Need some advice on a new build - Sabertooth Build

[Totally Dubbed]

FINISHED but feel free to comment.

Hi guys!

Been a LONG time since I've been on these forums.
I've been relatively happy with my current PC build (which is dated a little) - but here are the specs:

ASUS P5K Premium
E6500 @2.93ghz OC'ed to 3.53Ghz (Dual core)
Nvidia 7600GT (256 Mbt)
2GB OCZ DDR2 Platinum @ 800 Mhz
Artic 7 Cooler
ASUS PW201 Monitor (8ms with 1080i @ 16:10 ratio)

To keep (hopefully) and pass to the new build:
Xonar D1 soundcard
Edimax EW-7728In (N-Draft)



I am wanting to upgrade and build a PC (or get it pre-made for hassle-free + on-site warranty)

Here's what I'm thinking of building/upgrading to:
CPU
-I5 3570K

Motherboard
-ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77

RAM
-Corsair Dominator 2x 4GB Module CL8 @1600Mhz = £68

GFX
-GTX 660 TI 2GB

-SAPPHIRE HD 7850 OC

Drive
-Sony Optical drive X22

Power Supply
-Corsair AX850 (850watt)
OR
-Seasonic X-Series 760w
OR
-Corsair TX850M (850watt)

Case
-Fractal R4 Titanium

CPU Cooling
-Antec 920

Storage
-120GB SSD Corsair Force GT (6GB/s) = Already Bought
-1TB to 2TB of 7200RPM HDD = Already in use with current system and got

Display
-Monitor (undecided) but looking at a IPS LG 23" Monitor at the moment


I will be using the system mainly for browsing, emails, YouTube, video rendering (I make a lot of YouTube videos, but nothing my current system can't handle) and maybe in the future some gaming (I haven't gamed since BF2142 - been awhile, as I have the Xbox 360 for that)


So my questions are the following:
-Should I go for the i5 over the i7, considering it is £80 cheaper for my needs? From what I've seen/researched and experience with my current system, I think maybe an i7 would be over-kill, but I don't know. ANSWERED

-What PSU would be good enough for this type of system (incl brand), and would you suggest modular/semi-modular or not? ANSWERED

-What monitors should I be looking into?
I preferably want an LED, with a high contrast ratio, under 5ms response time, have DVI/HDMI and possibly VGA connections.
It has to be a native 1080P, and be in-between 22" and 27" - preferably spending under £150 for it.
Will ask in the Monitor section.

-RAM wise, is there any other recommendations?
I was going to go with 16GB Corsair Vengeance 1600Mhz, but thought against it, and got advised by a friend to go for only 8GB.
I also thought not to go over or below 1600, as it would either be too slow, or overkill for what I'll be using my system for.
More input would be greatly appreciated
ANSWERED

I would also like the system to be on the relatively quiet side !

 

[Totally Dubbed]

Most definitely go for the i5 unless you're planning on doing video work full time!

16GB is probably overkill, but it is cheap so no real issue there.

No need for such a high wattage psu I believe, unless you're planning on going SLI/CF?

Edit: Also, why the Mobo?

Thanks for the reply!

Ok well the Mobo is mainly because I don't want to change or upgrade any time soon + I want to OC my CPU to 4.5-4.8ghz.
I felt the Sabertooth is the one that not only will offer me future-esk proof protection, but also comes in at a good price for performance.

RAM wise - I'm actually planning on buying the rest of the 8GB (2x4 again) via the USA, if I can.
If I do, then I'll end up with 16GB, but to get me started I want to have at least 8GB.

i5 - that's what I thought too, and feel just as you do - Glad I'm not the only one. As quite a few people are raving about i7's when I say I want to build a PC with an i5.

As for wattage - well as you can see I'm not a huge gamer or will need to use SLI capabilities (at least from what I know) - so I chose the high-ish wattage simply because I don't want the PSU to be over-loaded. An assumption, but possibly a foolish one? I don't know

 

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Really appreciating the feedback!

RAM:
-I didn't even consider Samsung to be honest. Never really known they made RAM (even though I own their flagship the S3) lol. I'll definitely look into that one then!

-PSU, so it seems I went over-board with that one (more money in the bank! ) - I'll go for a 650/600 as suggested then - any brands I should look out for specifically?

 

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Thanks for that list Fanacticjam!

I'm not too convinced on the RAM - I had once a Gigabite energy saver mobo, by complete accident, and that was a pain in the back side.

Those Samsung Greens are all about being eco friendly, from what I gather, after doing some quick searching.
Correct me if I'm wrong though!

Thus the question: why the Samsung over the Corsair for example.

As for the Vengeance - I didn't go for that as my friend had to RMA it 2x, and suggested to go for the dominator (which was initially what I had looked into but then "downgraded" to the vengeance)


As for Mobo - I'll have to look at differences and benchmarks.


For screen: Seems the dell is a little more expensive than what I had planned to spend on a screen -especailly when compare to the LG IPS4 Series IPS234V

 

[Totally Dubbed]

yeah true,i didnt read that part,cheap ram will be best then if you want 16gb,i cant justify £90 for the samsung

but wouldn't running a system that I have mean that the RAM will get over-heated? and thus need some sort of heat sinks?

As for GPU, Fanac, I'm going to try to stay on budget
The 670 is nice, but too expensive for me - the 660 is already well over my budget on something that I might not use (thus why, if I ever get it, I would get it from the states, as the prices in the UK are a little over-board)

 

[Totally Dubbed]

But it wood be fast

Cheaper option:


Patriot Viper Xtreme 16GB £72

that does look tasty!
Does it come with any patriotism ?

 

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ram doesnt get hot,the heatsinks are mainly to aid installing/uninstalling them

if your planning on a big air cooler/heatsink ram without tall heatsinks are a must

Well the cooler I'm thinking is the watercooler from Antec (I did look into intel & Corsairs Hydro - but it seems the Antec would be the best for me) - thus who that affect RAM - well there will be less air flow within the case (as a presumption) thus the ram won't be getting blasted with hot/cold air.

I'm no specialist

I think it's more eco friendly due to being produced on a smaller scale, in the same way that intel get more out of cpus for similar power, as they scale down process or something... All I hear about those samsung green is good things, I'm not convinced myself though I'll stick to my corsair for now


Screen is expensive indeed, due to it being IPS and 16:10, but yeah, each to their own!

Indeed - the native isn't 1920x1080 but 1920x1200, which might prove a little annoying with certain games (xbox will be connected via HDMI)

The response time on it is 8ms, which is fine, considering my current screen is that, but when it comes to upgrading, and that LG i mentioned, it comes in at 5ms, and is around £150.

Considering LG make most of the screens these days - I'm tending to stick with them, unless there's something I see, or get told about, that's within the same price bracket with the same performance.

In that respect, would you recommend IPS over TV, VA ? Let's take PLS out the question lol.

RAM wise - LOL
I'll do some more research,a nd appreciate the input regardless - there's so much in PC's to learn and know about, let alone to know what part and manufacturer is better - personal input, for example from yourself and others, is greatly appreciated.
helps whittle down the list

 

[Totally Dubbed]

ive never had any issues with overheating ram,all have been warm at most to the touch if not cool

you can either go for el cheapo ram or some samsung if you like high memory benchmark numbers,if your rendering a lot of video stability will be most important and youll need to tweak things to get the samsung to oc well,but its not hard at all

lg make some good screens for the money,benq are good too

cheers for the input on that!

 

[Totally Dubbed]

I've had no issues with it as of yet, but I've not hooked it up to any consoles, I wanted the extra height for PS/Vegas/etc.

I'd go with IPS, but I don't know much about it, the given is that IPS is best for image quality and the others for speed and cheapness

That's what I thought myself, IPS is the better technology - but I'll do some more searching

ips has better veiwing angles but uses slightly more power than a tn panel

lg e23251wr is a decent tn panel,so is the benq g2222 tn panel

Cheers! They do look like good TN panels indeed.
Power wise again - I don't really mind it using more power - god knows what my ASUS PW201 consumes

This is why you need to be careful about cooler and ram! ^

haha close one

 

[Totally Dubbed]

Got a warning for mentioning price...bit naff, didn't even think about that.

Anyway - slight update:
Will be building the PC soon, and thus be buying individual pieces.

Current build is looking at this (upgraded myself):
-I7 3770K
-ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77
-Corsair Dominator 2x 4GB CL8
-GTX 660 TI 2GB
-Corsair AX50
-Fractal R4
-Antec 920

 

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I looked into the samsung, and really don't want to go the eco route.
I'm choosing the expensive RAM for the long run - and also the upgrade option to 16GB via 4x 4GB.

Vengeance is my second option, but if it is only a £10-20 difference, I rather go for the "top-spec" one.

Monitors have got me really confused atm:
LG IPS235V vs Asus VE228H

I would lean towards the IPS, but not liking the LG stand at all.

 

[Totally Dubbed]

Info about GPU choice:
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=22814469&postcount=32

Final build (ordered):
-Asus Sabertooth Z77
-Intel i7 3770K
-MSI GeForce GTX 660Ti Power Edition
-Corsair Dominator Platinum 8GB (CL8) - refunded
EDIT: (16GB) Vengeance CL9
-Corsair AX850 Watt
-Antec H2O 920
-Samsung 22x DVD-ROM
-Fractal Define R4 Titanium Grey

Went for 850W as the price difference was minimal - so to give me extra piece of mind I went for the extra 100-200watt.

Went for the i7, again as the price difference wasn't much between the i5 and i7. So thought might as well.

All together my "might as well as it's a little more" set me back around £100-150 but heck I'm happy, especially with my choices of resellers.
I could have gone el-chepo, but wanted to go with trusted resellers like OCUK (case + drive + GPU) from them.


Slight change in plan for the RAM- went for 16GB Vengeance @ CL9 - after reading countless reviews- between CL8 & CL9 - the difference is negligible - and the same applies for the dominator vs vengeance - especially at the price.
Saved my self a few pounds (literally, sitting on the PC the whole day )

 

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As an EVGA fanboy... I would have gone EVGA, although I'm not too sure their GPU's have the best cooling..

I know what it's like to be sitting in front of the PC all day trying to decide what parts to get Planning a case upgrade now!

Enjoy your new PC!

nice !

and lol - yeah well I'm no fan boy on any respect AMD, nvidia, intel or not bla bla - all i care about is performance for price ratio - and sometimes looks (like the case)

Overall, the choice I've made I'm happy with - the GFX i'm in two minds about - and I'm sure those things will be settled as soon as I get the GFX and install it

Sometimes its best going with your gut instinct, and the MSI was my initial thought, before I got into the whole 7950 vs gtx660ti thing, and then the evga, gigabyte etc etc came in...lol

Good to have choice - especially of resellers too - so I'm not complaining

 

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Oh and : You should see this!

Yeah, I'm no real fanboy, I just stick with brands that have impressed me and seemed worth their value!

Have you ordered now?

haha dam!
I have already ordered via OCUK - can always cancel, but dang - never saw that.
Don't make me think again

EDIT:
I don't know weather to love or hate you:
Warranty: 3 Years (upgradable to 10years with registration)

Will cancel/change order with OCUK as soon as I can.

WHY DIDN'T THEY HAVE THIS SAY 4hrs AGO!? lol
They saw me and were like QUICK!

What times to what times are OCUK available to take calls?
To amend my order, as I can't do it online.

RE-EDIT:
Realise the 10year thing is by paying an additional fee for it.
Screw it, I'll stick with MSI - I got the 14day satisfaction guarantee anyway lol.

 

[Totally Dubbed]

Pretty sure the ten year is just from registering it, at least I think it's like that for my current/past EVGA gear

Edit: Tried to check but can't log in due to some bug :s

If that is the case then I'll switch if not, then there's no price or difference between the two really.

When I looked it was $60 for the additional 7years (which is nothing in reality) - but still, when I would have to replace a card, I would have to pay the difference under warranty - that's my presumption

If anything MSI > EVGA due to the higher base clocks - other than that it would be looks lol
EVGA > MSI in that respect.

Noise wise- I'm clueless - I know the MSI runs super quiet and a little high pitched when on full load.

 

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GPU clock really doesn't matter, EVGA comes with a great little tool for pumping it up a bit further, no harm can come of it so long as you don't touch the voltage so far as I know, I pushed my older EVGA 460 Superclocked version even further than the SC standard clock with it

if that was the case I would have gone for the HD7950 and not even argued lol

I'm happy with the MSI - unless I see EVGA offer 10yrs for free, then I'll switch lol

I love both cards.