First attempt at i5-750 build

[zerkulo31]

This is my first draft of an i5 build I plan to get in the next couple of weeks. It's my first build in 4 years so hopefully I've got my head around all the new hardware and specs. Thanks to those who've helped so far.

I'm mostly unsure of which mobo to go with and I don't have a great selection of RAM from the site I use but buying all from this one site is too convienient as it's free delivery to a store close by and they build and test it for a pretty low fee.

So if there are any refinements that I should make please let me know

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: 2-3 Weeks
BUDGET RANGE: 1600AUD +/-
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, Net, Movies, infrequent video encoding
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor, Speakers, OS
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: http://ijk.com.au
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Australia
PARTS PREFERENCES: Intel i5-750 build
OVERCLOCKING: No
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No
MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080 or 1920x1200
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

CPU: Intel Core i5-750

MoBo: Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3P

RAM: PATRIOT PVV34G1333LLK 4G DDR3 1333 KIT 1.65v

GPU: XFX HD-585A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5850

PSU: Antec TruePower New TP-750

Cooler: CPU Cooler, Hyper 212+

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB

DVD: Samsung SH-S223

Case: CoolerMaster RC-922M-KKN1-GP HAF 922

 

[a4mula]

Be aware that the current gen Gigabyte USB/SATA III boards are something of a compromise. If you use that feature your graphics pci-e bandwidth will be reduced from x16 to x8. If you attempt to crossfire/sli you lose your ability to also use the USB/SATA III.

I'd personally switch the HDD for a Samsung Spinpoint f3 1tb, or Seagate 7200.12 1tb. The older 320gb platters are much slower than the new 500gb platters. At the very very least snag a 500gb version of either of the two listed.

There is less expensive memory to be had, but I'm assuming you had a particular reason for these as most people don't gravitate to mid-ranged Patriot out of the blue. If by some oddball chance you just stumbled upon them, look at the G.Skill Ripjaws @ 96.99, you'll never know the difference and the G.Skill runs at 1.6v stock vs 1.65 (which is the maximum for Nehalam)

Everything else looks good.

 

[zerkulo31]

Thanks for your reply.

So if I understand correctly I can choose to use the only the SATA 3Gb/s connections on this MoBo to avoid the reduction in PCI-E bandwidth? I wont be using sli/cross fire so that wont be a problem.

With the appropriate SATA II (3Gb/s) HDD is the Mobo ok for this build?

I will revise the RAM too. I only have limited choice here so I might have to choose some CL9 RAM.

 

[gkay09]

^ Hi...
The components you have selected are pretty good...But there are a few things that you can change...
1. PSU - If you wont be doing Crossfire, then you wont need a 750W PSU...A quality 500W/ 550W would suffice for that build...
Even this PSU would suffice...
Antec ECO 520W (Note: Doesn't come with power chord)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371030
http://ijk.com.au/branch/ijk/product_info.php?cPath=232_41&products_id=124157

Or at the max this one -
Antec NEO 620W
http://ijk.com.au/branch/ijk/product_info.php?cPath=232_41&products_id=123264

2. HDD - The WD Black 640GB is actually faster than the Samsung F3 and the 7200.12 drives...people suggest the 500GB ones for its value...So going with that Black is also fine...

3. RAM - The one you have selected is also fine...but like a4mula said, you wont notice any significant difference with a loose timing RAM as you wont overclock...
Get a 1600MHz RAM with preferably timings/ latency 8/ or even 9 is fine...

4. Mobo - You can check out even this mobo - GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3
As you wont overclock, even this mobo would suffice...

And isnt MSY a good option for you to get your parts ?
http://www.msy.com.au/Parts/PARTS.pdf

 

[a4mula]

2. HDD - The WD Black 640GB is actually faster than the Samsung F3 and the 7200.12 drives...people suggest the 500GB ones for its value...So going with that Black is also fine...

http://www.harddrivebenchmark.net/common_drives.html

 

[Aertea]

2. HDD - The WD Black 640GB is actually faster than the Samsung F3 and the 7200.12 drives...people suggest the 500GB ones for its value...So going with that Black is also fine...

Where did you find this information? According to Tom's charts the Spinpoint is about 30% faster average read.

Its about the platters. The newer 500GB platters outperform the old 320GB ones. The WD linked here is an old 320. There are WD Blacks that perform similarly to the spinpoint, but those also use 500gb platters.

 

[MadAdmiral]

I'm with a4mula and Aertea. The F3 is the fastest drive around. It even competes with the VelociRaptors.

In addition, if you're not going to overclock, you don't need an aftermarket CPU cooler. Stock works just fine.

 

[zerkulo31]

Thanks for the help guys.

I've swapped out the HDD for a seagate 700.12 500GB which has a good rank on the site a4mula linked.

Will also switch to a Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 which will save me a bit and dropped the cooler. And going with some CL8 1600 RAM.

 

[Aertea]

Since you aren't overclocking make sure you read up on your Motherboard before you go for the 1600Mhz ram.

Most 1156 boards will only run the ram at 1333, even if they say they support higher most of the time it requires OCing. Therefore, if you aren't OCing increasing the latency is more likely to hurt you than help.

 

[gkay09]

@Aertea its just not about Reads alone...overall if you see that the WD has better access time, the apps load faster...its kind of equal competition...

And @a4mula you just cant go with benchmarks alone...some arhiectecture performs well, some dont...You would have to see the performance in the real world scenario, where the WD Black 640 IS NOT MUCH SLOWER than the F3...both have their advantages and disadvantages...
And looking at those benchmarks, you would say that the F3 is so much faster than the latest WD Black 2TB...I dont think so...
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/2tb-hdd-7200,2430-12.html

I am not saying that the F3s are not fast...on the contrary I also suggest those all the time...but you would also have to acknowledge that the Blacks are also not that much slower...and when one feels he needs more than 500GB, then the 640GB black for just $10-$15 more give you 140GB more...

 

[a4mula]

I agree that benchmarks do not always represent real-world performance. However very few of us will ever have the means or the want to test multiple similar configurations to decide first hand which better suits our needs.

This is where benchmarks come in handy. If were're faced with a situation where we've narrowed our choices down to a handful, they all offer features that are close, we can then look to benchmarks to assist us in selection.

At the end of the day it will not matter which parts we choose to purchase, if they are quality. The difference between one and the other might provide slight advantages, but nothing that will be noticeable. We try to select the best parts so that we feel as though our purchases were sound, justified and that we maximized value. Not necessarily so we can shave 1/10th of a second off of application load times, or gain 2-3 fps when we're already far beyond needed fps.

 

[Aertea]

@gkay09

I see what you are saying about access times, but the drive you recommended and the drive in those charts are completely different. Just because the 1TB version gets those access times doesn't mean those results will translate to the 640GB version. From what I could find in a quick web search, the 640 does actually do better than I expected, but only about as well as the Spinpoint.

As far as the price goes, $1/GB is a pretty bad ratio for disc drives. If you need the extra space you may as well just go for the $90 1TB Spinpoint, or buy a second and RAID them.

 

[eugenenam85]

Be aware that the current gen Gigabyte USB/SATA III boards are something of a compromise. If you use that feature your graphics pci-e bandwidth will be reduced from x16 to x8. If you attempt to crossfire/sli you lose your ability to also use the USB/SATA III.

I'd personally switch the HDD for a Samsung Spinpoint f3 1tb, or Seagate 7200.12 1tb. The older 320gb platters are much slower than the new 500gb platters. At the very very least snag a 500gb version of either of the two listed.

There is less expensive memory to be had, but I'm assuming you had a particular reason for these as most people don't gravitate to mid-ranged Patriot out of the blue. If by some oddball chance you just stumbled upon them, look at the G.Skill Ripjaws @ 96.99, you'll never know the difference and the G.Skill runs at 1.6v stock vs 1.65 (which is the maximum for Nehalam)

Everything else looks good.

hi,
just to be sure, if I buy these new mobos w/ the USB 3.0/SATA III, even with a single graphics card, my pci-e bandwidth is going to be reduced by half? Because I want to have these new features but also do not want to handicap my graphics card, what recommendations would you have? I am building a similar system to the person who started this thread.

 

[MadAdmiral]

It's the other way around. If you have 2 cards in Crossfire, the USB 3/SATA III ports only operate at USB 2/SATA II speeds. The GPUs aren't handicapped. It doesn't matter if you only have 1 GPU.

It's also only the Gigabyte boards that do that. I typically recommend the Asus P7P55D-E Pro. It's not that much more than the Gigabyte you picked out.

 

[gkay09]

@Aertea The 640GB and the 1TB ones have very similar performance as both are based on the 320GB platter design...
And as for the price, then you can eve recommend the Samsung F3 500GBs(Even they cost ~$1/ GB...
And IMO RAID in day-to day usage will have little effect on the performance...those are more suited for Server environments, where more the I/O operations the better...
A SSD would better suit a regular PC as it significantly reduces the load times for boot up, apps load time...

And +1 for Asus P7P55D-E Pro if the user wants to go crossfire and still want to have the USB 3.0/ SATA 6GB/s options...