The PC Build Thread

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Duff-Man said:
Hi EtTa


I would, for your price range, recommend the ASUS P8Z77-V @R2346, it has, 4x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 ports, 2 x SATA 6GB/s ports and 4 x SATA 3GB/s ports and the option for Quad GPU SLI along with 3-way Crossfire support . If you could push your budget a bit then I would recommend the Pro version. As for RAM I would recommend a Kingston Hyper X 8GB Kit @R455

Hope this helps, if you have any questions just ask ;)
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Thanks a lot Duff-Man. I will defintely have a closer look at the P8Z77-V. I'll post my build here afterwards with some feedback on the board I decided to go with :)

One last question - As I said, the 3770K provides little benefit over the 3570K if you're not doing heavy multitasking which is why I've decided against it. However, I read an article in the NAG tonight which said that games might make better use of multi-threaded CPUs sooner than we think, which got me thinking whether I should not rather get the 3770K :P Especially since I don't plan on upgrading my CPU again for at least the next 3-4 years. What's your take on this Duff-Man? Or anyone else for that matter...
 
So, realizing I will likely change my mind about my setup up until the moment I actually place the order for the parts, I've now ended up with the following:

Case: Undecided, but leaning towards the CM Silencio
PSU: Corsair GS700
MB: GIGABYTE Z77-D3H
CPU: i5 2500K** + CM Hyper 212
RAM: G.Skill Ripjawsx 16GB 1600
GPU: AMD 785O OC 2GB/DDR5/256bit (Will be XFired at a later stage)
HDD: Seagate Bara 2TB 7200 x 2

**I thought long and hard about the i5 vs. i7 dilemma. With the exception of 4 additional cores, the i7 2600K really doesn't provide all that much more in terms of performance. By no means R1000- worth of performance at least. Now, I know the moment I slap the i5 in there I'm going to feel I should have gone the i7 route instead, but ya.

The only place I think I might really get the benefit of the i7 is with running my virtualization labs, but I don't think it's going to be that much more efficiant on such a small scale.

Thoughts, comments?
 
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srothman said:
<snip>
**I thought long and hard about the i5 vs. i7 dilemma. With the exception of 4 additional cores, the i7 2600K really doesn't provide all that much more in terms of performance. By no means R1000- worth of performance at least. Now, I know the moment I slap the i5 in there I'm going to feel I should have gone the i7 route instead, but ya. <snip>
Click to expand...

You don't really get 4 more cores, just Hyper threading. ;)

Also, look at Ivy Bridge, only like a R200 difference.

2500K
3570K
 
srothman said:
So, realizing I will likely change my mind about my setup up until the moment I actually place the order for the parts, I've now ended up with the following:

Case: Undecided, but leaning towards the CM Silencio
PSU: Corsair GS700
MB: GIGABYTE Z77-D3H
CPU: i5 2500K** + CM Hyper 212
RAM: G.Skill Ripjawsx 16GB 1600
GPU: AMD 785O OC 2GB/DDR5/256bit (Will be XFired at a later stage)
HDD: Seagate Bara 2TB 7200 x 2

**I thought long and hard about the i5 vs. i7 dilemma. With the exception of 4 additional cores, the i7 2600K really doesn't provide all that much more in terms of performance. By no means R1000- worth of performance at least. Now, I know the moment I slap the i5 in there I'm going to feel I should have gone the i7 route instead, but ya.

The only place I think I might really get the benefit of the i7 is with running my virtualization labs, but I don't think it's going to be that much more efficiant on such a small scale.

Thoughts, comments?
Click to expand...

Rather get a 3rd Gen CPU. Theres like a couple of rands difference in price at most stores. Maybe you need to LOOK harder instead ;)
 
srothman said:
So, realizing I will likely change my mind about my setup up until the moment I actually place the order for the parts, I've now ended up with the following:

Case: Undecided, but leaning towards the CM Silencio
PSU: Corsair GS700
MB: GIGABYTE Z77-D3H
CPU: i5 2500K** + CM Hyper 212
RAM: G.Skill Ripjawsx 16GB 1600
GPU: AMD 785O OC 2GB/DDR5/256bit (Will be XFired at a later stage)
HDD: Seagate Bara 2TB 7200 x 2

**I thought long and hard about the i5 vs. i7 dilemma. With the exception of 4 additional cores, the i7 2600K really doesn't provide all that much more in terms of performance. By no means R1000- worth of performance at least. Now, I know the moment I slap the i5 in there I'm going to feel I should have gone the i7 route instead, but ya.

The only place I think I might really get the benefit of the i7 is with running my virtualization labs, but I don't think it's going to be that much more efficiant on such a small scale.

Thoughts, comments?
Click to expand...

The i5 would be fine for you, but your best option would be to get a Ivy Bridge i5, should see around a 15% performance boost compared to the Sandy Bridge i5.

Here's the cheapest price that I could find : i5 3570K @R2210
 
Duff-Man said:
You gotta love the Black and Gold colour scheme : Image
Click to expand...

I've read in a few forums that people struggle to fit coolers in these puppies though? It would be a shame buying such an expensive motherboard and then later realizing you can't OC because you can't fit a cooler on your board:wtf:
 
It's my first time for building a HTPC I'm used to gaming rigs can I ask you guys to advise me on the best bang for buck system? It is going to be used with a Full HD 32" and a surround sound system if that helps. Budget is neg. and the case would be chosen by me so it can be excluded.

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: Case will be either Antec Fusion Remote or Thermaltake DH101 Media Chassis
 
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Hi Duff-Man

Can you recommend a graphics card for me please or anyone else for that matter :)
Joburg shops only please if possible
Budget is R3000-R3500
 
Ampha said:
Hi Duff-Man

Can you recommend a graphics card for me please or anyone else for that matter :)
Joburg shops only please if possible
Budget is R3000-R3500
Click to expand...

Sometimes I wonder why I bother... :confused:

You're looking for a HD7850, HD6970, or a GTX570
 
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EtTA said:
I've read in a few forums that people struggle to fit coolers in these puppies though? It would be a shame buying such an expensive motherboard and then later realizing you can't OC because you can't fit a cooler on your board:wtf:
Click to expand...

I know there has been a problem with the placing of the RAM slots that would block larger heatsinks from fitting in. Normally if you have a large heatsink this can be corrected (if you have 16GB of RAM or under) by moving the RAM from slots 1&3 to slots 2&4, this however means that you can only ever use 16GB of RAM. The better option, for me, would be to go for a watercooler instead of a larger heatsink such as the Corsair Hydro series or the Antec Kuhler 620/920.
 
EtTA said:
I've read in a few forums that people struggle to fit coolers in these puppies though? It would be a shame buying such an expensive motherboard and then later realizing you can't OC because you can't fit a cooler on your board:wtf:
Click to expand...

I know there has been a problem with the placing of the RAM slots that would block larger heatsinks from fitting in. Normally if you have a large heatsink this can be corrected (if you have 16GB of RAM or under) by moving the RAM from slots 1&3 to slots 2&4, this however means that you can only ever use 16GB of RAM. The better option, for me, would be to go for a watercooler instead of a larger heatsink such as the Corsair Hydro series or the Antec Kuhler 620/920, which would allow you to, if needed, make use of all four RAM slots.
 
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Ampha said:
Hi Duff-Man

Can you recommend a graphics card for me please or anyone else for that matter :)
Joburg shops only please if possible
Budget is R3000-R3500
Click to expand...

Archer said:
Sometimes I wonder why I bother... :confused:

You're looking for a HD7850, HD6970, or a GTX570
Click to expand...

Hi Ampha

Archer is spot on... as always ;), you'd be wanting to go with the GTX 570 @R3354, it beats out the 7850 and is slightly faster than the 6970. You could visit Rebel Tech at their physical address on 16 Venice, Elm Street in Craigavon
 
S1lv3r H4wK said:
It's my first time for building a HTPC I'm used to gaming rigs can I ask you guys to advise me on the best bang for buck system? It is going to be used with a Full HD 32" and a surround sound system if that helps. Budget is neg. and the case would be chosen by me so it can be excluded.

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: Case will be either Antec Fusion Remote or Thermaltake DH101 Media Chassis
Click to expand...

For a HTPC I would recommend an AMD APU

Here's my quote

CPU : A8-3850 @R1180
Motherboard : ASUS F1A75-V EVO @R1200
GPU : Spahhire Radeon 6670 @R765 (Running in Hybrid Crossfire)
HDD : Seagate Barracuda 2TB @R1200
RAM : Kingston HyperX Blue 4GB (2GB x 2) @R245
Power Supply : Corsair CX500 @R640
Case : Thermaltake DH101 @R2555
Optical Drive : Asus DVD-RW 24X @R150

Total = R8180

__________________________________________________________________________________
*I've put the Thermaltake DH101 as it supports ATX motherboards compared to the Antec Fusion which only supports Micro-ATX motherboards.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Hope this helps, if you have any questions or if you want me to tweak the build to better suit you budget just ask :)
 
So for +- R1500-R2000 what would be the best\ recommended motherboard for a 3570k?
 
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