New system advice after a 10 year break from PC building

PeterT · 8 Apr 2013 at 10:41

Hi,
At the moment I am using my trusty Abit Nf7-S ver 2.0 motherboard running a mobile AMD cpu. I built the system about 10 years ago using components from Overclockers. The cpu has always been overclocked and I used Corsair XMS memory. I have never had a problem with the system but it is starting to struggle with video and modern games have no chance.
So it is time for an upgrade and so need to start totally from scratch. I would say that £1500 would be the max budget.
I have always been very pleased with Radeon (AMD) graphics cards and need dual DVI output as I run 2 screens at once.
As a starter I have selected this cpu:

Intel Core i7-3770K 3.50GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W)

Sorry for the Newbie type question but I see that this cpu features on board graphics, am I correct in assuming that this would not be used as I anticipate the use of the AMD dedicated gpu?

Please put a system together using excellent quality components using top named brands as I would like the new system to last as long as my existing set up and a bit of overclocking fun would add to the interest.

Also, are most people still using windows 7 or have you moved up to this awkward looking windows 8. Tips here would also be appreciated as I am still on XP on this machine but have Win 7 on my laptop.

Thank you in advance,

PeterT

snips86x · 8 Apr 2013 at 11:07

The on-board graphics will only be used if you don't install a dedicated graphics card.

What is your budget?

Have you looked at Socket 2011?

BigBANGtheory · 8 Apr 2013 at 11:16

My advice would be to wait approx 7 weeks for the release/more information on skt 1150 and Intel Haswell processors. In particular paying attention to the overclock capabilities of Haswell as we get them.

Most desktop users run or migrate to Win7 (x64) these days, you could go for Win8 but it doesn't really offer much over Win7 at this time imho.

PeterT · 8 Apr 2013 at 11:47

Thanks for the replies so far.
Budget could be £1500.

I chose the cpu as it has lots of excellent reviews and seems to overclock well.
The problem with waiting is that you could wait for ever as there is always something new on the horizon and the new parts are always more expensive to begin with.

Cheers,

PeterT

snips86x · 8 Apr 2013 at 12:06

PeterT said:
Thanks for the replies so far.
Budget could be £1500.

I chose the cpu as it has lots of excellent reviews and seems to overclock well.
The problem with waiting is that you could wait for ever as there is always something new on the horizon and the new parts are always more expensive to begin with.

Cheers,

PeterT

Since the 1155 socket is not longer due to be supported, I would think about waiting for Haswell or going for the 2011 as more CPU's are due in Q3, 2013.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-3930K 3.20GHz (Sandybridge-E) Socket LGA2011 Processor - OEM £459.95
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **NEW REVISION** with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £239.99
1 x Gigabyte X79-UP4 Intel X79 (Socket 2011) DDR3 Motherboard £209.99
1 x Samsung 256GB SSD 840 PRO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7PD256BW) ** Cash Back Promo ** £179.99
1 x Samsung Green 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual/Quad Channel Kit (MV-3V4G3D/US) £123.98
1 x Silverstone Strider Plus 850W Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply (SST-ST85F-P) £116.99
1 x Antec Kúhler H2O 1220 Series 4 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (LGA1155 / LGA1156 / LGA1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM2+ / AM3+) £97.58
1 x Cooler Master CM-690 II Lite Windowed Gaming Tower Case - Black £69.95
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EZEX - OEM ** Single Platter ** HDD £56.99
Total : £1,570.40 (includes shipping : £12.50).

You'll get great overclocking capabilities here, but I appreciate if you decide to wait for Haswell instead, it's an option anyway. You don't have to get the 'k' version, you could get the 3820 instead and wait to see what the prices of the 'k' versions are once the new Ivy-e has been released in Q3 of 2013.

PeterT · 8 Apr 2013 at 12:21

Thank you for the proposed system and your explanation about socket 2011.

If I was to push the buget a bit higher, what is the weak spot of the proposal that would be sorted with a bit of extra cash?

Thanks,

PeterT

Doomedspeed · 8 Apr 2013 at 12:25

snips86x said:
Since the 1155 socket is not longer due to be supported, I would think about waiting for Haswell or going for the 2011 as more CPU's are due in Q3, 2013.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-3930K 3.20GHz (Sandybridge-E) Socket LGA2011 Processor - OEM £459.95
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **NEW REVISION** with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £239.99
1 x Gigabyte X79-UP4 Intel X79 (Socket 2011) DDR3 Motherboard £209.99
1 x Samsung 256GB SSD 840 PRO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7PD256BW) ** Cash Back Promo ** £179.99
1 x Samsung Green 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual/Quad Channel Kit (MV-3V4G3D/US) £123.98
1 x Silverstone Strider Plus 850W Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply (SST-ST85F-P) £116.99
1 x Antec Kúhler H2O 1220 Series 4 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (LGA1155 / LGA1156 / LGA1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM2+ / AM3+) £97.58
1 x Cooler Master CM-690 II Lite Windowed Gaming Tower Case - Black £69.95
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EZEX - OEM ** Single Platter ** HDD £56.99
Total : £1,570.40 (includes shipping : £12.50).

You'll get great overclocking capabilities here, but I appreciate if you decide to wait for Haswell instead, it's an option anyway. You don't have to get the 'k' version, you could get the 3820 instead and wait to see what the prices of the 'k' versions are once the new Ivy-e has been released in Q3 of 2013.

That build is an absolute Beauty..

But, does the OP need a 3820/3930k? For gaming the £180 3570k is spot on.

He didn't mention antything about photo/video editing so i assume that won't be a concern.

The 3770k will be a great CPU to use and will allow you to go Xfire straight away (with your budget).

Spending £450+ (thrid of the budget) on a CPU alone (that he won't get the full benifit of) wouldn't be my idea..

Id look for:
3770k
Z77X UDH3/5
2 X 7950
850W PSU
128/250Gb SSD

Leprechaun312 · 8 Apr 2013 at 12:28

Doomedspeed said:
That build is an aqbsolute Beauty..

But, does the OP need a 3820/3930k? For gaming the £180 3570k is spot on.

He didn't mention antything about photo/video editing so i assume that won't be a concern.

The 3770k will be a great CPU to use and will allow you to go Xfire straight away (with your budget).

Spending £450+ (thrid of the budget) on a CPU alone (that he won't get the full benifit of) wouldn't be my idea..

Id look for:
3700k
Z77X UDH3/5
2 X 7950
850W PSU
128/250Gb SSD

+1 the 2 g-cards would benefit him more than a 400 pound cpu

snips86x · 8 Apr 2013 at 12:30

Doomedspeed said:
That build is an aqbsolute Beauty..

But, does the OP need a 3820/3930k? For gaming the £180 3570k is spot on.

He didn't mention antything about photo/video editing so i assume that won't be a concern.

The 3770k will be a great CPU to use and will allow you to go Xfire straight away (with your budget).

Spending £450+ (thrid of the budget) on a CPU alone (that he won't get the full benifit of) wouldn't be my idea..

Id look for:
3700k
Z77X UDH3/5
2 X 7950
850W PSU
128/250Gb SSD

I completely see your point, I only added it as he was looking to overclock and investing in a 3770k at this point with Haswell not far, would almost seem pointless. Yes it's a good chip, but still need the upgrade potential.

mickyflinn · 8 Apr 2013 at 12:40

I would go with a 3820 if you plan on having sli or crossfire as the 3820 on a x79 mobo has 40 pci lanes.

The z77 only has 16 lanes.

Doomedspeed · 8 Apr 2013 at 13:26

mickyflinn said:
I would go with a 3820 if you plan on having sli or crossfire as the 3820 on a x79 mobo has 40 pci lanes.

The z77 only has 16 lanes.

Do you mean the 2011 will do X16/x16 rather than x8/x8?

mickyflinn · 8 Apr 2013 at 13:35

Doomedspeed said:
Do you mean the 2011 will do X16/x16 rather than x8/x8?

Yes

snips86x · 8 Apr 2013 at 13:56

PeterT said:
Thank you for the proposed system and your explanation about socket 2011.

If I was to push the buget a bit higher, what is the weak spot of the proposal that would be sorted with a bit of extra cash?

Thanks,

PeterT

Doomedspeed said:
That build is an absolute Beauty..

But, does the OP need a 3820/3930k? For gaming the £180 3570k is spot on.

He didn't mention antything about photo/video editing so i assume that won't be a concern.

The 3770k will be a great CPU to use and will allow you to go Xfire straight away (with your budget).

Spending £450+ (thrid of the budget) on a CPU alone (that he won't get the full benifit of) wouldn't be my idea..

Id look for:
3770k
Z77X UDH3/5
2 X 7950
850W PSU
128/250Gb SSD

Appriciate the 2011 build may be OTT, but he seemed pretty set on overclocking and the 2011 would overclock really well.

Leprechaun312 said:
+1 the 2 g-cards would benefit him more than a 400 pound cpu

The 3820 can get the multiplier to 43, so although it's not unlocked, you can still overclock it to 5ghz roughly, but will need great cooling.

i7 3770k as you mentioned in the OP would roughly be something like this:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-3770K 3.50GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £279.95
2 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **NEW REVISION** with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £239.99 (£479.98)
1 x Samsung 256GB SSD 840 PRO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7PD256BW) ** Cash Back Promo ** £179.99
1 x Silverstone Strider Plus 850W Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply (SST-ST85F-P) £116.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
1 x Cooler Master CM-690 II Lite Windowed Gaming Tower Case - Black £69.95
1 x Samsung Green (MV-3V4G3D/US) 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual Channel Kit £64.99
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £59.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EZEX - OEM ** Single Platter ** HDD £56.99
Total : £1,438.31 (includes shipping : £13.75).

The Samsung RAM is the best overclocking RAM round. Using 30nm chips, it uses small amounts of power & it'll go to speeds of 2400mhz +. I'd also be tempted to add a 2nd SSD, but that's just me.