New Build (yes another one!)

Nik_B

Nik_B

Nik_B

Associate
Joined
9 Jul 2011
Posts
41
Hi Guys

Would some of you mind looking over the following build and give me some advice. Obviously it will be an expensive system and I don't mind spending for the performance but if any of these components are pointless or overkill please point them out. Also could you point out any any weaknesses or bottlenecks and/or better alternatives.

I am planning to buy two 27" monitors with 2560x1440 resolution and will game on one of them hence the powerful Graphics card with 3GB Vram. Eventually I may buy another graphics card and monitor and run them in SLI with Nvidia surround if they will be capable for 3 monitor gaming which I am not 100% sure about. I do like my flight sims and they tend to be resource hungry at the best of times especially Cliffs of Dover.

OK so here is where I am up:

SILVERSTONE Fortress 2
ASUS P8Z68 DELUXE Z68
I5 2500K 3.3GHz to overclock past 4GHz
16GB Corsair Veng C8 (good choice?)
MSI GTX 580 3GB (pre order only at the mo) Like the 3 GB VRAM and cooling
OCZ 120GB SATA 3 SSD
SEAGATE 2TB
COOLER MASTER 1000W
HYDRO H80

Cheers in advance

Oh and years ago it was the done thing to have a sound card as the onboard cards used up lots of precious CPU cycles, these days am I right to assume that wouldn't be necessary and I can stick with the onboard card? I'm happy with head phones and a pair of decent 2.0 speakers.
 
Why 16GB? If it's just for gaming, that's really excessive, even for "future proofing." 8GB is more than adequate.
 
I wouldnt say that 16gb was excessive. I bet the latest incarnation of MS Flight sim will swallow that up without a problem. And on top of that its soooo cheap at the moment its definately worth doing it now than later..
 
Ziddy1232 said:
Why 16GB? If it's just for gaming, that's really excessive, even for "future proofing." 8GB is more than adequate.
Click to expand...

Hi Ziddy there are two reasons, first the PC is also for work and second I am thinking of using some of the ram as a ramdisk although it might be overkill concidering there is a fast SSD in this build?
 
Also are these hydro kits easy to fit? Overclockers don't do custom builds apparently so it looks like I'll have to put this together. I've build several computers but not in the last few years and never with watercooling.
 
Nik_B said:
Hi Ziddy there are two reasons, first the PC is also for work and second I am thinking of using some of the ram as a ramdisk although it might be overkill concidering there is a fast SSD in this build?
Click to expand...

I like the build you posted, RAM is so cheap,
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-132-CR&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

You can get two lots of this for £80, but you need to order before 6pm for this price.

Then get the other motherboard and build it:)

Nik_B said:
Also are these hydro kits easy to fit?
Click to expand...

Yes, theres Youtube videos also showing how its done.
 
Thanks for the advice guys.

I've overclocked processors but I never had the confidence with mucking round with the voltages which I assume needs to be done to get 4.5GHz from an i5 2500K. Overclockers sell bundles but I obviously wont want a fan/heatsink so I guess I'll have to buy a stock i5 and overclock it. Which montherboard will make this the easiest?

Also can anyone answer the question about the soundcard? Onboard soundcards used to steel CPU power and it was recommended to run a separate soundcard but these days is there any point if I am not that bothered about sound quality?
 
http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=Z68 Extreme4 Gen3

I use the non Gen3 version, and in the BIOS is a drop down menu to select a speed from 4.0ghz, 4.2ghz, 4.4ghz, 4.6ghz and 4.8ghz.

The board does it all for you:)

IMG_0586.jpg


Also can anyone answer the question about the soundcard? Onboard soundcards used to steel CPU power and it was recommended to run a separate soundcard but these days is there any point if I am not that bothered about sound quality?
Click to expand...

Onboard Intel HD sound is stonking these days:)
 
Last edited:
 
The board on my old PC that's still running strong on my old XP 2600 is an asrock.

Just out of interest is there any point in getting expensive low latency RAM? I've read a few articles that state the difference in performance is just 1 or 2%? I can shave a fair bit of cash there.
 
Get the cheapest 1600mhz 4or8 gb kit.

It makes no difference.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/memory/2011/01/11/the-best-memory-for-sandy-bridge/1
Conclusion of what to Buy
If you're the type of person that runs dozens of applications all at once, then a higher memory frequency does help, particularly when you're running demanding software. However, our testing shows that memory rated at over 1,866MHz doesn't give much extra performance. Worse still, in some applications only 1,333MHz memory gives a performance penalty, meaning that 1,600MHz memory is fine.
Click to expand...

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/memory/display/sandy-bridge-ddr3.html
Therefore, we believe that inexpensive DDR3-1600 SDRAM with not very aggressive timings would be the most reasonable choice for contemporary LGA1155 systems: in our opinion, memory like that offers the best price-to-performance ratio today.
Click to expand...

So these,

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-133-CR&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-132-CR&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517
 
Last edited:
As the MSI card is a pre order I am toying with the OCUK GTX 580 with 3 Gig of VRAM.

Has anyone had any experience with their cards? I suppose own name items (like tescos own etc) always make me think of value products.

Cheers in advance

Nick

p.s is that a reference design?
 
You on about this one?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-153-OK&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1812

If so then thats a PAlit in the picture with a non reference cooler,

http://www.palit.biz/palit/vgapro.php?id=1503


P.S, that Crucial RAM isnt on offer any more, so these are now the best to get,
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-104-KS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-094-KS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517


I use a Palit GTX570 my self with a similar looking cooler, great card, quiet too.
 
Last edited:
Rather than make a new thread I'll just resurrect this one.

I've seen comments that some of the 580 GTX 3Gig Cards take up a lot of shape on the mobo. I don't mind which 3 Gig card I get but I would like the option to add another when they get cheaper.

Will the Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Mobo be ok for two 580 GTX 3 Gig cards? I think I read that the gainward phantom took loads of space up.

Thanks in advance
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom