Second opinion(s) please?

alexs2602

alexs2602

alexs2602

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84
Ok, so I've been researching this for a while and was hoping some other people could take a look and give me some pointers and answers to my questions.


The current list is:

CPU: i5-2500K Although I may be looking to upgrade in the future and while it'd make a lot more sense to wait for the ivybridges to come out I can't really wait that long so would it be a wise decision to stick with the 2500K for now and then, as I won't have use of the computer during April anyway, sell it at the end of march, hopefully before the ivybridges come out, and then buy the i5-2570K? I know I'll lose money but I'm without my own computer.

Motherboard: Asus P8Z68V-LX Not really looking to change this.

Case: Zalman Z9 Plus Although I was looking at the Coolermaster silencio 550 with PSU combo, but apparently it's not good for cooling. Will it make a huge difference? Or should I stick with the Z9 Plus?

CPU Cooler: Gelid Tranquillo Rev 2 I was looking at the Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus but I've been hearing a lot of good stuff about the Gelid. If there's a better cooler out there for less than £30 then I would appreciate knowing about it.

RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8GB 1600MHz Low profile I picked this when I was looking at the Hyper 212+ due to the clearance of the heatsink however I'm not sure of the clearance of the Gelid so haven't looked for alternatives yet.

PSU: OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W Again, not really looking to change this.

Optical Drive: LiteOn IHAS122-18 As above.

As for additional concerns I was wondering about the positioning of the PSU. I would probably face it downwards but from what I've gathered there is no air filter covering that outlet/vent therefore it'd suck in dust. I assume it'd be best to get a 140mm dust filter to remedy this? Also does anyone know if anything can be done to remove the vent covering the PSU on the bottom of the case?

I was thinking of getting a couple of cheap coolermaster sickleflows but I'll should probably see how things go first.

I think I've covered everything but just to mention I'm hoping to overclock to 4.5GHz~. If there's any advice or questions you need to ask then just say the word.

Many thanks.

PS: Apparently Arctic MX-4 is the best, according to a comparison review, so I'll be getting that.
 
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RAM,

I wouldnt, the Vengeance is tall if normal stuff, so its far safer to get something like this,
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=my-094-ks


motherboard,

sure you dont want a change?
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=mb-364-gi&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1990
http://www.kitguru.net/components/m...-z68ap-d3-z68-review-bargain-buy-of-the-year/
http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/gigabyte_ga_z68ap_d3_review,1.html
http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc...herboards/gigabyte-ga-z68ap-d3-1026263/review
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/motherboards/2011/10/11/gigabyte-ga-z68ap-d3-review/1
Click to expand...

What GFX card you thinking of, or are you going to use the onboard?

PS: Apparently Arctic MX-4 is the best, according to a comparison review, so I'll be getting that.
Click to expand...

The Gelid/Hyper comes with paste.
 
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The Vengeance RAM is fine if it is low profile RAM without the heatsinks.

+1 for the Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68. Similar price to the Asus but seems to get better reviews.

The Zalman Z9 Plus doesn't come with any filters unfortunately where the PSU is mounted. I would just go ahead an mount it with the fan facing upwards as the Z9 has decent cooling and airflow anyway.

Everything else looks good.
 
stulid said:
RAM,

I wouldnt, the Vengeance is tall if normal stuff, so its far safer to get something like this,
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-094-KS


Motherboard,

Sure you dont want a change?
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-364-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1990


What GFX card you thinking of, or are you going to use the onboard?



The Gelid/Hyper comes with paste.
Click to expand...

shadow_boxer said:
The Vengeance RAM is fine if it is low profile RAM without the heatsinks.

+1 for the Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68. Similar price to the Asus but seems to get better reviews.

The Zalman Z9 Plus doesn't come with any filters unfortunately where the PSU is mounted. I would just go ahead an mount it with the fan facing upwards as the Z9 has decent cooling and airflow anyway.

Everything else looks good.
Click to expand...
Oh ok, really? I had a look at the spec and the main difference seems to be that there's one more PCI-E x1 and one less PCI. Is that right?

What kind of o/cing ability should I expect? Techradar says 4.4, kit guru 4.6, vortez 4.9(then again they were also using a Noctua NH-D14), how would it compare with the Asus?

Could you sum up the benefits at all? I would love to read all those reviews but one has 13 and another has 25 pages, I'm not sure I'd understand a lot of it.

I was looking at the low profile version. Also, using onboard for now, may upgrade later.

Thanks.
 
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Overall, the Gigabyte board is just generally better, going by all the reviews, but theres no major difference in them. Though I suspect the gigabyte board may have more options in the BIOS. If you like Asus boards, stick with it. Me personally, I'd go for the Gigabyte.

As for OCing, 4.6Ghz is generally easy to reach on most K series CPUs. After that, it is down to the silicon lottery, the best chips can hit 4.8Ghz-5Ghz and more, it's just down to luck and how many volts you are willing to put through it.

As for the rest of the components, they all look fine to me.
 
Question; if I want to upgrade to a ivybridge at a later date will I need a different mobo? Having had a look around it appears that not all Z68 chipst mobos support 22nm CPUs.
 
stulid said:
Ivybridge will be a drop in fit with the right BIOS update.

I think the reason you see not all motherboards support it because the CPU isnt out yet so BIOS updates havent been released yet.

Heres the Gigabyte board releases - http://www.gigabyte.com/press-center/news-page.aspx?nid=1048

Heres the ASUS releases - http://event.asus.com/2011/mb/PCIe3_Ready/
Click to expand...
Oh, so it isn't that the CPU wouldnt fit? What would happen if you tried to use it without updating the BIOS first?
 
alexs2602 said:
Oh, so it isn't that the CPU wouldnt fit? What would happen if you tried to use it without updating the BIOS first?
Click to expand...

PC wont boot up maybe?

Or it boots up but the CPU isnt recognized properly in the BIOS/Windows, so may affect performance.
 
Update the BIOS while you are still using the i5 2500K?

The updates are out for both the boards mentioned in this thread.

Also, if you are buying from OCUK, how about,


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £84.98
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £69.98
1 x Cooler Master HAF 912 Case - Black £49.98
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £31.99
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £473.51 (includes shipping : £10.50).



You get an additional £20 off the case+PSU as there is a special deal still going on.
 
stulid said:
Update the BIOS while you are still using the i5 2500K?

The updates are out for both the boards mentioned in this thread.

Also, if you are buying from OCUK, how about,


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £84.98
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £69.98
1 x Cooler Master HAF 912 Case - Black £49.98
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £31.99
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £473.51 (includes shipping : £10.50).



You get an additional £20 off the case+PSU as there is a special deal still going on.
Click to expand...
Ooooh, my bad, I made a very stupid mistake and didnt look at what version BIOS the Asus needed when I was looking at that page. When looking on another page I'm guessing it showed only CURRENT supported CPUs and not future ones on a current BIOS version.

I'll be honest I was hoping to keep the build as cheap as possible while getting all the components I need to futureproof the build as best as possible and as much as it pains me to say this OCUK isn't usually the cheapest site around.

Sorry, I'm being a bit lazy here but what's the difference between the HAF 912 and the plus version? Also where's the offer? I can't find it. Either way I'm still waiting on funding to come through. It's due in the next couple of weeks but I assume the offer will be over by then.
 
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This is very confusing, I'm not sure what to do. Would the 500W version be ok for my requirements? If so I might be tempted to get the case and PSU here. I suppose I could always spray paint the white bits black when I get it, right?
 
500w PSU such as that Coolermaster can do most single GFX cards, also the 60W PSU is £5 more.
 
stulid said:
500w PSU such as that Coolermaster can do most single GFX cards, also the 60W PSU is £5 more.
Click to expand...
I have no intention of getting dual GFX cards. The most I'll probably upgrade it in terms of new items, rather than upgrading existing ones, would be a single GFX card and a sound card.
 
A 500W PSU is good for a GTX570/GTX560ti/ATI 6950/70, 7950/7970 etc.

Its enough for most things.

Save the money then and put it towards something else.
 
This is beginning to look a lot more complicated than it was a week ago. I've just been trying to get a total for this build and it's not going well, considering I'm sourcing it from multiple suppliers.
 
Dont, consider P+P, source from a single place.

If it helps, list a maximum budget, exactly what parts you need, (Board/CPU/RAM/HDD/Case/GFX card etc)
 
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