Need advice on new build component choices

jfharlan1

Distinguished
Jan 22, 2012
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18,510
Hello,

I'm going to be building a new desktop PC shortly. This would primarily be my daily work PC,but I'm a hobbyist gamer and over-clocker. I've listed below the new parts I am thinking about. Thanks in advance for any help and/or comments!

I'm most interested in finding out:
1) Does my choice of MB/CPU/GPU/Memory/Cooler look good; is it compatible?
2) Does anyone see where I may get more bang for my buck with different component(s)?
3) Has anyone had major issues with any of my choices?

Approximate Purchase Date: within the next 3 months
Budget Range: less than $1,300 for new parts
System Usage from Most to Least Important: business usage, surfing web, watching movies, over-clocking/gaming
Parts Not Required: PSU, case, monitors, keyboard, mouse
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg
Country: USA
Parts Preferences: would like an ASAS MB with Intel CPU but I'm not averse to trying a different combo
Over-clocking: Yes
SLI or Crossfire: Maybe
Monitor Resolution: primary 2560 x 1440, secondary 1920x1080
Upgrades: I would like to be able to upgrade this system
Additional Comments: A quiet system is very important. I would like a system that slows down the fans when usage is low which is most of the time. It would be great if it was silent while idle, but I don't know if that is possible.

POTENTIAL NEW PARTS (~$1,200):
ASUS P8Z68 DELUXE/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 ATX Intel MB UEFI BIOS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131791

Intel Core i7-2600 Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115071

SAPPHIRE 100312-3SR Radeon HD 6950
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102945

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314

Crucial M4 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal SSD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148448

CORSAIR H100 (CWCH100) Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181017

PARTS TO BE REUSED:

SeaSonic X Series X650 Gold
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151088

Dell UltraSharp U2711 27" HDMI Widescreen
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824260038

SAMSUNG 2333HD 23" HDMI Widescreen
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001405

LIAN LI PC-A05NB Black Aluminum ATX Mini Tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112218
OR
LIAN LI Lancool PC-K7B Black Aluminum/ SECC ATX Mid Tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112154

Saitek Eclipse II Illuminated Keyboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823175001

Logitech G500 10 Buttons Dual-mode Scroll Wheel USB Wired
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104318
 

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator
1) Does my choice of MB/CPU/GPU/Memory/Cooler look good; is it compatible?
2) Does anyone see where I may get more bang for my buck with different component(s)?

Oh I didn't see that you *wanted* to overclock - IMO that doesn't make sense on a business PC. On a business PC you want no room for error and you don't want to spend any of your overhead on replacing parts if something goes wrong. This is the setup I use and it's been really great so far:

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115077
Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128498
Cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

3) Has anyone had major issues with any of my choices?

It looks pretty good but the only main issue I'd look at is using the SSD as your only storage solution. You might want to drop that to a 64GB and with the money you're going to be saving on the cooler and the SSD buy a 1TB Spinpoint as a mechanical drive. I know HD prices are through the roof and people are trying to avoid buying them but having only one storage option like that, IMO, isn't usually a good idea.
 
You need an unlocked multiplier if you want to overclock the cpu--i7-2600k or i5-2500k.

Corsair Force Series GT CSSD-F120GBGT-BK 2.5" 120GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
$179.99 and a $30 rebate makes it $149.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233191

Compare the read/write speeds of the one you chose and this one.

ASUS P8Z68-V LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$169.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131729

You can save quite a bit by going with this Asus motherbaord or save $50 with this motherboard.

ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
$204.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131790
 

jfharlan1

Distinguished
Jan 22, 2012
4
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18,510
Oh I didn't see that you *wanted* to overclock - IMO that doesn't make sense on a business PC.

I understand it isn't a great idea to mix my business PC and hobby PC but am OK taking that risk. I back up nightly, don't keep data on the local drive and have a back up PC.

It looks pretty good but the only main issue I'd look at is using the SSD as your only storage solution.

Good point. I do have network attached storage and backup in the cloud so I don't need anything but the system SSD in the PC.
 

jfharlan1

Distinguished
Jan 22, 2012
4
0
18,510
You need an unlocked multiplier if you want to overclock the cpu--i7-2600k or i5-2500k.

Not sure what this means? Is this like buying a Black Box Edition of an AMD CPU?

Corsair Force Series GT CSSD-F120GBGT-BK

Looks like I need to change my choice. :)


You can save quite a bit by going with this Asus motherbaord or save $50 with this motherboard.

ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
$204.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131790

Looks like the one for $50 less is vitually identical but has onboard graphics...stranget that it is cheapr. Thanks!
 
With Intel cpu's there used to be two ways to overclock , by the multiplier and by the front side bus. Now that the fsb is done away with the way to overclock is by the multiplier and it has to be unlocked for you to do that. So Intel released two versions of the top models; i7-2600k , i7-2600 and i5-2500k , i5-2500 with the K model being the unlocked cpu, so in the bios you will see an option for the cpu multiplier and to overclock you would increase the multiplier untill you reached the point where you have to add voltage to go further. Naturally it's a slow meticulas process and if you have done overclocking you know how it is.
 


With graphics card being the limitation for gamers running visually intensive games cpu overclocking makes NO sense for gamers at all .

The only people who currently benefit are people running cpu intensive tasks on work stations . A graphics professional or CAD designer can save enormous amounts of time by overclocking .

But the OP doesnt need an expensive water cooler . A decent air cooler will be a fraction of the cost but still allow very hefty GHz increases .For quiet and cooling almost as good as the water unit the Scythe Ninja3 is ideal and cost half as much
 

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator


I totally agree that the GPUs are always going to be the limitations but I run tons of CAD and rendering programs and I don't see where OC'ing would come in handy. I'll keep saying that I like to play it really cautious with my builds and on business systems you want no room for error because spending all your overhead on new PC parts isn't going to be a good thing either.

I've never tried a water cooler like the H100 but I'm certainly open to it. I've tried all sorts of fans and some I've had great luck with (Hyper 212 and EVGA M020) and some I have had horrible luck with (Xigmatek Gaia).