Hi,
I am building a home system for some gaming (Diablo 3, Civ 5, Guildwars, HOMM, etc), some work (Office 10, Lotus Notes, Citrix), and online streaming videos & movies like netflix. The most demanding usage will probably be the databases & proprietary BS on Lotus Notes coupled with Adobe and 3 active Citrix sessions. This build might be overkill, however I want it to be around for a bit. This is my second build- the first one lasted almost 6 years- needless to say a lot has changed since then and I have a few questions. Any ideas are appreciated, this is it so far:
*MSI Z68A-GD80 G3
**i7 2600k
***GSkill Ripjaws X 1333 - 16GB 4x4-
****XFX HD 6870 1GB 256bit DDR5
Seagate Barracuda 2TB- 7200- 6Gb/s- purchased
Antec HCG 620W- purchased
Thermaltake V4 case- purchased
Windows 7 64bit- purchased
LiteOn DVD burner- purchased
*toss up between the MSI board & ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe/Gen3. Both offer support for LGA 1155 Ivy Bridge (IB) chips which will allow use of PCIE 3.0. Now question is will the IB for the LGA 1155 Z68 chipset have the full functionality as the ones on the 7 series chipsets? If it’s a scaled down version meant to only enable pcie 3.0 on LGA 1155, then I will probably pass on the G3 versions of both and take the ASUS Deluxe. MSI comes up short there since I’ve read that the original Click Bios & the OC Genie on the B3 version leave a lot to be desired. I’ve seen a lot of speculation and very few hard facts regarding the IB release (par for the course since it’s harder to hype without any mystery).
**Initially passed on the 2500k since it does not support Hyperthreading. This is still an option depending on what I can find out about IB chips as outlined above. If the LGA 1155 IB is a significant upgrade for my Z68, then I will go 2500k now saving $100 towards that upgrade. If I can’t get any solid info on IB, then I will not roll the dice & instead go with the 2600k.
*** 16GB is a lot more than I need, but I would rather get a 4x4 matching kit at a good price now. Dominator 1333 looks good but it’s timing is 9-9-9-24 (Ripjaws are 7-7-7-21) and the Corsair is $45 more. The 1.65V on the Dominator is not an issue since I do not plan to OC the RAM. Also for about $60 cheaper than the Dominator ($15 less than GSkill) I can get the 16GB Vengeance (9-9-9-24) 1600 kit. Is the Dominator that much better to warrant such a price hike? I don’t minding spending extra to get quality however I would prefer to save if there is only minor differences. For what I will be doing it’s doubtful the timing variance will be a factor, or even noticeable.
****Should be decent on my 24” widescreen. Will also have the Crossfire option as a later upgrade which will probably also require a bigger power supply. Still have to research the Eyefinity to see if the card with it is worth the extra $45.
I do also have soundblaster card with speakers ready to go. SSD would be a possible future upgrade as well.
Did I miss anything? Hints? Suggestions? My tech level might be around a 2.5 and would appreciate input from some of the gurus out there. Thanks!
I am building a home system for some gaming (Diablo 3, Civ 5, Guildwars, HOMM, etc), some work (Office 10, Lotus Notes, Citrix), and online streaming videos & movies like netflix. The most demanding usage will probably be the databases & proprietary BS on Lotus Notes coupled with Adobe and 3 active Citrix sessions. This build might be overkill, however I want it to be around for a bit. This is my second build- the first one lasted almost 6 years- needless to say a lot has changed since then and I have a few questions. Any ideas are appreciated, this is it so far:
*MSI Z68A-GD80 G3
**i7 2600k
***GSkill Ripjaws X 1333 - 16GB 4x4-
****XFX HD 6870 1GB 256bit DDR5
Seagate Barracuda 2TB- 7200- 6Gb/s- purchased
Antec HCG 620W- purchased
Thermaltake V4 case- purchased
Windows 7 64bit- purchased
LiteOn DVD burner- purchased
*toss up between the MSI board & ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe/Gen3. Both offer support for LGA 1155 Ivy Bridge (IB) chips which will allow use of PCIE 3.0. Now question is will the IB for the LGA 1155 Z68 chipset have the full functionality as the ones on the 7 series chipsets? If it’s a scaled down version meant to only enable pcie 3.0 on LGA 1155, then I will probably pass on the G3 versions of both and take the ASUS Deluxe. MSI comes up short there since I’ve read that the original Click Bios & the OC Genie on the B3 version leave a lot to be desired. I’ve seen a lot of speculation and very few hard facts regarding the IB release (par for the course since it’s harder to hype without any mystery).
**Initially passed on the 2500k since it does not support Hyperthreading. This is still an option depending on what I can find out about IB chips as outlined above. If the LGA 1155 IB is a significant upgrade for my Z68, then I will go 2500k now saving $100 towards that upgrade. If I can’t get any solid info on IB, then I will not roll the dice & instead go with the 2600k.
*** 16GB is a lot more than I need, but I would rather get a 4x4 matching kit at a good price now. Dominator 1333 looks good but it’s timing is 9-9-9-24 (Ripjaws are 7-7-7-21) and the Corsair is $45 more. The 1.65V on the Dominator is not an issue since I do not plan to OC the RAM. Also for about $60 cheaper than the Dominator ($15 less than GSkill) I can get the 16GB Vengeance (9-9-9-24) 1600 kit. Is the Dominator that much better to warrant such a price hike? I don’t minding spending extra to get quality however I would prefer to save if there is only minor differences. For what I will be doing it’s doubtful the timing variance will be a factor, or even noticeable.
****Should be decent on my 24” widescreen. Will also have the Crossfire option as a later upgrade which will probably also require a bigger power supply. Still have to research the Eyefinity to see if the card with it is worth the extra $45.
I do also have soundblaster card with speakers ready to go. SSD would be a possible future upgrade as well.
Did I miss anything? Hints? Suggestions? My tech level might be around a 2.5 and would appreciate input from some of the gurus out there. Thanks!
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