Need some advice for new build

[GoombaStompin]

I'm getting prepared for a new build as I am just about to go away to college. I've been doing some research and I have an idea of what I'm going to buy I just have a few uncertainties still. I use my computer for many things: mainly programming, graphic design and gaming; often I am moving large files and occasionally I find myself working with CAD files and editing videos.

Budget isn't a huge issue but who doesn't want to limit their spending; so with this I have narrowed down to two similar processors:
Intel i7-3820 Sandy Bridge-E
and the Intel i7-3770 Ivy Bridge

The former uses the LGA 2011 socket where the latter uses the LGA 1155. I'm not sure which chip may bring more advantages for me, or which chip is more future proof. I'm also wondering how much liquid cooling can behoove your ability to overclock. I've heard good feedback on the GTX 680 so i believe I will be getting one. When it comes to buying RAM, will clock speeds greater than 1600 really show any major improvements?

Thanks in advance.

 

[g-unit1111]

Well for $1600 a Fire Pro or Quaddro will be a better professional choice due to the fact that it can handle finer redraws. However the higher end Quaddros can cost a pretty penny.

Try something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3820 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($289.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 CPU Cooler ($82.76 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock X79 Extreme6 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($258.49 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($92.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Plextor PX-M3S Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: ATI FirePro V5800 1GB Video Card ($386.97 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Switch 810 (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($169.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($79.99 @ Microcenter)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (64-bit) ($130.21 @ Amazon)
Total: $1724.36
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)

Without OS it comes to just a little under $1600.

 

[Dupontrocks11]

I'm getting prepared for a new build as I am just about to go away to college. I've been doing some research and I have an idea of what I'm going to buy I just have a few uncertainties still. I use my computer for many things: mainly programming, graphic design and gaming; often I am moving large files and occasionally I find myself working with CAD files and editing videos.

Budget isn't a huge issue but who doesn't want to limit their spending; so with this I have narrowed down to two similar processors:
Intel i7-3820 Sandy Bridge-E
and the Intel i7-3770 Ivy Bridge

The former uses the LGA 2011 socket where the latter uses the LGA 1155. I'm not sure which chip may bring more advantages for me, or which chip is more future proof. I'm also wondering how much liquid cooling can behoove your ability to overclock. I've heard good feedback on the GTX 680 so i believe I will be getting one. When it comes to buying RAM, will clock speeds greater than 1600 really show any major improvements?

Thanks in advance.

The Ivy Bridge i7-3770 is the newest generation CPU and will be more futureproof. Also, the 1155 allows for the greater variety of motherboards to choose from. As for water cooling, the ivy bridge runs slightly hotter than the sandy bridge, so to get overclock speeds over 4.2 Ghz, water cooling is necessary. Otherwise you will experience thermal throttling.

The 680 is a great graphics card. Period. Lol. As for the RAM you wont see much if any improvements if the clocks are over 1600 so you dont even need to bother with them.

If you have any other questions i will gladly answer

 

[smorizio]

i would save some cash and drop the cpu to an i5-3570. unless your going to game at high end the i5 will last you a few years.
drop the 680 to a 670 the 670 only about 5-7 percent slower then the 680. use the extra cash in the build and put in a ssd.
you get the biggest bang for the buck with an ssd. i would also pick up a network device (shell) from new egg. so you can put your classwork on a back up drive and your tunes and movies. when i worked for micro center 121 in Cambridge mass i used to see a lot of student that had lost all of there call work and data and had no back up. your daily work copy it to two usb sticks. if one stick goes bad you have a back up. if not a usb stick us google gmail or free online storage and do daily saves.

 

[g-unit1111]

i would save some cash and drop the cpu to an i5-3570. unless your going to game at high end the i5 will last you a few years.
drop the 680 to a 670 the 670 only about 5-7 percent slower then the 680. use the extra cash in the build and put in a ssd.
you get the biggest bang for the buck with an ssd. i would also pick up a network device (shell) from new egg. so you can put your classwork on a back up drive and your tunes and movies. when i worked for micro center 121 in Cambridge mass i used to see a lot of student that had lost all of there call work and data and had no back up. your daily work copy it to two usb sticks. if one stick goes bad you have a back up. if not a usb stick us google gmail or free online storage and do daily saves.

That would be good if this were a gaming system but it isn't - it's a high end professional CAD / rendering build.

 

[GoombaStompin]

Well for $1600 a Fire Pro or Quaddro will be a better professional choice due to the fact that it can handle finer redraws. However the higher end Quaddros can cost a pretty penny.

Try something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3820 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($289.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 CPU Cooler ($82.76 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock X79 Extreme6 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($258.49 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($92.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Plextor PX-M3S Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: ATI FirePro V5800 1GB Video Card ($386.97 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Switch 810 (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($169.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($79.99 @ Microcenter)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (64-bit) ($130.21 @ Amazon)
Total: $1724.36
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)

Without OS it comes to just a little under $1600.

Thanks for this response, this looks like a good guideline for a build I'll be considering.

The Ivy Bridge i7-3770 is the newest generation CPU and will be more futureproof. Also, the 1155 allows for the greater variety of motherboards to choose from. As for water cooling, the ivy bridge runs slightly hotter than the sandy bridge, so to get overclock speeds over 4.2 Ghz, water cooling is necessary. Otherwise you will experience thermal throttling.

The 680 is a great graphics card. Period. Lol. As for the RAM you wont see much if any improvements if the clocks are over 1600 so you dont even need to bother with them.

If you have any other questions i will gladly answer

Yea I've heard that about the new Ivy Bridge and I was leaning towards liquid cooling anyways. Does the z77 chipset offer any great advantages over the x79 or vice versa? And although not very crucial to the build, is thunderbolt something to look out for? Should I go out of my way to include it, or do most think it will not be too vital in the near future?

 

[g-unit1111]

Thanks for this response, this looks like a good guideline for a build I'll be considering.



Yea I've heard that about the new Ivy Bridge and I was leaning towards liquid cooling anyways. Does the z77 chipset offer any great advantages over the x79 or vice versa? And although not very crucial to the build, is thunderbolt something to look out for? Should I go out of my way to include it, or do most think it will not be too vital in the near future?

X79 will support the six-core i7-3930K and will support RAM capacities up to 64GB and even 96GB on some configurations which will make loading those large files really easy. Thunderbolt is very interesting technology but I'm betting it will be at least a year before we see devices that will begin to take advantage of it.

Apparently I'm wrong: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/my-book-thunderbolt-duo-pegasus-r4-2big,3222.html