Marest's Sample Builds

[Ripox]

Marest, will you be updating the Sample Builds as soon as Haswell as out or will you be waiting to see if any MoBo/CPU revisions need to be made before recommending the purchase of Haswell and Haswell MoBo's?

[Deleted]

Yup, an update is planned to be released when Haswell has reached retail and the stock has stabilized. I might also add some of the new nVidia GPUs. Expect me to post that update in about 1-2 weeks. Stay tuned!

[Ripox]

Exciting. Thanks for letting us know.

Any chance you can add some good cable sleeving options to the main thread?

[Alexandrra2012]

Hi All,

I'm looking into purchasing a new computer in the near future, and thought I would look into a custom setup this go around. Personally, I am not very knowledgeable on the topic, and cetainly dont think I would be capable of assembling a rig properly. So I am wondering - For any of the sample builds Marest has compiled, can anyone recommend an assembly service? Or are the suggestions here based around the assumption that you are putting your own machine together?

[Deleted]

I'm curious about the ASRock E350M1 AMD E-350 APU, I know higher speed memory is prefered for AMD APU's but from what I can tell the max supported memory speed is 1066 on this board. I know some boards can take higher speed than advertised sometimes it needs some tweaking, just curious if we know for a fact this one can handle 1866.

[vesseblah]

I'm curious about the ASRock E350M1 AMD E-350 APU, I know higher speed memory is prefered for AMD APU's but from what I can tell the max supported memory speed is 1066 on this board. I know some boards can take higher speed than advertised sometimes it needs some tweaking, just curious if we know for a fact this one can handle 1866.

Afaik AMD E-350 (Brazos) predates the improved memory controller/iGPU of Llano and doesn't really benefit from faster RAM.

[Biernot]

Afaik AMD E-350 (Brazos) predates the improved memory controller/iGPU of Llano and doesn't really benefit from faster RAM.

the iGPU of Llano is just not powerful enough to make use of the higher bandwidth a faster RAM would provide. The newer and more powerful APUs benefit from faster RAM, because the memory bandwidth is a bottleneck (the iGPU can process data faster than the memory controller is able to provide).

A simple analogy:
Car = your computer
motor = iGPU
gearbox = memory bandwidth

Car 1 (Llano) has a 50hp motor and a 4 gear drive. Let's say in 4th gear with max rpm the car would go 100mph. Most likely you couldn't ever reach that speed, because the weak motor would only be able to get you up to 80mph. So putting in a gearbox with 6 gears for a theoretical top speed of 150mph would make no difference at all.
Car 2 (Trinity) has a 200hp motor and a 4 gear drive. It would constantly be limited to 100mph, even though the motor had ample power left. The same Car 2 with 6 gears could probably get close to the top speed of 150mph. This would be a well balanced car, without one component bottlenecking the other.

So, in translating this to computers: It depends on your APU, if you benefit from higher memory speeds or not. My rough estimate would be:
- Llano: memory speed does not matter (as 1333MHz is the cheapest to get, and even that is more than necessary)
- A4: 1333MHz
- A6: 1600MHz
- A8: 1866MHz
- A10: 2133MHz, maybe 2400MHz
Above these memory speeds you will see only very little performance increase or none at all. Also keep always an eye on the price of faster RAM, because even if you get more speed, it sometimes isn't worth money.

[Deleted]

Just don't forget the initial question, if the RAM (1866) in the "Office 250" build will actually run with the motherboard.

[vesseblah]

the iGPU of Llano is just not powerful enough to make use of the higher bandwidth a faster RAM would provide. The newer and more powerful APUs benefit from faster RAM, because the memory bandwidth is a bottleneck (the iGPU can process data faster than the memory controller is able to provide).

All Trinity APUs benefit from RAM up to 2133MHz, that's not a question. But will Llano and Brazos series APUs use faster RAM is whole another thing.

Just don't forget the initial question, if the RAM (1866) in the "Office 250" build will actually run with the motherboard.

Ah, misunderstood the question a bit. Went to the ASRock product page and the RAM QVL says they've tested some sticks up to 2400MHz (G.Skill) and those work but will be downclocked to 1066MHz which is maximum the CPU can do.

[Deleted]

There is a little bit of money to save there then.

Mushkin Enhanced 4GB (2 x 2GB) 1066 (PC3 8500) $35 (Newegg)

[Ron Burgundy]

if the msi gtx 770 twinfrozr wont be put on the list i will freak

[BicycleMafioso]

Which list specifically?

[Ron Burgundy]

either 1340 or 1740

[Deleted]

please enlight us what makes that rebranded 680 so special?

[DeltrusDisc]

please enlight us what makes that rebranded 680 so special?

Perhaps the Titan PCB, higher OC potential, and the more VRAM? :P

All for less than a 680...

[Deleted]

Perhaps the Titan PCB, higher OC potential, and the more VRAM? :P

All for less than a 680...

Well, the Vram is still wasted.....

Anyway, I cant take that dude serious anymore. He just shouts what he wants in there, without any information why. Sure, in some cases the 770 is a better buy than the 7970. I can see that. But just say it differently:

"Hey Marest, could you change product X to Y in build Z. It is better because ........."

INstead of just doing what he does.

[Ron Burgundy]

the msi geforce gtx 770 got a 9.8 rating from techpowerup

[Deleted]

the msi geforce gtx 770 got a 9.8 rating from techpowerup

That's cool really I guess however coming here saying you'll freak out if it's not added to a list of sample builds is a bit silly. No one is saying it isn't a good card.

[Drunkenvalley]

All for less than a 680...

Really? The 680s are universally a little cheaper I find. Most of them aren't on the Titan PCB either, and I don't know what else they've changed with most of the cards.

[DeltrusDisc]

I'm still seeing GTX 680s for upwards of $500, while there are quite a few 770s for $400-420. =X

If anything, the 680s are going out now, we should update simply to reflect that.