Spec Check i5-2500K

inph · 16 May 2011 at 12:41

Asus P8Z68-V PRO Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £179.98 (£149.98) [£154.75]

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor with FREE Operation Flashpoint Red River Game £155.99 (£129.99) -- Retail
Noctua NH-D14 Dual Radiator CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/LGA1156/LGA1155/LGA775/AM2/AM2) £69.98 (£58.32)

Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £71.99 (£59.99)

LG W2363D 23" TRUE 120Hz 3D Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £167.99 (£139.99)
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 480 SUPER OC 1536MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £249.98 (£208.32)

OCZ Vertex 3 120GB 2.5" SATA-3 Solid State Hard Drive (VTX3-25SAT3-120G) £219.98 (£183.32)
Seagate Barracuda Green 2TB SATA 6Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM (ST2000DL003) £59.99 (£49.99)
LiteOn iHBS112 12x BluRay-RW / 16 x DVD±RW Drive - Black (OEM) £79.99 (£66.66)

Corsair Professional Series™ Gold AX850 High Performance 850W Power Supply (CMPSU-850AXUK) £157.99 (£131.66) [£144.98]
Corsair Obsidian 650D Gaming Midi-Tower - Black (with Fan Controller Repair Kit) £134.99 (£112.49)

+ new mouse

Total ~ £1,510

I've already purchased are the power supply and motherboard.

I'm not certain about:

GPU: GTX 480 SOC or a 6950 2GB and unlocking
Screen: 120Hz Screen (LG, Acer, Benq) or a Dell U2311H (or similar IPS panel)
SSD: Vertex 3 120GB or buying a smaller drive now (Agility 3 60GB/C4 64GB) and picking up another SSD later.

Also need to check the Noctua will fit.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

stulid · 16 May 2011 at 12:56

Dell U2311H, worth ever penny.

you can unlock this card - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-128-MS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752 - but not the FrozrII

Heatsink will fit.

inph · 16 May 2011 at 13:17

Other than less power/heat is there a reason to choose an unlocked 6950 over the 480 GTX SOC?

and hmm need to look into Dell U2311H vs the unreleased but recently announced Dell U2412HM/U2312HM

Ezyryder · 16 May 2011 at 13:20

stulid, I don't think you can unlock the Twin Frozer II ...

You can unlock this one (for sure), and it is cheaper...
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-119-MS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

You don't need 850W you could get the AX750 and still have plenty to go about.

I would also get the U2311H, better monitor than the LG.

The Noctua will fit...

I would get the Agility 3 120gb as there is no much in it with the Vertex 3.

Ezyryder · 16 May 2011 at 13:21

inph said:
Other than less power/heat is there a reason to choose an unlocked 6950 over the 480 GTX SOC?

and hmm need to look into Dell U2311H vs the unreleased but recently announced Dell U2412HM/U2312HM

The SOC is more expensive but its a better card. It costs nearly £60 more than the MSI 6950 which you can unlock to 6970.

VaderDSL · 16 May 2011 at 13:21

Power consumption on the 480s are higher iirc and I've read a few issues with the SOC either around power supplies or not enough voltage out of the box on the core.

inph · 16 May 2011 at 13:32

Ezyryder said:
stulid, I don't think you can unlock the Twin Frozer II ...

You can unlock this one (for sure), and it is cheaper...
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=gx-119-ms&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

stulid linked: msi hd 6950 twin frozr iii 2 gb which according to techpowerup can be unlocked (previous stuulid quote)

You don't need 850W you could get the AX750 and still have plenty to go about.

Already bought the AX850 last time it was on today only

I would also get the U2311H, better monitor than the LG.

The Noctua will fit...

I would get the Agility 3 120gb as there is no much in it with the Vertex 3.

The reasoning behind buying a smaller SSD now was to be able to take advantage of the Z68 SSD caching later on. Corsair Forces Series 3 announced which look like direct competition for the Vertex 3.

Ezyryder said:
The SOC is more expensive but its a better card. It costs nearly £60 more than the MSI 6950 which you can unlock to 6970.

Knew I should have just bought it when it was £219

Ezyryder · 16 May 2011 at 16:28

inph said:
stulid linked: MSI HD 6950 Twin Frozr III 2 GB which according to techpowerup can be unlocked (previous stuulid quote)

Already bought the AX850 last time it was on today only

The reasoning behind buying a smaller SSD now was to be able to take advantage of the Z68 SSD caching later on. Corsair Forces Series 3 announced which look like direct competition for the Vertex 3.

Knew I should have just bought it when it was £219

The techpowerup review had a Rev1 board which there are difficult to find. All the new 6950 TFIII have got lasercut shaders, just have a look around if you can find one other person with it unlocked I will say no more but I doubt you will.

I will avoid disappointment and order a reference one of the Asus Direct CU II which has been known to unlock.

Vertex 3, Force 3 who cares? Unless you are running multiple VMs or doing highly HDD stressful work I reckon you won't notice!

stulid · 16 May 2011 at 16:42

Theres recent posts on forums showing success for unlocking. 2weeks or newer etc, not just older cards.