[Bandit(AU)]

Hi guys - I am new to OC. I have been in the IT industry for over 20 years but on the enterprise software side. I respect the level of PC tech knowledge here so thought this would be the best place to come for advice on a new rig build.

The Need:
I will do some standard MS office stuff but any donkey machine can handle that these days ;-) but the real use is to be able to run games such as BF3 and Microsoft Flight Sim. In saying this I really want a top notch machine for high frame rates especially on FSX (a CPU hog). I run the high level textures and add ons for FSX such as Orbx's scenery (www.fullterrain.com).

The Budget:
Budget is not a real concern though I dont see the need to go for a SB-E i7 3960. I see that a standard SB with an i7 2700K will do fine.

Overclocking:
I dont plan on trying to OC this rig. I dont really understand how and to be honest dont really have the time to tinker at that level these days.

My reasearch thus far indicated that the following spec would do OK
Mobo:Gigabyte G1.Sniper 2
CPU: i7 2700K
GPU: Gigabyte GTX590 (already owned)
RAM: 16GB RAM
OS: Win 7 Ultimate (64bit)
PSU: Thermaltake 1200W (already owned)
Case: CoolerMaster Stacker (already owned)
Screens: 2 x Samsung 226BW (22")

Problem?:
Problem I am having right now is that there are rumours that GB seem to have discontinued the Sniper 2. Can anyone confirm this? At the very least its damn hard to get hold of one in Australia at the moment.

If this is the case can anyone suggest a suitable mobo replacement - ideally one that can take an Ivy Bridge CPU when it comes out - (I gather that is possible but requires PCiE Gen3 mobo - right?)


Your thoughts and recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

Bandit(AU)

[Janus67]

to the forums.

If you don't plan on overclocking, getting a k-series processor is unnecessary extra money spent.

For the most part if you want something that can take Ivy Bridge without sacrificing much take a look for pretty much anything Z68 that says Gen3 in the game, Gigabyte, Asus, and ASRock all have these (and I'm sure other brands do as well). To be honest I don't think you would get much worth out of the sniper2 motherboard, you will get just as much performance out of a $150 board as you do a $350 board, especially if you don't plan to use any of the high-end overlocking features/etc.

[Eldonko]

Not sure if the Sniper 2 is discontinued but it was a limited edition board which may explain why it is difficult to find. Sniper 2 is Gigabyte's only real gen 3 board and the soundcard and NIC on it are great.

If you are unable to find a Sniper 2 you can always go with another Gen 3 board (ASUS, ASRock, MSI) and buy a soundcard and/or NIC if that is important to you. I just reviewed a Z68A-GD80 and I think that would meet your needs fine.

[Bandit(AU)]

Well I have done some reasearch and am going to go with an ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe Gen 3 board and an i7 2700K (I know its marginal over the 2600)

My next question is what RAM to put with it. I am looking at 16GB (FSX loves RAM) but I cant decide which and what speed 1600? 1866? 2133?? 2200? What will be compatible - I find the ASUS QVL list confusing as it lists nothing over 8GB?

What about 16GB of Corsair Vengance RAM CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9?

[Team kizb]

For most Win 7 Ultimate isn't really necessary, I'd suggest looking at the differences at Microsoft before spending the extra money on it.

As far as Ram, 1600 seems to be the sweet spot right now as far as prices goes.

If you plan on upgrading to an Ivy Bridge CPU next year, why not save a little bit this year and just get a i5 2500K?

[Chuggowitz]

A 2500k with a 40$ cpu cooler and a great GPU (570, 6970/90, 580, especially your 590) will run BF3 at max settings no problem while easily being able to OC to 4.5GHz stable. The build in my sig, without Overclocking, can run Battlefield 3 at max with no problem. Just make sure you pick up an aftermarket cooler, the CM 212+ is the best price/performance cooler available.

[57udl3y]

for ram after 1600 the performance gain is minimal as far as gaming in concerned. Your board will run and be able to use 16 gb even if they dont list it. A couple weeks ago i bought 16 gb 1600 for the same board.

[Bandit(AU)]

Well I went shopping today and this is what I ended up with:

1. P8Z68 Deluxe\Gen3
2. Intel Core i7 2700K
3. 16GB RAM
   I couldnt decide on the Corsair or the G.Skill Ripjaws so got both and see which I prefer. (I probably wont notice the difference but Hey its Christmas!)
   - Corsair Vengance 2 x CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B RAM (total 16GB)
   - G.Skill F3-12800CL9Q-16GBRL
4. Corsair H80 liquid CPU cooler

Ill throw in my GB GTX590 and some SATA HDD and should have my rig built next week.

[Bandit(AU)]

Originally Posted by Chuggowitz

A 2500k with a 40$ cpu cooler and a great GPU (570, 6970/90, 580, especially your 590) will run BF3 at max settings no problem while easily being able to OC to 4.5GHz stable. The build in my sig, without Overclocking, can run Battlefield 3 at max with no problem. Just make sure you pick up an aftermarket cooler, the CM 212+ is the best price/performance cooler available.

Thanks Chug if BF3 was all I was going to play then I would agree but BF3 is not as important to me as getting Flight Sim X running sweetly. I have a session in a 767 simulator in Feb and want to practice with the new PMDG 767 sim for FSX so I can get the most of it. As Flight simming is my main aim I wanted to max things out to get that working well. The money spent will be worth it and considering I dont have (too) many vices I can afford it. When Ivy comes out I will move over but proabably not right away.

[Eldonko]

Good stuff, enjoy

Originally Posted by Bandit(AU)

Well I went shopping today and this is what I ended up with:

1. P8Z68 Deluxe\Gen3
2. Intel Core i7 2700K
3. 16GB RAM
   I couldnt decide on the Corsair or the G.Skill Ripjaws so got both and see which I prefer. (I probably wont notice the difference but Hey its Christmas!)
   - Corsair Vengance 2 x CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B RAM (total 16GB)
   - G.Skill F3-12800CL9Q-16GBRL
4. Corsair H80 liquid CPU cooler

Ill throw in my GB GTX590 and some SATA HDD and should have my rig built next week.

[Bandit(AU)]

Just to complete the spec I have decided to go with 2 Crucial M4 256GB SSDs and a WD20EARX Caviar Green 2TB HDD. I will place Win7 64bit Ultimate on one SSD as a boot drive and Flight Sim X, Orbx sceneray, REX waetaher addons et al on the other. The 2TB will be for data and other applications.

I plan to put the 2 SSDs on the 6GB/s Intel SATA ports of the P8Z68 Deluxe\Gen 3 but I am not sure how to connect the WD. Should I put it on one of the Intel Z68s 4 SATA 3GB/s ports or on one of the 2 Marvell PCIe 9128 SATA 6GB/s ports?

[Janus67]

With an SSD of that size you may as well be installing whatever applications you desire onto that drive and just using the 2TB drive for storage purposes or things you rarely access.
Make sure the SSDs are on the Intel Sata3/6Gb ports for sure, for the WD may as well put it on one of the Intel Sata 3Gb ports it won't be able to take advantage of the 6Gb anyway.

Do you plan to put them in Raid0 or something? That is an absolute ton of space and I don't see much reason for separating the game unless it itself takes up 200GB of space.

[Bandit(AU)]

Originally Posted by Janus67

...for the WD may as well put it on one of the Intel Sata 3Gb ports it won't be able to take advantage of the 6Gb anyway.

Even if the WD is rated as a 6GB/s drive? (as per WD20EARX spec) or is it the fact that the max sustained rate is only 110MB/S?

Originally Posted by Janus67

Do you plan to put them in Raid0 or something?

No.

Originally Posted by Janus67

That is an absolute ton of space and I don't see much reason for separating the game unless it itself takes up 200GB of space.

My Flight sim game and addons takes up over 100GB at the moment and I am still planning to buy extra addons so this will grow. The hi-res scenery files (if interested see www.fullterrain.com & www.realenvironmentxtreme.com) take up a fair bit of space and when in game I dont want anything getting in the way of these files being read.

[Janus67]

Gotcha, that is a TON of space!

You probably don't need a full 256 for everything else unless you have a ton of other things that are quite large to install as well (I have a handful of games + my OS and most of my apps installed on my 128GB M4 and it still has 50+gb of space left).

Even tough the WD is rated at 6Gb/s, or more technically has that controller built onto it, it won't come close to fulfilling those speeds. More than likely it wouldn't even fill the Sata1 (1.5Gb/s) bandwidth.

[Bandit(AU)]

Originally Posted by Janus67

Gotcha, that is a TON of space!

You probably don't need a full 256 for everything else unless you have a ton of other things that are quite large to install as well (I have a handful of games + my OS and most of my apps installed on my 128GB M4 and it still has 50+gb of space left).

Even tough the WD is rated at 6Gb/s, or more technically has that controller built onto it, it won't come close to fulfilling those speeds. More than likely it wouldn't even fill the Sata1 (1.5Gb/s) bandwidth.

Thanks for the advice. I will proably stick some of the other games onthe SSD drive I put the OS on and leave the 2TB for bulk data, Files , docs, music, video etc.