PSU / Build advice

LoLth

(I tried using fluffy's script but it only returned a blank table with a shipping cost, tried each script in the thread both logged in and out of hardwareversand )

my current self-build PC is starting to show its wrinkles (after nearly 6 years with only minor upgrades I have to say I'm very happy with how its gone).

So, rather than just add to the current build, I , in my infinite wisdom (nerdiness) have elected to go for a new build and carry over what I can and whats useful.

Currently there is a really high pitched, almost painful, whining sound coming from the PSU / HDD area of the machine. I'm having trouble pinning it down but I'm thinking its the PSU. So the PSU (antec 850watt) may not be making the transition which leads me to my first question:

calculating PSU requirements. In hindsight, I think I was overly pessimistic with the 850 watt PSU and should have gone for something smaller but I'm at a loss to work out the minimum requirement and leave room for future expansion, perhaps someone could give me some advice besed on the suggested build below:

motherboard: ASUS P8Z68 - V LX (or the P8Z68 V/Gen3)
http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=51173&agid=1601

I like Asus (I'm upgrading from a P5W DH Deluxe LGA755 which has worked well but has loads of extras I never used) and I want to have the option of upgrading to an Ivy-bridge in the future.

CPU: Core i5 2500k
http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=41224&agid=1617

I'd love an i7 2600k but cant justify the expense as I'm not sure the improved performance will be needed. eventually I may upgrade the CPU but not for another year or two at least.

Ram: placeholder: Corsair Vengence 16gb (4x4) DDR3 1600
http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=40702&agid=1193

I dont like the heat sinks sticking up in ram sticks so I'll probably just order 2x8gb kits from Crucial but the same spec. any advice or suggestions would be welcome.

I have hard drives already (2x 500gb sata, 1x 1tb sata) these will be coming over to the new build

Graphics card is ATI Radeon 4870x2, 1gb . its a great card and does everything I want it to. In the future I may buy a second hand one somewhere and set up crossfire or, depending on budget I may go for a new card

Optical: DVD R/W is being carried over.

Monitor: I have and its nice so no need to replace

Peripherals: nothing extra. I have keyboard/mouse that I'm happy with (dell basics, I'm not "pro" gamer enough to know the difference a better mouse or keyboard would make).

Case: my current Antec 900 is grand but the front USB ports are giving me trouble (loose and not always reading keys properly) so I may be swapping out for a new case. Suggestions more than welcome < €100 - the antec 900 is about as flashy as I'll ever go. No LEDs is perfectly fine for me!

currently looking at: Corsair Carbide Series 500R Mid-Tower Gaming Chassis, White . I'd like room for 2x graphics cards, min 4 x 3.5" internal, 2x 5.25" external.



to keep things nice, the questionaire answers:
1. What is your budget? ceiling of 600 but would prefer 500 to leave some wriggle room for flashy bits.

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? gaming/internet/number crunching/database

games: City of Heroes, Battlefield 3, Skyrim

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? no win7 64bit already owned (non-oem)

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? 3x HDD (seagate & WD, all SATA, 2x wd 500gb 10k rpm, 1x 1tb seagate), 1x DVD R/W (BenQ)
5. Do you need a monitor? nope

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? cant remember offhand but its fine no upgrade planned

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? nope

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? would prefer not to but open to it

8. How can you pay? cash/laser/cc/paypal/transfer are all good

9. When are you purchasing? within the next month

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? nope, I'm grand

deconduo

If the PSU is still in warranty you should be able to get a replacement, which will save a bit of money. If not, here's the build I would go for:

Item|Price
Total build cost: €537.49 + €18.99 shipping
Intel Core i5-2500K Box, LGA1155|€188.78
Thermalright HR-02 Macho|€33.75
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3, Sockel 1155, ATX|€113.21
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€32.50
Corsair Carbide Series 500R schwarz, ATX, ohne Netzteil|€96.51
XFX PRO650W Core Edition Full Wired Power Supply|€72.74


16GB of RAM is overkill unless you are doing stuff like heavy photoshop, 3d modelling etc. 8GB should be plenty.

The white 500R is out of stock right now, so if the colour matters you could order it from dabs instead. You could also keep an eye for it to come back in stock, usually it only takes a day or two.

I added a decent heatsink for overclocking, but you can drop that if you already have one. Overclocking the i5 is incredibly easy though, and you can get a huge boost in performance for very little effort.

LoLth

The Corsair case comes with USB 3.0 slots but the ASrock Mother board you recommend doesnt have USB 3.0 headers to connect up (if I'm reading it right).

I do a lot of disk image transfers / reading / indexing so USB 3 is quite important and I'd prefer to make use of the front ports for that leaving any back ports for things that wont get plugged out very often. Is there any particular reason for ASrock over ASUS (apart from price)?

deconduo

If USB3 is important, grab this one instead. It also overclocks a bit better:
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=50902&agid=1601

ASRock's Sandy Bridge boards are better value for money and more reliable than ASUS ones. ASUS used to be pretty good, but their quality has dropped a bit in the last couple of years.