Originally Posted by Xerxes Aug 29, 2011

So I basically want to get a new cpu and ssd set up and I have decided to throw in these other components to get more longevity from my machine.  I plan to keep my current gtx 460 to upgrade later, as well as my power supply, hard drive, and sound card.  Any thoughts or helpful comments would be appreciated.  These upgrades will cost just over $1,000.

 

Antec Nine Hundred Two V3 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Gaming Case

Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K

SAMSUNG 470 Series MZ-5PA128/US 2.5" 128GB SATA II Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM

ASUS P8P67 PRO (REV 3.1) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

SeaSonic X Series X-850 (SS-850KM Active PFC F3) 850W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS 12V v2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

 

"To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." - "Ulysses", Lord Tennyson

 

Tiamat Response Aug 30, 2011


Drop the ASrock....

I like the flair of the case - Antec is good stuff. I think the 900 is today's feature on newegg.
Still overpriced. LIAN LI Lancool PC-K58W - slightly larger dimensions and nearly $40 cheaper to put into that new GPU when the time comes.

Xerxes Response Aug 31, 2011



Why drop the Asrock? I was going for a good mobo that was not over $200. I do have some others on the list. This one had good reviews.

I have never been a fan of Lian Li's designe, too sterile for me. Plus I like the Antec's airflow capabilities and the purty blue lightning. Helps me relax. In terms of larger cases I was also eyeing up the HAF 932 as well, but that one is pricier.

"To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." - "Ulysses", Lord Tennyson

Tiamat Response Aug 31, 2011

 

 

Plenty of good boards to be had while under $200 that aren't re-branded and failed Asus products meant to compete with Foxconn and PCchips. *yuck*

I've yet to own a single ASrock board that I've been pleased with. Seeing as how I quit purchasing their products some time ago, that should give you
an indication of how content I am with different manufacturer's.


If you like flair on your case, then by all means - do you. I like simplistic, more function over form. That said, nothing wrong with the case you picked.
Air flow is plentiful. Hell, most cases like that don't need half the fans they hold. I used one of those Cooler Masters for a friends build. You can find them
right around $100. I like the accessibility and room myself.

Xerxes Response Sept 1, 2011



Ahh the info about Asrock is much appreciated. That stuff I would never know. I do have other mobos on my wish list, but I will dig some more.

I don't think I will need too much extra space in my case, seems like what people are saying in the reviews won't bother me. But I have been know to be wrong....
"To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." - "Ulysses", Lord Tennyson

Kasper Response Sept 1, 2011


X,

Asus owns ASrock, its their "value" board line. Take that for what its worth. There are 100's of mixed reviews on ASrock quality. Personally, I tend to buy from ASUS (not asrock) or Gigabyte; you can't go wrong with either of them, but you also will pay a little more. I do love that Antec case, but I'm also partial towards Antec as 90% of all my cases I've ever purchased have been Antec.

Read this....might help with your motherboard decision. Also, not familiar with the memory you picked out. Make sure any memory you buy is on the HCL (hardware compatibility list).


http://www.anandtech.com/show/4130/...yte-at-190

“Be always sure you're right, then go ahead.” - Davy Crockett

Xerxes Response Sept 1,2011


I have 3 ASUS mobos on my wishlist, including the one from Kasper's article which is now only $160. I will look into them some more and post. I think the RAM I posted is okay, it also have 5 eggs with 206 review and it says its made for p67 mobos, plus it's a pretty blue. I think I will base all my future choices on the the color blue.

"To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." - "Ulysses", Lord Tennyson



Xerxes Response Sept 11, 2011


I just updated my original post above. I narrowed down my choice of mobo and I added an extra power supply now. It is pricey, but the modular feature seems worth it, plus it seems energy efficient. Basically I have gone from upgrading to building an almost entire new rig. (Shhhhh don't tell my wife!). I will get a new video card shortly after this beast is set up.

One last question about sound - I have always used sound cards, but to save at least some money I plan on not getting one right now. Has audio output on mobos become decent and acceptable or do I want a sound card for better quality still?


"To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." - "Ulysses", Lord Tennyson

Havoc Response Sept 11, 2011


I haven't used a sound card in my most recent build, and the sound seems fine. In regard to your modular power supply, I have used 1 before several years ago. After I installed it, I read about how there is a loss due to there being a connection, rather than a straight wiring. Since then, they may have been improved, but I have not looked into them in some time. Also, I have never heard of "Seasonic" before.... has anyone used them before?

Kasper Response Sept 12, 2011



No, I have never heard of Seasonic. I assumed that X had done his research rather than just looking at price.

“Be always sure you're right, then go ahead.” - Davy Crockett

Xerxes Response Sept 12, 2011


Neither have I, but the reviews have all been pretty good. I was compaing it to similar Corsair power supply that is slightly cheaper. I will look into it more after Havoc's comment, but they do seem to have improved. I first caught on to Seasonic on newegg.com. They coincidently came out with 3 updated video tutorials for constructing a PC and they used the Seasonic on their higher end build.

"To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." - "Ulysses", Lord Tennyson

Tiamat Response Sept 12, 2011



Modular supplies have come along way. The primary issue (being its not "straight" wired - use to be flux on the lines. That's been addressed and far improved from
2007. I have also used several Seasonic units. Before I bought my Tt1100 I had a Ss 750. A dear friend of mine has had his Sonic going strong for 4 years. Good stuff.

Sound cards were something that we're for audiophile's before motherboard manufacturers began integrating HD/SoundBlaster/CreativeLabs etc etc... I wouldn't bother.
Today's 5.1, 7.1 and so on will be more then adequate. Plus it just saves you more $$

I just upgraded my desktop last weekend to play BF3...

I went with the:
Core i5 2500K LGA 1155 Boxed Processor
P8P67 Deluxe R3 LGA 1155 P67 ATX Intel Motherboard
Vengeance Series 8GB DDR3-1600 (PC3-12800); CL9 Dual Channel Desktop Memory Kit (Two 4GB Memory Modules)
and 2 GTX460's in SLI

Good call on the 2500. Pointless to spend $100 more on the 26 and the only real benefit being the extra cache.

I hope you didn't buy both of those 460's though.

Posted By tiamat on 05 Oct 2011 04:36 PM
I hope you didn't buy both of those 460's though.

Why you say that, T? New egg had them on sale a few months ago, I paid $120 each and in SLI they kill a single gtx580. You can't even buy a decent 580 for under $300, even today.

You can still find the "ASUS ENGTX460 DIRECTCU/2DI/1GD5 Graphics adapter - 1 GB - GDDR5 SDRAM" for under $150, which makes it a better deal than the gtx580, not to mention, this current build is allowing me to play BF3 on HIGH Video settings. I haven't had time to try and push it any farther "yet".

Because Southern Islands and Kemplar (ATI/Nv) are released this holiday season. Announcements are rumored as early as mid November.

I'm not sure what time-frame you bought the pair in though. You got them recently with your current build? If so I would (and I am) have just sat on a single card
holding onto another $100 so until Novembe. The upgraded shader models, proper PCI-E 2.1-3.0 support and extra memory bandwith would have payed off.


Again you got those cards cheap enough that I myself wouldn't complain. Just looking at a more... future proof alternative. Especially considering DX11 performance.

Oh yeah, I'm jealous of your build lol. I haven't touched my machine in... nearly 2 years I think.

Did you buy your components yet?

Check out http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews...,3070.html for SSD information

Also, here are benchmarks of SSDs http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/...,2792.html

Looks like your Samsung SSD comes in on the bottom tiers of SSDs. Also, I have been seeing SSDs on sale all over the place for black friday and cyber monday.

I have an Intel SSD in my system at work - Intel Solid-State Drive 510 series Solid state drive - 120 GB - internal - 2.5" - SATA-600 SSDSC2MH120A2K5.

this was the best performance/price I could get when trying to keep my total system cost under $1000; I find it hangs on me a couple times a week, but it might just be the noisy powerlines in my office. I think OZC has the best overall SSD drives.

Thanks for the updates.  I ended up going with the crucial m4 128g.  Even though the Ocz drives may be rated high, I have been reading some negative reviews in terms of reliability, updating firmware, and other stuff that made me stay away from them.  Although they are priced cheaper.  I wasn't set on the samsung either I just needed to do more research.