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i5 2500k system

Hello my name is Derv, and I....... I....... I'm going to switch to Intel very soon.

I am looking at MBs and I also like the look, price and spec of the Asrock Z77 Extreme 4.

IB or SB :confused:

Difficult decision, but I'm drawn towards SB based on what we know about IB. First time in many years (and several upgrades) that AMD aren't the obvious choice for me.

Memory. Should have bought 8gb of that Kingston stuff when it was £30 the other week. I have narrowed it down to -

Corsair Vengeance Low Profile

G.Skill RipJawsX 8GB

Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey

Samsung Green 8GB

I'm (as usual) trying to get the best bang/buck. From what I understand, the choice of RAM isn't going to make a massive difference, and maybe not even the motherboard. However, it's still a love/hate thing when choosing new hardware.
 
jeff6475 said:
i use G.Skill RipJawsX 8GB
cant fault it and i have the z68e4g3 asrock board and it looks and feel's great
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I have read good and bad things about Asrock boards. No doubt some people have had bad experiences with them, but I am now hearing more positive reports. I can't say that my experience with my current Gigabyte MB + GTX460 has been a great one (far from it), and Gigabyte seem to have a very good reputation.

OK, so the G.Skill memory seems to be a good choice. The cooler should be an easy decision, but there's way too much choice ! Cooler Master EVO 212 or Gelid Tranquillo ? Arrrrrgh !
 
I would get either the "Corsair Vengeance Low Profile" or the Samsung green if you're one to overclock and mess around with tweaking a system. There's a thread about the samsung RAM here:
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18379546

I'd get the Gelid, as its on offer at the moment, and in stock. Also i wouldn't get the G.Skill RAM as the heatsinks may interfere with the cooler, it's best to just stay with low profile stuff.
 
It doesn't matter that I bought the Samsung green with low profile for possible Air Cooler clearance... the RAM was good value, low height and low voltage with proven overclocking but after reviewing cooling and considering my case I'm aiming at a corsair H80 - its only problem was noise, so I'll up-rate fans to Scythe Gentle Typhoo AP-15 as other wiser people than me have :D so the ram could have had 5inch heat spreaders on for all I care!
 
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...from what I'm reading on this forum - Ivybridge is no great gain over sandybridge, maybe 5% :( lets hope sandybridge cpu's don't jump UP in price after the release date...

I have an AMD skt 939 and was waiting for the release of Bulldozer so I could hunt for a Phenom II (steal) deal... untill the world caught on that AMD Bulldozer was a flop and phenom II's became the 'golden egg' CPU!
 
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beejjacobs said:
I would get either the "Corsair Vengeance Low Profile" or the Samsung green if you're one to overclock and mess around with tweaking a system. There's a thread about the samsung RAM here:
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18379546

I'd get the Gelid, as its on offer at the moment, and in stock. Also i wouldn't get the G.Skill RAM as the heatsinks may interfere with the cooler, it's best to just stay with low profile stuff.
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Corsair Vengeance LP (8gb): Got*

Gelid Tranquillo (v2): Got...... The v2 seems to provide slightly better clearance for RAM, they've bent the heatpipes to move the fan away from the slots. Seems that OCUK only sell v1, so had to buy from elsewhere.

Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H : Looks (and smells) nice !

Waiting for the i5 2500K to arrive.

* This will be my third purchase of Corsair RAM. The two previous purchases were bad experiences, despite Corsair's good reputation. Both times I had 1 faulty stick. Hopefully it will be third time lucky. I couldn't resist taking another chance, as it was a decent price.
 
pastymuncher said:
Not a particularly good offer though. Thought they would have matched a competitor at least.
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:( I'm not going to get a good 2500K price here... and don't want an eBay one either, christ knows what voltage it might have had shoved through it be for it comes up for re-sale! :rolleyes:
 
ussff said:
:( I'm not going to get a good 2500K price here... and don't want an eBay one either, christ knows what voltage it might have had shoved through it be for it comes up for re-sale! :rolleyes:
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I didn't fancy a used one either.

I'd rather take my chances with a "fresh" one with a warranty.
 
ussff said:
:( I'm not going to get a good 2500K price here... and don't want an eBay one either, christ knows what voltage it might have had shoved through it be for it comes up for re-sale! :rolleyes:
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I was'nt talking about a second hand one or a ebay one which is why i said they could have at least price matched a competitor. ;) I am talking brand new, retail with three year warranty.
 
Well my budget has gone North of the plan! Cos I'm learning fast that there is little point in doing all of this... with my Neovo monitor maxing out at 1280x1028 :(

To try and save some cash I've looked down the product line below the i5-2500k and I'm not finding the 'k' :rolleyes: appearing anywhere.

I've thought about the i3-2100 as a starter CPU and then wait to see further Ivy releases, for an upgrade. The i3 would be cheaper and save me a few quid with regard to the after market cooler (was planning a H80) as well, cos I'd have to run it stock. It may yet drop further in price come next week...

Its not my ideal solution, but most current i5-2500k owners are not planning to upsize to the current Ivy chip from what I've seen, at least I'd get a speed hike that would make updating much more relavent, as the Ivy matures with further releases? Only real question is will the i3 cut it as a budget games CPU?
 
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ussff said:
Well my budget has gone North of the plan! Cos I'm learning fast that there is little point in doing all of this... with my Neovo monitor maxing out at 1280x1028 :(

To try and save some cash I've looked down the product line below the i5-2500k and I'm not finding the 'k' :rolleyes: appearing anywhere.

I've thought about the i3-2100 as a starter CPU and then wait to see further Ivy releases, for an upgrade. The i3 would be cheaper and save me a few quid with regard to the after market cooler (was planning a H80) as well, cos I'd have to run it stock. It may yet drop further in price come next week...

Its not my ideal solution, but most current i5-2500k owners are not planning to upsize to the current Ivy chip from what I've seen, at least I'd get a speed hike that would make updating much more relavent, as the Ivy matures with further releases? Only real question is will the i3 cut it as a budget games CPU?
Click to expand...

The i3 is a great budget gaming CPU. Sure you can't overclock it, but in a Z77 board then you've got the option to get an i5 when you see one cheap :)

2500K vs 2100 Gaming benchmarks towards the end
 
Well the i3 does still 'slam dunk' any of the AMD's I was looking at (before I was converted) and its looking very cheap here too!
 
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