Solved New PC Build - Advice on MOBO and PSU Options

[Spidey1976]

Building a new PC for gaming & blu-ray authoring (1080p video from home movie camera)

The basic components:
Core I7-2700K (3.5ghz)
Corsair Hydro H60 cooling
60 GB Intel 520 Series SSD (for Smart Response Technology)
60 GB Intel 520 Series SSD (data HDD for OS - Win 7 Pro 64)
640gb WD Caviar Black 7200
500gb WD 7200
8GB Corsair Vengence DDR3 1600
geForce GTX 580 (1.5ghz)

PSU options?:
850 Watts - Thermaltake TPG-850M Gold Modular 80 Plus PSU ($77 cheaper)
1,200 Watts - Thermaltake TPG-1200M Gold Modular 80 Plus PSU

MOBO?:
Asus P8Z68-V/GEN3 Intel Z68 (will allow CPU to be overclocked to 4.2ghz)
Asus P8Z77-V Pro Intel Z77 (no overclocking - $50 more)

With the 1200W PSU and the Z68 mobo, the unit is just under $2,000 US, which is my budget.

Update: reading around today, internet rumors state that Ivy Bridge may drop on 4-29-12... not sure of the pricing, but maybe it would be worth it to wait?

 

[DeaconFrost]

Someone else with more experience on the subject should chime in, but I'd be curious to see if the SRT setup you suggest runs better than if you just went with a 128 GB SSD. I was under the impression that SRT was for systems who's primary drive was an HDD, so the small SSD would be used for caching for it.

 

[Spidey1976]

Thanks - the whole SSD is new to me and this would be my first ownership of any, so all experience is welcome.

I could drop the 2 60gb Intel 520 SSD's and get either a single 120 Intel 520 or a 120 Corsair Force GT.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

In your shoes with your budget, I would try to wait a month until I saw some Ivy Bridge reviews.

Any particular reason you are looking at Thermaltake power supplies?

Unless that Hydro Cooler uses umpteen watts, I don't know why you need that much power.

 

[pparks1]

You don't need a 1200+ watt power supply unless you plan to run at least 3 of your video cards. I don't see a reason with that build for more than a quality 750w power supply.

 

[papagym]

Why 2 SSD

Hi,
I'm new to this so I hope I can put up the stats for my build or you may be able to get them. I went with a 128GB SSD for the OS and have 2-ITB HDD's as backup the system reserved partition volume went on one during install and I'm happy.
I used a OCZ 850W full modular and it works great really quiet fans.
Just some thoughts. Good luck

Intel DZ68BC / i7
Crucial 128GB C: Boot Drive DISK0
Seagate 1TB Sata 3 Disk1
WD 1TB Sata 3 Disk2
OCZ 850 W f-mod.
560 Ti Gpu

 

[windude99]

For the psu: go with a Seasonic or Corsair (which is built by Seasonic). I have a Seasonic psu in my own rig and it is way quieter and MUCH better made than the psu that my system came with stock.

 

[Wrench97]

If the current lineup is going to drop it's because the new SandyBridge III's are coming

The ASUS P8Z77-V PRO is a top mid-range socket 1155 motherboard targeted to the forthcoming “Ivy Bridge” processors (third-generation Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7 processors) and also supporting the current “Sandy Bridge” models (second-generation Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7 processors). Let’s see what the ASUS P8Z77-V PRO will have to offer.

From > ASUS P8Z77-V PRO Motherboard | Hardware Secrets

The z79 board is new, if it follows the route of the last couple intel updates it'll take a couple months to get the bugs worked out, Personally I prefer more mature tech over the latest and greatest(for this month) the z68 i7 2700k OC's well and is a stable platform.

Both of those Thermaltake units are manufactured by Sirtec reviews for the most part are hit or miss> HARDOCP - Conclusion - Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 1200W PSU Review

Personally I prefer Seasonic built units found under the Seasonic, XFX, Antec High Current Gamer, Corsair TX, AX labels, 750w will be plenty for your build.

SSD's make the PC feel snappier for sure on short data bursts the speed is good, longer data read/writes the numbers get closer to a platter drive. The most common complaints are cost and size 60gb drives fill up fast so have a plan for backups.

 

[gazz9496]

picked up the 850 thermal take myself mainly for the upgrade room and possiblities i can look at without worrying about my psu at the same time, a good psu is always worth the money and at £100 it was a bargain.

pick up the 120gb ssd instead of 2 60's intel's ssd's have some great reviews and well worth getting.

odd choice of additional hdd's though, a 640 and a 500, at the cost of both of those a single 1-2 tb caviar black can't be much more expensive if not cheaper.

well $220 for a wd caviar black 2tb Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD2002FAEX 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

best guess you'd be looking about $180+ for those 2 drives so not a big difference.

 

[Spidey1976]

Thanks for the replies so far... Updated build possibility:

Case: Corsair Carbide 400R
CPU: i7-2700K stock at 3.5 ghz
MoBo: Asus P8Z77-V Pro
RAM: 8GB Corsair Vengence (4gx2) DDR3 1600mHz
GPU: EVGA Superclocked geForce GTX 580 1.5gb
PSU: 850 Watts - Corsair Professional Series CMPSU-AX850 80+ Gold
(Though the Thermaltake Gold one stated earlier is $12 cheaper - Corsair seems to be the way)
OSD: 120GB Intel 520 Series SSD
CD1: Sony 24x DVD RW
CD2: LG 12x Blu-Ray RW
SND: Asus Xonar DX 7.1 PCIe sound card
OS: Windows 7 Professional X64
Price so far US$ 1,895

I will add from my current machine:
640 GB WD Caviar Black 7200rpm HDD
500 GB Hitachi 7200rpm HDD
Logitech 720p Web Cam Pro 9000

What I want to do:
Burn 1080p digital video to blu-ray (my current dual core maxes out quick!)
Create blu-ray and DVD's
Play Skyrim on ultra (I can play now on bare minimum)
Play The Sims 3, Mass Effect 2, Halo 2, and The Sabotuer
Run a few virtual machines (XP, Win 8 Preview, etc)
Plus other simple daily tasks.

I love the machine in my current specs and I am giving it to my kids to share. I just want something with some more horse power. I am not trying to build for the future, just a quality machine like my current one that I can get 4 or 5 years out of.

I dabble in using MS Visual Studio Express, but other than some games I do not do any really graphic intensive work.

Thanks again, friends.

 

[Spidey1976]

2nd Possibility

As a second option:

Another very similar build using an overclocked i7-3930K (to 3.8ghz), an Asus P9X79 Pro mobo and losing the sound card takes the price to:
US$ 2,170

I've read reviews all over that put the 2700K close or just above the 3930K, but I'd stomach the extra $170 to keep a quality build.

 

[Wrench97]

The 6 cores will really shine in HD video editing(with multi-thread supporting software), gaming not as much, same can be said of the quad channel ram config over dual channel

 

[Spidey1976]

Final Specs

(image courtesy Tom's Hardware)

Corsair Carbide 400R
Core i7-3930K six-core overclocked slightly to 3.84 GHz
Asus P9X79 Pro motherboard
EVGA GeForce GTX580 1.5 GHz Superclocked
8GB (2gb x 4) Quad-Channel Corsair Vengence
Corsair Hydro Series H60 liquid cooling
Corsair Pro Series AX850 80+ Gold PSU
120GB Intel 520 Series SSD
LG 12x Blu Ray RW
Sony 24x DVD RW
Windows 7 Pro x64


~Thanks for all of your advice~
Spidey1976

 

[Wrench97]

It'll be a beast

 

[bobkn]

(image courtesy Tom's Hardware)

Corsair Carbide 400R
Core i7-3930K six-core overclocked slightly to 3.84 GHz
Asus P9X79 Pro motherboard
EVGA GeForce GTX580 1.5 GHz Superclocked
8GB (2gb x 4) Quad-Channel Corsair Vengence
Corsair Hydro Series H60 liquid cooling
Corsair Pro Series AX850 80+ Gold PSU
120GB Intel 520 Series SSD
LG 12x Blu Ray RW
Sony 24x DVD RW
Windows 7 Pro x64


~Thanks for all of your advice~
Spidey1976

Be sure not to pay more for a GTX580 than you would for a 2GB GTX680. The 680 is $500 at the moment, for the base model.

Is the H60 adequate for for an I7-3930k? (That's not a rhetorical question.) I'm using a Noctua NH-D14 (air), but it's the largest cooler I've ever used. Fits well on the P9X79 Pro, though.

 

[Wrench97]

Depends on the OC, if used at stock clocks it'll be quieter then the stock heatsink.

 

[Spidey1976]

just a simple OC of 20% by the builder with Intel's protection plan and a 3 year warranty. As far as the GPU... I really wanted to get the GTX-680, but it would have been + US$245. My main goal now was to go high on the mobo and processer... I can always upgrade components later.

 

[bobkn]

just a simple OC of 20% by the builder with Intel's protection plan and a 3 year warranty. As far as the GPU... I really wanted to get the GTX-680, but it would have been + US$245. My main goal now was to go high on the mobo and processer... I can always upgrade components later.

You can get a GTX580 for $255? Very good.

Good cooling is essential for the 3930k, as some reviewers have noted. It throttles at relatively low core temperatures. With a Noctua NH-C12P SE14 (C type), it was hard to get above 4.2 GHz. With the NH-D14 (double tower, with add-on PWM fans), 4.8 Ghz is not a struggle. (Fan noise increases when the fans speed up, of course.) I haven't tried to push further.

 

[Spidey1976]

Final build in current My System Specs link. Final price was US $2,170. It pulled a 7.8 WEI score. I may add a sound card down the road (looking at this Asus one right now around $60 Newegg.com - ASUS Xonar DSX 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Express x1 Interface Audio Card )
I could also double the RAM to 16GB for around $50 right now, but the PC has set me back a while. Thanks again for all the advice

Spidey

 

[Wrench97]

Nice score, the extra ram may be over kill, use task manager to see your actual usage.