Advice on Z77 mobo and CPU for FSX and video editing

Spookster · 25 Mar 2013 at 10:56

Hi,

I'm looking to build a new PC, and fairly sure I want to use a Z77 motherboard. I'd like advice on which CPU to go for, and which memory and cooler assuming I want to get a reasonable amount of overclocking out of it.

I think FSX (Flight Sim) just needs the fastest possible CPU speed, and gets no benefit at all from hyper-threading. On the other hand, I want a machine that also runs Adobe Premiere Elements quickly (editing and encoding videos), and that probably does benefit from hyper-threading. I thought my choice was between i5-3570k or i7-3770k, but now I'm also wondering about i5-2500k or i7-2700k, which might give me more scope for over-clocking. :confused:

If I'm looking to get 4.6-4.7GHz, do I need to go to water cooling the CPU? I've only used air cooling on previous builds.

And which mobo and memory would you suggest?

Thanks!

(haven't fixed a budget yet - just trying to get the basic bits fixed before deciding how much I'll need to spend)

Doomedspeed · 25 Mar 2013 at 11:13

The 3770k is your best bet.

Even if the 2700k may get 200 mhz higher, the 3770k will still perform better.

What GPU do you have?

Spookster · 25 Mar 2013 at 11:37

Doomedspeed said:
The 3770k is your best bet.

Even if the 2700k may get 200 mhz higher, the 3770k will still perform better.

What GPU do you have?

Existing system has a Radeon X1950 Pro (ancient), so I'd be looking at a new GPU as well, though not necessarily immediately.

Spookster · 25 Mar 2013 at 16:50

OK, so for a 3770k based system...

YOUR BASKET

CPU
1 x Intel Core i7-3770K 3.50GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £269.99

Are these motherboards all comparable, and will overclock well enough? How to choose?

1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £85.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX2 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £82.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-HD3 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99

Will 16GB help me with video encoding, or is that just a waste of £45?

1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CW) - Blue Light £37.99
1 x Avexir MPower Yellow Series 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C10 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16001008G-2CM) £83.99

honosuseri · 25 Mar 2013 at 16:56

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-3770K 3.50GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £269.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
2 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CW) - Blue Light £37.99 (£75.98)
1 x Thermalright Macho 120 CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £29.99
Total : £477.35 (includes shipping : £9.50).

FSX is Nvidia Biased. If you could find a 2nd hand 1GB 460 (~£50 lets say) you would be laughing as you would also cop CUDA support and the GPUs OC well too

Spookster · 26 Mar 2013 at 07:28

Good suggestion about the GTX460, which I might consider, but for now I've put a GTX560 in the basket. I'd put Win7 (which I've got already), FSX and Premiere Elements on the SSD. How would this work...

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-3770K 3.50GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £269.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD250BW) £139.99
1 x ZOTAC GeForce GTX 560 Ti OC Edition 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £129.95
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (WD1002FAEX) HDD £79.99
1 x BitFenix Raider Tower Case - Black £62.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020047-UK) £49.99
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CW) - Blue Light £37.99
1 x Thermalright Macho 120 CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £29.99
1 x Asus 24x DVD±RW DRW-24B5ST SATA ReWriter - Black (OEM) £23.99
Total : £931.36 (includes shipping : £13.75).

Idleman · 26 Mar 2013 at 08:04

I would get this for storage.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-255-SE&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=1955

zakblood · 26 Mar 2013 at 08:12

1 x Intel Core i7-3820 3.60GHz (Sandybridge-E) Socket LGA2011 Processor - OEM £235.99
1 x Gigabyte X79-UD3 Intel X79 (Socket 2011) DDR3 Motherboard £169.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD250BW) £139.99
1 x ZOTAC GeForce GTX 560 Ti OC Edition 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £129.95
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) HDD £59.99
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
1 x BitFenix Outlaw Gaming Case - Black £39.95
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CW) - Blue Light £37.99
1 x Thermalright Macho 120 CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £29.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.98
Total : £931.31 (includes shipping : £11.25).

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/523?vs=551

or

http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i7-3820-vs-Intel-Core-i7-3770K

i7 3770 slightly faster for some apps, but with no upgrade path on socket from there, socket 2011 has upgrade path to better cpu soon, with bios updates etc

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18476907

X79 overclocking guide done by 8Pack ^^

just for another option

mind you if your going to use it you will need a lot better cooler

Idleman · 26 Mar 2013 at 08:36

zakblood said:
1 x Intel Core i7-3820 3.60GHz (Sandybridge-E) Socket LGA2011 Processor - OEM £235.99
1 x Gigabyte X79-UD3 Intel X79 (Socket 2011) DDR3 Motherboard £169.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD250BW) £139.99
1 x ZOTAC GeForce GTX 560 Ti OC Edition 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £129.95
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) HDD £59.99
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
1 x BitFenix Outlaw Gaming Case - Black £39.95
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CW) - Blue Light £37.99
1 x Thermalright Macho 120 CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £29.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.98
Total : £931.31 (includes shipping : £11.25).

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/523?vs=551

or

http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i7-3820-vs-Intel-Core-i7-3770K

i7 3770 slightly faster for some apps, but with no upgrade path on socket from there, socket 2011 has upgrade path to better cpu soon, with bios updates etc

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18476907

X79 overclocking guide done by 8Pack ^^

just for another option mind you if your going to use it you will need a lot better cooler

Also need quad channel ram to get the full benefit.

zakblood · 26 Mar 2013 at 08:45

woud have used my normal set, but ups price to much, but there for a option,

1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-14900C9 1866MHz Dual/Quad Channel Kit £99.95
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis 8GB (4x2GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual/Quad Channel Kit £69.95
1 x GeIL EVO Corsa 8GB (4x2GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C10 2133MHz Quad Channel Kit (GOC38GB2133C10AQC) £59.99