Did I make a mistake on this i7-2600K build?

July 19, 2012 4:47:11 PM

Hello, all,
I need someone to really help me! I ordered my parts from Newegg two days ago:

PC Usage: I will be using the PC for Video editing, and photo editing.
Software to be used: Adobe CS5, Adobe Lightroom, Sony Vegas Pro 10/11, DVDFab.

The parts are I ordered are:

1 x Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
1 x XFX HD-687A-ZHFC Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
1 x Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics ...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
1 x Corsair Force Series GT CSSD-F120GBGT-BK 2.5" 120GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
1 x Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
1 x ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
1 x COOLER MASTER Silent Pro M600 RS-600-AMBA-D3 600W ATX12V V2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
1 x G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
1 x SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
1 x ASUS Black Blu-ray Burner SATA BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
3 x OKGEAR 18" SATA 6 Gbps Cable, Straight to Right Angle W/Metal Latch, Silver, Backward Compatible with 3 Gbps and ... - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

After seriously thinking

for the past two days, the more I read, the more I get a feeling that I did not get the right video card for my needs!

Do I need to get one of these instead of what I already got? Or is there another better video card that will suffice for my PC usage in the $100-$150 range?

EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) FPB 01G-P3-1556-KR Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

MSI GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) N550GTX-Ti Cyclone OC Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

MSI GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) N560GTX-M2D1GD5 Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

I am not sure what the return policy for Newegg is if an item in unopened.

Please help! Many thanks.

More about : make mistake 2600k build

| E-mail me updates
| Report abuse

sunny_bwana

July 20, 2012 1:27:25 PM

Forgot to add that I read mixed reviews on the internet about some people saying that the Radeon 6870 works fine for video/photo editing & rendering, while others say that buy video cards that have CUDA which is not what I bought.

Can someone please help me with their insights. I don't mind returning something that won't be working for the purposes I need for.

Thanks!

| Report abuse

TheBigTroll

July 20, 2012 1:33:28 PM

you dont need sata cable. they are already included

cooler master doesnt make good power supplies. go with corsair, seasonic, pc & power cooling, or xfx

you should have gotten the i7 3770

you also should have gotten a crucial m4 128gb SSD

you should get a hyper 212 evo for overclocking and cooling. stock fan sucks. if you get the hyper 212 evo, the pre-included thermal paste is much better than silver 5

the 6870 is fine

| Report abuse

sunny_bwana

July 20, 2012 1:59:55 PM

Thanks for your insights, TheBigTroll.

The reason I bought i7-2600K was because of the price as of that point in time. The difference was about $70 between that and the i7-3770K, which was a little pricey for me. Same goes for the SSD, there was a good rebate from Corsair three days ago.

I won't be over clocking for the begining and I hear that the stock fan is just ok if not OC. I will eventually OC and would look at the cooler.
Any good sites data demo how to OC?

Also, I was debating about not buying the SATA cables, but reviews on the parts I was buying said that some users were disappointed they did not get the SATA cables.

What I plan on doing is to use the SSD for OS and program install. Also, allocate ~50GB for video/photo rendering. I will use the HDD for the actually raw footage storage, but the SSD for scratch.
Is that OK for using the SSD for?

| Report abuse

obsama1

July 20, 2012 2:03:46 PM

The 550Ti is a lot less powerful than the 6870. However, I would recommend spending $50 extra, and returning the 6870 for a 6950/560Ti.

| Report abuse

TheBigTroll

July 20, 2012 2:18:34 PM

oc shouldnt be that hard on a asrock board. if the price difference was large, good thing you got the 2600k.

for aftermarket heatsink, pick up the hyper 212evo

just put the os on the ssd and most of the important apps. the rest goes on a hard drve

| Report abuse

sunny_bwana

July 31, 2012 7:47:49 PM

So, I ended up using the parts that I had originally order (in my first post) and it's been about 1 week my new PC is up and running. The WE score is 7.8.

There are no issues as such but do have a couple of questions:

1) How can I disable the "Intel HD Graphics 3000" graphics and have the XFX video card be the primary?
2) How do I upgrade firmwares for SSD, Blu-ray burner, etc?
3) Do I need to change some set up to take advantage of the i7 CPU's " Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0" ?

Thanks,

| Report abuse