Decent Sandybridge Build?

panthro · 14 Jan 2011 at 08:36

Originally I was going with an AMD Phenom 955 or 965, but then worked out that I could build a SB system for identical money. Specced this up just now. What do you reckon, is everything compatible? Mainly for photo editing and gaming. Wouldnt mind doing some OC'ing in the future but nothing too heavy.

The main thing for me is compatibility because OCUK would be shipping this to Australia for me so want everything to be ok the first time round. Australia is quite expensive for some PC parts, which is why I want to buy from the UK.

HIS ATI Radeon HD 6870 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE CODMW2 Game£173.99
(£144.99) £173.99
(£144.99)

IIyama Prolite E2472HD 24" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black£165.59
(£137.99) £165.59
(£137.99)

Intel Core i5-2500 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail£161.99
(£134.99) £161.99
(£134.99)

Asus P8P67 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge)£124.99
(£104.16) £124.99
(£104.16)

OCZ ModXStream Pro 700w Silent SLI Certified Modular Power Supply£66.98
(£55.82) £66.98
(£55.82)

Corsair XMS3 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Triple Channel (CMX6GX3M3A1600C9)£65.99
(£54.99) £65.99
(£54.99)

Coolermaster CM-690 II Lite Dominator Case - Black£61.26
(£51.05) £61.26
(£51.05)

Samsung SH-B123L/RSBP 12x BD-ROM / 16x DVD Writer Drive - Black (Retail)£54.98
(£45.82) £54.98
(£45.82)

Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ)£40.99
(£34.16) £40.99
(£34.16)

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2 CPU Cooler (Socket 939 / AM2 / AM3 / 775 / 1155/ 1156 / 1366)£19.39
(£16.16) £19.39
(£16.16)

Br4d · 14 Jan 2011 at 08:50

Firstly that CPU is not a "K" edition so it wont be able to be overclocked.

Secondly Sandybridge uses Dual channel RAM, so change the ram to a Dual channel kit.

BlueVenom · 14 Jan 2011 at 08:52

Only thing i've noticed you have triple channel memory for a dual channel board.

Try http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-203-CS

Defunkt · 14 Jan 2011 at 08:52

The main problem you have with your spec is you have gone for 3 sticks of DDR3 instead of 2. Look at the motherboard you have selected and it's RAM slots. (and all those that use sandybridge) and you will notice they use duel RAM sticks on their mobos and not the tripple sets so go for something like this...

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-190-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=

Or this if you need more than 4GB..

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-295-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=

panthro · 14 Jan 2011 at 08:57

Whoops, I should have realised that. Ammending now. Ideally Id want at least 6Gb of RAM. Not sure which mobo to go for, any suggestions?

BlueVenom · 14 Jan 2011 at 08:59

Well i'm going for the Gigabyte UD4, does not have the fancy BIOS like Asus or MSI but it will do me

R088ieS86 · 14 Jan 2011 at 08:59

Get the i5-2500K chip: This Week Only Offer
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor with FREE Lost Planet 2 PC Game - Retail

and switch the RAM to either mentioned above.

cmndr_andi · 14 Jan 2011 at 09:01

If you want more than 4GB memory, then I would suggest going for a kit like this.

I would also strongly suggest you go for an i5 2500K, as this chip can overclock properly.

Also, do you plan on running a second graphics card in CrossfireX in the future?

panthro · 14 Jan 2011 at 09:06

Updated! Id want this build to last at least a couple of years without having to do any major upgrades.

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor with FREE Lost Planet 2 PC Game - Retail
£188.99
(£157.49) £188.99
(£157.49)

HIS ATI Radeon HD 6870 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE CODMW2 Game£173.99
(£144.99) £173.99
(£144.99)

IIyama Prolite E2472HD 24" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black£165.59
(£137.99) £165.59
(£137.99)

Asus P8P67 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge)£124.99
(£104.16) £124.99
(£104.16)

GeIL 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz VALUE PLUS Dual Channel (GVP38GB1600C9DC)£94.99
(£79.16) £94.99
(£79.16)

OCZ ModXStream Pro 700w Silent SLI Certified Modular Power Supply£66.98
(£55.82) £66.98
(£55.82)

Coolermaster CM-690 II Lite Dominator Case - Black£61.26
(£51.05) £61.26
(£51.05)

Samsung SH-B123L/RSBP 12x BD-ROM / 16x DVD Writer Drive - Black (Retail)£54.98
(£45.82) £54.98
(£45.82)

Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ)£40.99
(£34.16) £40.99
(£34.16)

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2 CPU Cooler (Socket 939 / AM2 / AM3 / 775 / 1155/ 1156 / 1366)£19.39
(£16.16) £19.39
(£16.16)

R088ieS86 · 14 Jan 2011 at 13:38

Only upgrade you may need to do id the graphics card.

Maybe look at a 6950 if your budget stretches. They ahve been successful @ being unlocked to 6970's. This card will alst you a longer than the one you picked.

panthro · 14 Jan 2011 at 23:04

Cheers, Is it true that GFX cards are the main bottlenecks on most systems these days?

Also, do games utilise 8GB of RAM? Im wondering if I would be ok with 4GB for photo editing and gaming?

Mr-White · 14 Jan 2011 at 23:13

panthro said:
Cheers, Is it true that GFX cards are the main bottlenecks on most systems these days?

Also, do games utilise 8GB of RAM? Im wondering if I would be ok with 4GB for photo editing and gaming?

If I was getting a Sandy Bridge system I'd be wanting an ssd in there. - have one in this comp.

I'm using 4gb in the system i'm using now, it runs most things fine although it runs around 2.4gb just running the o/s and a few apps, i'd be looking for 6-8gb to feel comfortable and future your system a little more.

MW

panthro · 14 Jan 2011 at 23:27

Im totally maxxed out on the budget at the moment so will wait a while until I can get a decent sized SSD in there. Unless I can save money in other areas to fit an SSD in.