New build for my brother, any input appreciated

[ragnarokvr1]

Before reading: Thanks to the comments of people here, I made a lot of changes to the list I first mentionned here. Scroll down to my post with my revised list and save some time

Hi folks, my brother uses his computer he uses it for the basic stuff, programming, maybe Photoshop and Flash, and he ALWAYS plays games like MMOs and some light shooters on low settings. I would like this computer to allow him to play any games existing today, and to allow him to raise his settings to High without dipping below 40 FPS on a 24" HD screen, on games like The Old Republic and Planetside 2. No Crysis 3 stuff.

He told me not to go over 2000$ before taxes and shipping, and so far I'm way below that. I want this computer to last him at least 4-5 years, considering what he uses it for, and how he's not a big fan of trying new graphically intensive games (planet side 2 is a small exception). Out of experience, I have a 5 year old Core 2 Duo laptop and its only limitation is the lack of upgradeability of the graphics card, otherwise it's still blazing fast, even with a 7200 RPM HD and 4GB of Ram. Graphics card even runs MOP on Medium and Tribes Ascend on low, no problem.


CPU: (Going for socket 2011 cause I wanted to have Quad channel memory)

Intel Core i7-3820 Sandy Bridge-E 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 2011 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80619i73820
• $299.99
• • • $6.99 Shipping

Motherboard

ASUS Sabertooth X79 LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
• $326.99
• • $12.99 Shipping

RAM

Kingston HyperX Predator Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 Desktop Memory Model KHX18C9T2K4/16X
• $98.99
• • • $10.74 Shipping

Graphics Card

EVGA 02G-P4-2663-KR GeForce GTX 660 FTW Signature 2 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
239$

I got him a WD 10k RPM 300GB hard drive and I'll get him an SSD in the future if they continue to prove reliability over long term, don't trust SSDs yet.
As for the case and PSU that won't be a problem to decide.

Thanks for any input!

[Deleted]

specific reason for quad channel memory? (seems nothing listed would uttilize it properly), dual channel 2x8gb works just fine aswell.
also how about overclocking the cpu? (getting a K chip way better for the future and more performance)
gpu i suggest beefing it up to a 660Ti atleast but a 670 would be better long term.
ssd's are damm fine tech and have proven their reliability in the past year(s) for sure.

[Vinho]

I agree with Shroudster, get yourself a K (Unlocked) processor instead so you can overclock it. WoW is very cpu intensive and you would see better FPS if you overclock the cpu. And yes, go for 660ti.

I guess it's personal preference, but if you really wanted a performance increase since you're spending that kind of money I don't see how you couldn't get an SSD. Some SSD's out there have a really good warranty and hassle-free RMA process should anything go wrong.

It's a shame having such a nice system but limiting it to a HDD

[ragnarokvr1]

I was debating whether or not to get the 600ti and frankly cheapening myself out for 60$ more bucks is silly, so I'll get that.

The problem with the K versions of the i7 for socket 2011 is that the cheapest is:

Intel Core i7-3930K Sandy Bridge-E 3.2GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 2011 130W Six-Core Desktop Processor BX80619i73930K at 575$. That's a 275$ difference.

You may ask why I'm so stubborn about the quad channel memory; I've just always wanted to build a system with no compromise in upgradeability options. So 5 years from now I could swap the video card and maybe get the latest SSD and breathe life into his computer for at least another 3 years (The i7-k is SIX core, and I doubt Firefox or TOR will ever get close to needing that much horsepower for the future). Maybe the OS by then will be optimized to take better advantage of Quad channel memory.

He doesn't play WoW anymore, but he may try things like World of Battleships, World of Planes, and he plays Pirates of the Burning Sea now and then, and I want to WoW! him when he realizes how awesome these games looks at max settings on a good screen .

I'll seriously consider an SSD, I'm just horrified at the idea of how if one fails you cannot recover anything, unless you make regular backups.

[Dizey]

No offense intended, but your logic here is a bit flawed. Having a 3570k or 3770k is going to more advantageous than having chosen to go with quad channel memory and a locked processor. Additionally, the OC performance gains are easily going to outweigh anything you get from having chosen to go LGA2011 for the memory.

It's unlikely that if your HDD mechanically fails that you'll be able to recover anything either. Sure, you could send it off to a company that can securely remove the platters for data recovery, but it's very expensive, and the average person is unlikely going to go that route. That's something you see more in a business environment, which would/should be keeping regular backups anyhow.

If your concerned about SSD reliability, do some research and pick a brand with a good track record, Intel for example. Install your OS and applications on the SSD, but keep your data on an HDD designated for storage and less frequently used apps. With your budget, you could probably afford to add a second HDD for backups as well.

[yurano]

You may ask why I'm so stubborn about the quad channel memory; I've just always wanted to build a system with no compromise in upgradeability options. So 5 years from now I could swap the video card and maybe get the latest SSD and breathe life into his computer for at least another 3 years (The i7-k is SIX core, and I doubt Firefox or TOR will ever get close to needing that much horsepower for the future). Maybe the OS by then will be optimized to take better advantage of Quad channel memory.

About 2-3 years from now we're getting DDR4 which would blow DDR3 out of the water. The advantage of quad channel memory is increased RAM bandwidth which isn't going to be that big of a boost to performance. This is why increased L3 cache sizes don't help much in gaming.

[Deleted]

I was debating whether or not to get the 600ti and frankly cheapening myself out for 60$ more bucks is silly, so I'll get that.

The problem with the K versions of the i7 for socket 2011 is that the cheapest is:

Intel Core i7-3930K Sandy Bridge-E 3.2GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 2011 130W Six-Core Desktop Processor BX80619i73930K at 575$. That's a 275$ difference.

You may ask why I'm so stubborn about the quad channel memory; I've just always wanted to build a system with no compromise in upgradeability options. So 5 years from now I could swap the video card and maybe get the latest SSD and breathe life into his computer for at least another 3 years (The i7-k is SIX core, and I doubt Firefox or TOR will ever get close to needing that much horsepower for the future). Maybe the OS by then will be optimized to take better advantage of Quad channel memory.

He doesn't play WoW anymore, but he may try things like World of Battleships, World of Planes, and he plays Pirates of the Burning Sea now and then, and I want to WoW! him when he realizes how awesome these games looks at max settings on a good screen .

I'll seriously consider an SSD, I'm just horrified at the idea of how if one fails you cannot recover anything, unless you make regular backups.

just get a 3770k and overclock it to a nice 4,4GHz with a noctua DH-14 or H100i from corsair. (last two being awesome coolers)
your definition of future proofing has quite some loopholes, also memory performance has <1% affect on games when you got 1600 DDR3 ram (8gb is plenty for everything unless heavy rendering/video editing)
just go for the 1055 socket, 2011 socket is overpriced and very niché market of people who actually need it. (actually recommened a 2011 last friday on someone who had a option for a good combo deal and he did not have acces to 3570k/3770k different story, you do have acces.)
only few games actually take advantage of 6 cores. (skyrim and bf3 being the main ones) but even then we are talking about a few FPS above high end quad cores.
use the money by not going for 2011 socket into a 670 overclocked card. (evga signature 2, zotac AMP, MSI lightning, gigabyte one etc)
GPU is the main factor in game performance don't overspend on the cpu simple as that.
as for SSD data loss , just get 2 identitical ones and put them in RAID 1. (or 1 ssd 1 small hdd)
you will have an exact copy of your main drive in the rare event a drive would die. (and if both would die we're talking about odds close to winning the lottery so that isn't gonna happen)

[ragnarokvr1]

Me again! Thanks for all the input so far, I will take all your advice finally, because frankly, I want to see a good SSD in action and watch my brother's face when his system goes from 1:30 loading time to 10 seconds :P

Here's my updated listed, without counting the bought 10k RPM WD hard drive: (everything is from Newegg)

Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770K
• $319.99
• • • $6.99 Shipping

ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
• $234.99
• Save: $15.00 (6%)
• • $12.99 Shipping

Intel 520 Series Cherryville SSDSC2CW240A3K5 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
256$
7$ shipping

CORSAIR HX Series HX750 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
• $149.99
• Save: $20.00 (12%)
• $25.00 USD Rebate available
• $9.99 Shipping


Kingston HyperX Predator Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 Desktop Memory Model KHX18C9T2K4/16X
• $98.99
• • • $10.74 Shipping

EVGA 02G-P4-3660-KR GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
• $279.99 after $20.00 rebate card
• $11.49 Shipping


You folks are great!

[Deleted]

minor change i would apply to the GPU , get a dual fan one or perhaps one of the best 660Ti's for only $10 extra after rebates (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814500269)
original card you linked is $269.99 and with free shipping on newegg.

[ragnarokvr1]

I'll definitely look into it, thanks!

[slimj091]

Hi folks, my brother uses his computer he uses it for the basic stuff, programming, maybe Photoshop and Flash, and he ALWAYS plays games like MMOs and some light shooters on low settings. I would like this computer to allow him to play any games existing today, and to allow him to raise his settings to High without dipping below 40 FPS on a 24" HD screen, on games like The Old Republic and Planetside 2. No Crysis 3 stuff.

He told me not to go over 2000$ before taxes and shipping, and so far I'm way below that. I want this computer to last him at least 4-5 years, considering what he uses it for, and how he's not a big fan of trying new graphically intensive games (planet side 2 is a small exception). Out of experience, I have a 5 year old Core 2 Duo laptop and its only limitation is the lack of upgradeability of the graphics card, otherwise it's still blazing fast, even with a 7200 RPM HD and 4GB of Ram. Graphics card even runs MOP on Medium and Tribes Ascend on low, no problem.


CPU: (Going for socket 2011 cause I wanted to have Quad channel memory)

Intel Core i7-3820 Sandy Bridge-E 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 2011 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80619i73820
• $299.99
• • • $6.99 Shipping

Motherboard

ASUS Sabertooth X79 LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
• $326.99
• • $12.99 Shipping

RAM

Kingston HyperX Predator Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 Desktop Memory Model KHX18C9T2K4/16X
• $98.99
• • • $10.74 Shipping

Graphics Card

EVGA 02G-P4-2663-KR GeForce GTX 660 FTW Signature 2 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
239$

I got him a WD 10k RPM 300GB hard drive and I'll get him an SSD in the future if they continue to prove reliability over long term, don't trust SSDs yet.
As for the case and PSU that won't be a problem to decide.

Thanks for any input!

just my personal opinion. but you could just go with a 3570k, and an 1155 board with 16gb of dual channel memory... and invest the money saved on a 670. you will get the same if not better performance especially with games that like to bring warm feelings to gpu's

---------- Post added 2012-12-09 at 10:27 PM ----------

just my personal opinion. but you could just go with a 3570k, and an 1155 board with 16gb of dual channel memory... and invest the money saved on a 670. you will get the same if not better performance especially with games that like to bring warm feelings to gpu's

or you could go with two 660ti's in SLI and still be way under the 2000 dollar limit.

[Deleted]

just my personal opinion. but you could just go with a 3570k, and an 1155 board with 16gb of dual channel memory... and invest the money saved on a 670. you will get the same if not better performance especially with games that like to bring warm feelings to gpu's

---------- Post added 2012-12-09 at 10:27 PM ----------



or you could go with two 660ti's in SLI and still be way under the 2000 dollar limit.

why go SLI already and defeat the purpose of having it as an option for a future upgrade when the guy would actually need the power?

[Faithh]

Dual channel is useless, triple channel is useless, quad channel doesn't exist in my eyes.

The only advantages you have going with an i7 3820 is just that you have an unlocked bclk, while the K versions don't. 3820 can be clocked to 4.7GHz and 40 pci express lanes which would be only useful if you go quad sli. A higher L3 cache, but who cares. S2011 gives just the only advantage that you don't have to attach a backplate to the motherboard to mount your CPU >.<

Going SLI with 1080p monitor and a 60hz monitor is just basically the joke of the year.

@Shroudster The only things I have to disagree is that the H100i is an awesome cooler you mentioned. You're right but if you don't have it FW flashed, you're still having rattling noise. You FW update you get a high pitch fan noise instead. Yep I've encountered this but I changed fans and the high pitch noise is gone.

NH-D14 is easy to install and decent brackets, but the new thermalright SB-e extreme is better

[Deleted]

also good morning xD

true if i ever were to get a H100(i) i'd get them with fan swap atleast and firmware should be latest ofc. (H100 looks really small/clean inside a case compared to air cooler )
thermalright cooler was also pretty good but not sure if worth the extra price vs the nh-d14 (somehow i keep calling it a dh-14? )

[Faithh]

also good morning xD

true if i ever were to get a H100(i) i'd get them with fan swap atleast and firmware should be latest ofc. (H100 looks really small/clean inside a case compared to air cooler )
thermalright cooler was also pretty good but not sure if worth the extra price vs the nh-d14 (somehow i keep calling it a dh-14? )

I had at 1.5Vcore 90° temps in prime95 small fft's with my H100. Now Im around 76° max.

http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages..._review,9.html

The SB-e extreme is outperforming the nh-d14 with 10°, while the h100i at max it outperforming it with almost 20°.

H100i on quite mode (this is low) is running 12° cooler than the H100 at low. Just amazing. But I still would recommend him the SB-E ex.

[Deleted]

cmon 1.5V..... overkill
also when i looked into both coolers (during thread from deltrus iirc), they were actually on par cooling wise.
also we dunno yet how much of an OC'er the OP is.

[ragnarokvr1]

As I've said, my bro won't be playing any Crysis 3s and 4s on this computer, I see him still playing Pirates of the Burning Sea, TOR and maybe Planetside 2, 4 years from now, and he's really crazy about playing on low-medium settings to "save wearing out my graphic card" lol. You see he's even crazier than me haha.

I just want him to have the possibility to try some new games and do his Flash and Photoshop and web programming without a hitch. Unless he experiences total hardware failure in a component, I want him to have no reason to complain about his computer for the next 5 years, I want it to be smooth and slick.

So what do you guys think about the SSD?

To answer your Q Shroudster, I've never been into OC'ing, but if 4-5 years from now I determine that his machine needs a boost in performance, I'll certainly get into it.

[Deleted]

talk some sense into him about wearing the GPU then......
for OC'ing in the future take a nice budget solution then (evo 212 costs around 30 bucks and cools very well incase of future oc'ing)
SSD is a fine choice with intel being top notch reliable and speeds are 500 mb/s region aswell , excellent pick.
also this advice is in regards to the 5 years.

[ragnarokvr1]

I have a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus I bought in anticipation for this, (a few weeks ago)

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16835103065

Is it good enough for OC'ing?

Also I see all the GeForce 660s are 192 bit(?). What would be the advantage of coughing up extra bucks to get into 256 bit(?) memory interface. Is that the number of bits that the memory can process per instruction per cycle or something?

[yurano]

I have a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus I bought in anticipation for this, (a few weeks ago)

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16835103065

Is it good enough for OC'ing?

Also I see all the GeForce 660s are 192 bit(?). What would be the advantage of coughing up extra bucks to get into 256 bit(?) memory interface. Is that the number of bits that the memory can process per instruction per cycle or something?

The Hyper 212 Plus is sufficient for a moderate overclock.

There is no practical advantage to 256-bit memory width since it is only necessary for extremely high resolutions. For example, the 660 Ti drops significantly (but not that much) behind the 7950 (384-bit) when going from 2560x1600 to 5760x1080.


Since resolutions of 2560x1600 and 5760x1080 both cripple modern cards, the 192-bit argument is moot. The only time you'd consider the 256-bit 670 over the 192-bit 660 Ti is if you're going to SLI/CF at these insane resolutions (enthusiast-level). When going from the 660 Ti to the 670, you hit some massive diminishing returns.

TL;DR 256-Bit is a theoretical advantage but doesn't matter much in practice for the average gamer (much like AMD's GPU compute advantage).