Going to pull the trigger tomorrow. Ivy build vs Sandy build. Which one?

[SirTimmyTimbit]

Hello everyone! This is my first of hopefully many posts at Overclockers.com

I'm upgrading from a desktop. I have a GPU, HDD, Monitors, Keyboard and Mouse and just need the other parts

A little bit about my usage habbit:

• I am not going to game. I do a lot of Photoshop/Dreamweaver stuff and at the same time I have 875 tabs open in Chrome, download via bittorrent and burn disc.
• I do some game development in Unity 3D and my old 7800GT so far does the job.
• I plan on overclocking with air cooling only.

I was suggested a Piledriver setup instead of Sandy/Ivy bridge. I looked at the benchmarks and they seem to be in par for productivity and multi tasking. 2500K and 8350 costs the same for me. Do you guys think it's a better idea too?

So here are my two options so far:

Sandy Bridge:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel i5 2500K ($225.98)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($32.66 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($113.02 @ DirectCanada)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($73.43 @ NCIX)
Storage: Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($112.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: Zalman Z9 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case ($46.48 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 520W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($73.43 @ Canada Computers)
Total: $707.98
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-19 00:33 EST-0500)


Ivy Bridge:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($255.26 @ Amazon Canada)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($32.66 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($153.83 @ Canada Computers)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($73.43 @ NCIX)
Storage: Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($112.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: Zalman Z9 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case ($46.48 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 520W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($73.43 @ Canada Computers)
Total: $768.07
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-19 00:36 EST-0500)

The Ivy Bridge build will cost $60 more up front. After rebates the difference will be $70 but I never had good luck with rebates.

Now I have a few more questions:

• Can I use UD3H Z68 motherboard with 3570K without any bios update up front?
• Is Ivy Bridge worth it for the extra $60-$70? Would the native USB3.0 make a huge difference than what's already in my MOBO?
• Is the IGP in 3570K better than my 7800GT?
• Does everything else look good?

Thank you all again

 

[Darknecron]

Welcome to Overclockers!


I myself am rebuilding my core 2 quad into a 3570k...as soon as the parts get here lol. I went with the Ivy Bridge primarily for the small boost in performance, the native PCIe 3, and the native USB 3.0

However, both the intel hd 4000 and the 7800gt are really...bad. For your needs, the HD 4000 will be better though.

 

[SirTimmyTimbit]

Thanks Darknecron!

To me you are building from a super computer to a super duper computer! I'm upgrading from an AMD Athlon 64 3000+ and 1GB of RAM

I'm fine with the video card for the moment. My primary requirement from it is to run 2 monitors

Do you think the performance jump from Sandy to Ivy is worth it for $60? The z68 UD3H motherboard any good? It's about $40 cheaper than the z77 version. Do you think I can get away with running the 3570K on the z68 motherboard without any bios upgrade?

 

[TheRichboy247]

I would put money towards a GPU if I were in your position. You do Photoshop and Dreamweaver and a better GPU would make your experience smoother and better I would also go for Ivy instead of Sandy. You get PCie 3, USB 3 and it would be faster than Sandy.

Good luck with your build

 

[EarthDog]

Ivy on z77 is the way to go.