help decide between specs pls..urgent order

backtothefuture

backtothefuture

backtothefuture

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14 Nov 2003
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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
 
Basic Components of the build:

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - £155.99
Asrock Z68 PRO3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 MotherboarD - £99.98
Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB)1600MHz Dual Channel Kit - £43.19
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2 CPU Cooler -£21.98
OcUK Battle 550W Dual Rail High Efficiency Modular Power Supply - £45.98
+ Seagate hybrid HDD

Optional:

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6870 1024MB - £139.99

Those components all should fit within that upside down looking lian-li no problem and there all pretty sweet/future proof!
 
z68 basically took over the p67/h61 chipsets, gives you overclocking capabilities that come with the p67 boards if you have a k series chip while also supporting many new technologys such as intels smart response etc.

Also the i7 would be better obviously, but 90 bucks difference is a lot for basically just hyperthreading and bragging rights. That money could be better used else where, such as a decent graphics card when the 2500k can be overclocked so well.

you never stated a price, so the items i put are more towards the "bang for buck" criteria instead of all being crazy top of the line.
 
Quick Anandtech article

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/...-core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested/9

and some quick benchies.

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I'd say 2500K, with a Z68 transcoding support, save your money over the i7 for a good motherboard and overclocking.
 
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Ferkinz said:
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - £155.99
Click to expand...

i7 would be better for video editing.

Ferkinz said:
Asrock Z68 PRO3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 MotherboarD - £99.98
Click to expand...

Not really allowing much upgrades is there?

Go for a Gen3 board so you can upgrade to Ivy Bridge:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-054-AK&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1990
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-188-MS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1990

Ferkinz said:
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2 CPU Cooler -£21.98
Click to expand...

Isn't really that much better than the stock fan. Get a Gelid Tranquilo.

Ferkinz said:
OcUK Battle 550W Dual Rail High Efficiency Modular Power Supply - £45.98
Click to expand...

Terrible PSU! I wouldn't run a fan off of that.

Get a decent branded one if you value your components.



backtothefutre said:
thanks, whats the difference between a z68 and a 1155 mobo?
Click to expand...

Z68 is 1155. 1155 is the socket, Z68 is the chipset.
 
Ferkinz said:
*snip*
OcUK Battle 550W Dual Rail High Efficiency Modular Power Supply - £45.98
Click to expand...

really dont go for that PSU. never EVER go for a no brand PSU. well, unless you want your computer to blow up that is. stick to antec, corsair, XFX and OCZ if you can.

as for the case it looks like most coolers should fit in there, but im not so sure on graphics card length. i'm sure you would be happy to move your DVD drive to accommodate a long graphics card, but im not sure if they will fit between the DVD drives or not

people are also giving mixed reviews of the hybrid HDD, saying the performance increase is marginal at best, so not knowing what you have already i've just put a normal HDD in there. you might want to save up for an SSD later though

so, since i dont really know your budget, heres a middling build:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £172.99
1 x MSI Z68A-GD65-G3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £159.98
1 x OcUK GeForce GTX 560 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £134.99
1 x Antec TruePower New Modular 650W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £71.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £47.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500413AS) £30.98
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
Total : £656.92 (includes shipping : £10.00).
 
things i would change in Reaper's build,

mobo, on a very tight budget, id rather spend the money on a better GPU than a "future proof" motherboard. so i would go for the MSI P67A-GD53

GPU, use the money saved from the mobo to get a GTX560Ti or HD6950 2GB

PSU, the Lepa B-series 750w is only £3 more, this gives you the option of adding a 2nd GTX560Ti or HD6950 2GB.
 
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...
 
backtothefuture said:
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...
Click to expand...

Regarding the amount of RAM.

As Sandy Bridge is dual channel you ideally want 8GB (2x4GB) or 16GB (4x4GB).

You could have 12GB in dual channel (2x2GB + 2x4GB) but mixing capacities like that isn't worth any problems it might cause.
 
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 £££
 
the Samsung F3 and Seagate 7200.12 perform similarly to the Caviar Blacks while being significantly cheaper.

iirc, Raid 0 isnt worth it, as the chances of data loss isnt worth the speed you get.

SSD are around £1/Gb and more reliable than Raid 0.
 
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!
 
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