Rate this spec v2

O'Doodle · 10-05-2011 1:47pm #1

Hi guys. Sorry to post another thread, I didn't buy the spec from hardwareversand.de as I couldn't do a bank transfer: What do you reckon about this spec I've come up with?

Processor: - Intel Core i7 970 3.2GHz Socket 1366 12MB L3
Motherboard: - Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD5 Intel X58Socket 1366 ATX
PSU: - Corsair Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 - Power supply - 650 W
Hard-drive: - OCZ 2.5" Vertex 2 SATA II Solid State Drive (SSD) - 60 GB
Case Tower: - Antec Sonata III 500 Piano Black Quiet Mid Tower
Graphic Card: Radeon HD 5770 1GB
RAM: - Corsair XMS 4 x 2 GB DDR3-1600 PC3-12800 CL9 Memory Kit
Optical Drive: - Sony OPTIARC EUROPE DVD

Any bottlenecks there?

Thanks a million

seyeM · 10-05-2011 2:07pm

While the 970 is a six core beast, the price/performance compared to the i7 2600k doesn't make it worthwhile.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/287?vs=157

Unless you heavily use a particular program that will benefit greatly from using the 6 core, 12 thread i7 970, I'd recommend going with the 2600K and a P67/Z67 motherboard. Also worth mentioning is that AMD's new CPUs are supposed to launch next month, offering up to 8 core CPUs.

Edit to add: the socket 1366 takes triple channel memory, you'd be looking at 3x2 or 3x4gb kits. That case is outdated, where are you ordering from?

O'Doodle · 10-05-2011 2:21pm

Hi there! Thanks for that. Wow, the i7-2600K is out doing the i7 970! Can't believe it.

Case is from Pix Mania!

Is Socket 1366 outdated?

Monotype · 10-05-2011 3:29pm

Socket 1366 isn't exactly outdated as it is supposed to be Intel's leading desktop platform. It's just overshadowed by 1155 since it is newer technology. 1366's successor is due at the end of the year.

1155 is the way to go at the moment - 2600K if you want hyperthreading although average performance is only slightly better than the 2500K and rarely worth the extra money.

Also avoid the 60GB Vertex 2. It's only ~55GB. Look at the C300 64GB if you want something affordable.

Is this for games? I would look at other options over a 5770 if you have enough money for a 970.

What is your budget and main uses of the system?

O'Doodle · 10-05-2011 5:40pm

Hi there.

The system is mainly going to be for gaming. This is the previous spec the lads build up but I can't buy from that German site.

Do I even need the Processor Fan? They all come with Fans already? I also want an SSD drive too..

Someone also mentioned the GFX card won't fit in the case?

O'Doodle · 10-05-2011 5:56pm

What do you reckon about this?

Monotype · 10-05-2011 7:09pm

O'Doodle · 11-05-2011 1:56pm

Is that motherboard any good? Should I upgrade it? Will the PSU 500w be enough?

Will the gfx card fit in the case?

Monotype · 11-05-2011 4:06pm

According to a quick search around, a few sources say that it'll fit if you take out one of the drive bays.

The motherboard is pretty good, but you can go with the GD65 if you feel that you need more features.

500W is enough for the existing system, but if you plan loads of upgrades or heavy overclocking, I can pick out higher rated ones.

O'Doodle · 11-05-2011 4:35pm

Thanks a million for that. Is there any decent Gigabyte boards that would work?

Do you know what sort of Geekbench scores to expect from that?

Dublin_Gunner · 12-05-2011 1:16pm

O'Doodle wrote: »

Is that motherboard any good? Should I upgrade it? Will the PSU 500w be enough?

Will the gfx card fit in the case?

500W is NOT enough for that system with a HD6950 - contrary to what you're being told above. Never skimp on the PSU, its the single most important part of any PC.

You should be aiming for a quality 700W+ unit or so for that build. Which will run everything with stability, and give you room to upgrade.

Monotype · 13-05-2011 9:50am

500W is enough for the existing system. Worst case scenario for the 6950 is ~250W (overclocked and modded). A 2600K is about 160W. You probably won't be hitting full load on both all the time, but I suppose given that the PSU is only about that much on the 12V rail, you should probably upgrade.

Dublin_Gunner · 13-05-2011 9:54am

Monotype wrote: »

500W is enough for the existing system. Worst case scenario for the 6950 is ~250W (overclocked and modded). A 2600K is about 160W. You probably won't be hitting full load on both all the time, but I suppose given that the PSU is only about that much on the 12V rail, you should probably upgrade.

Taking just those components into account, that's 410W.

Assuming 80% efficiency from a decent power supply, thats 512.5W minimum required for that system. That leave no room for expansion, overclocking CPU, component efficiency degradation etc etc

Those 2 components will require about 34~A on the 12v rail. The PSU listed only supplies a max of 35A. It will fail at times.

Why do people always try to skimp on the PSU? The very people who'll be posting back in 2 months time wondering why they're getting BSOD's, random reboots, slow performance etc.

People will go out, but all high end components, and then put a sh1tty cheap ass PSU in it and expect it to work properly.

The mind boggles.

seyeM · 13-05-2011 11:01am

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/80_PLUS#What_it_means

If that unit is up to Silverstone's usual standards, it will be able to deliver 500W (and most likely more) and would be enough for the above system. The 80+ thing just means it will draw more then 500W from the plug socket to supply 500W to the PC.

I personally like to future proof PSUs, one of these would be nice depending on your budget:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/650w-xfx-xxx-edition-modular-80-plus-bronze-85-eff-sli-crossfire-eps-12v-135mm-fan

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/850w-coolermaster-silent-pro-m-modular-80-plus-bronze-85-eff-sli-crossfire-eps-12v-135mm-fan

Monotype · 13-05-2011 11:10am

That's 512.5W at the wall but I see what you mean by setting your minimum. In fairness if you have a 2600K, the chances of overclocking are very high. Very well, I'll pick out some more options later.

Dublin_Gunner · 13-05-2011 11:13am

But you don't want to be running a PSU at the very top of its performance envelope constantly.

Do people have issues with 650W PSU's on this thread or something?

Always buy more power than you need. Certainly don't need 1000W or anything, but buying a 500W psu for a system that could be calculated to draw 500W is stupid tbh.

Monotype · 13-05-2011 11:18am

Dublin_Gunner wrote: »

Do people have issues with 650W PSU's on this thread or something?

No, I've agreed with you twice that's it's cutting it a bit too fine. You should have a better PSU to match a system of that caliber.

Monotype wrote: »

...you should probably upgrade.

Monotype wrote: »

...Very well, I'll pick out some more options later.

Scan usually have deals at the weekend on PSUs, so we'll see what they have this afternoon.

O'Doodle · 13-05-2011 5:26pm

What should I buy? I'm confused!

Wheres the place to get the best prices?

Monotype · 14-05-2011 2:02pm

On the scan today only page, which won't change untill mid day Monday, there's
600W Coolermaster Silent Pro Gold, Modular, 80 PLUS Gold, 90% Eff', SLI/CrossFire, EPS12V, 135mm Fan £63.59
650W XFX XXX Edition, Modular, 80 PLUS Bronze, 85% Eff', SLI/CrossFire, EPS 12V, 135mm Fan £67.19
750W Antec TruePower New Blue, Modular, 80 PLUS Bronze, 82% Eff', SLI/CrossFire, EPS 12V, 120mm Fan £88.79

These are enough for an overclock and a few extra hard drive. If you want a second card in the future, aim for the 800W units. If you feel like spending more money, look at the seasonics and enermax PSUs.

Dublin_Gunner · 14-05-2011 2:06pm

Monotype wrote: »

On the scan today only page, which won't change untill mid day Monday, there's
600W Coolermaster Silent Pro Gold, Modular, 80 PLUS Gold, 90% Eff', SLI/CrossFire, EPS12V, 135mm Fan £63.59
650W XFX XXX Edition, Modular, 80 PLUS Bronze, 85% Eff', SLI/CrossFire, EPS 12V, 135mm Fan £67.19
750W Antec TruePower New Blue, Modular, 80 PLUS Bronze, 82% Eff', SLI/CrossFire, EPS 12V, 120mm Fan £88.79

These are enough for an overclock and a few extra hard drive. If you want a second card in the future, aim for the 800W units. If you feel like spending more money, look at the seasonics and enermax PSUs.

I'd personally go with the cooler master. The 80 plus Gold models are excellent, and its the cheapest of the bunch.

O'Doodle · 14-05-2011 3:21pm

Ok guys.... I've gone with the 80 plus Gold 600w

I would really appreciate if you could give me your HONEST opinions on this build? Be has harsh as you like but I want to know everything is compatible and will work. It's just over a grand so if you could suggest ways to save money but still get good performance suggest them.

Since this is my first ever build I'm a bit scared something will not be compatible or blow up.

Questions...

Do I need glue with the above setup?
Is the standard fan with the Processor ok? Could I save money there?

I really want to order tonight so I have it for Monday or Tuesday to build. I just want to get playing games!

Dublin_Gunner · 14-05-2011 3:47pm

I have no idea what you plan on using glue for, so please dont buy any!!

The stock cooler is fine even for a small overclock, so you could save there. You could also save by not getting ths blu ray reader, and just get a dvdv rewriter.

The only component Id change would be get faster ram. But even still its fine.

O'Doodle · 14-05-2011 3:51pm

Dublin_Gunner wrote: »

I have no idea what you plan on using glue for, so please dont buy any!!

The stock cooler is fine even for a small overclock, so you could save there. You could also save by not getting ths blu ray reader, and just get a dvdv rewriter.

The only component Id change would be get faster ram. But even still its fine.

Thanks for the reply!!

I thought you had to cool the processor into the socket on the mobo and then glue the fan in place?

I'm not going to overclock yet so will remove the fan. Will also remove the blu ray reader!

Thanks a mill

Monotype · 14-05-2011 5:35pm

If you want to save money, get the 2500K. It's much cheaper and will do pretty much the same in games.

Maybe opt for 1.5V RAM as some 1155 boards can be fussy about this. Here's some faster RAM. (From memoryc because scan's selection is poor).
http://www.memoryc.com/computermemory/ddr3/8gbgskillddr3pc312800ripjawsxseriesforsandybridge.html

Also, as I said before, the C300 is a better option than the Vertex 2.

O'Doodle · 14-05-2011 6:15pm

Is that a x1 8GB RAM card?

Changed the SSD to:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/64gb-crucial-realssd-m4-25-sata-6gb-s-ssd-mlc-flash-read-415mb-s-write-95mb-s

Monotype · 14-05-2011 6:34pm

M4 is fine. RAM is 2x4GB.

Dublin_Gunner · 14-05-2011 8:16pm

O'Doodle wrote: »

Thanks for the reply!!

I thought you had to cool the processor into the socket on the mobo and then glue the fan in place?

I'm not going to overclock yet so will remove the fan. Will also remove the blu ray reader!

Thanks a mill

No you certainly do NOT glue the cooler onto the chip!!! You might be confusing what appears to be glue - thermal paste, with glue!

On the stock cooler, it will alreaady have a layer applied, so no need to mess around with that.

The stock cooler uses a push-pin type system to hold the cooler in position.

And I also concur that the 2500K is just about as good, and is €100 or so cheaper.

seyeM · 15-05-2011 1:11am

Dunno if you've pulled the trigger on this yet, but here's an alternative recommendation for the PSU. It's £30 more, and will leave headroom for a second 6950 in the future if you need more graphics power.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/850w-coolermaster-silent-pro-m-modular-80-plus-bronze-85-eff-sli-crossfire-eps-12v-135mm-fan

The OCZ 60GB Agility 3 is due out soon too, strong read and write speeds:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/60gb-ocz-agility-3-ssd-25-sata-6gb-s-sandforce-2281-read-525mb-s-write-475mb-s-50k-iops

O'Doodle · 15-05-2011 7:53pm

Hey there. Thanks of that. I can't spend anymore money, just realized I have to buy a copy of windows aswell.

Where can I get a cheap copy of windows 7? Do I need 32 or 64 bit? Which is better?

Last question I promise!

Rate this spec v2

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