I5 1500k based new build.

[jpozniak]

Hi all,

Planning on a new build (sort of, details below) based on the i5 2500k. I am trying to keep the budget as low as possible whilst keeping the mobo and cpu as long into the future as I can! The reason for the build is my current rig’s mobo north bridge fan has died and I also want to play Shogun 2 Total war and some upcoming heavy games.

Current setup:

PSU: Corsair TX650w
GPU: Ati Raedon 3600HD
HDD: 500gb sata + 1tb sata, both 7200rpm
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+
RAM: 2GB

Approximate Purchase Date: As soon as I get your valued input!

Budget Range: up to 600 euros

System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming, surfing the internet, high res adobe PS work, watching movies

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS, PSU (corsair tx650w)

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: azerty.nl

Country of Origin: Netherlands

Parts Preferences:

Already owned to salvage:

PSU: Corsair TX650w
GPU: Ati Raedon 3600HD
HDD: 500gb sata + 1tb sata, both 7200rpm

Planned purchase:

CPU: Intel i5 2500k
Mobo: Asus P6P67-M PRO
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8gb 2x4gb 1600mhz
Case: Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced
Optical Drive: Sony Optiarc AD-7260S
Overclocking: Yes (never tried it before but have read its much recommended that I go with K version to OC for big performance increase?)

SLI or Crossfire: Not for now but in a future upgrade

Monitor Resolution: 1600x1200,

Questions:

Everybody seems to be raving about a few boards that are all priced around the same region of 130 euros(namely P8P67PRO). What do you lose by spending 87 euros on a ASUS P8P67 LE B3? Are the extra 40 euros wasted on the PRO version? What do you get for the 40 euros?

The site I prefer to place my order with doesn’t have the Asus P8P67 PRO in stock but has the slightly cheaper P8P67-M PRO in stock. Why is the micro version cheaper and does it perform slower than the full ATX version? Should I just go with the M version and save a few euros and not have to wait for stock of the PRO?

Will my ATI Raedon HD3600 GPU be compatible/OK with this setup or will it cause some kind of fatal bottleneck? Keep in mind wanting to play games like Shogun 2! Reason I am keeping it is I want to keep budget on maxing CPU/MOBO for now and invest in a decent GPU or two in 6 months or so when I have more cash.

I have read that for the few extra euros, the i5 2500k is a far better buy than the 2500 because it can be seriously overclocked. Is this something I can do with relative ease and some light reading up on? Can I do this with the stock cooler to a reasonable advantage? If not, recommended cooler from the aforementioned website?

Should I buy some extra/different thermal paste than the stuff that comes with the CPU as standard? I have seen mentions that it is recommended?

Thanks for the interest and taking the time to read/respond!

Links:

CPU: Intel i5 2500k € 181,56
http://azerty.nl/0-2532-363903/intel-core-i5-2500k-3-3-ghz-.html

Mobo: Asus P6P67-M PRO € 125,58
http://azerty.nl/0-2528-386939/asus-p8p67-m-pro-b3-revision-.html

RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8gb 2x4gb 1600mhz € 92,37
http://azerty.nl/0-750-361602/corsair-vengeance-.html

Case: Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced € 86,26
http://azerty.nl/0-1044-252897/cooler-master-cm-690-ii-advanced-.html

Optical Drive: Sony Optiarc AD-7260S € 17,37
http://azerty.nl/0-862-273958/sony-optiarc-ad-7260s-.html

 

[welshmousepk]

The mATX board sacrifices only a couple expansion slots. other than that performs brilliantly. I have that exact board, and its phenomenal.

You will need a GPU upgrade if you want top play shogun 2 though. Drop down to 4gb of ram, and see what you can scrounge elsewhere toward a GPU. even a 5770 or GTX460 would be a real improvement.

 

[jpozniak]

I would save around 46 euro on halving the memory to one stick of 4gb.

Buying a 5770 is around 130 euro so this would leave me around 100 of extra cost.

Is there no way that having a decent CPU and 8gb RAM compensates in some way for a older GPU? I really wanted to wait to buy a GPU in 6 months or so when I have some more free cash instead of cheaping on it now and being stuck! Gotta justify things as it stands with the other half and going over 600 euros may be hard!

 

[jprahman]

^+1. Getting a i5-2500K is going to be a waste if you don't get a new GPU to go with it. A good options would be a GTX 560 Ti or a HD5870.

The i5-2500K is very good at overclocking, and it only requires changing the multiplier in the BIOS most of the time. Overall it's something that you definitely should look into.

I would definitely recommend getting not only some aftermarket thermal paste, but also an aftermarket heatsink like the Cooler Master Hyper 212+. Arctic Silver has been one of the most popular thermal pastes in the past, but better pastes are now available like Shin Itsu, Diamond IC, and MX-4. Overall though there aren't huge differences between aftermarket pastes, so as long as you don't use the super cheap stuff that comes with the CPU heatsink, or some no-name aftermarket stuff there isn't going to be a massive difference.

 

[welshmousepk]

Not really, the GPU is the most important component when it comes to gaming. And that old card will bottleneck your system heavily.

Having a powerful CPU isn't going to help out when the GPU can't render the game. You may JUST about be able to run it, at lowest settings, if you are tolerant of very low framerates.

Even buying a cheaper card like a 5670 for the time being, would be a better option.

 

[flashfir]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gaming-graphics-card-geforce-gtx-590-radeon-hd-6990,2879.html

 

[aznshinobi]

+1 on welsh

The 3600 won't be able to handle Shogun 2 even with all that Eyecandy turned off. Even my 5850 struggles at 1680x1050 with all that eye candy turned on. So I would suggest something of a 6870 or 560 Ti if your going with 1600x1200. (My CPU may be the bottleneck, but not as likely).

So I strongly suggest getting at least a 460 or 6850. That or get a card suggest above.

I also suggest this Pro3 board rather than your P67 Pro-M.
http://azerty.nl/8-2528-393569/asrock-p67-pro3-b3-moederbord.html

It's cheaper and would be something/an area where you could save on your budget if you don't want to sacrifice the ram.

I would strongly suggest cutting the ram and motherboard to 4gb and the mobo above. That'd be 46 as you stated. Then cutting about 20 euros. So that's about 66 euros. Which affords a 5670.
http://azerty.nl/8-970-384385/club-3d-radeon-hd-5670-grafi.html
Or stretch your budget and get this card. 126 euros.
http://azerty.nl/8-971-351959/gigabyte-gv-n450oc2-1gi-graf.html

 

[jpozniak]

OK,

So I have decided to push the budget and get the GPU as recommended. I looked at the one you linked above:
http://azerty.nl/8-971-351959/giga [...] -graf.html

but also found this one:

http://azerty.nl/0-970-258770/msi-r5770-hawk-.html

they are both pretty much the same price but the 5770 seems to have lots of good reviews, any input on which is better?


I was thinking of saving the 40 odd euros to drop to 4gb of RAM but would this meaning dropping to 2x2gb? I can't just buy 1 stick of 4gb? Reason being, I want the option to slowly build the RAM up over the next year and dropping to 2gb sticks would mean a RAM max of 8gb instead of 16gb right?

If I was to drop down to 4gb and save the 40 odd euros then I could probably spend it on a better GPU,something like this instead:

http://azerty.nl/8-970-355773/club-3d-radeon-hd-6870-grafi.html
Also saving some money by going for the Asrock board mentioned as it seems to have everything I would need.

Thanks for the help so far, look forward to your responses!

 

[jpozniak]

Forgot to mention, I have some aftermarket cooler on my current AMD64X2 chip, could this be recycled on the new one?? Not sure which but will post exact model when I get home!

 

[welshmousepk]

Depends on the model, but you will most likely have to find a mounting kit for the new socket.

 

[rainwilds]

The mATX board sacrifices only a couple expansion slots. other than that performs brilliantly. I have that exact board, and its phenomenal.

I always thought that the voltage phase attributes of full ATX boards like the 12+2 of the P8P67 were crucial for stable overclocks? I believe that the mATX boards lack these voltage regulators because of space.

 

[rainwilds]

These days your GPU is going to be the bottleneck before the CPU. I'm in the process of upgrading now but have been running my Q6600 with a 6850 in it for the last few months and finally I am starting to see a CPU bottleneck! If money is short get an i5 2300 and spend the extra cash on better graphics.

 

[aznshinobi]

Drop the 8gb for the 4gb dual channel (2x2). That'll get you a MUCH better card. The 6870 as you stated. The 6870's will handle all of your needs just fine. 4GB is enough to run any system. Even a gaming system. I guarantee you.

 

[jpozniak]

Ok, so had a word with my other half and she said "spend what you think you need to be happy with it" so its all go (within reason)!

Planning to order tomorrow morning so, final setup (question marks explained below!):


CPU: Intel i5 2500k 181.50
Mobo: ASRock P67 Pro3 B3? 106.95
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8gb 2x4gb 1600mhz? 85.60
Case: Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced 86.26
Optical Drive: Sony Optiarc AD-7260S 17.37
GPU: Club 3D Radeon HD 6870? 168.09

Total:

Question marks:

The 8gb vs 4gb question, you said drop to 4gb and spend the money on the GPU but now I'm going with the 6870 (or equiv) either way so what would the 40 odd euro extra spent on double RAM give me in laymans terms? ie 10% faster on day to day windows stuff and 5% in gaming? Want to if its just money for nothing!

What am I losing by going with the Asrock compared to the Asus I planned at the start? I tried working it out but the statistics hurt my head! Want to make sure the board isn't missing something I may like on the ASUS!

I'm pretty set on the 6870 but if anybody knows a card that will perform better that is 170euro or less on azerty.nl then let me know asap!



Many thanks again for your interest and patience! I really appreciate all those who have helped with this decision, cant thank you enough!

 

[aznshinobi]

Your losing a single PCI 16x 2.0 slot vs your prior board. However that really doesn't matter because on a MicroATX board, your not going to fit 2 modern day cards. Most modern cards require dual slots, that basically covers up most available slots on a mATX board.
That's the only thing really that your losing.

8gb - 4gb has not giant effect. But if your archiving (WinZip, transfering files, etc. etc.) it'll faster with more ram. Also things like photoshop editing and video editing more ram will benefit in performance. So really it all depends on how much you do the stuff. I use 4gb and I'm fine, I game all the time w/ no problems.

 

[jpozniak]

Ok, thanks again for all the help, just ordered!

Here is the final setup:

Product : Intel Core i5 2500K / 3.3 GHz - LGA1155 Socket - L3 6 MB - doos
Subtotaal : 182,13 euro
Product : Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced - Midtowermodel - ATX ( EPS12V/ PS/2 ) - zwart - USB/eSata/Audio
Subtotaal : 86,26 euro
Product : Corsair Vengeance - Geheugen - 8 GB : 2 x 4 GB - DIMM 240-pins - DDR3 - 1600 MHz / PC3-12800 - CL9 - 1.5 V - niet-gebufferd - ni
Subtotaal : 85,60 euro
Product : Club 3D Radeon HD 6870 - Grafische adapter - Radeon HD 6870 - PCI Express 2.0 x16 - 1 GB GDDR5 - DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort ( HDCP )
Subtotaal : 168,09 euro
Product : ASRock P67 Pro3 B3 - Moederbord - ATX - iP67 - LGA1155 Socket - SATA-300 (RAID), SATA-600 (RAID), eSATA - Gigabit Ethernet -
Subtotaal : 106,95 euro
Product : Sony Optiarc AD-7260S - Schijfstation - DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM - 24x24x12x - Serial ATA - intern - 5.25" -
Subtotaal : 17,37 euro
Product : Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus - Koeler voor processor - ( Socket 775, Socket 1156, Socket AM2, Socket 1366, Socket AM3 ) - alumin
Subtotaal : 23,80 euro
Product : Arctic Silver 5 Premium Silver 3.5g - thermische pasta
Subtotaal : 6,00 euro

Total: 690 euro

 

[aznshinobi]

Looks good.