Need Help; 2K intel build for birthday

[robomanlamb]

Hello, recently i have been saving up for a new intel rig to build and here are the two i came up to with a budget of $2500.


Here are the two i came up with:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/sMZa
vs.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qAbZ


Please tell me if you have any questions, comments or concerns.

PS: I plan to overclock the one i choose to 4Ghz. However, i have no clue on how to overclock so if you have any clue and are willing to help please do.

 

[lt_dan_zsu]

When building a computer, even though it is tempting, don't spend money just to spend money. You would probably be fine with a 3570k. Yes I know that is a 1/2 of the price of the one you have picked. In some games, the sanybridge-e actually performs worse than it is some games. So I would go with your second build, except consider a 3570k. Also get 2 7970's and consider reducing to 8gb ram. What resolution are you playing at? Also you might want to consider windows 7, I have heard 8 isn't very good with desktops. You also might want to consider cutting out frivolous spending so you can get a 1440p display. With 7970 cfx or 670 sli, I think you would like it.

 

[robomanlamb]

When building a computer, even though it is tempting, don't spend money just to spend money. You would probably be fine with a 3570k. Yes I know that is a 1/2 of the price of the one you have picked. In some games, the sanybridge-e actually performs worse than it is some games. So I would go with your second build, except consider a 3570k. Also get 2 7970's and consider reducing to 8gb ram. What resolution are you playing at? Also you might want to consider windows 7, I have heard 8 isn't very good with desktops. You also might want to consider cutting out frivolous spending so you can get a 1440p display. With 7970 cfx or 670 sli, I think you would like it.

Thank you for your reply, I in fact was going to choose the second build as well because the first was too pricey and I did not want to overclock. I chose the 2 670's because I liked the high clock speeds for gaming on 3 monitors and at a resolution of 2560 x 1440. I am also a avid multitasker and I have been known to use a lot of RAM. I would also like to use this computer for hosting small game servers (ie: Minecraft & TF2) while playing at the same time. However, I definitely will consider using Windows 7 as that is what I have on my current HP computer.

 

[boulbox]

i would opt for a 7970 GHz since you are doing 3 monitors

Also if it is purely gaming then get an i5 3570k, if you are doing hard core video editing or programming then i7

get this combo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1032178&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=
win7(win8 is not that great but this win7 combo makes it cheaper) also comes with free 2x4GB of ram(all you will need for games)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($80.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme6 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($159.98 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($164.00 @ Adorama)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card (CrossFire) ($439.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card (CrossFire) ($439.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Storm Stryker (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 850W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($119.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On IHAS324-98 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1824.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-16 17:58 EST-0500)


comes underbudget but will perform great/ just as good as your other builds

the XFX PSU is manufactured by Seasonic which is the top brand for OEM PSUs

Case: personal preference i love the Storm Styker, comes in a nice white and is highly rated by a lot of reviewers. Not to mention that its price is incomparable with all the features it has as well as build quality

250GB samsung 840: Samsung makes all of the parts for their SSDs so compatibility will not be an issue with it and it is just plain fast and reliable

CPU heatsink: some major cooling performance i say, the only think i would upgrade from this is a custom watercooling loop(which you should have money if you wanted to spend it)

Reasons why no 3rd GPU: space and heat, 3way sli/CFX is just not worth it, its bandwidth is lowered severely and takes a lot of space. If you have a Custom loop you may be able to fit it inside and let it not produce as much heat as 2 CFX/SLI fan coolers

 

[lt_dan_zsu]

Clock speeds don't mean all that much. Take the fx 4170, a cpu at 4.3ghz, the i5 3330 is a full ghx lower than the 4170, but is still more powerful. It is the same thing with gpus. AMD tends to have lower clocks than nvidia, not that much lower though. The 7970 is, in reality, about as strong as a 680, arguably stronger. It is easily overclocked past it, and can get past a 6990 and 590. Meaning the only card stronger than it is the 590. The 7970, with 12.11 drivers is the more economical and stronger choice.

 

[boulbox]

Clock speeds don't mean all that much. Take the fx 4170, a cpu at 4.3ghz, the i5 3330 is a full ghx lower than the 4170, but is still more powerful. It is the same thing with gpus. AMD tends to have lower clocks than nvidia, not that much lower though. The 7970 is, in reality, about as strong as a 680, arguably stronger. It is easily overclocked past it, and can get past a 6990 and 590. Meaning the only card stronger than it is the 590. The 7970, with 12.11 drivers is the more economical and stronger choice.

Nvidias Beta drivers have actually been doing a great job keeping a 670 close to a 7970(non GHz) but the 7970 Ghz is in its own class i would say because its overclocking ability is just beastly(well pretty much all of AMDs GPUs OC pretty nice but 7970 is just that much better than the others in terms of OCing)

670 can OC pretty nice too but mine 670 won't OC that hard for some reason(maybe got a faulty one) right now it is running at +70Mhz GPU offset and +287Mhz mem clock having a total of 1076 Core clock and 1371 boost clock where as my other friends computer which has a 7970 GHz has a much higher core clock and boost clock and better performance

Also do agree on you that clocks do not mean everything, if it did the i5 2500k would still be bought more frequently than the i5 3570k because it can overclock much higher. Reason why is because i5 3570k is faster clock per clock so a 4GHz 3670k would beat a 4GHz 2500k fairly easy

 

[lt_dan_zsu]

^ Yeah I heard that nvidia caught up with their drivers a little. But you are still saying almost, that still means you are getting less for more money.

 

[robomanlamb]

So here is what i came up with, I couldn't have done it with out your guys help either.

CPU: Intel Core i7=3770K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($80.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD5H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 2TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($171.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card (CrossFire) ($439.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card (CrossFire) ($439.99 @ Newegg)
Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Advanced ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 850W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On IHAS324-98 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1967.91

 

[djangoringo]

You don't have any ram, my advice :


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($80.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP4 TH ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($192.86 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($77.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M4 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Galaxy GeForce GTX 670 4GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($359.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Galaxy GeForce GTX 670 4GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($359.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced ATX Full Tower Case ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk II 750W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On IHAS324-98 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1876.76
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)


It has a better ssd(the samsung 840 non pro is not as good as the crucial m4 or samsung 830), SLI setups are better than the crossfire ones, you don't get micro-stuttering and even with the 7970 getting higher fps, it doesn't have the same smoothness as SLI setup, two 670 GTX with 4GB @1GHZ(solid card) are a good multi gpu choice performance/price.
A good psu according to your needs, and a good mobo with a lot of features.
Less than 2000$.

 

[boulbox]

^ Yeah I heard that nvidia caught up with their drivers a little. But you are still saying almost, that still means you are getting less for more money.

not technically less but they are having huge performance that makes them win at a lot of games and better efficiency overall.

 

[boulbox]

You don't have any ram, my advice :


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($80.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP4 TH ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($192.86 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($77.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M4 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Galaxy GeForce GTX 670 4GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($359.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Galaxy GeForce GTX 670 4GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($359.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced ATX Full Tower Case ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk II 750W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On IHAS324-98 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1876.76
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)


It has a better ssd(the samsung 840 non pro is not as good as the crucial m4 or samsung 830), SLI setups are better than the crossfire ones, you don't get micro-stuttering and even with the 7970 getting higher fps, it doesn't have the same smoothness as SLI setup, two 670 GTX with 4GB @1GHZ(solid card) are a good multi gpu choice performance/price.
A good psu according to your needs, and a good mobo with a lot of features.
Less than 2000$.

by price and specs 840(240GB) is betterthan m4 and even the previous generation 830 i think you are thinking of its little brother 840(128GB) which i do say is bad and would rather get the 830 or m4 over it

 

[djangoringo]

Yes the 830 samsung is a good choice i'd put in there, but is out of stock on newegg, and no, the 840 non pro is not as reliable as the crucial M4 or samsung 830.

 

[boulbox]

Yes the 830 samsung is a good choice i'd put in there, but is out of stock on newegg, and no, the 840 non pro is not as reliable as the crucial M4 or samsung 830.

From what i heard it was actually the other way around because Anandtech got 1 840 pro and it died while testing and they got another one from them again and it also died

 

[djangoringo]

The 840 non pro uses TLC NAND which happens to be used only on things like Flash Drive NANDs, Smartphone NANDs and such with lower write endurance and has a 1,000 P/E cycles vs 3,000 P/E of the samsung 830.
So no, either the samsung 830 or crucial M4 are the better choices.

 

[boulbox]

The 840 non pro uses TLC NAND which happens to be used only on things like Flash Drive NANDs, Smartphone NANDs and such with lower write endurance and has a 1,000 P/E cycles vs 3,000 P/E of the samsung 830.
So no, either the samsung 830 or crucial M4 are the better choices.

thanks for the info