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wolfeking

wolfeking

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Okay. I got my parts, have them together and have an OS in. What I am asking for is suggestions on what to get to finish my computer. Budget can go to 850, but that don't mean I want to spend that much just cause I can.

System as is:
ASrock Z77 Extreme4 ATX motherboard
Celeron G530 @ 2400 Mhz Stock cooling
8GB DDR3 1600 CAS9 Patriot memory
OCZ 600 watt PSU
HAF 912

I don't really know what I want to do with it yet. I may be gaming on it, or it might just be a system to play around on, just an everything computer.

Okay, so going on this, I am looking for suggestions on:
GPU
Speakers (maybe a sound card, maybe not)
2TB+ HDD
and a better CPU to handle tasks such as gaming. I won't be buying till the first of next month, so Ivy should be out before then, but idk. Just want it to be better and complete.
 
bumpity.

I am thinking either http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148844 Or getting 2 smaller drives like 250GB or so to put Vista and Linux on and a 1TB data drive. Depends on what is cheaper.
If I get 3TB, then I can always partition off 1TB for data and still have everything else working, right? But in that case I would have to install Grub instead of preserving BCD and just swapping drive DATA cables to get into linux. What is better here?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127636 maybe. Will that be able to run everything at some setting for the next few years? I am just looking for something mid range, unless it is worth the extra $160 to get a 580. I can afford it, but I don't really want to get one unless it is worth the extra.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115074 ? Is it really worth it to go to the 2500k, or save money with the 2400? I am not really that into overclocking, as I just want it to work.

okay, so other than the questions left here, also need advice on a set of speakers for it. The set I have just are not cutting it as they are too quiet.
 
Speakers: i'd definitely recommend the set that I have at the moment. Audioengine A2 - they have insane bass for a 2.0 set, and can be heard through the whole house. Only ever had them on half volume, as more than that was too loud to get near them to turn it down.

GPU: DO NOT skimp on it. I did, and massive regret. Maybe a 7850 if you can stretch to it.
If you're going to do that, then just get a 2tb drive to save money.

CPU: 2500K. Overclocking takes a little time to get it stable, but it's fine once it is.
it's a better chip than the 2400. Prices should drop soon.
 
Speakers. Looks like a good set. Stupid question though. Whats the difference between 2.0, 5.1, and 7.1?

GPU: Depending on how much the speakers are and the processor is, I can swing anything out there. Like I said in the OP, I have $850 to work with. I definitely want to stay with Nvidia. No offense to AMD, but it does not cooperate with Linux so well.

CPU: I am not overclocking. I just want to drop it in, put the intel cooler on it and go to work. Stability will not be an issue. Overclocking at all is a stability risk, no matter how little you overclock it.
 
wolfeking said:
Whats the difference between 2.0, 5.1, and 7.1?
Click to expand...
It's my understanding that 2.0 is not surround sound, there are only two or three speakers, whereas 5.1 and 7.1 are surround solutions with 5 or 7 speakers. I think that's the difference.

I think you should get a GTX 560 Ti or a 570 if you can stretch it, or wait the rest of the Kepler cards which I believe are coming out in a about May/June time.

You can go two ways with your CPU, you can either grab a 2500K which is a Sandy Bridge CPU or wait for the 3570K which is going to be an Ivy Bridge CPU. As Ivy Bridge comes here on April 29th, I'd advise going for Ivy Bridge.

wolfeking said:
I am not overclocking.
Click to expand...
You say that today, but who knows what you'll say tomorrow or in a year's time. Get a 'K' designated CPU anyway just in case you do want to overclock in the future. Even 4 months ago I said I'd never overclock, and here I am now with my CPU (i5 2500K) at 4.3GHz and it's rock solid and stable.
 
vistakid10 said:
It's my understanding that 2.0 is not surround sound, there are only two or three speakers, whereas 5.1 and 7.1 are surround solutions with 5 or 7 speakers. I think that's the difference.
Click to expand...
Okay, so what would be better for movies and games and such? and music too.

vistakid10 said:
I think you should get a GTX 560 Ti or a 570 if you can stretch it, or wait the rest of the Kepler cards which I believe are coming out in a about May/June time.
Click to expand...
Okay, I guess what I am saying is that I don't want to get something far beyond what I need. As long as I can get the game to play, I don't care about settings. A 580 or 680 would be nice, but they will eventually be less than requirements, and at that point I have wasted money. The 560ti will be good, yes?

vistakid10 said:
You can go two ways with your CPU, you can either grab a 2500K which is a Sandy Bridge CPU or wait for the 3570K which is going to be an Ivy Bridge CPU. As Ivy Bridge comes here on April 29th, I'd advise going for Ivy Bridge.


You say that today, but who knows what you'll say tomorrow or in a year's time. Get a 'K' designated CPU anyway just in case you do want to overclock in the future. Even 4 months ago I said I'd never overclock, and here I am now with my CPU (i5 2500K) at 4.3GHz and it's rock solid and stable.
Click to expand...
You may like overclocking, but I am not going to do it. I don't wan't to overvolt at all (and just for the record, 102 baseclock on the G530 needs an overvolt for stability.). Overvolting means that there is a chance that the chip will short circuit, or fry, and then I am just out of $200+.

Okay, let me narrow this a bit. Not overclocking, Why should I spend $30 more to get 200MHz extra. How big of a difference will that really make?
 
2.0 - 2 Speakers

2.1 - 2 Speakers + Subwoofer

5.1 - 2 Front + Center Channel speakers + 2 Rear and 1 Subwoofer.

7.1 is the same as 5.1 plus 2 side channel speakers.
 
okay. That means I have a 2.0 set currently. No base, all tenor.

is it worth while to get a 5.1/7.1 set? or would 2.1 be fine if I get a quality set?

Sorry bout all the questions. I am just trying to be as informed as possible when I get the upgrades.
 
wolfeking said:
Okay, so what would be better for movies and games and such? and music too.
Click to expand...
I'd go for 5.1 or 7.1 surround speakers for the movies/games, get whichever fits your budget. Most motherboards have onboard 7.1 surround audio these days and I suspect your's does too. Bear in mind that it's likely that only the movies and games will be in 5.1 or 7.1, everything else will be in 2.0.

wolfeking said:
The 560ti will be good, yes?
Click to expand...
Yes, the 560 Ti is a great all-rounder card. As of right now I'd say it's the best price:performance card out there. I used a GTX 560 Ti in a flight simulator PC once paired with an i3 2120, and it played FSX perfectly at ultra settings at 1920x1080. It's a great card.

wolfeking said:
Okay, let me narrow this a bit. Not overclocking, Why should I spend $30 more to get 200MHz extra. How big of a difference will that really make?
Click to expand...
If you get the 2500K over the 2500 or the 2400, if you ever come to sell your system, the 2500K will be worth more because it has that overclocking potential. I'm not sure if this is something you want to consider or not, but it's probably worth thinking about. There's not a lot of price difference between the i5 2400 and the 2500K, so why not get the 2500K? I'm not sure if you'd see a lot of difference in an extra 200MHz (i5 2400 is at 3.1GHz at stock, 2500K is at 3.3GHz) but SHOULD you want to ONE DAY overclock your CPU (and as the 2500K is fully unlocked overclocking as pretty as much as easy and changing a few digits in the BIOS) you will see a real difference in over a gigahertz overclock. Seriously, if you get the unlocked CPU, you'll want to overclock it - I promise you. If you don't want to overclock, then yeah the 2400 is still a pretty good choice. You can see the speed difference here http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/363?vs=288 the 2500K is a smitch faster a clockspeeds.
 
How about resale value? maybe 6 month down the road you decide to get a better system and sell back this baby, then the 2500k will attract more value. If I am the buyer then i would go for the 2500k because it can overclock.
Cheers.

He beat me to it.
 
 
paulcheung said:
How about resale value? maybe 6 month down the road you decide to get a better system and sell back this baby, then the 2500k will attract more value. If I am the buyer then i would go for the 2500k because it can overclock.
Cheers.

He beat me to it.
Click to expand...
Resale value is not a factor for me. That is like saying one should buy a lambo over a pickup cause it will be worth more, even though it will need to be airlifted to the house daily.
 
Can I just ask... if you want to save money, then why did you buy the Celeron and then now upgrade to a 2400? Wouldn't it have been cheaper not to get the Celeron and just get the 2400 instead? Because now you've paid for the Celeron, and you're going to pay for the 2400 too. Are you going to sell the Celeron once you get the i5?

Anyhow, it all looks like good stuff to me. Go for the 1.5GB 560 Ti if you play to play at high resolutions, if not, stick with the 1GB, and between those two speakers, if you can afford it go with Logitechs, otherwise the Creative speakers will also be fine. 3TB HDD is also likely overkill unless you want to fill it up with massive files. I have a 2TB drive and even with my virtual machines, Windows system image backups, software and a lot of video stored on it, I struggle to get past 500GB of used space.
 
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The Logitechs will probably sound better because of the 2 way satellite speakers.
It is also rated at 25 watts more for the system, but I don't see any distortion specs on either system.
 
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For the speakers, it depends where your computer is. Is there room behind you to put speakers to make it surround sound? If not, I'd just go with a 2.1 setup.
 
vistakid10 said:
Can I just ask... if you want to save money, then why did you buy the Celeron and then now upgrade to a 2400? Wouldn't it have been cheaper not to get the Celeron and just get the 2400 instead? Because now you've paid for the Celeron, and you're going to pay for the 2400 too. Are you going to sell the Celeron once you get the i5?

Anyhow, it all looks like good stuff to me. Go for the 1.5GB 560 Ti if you play to play at high resolutions, if not, stick with the 1GB, and between those two speakers, if you can afford it go with Logitechs, otherwise the Creative speakers will also be fine. 3TB HDD is also likely overkill unless you want to fill it up with massive files. I have a 2TB drive and even with my virtual machines, Windows system image backups, software and a lot of video stored on it, I struggle to get past 500GB of used space.
Click to expand...
I got the celeron cause I did not have enough to get a quad when I bought the system. And I am not really all that concerned with the cost, but that don't mean I am going to buy something I do not need. As the price of the hard drives, its a $ per unit thing. If I can double the space cheaper, then I am happy to do so.
The resolution is 1366*768. And as for storage space, overkill or not it will be there. And I filled up the 640 GB that is in there literally overnight.

claptonman said:
For the speakers, it depends where your computer is. Is there room behind you to put speakers to make it surround sound? If not, I'd just go with a 2.1 setup.
Click to expand...
It is against the wall in my room. I have room to put speakers on all 4 sides. I will probably put in some shelves overhead to hold them above head level just to keep them out of the way.
 
wolfeking said:
I got the celeron cause I did not have enough to get a quad when I bought the system.
Click to expand...
Yeah I thought that may have been the reason. I think you should have waited until you got the money though, could've saved yourself some bucks right there. You've not had your system very long at all, so surely you could have waited until now to buy your quad-core, or just built the whole system now when you had all the money? I'm not a fan of the whole "skimp out on parts and replace with better parts later" idea because it ends up costing more in the long run, I made this mistake myself, but if you say you're not concerned about the cost...

wolfeking said:
The resolution is 1366*768.
Click to expand...
The 1GB 560 Ti should be fine at that resolution for now then.

OK other than that, it looks like some good upgrades there for you. If you have the room, then get the surround speakers.
 
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vistakid10 said:
Yeah I thought that may have been the reason.
Click to expand...
I would have still bought it. eventually. I am going to eventually build a media server from the celeron soon.
vistakid10 said:
I think you should have waited until you got the money though, could've saved yourself some bucks right there. You've not had your system very long at all, so surely you could have waited until now to buy your quad-core, or just built the whole system now when you had all the money? I'm not a fan of the whole "skimp out on parts and replace with better parts later" idea because it ends up costing more in the long run, I made this mistake myself, but if you say you're not concerned about the cost...
Click to expand...
See above. Its not the fact of just having the money. I needed it for other reasons too. But that is besides the point.

vistakid10 said:
The 1GB 560 Ti should be fine at that resolution for now then.

OK other than that, it looks like some good upgrades there for you. If you have the room, then get the surround speakers.
Click to expand...
okay. And how well would the 560ti run MW3? cause that is the most demanding game I am going to be playing. I can run it on high with a 7900m GTX, so should be able to max it, yes?

Edit: Okay, looking at it some more, see how this list will play with my Current setup. I might need a more powerful PSU, if so, Then I can go down to something less.

(fans) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103052
-If I counted right, this should fill up my case. Better airflow is always better, yes?
(HDD) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148844
-Has not changed
(CPU) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
- Seems to be able to clock well, or run stock well. Not wanting to, but it may be worth it 5 years from now.
(Add on) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812123299
- To run my 8 pin under the motherboard. Just preference there.
(HSF) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103105
- I am seeing a lot of people that are having fitment issues on this with LGA2011 boards in the reviews. Will this fit in there without having much issue with the RAM and such? Or should I go to the 212? The 212 is cheaper, but it does not look like it would cool as well as this does. Seeing 45* @ 4GHz on one of the reviews, so that is something to shoot for.

(GPU Possibility 1) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121373
- It is 2 generations old. That does not matter to me. The price is alluring to me. It is showing as slightly better than the 560ti on most reviews that I found, and quite a bit ahead on others. Will it run with a 2500k, 1HDD, 6 Fans, and 1 DVD drive on 600 Watts? I don't know the exact charges on my PSU 12 volt rail right off hand, but I can get it for you when I get home. Also note that this is about the same price or cheaper than the 560ti I was looking at.

(GPU possibility 2) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131446
- More expensive. 6870 x2. Is it any count? And on the 2500k, If I were to pull the PCIe power before booting, would it default to HD3000 to work in Linux? If not, then I could get a 8400GS or a 210 or something to throw in there for that purpose, right?

(GPU POssibility 3) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131433
- 6850 single slot. Cheaper than both above. How would it compare with the 480 in MW3?

(GPU Possibility 4) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131445
- 6770 single slot. Cheaper still. Less power. Again would need a Nvidia option for Linux if it would not just default to HD3000 unpowered.

Okay, so yea. Looking for an either or now. When I say how will it compare, I just want like a what kind of settings @1366*768 @ 30+ FPS (what I have now on 7900m GTX). If I can stay below about 700 or so, then I can probably get a small 1080p screen at the walmart, so asking about that too. I got a budgeted amount above with the 480 and the x6 cooler of $688. And I am not going to worry about the speakers yet. I will wait till I get everything else so I can get a really good set.
 
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wolfeking said:
(fans) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835103052
-If I counted right, this should fill up my case. Better airflow is always better, yes?
Click to expand...
Yes, but bear in mind that more fans = more noise.

wolfeking said:
how well would the 560ti run MW3? cause that is the most demanding game I am going to be playing. I can run it on high with a 7900m GTX, so should be able to max it, yes?
Click to expand...
I'd say the GTX 560 Ti would be able to run MW3 pretty well, you may be able to max it out at the resolution you play at. I get the impression you'd like to run it at max settings, right?

wolfeking said:
CPU) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115072
- Seems to be able to clock well, or run stock well. Not wanting to, but it may be worth it 5 years from now.
Click to expand...
Yes definitely get this over the 2400 if you can.

wolfeking said:
(GPU Possibility 1) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121373
- It is 2 generations old. That does not matter to me. The price is alluring to me. It is showing as slightly better than the 560ti on most reviews that I found, and quite a bit ahead on others. Will it run with a 2500k, 1HDD, 6 Fans, and 1 DVD drive on 600 Watts? I don't know the exact charges on my PSU 12 volt rail right off hand, but I can get it for you when I get home. Also note that this is about the same price or cheaper than the 560ti I was looking at.
Click to expand...
Those 480s ran hot if I remember correctly, but you've got a good case there and quite a few fans so that shouldn't be a problem for you. 600W is probably a bit low for a 480, you want 600W with 42A to the +12V rail minimum, so you'd probably want a good 700W PSU to power a 480. Yes, you are right in saying the GTX 480 is a better performer than the GTX 560 Ti, but...

wolfeking said:
(GPU possibility 2) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131446
- More expensive. 6870 x2.
Click to expand...
...two Radeon 6870s are faster. See the benchmarks here http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/301?vs=309 in some benchmarks there is a huge difference between two 6870s and a single GTX 480. If it's not much expensive, then that may be the solution for you.

wolfeking said:
If I were to pull the PCIe power before booting, would it default to HD3000 to work in Linux?
Click to expand...
Not sure. :/ If you pull out the power connector, your PC may not boot at all, because the graphics card will likely start trying to draw power from the motherboard. You'd likely have to completely remove the card all together and then boot into Linux using the onboard graphics. I'm using a 2500K with onboard graphics right now. The HD 3000 graphics care OK, but not for gaming at all.

wolfeking said:
6850 single slot. Cheaper than both above. How would it compare with the 480 in MW3?
Click to expand...
Badly. A 480 would hit it over the head with a crowbar. I don't have any specific figures for MW3, but just looking at how well the 6850 performs compared to the 480 in some other games, the 480 is owning it every time. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/291?vs=309

wolfeking said:
(GPU Possibility 4) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131445
- 6770 single slot. Cheaper still.
Click to expand...
Not sure why you're even considering this. The GTX 480 or two 6870s in Crossfire would completely rip the 6770 apart.

This is what I'm going to say Wolfe, right now you seem a bit confused between graphics cards, correct? You seem to have everything else sorted.

This is what I'd do, I'd go for the GTX 480 if you can get one because it's faster than a GTX 560 Ti and you seem to use Linux too, and from what you've said above it seems to me like NVIDIA's drivers for Linux are better, yes? Upgrade your power supply to a decent 700W or 750W unit as well if you want the 480, 600W is a minimum for the 480 really. If you can't a GTX 480, then if you must have an NVIDIA card, go for a GTX 560 Ti, otherwise, the two Radeon 6870s in CrossFire look pretty good to me, and they are faster than a single GTX 480.

EDIT::::: Sorry just realised you were talking about the 6870 X2, not two 6870s in CF. Assuming that the performance of the 6870 X2 is similar to that of two 6870s in CrossFire, then yes it will be faster than a GTX 480. :D
 
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