I5-2500k build

[Ashaman]

OK so I have never built a PC but thought it would be cool to try it. Let me know if it's a decent build or if I am messing anything up.

Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115072

Mobo:ASRock P67 EXTREME4 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157229

Case: COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1 Black Steel/ Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119225

OS:Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116754

Processor Cooling:COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835103065

RAM:G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231314

GPU:SAPPHIRE 100312SR Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102914

PSU:XFX Black Edition P1-750B-CAG9 750W ATX12V v2.2 / ESP12V v2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817207003

Thermal comp:MASSCOOL G751 Shin-Etsu Thermal Interface Material
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835150080

Optical:LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106335

HD:SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152185



Am I forgetting anything? Any compatibility issues? I may get a second 6950 graphics card at a later time. Possibly a SSD later as a gaming/boot disk , however I'm not sure it's worth the cost at this time. With those additions would the power supply be sufficient? Anywhere I can shave some cost off?Thanks in advance!

 

[Apennyworth]

Nice to see that Newegg now has the ASRock P67 Extreme4 in stock now. I do believe the 212+ comes with Artic Silver 5, not sure you'd need the Masscool thermal paste.

 

[Guest]

Looks good to me. No compatibility issues I'm aware of.

Just one thing: ASRock boards have a 1 year warranty as opposed to 3 years for other manufacturors...but then I'm biased - haven't used an ASRock mobo, let alone have one fail on me...

Use this to calculate your PSU requirements. Set the capacitor aging to 30% for a worst-case scenario.

Since you mention cost-cutting...hmm.

What's your monitor resolution?
Have a look at this, if you haven't already.

IMHO, the HAF X is overkill. Do you really need a full-tower case? I find my mid-tower HAF 912 to be quite spacious. But I'd suggest you take a look at the HAF 922 and Antec 900 cases.

Oh, and I think the Radeon 6950 can be soft-modded to a 6970 by a simple BIOS flash. http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/12/27/simple-bios-flash-turns-amd-radeon-hd-6950-into-a-6970/

Have fun!

 

[Ashaman]

Yea I decided to go with the coolermaster 922 after seeing videos on both cases. I was going to run my res at 1920X1080.

 

[3lvis]

You shouldn't have any power issues with a second 6950 (needs 2 x 6-pin connectors each) even if you unlock both to 6970's. The TPD for a 6970 is 250 watts....and that XFX PSU has 4 x (6+2) PCI-e connectors. SSD's are lower power then magnetic HD's.

You've done your homework and picked some really terrific parts. You may have an issue acquiring that motherboard as it is not listed on newegg. Is this the motherboard you meant?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157230

The only other possible issue I see is one of compatibility with your motherboard and ram, and that is just a maybe. While the memory you have selected isn't on the the QVL list for your motherboard it will most likely work.

If this is your first build I would recommend getting an anti static wrist strap.... and don't forget to install your stand off's first.

Have Fun,
3lvis

 

[Ashaman]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157229

this one, not sure what happened the first time.

 

[Why_Me]

Looks good to me. No compatibility issues I'm aware of.

Just one thing: ASRock boards have a 1 year warranty as opposed to 3 years for other manufacturors...but then I'm biased - haven't used an ASRock mobo, let alone have one fail on me...

Use this to calculate your PSU requirements. Set the capacitor aging to 30% for a worst-case scenario.

Since you mention cost-cutting...hmm.

What's your monitor resolution?
Have a look at this, if you haven't already.

IMHO, the HAF X is overkill. Do you really need a full-tower case? I find my mid-tower HAF 912 to be quite spacious. But I'd suggest you take a look at the HAF 922 and Antec 900 cases.

Oh, and I think the Radeon 6950 can be soft-modded to a 6970 by a simple BIOS flash. http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/12/27/simple-bios-flash-turns-amd-radeon-hd-6950-into-a-6970/

Have fun!

http://www.asrock.com/news/events/201102ex/warranty.html <----- Two year warranty now for those Asrock boards

 

[Guest]

http://www.asrock.com/news/events/201102ex/warranty.html <----- Two year warranty now for those Asrock boards

News to me.
Odd...the Egg still specifies 1 year.
Maybe it's only the new lot that will get the upgraded warranty.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Given the top tier quality of the other components.... some upgrades I'd consider.

AsRock was created as low budget subsidiary for Asus. tho now spun off as a separate company, the target demographic has not changed. If I am building a budget box, to meet the user's ;limit, I am going to be looking at AsRock....but i am not doing that in a box that includes for example, HAF-X. I have 4 builds on hold waiting for the B3 version of the Asus P8P67 Pro and 2 more for the Sabertooth.

The HAF-X is a great case .... but it's $180. If the Antec DF-85 was $180, I'd take it over the HAF, but DF-85 is $20 cheaper. Of course aesthetics is a major factor in case selection so grab what tickles ya fancy.

If overclocking, I'd wanna go with an 850 PSU. the CP-850 is the clear selection for the DF-85 and the XFX-850 Black for the HAF-X

The Hyper 212 is yesterday's news. For $10 more, it's beaten by a solid 7C by the Scythe Mugen 2

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185142

For RAM:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226099
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145324

TIM - Avoid AS56's 200 hour curing time and stick w/ the Shin Etsu

GFX - The 560 Ti factory Overclocked models are substantially cheaper than the 6950's and yet still outperform them. The 900 Mhz models can easily be OC'd to 1000 Mhz.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121425

Adding up all the benchies here, the Asus 560 TI TOP beats the 6950 by about 45 fps adding up.

 

[Why_Me]

Given the top tier quality of the other components.... some upgrades I'd consider.

AsRock was created as low budget subsidiary for Asus. tho now spun off as a separate company, the target demographic has not changed. If I am building a budget box, to meet the user's ;limit, I am going to be looking at AsRock....but i am not doing that in a box that includes for example, HAF-X. I have 4 builds on hold waiting for the B3 version of the Asus P8P67 Pro and 2 more for the Sabertooth.

The HAF-X is a great case .... but it's $180. If the Antec DF-85 was $180, I'd take it over the HAF, but DF-85 is $20 cheaper. Of course aesthetics is a major factor in case selection so grab what tickles ya fancy.

If overclocking, I'd wanna go with an 850 PSU. the CP-850 is the clear selection for the DF-85 and the XFX-850 Black for the HAF-X

The Hyper 212 is yesterday's news. For $10 more, it's beaten by a solid 7C by the Scythe Mugen 2

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185142

For RAM:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226099
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145324

TIM - Avoid AS56's 200 hour curing time and stick w/ the Shin Etsu

GFX - The 560 Ti factory Overclocked models are substantially cheaper than the 6950's and yet still outperform them. The 900 Mhz models can easily be OC'd to 1000 Mhz.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121425

Adding up all the benchies here, the Asus 560 TI TOP beats the 6950 by about 45 fps adding up.

+1

 

[Guest]

Given the top tier quality of the other components.... some upgrades I'd consider.

AsRock was created as low budget subsidiary for Asus. tho now spun off as a separate company, the target demographic has not changed. If I am building a budget box, to meet the user's ;limit, I am going to be looking at AsRock....but i am not doing that in a box that includes for example, HAF-X. I have 4 builds on hold waiting for the B3 version of the Asus P8P67 Pro and 2 more for the Sabertooth.

The HAF-X is a great case .... but it's $180. If the Antec DF-85 was $180, I'd take it over the HAF, but DF-85 is $20 cheaper. Of course aesthetics is a major factor in case selection so grab what tickles ya fancy.

If overclocking, I'd wanna go with an 850 PSU. the CP-850 is the clear selection for the DF-85 and the XFX-850 Black for the HAF-X

The Hyper 212 is yesterday's news. For $10 more, it's beaten by a solid 7C by the Scythe Mugen 2

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185142

For RAM:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226099
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145324

TIM - Avoid AS56's 200 hour curing time and stick w/ the Shin Etsu

GFX - The 560 Ti factory Overclocked models are substantially cheaper than the 6950's and yet still outperform them. The 900 Mhz models can easily be OC'd to 1000 Mhz.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121425

Adding up all the benchies here, the Asus 560 TI TOP beats the 6950 by about 45 fps adding up.

+1 for the Asus P8P67 Pro B3, assuming you can find it...it's not there on Newegg. I think it had the highest stable OC in this roundup.
The Pro is, IMHO, something worth waiting for.

I'd still go with the 6950, if I could afford it.
Take a look here: http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/02/01/galaxy_geforce_gtx_560_ti_gc_overclocking_review/3

It takes the 560 Ti to be overclocked to 1015MHz to *slightly* exceed the 6950 at STOCK. According to the review, it also needed ~135W (OC'ed) more than the Radeon, and a high-performance cooling system (which may or may not sound like a vacuum cleaner). Also, any price difference between the 6950 and the 560 Ti would be negated by the beefier PSU you'd need to purchase for a 560 Ti OC'ed to 1000MHz. Not to mention that the 6950 can itself be OC'ed to about 900MHz and unlocked to a pseudo-6970 state which would make it significantly faster than the 560 Ti, even when OC'ed.

+1 for the Scythe Mugen 2. I would have suggested it, but for some reason I couldn't locate it on the Egg.

For the RAM, I'd stick with the G.Skill - for (1) the quantity of customer reviews, and (2) the quality of customer ratings (5 eggs, as opposed to 4 for the others).

If you're going to be building more machines in the not-too-distant future, I'd suggest the Noctua NT-H1. The Shin-Etsu gives you a ridiculously small amount of paste for the price.

 

[Guest]

You shouldn't have any power issues with a second 6950 (needs 2 x 6-pin connectors each) even if you unlock both to 6970's. The TPD for a 6970 is 250 watts....and that XFX PSU has 4 x (6+2) PCI-e connectors. SSD's are lower power then magnetic HD's.

You've done your homework and picked some really terrific parts. You may have an issue acquiring that motherboard as it is not listed on newegg. Is this the motherboard you meant?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157230

The only other possible issue I see is one of compatibility with your motherboard and ram, and that is just a maybe. While the memory you have selected isn't on the the QVL list for your motherboard it will most likely work.

If this is your first build I would recommend getting an anti static wrist strap.... and don't forget to install your stand off's first.

Have Fun,
3lvis

^+1 to that. Make sure you eliminate the static.