IB 3750 (K?) eco-build HD 4000

[sinsa]

I am putting together a workstation for my office.

The main apps we are using are Photoshop + Illustrator (CS5 - but might upgrade to 6 if its all that.) and Microsoft office. Running Win 7 64bit Ultimate.

This is mainly a request for a mobo+cpu reccomendation, and some advice on if you think the graphics option (onboard HD 4000) may be a little weak to power two 2560×1440 monitors. I would like to go as cheap as possible on the mobo, but obviously it does need to 'function' well in its setting. We have no plans to overclock or game, so an office-orientated mobo may be sufficient? but - if spending a little more gets a much better feature set, we are willing to cough up a few extra danny-devitos.

I am having a little trouble understanding the different chipset options available to IB so some clarification on that would be great!

I am not looking for an extreme high end workstation here - just a balance between cost/power. We are not a professional design studio, but graphics apps are involved in our work.

=====tom's hardware spec request form=====

Approximate Purchase Date: may/june 2012

Budget Range: As cheap as possible, baring in mind the system is built only for photoshop and office apps, occasional movie playback etc.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Photoshop, Illustrator, General office apps, Movie playback.

Parts Not Required: PSU, Graphics card (hoping to run this on hd4000 only), Ram, ODD, HDD, Cooling, Chassis, Monitor, KB, Mouse,

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: danawa.com

Country: South Korea

Parts Preferences: IB 3750~ or around there.

Overclocking: No - stability biggest concern here

SLI or Crossfire: No - no gaming.

Monitor Resolution: if possible i'd like to power two monitors at 2560×1440 (but not sure if onboard HD 4000 can support this?)

Additional Comments: Main concerns here are: Stability, Economic (cheap as possible ), Quiet, Lower power usage a bonus (but i dont really see the point in getting a 'T' series processor or whatever - i will be saving a lot of power by not using a discrete GPU anyway).

Many thanks guys and girls~

 

[Outlander_04]

I think you are on the right track

3570K or 3770K
motherboard with a Z77 or Z68 chipset
4 x4 gig of 1600 MHz RAM running at 1.5 volt

Id be tempted to add a basic graphics card rather than the onboard . It frees system RAM and will probably offer better color tuning options as well as the required connectors for your monitors . Pay about $70

Hard drives : tempting to use a RAID 1 array so if a drive fails your data is protected , but an external back up is safer even if it is less convenient

You will need a 4- 500 watt 80 + bronze psu and a fairly quiet office case

 

[Azok]

ASRock seems the cheapest on mobos ATM. Extreme6 if you need a usb3.0 front panel or more than 2 sata3 slots. Extreme4* if you don't.

3570k if you don't need hyper-threading... 3770k* if you do. (or locked versions if your prefer)

 

[sinsa]

many thanks for the replies!

glad you recommend the ASRock z77 Extreme4 as that was the top board on my preliminary list - great to get another thumbs up on it.

I actually have a MSI R6850 Cyclone PE OC card that i was thinking of selling and putting the cash towards the mobo/cpu upgrade. - bad idea? it does have the DisplayPort, Dual-Link DVI-I, Signal-Link DVI-D and HDMI ports.

I also have 4x 4gb Ripjaws DDR3 1600 PC3 12800 9-9-9-24 1.5v sticks from my current rig i could swap over - am i right in thinking that these are pretty good for now? or should i go for some megatron PC3 20800? Are these new high rated sticks just overclocked or am i getting confused?


cheers! sorry for the noob Q's

 

[Outlander_04]

Higher RAM speeds make fractional differences . I'd use what you have . If you do buy RAM you will get more application performance by focusing on models with tighter timings
ie 8-8-8-21 at 1600 MHz than you would by getting higher frequencies

 

[sinsa]

any thoughts on ASRock Z77 Extreme4 -vs- ASRock Z77 Pro4 ? (the Pro4 is ~$30 cheaper here).

I can see i will be losing 1x pci 3.0, 2x usb 3.0, perhaps downgrading the audio chipset from ALC898-->ALC892 and losing the debug display - but considering i wont be using a high end graphics card, don't currently have any usb 3.0 devices and wont be overclocking, is it OK to shave these features off the Extreme4 and go with the Pro4? anything else I'm missing? Are the premium gold caps really that much better than all solid?

http://www.asrock.com/mb/compare.asp?SelectedModel=Z77+Extreme4&SelectedModel=Z77+Pro4

EDIT: On looking at the detailed specs on the Extreme4, it does have 2 CPU and 3 Chassis fan headers.. I realise for most people this isn't too much of a selling point but perhaps the extra I'd have to spend on a fan controller (if buying the Pro4) may be better spent on upgrading the mobo to Extreme4.. Better feature set + included controller. - Sound about right? - I imagine it will give me a lot more room for customisation a little later in the game too.

EDIT 2: just noticed the Extreme4-M and Pro4-M have 2cpu and 2chassis fan headers and are quite a bit cheaper than the full ATX boards.

What do you guys think offer best bang-for-the-buck for my situation on this list? : http://search.danawa.com/dsearch.php?query=asrock+z77&tab=goods&sort=priceASC

I will probably run a single 2560×1440 display for the first while (a year atleast), and wouldnt 16GB of DDR3 1600 be enough to handle both the apps and display?

For the PSU i have two options: Use a (nearly) new SuperFlower 600Watt 80Plus, or sell the SuperFlower (using the cash for the CPU/mobo) and use an old FSP 350Watt i pulled from an ancient P4 rig (still seems to work ok though!)

thanks again!

 

[sinsa]

I just pulled out the old FSP and realised its 20pin - this shouldn't be a problem as long as its stil got stable power right?

I shorted the molex and it powers up nice and quiet (i gave it a thorough clean a few days ago) - but i don't have a multimeter to test it.

Sticker reads:

FSP350-60PN
+3.3V 28.0A (ORG)
+5V 30.0A (RED)
+12V 18.0A (YEL)
+5Vsb 2.0A (PURP)
-5V 0.3A (WHITE)
-12V 0.8A (BLUE)
P.G. SIGNAL (GRAY)
GROUND (BLACK)
(+3.3V&+5V=220W Max)

Are these specs O.K. for a modern PC (Z77 + IB)?

I realise it may be a little underpowered (wattage) for todays standards, but newegg's PSU calc recommends a 260-280watt PSU for the build.

 

[Outlander_04]

18 A total on the 12 volt rail will not be sufficient

 

[azeem40]

I think you will need around 25A on the +12V.

 

[sinsa]

damn.. was hoping to reuse it but oh well!

i just looked at the superflower 600watt active pfc model i have and its saying the +12V rail is 49.5A - thats one hell of a difference.

will 18a not even run a basic Z77/IB system (without GPU)?

 

[azeem40]

If you're using onboard, yes, 18a is ok.