Building a new Computer

[sp3ctral]

So I'm looking at building myself a new computer and as I am pretty novice at this, I'm looking to get some feedback on what I've decided to go for.

All input is appreciated!

CPU - Intel Core i5 3570K 3.4Ghz Socket 1155 Box. Looking at about $305

Graphics: ASUS GTX660TI-DC2-2GD5 GEFORCE for $479

Mobo: Asus P8Z77-V PRO/THUNDERBOLT Intel Z77 ATX Ivy Bridge for $398 approx

RAM: Kingston HyperX x2 4gb at $85.48

PSU: CORSAIR 650W HX-650v2 ATX12V v2.31 and EPS 2.92 Power Supply 140mm fan Modular Cables 80Plus GOLD - $200

HDD: Seagate Constellation 1TB Internal SATA 7200RPM 64MB Buffer for $156

Any recommendations/feedback?

Cheers!

[Apostrophe Spacemonkey]

Get a SSD, 60 to 120 gb for your OS

[sp3ctral]

I was looking at this one, but I wasn't too sure whether it was worth it or not...
http://www.elive.co.nz/samsung-128gb-830-ssd-drive-AC02802.php

[Spigalau]

Unusual choice of HDD 'Seagate Constellation', refer -http://www.playtech.co.nz/afawcs0139235/CATID=235/ID=15034/SID=324860507/productdetails.html $89

[sp3ctral]

Unusual choice of HDD 'Seagate Constellation', refer -http://www.playtech.co.nz/afawcs0139235/CATID=235/ID=15034/SID=324860507/productdetails.html $89

Huh. Well, I guess this is why I wrote this up haha.

Why the hell was the Seagate double the price

[Lias]

Huh. Well, I guess this is why I wrote this up haha.

Why the hell was the Seagate double the price

Enterprise quality drive, not consumer grade.

[Emrico1]

At a glance you could probably get a cheaper motherboard like this http://www.playtech.co.nz/afawcs0139235/CATID=599/ID=17470/SID=916816678/productdetails.html
And put the money towards the SSD or better GPU. You'll be paying for thunderbolt when you probably won't be using it.

[oefox]

Just ensure you get a mobo that has sata3 AND usb3 and if you use the front panel make sure it has usb3 front connections and that your case has them too.
Would recommend doing the SSD+HDD and go to 8GB ram since it's cheap. Even a 60GB SSD will take windows, apps, and maybe a game or two, but you'll want the larger ram in order to safely disable the pagefile to free up the ssd space.

[sp3ctral]

Oh yeah the RAM is dual 2x 4gb and I am definitely looking at an SSD and have found one that I like the sound of (Samsung 250GB SSD 840 Series Nand with read/write of 96k/62k) however it is 256gb which is slightly more than I need really but not as expensive as I would have thought at $275.

With the HDD, is it better to go for enterprose quality or is consumer grade sweet as? And if I do take a cheaper mobo (like the one that Emrico1 linked, am I likely to regret it in the long run compared to the Thunderbolt?

[Lias]

Enterprise drives are in _theory_ more likely to survive being run 24/7/365 but otherwise no real difference

Thunderbolt is a waste of money at this point IMHO.

[sp3ctral]

Sweet, good to know. I'll save my money for more important things then (like mouse and SSD)

edit: and I'm assuming that the enterprise drives are aimed more towards servers and that sort of thing

[oefox]

Given that you're getting a large SSD, the HDD is not as important. You should be running apps/games off the SSD and just using the HDD for media, the HDD will (should) power down for the most part whilst your playing games unless you're saving your game data to the HDD. I would for the most part recommend that for games you save data to the SSD too...does make a difference, civ5 loads like a boss if you SSD it, a pig if HDD.

I syslink folders across my 2 ssd's and 1TB hdd so that for the most part my first drive is O/S and apps, 2nd drive is games and gamedata, and HDD is purely media. The HDD is virtually always powered down unless I listen to music whilst gaming. I tend to always watch shit off usb stick straight off my tv (love tv's that play shit straight off usb sticks).

[sp3ctral]

Yeah, I kinda figured the same thing. I'd look at the SSD for windows + steam/bf3/any other games I finally can get around to playing and then everything else I'd store on the HDD like music/other non-important programs and all that.

Quick question re SSD loading times, loading into a multiplayer game eg bf3, is this gonna help speed up the time it takes? Or is this more for singleplayer/LAN-hosted games off my computer?

Also, looking at the i5, I've seen a lot of reviews around that seem to be praising this CPU and I was curious whether or not it would have any difficulty with loading higher-tier games at the higher video settings. I'm not looking for the highest settings or ultra or anyhting but after playing on a laptop for the last 2+ years I'd love to see games at the quality they should be viewed!

[The Demon Lord]

Yeah, I kinda figured the same thing. I'd look at the SSD for windows + steam/bf3/any other games I finally can get around to playing and then everything else I'd store on the HDD like music/other non-important programs and all that.

Quick question re SSD loading times, loading into a multiplayer game eg bf3, is this gonna help speed up the time it takes? Or is this more for singleplayer/LAN-hosted games off my computer?

Also, looking at the i5, I've seen a lot of reviews around that seem to be praising this CPU and I was curious whether or not it would have any difficulty with loading higher-tier games at the higher video settings. I'm not looking for the highest settings or ultra or anyhting but after playing on a laptop for the last 2+ years I'd love to see games at the quality they should be viewed!

i5s are good solic CPUs, and if you aren't quite getting the performance you would like out of them, the OC very Very VERY easily which normally can give you the extra boost of performance if needed.

Yes SSDs help with load times of any game. ATM I run SSD (boot/OS) and 2 x 320Gb drives in Raid 0 for games

[oefox]

I have the i5 3570k that I run at 4GHz, eats everything and shits all over the i7-930 I had previously.

Yes, the SSD load times will mean getting into MP maps faster, was always one of the first people into BF3 maps. Gives you more time to chat before the round starts especially in TF2.

[Cowwie]

i5s are good solic CPUs, and if you aren't quite getting the performance you would like out of them, the OC very Very VERY easily which normally can give you the extra boost of performance if needed.

What is the easiest way via bios to reach  4GHz - 4.4GHz on that cpu, as a long time amd user i am feeling somewhat a little  intimidated by some of the oc guides ive seen so far.

[oefox]

I spent a weekend overclocking my 3570k, it's VERY easy to go to 4GHz but they really start to ramp up in heat over that unlike the sandy bridge generation, however, the GFlops are superior even at a lower clock.

You can run on the stock fan at 4.0 but I would recommend an aftermarket cooler purely so that it's quieter.

Use intelburntest and coretemp and just play around with the settings, is how I do mine, get it running at the speed you want then keep dropping the vcore slowly until it crashes then increase it - lower vcore means less heat.

I can run up to 4.2 GHz @ 1.1vc then it really starts ramping up, that's the Vc/GHz point you want to find where you start trading heat for hertz.

Oh...and do not use auto settings on the main settings...that is asking for trouble!

[sp3ctral]

Cheers guys, you have all helped a lot.

My revised set up:

CPU - Intel Core i5 3570K 3.4Ghz Socket 1155 Box. Looking at about $305

Graphics: ASUS GTX660TI-DC2-2GD5 GEFORCE for $479

Mobo: Asus P8Z77-V LK LGA ~ $219

RAM: Corsair XMS3 Vengeance DDR3 PC12800/1600MHz 8gb (2x 4gb) - $73

PSU: CORSAIR 650W HX-650v2 ATX12V v2.31 and EPS 2.92 Power Supply 140mm fan Modular Cables 80Plus GOLD - $200

SSD: Samsung 250GB SSD 840 Series Nand, 512MB Ram - $280
HDD: Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB $125


Which is looking pretty good! Now if anyone can advise on a decent-but-cheapish mouse I'd be set..

[oefox]

No cooler option?

Logitech G500 is a nice mouse

[sp3ctral]

Am I gonna regret not using a cooler? And cheers, I'll check the mouse out.


Edit: Ah yes I like this mouse too, probably go for this one.

[Growler]

Am I gonna regret not using a cooler? And cheers, I'll check the mouse out.

Your 250gb SSD could well be overkill. 120 is plenty enough for OS + key apps n games. That trimmed could buy you the water cooler.

Well the K series chip is designed to be overclocked, and easily. But you would want an after market cooler to do so.

something like this.

http://www.playtech.co.nz/afawcs0139235/CATID=216/ID=19733/SID=746354727/productdetails.html

or

http://www.playtech.co.nz/afawcs0139235/CATID=215/ID=16836/SID=520031241/productdetails.html

[swindle]

Go hydro IMO. Tidy's up the case, makes it easier to work on without having to remove the cooler and performance is fantastic.

[oefox]

^ I never thought of this when I stuck liquid cooling in mine but yes it does free up space, not that you need space, but it may help with case airflow plus overall it just looks better especially if you have a clear case. Mine has lovely little leds, not sure why.

[swindle]

Puts less stress on the PCB and creates essentially a more portable pc.

[Emrico1]

Also G400 is a great mouse if money is tight, I have a couple and they are solid.