when it comes to other pieces of the puzzle, I am unsure, my knowledge isn't the best any more now that I am a programmer and the helpdesk builds my computers for me.
So I like asking for help deciding, with all the extras that have been added I can afford to order it and have it overnight, but I will be just ordering it in smaller parts at a time so it is even easier to afford with other things I am paying for at the moment haha.

But I am very excited to actually be going through with making one, now all I have is a mediocre HP that is shared by the family and it doesn't run my music software the greatest.

Thanks for all the input

 

[NYCHitman1]

Full specs:

System Manufacturer/Model Number
The Beast Model V
OS
Windows 7 Enterprise x64 SP1 | Windows 8 build 7989
CPU
Core i7 965 EE @3.6 GHz
Motherboard
eVGA x58 Classified3
Memory
3 * 4GB Mushkin Enh Redline CL7 DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3-12800)
Graphics Card(s)
eVGA 560 Ti 448 Core Calssified + eVGA GTX260 SSC (PhysX)
Sound Card
Realtek HD Audio (onboard)
Monitor(s) Displays
2 * Acer X213Wbd
Screen Resolution
2 * 1680 x 1050
Hard Drives
1 * Intel X-25M G2 80 GB SSD Sata II |
2 * Seagate 1 TB 32MB Cache 7200.12 SATA II
PSU
ThermalTake BlackWidow TX TR2 850 W
Case
ThermalTake Level 10 GT (Black)
Cooling
Corsair H100 CPU | 2 * TT 140mm TriLED | 2 * Antec TriCool
Keyboard
Logitech G15 Keyboard
Mouse
Logitech MX Revolution '06
Internet Speed
Cable - 15Mbit down / 5 Mbit up advertised (30 / 6 act.)
Other Info
Wacom Bamboo Touch |
Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1850 |
Optimus STAV-3400 AV Receiver |
Bose 301 Series III Speakers (Main channel) |
Bose 161 Speakers (Surround) |
Optimus 3 way 100-W speaker (Center) |
Logitech Clearchat PC Wireless Headset
Microsoft LifeCam Studio

System Manufacturer/Model Number
The Assassin: Mark IV
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
CPU
Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.3GHz
Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3
Memory
2 * 4GB G.SKILL Sniper DDR3 1600 MHz
Graphics Card(s)
eVGA GTX 580 Superclocked - Arkham City SE
Sound Card
Realtek HD Audio (onboard)
Monitor(s) Displays
(TV) 46" Panasonic Viera @ 1080p
Hard Drives
Seagate Barracuda 1 TB 32MB Cache 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s
Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex 2 TB 32MB Cache (external)
PSU
CORSAIR Professional Series HX850W
Case
Corsair Graphite 600T-SE (white)
Cooling
Corsair H100 CPU | 3 * Xigmatek 140mm Crystal Series
Keyboard and Mouse
Logitech MK550 Wave Combo
Internet Speed
Cable - 20Mbit down / 5 Mbit up

Looks like we've got ourselves some similar specs!

 

[mplevy]

For what it's worth, LGA2011 is the new Intel socket, it will likely be more upgradeable in the future. LGA2011 is what is needed for IvyBridge, SandyBridge uses LGA1155.

I recently did a MB and SSD upgrade on my system, going from a SATA-II WD Black drive to a SATA-III OCZ Vertex 3 SSD (MB upgraded to add SATA-III support) for my OS. Absolutely amazing difference. I play MW3, I no longer wonder if I'll have a quick map load time or a slow one, it's consistent every time. Also, the Windows splash screen sometimes doesn't finish coming together before I'm at the login screen. I went with a 120 GB drive, one of the guys I game with got the 60 GB version and regretted not getting the larger drive. If you want any number of apps or games on the system drive (SSD), get one as big as you can afford. Windows 7 knows how to configure itself for the SSD, except for the swap file (which I have turned off completely and have zero issues even with 8 GB of memory), I suggest either turning it off as I did or move it to a spinning drive. I also moved all my user files to a spinning drive, basically leaving the OS and selected games on the SSD, stuff that doesn't change often.

To put a game on the SSD, specifically Steam games, here's what I did.
Install Steam to the spinning drive, in my case it was my old OS drive that I never formatted.
Install game from Steam (in my case I just had to verify the files since the folder was intact)
Move the game folder from the Steam directory to a Games directory on the SSD (this games folder can even be the root folder). If you MOVE it, that top level folder for that game is no longer in your \SteamApps\Common directory
Set up a symbolic link to point a folder named for that game to the location it was moved to on the SSD

Steam Users' Forums - View Single Post - SSD Split SteamApps
is a GREAT post regarding what I'm describing above. That poster changed the default Libraries location in Windows 7, I actually edited the registry (be VERY careful doing so) to actually change where the entire profile is located.

Since people are sharing, here's my rig:
Asus Sabertooth 990FX (was the Crosshair III Formula previously)
AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE
Coolermaster Hyper 212+ HSF
4x2GB OCZ Black memory
2x 1 TB WD Black HDD
1x 2TB WD Black HDD
1x 120 GB OCZ Vertex 3 SSD
EVGA gEforce GTX470
Thermaltake 850w modular PSU
Coolermaster Cosmos case

I think my case and video card are next to be upgraded. I like the case but the airflow could be better and there's no mounting options for the SSD or USB 3.0 on the front panel. I might upgrade the CPU eventually, but I have lots of time for AMD to get things sorted out, the new MB takes AM3 and AM3+ CPUs so my AM3 CPU dropped right in but I still have an upgrade path (have to admit, AMD does SOMETHING right compared to Intel's new incompatible socket every 12-18 months)

 

[johnlgalt]

For what it's worth, LGA2011 is the new Intel socket, it will likely be more upgradeable in the future. LGA2011 is what is needed for IvyBridge, SandyBridge uses LGA1155.

I recently did a MB and SSD upgrade on my system, going from a SATA-II WD Black drive to a SATA-III OCZ Vertex 3 SSD (MB upgraded to add SATA-III support) for my OS. Absolutely amazing difference. I play MW3, I no longer wonder if I'll have a quick map load time or a slow one, it's consistent every time. Also, the Windows splash screen sometimes doesn't finish coming together before I'm at the login screen. I went with a 120 GB drive, one of the guys I game with got the 60 GB version and regretted not getting the larger drive. If you want any number of apps or games on the system drive (SSD), get one as big as you can afford. Windows 7 knows how to configure itself for the SSD, except for the swap file (which I have turned off completely and have zero issues even with 8 GB of memory), I suggest either turning it off as I did or move it to a spinning drive. I also moved all my user files to a spinning drive, basically leaving the OS and selected games on the SSD, stuff that doesn't change often.

To put a game on the SSD, specifically Steam games, here's what I did.
Install Steam to the spinning drive, in my case it was my old OS drive that I never formatted.
Install game from Steam (in my case I just had to verify the files since the folder was intact)
Move the game folder from the Steam directory to a Games directory on the SSD (this games folder can even be the root folder). If you MOVE it, that top level folder for that game is no longer in your \SteamApps\Common directory
Set up a symbolic link to point a folder named for that game to the location it was moved to on the SSD

Steam Users' Forums - View Single Post - SSD Split SteamApps
is a GREAT post regarding what I'm describing above. That poster changed the default Libraries location in Windows 7, I actually edited the registry (be VERY careful doing so) to actually change where the entire profile is located.

Since people are sharing, here's my rig:
Asus Sabertooth 990FX (was the Crosshair III Formula previously)
AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE
Coolermaster Hyper 212+ HSF
4x2GB OCZ Black memory
2x 1 TB WD Black HDD
1x 2TB WD Black HDD
1x 120 GB OCZ Vertex 3 SSD
EVGA gEforce GTX470
Thermaltake 850w modular PSU
Coolermaster Cosmos case

I think my case and video card are next to be upgraded. I like the case but the airflow could be better and there's no mounting options for the SSD or USB 3.0 on the front panel. I might upgrade the CPU eventually, but I have lots of time for AMD to get things sorted out, the new MB takes AM3 and AM3+ CPUs so my AM3 CPU dropped right in but I still have an upgrade path (have to admit, AMD does SOMETHING right compared to Intel's new incompatible socket every 12-18 months)

Actually, LGA2011 supports Sandy Bridge E-series as well, So you can opt for a slightly cheaper CPU now and upgrade the CPU later on. Ivy Bridge will be backwards compatible with Sandy Bridge.

Currently, The only Ivy Bridge processors slated to come out are actually all LGA1155 socket processors. Knowing Intel, however, I wouldn't be surprised to see a high end LGA2011 processor around Q3. See About Sandy Bridge to Ivy bridge and the link to the Wiki in that post.

Great post regarding the Steam game moving. I used a similar post for Origina (EA DM) games, but it's easier, actually.

1. With Origin, close the origin client.
2. Copy / Move (I suggest copy just in case it does not work out right the first time - I had no issues with this procedure, but YMMV) the entire game folder contents to where you'd like to have it installed (C:\Program Files\Origin Games\{Game name} or C:\Program Files (X86)\Origin Games\{Game name}.
3. Open the Origin client, then go into settings and change the game installation location to C:\Program Files\Origin Games\ or C:\Program Files (X86)\Origin Games\, depending upon above.
4. Close the client, then reopen it.
5. Click on install game in your games directory - it should take a minute o two and then figure out that it is installed, and you're up and running.

The advantage here is that you don't need to worry about broken symlinks, should they accidentally be deleted / messed up. The disadvantage is that obviously, all future games will try to install to that same location.

I'm working on a way to have only a single game installed to one location different from the default location set in Origin. I think it can be achieved without symlinks, but not 100% sure yet - and I spend too much time playing ME3 to really research it

For making symlinks and the like on Windows, there is a great Explorer-shell utility called Link Shell Extension - makes for a much easier transition when making symlinks, junctions, etc. I highly recommend that you read the entire page if you're unfamiliar with symlinks, junctions, and the like, and it can get over your head pretty easily, but with LSE you'll be able to do it much easier than using the CL, if you're not a CL junkie like I am.

 

[pbf98]

Ok, I have been looking at motherboards again, I am unsure what to get, I have been reading reviews, and almost all of the most recent ones (within a month) for: Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3P LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
have been having boot loop problems.

I want a mobo that I know is going to work, and not be half the price of the total system.

 

[NYCHitman1]

Ok, I have been looking at motherboards again, I am unsure what to get, I have been reading reviews, and almost all of the most recent ones (within a month) for: Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3P LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
have been having boot loop problems.

I want a mobo that I know is going to work, and not be half the price of the total system.

I have the Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard and it's been working great for me.

 

[pbf98]

Alright yet another run in... After talking with a co-worker thats on the help desk, I have found a mobo: Newegg.com - EVGA P67 FTW 160-SB-E679-K2 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Extended ATX Intel Motherboard

It's memory standard is DDR3 2133+
The ram I ordered already and have is DDR3 1600
will the ram I have work or will I need to get a set of new sticks?

 

[NYCHitman1]

Alright yet another run in... After talking with a co-worker thats on the help desk, I have found a mobo: Newegg.com - EVGA P67 FTW 160-SB-E679-K2 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Extended ATX Intel Motherboard

It's memory standard is DDR3 2133+
The ram I ordered already and have is DDR3 1600
will the ram I have work or will I need to get a set of new sticks?

It should run fine since the clocks are set at 800/1066/1333/1600/1866/2133Mhz+ on that specific mobo.

 

[pbf98]

Alright thanks, just worried cause I couldn't find anything other than the 2133+
so thanks again ..

My tower and ram arrived yesterday haha psu and blueray writer comes arrives next week haha

 

[pbf98]

Ok I have been thinking again...
Whats your opinion on ASRock MOBOs?
I am thinking about going with a 2011 socket instead of the 1155 and the ASRock mobo has the better ratings, but I have never really heard of them until recently

Newegg.com - ASRock X79 Extreme6 LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

thats the one I am looking at currently

And my PSU and bluray reader/writer came yesterday. The PSU looks so nice, and cable management will be so much easier since I took your advice and went with the modular 850.

 

[mplevy]

I've always considered ASRock to be an off-brand, but they really seem to have been making a good name for themselves recently. Don't get me wrong, they're no Asus, Gigabyte or MSI. One of the guys I game with has one for his AMD chip and it serves him well, he has a Phenom II Black Edition 965 OC'd to 4 Ghz on air.

 

[NYCHitman1]

And my PSU and bluray reader/writer came yesterday. The PSU looks so nice, and cable management will be so much easier since I took your advice and went with the modular 850.

Did you get the Corsair HX850? I've never owned an ASRock product before, so I can't really give you any worthwhile advice on the matter. I've only owned ASUS and Gigabyte boards. If you wanna go by ratings, do it. The people know best any way. You'll occasionally get the few poor ratings of boards arriving DOA, but that can happen to anyone with any mobo. It happened to me twice (1x ASUS + 1x Gigabyte).

I've always considered ASRock to be an off-brand, but they really seem to have been making a good name for themselves recently. Don't get me wrong, they're no Asus, Gigabyte or MSI. One of the guys I game with has one for his AMD chip and it serves him well, he has a Phenom II Black Edition 965 OC'd to 4 Ghz on air.

^ what he said.

 

[andr01d]

ASRock is owned by ASUS (something like that, or used to).
ASUS = high end
ASRock = cheap stuff
(ASRock ships more stuff than MSI and others.)