Planning ahead for Haswell

[Willzzz]

I'm planning a new build next month for Haswell (assuming it's not a complete dud!), while some parts I can't decide on yet others I can, so want to get some thoughts on buying decisions.

Case
Fractal Design R4 vs Corsair 350D

PSU
Seasonic X650 vs Seasonic P660

CPU Cooler
Noctua NH-U12S

RAM
Patriot 1866mhz CL9

SSD
Samsung 840 vs Samsung 840 Pro

I'm not super worried about cost, although obviously I don't want to be wasting money.
If there are any similar products that are better, let me know.

[Pob255]

Define R4 is ATX, 350D is mATX so would depend on motheboard.

If you're planning to get them now, then go for things that would be good and can be carried over from current build to new build, if you're not going to buy them until haswell has come out, then wait for it because new products, prices and availabilities might of changed

[Willzzz]

I figured that most of this stuff won't change much, I can't see Haswell having much effect on SSD or PSU prices.

And if some of these come on offer between now and June I'd like to have the confidence to press the button and snap them up at reduced prices, be it Scan today only, Aria super specials or whatever.

[Pob255]

Umm that's sort of my point.
Haswell isn't going to effect the prices, but new ssd's on the market, pirce drops or special deals or going End Of Life (ie no longer made but stocks still are around) will have an effect on SSD prices also what you might want.

Must admit I generally build by budget & quality not specific component. again ssd as the example, I'd wait for haswell to come out and then see what's the current best priced SSD around 250gb at that time.

[Willzzz]

Well there are a few new products on the way, there the new Seagate SSDs, but initial pricing has them above the 840 Pro, especially with the current cashback offer which I don't want to miss.

There's the new HALE 90 V2s but they start at 850W which is way too much.

If there were new products just about to launch wouldn't we have heard of them by now?

[technodean]

Just make sure that the psu is compatible with Haswell, http://www.corsair.com/us/blog/haswe...ower-supplies/

[Willzzz]

If all those Corsair models are compatible then I can only assume that top end Seasonic models are also compatible.

[Pob255]

That's mainly marketing BS btw, it's true but nothing new, it's called cross load and has been about for a while.
What's new is that this could create load profiles not seen since the days of the pentium 2 and 3
But it's still not exactly true because no system is going to have that much load on the 3.3v and 5v at idle, and it's when a PSU has lots of load on one rail and very little on the others that's when cross load really can become an issue, not when it's very low on one rail and low on the others.

[Willzzz]

Not that I had any doubt that Seasonic would have no problems, but it's always nice to have confirmation:

http://www.techpowerup.com/183882/se...l-haswell.html

[Willzzz]

Right OK, Scan Today only has some great offers on Samsung SSDs with £15 cashback on top, so I'd like to make this decision today!

Samsung 840 - £105
Samsung 840 Pro - £153

Which one do I buy?

I'm confused as to claims on lifespan, Anandtech says 23.4 years, others say less.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6459/s...ce-of-tlc-nand

I'm certainly not going to be doing anything write heavy.

[Biscuit]

I would still vote to wait until you can get it all at once. SSDs in one variety or another are always on offer somewhere, the ones posted are hardly out of this world value.

If im completely honest i dont think i would like to be an early adopter of Haswell given Intel's shaky track record of releasing things with faults in recent history. Give it a month or so to make sure there isn't anything show stopping wrong with the motherboard or the CPU.

[Willzzz]

Actually this is even better value now you mention it!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009LI7CT...SIN=B009LI7CTY

£145 for an 840 Pro 256GB, sounds awesome value to me.

I certainly want to buy before the cashback offer expires.
I can't see that I can lose from buying an SSD, if Haswell isn't that good I 'll just buy Ivy or if worst comes to worst just stick it in my existing PC!

[Biscuit]

Actually this is even better value now you mention it!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009LI7CT...SIN=B009LI7CTY

£145 for an 840 Pro 256GB, sounds awesome value to me.

I certainly want to buy before the cashback offer expires.
I can't see that I can lose from buying an SSD, if Haswell isn't that good I 'll just buy Ivy or if worst comes to worst just stick it in my existing PC!

Personally im always weary of 'cashback' deals.

http://www.ebuyer.com/363434-kingsto...d-sh103s3-240g

Might also be worth considering, deals like this come along every day.

[Willzzz]

Hmm, I hadn't really considered Sandforce, are there not still problems with these drives?

Back when the 840 Pro was released people were recommending it even when it cost 50% more than the HyperX, even without the cashback this price premium has halved, and with the cashback is a mere quarter of what it used to be.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/...0#.UZNx6h10V4I

[scaryjim]

I've got a 120GB HyperX 3k, had to update the firmware on my laptop to stop BSODs but been rock solid since (at least 6 months). Not sure I'd choose that over the Sammy 840/Pro though. Someone's doing a stress lifetime test of a Sammy 840 somewhere on the 'net, might be worth a google (I would, but my google-fu is rubbish!).

EDIT: apparently my google-fu isn't that bad http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/51...nd/index3.html

[Biscuit]

http://www.ebuyer.com/267107-crucial...ign=b2c_monday

Use the promo code 'storage'

to get it for £125