Spec check please!

bliss

bliss

bliss

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Looking to buy this lot in the next couple of weeks. But before I do can some of you take a quick look at it to see if there's any major compatibility issues or other options worth looking at. Thanks. :)

Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail
ASRock Z87M EXTREME4 Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard
Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9)
Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW)
Silverstone TemJin TJ08B-E Midi Tower Case - Black (SST-TJ08B-E USB 3.0)

I'll be adding my current HD7850 and a couple of HDD's to this. Will my PSU be enough still? Or is it worth picking up a new one? PSU in question is a Corsair HX520 that's a few years old.
 
 
The performance increase from faster RAM is tiny (often less than 1%), it's only worth it really if it's the same cost with the same timings. It's much more relevant if using integrated graphics, though.
 
teppic said:
The performance increase from faster RAM is tiny (often less than 1%), it's only worth it really if it's the same cost with the same timings. It's much more relevant if using integrated graphics, though.
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Can you explain why you fluffed away £90 using it in the Haswell spec below then?

teppic said:
YOUR BASKET
2 x HIS HD 7970 IceQ X² 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H797QM3G2M) £299.99 (£599.98)
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £275.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-OC Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £179.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £148.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 540 High Airflow ATX Cube Case - Black £113.99
1 x XFX Pro Series 850W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £94.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C10 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC10TDC01) £89.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £71.99
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler £59.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
1 x Alpenföhn 140mm Wing Boost Plus PWM Fan - Orange £14.99
3 x Alpenföhn 120mm Wing Boost Plus PWM Fan - Orange £13.99 (£41.97)
Total : £1,732.26 (includes shipping : £17.85).

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I'd personally take a Gigabyte mobo over the Asrock he picked. 3 year UK based warranty and a dual BIOS as a nice safety feature. The Asrock does do SLi/Xfire but he'd need a better PSU to take advantage of that. 750W would make sense but the Temjin is limited to 160mm long PSUs which is gonna cause headaches. So i've put in an alternative case to consider but it is a little bit bigger.

I look forward to seeing what he settles on in the end :)
 
Because it was a very high budget (and still well under budget) and an orange theme.

People on here tend to dislike ASRock, but they're good value. I normally recommend Gigabyte myself because of the RMA and a general good reputation.
 
Potty27 said:
People were saying that ram above 1866MHz effected the max stable OC on Haswell CPU's, is there any truth in this?
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I think it's more like 2400MHz+. The recommendation is always to get the CPU overclock you want before touching the memory speeds. Certainly if you have C9 1600MHz vs C9 2400MHz RAM, the second will give better performance, but it's a small amount at best, and high speed RAM with tight timings is really expensive. On the other hand, an APU can get a good 15-20% graphics performance increase just by going from 1600MHz to 2133MHz.
 
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teppic said:
I think it's more like 2400MHz+. The recommendation is always to get the CPU overclock you want before touching the memory speeds. Certainly if you have C9 1600MHz vs C9 2400MHz RAM, the second will give better performance, but it's a small amount at best, and high speed RAM with tight timings is really expensive..
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Like you say it's about tight timings really, thats the way to get the best out of your CPU and the whole system. When you're pushing the limit of your CPU the memory takes some strain so tight timings come into play, mostly noticable at high (8-pack type) level. :)

teppic said:
On the other hand, an APU can get a good 15-20% graphics performance increase just by going from 1600MHz to 2133MHz.
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Thats something to do with how the APU's onboard GPU works, it doesn't translate with other CPU's/ GPU's unfortunatly :)
 
Doomedspeed said:
Like you say it's about tight timings really, thats the way to get the best out of your CPU and the whole system. When you're pushing the limit of your CPU the memory takes some strain so tight timings come into play, mostly noticable at high (8-pack type) level. :)
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Doomedspeed said:
Potty27 said:
Hono's build looks good, but for £2 extra I'd get the C9 ram:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-068-PA&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517
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Gonna be honest the C9 RAM will make no noticable differnce...
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Your disagreeing with yourself mate ;)
 
Potty27 said:
Your disagreeing with yourself mate ;)
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Thanks.. :)

I know it may seem that way but Shhhhhhhh... :)

(in this thread, i was just saying when tight timings come into play, not suggesting it's worth extra £'s.. Im pretty sure in the conext of the other thread it was the right response. :))
 
Thanks for all of the replies.

honosuseri said:
Haswell can use faster RAM dude, it's not much more so might as well.

Alternative......

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £197.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87M-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £97.99
1 x Corsair Obsidian 350D Windowed Micro ATX Case - Black £86.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £86.99
1 x TeamGroup Xtreem LV 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C10 2400MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (TXD38G2400HC10QDC01) £59.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H100 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler *Manufacturer Refurbished Unit - 90 Day Guarantee £44.99
Total : £574.93 (includes shipping : FREE).

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I'll took at look at the RAM. Only chose the one that I did because of familiarity with the brand.

What does the GB board offer other than a better warranty? It was on my shortlist but ended up choosing the ASRock due to interest in the audio chip and that it seemed to be a decent clocker if and when required. How is the GB board on these 2 fronts?

Good points on the case. I aren't actually too bothered by SLI/XFire so that shouldn't be an issue however the PSU as you say could be a problem. Are we seeing a move into larger PSU's in general? The Temjin is a case I've had my eye on since I've been wanting to downsize my setup a little. I did take a quick look at the Corsair a few days ago, however if I did opt for that one it probably would be without the window. Is the Corsair much better in your opinion? I imagine it is newer and therefore caters to current components a little better?

Thanks.
 
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