MSI, ASUS; Ivy Bridge, Haswell

[Tsunamiku]

Hey there! Thanks for clicking

Alright, I'm slightly an amateur.
So, I'm asking for assistance and opinions!
As the title says, I have a majority of my New computer picked out.
For simple reasons, I'll be using Haswell as I explain my goals and reasoning,
however; I understand the performance difference is minimal and it's hotter and blah blah.


basically, I'm deciding between i5 / i7 on my haswell build.
I'm a primary gamer, however I do enjoy multitasking to a great extent;
Such as gaming, webbrowsing, skype, steam, you name it...I usually just keep it running and enjoy tabbing out of my games and streaming is a consideration in the future with Xsplit, which I'm unaware if hyperthreading helps at all.

as for motherboards,

I've come between the MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming LGA 1150 with a MSI gaming graphics card to support it, because I think it's adorable how they claim it "boost performance" when you pair other MSI parts together. (if you have input on the software, that'd be great or however, if even it works)

Second; the ASUS MAXIMUS VI HERO LGA 1150.
It's republic of gamer and afforable, and doesn't come with "much" bloatware, such as all that snazzy things like "NIC, killer lan" or whatever msi has, I've heard that it's fishy.


Third, comes between the Sabertooth, yay for gimmicky armor plates and such.
And the forth would be the ASUS deluxe, just because of "high quality" it claims to be, or "high end board"


Also, if you wish to put input into my graphics card choice,
GTX 780; I like the fact that it's a single card, so please don't suggest dual SLI 770s, or something.
However; I do consider myself a hardcore gamer...I want max settings, and amazing FPS. Unless you can convince me the 770 will run everything "max"
Things, I'm hyped for would be.. obviously anything bethsda makes, and I want to use many, many graphic mods with it. haha

Please note, if you have strong reasoning for the 3830k 6 core processor by intel, please include your thoughts on that as well.

Thank you

P.S, I've included a very lengthy question(s), and I'd respect a proper and informative response. xox

Rest of my build included.

H100i Hydro by Corsair.
2x8gb 1600Mhz ram by Corsair //Vengeance
850watt //I realize, I could go to 750 watt. by corsair.
2 Samsung SSDs /128gb and 256gb
1tb HDD/Western Digital
Currently enjoying the EVGA ACX cooler version of the 780 GTX.
(I think it's the "best version" due to it's numerous rewards.
Insert random corsair air series fans, and that's all I got.

--Please note, this is my first thread...If I've mis-placed the location, feel free to move it to the proper location, thanks admins.

 

[Tsunamiku]

I'm not sure if bumping is allowed...
But for great justice, I shall bump.
I hope to order my unit by Friday;

 

[Tsunamiku]

Another bump, and a bit of added information;
I've read around, and can comprehend what others have said, however...
The argument or points made in others "post" aren't detailed or convincing enough for my taste

I've also heard MSI is a bad choice, but I've heard they've increased their standards as of recent.
The new Sabertooth now includes a backplate, and fancy motherboard fans for "air flow"
So, it could indeed be better at cooling, or whatever...

What matters in my taste is a board that is Able to stay "cool" and maintain a healthy life, even though I abuse it with 20 hour gaming sessions, and such.

And Yes, I'm well aware that I could probably choose any of the options stated and be very pleased; But I'd approve more if I had confidence in my choice; hence I'd like verification from an expert.

Essentially a board with "hardcore" use in mind.
Not much if any over clocking, I might take my processor to a 4.0GHZ from 3.4/3.5 to eliminate the need for "turbo".
I'm also aware that i7 runs hotter then i7 due to hyperthreading, but if it helps with background task, I don't see the harm in it's existence, Unless it solely only aids photoshop and video editing and compression.

Please refer back to my usage for the processor, Intense gaming, multiple tabs open (100+) Streaming, tabbing instantly, chatting via other programs.
I'm not sure if Hyperthreading helps or aids in these task.

 

[SNA3]

Hello,

you forgot to mention the Gigabyte Sniper Line as well , they are very good , they have the Sniper 5M mATX , and the ATX one (but expensive)

here it is :

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4482#ov

and here is a review about it :

Page 18 ( you can read from beginning if you wish)

http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cpu_mainboard/gigabyte_g1_sniper_m5_review_z87_1150_haswell/18

as for choices , well Asus Hero is good , Saber tooth is nothing special just looks good IMO

MSI looks promising but I hate their dragon and the colors , and I prefer Asus and Gigabyte over MSI in General so I would not Pick MSI. However , their Twonfrozor Graphics cards are great , and the Lightning is one of the best.

If you have the Money , then definitely go for i7 for the extra threads , and if you want 6 Cores and X79 chipset , it is better and actually the better choice for SLI at cheap but again it depends on your budget .

Intel has 2 versions of CPU , low end ones like the SandyBridge , IvyB , Haswell -- and the High end ones like the SandyB-E and the soon coming ivyB-e "e" versions.

the difference ? the normal ones have only 16 PCI express lanes TOTAL .. while the "e" has 40 Lanes total !!! see the difference ?

This means non "e" can support just ONE 16x Slot , OR 8x , 8x , OR 8x , 4x , 1x ,1x ,1x 1x and so on .. hen they say to you 4way SLI on those cpu , then dont tell you it is 4x,4x,4x,4x in real !! how they do it? they ADD a chip CALLED PLX chip , this chip does not give you Extra lanes no , it allows sharing the 8x slot between two virtual 8x slots

so 8x will be shared by 2 virtual 8x , but in real ? they are 4x ,4x if the card takes ALL the bandwidth of 4x .. it is actually like 4x slot wired 16x electrical thats all .

however , using the "e" CPU with 40 lanes .. you dont need that at all and is REAL ..

you will have native CHEAP 16x , 16x , 8x for REAL in cheap motherboard. nothing added. and FASTER. , or you can have 16x,8x,8x,8x or 8x,8x,8x,8x,8x for real and NO sharing ...

when they add plx chip the mobo jumps to 350$ and 450$ while it is just sharing , however, you can get BETTER using entry level 40 lanes CPU chip on any mobo ..

and the "e" versions have 6 cores option as well.

now in September , the new Ivy bridge -e is coming .. if you can delay .. DO IT ... is few weeks .

if you decide on getting the SandyBridge 6 cores i7 3930K , it does not have official PCIexpress 3.0 support , but it can handle PCI e 3.0 for GPU .. non officially , the Ivy-e will have official support. and all will work on X79 chipset.

People who Know what they are doing get X79 and "e" cpu if on high budget .. and it is not more epensive btw , you just need 180$ X70 to have 3 way SLI REAL , while you will have to pay $350 for normal haswell mobo to get 3 way SLI using PLX chips and it will be WORSE coz is sharing and not true.. so in reality , you pay the difference between 4 cores and 6 cores in the Mobo if you pick haswell with high end mobo and end up with 4 cores only.

The X79 has one disadvantage , it has onlu 2 Sata3 ports and no USB3 natively , so they add chips on the mobo for extra Sata3 and USB3 .


The best Card to get today is the GTX780 , even over GTX 770 in SLI , why ? simple , if you go SLI , you will be using high resolution 2560x1440 monitor OR 3 monitors setups , and for these , you will need at least 3GB GDDR5 GPU card , and the 770GTX with 4G is around 500$ at this price point it is only 116$ difference from GTX 780 ... so GET GTX 780 in SLI better . the 770GTX also is 256 bit and the older chip (GTX 680) , while the GTX 780 is 384 bit and the new Titan Chip.
I would GO GTX 780 and put in mind another one in SLI when I need that.

as for SSD , pick the samsung 840 pro , non pro are slow , and IMO, use 2x 128 840 pro in Raid 0 it will give you 1GB/s read write ... and 256 G total size .

as for EVGA , well the fans are noisy on them , MSI and Gigabyte have better Silent fans.

and if you ant you can go extreme and buy separate cooler like these :

http://www.arctic.ac/en/p/cooling/vga/569/accelero-hybrid.html?c=2182

http://www.arctic.ac/en/p/cooling/vga/554/accelero-xtreme-iii.html?c=2182

The H100i is a bad choice if you have swiftech around ...

Swiftech h220 and h320

This : http://www.swiftech.com/H320.aspx

and

This

http://www.swiftech.com/H220.aspx

The are closed loops and open loops at the same time , and the pump is 6 times stronger than H100i, meaning can make loops to other radiators and GPU cooling blocks .. without the need to buy extra things , just the GPU cooling block. it is amazing .. or use it normal closed loop .

sorry for the fast writing .. take your time and read

 

[Tsunamiku]

Hey, Thanks for the informative response.
I was hoping to stay in the ATX (motherboard) size range.

Although, I'm willing to consider a Gigabyte motherboard, assuming it's better then my current options at around the same price range, etc.
I only intend on using one graphics card, so... the PCI lanes won't really effect me, considering my lanes will only have to focus on one input device (GPU)

As for the -E processors, I'm slightly on a budget; However I'm basing my processor choice on single core performance, currently the the Haswell high end i5 and i7 have single core performance at around 2200points on a CPU benchmark, which means a single core game will be able to perform at it's "highest ability".

Also, I might add that when it comes to the i7 and i5 haswells in single core performance, they out perform the 3970x Intel -E models.
Not that the 3970x isn't good, but if it was a single core unit, the i7-4770k would be better by a slight margin.

 

[SNA3]

Hey, Thanks for the informative response.
I was hoping to stay in the ATX (motherboard) size range.

Although, I'm willing to consider a Gigabyte motherboard, assuming it's better then my current options at around the same price range, etc.
I only intend on using one graphics card, so... the PCI lanes won't really effect me, considering my lanes will only have to focus on one input device (GPU)

As for the -E processors, I'm slightly on a budget; However I'm basing my processor choice on single core performance, currently the the Haswell high end i5 and i7 have single core performance at around 2200points on a CPU benchmark, which means a single core game will be able to perform at it's "highest ability".

Also, I might add that when it comes to the i7 and i5 haswells in single core performance, they out perform the 3970x Intel -E models.
Not that the 3970x isn't good, but if it was a single core unit, the i7-4770k would be better by a slight margin.

if you dont plan on Adding cards , Matx is just 2 slots fewer ... so there is no big deal really ..

as for the 6 cores, I am not talking about the X expensive Version , I am talking about the 6 cores i7-3930K at 550$ that can be overclockd to 4.6-4.8 Ghz ..

and more over , the ivy-e are coming soon ...

even per core , if you overclock it to 4.8 you will be at the same level of the Haswell , but with 2 more cores .. and I dont recommend getting the Sandy-E if you can wait till September

If you dont want it is fine too , Haswell are good enough .,.

oh and the killer lan is not fishy lol , what it does that it pushes the Internet Gaming traffic forward b4 other traffic , so when you game online you will have faster response ...

 

[SNA3]

oh and going MATX opens the door for Compact cool cases for you like this one without any cooling compromise

http://www.corsair.com/en/pc-cases/obsidian-series-pc-case/obsidian-series-350d-micro-atx-pc-case.html

 

[Tsunamiku]

I've heard that the Killer-NIC lan has a few issues.
Works well whilst gaming, but hinders people while attempting to browse the normal internet.

I'll look into a Micro-ATX solution to my build, considering that I only intend on using one PCI slot.

I just don't want a performance lose over the size of the motherboard.
I'm also planning on attaching a H100i to the CPU, and I believe a Micro-ATX will effect that, but it could be a thing, never'know.
haha

So, there isn't a performance lose besides how many PCI slots you have?

 

[SNA3]

I've heard that the Killer-NIC lan has a few issues.
Works well whilst gaming, but hinders people while attempting to browse the normal internet.

I'll look into a Micro-ATX solution to my build, considering that I only intend on using one PCI slot.

I just don't want a performance lose over the size of the motherboard.
I'm also planning on attaching a H100i to the CPU, and I believe a Micro-ATX will effect that, but it could be a thing, never'know.
haha

So, there isn't a performance lose besides how many PCI slots you have?

Read the review they gave it 10/10 performance and overclocked well . there is also a good Asus Gene VI also if you wish

as for H100i , you will need to change the fans they are NOISY ALOTTTTT and all who buy it get new fans..

and check out the Swiftech H220 and H320 as well ...

and if you look at this

http://www.corsair.com/en/pc-cases/obsidian-series-pc-case/obsidian-series-350d-micro-atx-pc-case.html

you will see the H100i up

ofc you can get ATX cases , but I was pointing at compact GOOD System

Thats an Asus ROG Gene V in that case

 

[Tsunamiku]

I already intended on changing to the Performance edition of the Corsair Air series (pictured in that picture you tagged)
Would you suggest the quite editions?
Also, I realize I need Static Pressure for the radiator.

Alright, So; I've decided to use the Gene, considering... I'm only using one PCI slot
It makes sense to do that, and I really enjoy the case pictured.
Also what are your thoughts Corsair Carbide Series Air 540?
I already intended on obtaining a Corsair case, hence I'm so agreeable.

 

[SNA3]

I already intended on changing to the Performance edition of the Corsair Air series (pictured in that picture you tagged)
Would you suggest the quite editions?
Also, I realize I need Static Pressure for the radiator.

Alright, So; I've decided to use the Gene, considering... I'm only using one PCI slot
It makes sense to do that, and I really enjoy the case pictured.
Also what are your thoughts Corsair Carbide Series Air 540?
I already intended on obtaining a Corsair case, hence I'm so agreeable.

The Maximum Gene VI is good option also , here is info about it :

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/MAXIMUS_VI_GENE/

and has good sound onboard as well

The Air 540 is awesome case but not compact if you liked compact cases ..

If you choose to get the Air 540 , Get ATX mobo , no point of getting Micro ATX

as for fans , well the less noisy will work but at lower performance but is not huge like 3-4 C difference . so yes the quite eddition are good but you will loose some performance .

if you dont want to hear the fans at all , you need below 24 dBA ... but at the cost of some performance .

here is a review so you be in the picture :

http://www.kitguru.net/components/cooling/henry-butt/corsair-h100-h100i-performance-comparison-with-sp120-fans/

Noctua Fans are good alternative as well...

this

http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=12

and this

http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=42

this is a good review

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7cHRGFBDac

 

[Som3one]

Boy, this is one long topic with a lot of long questions and answers. So, please forgive me if I am mentioning things that have already been mentioned...or if I am making you even more uncertain.

Just I few things I´d like to add.


Motherboard: Honestly, almost all of the mentioned motherboards are pretty damn good. Just the targeted usage or targeted users are different. For example, the Sabertooth (which I personally own) is more for stability than anything else. Hence the extended warranty compared to the other boards.
There´s also this Asrock - of which I always forget the name - which a lot of people on here seem to like and to suggest.

CPU: I completely agree with what SNA3 said. For pure gaming, an i5 is enough. i7 doesn´t give you that much of a benefit for gaming...yet. But who knows what will be in a year or so.
Those highend Intel 6 cores are of course even better...and more expensive. And if you want to get one of these, just wait 1-2 more months for the next generation.

GPU: Well, a GTX780 might be slightly overkill...but if you have the money and want a more futureproof build, go for it.

PSU: I´d probably save some money and go with an 700/750W version. Still leaves you with enough headroom.

Cooler: You can always just try out the stock fans at first and see if they are too loud for you. (They definately are for me. )

SP120 QE vs HP vs others: The HP fans will have a higher max. RPM and therefore will give you better cooling (by only a few degress if I remember the review correctly). The QE however have a lower max. RPM as well as a lower min. RPM which means they will be more quiet in idle as well. The Noctua fans are also damn good fans, most likely even better than the SP120s but I think they are a bit more expensive and...well...the looks are "interesting".

Case: If there is any case that I would love to get my hands on (if I wouldn´t already be owning a 900d) is the Air 540.
Such a cool design.
BUT you really need to make sure it can fit everything you have and might add in the future.



EDIT:

Some more thoughts.

GPU: As far as I know, the GTX780 from EVGA and Asus are head to head. Maybe the Asus would better your color scheme?
But honestly, there is not THAT much difference between the GtX780 from Asus, EVGA or Gigabyte.
I was planning on getting the EVGA for my current build, too (since the Asus wasn´t/isn´t available over here). But the Gigabyte was like 70€ cheaper, so I went with that one.


RAM: If you are spending that much money on a new system, I´d probably suggest getting some better RAM.
Maybe only getting 8GB for now but going up to 1800 or 2133 or so. Just a suggestion and not really necessary.