Motherboard choice for i5 2500k, confused.

David_VI

David_VI

David_VI

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Hey,

I've been narrowing down my new system and so far its like this.
(System is for gaming, music production which is why 8gb in a good deal is worth it I think and general studying/work)
And as its for music, I need it to be quite quiet, all my previous PC's have seemed to be so loud!



I don't need any other parts except the motherboard as i'm using my old drives and graphics card.

Motherboards are confusing the hell out of me, there are so many and in my original thread I was suggested this:
Msi P67A B3
http://eu.msi.com/product/mb/P67A-GD55--B3-.html#Spec

But i've catered for the offers this week and this board is there.

Asus P8P67 PRO Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION **
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-443-AS

Now, they seem to both have their good points. For example the MSI one boasts great THX sound and various other things. I suppose they use all these cool labels to make their MB's stand out against others when really it makes not much difference?

Could someone advise me on this build and any motherboard advice?

  • Needs 7.1 onboard sound
  • Esata port or possibility to have esata PCI card (any ideas on this?)

I'm most probably going to order this on Monday or Tues (I assume the deals last a week so i'm safe?) so i really need to figure out what i'm after.


Thanks so much and thanks for all previous help
David
 
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Trusty said:
I'd opt for this:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-325-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1906

Gigabyte make solid motherboards!
Click to expand...

+ 1 for a Gigabyte.

Their RMA is UK-based too, should the worst ever happen.

My friend warned me against buying an MSI board, however at the time the P55-GD80 was much better spec'd and much cheaper than anything else, so I braved it, and it's been a champ. Their RMA is also UK-based.

I wouldn't touch Asus with a barge pole after my previous RMA experience with them. Czech Republic RMA base, and lots of jumping through hoops.
 
That board looks superb at first glance. Esata!

You guys are great help!

Here it is with that addition. I was hoping to spend between 500-600 but this appears worth it. I'm sure I could save money and not get a Bluray drive if I really wanted to, but I thought I might aswel as I have no bluray player and a few bluray dvds that we've been unable to play haha!

Are there any thoughts or ideas for improvement, money saving? case choice? anything? thanks!!



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"And as its for music, I need it to be quite quiet, all my previous PC's have seemed to be so loud!"

"I don't need any other parts except the motherboard as i'm using my old drives and graphics card."

Get a solid state drive, at least for your OS drive. You won't believe how much noise a HDD makes (especially an old one) until you've used an SSD for a while....
 
Possibly change the case? The Antec 300 is not the "go-to" case anymore tbh, you can get much more for only a little more money. The CM 690-II Lite is less than £10 more I think but has much more/better features. The HAF 912 is also not bad and is reduced ATM, but it looks terrible and is slightly smaller inside, IIRC.
 
Again thanks for the replies.

I did some looking at cases on OCUK earlier but went back to the simple looking 300.

The Coolermaster CM-690 II lite which was recommended looks good as you say it has more features..
This odd dip, its a drive bay right? what would you use that for? Just backing up or plugging and playing, not keeping a drive in their permenantly? Does dust and general stuff not get on the contacts?
CA-212-CM_30193_400.jpg


I kindof need a flat topped case as I sit my USB audio equipment ontop, its only a small interface (http://www.productwiki.com/upload/images/tascam_us_144.jpg). Yeah i'm pushed for space!

Other than that I like it.

Never considered a solidstate drive, at the mo i'm using 3 drives, 2 are samsung 1tb which I bought only a few months back and the other is an old one, so I'm not really considering a new drive just yet, ill see how it goes then maybe!

And regarding the cooler, I believe the h20 kuhler is good as it must be pretty quiet and do a great job, I do intend to OC the system as I was originally looking at the OC'ed bundle which is at 4.0ghz+ but thought it would be cheaper to do it myself.

Cheers again!!!
 
Comparison video for CM 690 II Advanced and CM 690 II Basic versions.



The picture shows what is an HDD dock on the advanced only. On the lite it has no actual use other than you can put things in there for storage....paperclips!
 
Could you not get cheaper RAM? That seems quite pricey for 4GB. I paid £47 for mine, and I put 8GB of Corsair Vengeance in my brother's machine for about £90.

RAM - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-203-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

That will run at 1.5v no problem.

As for the case, I figure it's something you have to look at every day and will be with you through a few upgrades so it's worth spending a little more on. I have a white Fractal Design Define R3, which is a lovely case. I believe OC have the XL (the R3, but bigger) on special for about £80 at the minute. Very quiet, lots of cable routing options, and cool. I personally wouldn't have a case with mesh as it gets dusty extremely quickly. I guess it might not bother others as much as it does me though...

Case - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-011-FD&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=1556

Corsair make fantastic PSUs, and it's £7 cheaper than the one you spec'd originally. Every little helps... :D

PSU - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-037-CS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1084

Everything looks fine. I'm just making suggestions. You could get a cheaper air cooler, such as the Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro 13, and if you could live without a blu-ray drive for another few weeks you could save there until you really need it, but it's up to you :D
 
Tediore said:
Could you not get cheaper RAM? That seems quite pricey for 4GB. I paid £47 for mine, and I put 8GB of Corsair Vengeance in my brother's machine for about £90.

RAM - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-203-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

That will run at 1.5v no problem.

As for the case, I figure it's something you have to look at every day and will be with you through a few upgrades so it's worth spending a little more on. I have a white Fractal Design Define R3, which is a lovely case. I believe OC have the XL (the R3, but bigger) on special for about £80 at the minute. Very quiet, lots of cable routing options, and cool. I personally wouldn't have a case with mesh as it gets dusty extremely quickly. I guess it might not bother others as much as it does me though...

Case - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-011-FD&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=1556

Corsair make fantastic PSUs, and it's £7 cheaper than the one you spec'd originally. Every little helps... :D

PSU - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-037-CS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1084

Everything looks fine. I'm just making suggestions. You could get a cheaper air cooler, such as the Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro 13, and if you could live without a blu-ray drive for another few weeks you could save there until you really need it, but it's up to you :D
Click to expand...

I agree about the mesh. What i've found hard is finding a case with a flat(ish) top as I need to sit something on top and one that has a small bay for a card reader I have (come to think of it I don't really use the card reader apart from its usb port which i will have plenty of with a new case :|!!).
I've looked at that case (fractual designs) and I like it, the only thing I was bothered by was how the USB ports and such are ontop there for sticking out upwards which would get in the way. (but might work)

I choose the ram as its on special offer ATM plus its 8gb not just 4gb.
Aaaaand the PSU, well it was originally reccomended and is modular so I thought it would be much less messy.

Checking out the video of the coolermaster cases! :)
 
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David_VI said:
I agree about the mesh. What i've found hard is finding a case with a flat(ish) top as I need to sit something on top and one that has a small bay for a card reader I have. I've looked at that case and I like it, the only thing I was bothered by was how the USB ports and such are ontop there for sticking out upwards which would get in the way.

I choose the ram as its on special offer ATM plus its 8gb not just 4gb.
Aaaaand the PSU, well it was originally reccomended and is modular so I thought it would be much less messy.

Checking out the video of the coolermaster cases! :)
Click to expand...

I must have missed that it was 8GB! Sorry :D

I was going to suggest the Antec TruePower New 650w, but OC don't seem to have any.

The R3 is a great case. I'd have preferred the USB ports at the front as well, but it's not a deal breaker. I've heard good things about Coolermaster cases, but like I said, the mesh would drive me mental :D
 
After watching a few reviews and a bit reading i'm starting to really love the look and setup of the Fractal cases, not sure if I want XL though.

It feels odd it only has room for one optical drive unless you remove a fan? Yet the smaller one has more optical drive bays showing. I suppose im used to having two DVD drives plus a card reader. I guess I could do without!

Regarding the thoughts on fans, is the Antec Kúhler H2O 620 CPU Watercooler worth it?? I've read good things about it, but compared to a CPU fan and heatsink at similiar prices? I want to OC this to be close to the OC bundle OCUK offer at 4ghz.

Anyone got any thoughts on this?

Trusty: Cheers for that, if I go crazy I might get that instead of the XFX 650w. Would 650w be enough for my setup or is it wiser to go higher?
I've got 3 internal drives, one GFX card, pos two optical drives and possibly might install a decent PCI soundcard for my sound production :)

Cheers again everyone! I'm getting closer to finalising this stuff!
David
 
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David_VI said:
Trusty: Cheers for that, if I go crazy I might get that instead of the XFX 650w. Would 650w be enough for my setup or is it wiser to go higher?
I've got 3 internal drives, one GFX card, pos two optical drives and possibly might install a decent PCI soundcard for my sound production :)
Click to expand...

The XFX 650w will be fine yeah. It's just the Antec compared to other 750w models is really good value, and there's no skimp on the quality. Antec are top end PSU's, they use Seasonic, as do Corsair and XFX.

And, correct if i'm wrong people, but a 750w PSU will be running closer to the 50%/60% efficiency range, which is when PSU's are at there best. :)
 
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