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Gaming PC/ College Workstation

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AdvisableOwl

Registered
Joined
Jun 12, 2012
Hi all, this is my first post on OC forums and I couldn't find the new-guy section if there is one. So I guess I'll stop by and say hello. I come to you guys here today to help me with a moderate gaming build. I've done enough lurking so I think I've come up with a decent build.

Purpose: *list your primary uses: Gaming/College/Internet/Light Vid. Editing*

Budget: *750-800 USD for now*

Location: *My main locations are in North VA and South NJ, although I have family in other states to avoid instate taxes*

Component List *I only have a bias towards Intel Processors*
  • CPU: i5-2500k
  • Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Pro4
  • Graphics Card: HIS IceQX 6870
  • Memory: GSkill Ripjaws 2x4GB DDR3-1600
  • Storage: WD Caviar Blue 320GB/7200RPM
  • Power Supply: Seasonic M1II 620W
  • Peripherals: NZXT Phantom, Windows 7 Ult, Old 17in 1280x1024 Monitor, Mouse and Keyboard I already have.

My main goals are reliability and semi-future proof. I'm aware that Intel is discontinuing the LGA 1155 sockets next year so I'm hoping it'll last. Light overclocking for me is realistic, but not right off the bat. Main games I'll play are WoW, D3, MFS, Minecraft and similar games. I also play to do video editing and light CAD/ 3D design on this as well. Anything that needs to be replaced immediately or isn't compatible is what my worry is really about. Also, if I left any important info out, let me know. Thanks.
 
Hi! Welcome to the forums! Everything looks like the right idea, I would upgrade to the 3570k since your getting a z77 board. That's more power than you need for the power supply, so I would go for a really nice quality Power supply like the Corsair TX550M. And with what you have, the Phantom 410 might be a nicer fit :)
 
Well the 410 would be more space conservative in a College dorm. Don't forget there's a full-tower and a mid-tower version :)
 
Knu, yes, there is a Microcenter by my grandfather in Fairfax.

Also, I'm aware there is a 410 in a MATX version, but I'm OCD about internal space being too cramped and the amount of fans I can possibly put on it. Personally, I feel the extra 20 is worth the larger space.
 
At microcenter if you get the i5-3570k and the ASrock z77 Extreem4 mobo, you get $50 off the mobo. I would do that, and put the savings into the Ivy i5 cpu. I have the Extreem4 and it's a kick butt board. IMO it's the best board I've goten so far. IMO atm feature/price wise ASRock can not be beat.

going the i5-3570k and asrock extreem4 would actually save you about $50. That PSU would be good, or a corsair 650w, would give you head room if you want to OC a little and down the road do a Xfire for a cheap upgrade.

I'd go with the Phantom 410 mid tower. or ever a HAF 912. both are great cases and would save room in a dorm over a full tower case. and dorm rooms can be small
 
Clarification, I'm not in College yet, so space isn't the utmost concern. Also, the 2500k is cheaper than the 3570k. Also what's the difference between the Pro4 and Extreme 4? It's a 20 dollar difference. Is it worth it? I'm not a penny pincher by any means but is there a notable difference. I also haven't purchased the case yet. The 2500k w/ the Pro4 is 250. With the 3750k it's about 370 and the 3750k w/ Extreme 4 is 300 which is a bit too much. I also hear that IB are bad with heat while OC. This true. And with the money saved over the i5-3750k I could get a Hyper212.
 
Knufire hit your budget perfectly with an after market cooler. So I don;t see why you wouldn't get the newer stuff. Plus Ivy Bridge really only starts having problems at decently high clocks as far as I know.
 
Clarification, I'm not in College yet, so space isn't the utmost concern. Also, the 2500k is cheaper than the 3570k. Also what's the difference between the Pro4 and Extreme 4? It's a 20 dollar difference. Is it worth it? I'm not a penny pincher by any means but is there a notable difference. I also haven't purchased the case yet. The 2500k w/ the Pro4 is 250. With the 3750k it's about 370 and the 3750k w/ Extreme 4 is 300 which is a bit too much. I also hear that IB are bad with heat while OC. This true. And with the money saved over the i5-3750k I could get a Hyper212.

The 3570K is 8-10% faster than the 2500K at equal clocks, and enables PCIe 3.0 on the motherboard.

ASRock's Pro series is their lower-end boards. It's only a 4+2 VRM section, which is really small and not advisable for OCing. The Extreme4 is a 8+4 section, literally double the amount of phases, which is a huge difference. Also, 8+4 is quite a large section for a board of that price, the Z77 Extreme4 is probably the best bang/buck out of any Z77 board out there.

Do you need a case included in the $800? I can edit the list and make it fit...
 
Yeah a case needs to be included. I forgot to mention that I already have the Win7 Ult. I like the parts you picked out, but I think for my purposes there a little too much and start pushing my budget hard, if not over.
 
Nope. No SLI or Crossfire. Upgrades are a maybe, mainly the CPU or Video, Card, SSD, fans, and external stuff.
 
If you go to Microcenter to get the CPU mobo, You would actually save money getting the Ivy over SB since with the Ivy+mobo combo you get $50 off the mobo, Other wise you would pay $140 for the mobo with a SB, so the $20 price difference would actually put $30 in your pocket.
Clock for clock the Ivy beats SB by about 8-10%. ivy will also give ya PCI-e 3.0 , if you put a SB in any Z77 board you will down grade it to PCIe 2.0
i5-2500k $170 +extreem4 $140= about $335 - no bundle discount
i5-3570k $190 +extreem4 $90= about $295 - with bundle discount
those prices are including 7% sales tax here in GA. Thats with their $50 off combo CPU+mobo deal they got going on.
A great case for under $70 is the HAF 912, under $100 Phantom 410 is a great case as well.
 
The i5 also falls under that deal. What's the performance difference between PCI-e 2.0 vs 3.0?
 
If you go to Microcenter to get the CPU mobo, You would actually save money getting the Ivy over SB since with the Ivy+mobo combo you get $50 off the mobo, Other wise you would pay $140 for the mobo with a SB, so the $20 price difference would actually put $30 in your pocket.
Clock for clock the Ivy beats SB by about 8-10%. ivy will also give ya PCI-e 3.0 , if you put a SB in any Z77 board you will down grade it to PCIe 2.0
i5-2500k $170 +extreem4 $140= about $335 - no bundle discount
i5-3570k $190 +extreem4 $90= about $295 - with bundle discount
those prices are including 7% sales tax here in GA. Thats with their $50 off combo CPU+mobo deal they got going on.
A great case for under $70 is the HAF 912, under $100 Phantom 410 is a great case as well.

its actually around 3-5% clock for clock, 8-10% is a pipe dream when it comes to real world performance. IN benchmarks i would agree with you but i havent seen a review that would put the 3570k on the same clocks 10% faster than a 2500k. Maybe at stock there is a 10% difference but even then i doubt it. But if he plans on doing some OCing, especially on a mid range air cooler, he will end up getting a higher overclock on the 2500k, which not only make up the 3-5% gap, but also probably equal / surpass the performance he could achieve on the 3570k.

There is no doubting the 3570k is a "better" processor in terms of technology and performance, but it is seriously held back by Intel cheaping out and using TIM. ( yes im singing the same song that has been sung a million times before , but its true) I wanted to upgrade to an IB, I even got a z68 compatible mobo with PCIE3 specifically so i could upgrade to an IB straight away providing that it clocked as well as a SB, even with only a 5% increase.

Also the performance increase gained from PCIE3 is about 1% at the moment. So its so negligible and its not worth buying a IB just to get that. The IB might be worth it for the silly speeds it allows you to run the RAM at, but then again the RAm that can run at 2600mhz etc costs about 2-3 times the amount than the stuff your looking at. So for a mid range build with your budget its another perk which is not applicable to you. There is also Virtu technology which is a cheap marketing gimik which is simply being pushed as they need to maximise the amount of people who buy the IB over SB and z77 over z68. Again not worth it and it mainly applies to those using IGPU and very poor dedicated graphics cards.

Now if you can get both for the same price i would say go for the 3570k ( but im a bit confused as to what the deal with the prices is over there.) Here i can get a 2500k for about £40 cheaper. You can also get second hand ones still under warranty for cheap so its a no brainer considering the prices over here. Ultimately he will see little or not difference between the two. Especially in gaming performance there is literally no difference between the two
 
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Thank you for the clarification. That covered a few of the things I really needed to be answered.
 
3-5% is low, as the number I've seen consistently referenced in many places is 8%.

The difference here is $20, which is only about 13GBP. At 40GBP, the 2500K is obviously the better buy. However, here in the US, the prices are similar enough that there's no reason not to go with Ivy Bridge.

I'm aware 3.0 makes no difference. It's a futureproofing thing.

The deal is $50 off when you buy a 2500K, 3570K, or 3770K with any Z68 or Z77 motherboard.
 
Knu, is there any reason that you picked out the 7850? It's almost 100 dollars more expensive and I think it may be too much for my preferences.
 
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