Upgrade to Intel system

[thegatekeeper]

Hi guys, I am a long time AMD user that has recently decided to upgrade to an Intel system. I ran a quick search and came up with the following configuration:

Hard Disk : Corsair Force Series 3 120GB 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (CSSD-F120GB3A-B)
Motherboard: Asus P9X79 PRO
Ram: Corsair Vengeance Black 16GB (CMZ16GX3M2A1866C9)
CPU: Intel Core i7-3820 3.60GHz
Cooler : Cooler Master Hyper 412S
GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 660 OC Twin Frozr 2048MB GDDR5


It totals to about 900 dollars (without shipping) from where I am purchasing. Like I mentioned this is just a draft build as I still have to look for reviews etc, but please tell me what you think. My main concert is whether I need an i7 or not. I will save a lot of money downgrading to an i5. I play on 1920 * 1080 resolution.

I am also going to keep my existing power supply, which is a 750W one from Corsair.

Thanks for reading.

 

[twelve25]

What is your current build? You might be better served with the new 8350 and a high end GPU vs a total rebuild.

Either way, i7 is a waste of money for gaming and X79 is a huge waste unless you are running a monster SLI setup.

 

[thegatekeeper]

What is your current build? You might be better served with the new 8350 and a high end GPU vs a total rebuild.

Either way, i7 is a waste of money for gaming and X79 is a huge waste unless you are running a monster SLI setup.

I have a 4 year old system which is AMD, so I pretty much have to change everything since I want to go Intel. What motherboard do you recommend? Should I get the i5 instead?

Thanks for the input.

 

[DeusAres]

Go for an i5 3570k and a compatible motherboard of your choice. I suggest either the ASRock Z77 Extreme4 or the Gigabyte Z77 UD3H. As stated above, the i7 isn't needed for gaming. Also, 16gb of RAM isn't needed for gaming. If you need to save cash, this is where I would make cuts.

Try this...

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Intel Extreme Master, Limited Ed 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($31.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($98.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($359.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $835.94
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-22 18:13 EST-0500)

 

[thegatekeeper]

Go for an i5 3570k and a compatible motherboard of your choice. I suggest either the ASRock Z77 Extreme4 or the Gigabyte Z77 UD3H. As stated above, the i7 isn't needed for gaming. Also, 16gb of RAM isn't needed for gaming. If you need to save cash, this is where I would make cuts.

Try this...

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Intel Extreme Master, Limited Ed 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($31.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($98.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($359.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $835.94
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-22 18:13 EST-0500)

Hi, thanks for the reply. I am very new to Intel so I had no idea the i7 was not good for gaming. I understand that 16 gig is a lot for games, but I am self employed and work from home and Ram is very essential to me. I reviseted my build based on what you and the other person suggested, and came up with this:


SSD : Corsair Force GT 60GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CSSD-F60GBGT-BK) - £65.99
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LX2 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard [P8Z77-V LX2] - £79.99
Ram: Corsair Vengeance Black 16GB CMZ16GX3M2A1866C9 - £159.95
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500 3.30GHz - £169.99
Cooler : Cooler Master Hyper 412S - £28.99
GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 660 OC Twin Frozr 2048MB GDDR5 - £179.99


I basically changed the motherboard and CPU, and downgraded the SSD to a 60 gig one. I don't really need to buy a 120 gig one since it will only have some games and my OS, the rest will go on my 10 TB of "regular space". Also the places you linked don't ship to Europe, so I can't use them at all.

The total is £684 which is about $1,105.89 or 838.877 Euro.

What do you think?

 

[DeusAres]

Hi, thanks for the reply. I am very new to Intel so I had no idea the i7 was not good for gaming. I understand that 16 gig is a lot for games, but I am self employed and work from home and Ram is very essential to me. I reviseted my build based on what you and the other person suggested, and came up with this:


SSD : Corsair Force GT 60GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CSSD-F60GBGT-BK) - £65.99
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LX2 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard [P8Z77-V LX2] - £79.99
Ram: Corsair Vengeance Black 16GB CMZ16GX3M2A1866C9 - £159.95
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500 3.30GHz - £169.99
Cooler : Cooler Master Hyper 412S - £28.99
GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 660 OC Twin Frozr 2048MB GDDR5 - £179.99


I basically changed the motherboard and CPU, and downgraded the SSD to a 60 gig one. I don't really need to buy a 120 gig one since it will only have some games and my OS, the rest will go on my 10 TB of "regular space". Also the places you linked don't ship to Europe, so I can't use them at all.

The total is £684 which is about $1,105.89 or 838.877 Euro.

What do you think?

I wasn't aware that you lived in Europe. My apologies.

I think you're overpaying for that 16gb of RAM. Try this...

Corsair (CML16GX3M2A1600C9) Vengeance Low Profile
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009YOJZ5E/?tag=pcp0f-21

Also, you can't overclock with the processor you chose. For £5 less, you can get a better CPU.

Intel 3rd Generation Core i5-3570K
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Generation-i5-3570K-3-40GHz-Technology/dp/B007RUZKK6/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1356219483&sr=1-1

 

[twelve25]

There is no reason to spend 160 on RAM!! 2x8GB of DDR1600 shouldn't cost more than about $60-70 here in the states, so I can't imagine that is anywhere near a good deal.

i5-2500 is an old generation CPU, try to find a i5-3000 series, 3470 and an h77 board if you don't plan to overclock, Z77 and 3570K if you do.

 

[thegatekeeper]

I wasn't aware that you lived in Europe. My apologies.

I think you're overpaying for that 16gb of RAM. Try this...

Corsair (CML16GX3M2A1600C9) Vengeance Low Profile
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009YOJZ5E/?tag=pcp0f-21

Also, you can't overclock with the processor you chose. For £5 less, you can get a better CPU.

Intel 3rd Generation Core i5-3570K
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Generation-i5-3570K-3-40GHz-Technology/dp/B007RUZKK6/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1356219483&sr=1-1

Thanks for the heads up about the CPU, I looked at the wiki entry for the i5 and found that the one you mentioned is indeed the latest model. I was also able to find better ram (2400 speed) that is actually cheaper than the one I was going to buy from Amazon. Here is my build now:

SSD : Corsair Force GT 60GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CSSD-F60GBGT-BK) - £65.99
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LX2 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard [P8Z77-V LX2] - £79.99
Ram: Corsair CMZ16GX3M4A2400C10 16GB (4x 4GB) - £144.31
CPU: Core i5-3570K - £168.29
Cooler : Cooler Master Hyper 412S - £28.99
GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 660 OC Twin Frozr 2048MB GDDR5 - £179.99

The ram is expensive because it is 2400, it is not 1600 like you think. I am still unsure if I should get the 670 as it is almost double the 660 in price.

 

[twelve25]

You aren't going to get better performance by using that super expensive 2400 memory. Save 100, use DDR-1600 and put it toward a bigger SSD or better video card which will actually be noticeable.

 

[DeusAres]

You aren't going to get better performance by using that super expensive 2400 memory. Save 100, use DDR-1600 and put it toward a bigger SSD or better video card which will actually be noticeable.

+1

Save your money. Get standard RAM and put the rest towards the GPU. If the GTX 670 is too expensive, my next recommendation would be the HD 7950.

 

[thegatekeeper]

Spent some more hours searching for the best build. Here is what I have now:

SSD : Corsair Force GT 60GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CSSD-F60GBGT-BK) - £58
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Force-2-5-Inch-Solid-State/dp/B005ACIYXI/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1356272716&sr=1-1&keywords=CSSD-F60GBGT-BK

Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LK - £80
http://www.amazon.com/Asus-P8Z77-V-LK-Intel-Motherboards/dp/B007RIFKTY/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1356274564&sr=1-1&keywords=P8Z77-V+LK

Ram: Corsair Corsair Vengeance Green 16GB DDR3 1600 MHz Desktop Memory CMZ16GX3M2A1600C9G - £54
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-Desktop-Memory-CMZ16GX3M2A1600C9G/dp/B009VV5DHY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1356267574&sr=8-1&keywords=CMZ16GX3M2A1600C9G

CPU: Core i5-3570K - £133
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Core-i5-3570K-Quad-Core-Processor/dp/B007SZ0E1K/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1356272518&sr=1-1&keywords=Core+i5-3570K

Cooler : Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - £19
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Hyper-212-RR-212E-20PK-R2/dp/B005O65JXI/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1356276234&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=Cooler+Master+Hyper+412S

GPU: MSI N670GTX-PM2D2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 670 - £223
http://www.amazon.com/MSI-N670GTX-PM2D2GD5-OC-GeForce-256-bit/dp/tech-data/B007Z574RU/ref=de_a_smtd

I downgraded the ram and got a 670 like you suggested. My main concern now is if my 750W power supply will handle it?

 

[DeusAres]

Given that your power supply is from Corsair, I'm going to assume it is 80+ certified. If it is, it'll be more than enough power to run a single GPU setup. It'll even have enough to power a SLI/Crossfire configuration.

 

[twelve25]

GTX670 only requires 500W but certain brands of card (especially overclocked ones) can use close to 40A. Which exact PSU do you have? I can't imagine a 750W having less than 40A unless it it one of those crummy ones with like 4 15A rails.

 

[thegatekeeper]

Here is the one I have:

http://www.corsair.com/en/power-supply-units/hx-series-power-supply-units/hx-series-hx750-power-supply-750-watt-80-plus-gold-certified-modular-psu.html

What do you guys think of the overall build? It took me some time to find the correct motherboard, there are like 30 models to choose from. That one seems to have everything I need without the extra mumbo jumbo like wifi which I will never use.

 

[twelve25]

Oh, yeah, that has 750W and 62A on a single rail. You could run any video card you want with that thing.

Build looks very solid. Great choices all around. The only thing I worry about is if you will feel cramped on that 60GB C: drive. I'd try to find a bargain on a 120 if it was me. I've used half of my 128GB drive, even trying to put as much as possible on the 1TB second drive.

 

[thegatekeeper]

Oh, yeah, that has 750W and 62A on a single rail. You could run any video card you want with that thing.

Build looks very solid. Great choices all around. The only thing I worry about is if you will feel cramped on that 60GB C: drive. I'd try to find a bargain on a 120 if it was me. I've used half of my 128GB drive, even trying to put as much as possible on the 1TB second drive.

I found one at a 62$ discount, gonna get that one.

http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Force-Series-2-5-Inch-CSSD-F120GBGT-BK/dp/B0057QETGS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1356286798&sr=8-1&keywords=Force+Series+GT+120GB

 

[twelve25]

Perfect! Build it.