Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!


Building a computer, need suggestions
New on LowEndTalk? Please Register and read our Community Rules.

All new Registrations are manually reviewed and approved, so a short delay after registration may occur before your account becomes active.

Building a computer, need suggestions

lele0108lele0108 Member
edited March 2012 in General

I usually don't like "leeching" off the community too much, but I need some suggestions on a computer I am building, so I don't have regrets in the future.

This is what I am thinking right now:

Intel i7 2700K (Link)
16Gb 1066 DDR3 RAM (Link)
ASRock P67 MotherBoard (Link)
CoolMaster Case (Link)

My harddrvies (Already own these)
Corsair F60 60Gb SSD

Total: $640

What do you guys think?

«13

Comments

  • Cool.

  • jhjh Member

    Seems fine to me.

  • What about graphic card?

    Thanked by 1yomero
  • gsrdgrdghdgsrdgrdghd Member
    edited March 2012

    ASRock has failed hard in the past, i'd rather go with a MSI or Asus mainboard.
    Also don't get a cheap(noname) PSU, you should spend at least 50$ for it. And maybe also a new fan for the CPU.
    Are you going to use the onboard graphics or get a dedicated graphics card?

  • What about this?
    http://hipst.re/53397

    Thanked by 1Liam
  • @iKocka said: What about graphic card?

    I'm getting one when I save up some more. The Intel 3000 are fine for now.

    @gsrdgrdghd said: ASRock has failed hard in the past, i'd rather go with a MSI or Asus main board.

    Reviews seem good, going with MSI and Asus is going to cost me at least $30-$50 more.

  • yeah elliotj is right that would be a nice upgrade to your box
    http://hipst.re/53397
    would bring the total cost to only 20-25$ more

  • raindog308raindog308 Administrator, Veteran

    Kind of depends what you're going to do with it, right?

    Rendering Toy Story 4? Insufficient.
    Serving a database is 30,000 concurrent users? Insufficient.
    Running OpenBSD as a home firewall? Overkill.
    Refreshing LET every 30 seconds 24x7? Sure, no problem.
    Running vim for 20 minutes once a month? Overkill.

    Personally, the idea of a single HDD makes me nervous, no matter what the technology, unless it's unavoidable (like a laptop) in most cases.

  • Agree with @raindog308 on the last point, regarding data protection. Make a plan :)

    And don't cheap out on the PSU, it's integral....

  • lele0108lele0108 Member
    edited March 2012

    @raindog308 said: Kind of depends what you're going to do with it, right?

    Personal computer for gaming, graphic design, video editing, and derping. Sorry I didn't make that clear.

    @sleddog said: And don't cheap out on the PSU, it's integral....

    I think I might go with this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341049

    It's cheap, since it's only $55 after rebate and gift card (Which I'm going to use to a GPU anyway :P)

  • @raindog308 said: unless it's unavoidable (like a laptop)

    I have 2 hard drives in my laptop. Every hour I do full incremental backups.

  • raindog308raindog308 Administrator, Veteran

    As always, you da man, @dmmcintyre3

    But alas most laptops come with 1 HD and anyway, laptops are a lot less configurable. I never build a desktop with only 1 HD.

  • @raindog308 said: But alas most laptops come with 1 HD and anyway, laptops are a lot less configurable. I never build a desktop with only 1 HD.

    Thinking about sticking in a WD 1Tb Black, or two RAID0 or RAID1 drives, since the motherboard has built in RAID.

  • @lele0108 RAID0 is worse than a single drive for reliability.

  • FranciscoFrancisco Top Host, Host Rep, Veteran

    Are you doing video encoding or just gaming?

    If it's mostly gaming, the i5 2500k is a better bang/buck and actually beats out the i7 in some benches :)

    Francisco

  • @dmmcintyre3 said: RAID0 is worse than a single drive for reliability.

    I know, I upload everything to Crashplan. It's worth the $5, and the peace of mind.

    @Francisco said: If it's mostly gaming, the i5 2500k is a better bang/buck and actually beats out the i7 in some benches :)

    Gaming (FPS, i.e. BF3, MW3, etc.), Photoshop, Coding, and Light video editing/After effects.

  • raindog308raindog308 Administrator, Veteran

    I like CrashPlan, too.

    Neat thing with it is that you can use it to backup to external drives or to friend's computers. I suspect the Java process is too heavy for use on a LEB.

    Otherwise, for $6/month you could backup 2-10 computers you own...surely a VPS would count, right? They'd be horrified, probably...though on the other hand, most VPSes have small disk compared to multi-terabyte at home.

  • @Francisco said: If it's mostly gaming, the i5 2500k is a better bang/buck and actually beats out the i7 in some benches

    This. I have a 2500k in my gaming rig, and an i7 975 in my other rig, the 975 is better for things that can take advantage of HT, like compiling something big.

    If you want HT, get a 2600k over the 2700k.

  • @Kairus said: I have a 2500k

    I've changed my mind, going with the 2500k. What motherboard do you recommend? Thinking of picking up this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131790

  • I was looking at barebones kits earlier today.

    I decided that I'm gonna buy a chair instead. Nothin' like a comfy spot for my tushy :)

  • InfinityInfinity Member, Host Rep

    @speckl said: I decided that I'm gonna buy a chair instead. Nothin' like a comfy spot for my tushy :)

    Barebone kits are really not hard to build.

  • FranciscoFrancisco Top Host, Host Rep, Veteran

    That's a nice board.

    Gigabyte has a decent z68 setup that's also well priced.

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128502

    I can't remember 100% but i'm pretty sure I got that one in my home rig and have had minimal issues. The only issue i've had was related to AHCI being derpy.

    Francisco

  • Z68 Extreme4 from ASRock.

  • KairusKairus Member
    edited March 2012

    @lele0108 said: What motherboard do you recommend?

    I have an MSI P67-GD65, it's nice, there's a ton of p67/z68 boards though, can't go wrong, check out reviews on newegg.

    Ivy bridge is coming out soon, it's probably better to just wait if you can.

  • @Infinity not sure why that matters.

  • DerekDerek Member
    edited March 2012

    I would recommend the following, just because its newer.

    1x Intel Core i7-3820 Sandy Bridge-E 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) - 4Cores/4threads
    $319
    x1 ASUS Sabertooth X79 LGA 2011 Intel X79
    $329
    4/8x G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 4x = 32GB/8x = 64GB
    4x = 275.96, 8x = 551.92.
    x1 CPU Cooler for 2011
    89
    x1 Case you had above
    75

    So for around $1360, you can have a brand new, just released processor, 64GB of ram and a decent mother board.

    Note: These selected were midrange, you can shred money in many aspects.

    Edit: Should have decent resell in the future too.

  • @lele0108 said: I've changed my mind, going with the 2500k. What motherboard do you recommend? Thinking of picking up this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131790

    Stick to ASrock. When i build my i5 2500k gaming rig about a year ago i was a little skeptical to go with asrock as :

    1)I've never heard of them
    2)My technician friend told me they were low cost motherboard.

    I decided to go with asrock anyway as the reviews on new egg were close to 100% positive about them.

    To be honest, after a year on it i have to say, this is the best mobo i have ever had! I've had countless mobo from the 386dx time to now, from:

    intel, abit, asus, gigabyte,msi none of them compared to what i am using now. The branded ones from abit and asus were good but they don't last. I mean it was great at first, then you started having ram issues, burnt usb, legacy pci devices don't work over time but not with the ASROCK. 1 year plus and it is still rock solid.

    call me amazed, I'm not buying another expensive gigabyte asus crap again.

  • KairusKairus Member
    edited March 2012

    @Derek's build: Check out this comparison between the 2700k/2600k and the 3820 and 3930k. I don't think it's worth the additional price, especially since you're not getting an unlocked multiplier - http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/print/core-i7-3820.html

    I'd also not recommending getting that much ram, it's not very useful. It puts more strain on the memory controller, and you're not going to be able to O/C as well. The timings on that ram are awful as well 10-10-10 with a CAS Latency of 10? Ouchhh. I've got 8GB in this rig at 7-8-7 w/ a CAS lat of 7. My other rig w/ 12GB is a bit higher, but still much lower than the ones you linked.

    Just the motherboard and processor in the build Derek linked is more expensive than the build the OP suggested, and his build will perform better as well.

    For the OP's build, I'd recommend http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231442 instead of the ram you linked (these are 1600mhz).

  • MopsyMopsy Member
    edited March 2012

    ^ If he wants absolute new stuff, I'd recommend waiting a month or so for the Intel 'Ivy Bridge' CPUs to come out, and the nVidia 'Kepler' line of video cards.

    To the OP, I'd be wary about getting any Sandy Bridge ending in a K. Sure, they are unlocked, but, you really shouldn't be overclocking too much past what the non-Ks let you anyhow, and you don't get much extra performance. Besides that, though, the non-Ks have extra features for virtualization, and something else I'm forgetting. There's also a few notorious Ks (I think a batch of 2600Ks) that have serious issues. Also, overclocking can cause overheating issues and shorten the lifespan of any hardware. I personally don't do it, and favor getting hardware that is enough for my needs at its native clock speed. I myself have a 2600, because I don't think the extra speed that comes with the 2700 is worth it for the price.

    Do not skimp on the PSU. I know a lot of people have already said that, but, it's important- you don't want a cheap one frying your expensive stuff or dying on you. Also, PSUs degrade over time, so, you'll also want to shoot a little above what you need. Cheap brands don't generally meet their advertised wattage. I'd personally recommend Corsair. There's a stellar PSU calculator here, too.

    ASRock is fine, pay more attention to the reviews than the brand with this. Though I'd definitely recommend going with Z68. I have this motherboard, and I'd highly recommend it. It supports the same stuff yours does (sans some of the legacy stuff), and it has a couple extra USB ports. It still supports USB3 as well, which was important to me. Oh, and I'd stay away from ASUS if you can help it. They have quality products when they work, but their support is utterly terrible. They don't give a damn about you once they have your money. NewEgg can at least protect you there with RMAs, but I'd still avoid them. There's little else worse than getting ready to assemble a new rig and finding out one of the parts is DOA and the manufacturer isn't going to help.

    As for the RAM, 1066 is a bit slow nowadays. I'd recommend something more like this, and you can just get two sets of them for a total of 16 GB. They're well worth it. Also, make sure you enable XMP in your BIOS so it uses the correct memory profile/timings. G.Skill is a fantastic brand, too. If you get decent RAM now, though, you'll never need to upgrade, so spend the extra $10 now. If at any point you find yourself worrying over an extra $10 or $20 here or there, I'd wait and save up more. Don't let yourself get too excited and skimp yourself out of a decent rig in the name of immediacy.

    Like I said, if you want cream of the crop, I think both Intel's 'Ivy Bridge' line and nVidis'a 'Kepler' line come out around the end of April, but, don't quote me on that. And sorry for the huge wall, but, I hope it's informative. Best of luck!

  • my i5 2500k + gtx580 was never over clocked and it handled BF3 ultra settings like a champ.

    I don't believe you need anything faster than an i7 2600k now.

    Thanked by 1Mopsy
Sign In or Register to comment.