Spec me a kick ass system that is also ^ green ^

arekgreenman888 · 10 Apr 2012 at 21:04

I want this kick ass machine to be really good (play bf3 at high at least) and last years. I would also wish it be as environmentally friendly as possible. Meaning choosing components from companies that are more green than fox con men. So far I have bought following:

haf x case
hx750 psu
d14 cooler

I am upon recommendation of fellows here decided to get:

i2500k
Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3P-B3 Motherboard
m4 ssd
448 core 560ti gfx (will add second later)
Xonar DG sound card
kingston dual channel 8gb

I already have screen, keyboard and mouse.

My budget is now only 600 pounds. In my humble opinion above specs are really kick ass and will take on any game at high or higher res currently and for next few years.

CinderzFTW · 10 Apr 2012 at 21:07

looks good dude

you will need a cooler mind.. gelid tranquillo is a great one

i would opt for the gtx570, you can get one for around £210 now.. cheap as

Scon · 10 Apr 2012 at 21:09

CinderzFTW said:
for the gtx570, you can get one for around £210 now.. cheap as

£199 actually, same price as the cheapest 560 448 on OcUK http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-149-OK&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1010

CinderzFTW · 10 Apr 2012 at 21:12

ah really... very nice... i would get a 570 then... full blown GF110 core in it!

shadow_boxer · 10 Apr 2012 at 21:14

Is this a continuation of this thread?

Spec looks good but I'd go for this motherboard.

Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77

If you want to see better performance in games then forget the SSD and put the money toward getting a better high end card such as a 7950.

If power consumption is important to you then why not grab a 2GB 7850 for around £190! They overclock amazingly, by as much as 40% so will match a stock 7950. Cheaper than a GTX570, more VRAM, faster and more green.

arekgreenman888 · 10 Apr 2012 at 22:31

shadow_boxer said:
Is this a continuation of this thread?

If power consumption is important to you then why not grab a 2GB 7850 for around £190! They overclock amazingly, by as much as 40% so will match a stock 7950. Cheaper than a GTX570, more VRAM, faster and more green.

Yes this thread is continuation of "Kick ass system in the making. I am so good!" thread.

MSI HD 7850 Twin Frozr III OC 2048MB GDDR5 looks like a real contestant to 570 and 448 560ti. I wanted to go with nvidia but if ati has something that good then i am prepared to compromise.

shadow_boxer · 10 Apr 2012 at 22:44

I don't think there is that much between the Radeon HD7850 and GTX570. Out of the box the 570 is the marginally better card but take into consideration overclocking potential, heat, power consumption, VRAM and I think the 7850 becomes the slightly better buy. But again it's very close. If you prefer NVIDIA then wait to see what they produce over the next few weeks/months if you can wait.

Sasahara · 11 Apr 2012 at 00:23

If you want to be environmentally friendly, buy anything you want, just don't have kids.

Sin_Chase · 11 Apr 2012 at 00:26

Sasahara said:
If you want to be environmentally friendly, buy anything you want, just don't have kids.

A thinly veiled sick burn.

I like

Justintime · 15 Apr 2012 at 14:08

lol, not seen the veiled trollface before

Sin_Chase · 15 Apr 2012 at 15:21

That's because I made it

Justintime · 15 Apr 2012 at 15:24

I like

arekgreenman888 · 16 Apr 2012 at 14:07

Kind people i have 4th component now. 7850 amd ati 2gb...

Now i just need to make up my mind on good mboard that has 22nm ivy bridge support and may be even 2x16pcie's. Can someone kind suggest something good please. ta

beejjacobs · 16 Apr 2012 at 17:00

arekgreenman888 said:
Kind people i have 4th component now. 7850 amd ati 2gb...

Now i just need to make up my mind on good mboard that has 22nm ivy bridge support and may be even 2x16pcie's. Can someone kind suggest something good please. ta

I'd recommend the motherboard shadow_boxer linked a few posts ago

shadow_boxer said:
...

Spec looks good but I'd go for this motherboard.

Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77

...

Crossfire/SLI support and Z77

cmndr_andi · 16 Apr 2012 at 17:05

beejjacobs said:
I'd recommend the motherboard shadow_boxer linked a few posts ago

Crossfire/SLI support and Z77

+1

Nice board, great price.

If you can wait a week then you should be able to get an i5 3570K instead of a i5 2500K, as that is when it is supposed to be released.

Good choice with the HD 7850, it is a nice card and is rather power efficient too - so it fits your aim nicely.

arekgreenman888 · 19 Apr 2012 at 17:04

Latest update: I have decided to get Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H as opposed to z68 ud3...

Knowledgeable people have been recommending this and I listen to good advice.

If something better comes along please do let me know. ta

beejjacobs · 19 Apr 2012 at 17:05

arekgreenman888 said:
Latest update: I have decided to get Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H as opposed to z68 ud3...

Knowledgeable people have been recommending this and I listen to good advice.

If something better comes along please do let me know. ta

Good choice

arekgreenman888 · 20 Apr 2012 at 00:10

BTW does anyone know if its much worth going for this x79 chip instead of z77 as its only 10 pounds more.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-375-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=2174

beejjacobs · 20 Apr 2012 at 00:16

arekgreenman888 said:
BTW does anyone know if its much worth going for this x79 chip instead of z77 as its only 10 pounds more.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-375-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=2174

Not for gaming unless you plan on 3/4 way SLI/CF. Also it may only be £10 more but you'd need to buy a different CPU to fit the 2011 socket, which would be £230 for the 3820 at least. Not worth it for gaming

cmndr_andi · 20 Apr 2012 at 00:30

If you are mainly just gaming then it really isn't worth going for an i7 CPU (even a LGA1155 one) as the games don't make use of hyperthreading - which is the only feature that really separates this CPU from the much cheaper i5 2500K.

As for X79, you need to use LGA2011 CPUs in these boards (i5 2500K won't work) - therefore the cheapest CPU you can buy for it is the £230 i7 3820. Therefore you will be paying a bit more for the motherboard and a lot more for the CPU - while getting no performance increase in games.

Admittedly, the X79 platform does have some advantages over the Z68/Z77:

- it offers quad channel RAM
- native PCIE gen3
- supports hex core CPUs (and possibly octo cores in the future)
- supports the Ivy Bridge E CPUs (that are coming out next year)
- has 40 PCIE lanes.

However:

-The quad channel RAM doesn't affect performance in games, so not really a feature for a gaming rig
- the PCIE gen3 support is good to have, but the Ivy Bridge LGA1155 CPUs (that are expected in about a week) also support gen3, as do all Z77 boards and most Z68 (so long as you use an Ivy Bridge CPU). Also, with current-gen cards there is no performance benefit in games with having PCIE gen3 instead of gen2.
- the hex cores costs £450+ and don't offer any gaming performance benefits over a quad core (due to the way games are coded)
- Being able to upgrade to Ivy Bridge E next year is nice, but the mainstream Ivy Bridge CPUs get launched in a week - so not a big upgrade (unless you use applications that can make use of hex or octo core CPUs)
- 40 PCIE lanes is great if you want to run three or more graphics cards. however if you only plan to run up to two cards then a good Z77 board (like the UD3H you mention) is just as good

Also, as you are building a "green" gaming rig, the LGA2011 CPUs use a bit more power than the LGA1155 CPUs (especially the i5 2500K) when under load (see here). Also, as Ivy Bridge LGA1155 CPUs are coming out next week then going for one of these is even more "green" as it uses less power than the sandy bridge at load (see here).

TLDR version; for a gaming machine you are much better off sticking with a LGA1155. if you can't wait a week - get an i5 2500K Sandy Bridge, if you can wait - get an i5 3570K Ivy Bridge