22 replies to this topic

[ltrain]

This is my second build ...

 

I dont consider myself to be a gamer, therefore why I am going with the i5.  Ill probably never overclock it but it does intrigue me so I may learn someday, and why I am considering paying extra for the option.  I do game,  and I will purchase one or maybe two to experience it, but not very serious about it and prefer PS3 at the moment.  I would love to use my PC for a Home Theatre System but have not looked into how to accomplish this yes, so keep my options open. 

 

Back approximaly 6 years ago a friend, who I have lost touch with, convinced me into buying the hardware and letting him build me a PC.  Well I enjoyed it and the Rig has been extremely stable and reliable right up to this day. 

 

The reasons why I want to build instead of buy pre built are for many reasons .... I like the fact that many things will be of seperate components so if something were to go I could replace the 1 item.  I like that I will be getting what I'm paying for and not an overpriced turkey.  I also am intruigued with the buying process of the individual pieces of hardware and that I will recive gratification that the Rig is mine and unique to me.

 

Well my current rig recently came down with a virus and with some help from another online site I was able to clean it up and get it back up and running.  I considered gettng a new hard drive seeing that the one im running is the original that i purchased.  Unfortunatley I do not have the system disc with Windows XP boot disc so I couldnt have the drive reformatted, though I do have all the driver software.  So I looked into purchasing a copy of XP and realized that many of the major vendors dont distribute it any more.  So I considered Windows 7 and here is where my dilema begins.

 

Well my current build specs appear to be just out of range of running windows 7 mainly the motherboard.  So after searching the net and finding a better processor, more RAM, a possible better GPU, and lastly I came to the conclusion that the motherboard just might not be capable of accepting Windows 7 without some complications.  So I figured I will keep her in tact and see if I can sell her.

 

Well just the excuse I needed to look into building a new one .... Here are the specs on the new build that should be just inside my budget of 1000.00....Let me know what you all think. 

 

 

Build Specs:

 

Corsair Carbide 200R Mid Tower ATX Computer Case

 

Intel Core i5 2500K LGA 1155

 

ASRock Z68 Extreme4 1155 Z77 ATX Intel Motherboard

 

MSI GeForce GTX 660Ti Pe OC GPU

 

Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB DDR3-1600 (PC3-12800) Dual Channel Desktop Memory Kit

 

Artic Freezer 13 CO

 

LG 22x DVD±RW Super Multi Dual Layer Burner - OEM

 

Seasonic X Series X650 Gold PSU

 

Western Digital Black 1TB 7200 RPM 64Mb SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

 

Samsung 840 Pro Series SSD

 

2 - Scythe Kama Flow 2 120mm Case Fan 

 

ASUS 24X DVD Burner      

 

Microsoft Windows 8 64-bit OEM 

 

ASUS VS239H-P IPS LED 23" Monitor

 

Klipsch Pro Media 2.1

 

Fans

BitFenix Hydra Pro Five Channel Fan Controller

1- Front Intake - Bitfenix Spectre Pro LED 120mmx25mm

2- Side Intake - Scythe Kaze-Jyuni Slim Slip 120mmx12mm

1-Rear Exhaust - Bitfenix Spectre Pro LED 120mmx25mm

2-Top Exhaust - Bitfenix Spectre Black 140mmx25mm

Edited by ltrain, 19 December 2012 - 10:10 PM.

[ltrain]

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[ComputerEd]

I think you have put together a very solid build. You have a solid platform with the i5 and the 2500K gives you some extreme overclocking headroom if you decide to push it. If you are not going to push the overclock look at getting an i5 2400 or i5 3450 instead.

 

I am personally not a big fan of MSI card and would go EVGA based on your choice but the 660Ti is a good fit.

 

The only changes I would make, being a fan of symmetry, is I would get a Corsair PSU and SSD, however the choices you made are solid. Also a huge kudos on the speaker choice, best 2.1 speakers if not the best period you can get for a PC! 

[Skidmarks]

It's a nice build, nothing wrong with it If you're happy & think it's good deal. 

[ltrain]

Thanks Ed ... unfortunately it is already built but your opinions are spot on. I'm not an over clocker yet ... mainly why I joined this forum was to gather the knowledge and opinions to experience it and take this hobby of mine a bit further... thus why I built a clockable pc. 

 

As far as the GPU ... probably the area where I should've, could've, but didn't do a little more homework.  As far as NVidia vs EVGA I wasn't partial to either one so it came to a coin toss.   But I'm confident that its a solid choice....but time will tell. 

 

The PSU, I wasn't a big fan of when I pulled it right out of the box .... the cableing (other then the MB cable) were all ribbon style which made my cable management a bit trickier and that's about as far as my experience goes.  

 

SSD .... I got that, oversight on your part, its in my specs ... Samsung 840 Pro series 128g dedicated for the OS. 

 

I have some questions ill post a bit later .... thanks again Ed.

 

L 

[ltrain]

Thanks Skidmarks .....

Edited by ltrain, 19 December 2012 - 06:38 AM.

[ComputerEd]

 

I have some questions ill post a bit later .... thanks again Ed.

 

L 

Post away, we are here to help...

[ltrain]

While I was installing my GPU I noticed it required two 6 pin power connectors.  Well my PSU has what the manufacturer describes as "Quad PCI-E Connectors (four 6P/8P PCI-E connectors) Sea Sonic X650 is ideal for building up a SLI or CrossFire gaming system". To describe it a bit further it is actually two separate cables with 2 6P/8P connectors per cable.

 

In the picture below, you should be able to make out the way I installed it.  I used both the cables and only utilized one connector per cable.  At the bottom of the picture you can see one of the two extra connectors dangling in the back.

 

Question:  Could I have gotten away with using one cable with the two 6 pin connectors to install the GPU ... and would it be ok to remove the other.   

 

 

 

 

Edited by ltrain, 19 December 2012 - 10:01 AM.

[ComputerEd]

Yes, I have done it and not really a big issue. Todays video cards literally sip juice compared to the cards of yore

[ltrain]

This questions is a real NOOB question.  I have been all over the internet and just cant seem to find the answer.  The question is in regards to overclocking.  When one overclocks their PC is it normally dramatic tweak done for a short period of time, like to get the edge while gaming.  Or is there a way to tweak it slightly to just get the CPU to perform at its peak and run the pc at the settings constantly.  I guess this questions would apply for the GPU also.

 

Question:  I want to just bump up the settings a tad just to get a feel of how my pc would perform at these higher settings and once stable would like to run it constant, is this possible or even recommended? 

[EuroFight]

Often when overclocking, you have two levels, a benchmarking/performance setting that aren't used for extended periods of time and a standard, everyday overclock. The benchmarking/performance setting is not generally used, and can be unstable after longer periods of time or during certain stress tests, but the everyday overclock should be stable for 24/7 use.

 

Hope this helps

 

 - Euro

[ltrain]

OK thanks .... that makes it worth looking into....