PotatoHead
New member
Hi all, hoping for some sound advice to my build which has been waiting for the release of Sandy Bridge, so here goes. Any thoughts/comments are welcomed.
First of all, I am pretty much a total newbie-6 months ago and pre OC3D discovery, I knew how to turn a computer on and off, could replace an optical drive or graphics card just about and now, well, hopefully the post will give you nice folks an idea of my knowledge level and be able to post accordingly.
This machine by the way will be used for light word processing/powerpoint/excel, browsing, music, maybe the odd film and playing 1 game (currently, may expand), some photo storage, a bit of photoshop and so on. *NOTE* The game played is *VERY CPU DEMANDING* and *VERY GPU LIGHT*
Proposed or bought items:
Case- to be decided, help! leaning towards a Silverstone Fortress FT-02. Any suggestions are welcomed, but note, neon lights, flashing stuff and 'gaming' cases are generally not wanted. Clean, smart, funcional (above all, whilst still looking good and being domestically acceptable) decent cooling....you get the idea I'm sure.
Have considered, ATCS 840, Xigmatek Utgard, Corsair 700D/600T amongst others, though these are probably giving an idea what sort of styling and performance levels I'm after, any other suggestions-bring 'em on. (Not a fan of Lian-Li)
PSU: Seasonic 650x-Purchased already, no doubt overkill but future upgrades accommodated easily.
Processor: 2500K-hardly worth getting anything else on a price/performance ratio?
Memory: Since I'm posting on this forum it has to be Mushkin right!? (will likely be 1600/6-8-6-24 ridgeback 4GB, dual channel ofc)
Mobo: Now I feel a bit lost, 3 months ago, the path seemed clear, most likely Asus and probably a Sabertooth; now things appear in some disarray, BIOS swarming with problems, and OC results being problematic as a result. It seems to me that Asus are still the board of choice for me (most likely a P8P67 Pro) yet MSI and Gigabyte appear to be a little more sorted/stable in their current offerings yet also lack 1 or 2 little things I would like, especially as a first time builder and tweaker. Perhaps wait a few weeks for things to settle and problems to be ironed out?...or is this likely too short a time frame to expect that?
Cooler: Much like the Mushkin, it has to be NH D14 right?...does Sandy Bridge really need the abilities of this seemingly amazing piece of kit though? From my reading the processors seem to stay rather cool in comparison to 1156 or 1366, and bear in mind I have no desire (or need) to try for 5 gig on an OC, 4.5 would be comfy, 4.8 would be sweet. I'd rather place a little less stress and have something that will likely last a lengthy period, as well as generating less heat, using less juice etc etc.
GPU: Ahem, now here's where I might provoke some strong reactions, my intention is to retain my current piece of kit a, wait for it, Radeon 4830!
This is partly due to the game not requiring awesome power from this component and a budgetary one (not that I have a fixed limit, just a desire not blow more than I needed)
HD and optical are simple and cheap and therefore no real decisions to be made, except to say that I don't feel the cost/benefit ratio associated with an SSD is currently worthwhile.
Perhaps the general feel of the build, PSU and case in particular are a little different to the way many would go about it, but I firmly believe in buying quality where it counts and having those 2 components as rather expensive parts of the overall cost is worth it to me as they can be re used over and over as other parts are upgraded as desired or needed.
Note I'd kinda like to get this rig/pieces bought and built within a couple of weeks, but could stretch it to a month or so.
The differential from my current Pentium D (and crappy 4830!) will likely be immense and I don't want to wait an eternity!
Will also be purchasing W7, though peripherals are all in place from previous set up (Main monitor native 1600x1200)
Input espeically on Mobo choices and their 'teething' issues plus possible case options would be really appreciated.
Cheers
tatty'ed
First of all, I am pretty much a total newbie-6 months ago and pre OC3D discovery, I knew how to turn a computer on and off, could replace an optical drive or graphics card just about and now, well, hopefully the post will give you nice folks an idea of my knowledge level and be able to post accordingly.
This machine by the way will be used for light word processing/powerpoint/excel, browsing, music, maybe the odd film and playing 1 game (currently, may expand), some photo storage, a bit of photoshop and so on. *NOTE* The game played is *VERY CPU DEMANDING* and *VERY GPU LIGHT*
Proposed or bought items:
Case- to be decided, help! leaning towards a Silverstone Fortress FT-02. Any suggestions are welcomed, but note, neon lights, flashing stuff and 'gaming' cases are generally not wanted. Clean, smart, funcional (above all, whilst still looking good and being domestically acceptable) decent cooling....you get the idea I'm sure.
Have considered, ATCS 840, Xigmatek Utgard, Corsair 700D/600T amongst others, though these are probably giving an idea what sort of styling and performance levels I'm after, any other suggestions-bring 'em on. (Not a fan of Lian-Li)
PSU: Seasonic 650x-Purchased already, no doubt overkill but future upgrades accommodated easily.
Processor: 2500K-hardly worth getting anything else on a price/performance ratio?
Memory: Since I'm posting on this forum it has to be Mushkin right!? (will likely be 1600/6-8-6-24 ridgeback 4GB, dual channel ofc)
Mobo: Now I feel a bit lost, 3 months ago, the path seemed clear, most likely Asus and probably a Sabertooth; now things appear in some disarray, BIOS swarming with problems, and OC results being problematic as a result. It seems to me that Asus are still the board of choice for me (most likely a P8P67 Pro) yet MSI and Gigabyte appear to be a little more sorted/stable in their current offerings yet also lack 1 or 2 little things I would like, especially as a first time builder and tweaker. Perhaps wait a few weeks for things to settle and problems to be ironed out?...or is this likely too short a time frame to expect that?
Cooler: Much like the Mushkin, it has to be NH D14 right?...does Sandy Bridge really need the abilities of this seemingly amazing piece of kit though? From my reading the processors seem to stay rather cool in comparison to 1156 or 1366, and bear in mind I have no desire (or need) to try for 5 gig on an OC, 4.5 would be comfy, 4.8 would be sweet. I'd rather place a little less stress and have something that will likely last a lengthy period, as well as generating less heat, using less juice etc etc.
GPU: Ahem, now here's where I might provoke some strong reactions, my intention is to retain my current piece of kit a, wait for it, Radeon 4830!
This is partly due to the game not requiring awesome power from this component and a budgetary one (not that I have a fixed limit, just a desire not blow more than I needed)
HD and optical are simple and cheap and therefore no real decisions to be made, except to say that I don't feel the cost/benefit ratio associated with an SSD is currently worthwhile.
Perhaps the general feel of the build, PSU and case in particular are a little different to the way many would go about it, but I firmly believe in buying quality where it counts and having those 2 components as rather expensive parts of the overall cost is worth it to me as they can be re used over and over as other parts are upgraded as desired or needed.
Note I'd kinda like to get this rig/pieces bought and built within a couple of weeks, but could stretch it to a month or so.
The differential from my current Pentium D (and crappy 4830!) will likely be immense and I don't want to wait an eternity!
Will also be purchasing W7, though peripherals are all in place from previous set up (Main monitor native 1600x1200)
Input espeically on Mobo choices and their 'teething' issues plus possible case options would be really appreciated.
Cheers
tatty'ed
