Another try at building a new computer

[Guest]

Hello everyone. A month ago I made a thread about new rig and it was budget oriented. I still haven't bought anything and there is a chance I will be able to afford more expensive rig. My budget rig got positive feedback so now I'd like to hear opinions on this one. It will be used for browsing, gaming, home cinema and all that stuff. I also wouldn't mind playing Battlefield 3, but not on ultra settings. So here it is:

MoBo: Asus P8P67-M
CPU: Core i5 2500k
GPU: XFX Radeon HD6850 1GB DDR5
HDD: Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB
RAM: Mushkin SilverLine Stiletto 1333 MHz 2x2GB DDR
PSU: XFX Core Edition 80 550W
CPU fan: CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Plus
Case fans: 2x Arctic Cooling F9 Pro PWM

With current exchange rate, these components sum up to ~$890. Again, much more expensive than on NewEgg, but what can we Europeans do...

And now, the questions:

1. This might be a broad question, but I can't figure out the differences between these Asus' motherboards: P8P67-M, P8H67-M EVO, P8P67-M PRO, P8P67 LE, P8P67 PRO. I have tried comparing specifications (from official site), but I got completely lost in all the information. What does the "-M" stand for and what do "EVO", "PRO", "LE" and no suffix mean?

2. Should I go with P67 or Z68 motherboard? I know Z combines the good sides of H and P, but I don't really need integrated graphics support. I do want to overclock, so P67 should do, right?

3. Is there better PSU in same price range? I'm aware that Seasonic is probably the best, but it's also a bit too expensive. I suppose XFX is better than Corsair CX series?

4. I have heard a lot of mixed opinions on Hyper 212 Plus, some people are extremely satisfied while others have complained about a number of things. How good is it and is there something better in same price range? Most people applaud its low price. Another thing to note, I would like to overclock the CPU to at least 4 GHz, but no more than 4.5 GHz.

Thanks for help.

Cheers.

 

[Guest]

Forgot to ask one more thing... How much power does overclocked i5 2500k need?

XFX Core Edition 80 550W has 44A or 12V rails (528W), is that enough when all the other components are taken into account?

 

[samuelspark]

Since you're going for gaming on battlefield 3, I would go for a better GPU and a better PSU and go for a AMD build to save money. What's your budget and monitor resolution? I'll go to your favorite website and make a build for you.

 

[cutebeans]

http://www.techspot.com/review/448-battlefield-3-beta-performance/page7.html

As you can see, the phenom is owning the i5 and i7 by about 3 FPS. It doesn't look much but the Phenom is a $100 dollars cheaper. BF3 isn't CPU intensive so you should really get a good video card.

Get a 6950. The 6850 won't cut it. Tom's $500 dollar build has a 6870. Don't skimp on the GPU.

 

[Guest]

Since you're going for gaming on battlefield 3, I would go for a better GPU and a better PSU and go for a AMD build to save money. What's your budget and monitor resolution? I'll go to your favorite website and make a build for you.

Like I said, I don't expect to run Battlefield 3 on ultra settings (or even high for that matter) and it's not the focus of my new build, but I'm interested in trying it out and I'd like it to run smoothly with whichever settings necessary.

As for CPU, I really want to go with Intel and that's the part I'm the most sure about. I don't like AMD's CPUs.

Budget is not set in stone, but it's around $900. I might spend extra $100 on GPU if money allows it, which is not certain yet.

I have Samsung SyncMaster T200 which is 21'' with 1680x1050 native resolution.

Why do you think XFX PSU is not good enough?

I'm buying parts from various stores and I'm using a website that indexes all the stores from my country and sorts items by price. That way I can save quite a bit of money. However, it's in Croatian so it would be probably hard to get around for you.

http://www.techspot.com/review/448-battlefield-3-beta-performance/page7.html

As you can see, the phenom is owning the i5 and i7 by about 3 FPS. It doesn't look much but the Phenom is a $100 dollars cheaper. BF3 isn't CPU intensive so you should really get a good video card.

Get a 6950. The 6850 won't cut it. Tom's $500 dollar build has a 6870. Don't skimp on the GPU.

Like I said, I have affinity for Intel's CPUs and Battlefield 3 is not focus of my new build, I just mentioned it among other things.

I am, however, considering 6950 if the money allows it.

By the way, the same rig is <$700 on NewEgg. Damn you Americans!

 

[samuelspark]

Since your resolution is lower than I expected, a 6850/6870 will do fine. Also, you could get away with a corsair 430w since you're only running 1 gpu.

 

[leandrodafontoura]

You dont want to save money on a PSU, you will get it once and will keep it for many builds. Im a personal fan of Cooler Master Silent Pro. They are very powerfull and very silent. BTW, they anounced a new hybrid series wich is to be available soon. The lowest model is 850W, and thats all power you need.

Ussually the diferences between motherobards is the number of conectors, some have more USB than others, or perhaps a esata or firewire port.

 

[Guest]

Yes, I was just comparing 6850, 6870 and 6950 for my resolution and 6870 seems to be the golden middle.

I am 99% sure that I will never run more than 1 graphic card.

Don't you think I need more than 430W to be sure when overclocking?

Also, I've read somewhere that XFX Core Edition 80 is rebranded Seasonic which is great, but can anyone confirm this?

 

[samuelspark]

Yeah your PSU is fine but if you're worried about 430w then get a corsair builder series 500w.

 

[samuelspark]

Also, i've never heard of that RAM company so try for a crucial ballstix sport series there.

 

[1tym]

Also, I've read somewhere that XFX Core Edition 80 is rebranded Seasonic which is great, but can anyone confirm this?

yes it is

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/power-supply-oem-manufacturer,2913-10.html

 

[Guest]

yes it is

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/power-supply-oem-manufacturer,2913-10.html

Ah yes, I know that article. Couldn't find it, thanks for confirmation.

Also, i've never heard of that RAM company so try for a crucial ballstix sport series there.

I was in a dilemma between Mushkin and G.Skill, but I decided to go with Mushkin because it's from USA (compared to G.Skill which is from Taiwan). People say both are excellent choices.

Can anyone answer other questions?

 

[cutebeans]

Yeah, it's both great but I think G.Skill is better than Mushkin. I saw a ram benchmark by toms and mushkin is just a normal performer

 

[samuelspark]

-M<LE<EVO<PRO

Theres just some extra features in the higher end mobos that you don't get in lower end mobos. Also, you get better overclocking but since you aren't going heavily for gaming, I would just go with -m to save money.

 

[Guest]

Yeah, it's both great but I think G.Skill is better than Mushkin. I saw a ram benchmark by toms and mushkin is just a normal performer

Can you link me to that benchmark? Can't seem to find it.

-M<LE<EVO<PRO

Theres just some extra features in the higher end mobos that you don't get in lower end mobos. Also, you get better overclocking but since you aren't going heavily for gaming, I would just go with -m to save money.

Okay, cool. But I would like to overclock to 4.0-4.5 GHz, does that change anything?

 

[cutebeans]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/8gb-ddr3-ram,2542-8.html

This is it, it's 1 year old but it should still be accurate.

Anyway. Tom's conclusion is that G. Skill Ripjaws is the best brand for them.

 

[Guest]

Thanks, I guess I'll go with those then.

 

[cutebeans]

Thanks, I guess I'll go with those then.

Good luck bro. There nothing better than a gamer happy with his system. Get the 6870 btw.

 

[Guest]

I have another question regarding CPU cooling. Which of these would be the best choice?

Scythe Yasya
Zalman Performa
Zalman Quiet

I would probably go with Zalman Performa, but people say it's REALLY loud. I couldn't find how much is Quiet actually quieter than Performa. Yasya seems to be a good all around choice.

 

[samuelspark]

Hyper 212+ ftw

 

[ARchamps]

I would get the LE version at least. The standard P8P67 would be the best for overclocking though (more options). The Pro and Deluxe adds SLI support, more ports etc. See the chart below. The M version is Micro ATX. My opinion is go for the standard P8P67. I just got mine 2 weeks ago and used the turbo option (no changes to any other settings) and got an OC @ 4.2 Ghz. Not bad!

Edit --> To answer your other question about the MB, The P67 will do just fine. They are pretty much the same except for SSD caching and integrated graphics. The Z68 boards (the good ones) are still pricey. Most new P67 boards (ASUS, MSI and GIGABYTE) also claim to have support for IvyBridge processors and PCEe 3.0. I had the same question a few weeks ago. The price difference between the standard ASUS P67 and Z68 is almost $50

Hope this helps!

 

[Guest]

I would get the LE version at least. The standard P8P67 would be the best for overclocking though (more options). The Pro and Deluxe adds SLI support, more ports etc. See the chart below. The M version is Micro ATX. My opinion is go for the standard P8P67. I just got mine 2 weeks ago and used the turbo option (no changes to any other settings) and got an OC @ 4.2 Ghz. Not bad!

http://legitreviews.com/images/reviews/1500/asus_p8p67_spec.jpg

Edit --> To answer your other question about the MB, The P67 will do just fine. They are pretty much the same except for SSD caching and integrated graphics. The Z68 boards (the good ones) are still pricey. Most new P67 boards (ASUS, MSI and GIGABYTE) also claim to have support for IvyBridge processors and PCEe 3.0. I had the same question a few weeks ago. The price difference between the standard ASUS P67 and Z68 is almost $50

Hope this helps!

Thanks, that definitely helps. I think I'll go with P8P67 LE then. I have to ask, though, what's power design, DIGI+VRM and those 16+2, 12+2 and 4+1 things?

Hyper 212+ ftw

Heh, I know, a lot of people say it's the best cooling for that price, but will it suffice for overclocking to 4.5 GHz?

 

[samuelspark]

Yup most definitely. Mobo's just really your choice since they'll all be able to OC to at least 4.2-4.5 I'd just go with matx to save money.

 

[neograndizer]

Heh, I know, a lot of people say it's the best cooling for that price, but will it suffice for overclocking to 4.5 GHz?

That's provided you get a good chip and good air flow going to keep temps down. I can get 4.5Ghz, but at the voltage I need to maintain it and the temps, I don't think it's worth it. I'm currently sitting at 4.3Ghz @ about 1.275v with (what I consider) good temps. But from what I've heard, 212+ is a very good performer. I can only comment from what I've seen as I don't own it. I have a Scythe Mugen 2 Rev.B.

 

[Guest]

That's provided you get a good chip and good air flow going to keep temps down. I can get 4.5Ghz, but at the voltage I need to maintain it and the temps, I don't think it's worth it. I'm currently sitting at 4.3Ghz @ about 1.275v with (what I consider) good temps. But from what I've heard, 212+ is a very good performer. I can only comment from what I've seen as I don't own it. I have a Scythe Mugen 2 Rev.B.

What's the temperature under load at 4.3 GHz? Like I said, it doesn't have to be 4.5 GHz, but anywhere between 4.0 and 4.5 would be cool.

My case is somewhat old and not very popular brand (Modecom Harry - google it), I'll be using one 92mm fan for exhaust (back), one 92mm fan for intake (front) and one 80mm fan for intake (side).

I suppose you don't have problem fitting Mugen 2 in your case? Which RAM do you have?