Ultimate 2600K build

About 45 days ago I realized it was time for me to build myself a new PC. I was going to build a Gigabyte x58/i7 950/5870pair.

After seeing all the reaction to sandy bridge, I decieded to build a 2600k instead but those B3 revisions were not out yet so I wanted to wait a bit till everything sorted itself out. Then, when I was about to post this, an earthquake hit Japan and I just knew I'd have to wait a bit longer.

Well, I'm chomping at the bit now. I have a 2600k onhand as well as a nice HAFSC case, Antec 1000w psu.


What I really need though, is a good motherboard/memory combination to take the 2600k to the next level.

this site has been invaluable to me over the past years, it was here that I found the Q6600/Gigabyte P35/45 combination. A combination that I have sold, built for myself and OC'd to 4Ghz with H2o with good batch low vid chips.


But now I'm wanting the best kept secrets of the 1155's. Anyone know the fast-track to a killer combination?

I also have not purchased video yet so any advice mb/mem/video would be great. I'm planning to order these parts Monday so I'll keep checking.

Chaiyz

There really isn't a killer combination because boards $150 and higher will overclock extremely well and support at least 2 graphics cards. There many boards that will do what you need for a good price. The extreme boards really only make good use with LN2 and extremely extreme overclocking.

Recommendations I'll make are MSI GD-65 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130574, Gigabyte UD-4 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128478 and many more. It really comes down to how much you are willing to spend.

As for memory get 8gb of RAM at 1600mhz and beyond from that get it cheap. Newegg has many promo codes that will get you RAM for $75 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231416 here's one example. DON'T fall for memory marketing and speed. Above 1600mhz you won't see a difference except benchmarks. You won't get more fps or have a generally faster computer. 1600mhz is fine enough and don't get suckered into paying more than you should like with the Corsair Dominator's. I have RAM that gets to 2300mhz, I don't see any difference than when I was at 1600mhz.

For video cards recommendation's, I can definitely vouch for it, get a reference 2gb 6950 and unlock it to a 6970. It's the best value and bang for buck you can get. And the 6xxx cards crossfire MUCH better than 5870's.

BigTerminator said:

As for memory get 8gb of RAM at 1600mhz and beyond from that get it cheap. Newegg has many promo codes that will get you RAM for $75 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231416 here's one example. DON'T fall for memory marketing and speed. Above 1600mhz you won't see a difference except benchmarks. You won't get more fps or have a generally faster computer. 1600mhz is fine enough and don't get suckered into paying more than you should like with the Corsair Dominator's. I have RAM that gets to 2300mhz, I don't see any difference than when I was at 1600mhz.

Click to expand...

How can that be true? Do you mean that sandybride memory doesn't scale when overclocking? I've seen a couple of builds and it seems that the fsb is at 100mhz. Odd.

Anyway, I want to build a monster with very good but sensible parts.

I'm already sold on the HD6950's though. I've been reading about several but am still not sold on a brand. I've had fair luck with EVGA and ASUS cards, never had any luck with XFX before and never tried Gigabyte or MSI cards, well had a msi 2600xt once that was amazing.

So, about the ram????

The reason why RAM doesn't really scale is that overclocking the sandybridge isn't similar to other Intel chips. You don't mess with the BClk(FSB) at all [at least not really] It is almost entirely multiplier based, so whether you are running 100x45 or100x48 it doesn't matter if you have faster RAM.

As to brands it really doesn't matter which 6950 you get, as long as it's the reference 2gb card. AMD builds the cards, while XFX, MSI, etc. just rebrand it. I have a Sapphire card that unlocked well. Just get the one that's the cheapest.

As to memory, I didn't say it scales bad, I said it won't make a difference in performance. I already told you that I didn't see any difference from going from 1600mhz to 2300mhz. 1600mhz is just fine for your rig. Also memory overclocking is not that great like Janus said because the Base clock is practically fixed at 100mhz. You can still overclock RAM with the RAM multiplier and I believe it will go past 2000mhz but again performance wise you won't see any gains. Don't over pay for the RAM. You really shouldn't spend more than $100 on 8gb. This rig will be kick ***, don't over think too much about the memory speed.

Ok on that. I'm working off pure reference here but since the SB benches so well I'm not worried about the odd overclocking.

Hell, I'm used to buying the most expensive ram and then hoping that I can make it run that it's rated speed/latency. Doesn't always work but it's still fun.

Hmmm.. OC via multi only.... odd.

Chaiyz