Help for New Computer

[Joanet]

Good afternoon, I have decided to upgrade my computer after 6 years. I am a bit out of touch with the subject after so much time, I have been reading about what to buy and here is what I plan to buy, I doubt between several options, especially with the issue of motherboards, because I want one that will last me many years and not give me problems. In principle I am not going to do much OC but I need decent things in case I ever do.

CPU; I have an intel i 7 2600k that I was given and I think it is not worth buying an i5 3570k.

Graphics; I am staying with the HIS HD5770 that I bought two years ago, it is silly to buy an HD7770 if I play at 1280x1024 because the difference is little. A HD7850 would be good for the future when they lower the price to 175 €

Memory; G.Skill Ripjaws X DDR3 1600 PC3-12800 8GB 2x4GB CL8 I have always wanted to have a Gskill and these look good.

Motherboard; This is where I have doubts, I want it to last me many years, have very good performance, have many options in the bios and be able to do some OC. I do not want to spend more than 150 € because after that they carry a thousand cables and nonsense that I will not use in life, I only need about 3-4 USB 3 and about 3 or 4 SATA 3 connections and that it is of the fastest without having to pay for the extras.

Here are the options I have in mind:
ASRock Z77 Extreme4, Asus P8Z77-M,Asus P8Z77-V LX, ASRock Z77 Extreme4-M, Asus P8Z77-M PRO, Asrock Z77 Pro4, Asus P8Z77-V LK, ASRock Z77 Extreme4, Asus P8Z77-V LE
My favorite is the Asrock z77 extreme 4.

Power supply; Corsair HX650 or Corsair AX650 modular. I need it to be modular and around 650 W (if it is 750W it's fine), to have very good efficiency and not to make noise. I have read about other corsairs that are very good but are not modular.

Hard drive; I am thinking of a OCZ Vertex 4 128gb because it is faster than the Crucial M4 128 gb although the latter have more reliability. I have had a vertex 2 for 1 year or 2 and it has never given me problems.

Cooling; The series fan will be sufficient if I put the micro up to 4 ghz, right? Just in case I can put some thermal paste like Arctic MX-4 which is cheaper than a fan.

Thanks for reading all the nonsense I have written xD

[Obione]

If you can stretch for a great power supply like the Corsair AX, plug in a Hyper 212 EVO to the Sandy and get the G.Skill Ares which are low profile and won't clash with the cooler fan. It doesn't matter if they are 1333MHz, you won't notice.

PD: The Extreme4 is fine.

[Sylver]

+1 to the Z77 Extreme4

Put a good heatsink on that 2600K, it will appreciate it in terms of lifespan, and the same goes for the power supply, get an AX as they are Corsair's high-end range.

Regards

[Joanet]

Thanks for your answers, I will take into account buying a good heatsink if that will extend the life of the micro, and I will also buy some low profile memory to avoid problems. Which of these two would you buy?

G.Skill Ares DDR3 1600 PC3-12800 8GB 2x4GB CL9 44 euros
G.Skill Ares DDR3 2133 PC-17000 8GB 2X4GB CL9 71 euros

I think that DDR3 2133 is a bit excessive and that in real performance no difference is noticed from 1600 Mhz. I think it is better to get the first ones that I think are more than enough for me, it's a shame they are not CL8.

[Sylver]

Indeed, from 1600 onwards, the performance is not significantly noticeable, which is why the first memories will work perfectly for you and be cheaper.

Best regards

[Joanet]

I have been reading things, among which, that the Asrock s 1155 are usually backward compatible with the coolers of the socket 775, since here at home I have the Thermaltake Sonic Tower (with fan) and a Thermaltake Mini Typhoon, both models from years ago, since they were made to cool other processors from years ago, is it advisable to use them for an i7 2600k?

I have had the Sonic Tower for 5 years and it has had acceptable performance with an E6600 if I remember correctly, that is, it fills up with dust every 2 x 3. I have never tried the Mini Typhoon, but it seems to be all copper at first glance.

[Sylver]

Indeed, ASRock socket 1155 motherboards are usually compatible with 775 coolers, specifically the Z77 Extreme4 is, I know because I have it. What I don't know is to what extent it can be advisable to use a 775 cooler on a Sandy… there will be those who have tried it and can give a better opinion than me.

Regards

[amd125]

Well, it depends on the heatsink. If it's a good heatsink, it can be mounted without any problems. I have a Scythe Mugen and if I bought an I2500K, I would definitely not change heatsinks. It has my Q6600 2.4@3.2 controlled even in summer.

[Obione]

If you don't want to give it a hard time, take advantage of it. Do you have a fan for Sonic Tower?

[Joanet]

Yes, I have a fan. Well, I'll try it to see how it goes, if it doesn't go from full 60 degrees to 3.8 ghz I'll leave it and I won't buy a new one xD.

[Joanet]

I have already assembled the new computer with the Sonic Tower heatsink + fan and no problems with the assembly although the space between one of the fixings and a heatsink on the motherboard is 1 mm or less xD. With prime95 and with the test that dissipates more heat, none of the CPU temperature values exceed 60 degrees. I think that as long as the voltage does not increase much, I could allow a slight overclock to 4 ghz although I do not need it because you will not see how fast this pc goes, I am very happy.

[Obione]

Overclock to stock until temperatures drop, I set a moral low of 60°C under stress test without AVX instructions, but 65°C is not a sin either, even less so if you're not going to push it with heavy tasks. I test with Prime 26.6 because it works just as well and the heat with AVX is noticeable. If you have passed a current Prime, when temps drop, check the voltage down and switch to version 26.6, you'll be amazed by the temps. Anyway, I already told you, I would go with stock and later you can put together a good graphics card + decent heatsink when a demanding game or some heavy task requires it. P.D.: If you are running with a voltage above the necessary to allow some OC, you won't notice much with the first few points of multi, from 4GHz it's noticeable exponentially, then it's a matter of the micro you get, a lottery.

[Joanet]

It's all set to automatic on the board, according to AIDA64 the CPU VID is 1.276v but instead the real value when I use prime 95 v27.7 is 1.17v. I don't know much about this topic but I guess it's a bit serious to have that voltage drop, but I guess since it's stable at that voltage nothing happens to me. I know there are guides on the internet and by touching options on the board I can fix it.
Do you think if the micro is at 65 or more with prime95 v26.6 it will cut its life a lot? If practically it would lack 35 degrees for the Tjmax which is what realtemp would mark.

I have put some of the temperatures that AIDA64 shows me after 30 minutes with prime 95 v 27.7 small FTT, the temperatures are very similar to those of the blend test.

Temperatures

CPU 44 °C (111 °F)
CPU Package 60 °C (140 °F)
CPU IA Cores 60 °C (140 °F)
CPU GT Cores 59 °C (138 °F)
CPU # 1 / core # 1 53 °C (127 °F)
CPU # 1 / core # 2 56 °C (133 °F)
CPU # 1 / core # 3 60 °C (140 °F)
CPU # 1 / core # 4 59 °C (138 °F)

Voltage values
CPU Core 1.168 V

Power values
CPU Package 86.46 W
CPU IA Cores 81.23 W

[Obione]

The CPU VID is not the effective voltage, measure it with CPU-Z or OCCT to see how it is managed under load and at rest, or with AIDA itself. If you have more voltage at rest, you should at least touch something to leave it the same for fixed voltage, and if you want to put the dynamic one that adds according to the load.