Need your votes! z77, z79 or z87 build?

[lfrz93]

Hey guys, I'm new to the forums after some years of lurking, and I come for just your opinions.

I am in the process of building a desktop system. I'm planning on finishing it on anywhere between 3-6 months because I am buying the parts gradually. (Just got the case, next up is PSU, then MOBO with a CPU and the ram, then GPU, water cooling gear here and there)

Anyway, I am trying to save as much as possible, and I know future proofing is futile, but something that will survive a few generations is ideal. I have heard that Broadwell will also use the LGA 1150 socket, so that's good (though I'd need a new mobo for DDR4)

I'm mostly looking at ASUS mobos or anything with good OC capabilities and a good UEFI Bios. I'm also liking how the Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD4H is looking.

Post up your votes on the poll please! Also, any motherboard recommendation is welcome. I am looking at a 3770k + z77 Sabertooth with the TUF gear for about 450 total (with a 3570k for 400), a 4770k + Sabertooth with TUF for 550 total (with a 4670k for 450 total), or a 3930k + ??? combo for no more than 700-800 (microcenter sells the 3930k for 500).

I am used to i7 processors, thought my PC uses doesn't go much beyond gaming and browsing. Some video editing, audio recording, excel work but nothing that really requires all the threads to be utilized. I am going for a 2-3 monitor setup too. What is your opinion on performance of an i5 compared to i7?

Thank you guys!

 

[Mahisse]

If you want people to take a vote between those choices you better post what your intention of use is.
If only gaming and casual media editing: Go with the i5 3570K - z77

If heavy CPU power is needed for video editing/photoshopping etc. you could go with the SB 3930K - z79
But since you're looking for saving money it would probably make more sense to go with IB 3770K - z77 to save you ~200$

The Haswell processors are not worth buying if looking for a budget build and it doesn't overclock to more than ~4.5 Ghz. You can read the conclusion of the Tom's review og the Haswell processor here
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i7-4770k-haswell-review,3521-19.html

Voted for the i5 3570K - z77 build since you're stating that you want to save money and I'm assuming that the main use is for gaming.

Edit: Just noticed that you actually did post your intention of use .. Well I stand by my vote for the same reasons.. But something tells me that you are going with a i7 CPU

 

[lfrz93]

If you want people to take a vote between those choices you better post what your intention of use is.
If only gaming and casual media editing: Go with the i5 3570K - z77

If heavy CPU power is needed for video editing/photoshopping etc. you could go with the SB 3930K - z79
But since you're looking for saving money it would probably make more sense to go with IB 3770K - z77 to save you ~200$

The Haswell processors are not worth buying if looking for a budget build and it doesn't overclock to more than ~4.5 Ghz. You can read the conclusion of the Tom's review og the Haswell processor here
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i7-4770k-haswell-review,3521-19.html

Voted for the i5 3570K - z77 build since you're stating that you want to save money and I'm assuming that the main use is for gaming.

Edit: Just noticed that you actually did post your intention of use .. Well I stand by my vote for the same reasons.. But something tells me that you are going with a i7 CPU

Thanks for your input! And well, an i7 build would only cost me 50 dollars more for IB and give me a bit more of an edge I think, that's the only reason why I lean a lot towards the 3770k. I saw the review, and I was disappointed to say the least. The only thing I like about Haswell a slight improvement on performance, but a CPU burn test of 30 minutes on a 4.6ghz clock brings it to 91C... and that's on a Corsair H100i.

I seriously do no mind taking off the IHS and putting some good thermal paste, but it is just an insult that Intel can't do the simplest part of the whole manufacturing process well. Mind you, a Haswell build would cost me over $100 for an i7 more than IB. The only benefit I was considering was the LGA 11150 socket for future use with Broadwell, and the new Intel chipset which has a ton of cool new features.

Thank goodness I still have time to decide, but I'm making my list already and pretty much the only thing that I am not sure about is CPU and MoBo.

 

[lfrz93]

Lol why are people voting for Haswell? All the new chipset features are awesome but I feel like the temp issues are going to be too much

 

[lfrz93]

So general consensus is 4770k?

 

[8350rocks]

That probably stems from a lot of people thinking the "lastest and greatest" is what you should buy, even though hasfail is the latest it isn't the greatest. The 3570k is the best option for you, especially if you ever want to OC. If you can afford the SBE CPUs and a X79 board, that would be even better. Haswell didn't pass up SBE in performance and I expect that IBE will end up being a far better performer than hasfail.

 

[lfrz93]

That was expected though. I was thinking about SB E but it's pricy. Haswell has a few cool new features that I could definitely take advantage of, and the LGA 1150 might be handy for me when Broadwell comes. I don't know. Haswell's only issue that bothers me is the heat problems, but that can be fixed. We saw the expected improvement on the Haswell CPUs too, it wasn't supposed to be more than a 10% improvement.

 

[8350rocks]

Yes, but 1% in gaming? 4% in general applications? That's a bit subpar...

 

[lfrz93]

I agree with you 100% in that. But fivr is a nice new technology, 6 sata3 native ports, 6 native USB3 ports, widi support, 3 monitor support, lower overall tdp. Theres a few features im forgetting. I mean its a lot of new cool things that appeal to me. Versatilabity on 4th gen is nice.

 

[8350rocks]

At most you'll probably use 2-3 SATA3 ports...(HDD and SSD). USB 3.0 is great...but how many devices will really use it? A USB Keyboard or mouse doesn't need USB 3.0...maybe an external HDD or something.

Wifi support can be had on many boards, not just Z87, and 3 monitor support comes from graphics cards, like AMD Radeon cards with eyefinity.

Additionally, overall TDP is higher.

So, what features are you really gaining that you need to spend an extra $100 on?

 

[lfrz93]

I'll be using all 6 SATA3 Ports with a RAID0 for SSDs and RAID10 for the HDDs. So that's nice. USB 3.0 is just a nice goodie to have, but you're right, maybe not all will be used.

I also meant WiDi, not WiFi that I'm talking about. I know GPUs can support many displays, but that's not what I'm talking about. With this I can have 3 gaming monitors set up, my TV on WiDi to watch NetFlix, and the other 2 monitors to have a browser and excel/work/etc all at the same time. I just think it's great to have all the extra options. Plus I would not run all my monitors through the GPU.

As far as TDP, system TDP is lower because a lot of the voltage regulator is inside the CPU for anything under 5 volts I believe. That's what makes the CPUs TDP higher, but the system will be lower. It also means faster power on demand among other things.

I don't know man, I'm still inclined to 3770k, but if for 100 bucks I can get something newer and supposedly "better" along with a nice motherboard, why the hell not? Or maybe I could use those 100 bucks towards one or two 1440p monitors. I'm still deciding, and still have time to. So any input really helps.

thanks for your input

 

[8350rocks]

actually Tom's review shows only at idle is TDP lower...as soon as you open a window of any kind on the 4th gen intels the TDP is higher than IB.

Why would you have 3 monitors + TV, etc. connected to your PC and have any of it running through the iGPU of an intel CPU? That makes little sense at all. The GPU would do it 100 times better, and you can run Netflix off your PC.

 

[lfrz93]

actually Tom's review shows only at idle is TDP lower...as soon as you open a window of any kind on the 4th gen intels the TDP is higher than IB.

Why would you have 3 monitors + TV, etc. connected to your PC and have any of it running through the iGPU of an intel CPU? That makes little sense at all. The GPU would do it 100 times better, and you can run Netflix off your PC.

I'd run applications like netflix on the iGPU because I don't want to put more load on the GPU. Same goes for the one monitor I'd be using for browsing/working.

And really? That's a shame. Haswell didn't really bring much to the table then.

 

[8350rocks]

Eyefinity easily supports 3 displays...monitors/TVs, does not matter.

 

[lfrz93]

Eyefinity easily supports 3 displays...monitors/TVs, does not matter.

Yep, well I have time before deciding, but so far I don't have any strong inclination. We'll see.

 

[Tradesman1]

Don't forget you'll have the SATA ports for 1-2 optical drives, the drive setup sounds good, but I'd throw in a 2-3TB standalone platter as a 'Just in case' that you can put some data backups on, in case of bad crash that wrecks the RAIDS..Might take a look at the ASRock mobos

 

[8350rocks]

You know what I find interesting...?

AMD 990FX Chipset MBs have nearly all of the features you're looking for in a Z87, but it's not a "brand new" MB.

The 990FX Sabertooth from Asus has PCIe 3.0 x16/x1/x16/x1, 6 SATA3 ports, 4 USB 3.0 ports and 4 USB 2.0 ports, onboard LAN, WiFi support, and many other features.

The Gen3 Sabertooth has been out for a while now, with all of these things included...intel is only just now getting around to adding these features to MBs.

 

[Tradesman1]

Prob because the 990FX was released back about what Sep 2012 about 6 months after Intels latest prior offering, the Z77 from about Mar/12, which surpassed the Z77 just a little, like the Z87 surpasses the 990FX a little and no doubt AMD will will release a new chipset that will have a little more feature wise than the Z87 in another 6 months or so - the AMD does, I'll grant, have more PCI pipes than the Intel, but nobody uses all of them....this has been an ongoing thing for a long time

 

[logainofhades]

If all the extra features added to Z87 appeal to you and you feel you will be taking advantage of them, go for it with an i5 and spend the extra by not getting an i7 on a better GPU. Otherwise, a 3580k and Asrock Z77 extreme4 is a hard combo to beat.

 

[8350rocks]

Prob because the 990FX was released back about what Sep 2012 about 6 months after Intels latest prior offering, the Z77 from about Mar/12, which surpassed the Z77 just a little, like the Z87 surpasses the 990FX a little and no doubt AMD will will release a new chipset that will have a little more feature wise than the Z87 in another 6 months or so - the AMD does, I'll grant, have more PCI pipes than the Intel, but nobody uses all of them....this has been an ongoing thing for a long time

Actually, the AMD boards still have more PCIe Bandwidth than even the Z87 boards...

PCIe 3.0 at x16/x1/x16/x1 is 32 lanes of PCIe 3.0 Bandwidth, intel boards only give you 16 lanes...period. You can get AMD boards to run x8/x8/x8/x8, an intel board with 4 cards would run x4/x4/x4/x4.

Interesting huh?

 

[lfrz93]

Don't forget you'll have the SATA ports for 1-2 optical drives, the drive setup sounds good, but I'd throw in a 2-3TB standalone platter as a 'Just in case' that you can put some data backups on, in case of bad crash that wrecks the RAIDS..Might take a look at the ASRock mobos

Right! But nicely enough the MSI MPOWER and GD65 mobo's I'm looking at have 2 extra SATA3 ports that are controlled by an addon rather than the chipset. And you're definitely right, I should look at that just in case a really horrible crash leaves me screwed.

You know what I find interesting...?

AMD 990FX Chipset MBs have nearly all of the features you're looking for in a Z87, but it's not a "brand new" MB.

The 990FX Sabertooth from Asus has PCIe 3.0 x16/x1/x16/x1, 6 SATA3 ports, 4 USB 3.0 ports and 4 USB 2.0 ports, onboard LAN, WiFi support, and many other features.

The Gen3 Sabertooth has been out for a while now, with all of these things included...intel is only just now getting around to adding these features to MBs.

Very interesting, but I'm just not interested in AMD. I've had a variety of their products before and I just didn't like them.

If all the extra features added to Z87 appeal to you and you feel you will be taking advantage of them, go for it with an i5 and spend the extra by not getting an i7 on a better GPU. Otherwise, a 3580k and Asrock Z77 extreme4 is a hard combo to beat.

How do those Asrock MoBos hold up? I haven't heard great things about them to be quite honest.

on the i5 note, I agree. I don't think I'm gonna buy a 4770k, rather the 4670k. I don't need/use the hyperthreading, and the 4670k will run cooled too because it doesn't have hyperthreading.

 

[logainofhades]

I have had my Asrock Extreme4 for over a year now without issues. I have an Asrock P67 extreme4 in another rig with an i5 2400 and had it roughly 2yrs now.

 

[lfrz93]

I have had my Asrock Extreme4 for over a year now without issues. I have an Asrock P67 extreme4 in another rig with an i5 2400 and had it roughly 2yrs now.

Great. I'll look into it. I'm pretty set on hte GD65 by MSI though. Has almost everything I want it to have.

 

[sdogg1m]

Z87 for the updated architecture. Four USB 3.0 ports at least. You have native PCI Express 3.0 support. Lower overall power consumption.

I think Haswell is expensive for what it offers but is most certainly the fastest processor line on the market.

 

[lfrz93]

Z87 for the updated architecture. Four USB 3.0 ports at least. You have native PCI Express 3.0 support. Lower overall power consumption.

I think Haswell is expensive for what it offers but is most certainly the fastest processor line on the market.

Precisely, but I just love the added functionality. I just wish these CPUs supported 4 memory channels, Intel loves milking the hell out of enthusiasts...