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kevinea
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Joined: 26 Jan 2003
Posts: 76
Location: Orange County, CA
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 Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2012 9:17 pm Post subject: New Build Specs - Please Review and Comment |
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I am getting ready for a new build. I've done three others over the years, all with the help of motherboards.org - thanks again guys! Here is a summary of my needs and specs. Please check them out and offer any constructive criticism.
My main use for this machine will be gaming, some video conversion and editing from time to time, and of course more mundane tasks such as email and websurfing. I am not particulary price sensitive. Noise is important, however - I want this to be relatively quiet. I may do a mild overclock but I don't plan to go beyond stock voltages since that will add to the heat load and therefore noise.
Here is my spec plan:
Processor: Ivy Bridge Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-GD65
Cooler: Corsair Hydro H100
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 1600 4 x 4GB Quad Channel low profile
SSD: SAMSUNG 830 Series 2.5-Inch 256GB SATA III MLC SSD
Data Disk: 2 ea. Western Digital Caviar Green 2 TB Desktop Hard Drive WD20EARX in RAID 1
Optical Disk 1: Blu-Ray burner: Lite-On iHBS212-08
Optical Disk 2: Samsung SH-222BB
Power Supply: Corsair AX850
Video Card: MSI GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr II OC
Sound Card: Asus Xonar STX
Case: Nexus Prominent R
Some specific questions:
1. The MSI motherboard spec sheet indicates that the memory architecture is dual channel, but when I look at their approved RAM list, it shows the quad channel Corsair modules that I have specified. I don’t understand but since they are on their list, I think I should use them.
2. Is there any performance difference in using 4 x 4 GB RAM sticks versus 2 x 8 GB?
3. Do you think I will have any trouble fitting the cooler into the case?
4. Is there any sense in getting 2 SSD drives in RAID 0 for faster boot-up and better performance?
5. I suspect that the video card is the weak link here. It is one that I already have in an existing system. Does it make sense to upgrade it? If so, what is a quiet, more powerful card? Or, should I consider getting another of the same model and running them in SLI?
What else am I missing?
Thanks in advance!
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KevinEA from Orange County, CA
CPU = Core 2 Duo E6600, OC'd to 3.0 GHz
MOTHERBOARD = EVGA 680i
RAM = 4096 MB Corsair XMS DDR2 8500
HARD DRIVE = WD Caviar SE16 500 GB
VIDEO CARD = MSI GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr II OC
SOUND = SB X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty |
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kevinea
Initiate
Joined: 26 Jan 2003
Posts: 76
Location: Orange County, CA
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| Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 11:04 am Post subject: |
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Any feedback anyone?
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KevinEA from Orange County, CA
CPU = Core 2 Duo E6600, OC'd to 3.0 GHz
MOTHERBOARD = EVGA 680i
RAM = 4096 MB Corsair XMS DDR2 8500
HARD DRIVE = WD Caviar SE16 500 GB
VIDEO CARD = MSI GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr II OC
SOUND = SB X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty |
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kevinea
Initiate
Joined: 26 Jan 2003
Posts: 76
Location: Orange County, CA
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| Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 11:30 am Post subject: |
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No opinions out there? Did I provide too much info? 
_________________
KevinEA from Orange County, CA
CPU = Core 2 Duo E6600, OC'd to 3.0 GHz
MOTHERBOARD = EVGA 680i
RAM = 4096 MB Corsair XMS DDR2 8500
HARD DRIVE = WD Caviar SE16 500 GB
VIDEO CARD = MSI GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr II OC
SOUND = SB X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty |
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Roach412
Black Belt 2nd Degree
Joined: 09 Aug 2004
Posts: 2460
Location: Milwaukee - Wisconsin
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| Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 11:52 am Post subject: Re: New Build Specs - Please Review and Comment |
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| kevinea wrote: |
1. The MSI motherboard spec sheet indicates that the memory architecture is dual channel, but when I look at their approved RAM list, it shows the quad channel Corsair modules that I have specified. I don’t understand but since they are on their list, I think I should use them.
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you can put as much ram as there are slots in the motherboard. in dual channel they work with more throughput however.
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2. Is there any performance difference in using 4 x 4 GB RAM sticks versus 2 x 8 GB?
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i don't know that board, but most likely it would do dual channel through 2 channels, so 4x of the same ram would work just as well basically. it's whether you want to limit your memory now with 4x, or be able to put in 2x more of the 8gb in the future. ram is super cheap now, so i'd grab as much as you're willing to pay now.
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3. Do you think I will have any trouble fitting the cooler into the case?
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can't really say
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4. Is there any sense in getting 2 SSD drives in RAID 0 for faster boot-up and better performance?
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in my opinion, no. get a good SSD and don't worry about RAIDing it.
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5. I suspect that the video card is the weak link here. It is one that I already have in an existing system. Does it make sense to upgrade it? If so, what is a quiet, more powerful card? Or, should I consider getting another of the same model and running them in SLI?
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from my own personal experience, i don't like that card. i had huge issues with multiple cards dying out. granted, when they werked it's pretty powerful to be honest, and should take care of anything you want for at least another year or more. putting it into SLI i would start to be concerned for your PSU of 850w. i'd recommend something closer to 1000w when putting modern GPUs into SLI.
-Roach
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Lian Li Lancool First Knight Series PC-K59W
Intel Core i7-960 Bloomfield 3.2GHz
EVGA X58 FTW3 132-GT-E768-TR
EVGA GTX 560ti FPB
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 12GB (3 x 4GB)
Crucial M4 128gb SATAIII SSD
Corsair Professional Series HX850 PSU |
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kevinea
Initiate
Joined: 26 Jan 2003
Posts: 76
Location: Orange County, CA
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| Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2012 12:34 pm Post subject: |
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Roach, thanks for the reply. After considering what you said and researching some more I've decided the following:
- to use 2 x 8 GB RAM sticks.
- to use 1 SSD (no RAID for the SSD)
- to go with a smaller cooler
- to go with a newer video card
So, anyone please chime in with recommendations for
1. the quietest small CPU cooler (self-contained water seems best)
2. the quietest modern video card (must support gaming such as Skyrim, Mass Effect 3, etc.). Maybe NVidia GTX 670?
Thanks!
_________________
KevinEA from Orange County, CA
CPU = Core 2 Duo E6600, OC'd to 3.0 GHz
MOTHERBOARD = EVGA 680i
RAM = 4096 MB Corsair XMS DDR2 8500
HARD DRIVE = WD Caviar SE16 500 GB
VIDEO CARD = MSI GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr II OC
SOUND = SB X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty |
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Mr T
Enlightened Master
Joined: 14 Jun 2002
Posts: 16654
Location: England
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| Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2012 7:58 pm Post subject: |
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The Corsair Hydro is very good and will work in the case...
The 560ti is still an excellent video card.. It is getting dated though, so you are right, the logical one woyld be a 670.. Check out what ATI equivalent is too.
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I have been programming on computers since the ZX81.
I am an apprentice trained Electronics Engineer with qualifications to back it up.
I have been repairing computers since 1996.
Yet to some people I still know nothing... |
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kevinea
Initiate
Joined: 26 Jan 2003
Posts: 76
Location: Orange County, CA
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| Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 3:11 pm Post subject: |
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OK, I have revised my specs as follows:
Processor: Ivy Bridge Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-GD65
Cooler: Scythe Ninja 3 Rev. B
Memory: : Crucial Ballistix sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 1600
SSD: SAMSUNG 830 Series 2.5-Inch 256GB SATA III MLC SSD
Data Disk: Western Digital Caviar Green 2 TB Desktop Hard Drive WD20EARX
Optical Disk 1: Blu-Ray burner: Lite-On iHBS212-08
Optical Disk 2: Samsung SH-222BB
Power Supply: Corsair AX850
Video Card: ASUS GeForce GTX 670-DC2-2GD5 VGA - 2GB
Sound Card: Asus Xonar STX
Case: Nexus Prominent 5
Any issues with this setup? In particular, is the cooler a good choice? Is 1600 the right choice for RAM speed? Will this system be a quiet gaming powerhouse? Thanks.
_________________
KevinEA from Orange County, CA
CPU = Core 2 Duo E6600, OC'd to 3.0 GHz
MOTHERBOARD = EVGA 680i
RAM = 4096 MB Corsair XMS DDR2 8500
HARD DRIVE = WD Caviar SE16 500 GB
VIDEO CARD = MSI GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr II OC
SOUND = SB X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty |
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