Hi guys, Just registered at the forums recently, just wanted a bit of advice on whether this build is both cost efficient (bang for buck) and whether it's better to buy parts and build it myself or have the good people at Scan slap it together for me. As follows: (To buy) Case: Antec 902 Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD4 CPU: Core i7-2600k CPU cooler: Corsair H70 Hydro-cooler Nvidia GFX: EVGA GTX 580 1.5gb (standard clock, I can OC if needed without having to pay for the <3% overclock of the SC version) Drive 1: OCZ Sandforce Vertex 2E 120gb SSD (Sys drive) Drive 2: 1 TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 (Other drive) PSU: 850W Corsair HX PSU SC: Asus Xonar D2X (Already bought) Filco Majestouch Mechanical Keyboard (MX Black switches) Noppoo Choc Mini (Mech Tenkeyless w. Brown switches) KRK RP5 G2 studio monitors w. Wharfedale SW150 subwoofer (This sounds bleeping amazing - can't wait to play Bad Company 2 on this set-up) Siberia V2s (gaming headset) Sennheiser HD25 C-II Microsoft Sidewinder X6 mouse (used this with my mac) Some questions... Scan's 3XS configurator brings this combination (the "To buy" bit) to a little less than 1750 quid. I'm just wondering if it's actually possible to beat this price as they seem to have a phenomenal pricing policy on their own builds (but I haven't done _extensive_ research). From what I've heard they have great service too. Seeing as the 560s are released next week (the 25th, I believe) I was wondering if a combination of 2 of these in SLI would smack the 580, and for less money than a single 580 at that. If this is the case is it still worth going with the higher cost GPU if I'm only going to be gaming at resolutions of 1920x1200 on a 24" screen? Another thing I'm worried about is the soundcard, as I'm coming from the dark side (Mac) where I used an Apogee Duet, which is extremely well respected in the audiophile community. I used to listen out of it with a Senn HD600 but I'm selling that partly fund this new venture, haha. I haven't read too much about the Asus Xonar D2X so I was wondering if any audio fanatics had good things to say about it. Thanks for the help in advance! P.S. Please ignore any links in this post - I don't know where they came from -they seem to be some sort of advertising method built into the forum... "Skimlinks". Ignore all please, I have not linked anything in this post.
I think that you could save a bit of money on this build: For the CPU, I think that the 2500K offers much better value for money the performne differen between the 2600K and the 2500K is much slimmer than the price difference. I don't think I would bother with the H70 - Sandy Bridge is quite cool running. You could go for the cheaper H50, but to be honest something like the Thermaltake Frio or the Gelid Tranquillo will be perfectly sufficient. The GTX 580 is probably overkill at 1920x1200. The GTX 570 will provide more than enough power at that resolution. I would also think that a 850w PSU is too much - 750 (maybe 650w) should be sufficient. As for soundcard, I'd go for the Xonar DX. You could certainly get a PC that is just as good for everyday usage as what you have specced up for a grand or so.
After having many issues with 2 Asus P8P67 PRO boards I would recommend getting the Gigabyte P67A-UD4. I know there are probably issues with the UD4 too but a quick Google highlights many more serious problems with the PRO, the manufacturer forums are a good comparison. I'm sure there are plenty of people who have great systems running at we speak with the PRO but it could be more hassle than it's worth! Just a friendly warning. ak_2020's suggestions are sound though
Appreciate the suggestions - yeah, I think with the 570 I could get away with the 650 watt PSU. Only thing is that I was thinking of slapping in another card in SLI down the line sometime, so thought it might be easier to go for the 850 watt at the beginning the have to deal with any lack of power in the future. I do want to be able to play games like Bad Company 2 and SC2 maxed out detail-wise at 1920x1080. http://www.guru3d.com/article/core-i5-2500k-and-core-i7-2600k-review/21 --> this test puts the GTX 580 at 70 fps on BC2 with high detail on either the i5 or i7. http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2010/12/07/nvidia-geforce-gtx-570-1-3gb-review/8 <-- This suggests the 570 isn't far off the 580 at all... wow. Definitely reconsidering the 580 having read that. Downgrading to the Xonar DX might make sense too actually, as I may as well have a 'gaming' centric soundcard which is fairly inexpensive in my desktop and buy a studio-grade one (external perhaps, RME Babyface or MOTU 828) down the line when I can afford it (I do a lot of audio production etc on Ableton). Cheers for the feedback - at this stage I am very seriously thinking of changing the CPU to the i5 and the GFX to the 570 (if I really need the performance boost, I could get another 570 in SLI).
Definitely go for the UD4. I have previously owned MSI and ASUS boards. The Gigabyte is much better built and more stable. I think the 2600k is only really advantageous if you're trying to push silly high clock speeds. The 2500k is definitely better value (disregard the fact that i went for the 2600k). I also agree that for your resolution a 570 would suffice.
Thanks for the info dead beat and soviet_ - I was looking at the Asus mobo and it does seem to have some nice features such as UEFI. Is their really a large quality difference between them? Can anyone point me to a discussion of the pros/cons? I've only been able to find fairly positive reviews of both online. Edit: Nevermind: found some threads here that convinced me to go with Gigabyte. Rejigged my config which is looking like this atm: Cost (GBP) Item 256.4 Gigabyte P67A-UD7 95 60gb OCZ 2E 246.2 OEM i7 2600k 92.87 antec 902 77.55 corsair h70 94.94 corsair vengeance 305 gainward gtx 570 phantom 110 corsair hx 750 34 samsung f3 41 lg 8x reader/dvdrw 57.58 xonar dx 17.1 edimax pci wireless This comes to a little less than 1450, which is a significant saving on Scan's build (if I build it myself of course) and has a much, much better mobo. The reason I put the UD7 in this config is because I read dead beat's experience with it and I also want to keep my upgrade path as open as possible. Also it's sexy as *&^%. Also not sure whether to keep the SSD for the moment or not. Heard it does have a very noticeable performance boost if you're used to normal HDDs like I am. Anyone know why the OEM i7 is a bit cheaper than Retail i7 - any significant differences between 'em? Just makes buying an i7 as cheap as the retail i5 from what I can see.
With OEM, you don't get all the extra stuff (in this case Intel stock cooler) that you don't really need. I'm still not sure that the 2600K is worth it - the OEM version is still a good £70 more expensive than the OEM i5...but if you really want it, go for it!
Ah I see - yeah seeing as I'll be getting the H70 there's no need for the stock cooler I assume. Cheers for the info!
