finish my build challenge!

[Idleman]

Be silly not to fella. On another side note have you had issues with the new Nvidia drivers? I recently did a reinstall of the OS and the rig hated the new driver. Random crashes and multiple displays just hung the system with a black screen, took me a little while to track down the cause Seems there have been quite a few complaints, just a word to the wise

Never have any problems with Nvidia drivers, I don`t use beta drivers so can`t comment on them.

Would have to agree on the case. Would be a lot less hassle just getting an ssd later, rather than the case. Also reading one of the OPs earlier posts, he wants a board for possible xfire in the future. See what he says tomorrow, then make changes.

 

[stulid]

thanks cypto and stulid. think we have it now. the case is the only thing. but i could always get a better one at a later date. looks like a good build now and hopefully future proof to some extent. thanks again

Or!!!

If you wanted a Intel spec that does SLI+Crossfire,


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x MSI HD 7870 Black Knight 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (R7870-2GD5T/OC) £161.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD120BW) £77.99
1 x **B Grade** Gigabyte Z68A-D3H-GEN3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 (MB-380-GI) £52.00
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £43.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard II Midi Tower Case - Black/Silver £29.99
Total : £610.93 (includes shipping : £12.50).




As long as Bios F10 or newer is on the board it will work with the Ivybridge CPU.


Or a 2500K is £10 extra again and will work no matter what BIOS is on the board.

 

[bioshockeruk]

Never have any problems with Nvidia drivers, I don`t use beta drivers so can`t comment on them.

Would have to agree on the case. Would be a lot less hassle just getting an ssd later, rather than the case. Also reading one of the OPs earlier posts, he wants a board for possible xfire in the future. See what he says tomorrow, then make changes.

that is one option, although having to painstakingly reinstall my OS and all my software would be very time consuming which I don't have much of in my line of work.

My theory on crossfire is that I can have a fairly good system now and then give it some more power when newer games demand it in the future, provided the CPU doesn't bottleneck that is!

I've heard a lot about Intel being a better chip also, but as I won't really be benchmarking as such, will I see any real-world performance difference?

 

[Idleman]

I think the 3570k just has the edge over the 8320 in most games, also uses less power.
Also, don`t think you would have a bottleneck with xfire 7870s, although if you do go xfire, you would need a bigger Psu.
You can always copy your windows partition straight to your ssd, as long as you make sure it is properly aligned. A lot quicker than doing another install or swapping cases.

 

[OliverDavis]

Actually thinking of selling it on that well known auction site, having looked at the prices.

That wouldnt be worth it now as you have already used it on your PC. AFAIR when you use a windows activation key it logs the serial numbers of parts in your system. Sell the key and it pops up on MS servers that the new machines serial numbers do not match then you may have problems!

Windows can unactivate itself if you change too much hardware in your PC. Might be best to call MS and ask them about clearing any codes on the second key because you are replacing your PC! Dont mention the first key though!

 

[OliverDavis]

that is one option, although having to painstakingly reinstall my OS and all my software would be very time consuming which I don't have much of in my line of work.

My theory on crossfire is that I can have a fairly good system now and then give it some more power when newer games demand it in the future, provided the CPU doesn't bottleneck that is!

I've heard a lot about Intel being a better chip also, but as I won't really be benchmarking as such, will I see any real-world performance difference?

As for AMD vs Intel it really depends what you want from the chips! AMD is power hungry, so not worth it for a mining rig. Gaming there really is not much in it. Given correct cooling they will both overclock great. Intel has a bit of a premium on price but better performance per clock. It depends on budget and what motherboard features you need at the end of the day!

Surprisingly the Intel vs AMD war has died down recently! Probably because for the price the FX-8350 is amazing and because Haswell has not been too good. Roll on Steamroller and Broadwell/Skylake!

 

[Idleman]

That wouldnt be worth it now as you have already used it on your PC. AFAIR when you use a windows activation key it logs the serial numbers of parts in your system. Sell the key and it pops up on MS servers that the new machines serial numbers do not match then you may have problems!

Windows can unactivate itself if you change too much hardware in your PC. Might be best to call MS and ask them about clearing any codes on the second key because you are replacing your PC! Dont mention the first key though!

Not if it is retail. That only relates to OEM that comes pre-installed. My copies were bought separately.

 

[honosuseri]

Never have any problems with Nvidia drivers, I don`t use beta drivers so can`t comment on them.

That was the 320.18 WHQL driver fella (for a fresh install naturally I downloaded the latest driver). I've never had problems with their drivers before either which is why I thought it might have been my OC causing the issues. I've had to rollback the driver and now all is as it should be. If your running the new driver without issue that's good

that is one option, although having to painstakingly reinstall my OS and all my software would be very time consuming which I don't have much of in my line of work.

My theory on crossfire is that I can have a fairly good system now and then give it some more power when newer games demand it in the future, provided the CPU doesn't bottleneck that is!

I've heard a lot about Intel being a better chip also, but as I won't really be benchmarking as such, will I see any real-world performance difference?

If you will get a samsung SSD they have the magician and data migration software to simplify moving your data and OS. Seems silly to me to "write off" a £30 case (ok you could reuse the fans) and rebuild into a new chassis but it's your choice.

Any of the i5Ks will have lower power consumption. Infact even overclocked they will use less juice than the AMD at stock speeds. You also get the quicksync tech which can help with video encoding if your software supports it.

Some games suffer from micro stuttering with AMDs Xfire, this might get resolved later on with a driver update. It's often much simpler to have a single GPU setup. 500W is ample for a single GPU setup and overclocking the CPU and GPU. SLi/Xfire mobos are more expensive and you'll notice in specs it's common for us to use a 750W PSU to cover the power requirements of dual mid-high end GPUs.

As I hinted at before I would really look for a Tahiti cored 7870XT they really offer the best bang for buck. OCuk did sell the VTX3D Black boosted for £170ish (so that's basically standard 7870 pricing), with an overclock it will trade blows with the stock 7950. When that no longer cuts the mustard you could upgrade and sell off the old GPU to recoup some cash.

 

[stulid]

that is one option, although having to painstakingly reinstall my OS and all my software would be very time consuming which I don't have much of in my line of work.

My theory on crossfire is that I can have a fairly good system now and then give it some more power when newer games demand it in the future, provided the CPU doesn't bottleneck that is!

I've heard a lot about Intel being a better chip also, but as I won't really be benchmarking as such, will I see any real-world performance difference?

The truth is that the AMD setup will cope very well compared to the Intel spec, TTL has done an all AMD vs X97 test here - http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/systems/amd_8350_7970_gaming_rig_review/14

Surprising results considering the price/performance difference.


Crossfire will be fine by the time you need it, there is no microstuttering on single card setups, new drivers are out on July 31st for any Crossfire concerns.

 

[bioshockeruk]

The truth is that the AMD setup will cope very well compared to the Intel spec, TTL has done an all AMD vs X97 test here - http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/systems/amd_8350_7970_gaming_rig_review/14

Surprising results considering the price/performance difference.


Crossfire will be fine by the time you need it, there is no microstuttering on single card setups, new drivers are out on July 31st for any Crossfire concerns.

that's quite interesting to note that AMD rigs can compete against Intel's in real world performance (ie. gaming). And I have looked into the AMD drivers problems, but seeing that consoles will be AMD based, and the focus on some AAA titles being branded with AMD will mean some excellence improvements with Crossfire as you have said.

honosuseri I am very new to SSD's and seeing as the prices are now more attractive have decided to take the benefit from one, (I want to see what the fuss is about!).

thanks to everyone who has helped me pick out the parts, now to wait for the money by the end of the week. then build time, I will post my results on here, as I'll probaly run into some probs and need help...and i'm very tempted to overclock a little, not much, just as an experiment to learn more!

 

[stulid]

No worries.

SSD's make a wonderful difference to a system, I could never go back to using a mechanical drive as my main drive.

Just before you do order ask again in case there is a change in any of the product prices or special offers.

 

[bioshockeruk]

ok so i've done a little bit of tweaking, what do you guys reckon to this, should this be a good setup, absolute max price I can pay is £650, only because my partner said she will give me £50 for the case to shut me up!

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8350 Black Edition 4.00GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £155.99
1 x Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7850 OC Windforce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £149.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD120BW) £77.99
1 x ASRock 970 Extreme3 R2.0 AMD 970 (Socket AM3+) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £65.99
1 x GeIL EVO Leggera 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-14900C10 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL38GB1866C10DC) £59.99
1 x Zalman Z9 USB 3.0 Midi Tower Case - Black £54.98
1 x Thermaltake Smart Series 530w Modular '80Plus Bronze' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £26.99
Total : £656.90 (includes shipping : £12.50).



*edit: I won't mention the £6 odd over budget! hehe

 

[stulid]

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7870 Black Knight 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (R7870-2GD5T/OC) £161.99
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8350 Black Edition 4.00GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £155.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD120BW) £77.99
1 x MSI 970A-G46 AMD 970A (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £64.99
1 x Zalman Z9 USB 3.0 Midi Tower Case - Black £54.98
1 x Thermaltake Smart Series 530w Modular '80Plus Bronze' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £43.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper T4 CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £20.99
Total : £645.91 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Hows that?

The GFX is faster and will give a bigger boost than the slower speed RAM will against the 1866MHz GeIL EVO stuff.

 

[bioshockeruk]

hmmm, good point there stulid. this looks very good. really can't wait to fire this baby up, (and chomp some haribo!) cheers again

 

[stulid]

hmmm, good point there stulid. this looks very good. really can't wait to fire this baby up, (and chomp some haribo!) cheers again

No problem

 

[honosuseri]

thanks to everyone who has helped me pick out the parts, now to wait for the money by the end of the week. then build time, I will post my results on here, as I'll probaly run into some probs and need help...and i'm very tempted to overclock a little, not much, just as an experiment to learn more!

You're welcome. Pop back nearer the time as prices will change as the offers alter. Hopefully you are understanding now how to balance out the parts.

It's all very well Stulid pointing to TTLs review of the "All AMD rig" however search TimeToLiveCustoms Youtube Channel for a MITX system review (I can't link or name it as it's a competitors system in the review). Skip to around 38 minutes and you'll see why I have suggested what I have.

The all AMD rig was an 8350 @4.6Ghz with a 7970 the Intel contender was an Ivy i5K @4.6Ghz with a 7870 Tahiti. Intel beat it for gaming and that's surprising as the 7970 is MUCH more expensive

 

[stulid]

It's all very well Stulid pointing to TTLs review of the "All AMD rig" however search TimeToLiveCustoms Youtube Channel for a MITX system review (I can't link or name it as it's a competitors system in the review). Skip to around 38 minutes and you'll see why I have suggested what I have.

The all AMD rig was an 8350 @4.6Ghz with a 7970 the Intel contender was an Ivy i5K @4.6Ghz with a 7870 Tahiti. Intel beat it for gaming and that's surprising as the 7970 is MUCH more expensive

http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/systems/amd_8350_7970_gaming_rig_review/1

We're comparing it to our normal GPU test bench of an Intel Core i7-3960X at 4.6GHz. Motherboard apart the other specifications are identical.

Wrong

 

[honosuseri]

Go watch the video of that Prodigy system Stulid. I'm not talking about the 2011 setup in that review you linked

 

[stulid]

Go watch the video of that Prodigy system Stulid. I'm not talking about the 2011 setup in that review you linked

And I never was on about any Youtube video. I was on about and linked to the "all AMD" written review.

 

[honosuseri]

And I never was on about any Youtube video. I was on about and linked to the "all AMD" written review.

Why am I wrong? I have no idea what you are on about. I wasn't talking about the review you linked I clearly stated a different video review for him to look up.

The Prodigy build is an i5 3570K @4.6Ghz and a Tahiti 7870 OC'd. That is feasible for him to build on his budget he doesn't need to make it Mini-ITX. Tom clearly states at the time I quoted earlier that the i5K build beats that "All AMD rig" which is in the review that you linked. The 8350 is the higher end CPU to what he had his eye on and the 7970 is obviously out of his price range too.