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Thread: i5 2500k - New PC -Overclocking + SLI

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    i5 2500k - New PC -Overclocking + SLI

    So I'm building my first PC (good luck etc). I don't know where to start but maybe someone out there can help me!

    The following I have decided on:
    i5 3570k - see edit
    will overclock, want SLI
    Possibly HD 7850

    My total build will be under 900 (including monitor). I want to play things like Company of Heroes 3 when it comes out on full. War Z on full. Perhaps some first person shooter on high. I don't know if that's relevant when picking a motherboard.

    Could anyone also let me know what's important to look for in a motherboard?? Or is it just knowing which board goes well with what?


    Appreciative of any help <3


    EDIT:
    Just a heads up, KeyboardDemon correctly pointed out an i5 3570K would be more suitable so I changed this post accordingly so if anyone were to look at it they wouldn't be confused as to any reasoning behind why it said i5 2500k
    Last edited by PiMan314; 16-12-2012 at 11:43 AM. Reason: Grammar + Changed from i5 2500k to i5 3570k - thanks KeyboardDemon

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    Drum & Bass Till I Die deejayburnout's Avatar
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    You need to see what you want on a motherboard .

    How many sata ports do you want?
    Do you want USB 3?
    If overclocking, you want one with good VRM cooling?
    How fast you want your RAM
    Do you want PCI 3?

    Will you be crossfiring (AMD is crossfire, Nvidia is SLI ) 2 or more cards.

    How much for all the other components you want?
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    • PiMan314's system
      • Motherboard:
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      • CPU:
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      • (2x4GB) Corsair DDR3 Vengeance
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    Re: i5 2500k - New PC -Overclocking + SLI

    How many sata ports do you want?
    1 HDD + 1 optical drive
    So 2 sata ports? Looked up online, seems like an ok number.

    Do you want USB 3?
    No.

    If overclocking, you want one with good VRM cooling?
    If the system is at risk without it, yes.

    How fast you want your RAM
    between 1800 and 1850mhz from 1600.

    Do you want PCI 3?
    If it add's cost, no.

    Will you be crossfiring (AMD is crossfire, Nvidia is SLI ) 2 or more cards.
    Not initially but I would like to do it with this machine in a year or two on this machine if possible. (Thanks for the info!!)

    How much for all the other components you want?
    900 pounds total. I am sort of flexible - but its unlikely I will go above for now.


    Thankyou for the quick response
    P.s. I'm spending Christmas with family in Fife!
    Last edited by PiMan314; 16-12-2012 at 10:37 AM. Reason: grammar + info

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    Re: i5 2500k - New PC -Overclocking + SLI

    I have put together a quick assortment of parts, here for you:

    i5 Build suggestions

    This was a quick mess around on Scan, if I had more time I would look at the build again and see what I might be able to adjust in order to maximise the investment in parts. Also note how this doesn't include an OS so that will most likely take you over your initial budget. I picked a 3570k over the 2500k, not sure why you wanted to use the 2500k. Also I haven't added an after market cooler, but you will need this if you want to overclock.

    Also if you decide to go with an ATI/AMD card you could opt for a cheaper mobo that only supports Crossfire, the mobo I've selected supports both Crossfire and SLI.

    The SSD will work with Smart Response and be used by Rapid Start to give you a PC that boots up quickly and is very quick to access your most frequently used applications and files.

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      • Motherboard:
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      • CPU:
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      • Memory:
      • (2x4GB) Corsair DDR3 Vengeance
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      • 128GB OCZ Vector, 2.5"+500GB WD Caviar
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    Re: i5 2500k - New PC -Overclocking + SLI

    Wow thanks for that list there! Yeah I wrote that down before doing some more research into the processors.

    Thanks a lot man, really helpful - I'll look into some cheaper mobo's that only support Crossfire.

    Cheers guys - these have got to be the fastest most useful replies I've ever had on any forum x_x!
    Last edited by PiMan314; 16-12-2012 at 11:45 AM. Reason: Said OS instead of processor, wooops

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    Re: i5 2500k - New PC -Overclocking + SLI

    Have a look at this:

    http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/sJCL

    Includes a cooler, GTX 660 + option of SLI, 128GB SSD
    No OS, or keyboard/mouse, all of these can be acquired quite cheaply if you don't have them (Win8).

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    keyboards i5 build is rather good.

    Gives you a solid system with room for more hard drives. Having a SSD for windows and another for your games is a good idea also, something to think about in the future.

    Also a fast CPU that will last well for gaming and general use.

    The only was yo save some cash is if you have a HD TV at home that you can use instead of buying a monitor. Most modern cards have a HDMI output on it.

    The money saved can be used for the OS.
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    Re: i5 2500k - New PC -Overclocking + SLI

    The main problem with keyboards build is that the PSU is ridiculously over specced, even adding a 2nd 7850 in the future you wouldn't need close to 850W.

    Also I don't get the SSD, you could get a 128mb drive for only a few pounds more.

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    Moosing about! CAT-THE-FIFTH's Avatar
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    Re: i5 2500k - New PC -Overclocking + SLI

    1866MHZ DDR3 RAM is really not worth it if you are using the IB CPU with a discrete card.

    Edit!!

    You will need a copy of Windows 7 for around £60 to £70,or a copy of Windows 8 for around £25(if you do an upgrade from the free Developer preview).

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    Re: i5 2500k - New PC -Overclocking + SLI

    It's not the RAM is really much more expensive, and it will help for many tasks. It's there because that's what the OP wanted.

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    Re: i5 2500k - New PC -Overclocking + SLI

    We can ignore any costs for the OS - it seems my uncle has a couple spare (good deals and sold the rest on aha).

    Quote Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH View Post
    1866MHZ DDR3 RAM is really not worth it if you are using the IB CPU with a discrete card.
    I really want to capitalise on the graphics card and RAM - if I have to do this I wouldn't mind going a little further and changing something around - for example, I don't understand the inbuilt CPU reference could you give me some help with that? Would I need a different one to capitalise on the RAM and 7850?


    I don't have any HD monitors - so I will have to buy one. If worst comes to worst - buying the parts for this build will push on a month so I should have another 200 quid to spend. 1100 overall. It looks like this can be avoided seeing as I now have an OS.


    So I can save some money on reducing the PSU - that's good I'll bear that in mind.




    The remaining issue I see from these posts is - perhaps I need to change the CPU to increase system performance (is it bottlenecking it? - referring to CAT THE FIFTH) ?? But I don't know much about how to choose them :S

    P.s. For Willzzz, that is actually quite tempting - if they can both be overclocked, and that's the cheaper option (by about 50 quid) I might go for that. Gotta figure out if switching the CPU around would increase the system performance though. I'll wait on an answer about that
    Last edited by PiMan314; 16-12-2012 at 06:19 PM. Reason: grammar and info

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    Re: i5 2500k - New PC -Overclocking + SLI

    IB = Ivy Bridge, it's just the latest batch of Intel processors.

    As far as gaming is concerned by far the most important thing is the GPU, the more you spend on this part the better.
    As far as the CPU goes a 3570k is probably overkill, it will give you outstanding CPU performance and you can overclock it.
    You don't really need to overclock it to run games well, but if you think overclocking is fun then that's up to you.

    Mine is slightly cheaper partly because it looks at prices from other suppliers, doesn't include keyboard/mouse and doesn't include insurance. The main difference as I said above is that saving money on the PSU and case allows you to get a better SSD and include a good CPU cooler for overclocking, oh and a better graphics card as well.

    I think going for a £135 GPU in a £900 gaming PC is silly, the GPU should be higher priority. I think a lot depends on whether you are really going to SLI or not. If you are then you want to do it sooner rather than later, if you aren't then you want to spend a little more on a good single graphics card now.

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    Re: i5 2500k - New PC -Overclocking + SLI

    A few things,make sure you look at postage too,when shopping around. You might find ordering more bits might end up cheaper from one retailer if one set of postage has to be paid already.

    I would probably look at the Merc Alpha case too:

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/BitFenix-Mer.../dp/B005JRICNG

    It has vents for a top mounted fan unlike the Beta.

    Amazon has this monitor on offer:

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dell-Ultrash...5679967&sr=1-1

    So,if you play around with the builds suggested here,you could probably get it in slightly over budget.
    Last edited by CAT-THE-FIFTH; 16-12-2012 at 06:54 PM.

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    Re: i5 2500k - New PC -Overclocking + SLI

    Quote Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH View Post
    1866MHZ DDR3 RAM is really not worth it if you are using the IB CPU with a discrete card.
    So it would be better to have more RAM than this ?? That wouldn't be a problem in the scheme of things - the way I'm going about this is to maximise currently what I can get from the Graphics Card, and leave room for expansion.

    My lack of knowledge on the subject is really causing me to be a pain - sorry about that T_T


    @ CAT THE FIFTH, yeah good point I'll definitely look up those prices asap once the components are finalised.
    @ Willzzz, definitely - I'm really trying to focus on getting the most out of the graphics card.

    Cheers guys, almost 15 posts xD

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    Re: i5 2500k - New PC -Overclocking + SLI

    Going from 1600mhz RAM to 1866 is never going to make more than a few % difference and barely any in gaming. However the difference in price is less than 1% of your build, so there's little downside unless money is really tight.

    If you want a better graphics which would be sensible I think, you have three real choices:
    1) spend less on CPU/MB/cooler - spending less here really won't hurt gaming
    2) skip the SSD - spending less here won't hurt frame rates, but it will hurt loading times
    3) up your budget or plan to CF/SLI within a few months

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    • PiMan314's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Gigabyte z77 D3H
      • CPU:
      • i5 3570k
      • Memory:
      • (2x4GB) Corsair DDR3 Vengeance
      • Storage:
      • 128GB OCZ Vector, 2.5"+500GB WD Caviar
      • Graphics card(s):
      • 2GB MSI Radeon HD 7850 twin Frozr
      • PSU:
      • 750W Antec True Power New Modular
      • Case:
      • Fractal Design Define R4 Black Pearl
      • Operating System:
      • Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64
      • Monitor(s):
      • Dell Ultrasharp U2312HM 23 inch IPS LED Monitor
      • Internet:
      • 32Mbps

    Re: i5 2500k - New PC -Overclocking + SLI

    Bearing that in mind it seems the most suitable options would be to go for a higher end graphics card - ignore the watercooling and get a cheaper CPU and MB. Possibly skip the SSD - I'll have a think on that. It's possible I'll start off without one and decide later.

    I'll probably attempt OC'ing just for the hobby aspect and watercool it because that would be cool



    I'm having issues trying to determine which CPU to go for. I've looked at the AMD APU's like the AMD A8.

    Is this reasonable? http://www.dabs.com/products/amd-a8-...m_content=Q200

    Also just had a look at the phenom X4-955 : http://www.google.co.uk/products/cat...ed=0CFcQ8wIwAA
    That looks promising to me.
    Last edited by PiMan314; 16-12-2012 at 08:16 PM. Reason: A8, not A6

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