help decide between specs pls..urgent order

backtothefuture

backtothefuture

backtothefuture

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Joined
14 Nov 2003
Posts
544
Hello,

I need to place an order with OCUK and have it delivered within next 10 days.

Am looking for a CPU/heatsink/Mobo/RAM/PSU/connecting cables and a Seagate Hybrid 500GBB HDD...

Main purpose is video editing and casual gaming...

Budget is flexible

Can't decide whether to go for an Intel Z68, a normal 1155, or an AMD Phenom...not sure what the lllano range is for...
main concerns are performance and future upgradability

any advice appreciated

ps I have a Lian Li PCV 1100 case so please consider for heatsink size
 
Thanks for the feedback everyone, it's been really helpful... I Will likely use power director 9 which supports quick sync so will go for a z68... Am thinking alng the lines of 12 gb RAM... I already have a radeon hd4850 which I am still trying to finish crysis warhead on... Other games down the line include portal 2 and maybe l.a.noire... I have a ps3 for the rest... So not sure if I need to change the gpu as well... Will prob go for an i5 since benchmarks from i7 are not too far off...
 
ok, this is what I have so far...any areas of overkill?

MSI Z68A-GD65-G3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £159.98 (£133.32)

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £155.99 (£129.99)

Antec TruePower New Blue Modular 750W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £117.98 (£98.32)

Western Digital Caviar Black 2 X 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (WD1002FAEX) £145.96 (£121.64)

Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 16GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £95.98 (£79.98)

Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99 (£21.66)

Akasa eSATA to eSATA Data Cable £4.79 (£3.99)

OcUK Value AT/ATX "Kettle Plug" Mains Cable £2.39 (£1.99)

Sub Total : £590.89



Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout)

Shipping : £10.00

VAT is being charged at 20.00%

VAT : £120.18


Total :
 
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thanks, i replaced the PSU with your suggestion... I already have a WD 20EARs 2TB, was looking for a fast boot RAID 0 combo...hence the WD Blacks (6GB/s).. SSDs don't give much storage for the £££
 
sorry, i meant RAID 1 (mirror), the seagate has a lower cache...not sure what the WD avg seek time is though the Blacks have got 5 star ratings and no one seems to have rated Seagate yet...however as you state, the latter is significantly cheaper!
 
well, finally got the new build up and running today!..managed to cut about three fingers while fiddling with the heatsink, as is expected..

all seems ok except:

1. The Lepa PSU won't fit fully in the case; the modular connectors push against the internals...hence got it sticking out from the back slightly and can't screw it in!

2. On first boot the mobo was giving me a temp reading of 50C idle for the CPU...not sure if thats a bit hot!...heatsink is on ok, all four ends screwed in firmly and am using Diamond Carat 7 thermal compound..

3. Windows Exp Index has given my primary HDD a rating of 5.9!...these are the WD blacks!...is that normal?
 
Surveyor said:
1. :eek:

2. See what the temperatures are when you've installed Windows. There are no energy saving feature enabled in the BIOS.

Just out of curiosity why did you go for the WD Black over the Samsung F3?
Click to expand...

ok, according to the MSI Control Panel software (under windows), its giving readings of around 62C for all 4 cores @3.3gh otherwise 53C for all 4 cores at 1.6Ghz... not sure what monkey business is going on there!

re: Blacks vs F3s, the user comments on the OC website were pretty positive for the Blacks, and some cursory research on the F3s seemed to point to noise issues... I thought might as well try the Blacks since I had been eyeing them for a couple of years now and was waiting for an 'excuse' ..:D
 
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Ok here are some pics:

Dubai-20110903-00009.jpg


can see the PSU sticking out

Dubai-20110903-00011.jpg


PSU from the inside of case...rear molex won't allow it to go back any further!

Dubai-20110903-00013.jpg


snapshot of whole build
 
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on the point of the high CPU temps, I just want to clarify the fan's orientation on the HS... per the manual (leaflet) with the cooler there were arrows indicating direction of airflow towards the heatsink (which makes sense)...

so that would imply the 'clean' side of the fan facing the heatsink and the one with the wires sticking out (i.e. exhaust) facing away from the heatsink...

however per a youtube video showing the above heatsink, the clean side of the fan shows as facing away from the HS!...

note sure if I got the fan orientation wrong??
 
the air intake fan is at the bottom front of the case which intakes over the HDD...there is no fan pumping air into the higher part of the case...

I just changed the orientation of the CPU fan and temps are better by 10C ... ie now I get around 50C idle... still not convinced that is good enough..eg. how hot will CPU get when I play Crysis 2??

is there a decent stress test software I can use?

cheers
 
not much I can do with the cables...am already using the bare minimum for the modular PSU... I reset the heatsink and used some Arctic Silver 5, got temps a couple of degrees lower... can't really go any lower than approx 48 idle, I think I am now limited by lack of airflow in top half of case... there are no fan inlets there, only an exhaust at the back...ideally there should have been an inlet at the top of the case!
 
the front door is not vented so not sure how that would work unless I leave the front door open, but this would defeat a large part of the case's soundproofing...

I guess I can live with the temps, should be ok for casual gaming and vid editing; I am not into oc'ing much and will do it in limited stints i.e. while vid editing etc...

should tide me over for a few years :)

cheers
 
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