New Computer Build. Thoughts? Feedback? Suggestions?

[MattiG]

I'm moderately tech literate, but if you're more so, please let me know if you have any thoughts on the box of parts I'm getting ready to put together over the next few days.

I built my old system, and upgraded the video card (old 4850 to a GTX275 about 3 years ago) as well as the cooler (put on a corsair H60). In the process of all this, I've had each component and each wire out of my case, put all back together, and by some miracle, it's been running like a dream, super frosty, moderately OC'd Q6600 (at 3.2), no issues, and getting the job done.

Time for something new though as being capped at 3.5gb of RAM by the Mobo is no fun in this day and age, nor is being capped by 1 video card when I need to be running more monitors. The new MoBo was not my first choice, but should get the job done. The other components seem pretty hard to argue with best I can tell, but please tell me if I'm wrong. Here goes:

- Cooler Master HAF XM case
- Mobo: MSI Z77-GD65
- CPU: 3570k
- RAM: 4x4 Vengeance (1600)
- HD : Plextor SSD 128gb (may add a storage drive later)
- GPUs: 2x 560's in SLI (saved some money here, but think this'll do for a while)
- PSU: Corsair 850 ATX
- Cooler: Corsair H60 (love the last one, idle at 23-25c)
- OS: Windows 7 ultimate.

Any advice before I strap this thing together is much appreciated. Like I said, I've completely disassembled/reassembled my current machine with great success, but am by no means a pro builder.

[Ashbinder]

Little late to the party and seems you've already done your research and picked your parts, so not too sure what sort of advice you're seeking.

Personally I'm not a huge fan of the GeForce GTX series, mostly because of driver issues with a GTX 580 I used to use. I switched over to a Radeon HD 7970 and never looked back after that, but it's probably a hundred dollars more expensive and likely in a similar ballpark to the performance of your 560 SLI setup, just using a single slot instead of two. I only use one monitor though, so I'm somewhat biased there as well.

On your CPU choice you've obviously chosen with budget rather than performance as your first priority, and I'd say it's a solid one. Hard to argue with the performance of a 3570K for the price tag. If you do decide you want to do a major upgrade in the future I suggest saving towards a 3930K with an appropriate MoBo, it'll cost about twice as much or more as your current chip and return slightly less than twice as much processing speed (using standard benchmarking tests, YMMV).

All I can say is good luck and I hope you don't experience my problems with GeForce drivers! Sounds like a solid mid-range price rig and I'm sure you'll get years out of it with proper cleaning and maintenance.

[MattiG]

Thanks for the detailed reply Ash. +1.

I put everything together shortly after posting and so far it's been excellent. Updated the Nvidia drivers (twice, it seemed) and everything seems to be smooth there although DX11 + DDO on main monitor = other monitors go black. So if I want to multi-monitor and game on one, then I have to run DX9 and thus far, am not aware of a way around this, nor do I know whether or not it's an Nvidia-specific issue. I dig EVGA customer service and warranty.

Otherwise, everything's been solid. IBT on highest setting, 10 cycles stable and 61c max, 4 hours or so of Prime95 at 56c max. 560's seem to always want to run at 63-69c regardless of graphics settings. But they've been great so far. I may give ATI a try one day. Also, I'll definitely move up to a 2011 board on my next build, but as you said, it was another 300-400 bucks just for the processor and another 100 for a comparable 2011 board. Best I could tell from my research, it didn't seem like the price difference would justify the performance increase for the applications I run. The 3570k is super happy at 4.2, but the difference is negligible from 3.8, so I've just left it at that.

The one interesting thing I'll note is that either the Mobo or the processor doesn't seem to care for running my PC 1600 RAM at PC 1600, even when selected appropriately through Intel X.M.P. I occasionally caused screen freezes, or at least I assume it did since I dialed it back down to stock and haven't had any issues.

Anyway, thanks again for the well thought-out response!

-----

For anyone else that comes across this thread and is considering any of the components mentioned, all have worked well for me and were very painless to install.

My least favorite piece is probably the power supply. It was well packaged and has performed as it should, yet the cables and connections look/feel more cheaply made than my old non-modular thermaltake PSU. There are others out there that look more solid, but again, I haven't had any issues that I'm aware of.

The hard drive is slick. 11 second boots. I'll probably buy more plextor drives. 5yr warranty on an SDD.

The RAM is RAM. It's RAM. (however, it might not be on the XMP list, and this could be my issue. Will maybe switch to G.Skill which is on the list, but not sure). It's dead sexy though, in blue, and complements the black and blue MOBO

The MOBO is tremendous bang for the buck. Onboard power/reset rocks. OC Genie is pretty basic, but works. The included manual/software is hit and miss and seems unfinished or poorly translated in parts. Some of the bundled software is buggy. Functions well though.

Maybe my favorite part is the case. The Cooler-Master HAF-XM is a superb balance of NEARLY full-ATX tower interior space with more of a mid-tower look and feel. It's somewhere in between and the HAF-X wouldn't fit under my desk. Cable management is a breeze and included bits/pieces are ideal. Drive bays are a bit plasticky but I think that's pretty normal.

[Eighnuss]

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/331621-28-performance-difference-2550k-3930k

My bad I didnt realize this pc was already built and ordered D: Enjoy your wicked pc.

[MattiG]

Ha, yeah, I remember reading that post (along with many others) before deciding on the 3570k. Thanks.