Building New System - Recommendations

[unzerweiler]

Hi all

So I'm planning to buy and assemble a new computer and I'm very familiar with AMD CPU's, chipsets and architectures; however I'm quite new to Intel

Going for an upgrade since I'm purchasing the Acer HN274, and getting myself into 3D gaming.

Unfortunately to build a decent system today one has to go Intel, especially i7 and I had the following setup in mind:

CPU: Intel i7 2600 Sandy Bridge Quad Core 3.4GHz Socket 1155
Mobo: Asus P8P67 Pro P67 S1155/DDR3/SATA3/RAID/ATX Motherboard
GPU: 2GB Palit GTX 560 Ti, 40nm, 4008MHz GDDR5, GPU 822MHz, Shader 1645MHz, 384 Cores
OR
1280MB Palit GTX 570, 40nm, 3800MHz GDDR5, GPU 732MHz, Shader 1464MHz, 480 Cores
*(Almost same price, any suggestions here?)*
RAM: 8GB (2x4GB) Corsair DDR3 XMS3, PC3-10600 (1333), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 9-9-9-24, 1.50V
OR
8GB (2x4GB) Corsair DDR3 Vengeance, PC3-12800 (1600), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 9-9-9-24, XMP, 1.50V
*(Almost same price too, Is it worth it going for the faster memory on this setup?)*

Now I noticed that for the same price exactly (locally) I could get an i7 950 3.06Ghz instead.
Replacing the CPU I have to replace the motherboard too with an X58 chipset instead, and of course triple channel memory (6Gb instead of 8Gb).

All in all, both systems would come in the same price range.

My question is, which one should I go for?
I read around, and I know that Sandy Bridge is the newest architecture and socket, however as I already mentioned I'm really not that familiar with Intel, so I need the opinion of someone who is familiar to guide me with which setup should I go?

Additionally if you have any suggestions not only on different architectures, but on actual different CPU/Mobo/RAM models instead of the ones mentioned above please feel free to let me know.

Your help is very much appreciated!

Edit:
As a side note this is my current setup:

CPU: AMD x2 6000+ 3.0Ghz
Mobo: ASUS M2N32 SLI Deluxe
GPU: Palit GTX260 (216) 1792mb
RAM: 4 x 2Gb Corsair XMS2 DDR2 PC800
HDD: 6 x 2Tb Seagate Drives
PSU: Corsair 750W
Displays: LG 24" + Viewsonic 19" + *Acer 27" 3D

How much of a performance gain should I expect? xD

Also please note that I'm not into OC'ing any components at all, I'm building this setup for unattended reliability and performance of course




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Approximate Purchase Date: This month


Budget Range: €800


System Usage from Most to Least Important: 3D gaming, gaming, BD Movies, video editing, surfing the internet


Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS, PSU - Corsair 750W


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: scan.co.uk


Country of Origin: Europe, Malta


Parts Preferences: as mentioned above


Overclocking: No


SLI or Crossfire: Maybe


Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080, 1920x1200


Additional Comments:


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[wasupmike]

here - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261222-31-build-advice

fill that out please, so you'll be able to get more accurate help..!

 

[unzerweiler]

here - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261222-31-build-advice

fill that out please, so you'll be able to get more accurate help..!

cheers mate will do

 

[manu 11]

drop down to a 2500k,for gaming and your other purposes, its the best cpu.
and dont be afraid by going to intel.sandy bridge cpu are the best value for money in terms of power efficiency and performance.
go with the gtx 570, its more powerfull than the gtx 560.

 

[Why_Me]

I don't know if you pay VAT or not. Pick up another one of those factory over clocked Gigabyte gtx 560's later on for SLI.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/gigabyte-ga-p67x-ud3-b3-intel-p67-1155-pci-e-20-(x16)-ddr3-2133-sata-6gb-s-sata-raid-atx £123.20 Inc VAT
Gigabyte GA-P67X-UD3-B3 Intel P67 1155 Motherboard

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel-core-i5-2500k-unlocked-s1155-sandy-bridge-quad-core-33ghz-gpu-850mhz-6mb-cache-95w-oem £156.18 Inc VAT
Intel CPU Core i5 2500K Unlocked Sandy Bridge Quad Core Processor OEM

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/coolermaster-hyper-212-plus-4-heat-pipes-with-120mm-quiet-fan-lga775-1155-1156-1366-am2-am2plus-am3 £21.95 Inc VAT
Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb-(2x4gb)-corsair-ddr3-vengeance-pc3-12800-(1600)-non-ecc-unbuffered-cas-9-9-9-24-xmp-150v £70.94 Inc VAT
Corsair Memory Vengeance 8GB DDR3 1600 MHz CAS 9 XMP Dual Channel Desktop

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1tb-samsung-hd103sj-spinpoint-f3-sata-3gb-s-7200rpm-32mb-cache-89ms-ncq £39.58 Inc VAT
Samsung 1Tb Spinpoint F3 Hard Drive - HDD

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/sony-ad-7263s-0b-24x-dvdr-12xdvddl-dvdplusrw-x8-rwx6-12xram-sata-black-labelflash-oem £16.43 Inc VAT
Sony AD-7263S-0B DVD Writer

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-gigabyte-gtx-560-ti-oc-40nm-4000mhz-gddr5-gpu-900mhz-shader-1800mhz-384-cores-dvi-mhdmi £173.47 Inc VAT
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 560 Ti OC 1GB NVIDIA Graphics Card

Total: £601.75 Inc VAT

 

[unzerweiler]

Thank you all for your input!

2500k it is then

Regarding video cards... what do you think about factory overclocked cards? I usually try to stay away from the, since I had an experience with a factory oc'd 7800 (long time ago =D) and it started giving me problems after a while, and I had to un-oc it to get it stable... I know I could have been unlucky and had a defective card or something but after that I always tried to keep away from oc'd cards.. should I in this case?

I have in mind the following card:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1280mb-palit-gtx-570-sonic-40nm-3900mhz-gddr5-gpu-750mhz-shader-1500mhz-480-cores-dp-hdmi

 

[Why_Me]

Thank you all for your input!

2500k it is then

Regarding video cards... what do you think about factory overclocked cards? I usually try to stay away from the, since I had an experience with a factory oc'd 7800 (long time ago =D) and it started giving me problems after a while, and I had to un-oc it to get it stable... I know I could have been unlucky and had a defective card or something but after that I always tried to keep away from oc'd cards.. should I in this case?

I have in mind the following card:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1280mb-palit-gtx-570-sonic-40nm-3900mhz-gddr5-gpu-750mhz-shader-1500mhz-480-cores-dp-hdmi

If you go with the gtx 570 then, I recommend this psu down below.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/850w-xfx-p1-850s-nlb9-core-edition-80-plus-bronze-85-eff-sli-crossfire-eps-12v-135mm-fan £75.42 Inc VAT
850W XFX P1-850S-NLB9 Core Edition, 80 PLUS Bronze, 85% Eff', SLI/CrossFire, EPS 12V, 135mm Fan

 

[unzerweiler]

If you go with the gtx 570 then, I recommend this psu down below.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/850w-xfx-p1-850s-nlb9-core-edition-80-plus-bronze-85-eff-sli-crossfire-eps-12v-135mm-fan £75.42 Inc VAT
850W XFX P1-850S-NLB9 Core Edition, 80 PLUS Bronze, 85% Eff', SLI/CrossFire, EPS 12V, 135mm Fan

Thanks,

I was considering this one:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/850w-corsair-hx-series-modular-80-plus-silver-90-eff-sli-crossfire-eps-12v-7-year-warranty

More expensive, but it looks like it's the best one can buy?

 

[unzerweiler]

*Update*:

First of all thank you gentlemen for all your input.

I decided to sell completely my current rig, I was quite lucky I found someone who's willing to purchase it as a complete system, therefore I ended up planning a completely new system, the following is the list of items that I have in mind:


CPU: Intel CPU Core i5 2500K Unlocked Sandy Bridge Quad Core Processor OEM

Mobo: Asus P8P67 Pro Rev3 Intel P67 Express Socket 1155 Motherboard

RAM: Corsair Memory Vengeance 8GB DDR3 1600 MHz CAS 9 XMP Dual Channel Desktop

GPU: Palit GeForce GTX 570 SONIC 1280MB NVIDIA Graphics Card

PSU: Corsair CMPSU-850HXUK HX 850W Modular Power Supply (PSU)

Primary HDD: Samsung 1Tb Spinpoint F3 Hard Drive - HDD

CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 Hydro Series CPU Cooler

Case: Coolermaster HAF X Black Tower Computer Case

Display: 27" Acer 3D LED Monitor Bundle with NVIDIA 3D Vision Glasses

Any input is welcome!

Edit: I forgot an important question, soundcard... any particular suggestions? I was looking at: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Soundcard - PCI-E(x1), 7.1 speaker output but it's quite expensive, and I already have a creative X-Fi extreme installed, old model sure, but I ran in a couple of problems with Win 7 64-bit even with latest drivers so should I consider different brand? or are they reliable at the moment? If you have any particular sound card suggestions please let me know!

FYI: Speakers that are going to be used which I currently own at the moment are Creative's Gigaworks S750

 

[manu 11]

its a really nice build, perfect in my opinion, onboard sound cards are sufficent.

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

For gaming the Intel® Core™ i5-2500K really is about the best processor that you can get your hands on today. Understand that very few games will take advantage of more than 3 threads or cores at this time. Because of this the value of hyper-threading or more than 4 cores for a gamer is very limited.

As far as cooling on the processor water cooling is fine but you should be able to reach 4.5GHz on a good 3rd party air cooler. So without worrying about water you can get great results from a solid air cooler.

Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

 

[unzerweiler]

As a general update to everyone, I ordered the parts yesterday, should be here in 2 weeks time :clap: I'll let you all know how it goes

Once again thank you all!