New build with ASUS P8Z68-V LE

[jeffjeff666]

It's time to change my Pentium 4 3.0 GHZ to a new computer.

Usage: Net surfing, watching HD videos, encoding DVDs and maybe a little bit of gaming. Note: last game I played was NHL 2009

Overclock: Maybe

Here it goes (all prices in CAD):


Case: Antec Sonata III (includes a 500W PSU) 110$ http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=24294&promoid=1304

MOBO: ASUS P8Z68-V LE 142$ http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=62930

CPU: Intel i5 2500k 210$ (Deal same price as the 2500 and will benefit from HD Graphics 3000) http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=57962&promoid=1304

RAM: Mushkin 2X4GB PC3-10666 DDR3-1333 54$ http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=55544

HD: WD Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6GB/S 64$ http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=58881

HD2: WD Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 3GB/S (Already own it)

CD/DVD: ASUS DRW-24B1ST 28$ http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=49597&

OS: Win7 Home Premium 64BIT 98$ http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=45271&promoid=1304


I am the kind of guy who is keeping his computers for 4-5 years.

The parts where I am not sure are:
The MOBO. I cannot find any reviews on it. My guess it's because it just got released. I've always had ASUS and never had any troubles with it. Anybody had experience with it?
The RAM. If I want to overclock, will it be any good?
PSU: Is 500W enough?

By the way, I originally intended of buying the same thing but with the ASUS ASUS P8H67-M PRO/CSM with the Intel i5 2500 but in the long run I think I will be better with the other setup.

Thanks for the advices!

 

[rolli59]

The motherboard is their budget Z68 board hence the LE it is still a quality board. The ram is fine but I would go with 1600MHz (supported by motherboard) if you are planning to overclock although overclocking on the multiplier does not bring the ram speed up.
500watt quality PSU is plenty even if you add a good midrange discrete GPU.

 

[coleam45]

Seeing that build without a graphics card is painful. If you want to do integrated graphics, use the AMD A-series APUs. They're much more balanced than the 2500K/HD graphics 3000 combo. The i5-2500k is a phenomenal processor, but the HD Graphics are an afterthought. With the A-series APUs, you'll lose out a bit on CPU power, but gain a ton in the graphics department.

Here's an article that does a bit of a comparison: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-a8-3850-llano,2975-19.html.

Review of Sandy Bridge HD Graphics: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/sandy-bridge-core-i7-2600k-core-i5-2500k,2833-7.html

Long story short, if you want to do any gaming at all, HD Graphics 3000, while better than 2000, still sucks. That said, throwing an extra $100-$150 at your original build for a midrange discrete card will blow the AMD APU out of the water.

Also, don't spend extra for SATA III. If it's the same price or cheaper, then go ahead, but otherwise, you won't see any difference between SATA II and SATA III for a hard drive.

 

[Why_Me]

FREE SHIPPING ftw.

These two sites down below are affiliated...they both use the same shipping addy in Richmond, BC, and they are both free shipping. These two sites are probably the most used on here by far for Canadian builds.

http://www.bestdirect.ca/
http://www.bestdirect.ca/contact/

http://www.directcanada.com
http://www.directcanada.com/contact/

This Asrock mobo down below hit 4.9Ghz on the over clock when Tweaktown reviewed it. Also you can't go wrong with a dedicated graphics card.

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=10370AC5086&vpn=SONATA%20III%20500&manufacture=ANTEC $118.70
Antec Sonata III Black ATX 16IN Mid Tower Quiet Case 3X5.25 2X3.5 4X3.5IN 500W 120MM Fan

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/235449/Z68%20Pro3-M/ASRock/ $126.50
ASRock Z68 PRO3-M mATX LGA1155 DDR3 PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 SATA3 USB3.0 DVI DP VGA Audio GBLAN Motherboard

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/232639/BX80623I52500K/Intel/ $208.79
Intel Core i5 2500K Quad Core Unlocked Processor LGA1155 3.3GHZ Sandy Bridge 6MB

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/218427/RR-B10-212P-G1/COOLERMASTER/ $24.20
Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus Direct Touch 4 Heatpipe Heatsink AM2 AM3 LGA1366 LGA1155 LGA1156 120MM

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=15380BD5211&vpn=F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL&manufacture=G.SKILL $57.18
G.SKILL Ripjaws X F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 Memory

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/231264/01G-P3-1432-LR/eVGA/ $79.74
EVGA GeForce GT 430 700MHZ 1GB 1.6GHZ GDDR3 PCI-E DVI VGA HDMI Video Card

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/233111/ST31000524AS/Seagate/ $53.74
Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 7200.12 1TB SATA 32MB Cache 3.5IN Internal Hard Drive OEM

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/225965/DRW-24B1ST%20Bulk/ASUS/ $16.79
ASUS DRW-24B1ST 24X SATA DVD Writer OEM Black

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/222137/GFC-00599/MICROSOFT/ $93.79
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64BIT DVD OEM

Total: $776.94

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=Z68%20Pro3-M <----- Specs on that Asrock mobo

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4100/asrock_z68_pro3_m_intel_z68_motherboard_review/index.html <----- review on that Asrock mobo

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130579&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Video+Cards-_-EVGA-_-14130579 <---- another look at that EVGA gt 430

 

[jeffjeff666]

Honestly, last computer I bought was 4-5 years ago. Up to last month, I have never heard of ASRock. For me ASRock is like if you were telling me that Hershey was now making motherboards... I have no idea if they are good or not so I have troubles trusting them especially since I've had ASUS boards all my life. I read some reviews on the ASRock Z68 PRO3-M and it looks like it's one of the best and cheapest Z68 board out there which is very very interesting.

On the other side, I would feel more confortable buying the ASUS P8Z68-V LE because IT IS ASUS but it just came out so I don't know if I should trust it.

I am so confused right now... I just need to pick the right board and I am good to go with all your advices.

Thanks!

 

[coleam45]

If it makes you feel any better, AsRock is an offshoot of ASUS.

 

[Why_Me]

Honestly, last computer I bought was 4-5 years ago. Up to last month, I have never heard of ASRock. For me ASRock is like if you were telling me that Hershey was now making motherboards... I have no idea if they are good or not so I have troubles trusting them especially since I've had ASUS boards all my life. I read some reviews on the ASRock Z68 PRO3-M and it looks like it's one of the best and cheapest Z68 board out there which is very very interesting.

On the other side, I would feel more confortable buying the ASUS P8Z68-V LE because IT IS ASUS but it just came out so I don't know if I should trust it.

I am so confused right now... I just need to pick the right board and I am good to go with all your advices.

Thanks!

My uncle used to buy nothing but Chevy...they were around long before Toyota. Asrocks are solid...do a google on them. I wouldn't have posted that board if I thought it was a dud.

 

[jeffjeff666]

My uncle used to buy nothing but Chevy...they were around long before Toyota. Asrocks are solid...do a google on them. I wouldn't have posted that board if I thought it was a dud.

I agree that one day you have to be willing to try something else. If you don't try then you won't know. Thanks! I really think I will give it a shot.

 

[jeffjeff666]

Do I really need a cooler if I will not overclock?

 

[Why_Me]

Do I really need a cooler if I will not overclock?

Nope, the stock one will do just fine...but if your like most of the users on here your going to be bored one day and click into that UEFI and say to yourself...; "Hey, if I click this, this and that...I'm running at 4.6Ghz...I wonder what this thing will be like then...." Over clocking is that easy these days with that UEFI bios interface. It's like going from stick shift/manual to an automatic. It used to be back in the day that over clocking was almost a science and risky to boot...same with flashing bios. Now with a few clicks you've flashed your bios to the latest ones...no more burning a floppy, and same with the over clocking. It's like wam bam and your done.

 

[jeffjeff666]

I will buy everything from http://www.bestdirect.ca/ Cheaper than other websites.

I will change a few parts of the build I originally wanted:

MOBO: ASRock Z68 PRO3-M http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/235449/Z68%20Pro3-M/ASRock/

Back order though... might as well wait a few days to see if they are going to have some back in stock. If not, I will go with the ASUS P8Z68-V LE http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/236345/P8Z68-V%20LE/ASUS/

Does not have the eSata but I just need to spend a few bucks to get a SATA to external eSata bracket http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/115355/NG-SATA-ESATA/nGear%20Technologies%20Inc./

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 Memory http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=15380BD5211&vpn=F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL&manufacture=G.SKILL

Total: $685.96 + taxes

Thanks!

 

[cowman1208]

Hey there, I just had the same parts arrive today, ( ASUS P8Z68 LE here ) ... what board did you go with and how is your build going?

I got the same processor, G.Skill ddr3-1600 ram, above board, and CM 212+ cooler .... about to start building however the board seems a little underwhelming in the power department for the processor and potentially ever overclocking.

Thanks, hope your build goes smoothly!

 

[jeffjeff666]

Hey!

Well finally I ordered a bunch of parts for my new computer but Bestdirect.ca had some trouble with my payment.... no idea what happened there and my ordered was cancelled. Finally I will go with the ASUS P8Z68-V with basically all the same parts except for the case. I will go with the Antec 300 and for PSU an Antec Gamer 620W or 750W.