CPU & PSU for games rig

techathy

Honorable
Aug 8, 2012
2
0
10,510
My rather aged games rig is looking rather weak & I've not been keeping up with what's fast & what's not so would like some comments on my proposed system:
Asus P8Z77-M PRO
Intel i5 3570
Noctua NH-U12P SE2
8GB DDR3-1600
GTX275 (old hardware)
256GB SSD (old hardware)
Seasonic M12II-430 (old hardware)
Samsung 1080p HDTV

From what I understand the i7s don't provide much advantage, if any, when gaming compared to the i5. Also as I'm unlikely to do much overclocking is there isn't any point in getting a 3570K. I was also wondering about the PSU, would I need to go for something with a few more watts. I was thinking about the possibility of an SLI/crossfire setup so was waiting until I made my mind up on that one. However if I need to upgrade the PSU as well I'd probably go for an Be Quiet Dark Power Pro 10 850w just incase. Does this make sense or have I missed something silly
 
Right now Newegg.com has the PC Power and Cooling Silencer MKIII 600w $89 and then about $20 in rebates bring it down to $69. However if you really think you might go SLI then they also have the PC Power and Cooling Silencer MKII 750w for $109 and $89 after rebate make both of these PSUs heck of a deal for a quality.

Also right now Newegg also has the Intel® Core™ i5-3570K for $229 and a $10 promo code to bring it down to within $5 of the cost of the Intel Core i5-3570. Making it worth it to take advantage and wait to overclock just to get some extra value out of your processor.
 

2260121

Honorable
Jun 13, 2012
165
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10,710
850W will be too much even if doing sli. Something around 650-700W should do the job pretty well if quality. And if you're not going to overclock, i don't see the point in a noctua cooler but if you can squeeze 5 more bucks out of you're pocket to buy the k version then it will be really worth it and you will be able to get the best out of your i5.
 

techathy

Honorable
Aug 8, 2012
2
0
10,510
But will my current 430w PSU be man enough for the job or do I need to get a more powerful one now? If it's good enough for now then there's no point in replacing it.

I suppose I could ask does the K make it easier to underclock as that's something which may well happen (I went for the mobo with the fact I might want to use it to run a file server off latter in it's life)

The Noctua heatsink was chosen because it's got very good reviews & is easy to duct. Anyway overkill on your CPU cooler is never a bad thing right?

I've not got a budget so I'm not worried about spending the extra to get a K if it gets me more performance or the bigger PSU if it's needed. However I don't want to spend money for the sake of getting new shiny.