Build Review

[Sprocket-]

Hiyas,

Hoping I can get some critique on my build. Finally looking to build after months of putting it off and putting up with my amd3800 system which is about 6 years old!

Corsair Carbide 400R Black Mid-Tower Case
Corsair AX850 Gold Power Supply - is this going to be enough?
ASUS GeForce GTX 580 DirectCU II
Intel Core i5 2500K should i spend a bit more on the i7?
ASUS P8Z68-V Gen3 Motherboard - any tips?
Crucial M4 SSD 128GB - should I go with intel??
Which ram should I go for? It seems cheap but I've got no idea. 

I'll be adding my current HDD's for storage and run win7 on the SSD. At this stage just using a single monitor but would like to get another down the track. I have a keyboard but will get a new mouse so any suggestions there too!

*Probably wont be overclocking the system initially, but maybe down the track. (Don't have the time to learn to do it properly!)

budget is $1700/$2000 max  - will be used mostly for image editing and cataloging and I want to run bf3 on good settings also. 

Please be kind, i've been out of the loop a long time now!

ps. I was going to bump my thread from December but i'll just start a new one!
pps. apologies for the formatting im doing this from my iphone.

thanks!

[Dinwiddie]

With the motherboard. The price is determined by features, not quality (within a specific mfg),
so pick an MB with only the features you will, or may (almost definitely, possibly) use.
The MB you list has quad SLI, and possibly something (Auto switching on board graphics) else you don't need/want.

With the RAM. Get a kit with low profile heat spreaders. Those fancy toothy one's don't help keep the RAM cool.

You could save $20 with a Gigabyte GTX580 UltraDurable ($539 - PCCG), or splash out a bit more and get the 3GB model
to cover the extra monitor when it comes ($599-).

Top grade psu. Because it is so efficient, it should be enough even with SLI (see below).
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-580-sli-review/14

The i5 2500k is the Intel of choice for gaming. If you need hyperthreading you want an i7.
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2009/09/08/intel-core-i5-and-i7-lynnfield-cpu-review/10.

Pretty much everywhere I go people sing the phrases of the Razer DeathAdder. Wouldn't know....
It's largely about 's and grip style. There is a long mouse thread in the stickies above.
.

[steve_rogers42]

The P8Z68-V Gen3 is dangerously close in price to the ASRock Extreme4 gen3...

Carbide 400R is good, the AX850 is more than enough juice for the build...

The ASUS direct CU II is a great option, but considering the price point, the gigabyte super OC and the MSI twin frozr II come in close. all depends if you want to stay asus everything... i personally would go the MSI card, then either the giga or asus card depending on price.

SSD's, well, the crucial is still the best alrounder, and considering they just released a firmware update to allow users with more than 5000 hours of time continue to use their drives i'd say its defo a decent option, the intel drives are the most reliable on the market, but i'd only go one if it were cheaper than the crucial.

Ram, anything 1600mhz, 4gb and greater with low timings. majority will be 9, but there are a few with lower timings available, just depends how much you want to spend.

if your going to look into image editing, i suggest if your looking at a monitor to look into a dell 27" ultrasharp, they come in at a decent price and are one of the better high end bang for buck screens.

will do a price look up for ya, but first, where you looking at acquiring this gear?

[Sprocket-]

Thanks guys thats answered alot of my questions!

I'll be hopefully buying locally in perth - but otherwise from PCCG if no one local can beat them + shipping.

I've read through Wyld's thread below and gone with the ASRock Extreme 4 Gen 3 as the price difference vs features makes it worth it.

Yeah my current screen is 22" but hoping perhaps to have at least duel 24" maybe larger.

Found an intel 310 SSD, 120GB (8 less than the crucial) for a little cheaper so going to go with that!

Just waiting on a few quotes to come back...first build in 6 years im getting excited

[steve_rogers42]

310's are not sata6 whilst the crucial m4 is. So expect a speed difference. if the price difference is in the tens i'd go the crucial.

[Sprocket-]

Thanks, I hadn't picked that up! I was told to go intel for reliability but perhaps ill go the crucial for speed. Awaiting a quote from my local store and then i'll be in business!

[steve_rogers42]

Crucial's are moderately reliable and have had great support for their lifetime. i believe they use a marvel host, and marvel also make sata6 controllers for mobo's so cant go to wrong. Intel's are the more bullet proof, but the price's are high. Samsung drive's are supposed to be ok, but dont see to many about.

[Sprocket-]

Crucial's are moderately reliable and have had great support for their lifetime. i believe they use a marvel host, and marvel also make sata6 controllers for mobo's so cant go to wrong. Intel's are the more bullet proof, but the price's are high. Samsung drive's are supposed to be ok, but dont see to many about.

My local store can't for some reason, get in Crucial stuff. They offered a Corsair for about the same price, it's had some good reviews online.

Setup is looking like (almost identicle to Wylds )

Corsair Carbide 400R Black Mid-Tower Case
Corsair TX-750 V2 Power Supply
ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Motherboard
G.Skill Ripjaws X F3-17000CL11Q-16GBXL 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3
Intel Core i5 2500K
ASUS GeForce GTX 580 DirectCU II (Not 100% sure on this yet??)
Corsair Force Series 3 120GB SSD

[MrMoilT]

With all that Corsair stuff I would stick with them and get rid of the G Skill ram and get Corsair instead, theres really not that much of a price difference between them but there is considerable difference in quality as any of the Corsair range utterly wipe the floor with G Skill.

[Sprocket-]

That doesn't sound like a bad idea - ram confuses me though!

My current system has corsair ram and its never had an issue in 6 years.

What sort of memory would I need to look at in specific for that board? Obviously for a 16gb kit but the speeds I don't quite understand?

Corsair Vengeance Red CMZ16GX3M4X1866C9R 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 seems to be around the same price range...

[Dinwiddie]

1600MHz is already an OC speed and has no real world performance benefit over the native 1333MHz of the cpu's memory controller anyway.

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=186_218_1125&products_id=18372

When 1600Mhz RAM is set to 1333 (or 1066, depending on the motherboards default setting) you get slightly lower latencies
than the 9.9.9.24 timings, for a theoretical small performance boost.

[tranquil]

ASUS GeForce GTX 580 DirectCU II (Not 100% sure on this yet??)

I'd definitely grab a 3GB card instead, just for peace of mind in future (especially if you want to go 27" or 2x24" screens at some point). I have the Gainward Phantom GTX 580 it's $559 at PCCG. I ran some tests playing BF3 Ultra settings at 1080p, it was using up to 1700mb of VRAM on some maps.


Also you won't see any different between Corsair or G.Skill, just go with what's cheaper.

[MrMoilT]

Also you won't see any different between Corsair or G.Skill, just go with what's cheaper.

Oh is that why me and my mate run identical systems apart from the ram but mine loads applications/games a hell of a lot faster than his. I also got a higher score with the Ram in 3Dmark than he did.

He uses G skill and I use Corsair, both are at the same speeds but mine are way better.

Apart from that at the moment at PCCG both the G Skill 16gb and the Carsair 16gb kits are the same price, would you still choose G Skill?

[Sprocket-]

All sorted, in the process of building!

Question: The PSU goes on the bottom of the case, meaning the fan faces the floor. While theres still a vent at the bottom, its just going to be blowing hot air into the carpet?

Issue or will it be okay? The case is only a few mm elevated from the floor.

[Dinwiddie]

Don't put the machine on, or too close to the carpet. The bottom fan is the intake.