See what you think of upgrade list

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Flying-Squirrel

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Hello everyone,

I haven't built a computer in some time so I thought I would check-in to see what people think of my most recent hardware upgrade that I just ordered from NewEgg and Tigerdirect (should receive in the next couple days).

New parts
Motherboard: Asus P8Z68 DELUXE/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131791
CPU: Intel I7 2600K Sandy Bridge Quad-Core 3.4Ghz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000) Desktop Memory Model F3-17000CL11Q-16GBXL
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231473
HD: Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD2CCA 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148449
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 580 Classified - 3GB, GDDR5, PCI-Express 2.0 (x16)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1367475&CatId=3669
OS: Windows 7 Pro SP1 64bit OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116992

Parts from older existing system I will use
Case: COOLER MASTER Stacker 830 Evolution Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower
Power Supply: ABS Tagan BZ Series BZ1100 1100W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready
Heatsink/Fan: ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink
Mouse/keyboard/speakers/headphones/etc
Monitor: Dell 30" LCD with 2560x1600 native resolution

So my main concern would be any glaring incompatibility or terrible decision I may have made or any other important thoughts/etc. I have never used an SSD hard drive before, does anyone foresee any issues? Thanks!
 
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Is this a gaming system? If you are running 2560x1600 under very demanding titles like Crysis 2 (dx11+hi-res) and BF3, you may want to look into getting a second GTX 580 3GB if that is still within your budget.

16gb of RAM is unnecessary if this is gaming PC, as 8gb is still more than enough for now. However, since it is quad channel RAM, it could be used in a later build I suppose. 2133mhz is also unnecessary, but if you want the fastest then by all means.

An i5-2500k is the best price/performance for a gaming PC at the moment, so the hyperthreading of the i7-2600k won't even make a difference, at least for now.

The Crucial M4 is one of the most reliable SSDs out there, although not the fastest, but the gain is minimal...

gmcizzle

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Is this a gaming system? If you are running 2560x1600 under very demanding titles like Crysis 2 (dx11+hi-res) and BF3, you may want to look into getting a second GTX 580 3GB if that is still within your budget.

16gb of RAM is unnecessary if this is gaming PC, as 8gb is still more than enough for now. However, since it is quad channel RAM, it could be used in a later build I suppose. 2133mhz is also unnecessary, but if you want the fastest then by all means.

An i5-2500k is the best price/performance for a gaming PC at the moment, so the hyperthreading of the i7-2600k won't even make a difference, at least for now.

The Crucial M4 is one of the most reliable SSDs out there, although not the fastest, but the gain is minimal, similar to 1600mhz RAM vs. 2133mhz RAM. The fastest SSDs are Sandforce based ones, and they have a bad rep of being unreliable, but most issues have been fixed by now. If you don't need 256gb storage, the 128gb version offers better price/performance.

That 1100w PSU should be plenty to handle one or two GTX 580s, so no worry here. ABS isn't the best brand, but it will work.

Your motherboard is pretty expensive and offers no real benefit to lower cost motherboards, as it still is 8x/8x when running CF/SLI. If you are going to spend that much on a motherboard, you should get one with 16x/16x SLI/CF support, such as http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157269

So, basically it comes down to whether you can still get a second GTX 580 3GB with all your other high-end components. If not, then this is what I recommend:
Going i5-2500k instead of i7-2600k: -$100
8gb 1600mhz RAM: -$120
128gb SSD: -$200

For ~$180 more you can get a second GTX 580 3GB after these changes.
 
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Flying-Squirrel

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I considered getting a 2nd video card but may need to wait until more funds are available. I am taking a combined approach of Gaming system, some video encoding and some image editing for this machine. I read reviews of the M4 reliability and still good speed and thus my choice there.

With regard to the Motherboard do you consider it a possible liability if I opt for SLI vidcards down the road being stuck with 8x/8x? Are there better options? I looked at the following alternatives:
ASRock Z68 PROFESSIONAL GEN3 LGA 1155
ASUS MAXIMUS IV EXTREME (REV 3.0) LGA 1155
EVGA Z68 FTW LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Extended ATX
EVGA X79 Classified

But nothing really stood out as an ideal and they almost all seem to be 8x/8x and the EVGA Classified doesn't seem to be really available in many places yet.

EDIT: I see you edited your post with the addition of a link, I will take a look at the mobo and perhaps go for that one instead so that SLI is more of an option
 

gmcizzle

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Ok, I would stick with the i7-2600k then as well as the 256gb SSD if you need the extra storage for apps and video. For the GTX 580, 8x/8x doesn't make much of a difference compared to 16x/16x, maybe 2-3% at most. But in future generation of GPUs it may make more difference, although still not much. Stick with a Z68 board with PCIe 3.0 support if you plan at all to upgrade to Ivy Bridge in the future. The motherboard I linked is the cheapest of the 16x/16x SLI Z68 boards, and it's still a fantastic board all-around. If you don't mind 8x/8x and PCIe 2.0 then you can get a much cheaper mobo that basically has all the same features, ex: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131729
 

Flying-Squirrel

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I ran into a few immediate problems.
- My CD/DVD drives were IDE only while the Mobo doesn't support that at all
- The CNPS9500 didn't have the mounting plate for socket 1155
- The Power Supply doesn't appear to have the connections needed for the two vidcards in SLI. They each need 2x 8pin and 1x 6pin PCI-E connectors for a total of 4x 8pin and 2x 6pin. I appear to be short and although I tried using the adapters from the vidcards to power via molex my system doesn't post =(

Going to have to take it all apart and go piece by piece with mobo/1mem stick/1vidcard to see what the issue is. I tend to think it is likely vidcard power replated, I might have to get something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171055


EDIT: Anyone know if you get a converter like this http://www.us.bestbuy.com/site/Ultra+-+Dual+Molex+To+8-Pin+Adapter+-+Black/3377279.p?id=1218397311516&skuId=3377279 do you have to plug both molex in or just one?
 

Flying-Squirrel

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Follow-up update, I have some good news and I have some bad news. I took everything apart and went through piece by piece; good news is I seem to have my vidcards up and running. Bad news is it looks like I need to RMA the motherboard because 2 slots seem to be dead.

I tested all 4 memory sticks in the B2 slot and B1 slots which both work but if I ever put a stick in either the A1 or A2 slots it won't even post. I then also tried using combinations of sticks and they all work when using B1 and B2 but if anything ever goes in A1 or A2 no post.

Is there some kind of bios setting I could tweak or do people think that sounds like dead slots on the mobo and I should just RMA?
 
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