What? Another one of those "Help me choose a PC!" threads?...

[Ebs]

...Yep, that's right!

 

I'm currently running an E8400 C2D OC'ed at 3.4Ghz, nvidia GTX 260 and 4GB of RAM.

While it's served me well, it's getting a bit long in the tooth. Here's what I'm looking at.

 

Intel Core i5-3570K processor (3.4 GHz, 6MB Cache, Socket 1155) boxed

 

Asus P8Z68-V Pro/Gen3 motherboard socket LGA 1155 Z68 ATX DDR3 Memory

 

Sparkle NVIDIA GTX 560 Ti graphics card (PCI-e, 1GB GDDR5, DVI, HDMI, 1 GPU)

 

Kingston HyperX PC3-12800 8GB RAM (1600 MHz, 240-Pin) DDR3 RAM Kit

 

Antec Sonata IV ATX PC case with power supply 620 watt black

 

 

Any suggestions? I've been out of the loop with regards to PC Hardware for a while, so please talk me out of it before I hand over 687 Euros! :)

 

 

Cheers,

Ebs

[Druid_]

Looks good although if possible I would try and stretch to the latest 6 series GPUs from Nvidia. The GTX 660 Ti doesn't appear to be that much more these days.

 

Also depends which games you play. Here's a spec comparison

http://www.hwcompare.com/13163/geforce-gtx-560-ti-vs-geforce-gtx-660-ti/

 

and a youtube review

[EtherealN]

The general idea is pretty much good, but two thoughts:

 

The motherboard you have selected is a Z68 chipset one, which will not support the integrated PCIe3 controller on the i5-3570K. This is not strictly relevant right now (since almost nothing requires PCIe3 today), but will limit future upgradeability. I would recommend a similar card, but ensure it is a Z77. (You can see it in the name of the card. On ASUS it would then be something like "ASUS P8Z77-V Pro".)

 

The graphics card is also slightly on the older side. It definitely works well (it is what I use), but today I would definitely recommend instead going for the 660Ti. Better value for the money.

 

EDIT: I'll add this 660Ti review for you to consider as well, which contains comparisons with AMD competitor cards as well as the 560Ti: http://techreport.com/review/23419/nvidia-geforce-gtx-660-ti-graphics-card-reviewed

Edited December 31, 2012 by EtherealN

[Ebs]

Cheers guys. I really appreciate the advice!

 

How about this then...I've just checked quickly...

 

ASRock Z77 Extreme4 Socket 1155 Motherboard (ATX, Intel Z77, 4x DDR3, DVI-D, HDMI, 4x SATA II, 2x USB 3.0)

 

and

 

Gigabyte GV-N66TWF2-2GD NVIDIA GTX 660 Ti graphics card (PCI-e, 2GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, 1GPU)

 

Are the brands alright? ASRock and Gigabyte?

They've upped my cost around 100 euros more. Hope it's worth it!

[Ebs]

with regards to Mobo's. Which one?

 

ASUS P8Z77-V LX Motherboard Socket 1155 (Intel Z77, 4x DDR3 memory, PCI-E, ATX, 4x USB 3.0)

 

or the previous ASRock Z77 Extreme4 Socket 1155 Motherboard (ATX, Intel Z77, 4x DDR3, DVI-D, HDMI, 4x SATA II, 2x USB 3.0)

[EtherealN]

From what I can see about them, I think you can let price decide. They're almost entirely identical.

 

If price is the same, just go for the brand you like, or even the color you like. :)

[Pilotasso]

I have the same opinion as Etherean, but I'd like to add that an SSD (either 128 or 256GB) is essential for stutter free gameplay. They are half the price they used to be a year ago. Youll never look back at HDD's for gaming. :)

 

Best SSD's today are OCZ's Vector or Samsung 840 Pro, but you can get away with a crucial M4 or OcZ Agility 3 for better prices.

[Ebs]

Cheers!

 

EDIT: I'm considering an SSD too so that's a big help. might have to wait a month or two though.

 

I just found a few threads from various forums comparing these exact motherboards. There's only 16 euros difference but the ASRock edges it. So looks like I'll go with that and the 660Ti

 

Thanks again!

Ebs

[Pilotasso]

Avoid ASrock, for reliability get Gigabyte, ASUS, or Intel. MSI are a tier below but they are OK too.

[Quirkitized]

Avoid ASrock, for reliability get Gigabyte, ASUS, or Intel. MSI are a tier below but they are OK too.

 

I've had gigabyte, asus and msi mobos fail on me while never having an asrock fail.

 

I think they all make excellent boards, just bad/good luck on DOA's and such imo :/

[Madone]

I've an ASUS motherboard, the hardware is really great, the only issue I had was caused by all the useless softwares like ASUS Suite which create conflicts with Windows and the BIOS. So don't install those pointless softwares and it's all good!

[EtherealN]

I have to agree with Pilotasso regarding SSDs. Bought one (a Samsung 830 series 512GB) a few months ago. They do wonders, but of course mainly in specific areas. (Fortunately "level load time" and loading stuff mid-game is most definitely one of those.) Prior to this I had some performance HDD's and was almost religious about maintaining proper file sector precision ("defragging" not only files, but also folders, to minimize seek time). But the price finally got so low I took the plunge, and it was well worth it.

[Quirkitized]

SSD are great. They are one of those things that make you wonder how you used your pc before you had it.

[Pilotasso]

I've had gigabyte, asus and msi mobos fail on me while never having an asrock fail.

 

I think they all make excellent boards, just bad/good luck on DOA's and such imo :/

 

Everybody has different experiences but each individually doesnt make statistics. :)

 

They all fail when they are factory new, but what Im talking about is long term reliability wich is more important (when they are new you can always RMA them). Asrock doesnt put as high quality components as the others to keep competitive prices.

[EtherealN]

I will add one point that impressed me with ASUS: when the P67 SATA2 controller issue was found, ASUS offered pre-emptive replacement: that is, you didn't have to send your board in first and get a replacement afterwards - you showed your proof of purchase, they sent you a new board, and included postage-paid return packaging.

 

That was real nice. (Of course, perhaps Intel ended up having to pay for that.)

[StoOopiD]

The general idea is pretty much good, but two thoughts:

 

The motherboard you have selected is a Z68 chipset one, which will not support the integrated PCIe3 controller on the i5-3570K. This is not strictly relevant right now (since almost nothing requires PCIe3 today), but will limit future upgradeability. I would recommend a similar card, but ensure it is a Z77. (You can see it in the name of the card. On ASUS it would then be something like "ASUS P8Z77-V Pro".)

 

The graphics card is also slightly on the older side. It definitely works well (it is what I use), but today I would definitely recommend instead going for the 660Ti. Better value for the money.

 

EDIT: I'll add this 660Ti review for you to consider as well, which contains comparisons with AMD competitor cards as well as the 560Ti: http://techreport.com/review/23419/nvidia-geforce-gtx-660-ti-graphics-card-reviewed

 

PCIe 2 vs. PCIe 3.

is there or going to be any difference? or is it just a Intel thing?

where's the PCIe 32 speed?

[EtherealN]

Right now: no difference.

Later: probably will be a difference.

 

PCIe 3 has double the data throughput, so it is a serious upgrade, but right now there is pretty much nothing that maxes out PCIe2, but there will be things that do before too long.

[Evilducky]

Thats funny. I just ordered the sameish setup. The i5-3570 (not the K. I dont over clock) and the Asus P8Z77 motherboard and 8 gigs of G-skill memory. I was using a E8500 C2D processor before as well. I already have a 570 videocard so that should be good enough for awhile. :) Enjoy your build :)

[Druid_]

I've had both ASUS and gigabyte boards over the years and never had any problems either of with them. I am particularly impressed with the current batch of z77 mobos from Asus though. Sometimes it's luck of the draw I think. Both companies are very large mobo manufacturers so it's no surprise that there are failures.

[StoOopiD]

heres my experience,

 

I have an old Asus Nforce4 ultra chipset board and a old MSI K neo board in the garage somewhere. I know they'll both crank up if i put them back together. On the other hand ive also had two gigabyte boards, one AGP board and a GA-MA790XT-UD4P, they're both dead. the AGP board just died and the UD4P got the famous fruit loop boot loop. luckily my brother just upgraded to a sabertooth and i got his old asus board, which is running great.

 

so IMO Gigabyte is garbage.

Edited January 1, 2013 by StoOopiD

[EtherealN]

Both companies are very large mobo manufacturers so it's no surprise that there are failures.

 

Indeed. We should remember that for consumer-level products, there's only so much testing that can be done. "Industry-grade" products get tested more to reduce failure rates (and usually have better components), but as a consequence cost more. Then above that there's Military-grade (though that word is sometimes abused on individual components as a marketing gimmick, true "military-grade" requires more than just a few specific components being extra tough), and finally Space grade.

 

As a consumer, having to occassionally deal with a bummed product is what we "pay" in order to get our electronics as rediculously cheap as we do.

[Ratfink]

Hey Ebs, did you change any of the parts listed in your OP following the advice from the other guys?

[Ebs]

I did indeed!

 

Here's what I went with. I went to the local store and picked it all up last night...

 

Intel Core i5-3570K processor (3.4 GHz)

 

Corsair CX600 V2 (600w)

 

Asus P8Z77-V LX

 

NVIDIA GTX 660 Ti 2GB

 

Corsair Vengeance 8GB (1600Mhz)

 

Now, bear in mind that I've only just had the time to get it all set up. The true test will come this weekend ;) So far though, the system screams along in DCS with everything maxed out and nothing's overclocked yet. The difference is night and day compared to my trusty old C2D with GTX260. with that DCS was tweaked to hell and back with roughly medium-low settings in game. 2xAA and 2xAF...compared to 8xAA and 16xAF now. Mirrors on, HDR, water high...max tree distance etc etc.

 

Like I said though, tune in for more at the weekend ;)

 

Thanks again to the guys who gave me great advice. Really really appreciate it!

[Ratfink]

Sounds promising :)

 

Will check back with interest

[Ratfink]

How's the new rig performing Ebs??