New rig - rate and discuss

[Wiltrold]

Hi everyone

Im planning to get a new rig now that my 2 year old laptop can't handle the games anymore. It has been some time since I last builded a system, so I'd like your advice about this one I've been working on:

* INTEL i7 870 (SOCKET 1156), 4x2.93ghz
* 1GB DDR5 GTX560 TI
* GIGABYTE P55
* 4GB DDR3 1600MHZ RAM, KINGSTON
* 22x SATA DVDBURNER +/-, and DVD-RAM (LG)
* 750W "GAMING" Powersupply, SILENT HIGH-END
* 500GB WD HARDDISK,7200RPM
* KABINET ECCO-CASE

I'm currently playing WoW, Crysis, BF BC2, TF2, SC2, Amnesia and soon Rift. Will this rig handle the job? I've been thinking about getting a GTX 480 instead of the 560, but is it worth the extra cash? How many years will I be able to play on max/nearly max with the 560 compared to the 480?

Thanks
WilTrold

[Jurwi]

Ditch the last generation crap and get Sandy Bridge mobo+cpu, i5-2500K pref. i7 870 is overpriced garbage.

[Wiltrold]

Performance wise, will that be an improvement? Price-wise, equal or what?
And what is the name of the mobo?

[Alan1187]

Better performance, and I believe cheaper? Forget the price on that cpu. Also p67 is the mobo chipset, but they are currently unavailable I believe (soon reavailable). Personally I run an i5 2500k with an asus p8p67 pro mobo and a coolermaster v8 cpu fan with a 4.5 oc hitting 62c at max sustained load. It has no hyper threading though if you feel you need that. Also my 560 eats all of your games just fine, but id recommend sli later. Its a really nice and fast gpu though (and the msi one runs real cool even oc'd to 1001ghz instead of its stock 880).

[Wiltrold]

But will the P55 work with i5 2500k? Or do I need to get another mobo?

[Jurwi]

But will the P55 work with i5 2500k? Or do I need to get another mobo?

No, just like Alan already said you need P67 mobo. 2500K is way cheaper than i7-870. Performance wise i5-2500K will beat i7-870 on anything that supports max 4 threads effectively. i7-870 might outperform it on applications that can take advantage of HT. But even in those applications, i7-2600K would be far better choice. Same price, way better performance.

[Wiltrold]

As said before, I'm not really into the system building anymore. So what would the system look like? (a list like I did it) With coolers, mobo, RAM, CPU, GPU, etc..

[nwo]

As said before, I'm not really into the system building anymore. So what would the system look like? (a list like I did it) With coolers, mobo, RAM, CPU, GPU, etc..

All you need to do is switch the CPU to an i5 2500k and to a P67 chipset motherboard. You can keep everything else the same. You can use the stock cooler unless you plan on OCing the CPU.

[Wiltrold]

Also the RAM?
Cool!

How about the GPU, anyone have experiences with it? Is it a good idea to switch to 480 GTX? or will 560 TI hold it's stand?

[nwo]

Also the RAM?
Cool!

How about the GPU, anyone have experiences with it? Is it a good idea to switch to 480 GTX? or will 560 TI hold it's stand?

Yeah, you can also keep the same RAM.

A GTX 560 Ti is the best bang for the buck card in its price range, there is no need to get a 480GTX in my opinion. It's not going to give you any additional years over a 560Ti. You will probably have to upgrade them around the same time so it is better to spend less now. Paying an extra $150 or so for an extra 10-20% extra performance is not worth it.

Here is a link if you want to see for yourself: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/330?vs=309

[Wiltrold]

Nice to hear about the GPU

Do you think it is worth getting 8 GB of RAM instead of 4GB?

[Jurwi]

Also the RAM?
Cool!

How about the GPU, anyone have experiences with it? Is it a good idea to switch to 480 GTX? or will 560 TI hold it's stand?

Don't even consider 480. If you want more juice, go for 570. 560 is already a pretty decent card, but it _WILL_ have problems playing heaviest new games with max settings @ 1900x1080. Crysis 2 for example. 560 should handle those games you mentioned easily though.

But seriously if you do want better than 560, get 570 or 580. Not 480.

---------- Post added 2011-02-21 at 01:05 PM ----------

Nice to hear about the GPU

Do you think it is worth getting 8 GB of RAM instead of 4GB?

Depends on how you use the computer. Personally I multitask like hell so I went for 8GB. I tried 4GB for a while, but my computer just started to slow down quite a bit once I had opened like WoW, MS Office, Carbide C++, firefox, and some other programs at same time. No problems with 8GB.

[nwo]

Nice to hear about the GPU

Do you think it is worth getting 8 GB of RAM instead of 4GB?

Depends on how much multi-tasking you do. If all you're going to do is play games with vent/music open then there is no need to get more than 4GB. But if you like to leave firefox open with 20+ tabs and videos open or do video encoding while gaming, then you might see a nice benefit from 8GB.

[Alan1187]

Depends on how much multi-tasking you do. If all you're going to do is play games with vent/music open then there is no need to get more than 4GB. But if you like to leave firefox open with 20+ tabs and videos open or do video encoding while gaming, then you might see a nice benefit from 8GB.

I concur. I currently have 8, and never use more then 33% of my available ram.

[Wiltrold]

Uhm.. I just talked to my pc-seller, and he said that he wouldn't sell me the i5 2500k and to a P67 chipset motherboard because of a defect on the SATA 2 ports.. Does any of you know of this issue?
Thanks

[Mass0wnage]

Uhm.. I just talked to my pc-seller, and he said that he wouldn't sell me the i5 2500k and to a P67 chipset motherboard because of a defect on the SATA 2 ports.. Does any of you know of this issue?
Thanks

Yeah, they wont be available til March or April. Funny people are telling you to go buy SB Setup because it rocks! But you can't buy the parts for 1-2 months. At this rate, Why not wait til i9 or w/e comes out!?

[Deleted]

Yeah, they wont be available til March or April. Funny people are telling you to go buy SB Setup because it rocks! But you can't buy the parts for 1-2 months. At this rate, Why not wait til i9 or w/e comes out!?

If you are based in the UK, availability of the P67 is not an issue.

[Sleepysnik]

Nice to hear about the GPU

Do you think it is worth getting 8 GB of RAM instead of 4GB?

I do (not a must, but there will be a difference to it) Based on this:
-You should get more RAM if you plan to run 64-bit OS, since it (correct me if im wrong) takes up a little more than 32-bit.
-32 bit windows will still take up a fair chunk of your ~3,5-3,8 gigs of available ram (You can't benefit from all 4 with 32 bit)
- 1gb gpu will take up, yes, 1 gig of available ram. So let's say you go for 4gigs, that rig and a 32bit OS. That leaves you with about 1,5 gigs that are not taken by your system and GPU.

Also Ram is cheap, put in 6 or 8 with a 64 bit OS and it will be the least of your concerns for a while.
When it comes to Rift, it's kinda hard to tell. The game is still so new that some setups struggle with it because it's drivers are not optmized for it etc. So in that case, I would wait for benchmarks etc to arrive.

[helusay]

I do (not a must, but there will be a difference to it) Based on this:
-You should get more RAM if you plan to run 64-bit OS, since it (correct me if im wrong) takes up a little more than 32-bit.
-32 bit windows will still take up a fair chunk of your ~3,5-3,8 gigs of available ram (You can't benefit from all 4 with 32 bit)
- 1gb gpu will take up, yes, 1 gig of available ram. So let's say you go for 4gigs, that rig and a 32bit OS. That leaves you with about 1,5 gigs that are not taken by your system and GPU.

Also Ram is cheap, put in 6 or 8 with a 64 bit OS and it will be the least of your concerns for a while.
When it comes to Rift, it's kinda hard to tell. The game is still so new that some setups struggle with it because it's drivers are not optmized for it etc. So in that case, I would wait for benchmarks etc to arrive.

Well, I think that the main reason that he would want to choose a 64-bit OS over a 32-bit is that a 32-bit OS will only make 3GB of RAM available to him. I would recommend that anyone using 4GB RAM and above go ahead and make the switch to a 64-bit OS. I also agree, RAM is cheap enough to max it out now rather than adding/replacing it with more in the future.

[Nejji]

Hi everyone

Im planning to get a new rig now that my 2 year old laptop can't handle the games anymore. It has been some time since I last builded a system, so I'd like your advice about this one I've been working on:

* INTEL i7 870 (SOCKET 1156), 4x2.93ghz
* 1GB DDR5 GTX560 TI
* GIGABYTE P55
* 4GB DDR3 1600MHZ RAM, KINGSTON
* 22x SATA DVDBURNER +/-, and DVD-RAM (LG)
* 750W "GAMING" Powersupply, SILENT HIGH-END
* 500GB WD HARDDISK,7200RPM
* KABINET ECCO-CASE

I'm currently playing WoW, Crysis, BF BC2, TF2, SC2, Amnesia and soon Rift. Will this rig handle the job? I've been thinking about getting a GTX 480 instead of the 560, but is it worth the extra cash? How many years will I be able to play on max/nearly max with the 560 compared to the 480?

Thanks
WilTrold

Really suspicious unit there. I would replace it with something known, and less powerful. A 550 watt power supply from Antec would be good for this.