Seeking advice

[Stifman]

Hello people,

I am planing to build myself a PC on which I intend to work in weekdays (CAD) and play "hardcore" on weekends to let off steam.

So far I decided with:
AsRock B75 Pro 3 as a mobo
8Gb RAM 1600 Mhz
120 SSD
500 HDD

And here goes nothing for the rest:
I am not decided with the processor, I would like the i5 3570 but then again the i5 3470 is cheaper.
I am not decided with the GPU either, I would like a GTX 660, but the HD 7850 is cheaper. However CAD programs uses CUDA from GTX. Any opinions here?

Please recommend me a PSU. Some say the system would run nice with Sirtec - High Power Element PLUS 500W.
Others say I need at least a Corsair CX600 600W.

Looking forward to your answers.

 

[g-unit1111]

H77 is better than B75. The i5-3470 is a good CPU. Sirtec PSUs are among the industry's absolute worst. Cheap power supplies ARE NOT WORTH IT, I can't emphasize that enough. The Corsair CX600 is a good choice but Ivy Bridge builds won't handle anything below it, and I've seen it first hand. If you post your budget I will be able to suggest a system.

 

[Stifman]

Well, calculating my currency to euro I have 660 euro. that is roughly 535 GBP

 

[g-unit1111]

Well, calculating my currency to euro I have 660 euro. that is roughly 535 GBP

What store are you buying from? That will help to suggest parts. If you don't know one check the link in my signature.

 

[Stifman]

I live in Romania
I can give you link to store but I doubt you would understand

Make me a build and I`ll see if the prices are good for me

 

[g-unit1111]

I live in Romania
I can give you link to store but I doubt you would understand

Make me a build and I`ll see if the prices are good for me

I can do that if you post a link to a store, I have Google Chrome with built in translator if that helps. Also knowing budget will help to suggest parts as well, I can use my currency conversion tool for that.

 

[Stifman]

Ok. so the budget in Romanian money is 3000.

here is store number 1: http://www.dc-shop.ro/
here is store number 2: http://www.pcgarage.ro/

 

[g-unit1111]

Ok. so the budget in Romanian money is 3000.

here is store number 1: http://www.dc-shop.ro/
here is store number 2: http://www.pcgarage.ro/

I went a bit over budget but try this:

Case: NZXT Source 210 - 317.80 RON
PSU: Corsair Builder Series CX600 - 342.22 RON
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H77-DS3H - 372.28 RON
CPU: 3.2GHz Intel Core i5-3470 - 889.99 RON
RAM: 8GB Corsair Vengeance Low Profile DDR3 1600MHz 1.5V - 200.28
HD: 500GB Western Digital Caviar Blue 7200 RPM - 275.56 RON
Optical: DVD-Writer LiteOn IHAS124-19 Bulk Black - 88.24 RON
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 - 880.34 RON

Total: 3304.86 RON

 

[CaedenV]

Make sure that the software you are using will take advantage of the CUDA processing for your workflows. I am not too familiar with CAD programs, but I know that with Adobe Premiere the CUDA acceleration only works for very specific situations... but when it does work it is very nice! If your work will take advantage of CUDA, then pay a little extra for the GTX, if not then just get a card that will work for what you expect to get in frame rates for whatever games/resolution you play at.

As mentioned above, get a good PSU. Bad PSUs can cause no end of trouble and can be a real pain to troubbleshoot. Get a good one, and then never worry about it again. Choose your GPU first, and then get a PSU that is at or within 100W over whatever the suggested wattage for that GPU. A quality PSU will last you for a few builds, where a cheap PSU can destroy a few builds.

Intel is by far the best way to go for your budget. Any of the i5's should do well for games and work.

B75 motherboards are amazingly great for what they are. I just picked up a cheap MSI B75 board for my wife's PC and it is fantastic. However, there is a catch; there is absolutely no room for upgrades. If a single SSD, 2-3 CD/HDDs, and standard speeds are good enough for you down the road, then jump on it. However, if there is any chance of expansion in the future on this platform (over the next 2-3 years) then do yourself a favor and get a more fully featured z77 board so that you can have a few more options. H77 is another option as it would allow for a 2nd SATA3 port and a few extra goodies, but there is really not much of a difference between h77 and b77, and the b77 boards are supposed to be marketed for business use which 'should' be more reliable than the h77 boards... plus h77 boards tend to be more expensive (at least here in the states).

Best of luck!

 

[Stifman]

So you say I should forget about i5 3570? Does that 200 Mhz count for something?

Why do you recommend HD7850 in exchange of GTX 660?

 

[Stifman]

@CaedenV
If by upgrade you mean to add another SSD or something like this the ASRock B75 Pro3 has 3xSATA III.
I am not a fan of OC, and if I buy a i5 3470/3570 I can`t OC at all.
Does B75 limit every OC? (GPU, RAM) ?

The Z77 is a little to expensive for me, should I go with H77 then?

 

[g-unit1111]

@CaedenV
If by upgrade you mean to add another SSD or something like this the ASRock B75 Pro3 has 3xSATA III.
I am not a fan of OC, and if I buy a i5 3470/3570 I can`t OC at all.
Does B75 limit every OC? (GPU, RAM) ?

The Z77 is a little to expensive for me, should I go with H77 then?

B75 does not allow access to the multiplier so you cannot overclock. The reason I'm not a fan of B75 personally is the very limited expasion and the fact that most motherboards include outdated ports that you'll *NEVER* use, and haven't been used for more than a decade.

H77 won't allow you to overclock either. Z77 is the only Ivy Bridge motherboard with overclocking capabilities.

 

[CaedenV]

correct, b75 and h77 are basically the same thing, with the exception of the connector package being more limited on the b75 boards. Still good boards, and very simple to work with, but seriously few on 'frills'.

Locked CPUs like the 3470/3570 can OC, but it is not a traditional overclock. They overclock via turbo boost, which in some ways is a little better. It is nice because it will throttle back down to normal speeds if it gets warm/hot so there is little chance of damage, and it only kicks in when the extra horsepower is needed and throttles down when the system is idle. The trick is that you would need a z77 motherboard to do it, which as you mentioned is out of the budget.

In day to day (or even game) use you will never miss 200MHz. Most games are simply not that sensitive to the CPU speeds. It is mostly a matter of having 4 cores available compared to 1 or 2 cores in a smaller CPU.

For the GPU, AMD cards tend to give more !/$ in the price range you are looking at, so strictly for gaming then that would be the way to go. But, if your workflow takes advantage of CUDA then you really should stick with nVidia as it would be better all around. Keep in mind also that I believe I read a while back that autodesk was going to move to openCL rendering instead of CUDA, so perhaps sticking with AMD would not be a bad long term move (double check me on that as I cannot find where I read it).

 

[Stifman]

I fould a MoBo but I can`t put it in either category. Is it H or Z? The pricing is ok, ZH77 Pro3 from ASRock
http://www.dc-shop.ro/placi-de-baza/placa-de-baza-asrock-zh77-pro-3-socket-1155-l/

 

[Stifman]

@CaedenV you say that I can't use the intel turbo boost only with a Z77 mobo?
That may force me to cut back in some areas to buy a Z77

 

[g-unit1111]

I fould a MoBo but I can`t put it in either category. Is it H or Z? The pricing is ok, ZH77 Pro3 from ASRock
http://www.dc-shop.ro/placi-de-baza/placa-de-baza-asrock-zh77-pro-3-socket-1155-l/

That's an H77 motherboard.

 

[CaedenV]

@CaedenV you say that I can't use the intel turbo boost only with a Z77 mobo?
That may force me to cut back in some areas to buy a Z77

you cannot controll turbo boost on an h77. Turbo boost will still work as advertised, you just cannot go faster than advertised unless you get a z77.

For example, I have an i7 2600 which has a stock speed of 3.4GHz, and will by default turbo up to 3.8GHz when under extremely heavy loads provided that the CPU is not getting too hot. This functionality will work no matter what chipset is used (so long as it is compatible with the CPU in the first place)

But with a z77 chipset (or z68 chipset) I can tell it to go up to 4.2GHz on even moderate workloads. So now when the system is idle it runs at 1.6GHz, under normal loads (like web browsing or movie watching) it kicks up to it's normal speed of ~2.8-3.4GHz, and when I am playing games then it bumps up to 4.2GHz. I have also messed with the thermal sensitivity because it did not want to hit that full 4.2GHz if the system was over 35*c, and I made it a bit more aggressive so that now it throttles down at ~45*c which is a temp I only hit when doing things like the intel burn test. I have yet to see the CPU hit anything above 40*c under normal use.

I would always suggest getting a z77 board for anyone who thinks that their system will grow over time because the motherboard will simply be easier to work with. But if you are more of a 'normal' user who simply builds a computer, and it is just used like that for years and years until it is replaced, then stick with a simpler b or h77 based board.