1. #1
    Banned This name sucks's Avatar
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    First time build advice

    Budget: $1500 Canadian $1483 usd 1135.64 euros 944.678 pounds
    Resolution not entirely sure what my new monitor will be but I think its 1920x1080* if someone could check this for me that would be great
    Games / Settings Desired Skyrim on high-ultra bf3 on high-ultra gw2 on high-ultra wow on ultra etc
    Any other intensive software or special things you do (Frequent video encoding, 3D modeling, etc) Rendering video most likely
    Country Canada

    monitor http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B003UT2C4U

    Can someone explain relatively in depth the difference between i5 2500k and i7 2600k, you would assume the one with the bigger number is better and thats probably true but is it good enough to justify the increased price? I couldn't find much on this.

    power supply http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B004LB5AZY

    Do you think I would need something other than the stock fan? I saw some tutorials of installing a new fan but the way you were suppose to press down on the motherboard and seeing it bend kind of deterred me.

    Mother board This one supports the i5 2500k but I am really not sure about the other parts (including the i7 2600k if recommended) I need to know whether or not it has a SATA 3 port ( the thing for ssds) I don't see it listed on the specshttp://www.amazon.com/ASUS-LGA-1155-...owViewpoints=1

    SSD http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B0057QETGS

    hdd http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B0036Q7MV0

    ram http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B00339X1EM

    Keyboard http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B003ZJ1VD8

    case http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B003ZM7YTA

    Graphics card I have no idea here, I really don't.
    Help me out and tell me if something is over kill or really weak or just plain incompatible.
    Last edited by This name sucks; 2012-04-03 at 01:47 AM.

  2. #2
    Deleted
    For gaming i5-2500k wins, considering price and performance, i7-2600k comes with Hyper-threading, which can actually lower performance (game wise). the i7-2600k is really only worth it if you do any kind of heavy image/video editing/work.

    Part list permalink / Part price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

    CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.99 @ Memory Express)
    CPU Cooler: Xigmatek GAIA SD1283 56.3 CFM CPU Cooler ($31.99 @ Newegg Canada)
    Motherboard: ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($139.69 @ DirectCanada)
    Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($44.99 @ Newegg Canada)
    Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($129.99 @ Canada Computers)
    Hard Drive: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($155.92 @ Amazon Canada)
    Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card ($368.75 @ DirectCanada)
    Case: Corsair 400R ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.99 @ Canada Computers)
    Power Supply: OCZ 600W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($44.99 @ NCIX)
    Optical Drive: Sony AD-7280S-0B DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg Canada)
    Total: $1243.29
    (Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
    (Generated 2012-04-02 22:02 EDT-0400)

    RAM - Cheaper, low profile RAM, making sure it fits with the CPU heatsink.

    CPUHS - I added an aftermarket heatsink, don't worry it's not that hard to mount. Just follow the instructions and mount the back-plate before you mount the motherboard in the case.

    GPU - You didn't list that you needed a GPU but I assume you do? If my recommendation is a little above your budget you can switch to the HD7850 (I'll provide a link).

    MONITOR - I wasn't sure if you already have the monitor you listed but yes that is 1080p (1920x1080).

    SSD - I changed the SSD to a Crucial m4, best SSD out there considering price/performance and reliability.

    ODD - Wasn't sure if you needed an optical drive or not but since they're cheap I included one.

    CASE - You didn't list a case, if you need one the Corsair 400R gets my recommendation, Fractal Design Arc and Corsair 300R/500R are also good ones depending on budget.

    CPU - Intel will be releasing their new CPU's this month (most likely) so it might be worth waiting and pairing with a new Z77/75 motherboard, if not the i5-2500k is the perfect choice, even if you do a little video editing on the side.

    Part list permalink / Part price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

    Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card ($368.75 @ DirectCanada)
    Total: $368.75
    (Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
    (Generated 2012-04-02 22:13 EDT-0400)

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Methanar View Post
    Can someone explain relatively in depth the difference between i5 2500k and i7 2600k, you would assume the one with the bigger number is better and thats probably true but is it good enough to justify the increased price? I couldn't find much on this.
    That's a fairly common mistake novices mistake. For gaming, the 2600K doesn't offer anything over the 2500K, that's because the only difference is that the 2600K sports a technology called hyperthreading, which gives the chip 4 virtual cores on top of its 4 physical cores. In gaming, this is useless, because games don't take advantage of this technology. TL;DR: No, it's not worth the extra money.

    That being said, your build isn't too bad, but I'd do something like this:

    Part list permalink / Part price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks
    CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.99 @ Memory Express)
    CPU Cooler: Corsair CAFA70 61.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Memory Express)
    Motherboard: ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($139.69 @ DirectCanada)
    Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($49.99 @ Canada Computers)
    Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($129.99 @ Canada Computers)
    Hard Drive: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($155.92 @ Amazon Canada)
    Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($449.99 @ NCIX)
    Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.98 @ NCIX)
    Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($103.99 @ Newegg Canada)
    Optical Drive: Sony AD-7280S-0B DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg Canada)
    Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($105.92 @ TigerDirect Canada)
    Total: $1452.44
    (Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
    (Generated 2012-04-02 22:18 EDT-0400)

    - Don't worry too much about installing the aftermarket fan, motherboards are pretty resilient...
    - The motherboard I selected is one of the best/most affordably 1155 motherboards available.
    - The SSD I selected is one of the most reliable available.
    - The video card is one of the best price for performance available.
    - The power supply I selected is high quality with plenty of wattage.
    - Not sure if you need an operating system, but I included one.

    Edit: Beat by Notarget again! >=( Lol, just kidding, his build is also very good, the only real difference is that the video card I selected is a little bit better (but also a little more expensive).
    Last edited by noteworthynerd; 2012-04-03 at 02:22 AM.

  4. #4
    Banned This name sucks's Avatar
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    Ok thanks, from what I've read so far the new Ivybridge cpus are very minimal upgrades from the current ones and that judging from benchmarks its not worth waiting for them if you're impatient. What would you say about that and would you assume they would be similarly priced to the current ones on the market?

  5. #5
    Deleted
    Yes, they will be priced similar to the current ones. If you can't wait then go for it, i5-2500k is good and will last you, especially when overclocked. Personally I would wait, 5-15% performance increase, lower heat and power consumption. There isn't a wrong choice really.

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