Sandy Bridge OC - Gaming build - $1200ish

[silverclaw]

Please feel free to comment on anything that could be improved, thoughtful criticism/suggestion is appreciated.

Budget Range: $1200

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Want to run games like WoW, SC2, Brink, Portal 2, BF2-BC and eventually BF3/D3 for later on this year.

Parts Not Required: Speakers, mouse, headset, Monitor, GPU, OS


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Tigerdirect, Amazon, Ebay

Country of Origin: Australia

Parts Preferences: Nothing really preferred.

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Monitor Resolution:
1920x1080

Parts so far:

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz - Will OC it to around 4.5-5GHz
219.99

HSF: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
34.99

Motherboard: ASRock P67 Extreme4
162.99


Ram: Kingston Technology Hyper X 4GB 1600MHz DDR3 Non-ECC CL9 DIMM (Kit of 2) XMP X2 Grey Series KHX1600C9D3X2K2/4GX
59.96


SSD: 64 GB+ (80-250 bucks)


HHD: Seagate 3.5" Barracuda 1TB ST31000524AS SATA3 7200RPM 32MB
62.99


Video Card: GTX 570
350

Case: Need something with excellent cooling, doesn't look like a upside-down toilet and doesn't cost an arm and a leg. (80-150 bucks)


Power supply: Corsair CMPSU-650TXv2 TX-650 V2 650W Enthusiast Series
120.99


CD/DVD: ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
21.99


Monitor: Acer 24" (1920 x 1080)


OS: Microsoft Windows 7

Spoiler

The more money I save the more alcohol I can buy ^ ^

 

[vibhas]

Please feel free to comment on anything that could be improved, thoughtful criticism/suggestion is appreciated.

Budget Range: $1200

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Want to run games like WoW, SC2, Brink, Portal 2, BF2-BC and eventually BF3/D3 for later on this year.

Parts Not Required: Speakers, mouse, headset, Monitor, GPU, OS


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Tigerdirect, Amazon, Ebay

Country of Origin: Australia

Parts Preferences: Nothing really preferred.

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Monitor Resolution:
1920x1080

Parts so far:

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz - Will OC it to around 4.5-5GHz
219.99

HSF: Noctua NH-D14
94.99

Motherboard: ASRock Z68 Pro3-M
162.99


Ram: Kingston Technology Hyper X 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 Non-ECC CL9 DIMM (Kit of 2) XMP X2 Grey Series KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX
118.72


SSD: 64 GB+ (80-250 bucks)


HHD: Seagate 3.5" Barracuda 1TB ST31000524AS SATA3 7200RPM 32MB
62.99


Video Card: EVGA GTX 275 1792 MB - OC to 730/1597/1219

* Might pick up another and run two in SLI (will have to upgrade mobo though)


Case: Need something with excellent cooling, doesn't look like a upside-down toilet and doesn't cost an arm and a leg. (80-150 bucks)


Power supply: Corsair CMPSU-650TXv2 TX-650 V2 650W Enthusiast Series
120.99


CD/DVD: ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
21.99


Monitor: Acer 24" (1920 x 1080)


OS: Microsoft Windows 7

Spoiler

The more money I save the more alcohol I can buy ^ ^

Hey buddy, I'm your... kiwi mate from downunder i guess?

Anyways, theres no way that 650W is gonna go anywhere NEAR powering 2 of those GTX 275's. Those old cards aren't completely outta the woods in performance at the mo, but in terms of power requirements and heat.. sheesh. You'll make another aussie bushfire with the amount of heat and power that requires. 2 of those GTX 275's pull a MASSIVE 710W under furmark. Add in your CPU and other parts and you don't even want to be under 950W. 1000W after OCing..

Plus, from what I've seen, you won't be dropping under $260 for a new GTX 275 anyways, plus another $100 on that PSU... so... I'd recommend getting a $360~ GTX 570. If you look at the GTX 285 vs the GTX 570, you'll see that the GTX 570 more than doubles its performance in each benchmark. The 285 is obviously better than the 275; around 10% better than the 275 http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/306?vs=317 (570 vs 285).

So, getting 2x 275's will give around 1.5 times the performance of a single 275 (you dont get twice the performance sadly, esp. with the old technology, for having 2 cards etc..) so a 570 will outclass them easily.. not to mention only needing a 600~ watt psu (the TX 650 easily does it, with the 4.5-5ghz overclock), if you want sli down the road and heaps of oc potential,
http://www.shopbot.com.au/pp-antec-hcg-900-price-281576.html the HCG900 is only $35 more than your PSU, and is really high quality (9.5/10 in jonnyguru), and considering the HX850W got a 9.6 and is $220.. Plus, since the 570 and parts will pull around 450W-500 at load.. the 900W psu will have them at 50% capacity. Which is good cause most psu's are most efficient at 1/2 their load volume (saving money from electricity), compared to the 650Watter which'll be at 75% load (not as efficient). Lastly, theres no need to get such a fancy board or cpu if your gpu isn't at least 'great.' Money on GPU is more important than a fancier mobo, or 2500k. If you can't afford it, drop down to something like a 2400 or w/e. Drop the coolant. Whatever; the gpu is much more important than the 4-5% extra fps you get from ocing, much less the 8gb ram... Seriously, make money for the GTX 570 or your system will literally spit out less than 50% of the fps. Most of all, the SSD is unimportant until you get at least a 560ti for this system.

 

[michxymi]

The GTX 275 will hold perfomance back even in SLI. There are a lot of powerful cards who will outperfom it easy, not to mention the temperatures. You have high budget so you can get a new one.

Antec One Hundred Black ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129098

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K

bundled with:

GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD4-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.652042

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C8
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233147

Intel 510 Series (Elm Crest) SSDSC2MH120A2K5 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167042

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply

bundled with:

HITACHI Deskstar 5K3000 HDS5C3020ALA632 (0F12117) 2TB SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.638779


Sum 1244$ with MIR 1179$

 

[silverclaw]

The GTX 275 will hold perfomance back even in SLI. There are a lot of powerful cards who will outperfom it easy, not to mention the temperatures. You have high budget so you can get a new one.

Antec One Hundred Black ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129098

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K

bundled with:

GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD4-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.652042

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C8
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233147

Intel 510 Series (Elm Crest) SSDSC2MH120A2K5 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167042

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply

bundled with:

HITACHI Deskstar 5K3000 HDS5C3020ALA632 (0F12117) 2TB SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.638779


Sum 1244$ with MIR 1179$

I'm from Australia. Newegg Don't ship to Aus unfortunately.

 

[silverclaw]

Hey buddy, I'm your... kiwi mate from downunder i guess?

Anyways, theres no way that 650W is gonna go anywhere NEAR powering 2 of those GTX 275's. Those old cards aren't completely outta the woods in performance at the mo, but in terms of power requirements and heat.. sheesh. You'll make another aussie bushfire with the amount of heat and power that requires. 2 of those GTX 275's pull a MASSIVE 710W under furmark. Add in your CPU and other parts and you don't even want to be under 950W. 1000W after OCing..

Plus, from what I've seen, you won't be dropping under $260 for a new GTX 275 anyways, plus another $100 on that PSU... so... I'd recommend getting a $360~ GTX 570. If you look at the GTX 285 vs the GTX 570, you'll see that the GTX 570 more than doubles its performance in each benchmark. The 285 is obviously better than the 275; around 10% better than the 275 http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/306?vs=317 (570 vs 285).

So, getting 2x 275's will give around 1.5 times the performance of a single 275 (you dont get twice the performance sadly, esp. with the old technology, for having 2 cards etc..) so a 570 will outclass them easily.. not to mention only needing a 600~ watt psu (the TX 650 easily does it, with the 4.5-5ghz overclock), if you want sli down the road and heaps of oc potential,
http://www.shopbot.com.au/pp-antec-hcg-900-price-281576.html the HCG900 is only $35 more than your PSU, and is really high quality (9.5/10 in jonnyguru), and considering the HX850W got a 9.6 and is $220.. Plus, since the 570 and parts will pull around 450W-500 at load.. the 900W psu will have them at 50% capacity. Which is good cause most psu's are most efficient at 1/2 their load volume (saving money from electricity), compared to the 650Watter which'll be at 75% load (not as efficient). Lastly, theres no need to get such a fancy board or cpu if your gpu isn't at least 'great.' Money on GPU is more important than a fancier mobo, or 2500k. If you can't afford it, drop down to something like a 2400 or w/e. Drop the coolant. Whatever; the gpu is much more important than the 4-5% extra fps you get from ocing, much less the 8gb ram... Seriously, make money for the GTX 570 or your system will literally spit out less than 50% of the fps. Most of all, the SSD is unimportant until you get at least a 560ti for this system.

I got my GTX 275 from a friend for $50 bucks. I could easily flog if off for around $100 on Ebay.

Great point though, I may just have to invest in a 570. Either that or a 6950. I could even try crossfire with 2x6950

I've downgraded my Ram from 8gb to 4gb which will save a whopping 60 bucks.

Perhaps I should also drop out the massive Noctua NH-D14 for a cheaper option. Any thoughts on the best one for price.vs.efficiency?

Thinking I might just pass altogether on the SSD - They're far too expensive just for a "faster boot time". I could always add one later when they drop under $2 per GB anywho;

Not too sure about the PSU, might have to do a bit more research..

That should vacate quite a lot of dough to spend on a nice case/GPU

Thoughts?

 

[michxymi]

In my opinion, more Ram and the SSD are the ones who makes you feel you have a 21th century PC..so I would leave them as they are..Now Noctua is a little bit of overkill..I suggest you to see the Corsair A70 for cooling option..

 

[silverclaw]

In my opinion, more Ram and the SSD are the ones who makes you feel you have a 21th century PC..so I would leave them as they are..Now Noctua is a little bit of overkill..I suggest you to see the Corsair A70 for cooling option..

I've been told that going from 4g to 8g of ram really isn't going to make a noticeable difference and visa versa, or so I've been told...

Corsair A70 is a little pricey, what about the Cooler Master Hyper N520? Or the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus?

 

[robbiep28]

I've been told that going from 4g to 8g of ram really isn't going to make a noticeable difference and visa versa, or so I've been told...

Corsair A70 is a little pricey, what about the Cooler Master Hyper N520? Or the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus?

The hyper 212 plus is an outstanding cooler for it's price and it'll be enough for you to overclock to 4.5 GHz

 

[silverclaw]

The hyper 212 plus is an outstanding cooler for it's price and it'll be enough for you to overclock to 4.5 GHz

2-3 years later and it's still one of the best coolers on the market. Quite amazing really.

l add another fan to it too, get the lovely push - pull system going.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

-The comparably priced Scythe Mugen 2 tops the 212 by 7C

-Asrock doesn't offer an industry standard 3 year warranty (why ?)

Great point though, I may just have to invest in a 570. Either that or a 6950. I could even try crossfire with 2x6950

Guru3D uses the following games in their test suite, COD-MW, Bad Company 2, Dirt 2, Far Cry 2, Metro 2033, Dawn of Discovery, Crysis Warhead. Total fps (summing fps in each game @ 1920 x 1200) for the various options in parenthesis (single card / SL or CF) are tabulated below along with their cost in dollars per frame single card - CF or SLI:

2 x 6950 = 759 fps @ $470 US
2 x 560 Ti (900 Mhz) = 862 fps @ $440 US
2 x 570 Ti = 873 fps @ $670 US

Case / PSU: Antec DF-85 w/ CP-850 is real bargain up on this side of the world. PSU is ultra quiet and gets 10.0 performance rating from jonnyguru. HAF-X with AX850 would be my next choice but much more expensive.

 

[robbiep28]

Another thing, the aussy website for components imo is http://pccasegear.com/

 

[raptorjesus]

-The comparably priced Scythe Mugen 2 tops the 212 by 7C

-Asrock doesn't offer an industry standard 3 year warranty (why ?)

Great point though, I may just have to invest in a 570. Either that or a 6950. I could even try crossfire with 2x6950

Guru3D uses the following games in their test suite, COD-MW, Bad Company 2, Dirt 2, Far Cry 2, Metro 2033, Dawn of Discovery, Crysis Warhead. Total fps (summing fps in each game @ 1920 x 1200) for the various options in parenthesis (single card / SL or CF) are tabulated below along with their cost in dollars per frame single card - CF or SLI:

2 x 6950 = 759 fps @ $470 US
2 x 560 Ti (900 Mhz) = 862 fps @ $440 US
2 x 570 Ti = 873 fps @ $670 US

Case / PSU: Antec DF-85 w/ CP-850 is real bargain up on this side of the world. PSU is ultra quiet and gets 10.0 performance rating from jonnyguru. HAF-X with AX850 would be my next choice but much more expensive.

Comparing overclocked 560's to stock clock 570's isnt fair. You can get near stock 580 levels from a 850/1900 OC on a 570, and with many available for around 300-320 after MIR in the US, they are seriously under the radar in performance. I don't know the prices is .au but if you can pounce on a 570.

 

[vibhas]

Comparing overclocked 560's to stock clock 570's isnt fair. You can get near stock 580 levels from a 850/1900 OC on a 570, and with many available for around 300-320 after MIR in the US, they are seriously under the radar in performance. I don't know the prices is .au but if you can pounce on a 570.

Indeed. Compare a stock 570 with a stock 560, and an oc'd 570 with an oc'd 560ti, depending on what you'll do with it.
The 570 / 560Ti are great choices, probably better than the 69502GB, unless the 6950 is at least $70+ cheaper.

 

[raptorjesus]

So roughly a 560Ti<OC 560Ti=570<OC 570=580<OC 580. That's just a guesstimate and its probably worth the amount you paid for it, ie. nothing.

I tend to think just buy the best damn card you can fit in your budget and SLI/OC/replace when you feel it no longer keeps up with your standards.

 

[silverclaw]

Another thing, the aussy website for components imo is http://pccasegear.com/

Buying from Amazon will save me 10-20 bucks per purchase.

Curious as to whether or not Tigerdirect ship internationally for a decent price.

 

[silverclaw]

So roughly a 560Ti<OC 560Ti=570<OC 570=580<OC 580. That's just a guesstimate and its probably worth the amount you paid for it, ie. nothing.

I tend to think just buy the best damn card you can fit in your budget and SLI/OC/replace when you feel it no longer keeps up with your standards.

I'll get the 570

I can always get another and run them in SLI when the time calls.

I would need a new MoBo though. Is there a huge difference between the P67 and Z68? Other than OC potential?

 

[silverclaw]

Best answer selected by Silverclaw.