Go ahead and pull the trigger or holdover?

[rpgmaster1532]

Hello, ladies and gentlemen. I am working on building a performance gaming desktop system. I have already purchased the case, case fans and RAM. I am wondering whether to stick a mid-end mobo and processor in it and wait for Haswell, when I would replace those with the high-end Haswell parts.

CURRENT LAPTOP:--------------------------------------
Intel C2D T9400 (2.53 Dual Core Penryn) |
4 GB DDR3 1333 |
2x ATI Radeon HD Mobility 3870 (CFX) |
Laptop screen/keyboard/monitor/PSU/etc |
--------------------------------------------------------------

System I am planning on if I pull trigger fully:

IVY BRIDGE:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VIDEO: Galaxy GeForce GTX 680 GC White Edition 2GB -- Newegg Item #: N82E16814162125 |
PSU: SeaSonic X Series X-850 (SS-850KM Active PFC F3) -- Newegg Item #: N82E16817151102 |
MOBO: ASUS Maximus V FORMULA -- Newegg Item #: N82E16813131854 |
CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K -- Newegg Item #: N82E16819116504 |
PROC FAN: Noctua NH-D14 -- Newegg Item #: N82E16835608018 |
SSD: SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series -- Newegg Item #: N82E16820147193 |
RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3 1600 -- Newegg Item#: N82E16820233232 |
CASE: NZXT Phantom 410 |
CASE FANS: Scythe Ultra Kaze (5) Newegg Item#: N82E16835185054 |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If I build a holdover, it is the same as above EXCEPT for the mobo and proc, and I would use these instead to holdover:

HOLDOVER:------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CPU: Intel Core i5-3450 -- Newegg Item #: N82E16819116506 |
MOBO: ASRock B75M-DGS -- Newegg Item #: N82E16813157335 |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So... should I go all out and get a performance PC with the i5-3570K or build the holdover, and also, are there any potential changes that my fellow techies could recommend to further future-proof the system or provide improved performance?

 

[g-unit1111]

For gaming most of the Ivy Bridge build is way overkill. The Samsung 840 has decent reviews, nothing spectacular. Do not go with the 3450 and B75 as that will severely limit your expansion options. You will never come even remotely close to using 32GB of RAM on a gaming build and that motherboard is overkill and will not fit in the Phantom 410. Those case fans aren't necessary until you get your build up and running. There's no such thing as future proofing a build - the only way to do so is to keep all your expansion options open.

Try something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP4 TH ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($192.86 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($37.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung Spinpoint F4 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: A-Data XPG SX900 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card ($454.98 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Switch 810 (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($179.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk II 750W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($22.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1698.73
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-26 13:16 EST-0500)

 

[rpgmaster1532]

I wasn't sure about that... I do already have the Case, the RAM and the fans purchased and actually in hand... and I swear I've seen videos and forum posts showing that board fitting in a 410... But... how is it overkill? I understand the RAM is way overkill, but wasn't sure about the board. I'm looking for the system to last 4 to 5 years with maybe part swapping or adding in another card for more graphics horsepower, but not necessarily having to swap out the motherboard and processor. And also, the LGA1155 platform has no more expansion options, due to Haswell being Socket LGA1150. That would be the sole reason for the 3450, is to wait for Haswell.

 

[rpgmaster1532]

Also... not too fond of the Red Team for video cards ATM... horrendous experience with their drivers in my current laptop, and most of my games I play have the Nvidia intro in them, so I was wanting to try Green Team for my graphics. Main reason I included current build was to show you what I'd be upgrading from and to see if it was even worth a stopover to wait for Haswell.

 

[rpgmaster1532]

Also, for the information of any helpers, I'm planning on overclocking to the maximum possible that I can run safely and permanently. I've heard the 680's get up to 1.3 Ghz core, and I've heard also that the Noctua can push an IB processor to 4.5 easily.

 

[g-unit1111]

I wasn't sure about that... I do already have the Case, the RAM and the fans purchased and actually in hand... and I swear I've seen videos and forum posts showing that board fitting in a 410... But... how is it overkill? I understand the RAM is way overkill, but wasn't sure about the board. I'm looking for the system to last 4 to 5 years with maybe part swapping or adding in another card for more graphics horsepower, but not necessarily having to swap out the motherboard and processor. And also, the LGA1155 platform has no more expansion options, due to Haswell being Socket LGA1150. That would be the sole reason for the 3450, is to wait for Haswell.

You just don't need to pay that much for a motherboard unless you're running some crazy GPU setup or liquid cooling configuration where you're running a 5+ GHz overclocking configuration. For most uses you won't need that much power.

CPUs aside - LGA 1155 still has plenty of room for expansion with PCI Gen 3, SATA 6, RAM, and so on. If you're waiting for Haswell - keep waiting. There's no point in paying this much for an Ivy Bridge build now only to immediately replace it in few months.

Also... not too fond of the Red Team for video cards ATM... horrendous experience with their drivers in my current laptop, and most of my games I play have the Nvidia intro in them, so I was wanting to try Green Team for my graphics. Main reason I included current build was to show you what I'd be upgrading from and to see if it was even worth a stopover to wait for Haswell.

The desktop GPUs are *NOTHING* like their laptop counterparts. AMD has improved the Catalyst drivers 10 fold since the merger with ATI was completed - the 7970 will run circles around the 670 any day of the week.

Also, for the information of any helpers, I'm planning on overclocking to the maximum possible that I can run safely and permanently. I've heard the 680's get up to 1.3 Ghz core, and I've heard also that the Noctua can push an IB processor to 4.5 easily.

You could probably hit 4.7 or 4.8 with a D14 easily.

 

[rpgmaster1532]

Oh, also, got my PA238Q in... <3... my only issue is a slight amount of backlight bleed in the lower left of the monitor, and it doesn't annoy me that much at all... my laptop was a hundred times worse.

 

[rpgmaster1532]

Oh, and either the 830 Pro or 840 Pro works for me for an SSD. Also... the only parts I would toss out of that system to bring in Haswell would be the board and the CPU, which were a total of 250 for the holdover... I'm sure Haswell still supports DDR3 due to all the previews I've seen on it, and even if it doesn't, the case/graphics/SSD and everything else will work in it... I'm just trying to figure out if it's worth the cut in performance for about 5 months over the powerful IB setup to get Haswell, and to spend 250 that'll only last me for that 5 months.

 

[g-unit1111]

Oh, and either the 830 Pro or 840 Pro works for me for an SSD. Also... the only parts I would toss out of that system to bring in Haswell would be the board and the CPU, which were a total of 250 for the holdover... I'm sure Haswell still supports DDR3 due to all the previews I've seen on it, and even if it doesn't, the case/graphics/SSD and everything else will work in it... I'm just trying to figure out if it's worth the cut in performance for about 5 months over the powerful IB setup to get Haswell, and to spend 250 that'll only last me for that 5 months.

Yeah that's probably true. I don't know too many details of Haswell yet - they're slowly coming out. The socket is LGA 1150, but I'm guessing it will still use the same dual channel DDR3 RAM so you would be fine there. The case and everything else will work fine.

 

[rpgmaster1532]

so that's my decision... buy the 3450 and cheapo mobo and wait for a good Haswell, then go all out there, or go ahead and go all-out Ivy... that's what I'm unsure about... and I'll double-check that Gigabyte board you recommended. Still leaning toward green team cause I can get that 680 for 450 and I've heard a lot of people saying that they can hit 1300 core clock on their 680's. I'll double-check reviews on both sets of cards too just to be sure I wanna go Green, cause I know my initial decision on an Nvidia card was due to 80% of my games having the Nvidia startup screen in addition to the laptop debacle with the drivers. Now that you say drivers are better, main thing leaning me Green besides the games is I've heard they've got their crap together... hell, if I had the money, I'd buy both a 7970 and a 680 and see which I like better, then sell the other.

 

[rpgmaster1532]

and only reason I'm thinking about buying IB first is the fact that I'm running a Penryn... can't even play Borderlands 2... yech