Time for a new build, YAY! Please take a look

[fishboi]

Hi! Been a long time since I've done a build (think E6600 lol). Anyway, I'm faced with the dilemma of re-fitting my existing case vs building a completely new desktop. I dont want to waste cash but I can go for a completely new build if I can justify it. I just used an i7 this past weekend to encode some video and realized how ridiculous it is trying to encode on my current chip (takes 24 hours for a 1080p movie). I cant wait till Haswell seeing as though its only coming out on June 2nd now. I dont have a fixed budget but am looking for the "best bang for your buck" components, ie a value guy.

Priorities:
-video encoding
-photo editing
-gaming
-overall speed increases in file transfer (USB 3.0) and application access

I have:
-Antec P180
-Antec NeoHe 550W
-Asus P5WDH deluxe mobo
-E6600
-Thermalright Ultra heatsink
-4GB OCZ Ram
-Radeon HD 5770
-4X Blu Ray player
-various hard drives totaling about 3GB
-6 fans (the box sounds like a lawnmower)

What I need now:
-i7 3770k for video encoding (http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1914/7/, best bang for your buck at #3, the other chips are a rip off)
-mobo? (open to suggestions, currently thinking about the ASUS P8Z77-V PRO as its around $200 which is good price point, and it keeps showing up on CPU benchmarks in the top systems. My priority is encoding and if I look at this link, I should go with the Deluxe (my previous mobo was an Asus and I like the company), http://www.anandtech.com/show/6516/z77-mitx-roundup-five-of-the-best-msi-zotac-asrock-evga-and-asus/19, but I just cant justify the extra $90 for more SATA connectors, and extra LAN port etc). But I really am open to other brands and ideas. Just want to the best mobo for the money that will kick butt with encoding, and hopefully it's an Asus.
-heatsink (need ideas)
-RAM (open to ideas, but I am looking at the G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 2133, or the G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 1866 for $50 bucks cheaper. I read this article and according to the value curve for encoding, the 1866 RAM would offer more bang for your buck (http://www.anandtech.com/show/6372/memory-performance-16gb-ddr31333-to-ddr32400-on-ivy-bridge-igp-with-gskill/11)

What I can either get now with a fresh build, or plan to put in my current box down the road:
-a SSD, decent size, maybe 200-300GB, still hunting for a deal
-a 12X Blu Ray player

What I would get with a fresh rebuild:
-Antec Eleven Hundred case (cool and quiet, http://www.anandtech.com/show/6515/corsair-carbide-200r-case-review-how-low-can-you-go/6)
-Seasonic Fanless 520W PSU (best bang in the fanless category, http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Seasonic/SS-520FL/11.html)

Key decisions on whether to rebuild or not:
-I really could use USB 3.0 with my photography. They P180 only has USB 2.0. This would be a big bummer if re-fitting.
-my current box is horrifically loud. With a fresh build, I would plan to get a fanless PSU, and only put two fans in the box with 1 SSD. I have a Synology NAS for all my mass storage needs.

Other things to consider:
-will my current box if re-fitted, work with the Antec NeoHe 550W?
-can I just pop the Radeon 5770 on to the new Asus mobo and have it work with my PSU
-will whatever heatsink I get fit in the case (still looking for ideas)
-besides noise and USB 3.0, what would I be giving up by re-fitting vs a fresh build

Thanks in advance for any help you guys can give me. TY TY.

 

[fishboi]

Bump!

 

[g-unit1111]

-i7 3770k for video encoding (http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1914/7/, best bang for your buck at #3, the other chips are a rip off)

If you're going to do video encoding the 3770K is indeed the best CPU for the job right now. The 3820 doesn't offer much for the price point and the 3930K is too expensive.

-mobo? (open to suggestions, currently thinking about the ASUS P8Z77-V PRO as its around $200 which is good price point, and it keeps showing up on CPU benchmarks in the top systems. My priority is encoding and if I look at this link, I should go with the Deluxe (my previous mobo was an Asus and I like the company), http://www.anandtech.com/show/6516 [...] nd-asus/19, but I just cant justify the extra $90 for more SATA connectors, and extra LAN port etc). But I really am open to other brands and ideas. Just want to the best mobo for the money that will kick butt with encoding, and hopefully it's an Asus.

The Asus P8Z77-V Pro is an excellent choice - just don't pay more for the Sabertooth model. The thermal armor still isn't really ready for prime time yet. Alternately if you're going to be editing a lot of video I'd suggest a model with Thunderbolt for faster transfer of large files: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128558

-heatsink (need ideas)

The Noctua D14 is still the reigning king of heat sinks, so that would probably be your best bet. Alternately this article lists a ton of different coolers if you're interested: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/LGA-2011-i7-3960X-Air-Overclocking,3130.html

-RAM (open to ideas, but I am looking at the G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 2133, or the G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 1866 for $50 bucks cheaper. I read this article and according to the value curve for encoding, the 1866 RAM would offer more bang for your buck (http://www.anandtech.com/show/6372/memory-performance-16gb-ddr31333-to-ddr32400-on-ivy-bridge-igp-with-gskill/11)

You don't really need RAM with that high of a speed - there's not a lot of difference between 2133 and 1866. If you don't overclock and run on default settings you won't really notice the difference.

-I really could use USB 3.0 with my photography. They P180 only has USB 2.0. This would be a big bummer if re-fitting.
-my current box is horrifically loud. With a fresh build, I would plan to get a fanless PSU, and only put two fans in the box with 1 SSD. I have a Synology NAS for all my mass storage needs.

I don't really see the benefit of purchasing a fanless power supply. I totally understand wanting a quiet PC but that's not an area where I would cut corners. Most cases now days - especially the good ones - support USB 3. You can definitely reuse your P180 to save money but if you want a new case I'd suggest something like the NZXT Switch 810 or Corsair 500R.

If you want ideas for quiet cases Tom's posted a 3 part roundup on the home page that has ten different ones and shows what completed builds look like.

 

[fishboi]

Hey man thanks for the reply. I"m off to Microcenter tonight to go get some of these components so please if anyone has any input, now is the time!

Quick question on Thunderbolt. I dont know enough about it. Trying to read up on it. How would video encoding benefit from it if I am using one SSD for the source of the file and it's destination to be written. Would I see faster encode times with Thunderbolt. I saw this article and am trying to make sense of it: http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=957&Itemid=69&limit=1&limitstart=8

On the cooler, I actually found out that my 6 year old Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme has a socket set for 1155 which costs just $10! Would you recommend a new heatsink or should I roll the dice on the Thermalright. Its treated me well for years. Anyone know how good this heatsink will be with the 3770k? The Noctua looks great though, fantastic reviews, but I am worried about the noise two fans will make (I'm trying to build a very low noise setup over time, going for a fanless PSU and one SSD in this build. The GPU, CPU and one case fan would be my goal.

So on the RAM, go with 1866 or look for something cheaper? I will overclock the RAM a little

On the case. I'm going to try and reuse my P180 to keep costs low. I plan to buy a new case somewhere down the line, but I will far more easily get the WAF tonight if I come home with a few components vs a whole new rig. She is always huffing.

Anyway, thanks man. If anyone else has any thoughts, please let me know.

 

[fishboi]

Oh and a last question on the mobo you recommended. The Asus version with Thunderbolt is $240 vs this Gigabyte for $185. Why is the Asus so much more? Am I losing anything with the GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UP4 TH?

 

[g-unit1111]

Quick question on Thunderbolt. I dont know enough about it. Trying to read up on it. How would video encoding benefit from it if I am using one SSD for the source of the file and it's destination to be written. Would I see faster encode times with Thunderbolt. I saw this article and am trying to make sense of it: http://benchmarkreviews.com/index. [...] mitstart=8

You won't really see faster encode times with Thunderbolt. Where you will benefit from that is with input devices - video cameras, large hard drives, things of that nature. It's noticeably faster than USB 3.0 is.

On the cooler, I actually found out that my 6 year old Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme has a socket set for 1155 which costs just $10! Would you recommend a new heatsink or should I roll the dice on the Thermalright. Its treated me well for years. Anyone know how good this heatsink will be with the 3770k? The Noctua looks great though, fantastic reviews, but I am worried about the noise two fans will make (I'm trying to build a very low noise setup over time, going for a fanless PSU and one SSD in this build. The GPU, CPU and one case fan would be my goal.

Thermalright makes good heat sinks, definitely reuse any and all parts that you can.

So on the RAM, go with 1866 or look for something cheaper? I will overclock the RAM a little

RAM is not really the place to spend money on builds. If you want to setup a RAM disk that's one thing but otherwise you don't really need to blow a lot of money on really fast or really high capacity RAM.

 

[fishboi]

From what I've read, Thunderbolt seems like its in its early stages. It will take a long time to get devices that use it. Where I can possibly benefit is the Blu Ray drive read/transfer data to hard drive speed correct? Also, maybe using two SSD drives using one as the source for the video encode, with the other the write destination correct? But current Blu Ray drives read at 12X so I assume this would be a bottleneck. Also, wouldnt you be bottlenecked in Hardbrake by the CPU vs the hardrives or the file transfer between hard drives. I think the 3770k will do 30fps on high settings but I dont know what that translates into for mb/s, but my gut says the encode will be capped by the CPU. Also, I transfer files over my Cat5e network to my NAS so I'm capped at 70mb/s anyway. Perhaps I can get a card reader for my SLR camera and use Thunderbolt, but there are no readers available yet. But I welcome your thoughts on Thunderbolt. Please let me know where you think I can benefit.

Roger that on the Thermalright socket. For $10, its worth a shot.

So on the RAM, go with the 1866 or go lower? Please link your recommendation (2X8gb sticks).

Thanks!

 

[fishboi]

Am I reading this correctly? The mobo you selected, the GA-Z77X-UP4, actually outperforms the Asus P8Z77-V Deluxe version on the h.264 benchmark, and costs A LOT less?

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mainboards/display/gigabyte-ga-z77x-up4-up5-th_10.html#sect0

 

[g-unit1111]

From what I've read, Thunderbolt seems like its in its early stages. It will take a long time to get devices that use it. Where I can possibly benefit is the Blu Ray drive read/transfer data to hard drive speed correct? Also, maybe using two SSD drives using one as the source for the video encode, with the other the write destination correct? But current Blu Ray drives read at 12X so I assume this would be a bottleneck.

Not necessarily. 12X is as fast as BD-R drives get right now and I don't think optical drives will improve any time soon since everything is moving toward cloud computing and online transfer (iTunes, Steam, Youtube, etc). I don't think that would be a huge problem for personal use though.

. Also, wouldnt you be bottlenecked in Hardbrake by the CPU vs the hardrives or the file transfer between hard drives.

I've never really used Handbrake so I can't help you there but I have transferred large amounts of data between servers - no matter what connection you have depending on how big the files get it can be quite time consuming.

Perhaps I can get a card reader for my SLR camera and use Thunderbolt, but there are no readers available yet. But I welcome your thoughts on Thunderbolt. Please let me know where you think I can benefit.

There are already hard drives and NAS servers that take advantage of Thunderbolt: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57403566-1/thunderbolt-storage-roundup-its-a-pc-world-after-all/

 

[fishboi]

So I picked up a i7 3770k and am finalizing my components. As always, I've started to get carried away and have decided to build a fresh build. I welcome your feedback on the following. Again, I'm looking for value. I dont mind paying more or going cheap, as long as the bang for the buck is there. Again, primary use will be encoding and I would like the PC to be quiet.

Case: Corsair Obsidian 550D = $120
Mobo: Asus P8Z77-V PRO = $200
CPU: i7 3770k = $220
Heatsink: Noctua NH-D14 = $81
RAM: G.Skill F3-1866C9D-16GXM DDR3 1866mhz (2 X 8GB) = $93
SSD = Samsung 840 250GB MZ-7TD250BW (non-pro version) = $144

TOTAL = $860

I will be reusing my:
Antec Neo HE 550W PSU
Radeon 5770HD
8X Lite On Blu Ray drive
2TB WD
2X Seagate 320gb

Do you guys feel that the performance in these components is justified by the price? Do you think I could do better (i.e spend less but get relatively close performance). Also, are there any compatibility issues with these components. I've checked the G Skill RAM has clearance from the Noctua. I believe the Antec NeoHe 550W will power the mobo with the 20pin connector correct? I assume the Radeon 5770HD will work with the Asus P8Z77-V PRO until told otherwise etc. Thanks again!

 

[fishboi]

Anyone?

 

[fishboi]

Guys I'm about to click buy! Would really appreciate some feedback. TY.