17 replies to this topic

[Res- Musph]

Morning TL from an Aussie mate from Resonance!

Was browsing your forums and stumbled on this section; figured why not register and get some opinions from folks who clearly know their stuff.

My trusty crossfired 4850s finally decided to start giving out; giving me a fantastic excuse to upgrade ol' faithful. I will primarily be using my rig for GW2 and plan to dabble in making videos; future-proofing is also in the back of my mind.

I've only been building PCs for three odd years, though I learn quick and feel darn confident in my knowledge. Spent the better part of last fortnight researching everything relentlessly.

From the data I've mined, in the end my set-up is looks like this (asterisks represent what I already own);

• *CPU: AMD FX 4170 Quad Core OC'd to 4.5GHz.
• *Motherboard: GA-990FXA-D3.
• *Ram: G.Skill Ripjaws X F3-10666CL9D-8GBXL (2x4GB) DDR3.
• GPU: HIS Radeon HD7970 3GB IceQ X2 Turbo.
• *PSU: Cooler Master UCP 700W.
• SSD: Samsung 830 Series 128GB.
• HDD1:: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB.
• Monitor: Samsung S24A850DWK 24" LED.
• *Case: CoolerMaster HAF 932.
• Cooling: x3 BitFenix Spectre Pro 230mm (front, side, top), BitFenix Spectre Pro 140mm (back).
• *OS: Windows 7 Professional x64.
• Optional Stuff: DEMCi Flex CoolerMaster HAF 932 Filter Kit.

Also plan to pick up a Logitech G600 when they're out in Australia, my lovely G9s cords are frayed and held together with electrical tape currently.

I'm more than welcome to any suggestions and changes; regards to both what I already own and what I have yet to buy.

Cheers in advance mates; looking forward to hearing from TL folk.

[Beiufin]

CPU: Clock speed doesn't mean everything, the price is usually a pretty good indication of how the CPU performs, the FX 4170 is a pretty slow card when compared to Intel's mid ranged CPUs, the i5s (the i5s are almost twice as fast). of course upgrading you CPU would also mean you would have to upgrade your MoBo.

GPU: If your getting a 7970, you want to get the GHz edition, its performs about 20% better than the standard 7970.

Monitors: Its been a long while since Ive looked at monitors, but it seems the Samsung a850 series tends to have back-light bleeding issues. I personally have always been impressed with Dells monitors (due to quality and simplistic design). But finding the right monitor all comes down to doing A LOT of research on reviews, forums, etc.

Everything Else: looks good.

[Res- Musph]

Cheers for the quick reply Beiu.

I'm fine with getting a GHz edition, I can't buy it yet in Australia, hence I'll have to wait to see the price. That being said, I plan to buy said upgrades sometime near August, so I have plenty of time.

I'm open to suggestions on a new CPU and MoBo; I originally bought the CPU and MoBo the same day my old ones decided to bugger up. A quick glance at prices shows I should allow an extra five hundred or so AUD.

Currently this new rig is sitting pretty at about 1500 AUD, but I'd rather spend a little more and get a decent rig which lasts me a long while.

My highest priority, being the sucker for aesthetics that I am, is GW2 on ultra at 1920x1200. Everything else is on the backburner 'till the hype dies. . Something that'll lasts me a long while is a bonus.

Edit: I spent a little while checking my options out; I've read many good things about the core i5-2500K (especially with the unlocked multiplier). I could toss that in a ASRock P67 Extreme4; it would set me back around 422 AUD. No idea if I'd pick the Ivy over the Sandy bridge.

Edited by Res- Musph, 08 July 2012 - 06:28 AM.

[Triheart]

If your conscious of your budget I advise you to switch your SSD to a cheaper alternative. Intel SSD are always expensive but don't get me wrong they are fantastic. You should check out the crucial m4 128GB it is very reliable as well.
For CPU I think it is better to go into intel, i5 2500K (which I'm using) is more than enough and probably the best for your needs unless you need hyperthreading or higher clock speeds.
If you can squeeze in a CPU cooler as well, Corsair H100 or go for thermaltake/coolmaster cooler blocks (huge hunk of metal on your CPU + fans flowing through them)

[StandBY]

If your conscious of your budget I advise you to switch your SSD to a cheaper alternative. Intel SSD are always expensive but don't get me wrong they are fantastic. You should check out the crucial m4 128GB it is very reliable as well.
For CPU I think it is better to go into intel, i5 2500K (which I'm using) is more than enough and probably the best for your needs unless you need hyperthreading or higher clock speeds.

There is pretty much no reason you shouldn't be getting an Intel CPU. If you can afford the Intel SSDs then you should get them and speaking of the crucial m4s, they should come with the latest firmware so it saves you the trouble of updating it yourself

[Res- Musph]

Cheers for the suggestions.

Not at my pc and short on time so excuse the lack of eloquence.
From what I gather a i5-2500k is best bang for my buck. Thinking of tossing it into a MSI Z77A-GD80 or GD65?

[Silentverdict]

From what I'm seeing, the GD80 only adds a thunderbolt controller (which few things can really use yet) over the GD65. I'd personally save the money, but it's up to you.

[Res- Musph]

Good morning folks.
Cheers for the suggestion Silent!

I've narrowed my options down to;

• i7 3770k & ASRock Z77 Extreme6 (560~ AUD)
• i5-2500k & MSI Z77A-GD65 (445~ AUD)

The extra hundred odd bucks doesn't bother me too much; it pushed the cost to around 1900~ AUD regardless.
I can see myself tossing a CoolerMaster X6 cooler on both of those.


With regards to the SSD suggestion, strangely enough, the Samsung 830 is 130~ AUD, while the Crucial is 150~ AUD.

[Silentverdict]

If you want an Ivy bridge, I'd recommend the i5 3570k. It'l save you some money from the 3770. Personally I like the 2500k for the extra overclocking, but if you do no overclocking or a less major overclock, the 3570k will be faster. All the 3770k really adds over the 3570k is turbo boost, which could potentially help a bit in Video work, but wouldn't change your gaming performance at all. Whether that makes it worth the cost is up to you

[Res- Musph]

Fantastic. i5-3570k sounds good.

I plan to OC as far as I feel confident and the extra hundred I save goes towards keeping the missus content. Happy wife, happy life and all that.

Cheers Silent, you're a legend.

[Silentverdict]

Happy to help man. Oh and make sure you grab a cooler for your CPU if you haven't already planned on it, the Hyper 212 evo is an inexpensive but powerful cooler, as long as your case isn't tiny.

[Res- Musph]

I was considering a Thermaltake Frio; something bulky and powerful really. My HAF 932 looks a little empty.

[Lakevren]

I was considering a Thermaltake Frio; something bulky and powerful really. My HAF 932 looks a little empty.

The Frio is considered to be ridiculously noisy.

You might want the NZXT Havik 140 instead. Not bulky, but at the same time, not a crappy performer. But if you want bulky, get the Noctua NH-D14.


BUUUT, if you want REALLY bulky:

That's the Scythe Susanoo.

But the Noctua NH-D14 is better still.

[Silentverdict]

hahaha oh man that's ridiculous. I love it. Reminds me of a fan my friend used to have called the Hurricane, that thing was so loud we made him take it out before he could LAN with us.

[Res- Musph]

Brb, butchering a leaf blower.

I can't take Noctua seriously; despite them making clearly good stuff; NH-C14 and NH-D14.
Considering a Coolermaster TPC 812; from what I gather it takes good care of the hotter Ivy bridges; especially if I decide to OC the 3750k to 4.3GHz or there abouts.

[Lakevren]

Brb, butchering a leaf blower.

I can't take Noctua seriously; despite them making clearly good stuff; NH-C14 and NH-D14.
Considering a Coolermaster TPC 812; from what I gather it takes good care of the hotter Ivy bridges; especially if I decide to OC the 3750k to 4.3GHz or there abouts.

I personally have the C14, only because my side panel with a mesh was being utterly useless and I needed a way to do positive pressure to reduce dust, and one way was having the rear fan be an intake, as well as having the side mesh intake air by the C14. It is indeed one of the best topflow (non-tower type) heatsink.

But don't mind me asking, why can't you take Noctua seriously? Is it the ugly looking fans? Because I agree with the ugly looking fans.

[Res- Musph]

Yep. That's exactly why I can't take it seriously. I know they're fantastic cooling options, but the aesthetics are just so...yeah.
I hear that from a lot of people though; take a Noctua over the TPC 812.

I'd never pick aesthetics over function; however it seems Noctua went out of their way to test this; and shit, they've beat me. C'mere pretty fans. <3

[Lakevren]

You may wanna try Phanteks PH-TC14PE, which almost looks like a Noctua D14, but with different colors. Several colors, actually. Ugly color scheme need not apply. Comes really close to the Noctua D14.

They also have a top-flow version similar to the Noctua C14, but I forgot the model number as well as its cooling performance.