advice on new build

[dontknowdontcare]

just picking out components for my new pc and need some advice. It's been a while since I last did a self build so been trawling through reviews, etc to try and get up to speed.

this is what i've got so far and any advice will be appreciated:

i5 2500k 3.3
Kingston 16GB (4 x 4GB) HyperX DDR3 1600MHz 240-pin DIMM CL9 XMP
Corsair120GB Force Series 3 SATA6 SSD (for OS and apps)
2x1TB (prob seagate) SATA HDD as RAID1 (for data)
fractal design 3000 case
corsair Memory 600W Builder Series CX V2 ATX PSU
Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 LGA1155 Intel Z68 DDR3 ATX USB 3.0
win7 ulti 64-bit

Thinking of reusing my my nvidia GTS8800 512mb for now but not sure. Need a good card that is fairly quiet and can handle dual screen. I may stick with dual screen 20" or upgrade to a single decent 24" hence the indecision over the card.

Also, my current case is a Cooler Master ATCS like this one but without the grill on the top. Do you think I could get away with using that instead of the fractal design one? It's pretty good at keeping things ice cold but not sure how it would handle an i5 system.

I'll mainly use it for multitasking with apps like photoshop, illustrator, etc and at any one time i'll prob have a ton of browser tabs open, music playing and a couple of adobe apps running. Wouldn't use it for high end gaming like cod or battlefield, maybe the odd shogun 2, which is fairly tame when it comes to graphics.


Looking at the Arctic Cooling Freezer i30 or the 13 Pro to replace the stock cooler, whisper quiet aparently. Would be great if anyone has experience of them in a similar system and how well they handle an OC of 4GHz+. Am tempted to OC up to 4GHz since reviews say it so easy but may not even need to.


Also looked at the Asus P8Z68-V LX S1155 MB but couldnt find any reviews. Its about the same price as the gigabyte board above with similar features. Any discernible difference to choose one over the other?


any advice appreciated

[ShyguyXPC]

the mobo... if it were me I'd stick with Gigabyte over the Asus... Call me a "hater" but I see far more Refurbished and open box Asus boards than I do of any other brand. Not to mention the amount of complaints on their Customer Service, length of time to do a simple RMA, etc..

Asus can get away with it since they have so many sales, not just in consumer products, but in OEM's as well, since a lot of their boards are used for Dell's, HP, and other brands.


not all their products are overpriced crap, their sound cards, while over priced, are actually good, as are their monitors.

Gigabyte has had some bad apples as well, but they're more reliable IMO than Asus.


I'm not too keen on Gigabytes Video cards though, at least lately, a lot of complaints of their Factory Overclocked models overheating even with the more than sufficient coolers they put on them.

at first when I saw the 16GB of RAM I was like WTF?

Then later when you mentioned the work your doing on it, that makes more sense.

The Current case you have should be fine for your build, no reason it wouldn't work. unless you wanted something newer.

the i5 2500 should run cool enough to use the cases stock cooling layout (though you could always install new fans to update it), but nothing wrong with the Fractal case either.

600W PSU might be a bit overkill for that rig. a 500W should be more than enough.


you could use the current 8800GTS just fine, but for DX11 support if you need that, you'll need something newer.


Though from the sound of it, gaming wise, you may not...

but the 8800GTS is easily beat these days by some $50-75 range cards using less than half the power that card used.

145W for the 8800GTS 512MB: nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB Video Card - Reviews, Specifications, and Pictures - GPUReview.com

66W for a Radeon 6670 GDDR5 model: AMD Radeon HD 6670 GDDR5 Video Card - Reviews, Specifications, and Pictures - GPUReview.com

Though with the software your using I'm think an Nvidia Card with CUDA would be more beneficial, though I know with PhotoShop CS4 they implemented GPU Acceleration for Radeon cards, but not sure if its still supported in CS5 and newer. Or if its solely Nvidia Support for that now, or both?

Even an older but still recent Geforce GTS 450 uses only 106W: nVidia GeForce GTS 450 Video Card - Reviews, Specifications, and Pictures - GPUReview.com

Or GTX 550 Ti, at 116W: nVidia GeForce GTX 550 Ti Video Card - Reviews, Specifications, and Pictures - GPUReview.com

Either of these cards should be at least 50% better performing or more than the old 8800GTS, their both relatively short cards for their performance range, and use about 2/3's the 8800's power consumption (well maybe a bit more than 2/3's)

or if those are too much processing power, for games and what not, a lower powered, GDDR5 equipped GT 440 would be fine as well.

nVidia GeForce GT 440 GDDR5 Video Card - Reviews, Specifications, and Pictures - GPUReview.com

65W and you'd definitely have more than enough power on a 500W PSU for your system.

[ShyguyXPC]

what resolutions are you running on your Dual 20" Displays?

[dontknowdontcare]

thanks for the breakdown, very helpful.

made the mistake of not having enough RAM in my last system so making sure ive got plenty this time

Now you mention it I've just remembered that my current MB is an ASUS that was a replacement for the original ASUS, which died in a northbridge related failure type thing. And the current one has had a few booting issues of late, hence the new build. Gigabyte it is!

The screens are native 1680x1050. From what you've said its probably worth me looking at a new graphics card. Seriously considering a move to a single 24" display though to save some space but may be tempted to double that up to a dual 24 later

What do you think of the i30 cooler? Reckon it could handle the i5 being OC 'd to 4.2? Any better alternatives for similar money? Ideally want something quiet

[dontknowdontcare]

Also, the same model of PSU at 500w is only £5 cheaper which seems so close I may as well go with 600w. Is there a downside to that logic, will it run any hotter or be louder?

The PSU calculators recommend around 400w, which I usually add an extra 50w to whatever they say just to be safe. Reckon a 500w will take a moderate 4.2 OC?

[ShyguyXPC]

thanks for the breakdown, very helpful.

made the mistake of not having enough RAM in my last system so making sure ive got plenty this time

Now you mention it I've just remembered that my current MB is an ASUS that was a replacement for the original ASUS, which died in a northbridge related failure type thing. And the current one has had a few booting issues of late, hence the new build. Gigabyte it is!

The screens are native 1680x1050. From what you've said its probably worth me looking at a new graphics card. Seriously considering a move to a single 24" display though to save some space but may be tempted to double that up to a dual 24 later

What do you think of the i30 cooler? Reckon it could handle the i5 being OC 'd to 4.2? Any better alternatives for similar money? Ideally want something quiet

I haven't used AC coolers since their Freezer64 and Intel Based Freezer models, nor have I OC'd using any, so can't comment on how they perform for OCing, but usually EVERY AC cooler I have ever used was Stealth Quiet, even their Case fans.

(Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer Revision 2, An Alpine CPU Cooler, Freezer64, and the Intel version of the Freezer64, as well as several of their Suspended Frame Case exhaust Fans like those used on their Freezer series coolers)

Also, the same model of PSU at 500w is only £5 cheaper which seems so close I may as well go with 600w. Is there a downside to that logic, will it run any hotter or be louder?

The PSU calculators recommend around 400w, which I usually add an extra 50w to whatever they say just to be safe. Reckon a 500w will take a moderate 4.2 OC?

if the 600W is 5 pounds more, no harm in getting it, the PSU will only use as much power as the PC needs.

[dontknowdontcare]

might just reuse my current case and replace the fans with some AC ones then. Would saves 50 notes that I can use elsewhere.

Now to research a graphics card

thanks for the help