New team, what do you think?

[raffk]

Good afternoon to all, I am thinking about retiring my current computer (E2160, 7600 GT, 2GB RAM) to get something powerful, after reading many threads and opinions here on Hardlimit I have configured a possible team, and I would like to see what you think of the possible choice and if you would change any component:

Intel Core i5 2500K 3.3Ghz Box Socket 1155
ASRock Z68 Pro3 Gen3
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
G.Skill Ripjaws X DDR3 1600 PC3-12800 8GB 2x4GB CL9
Crucial M4 64GB SATA3
Fractal Define R3 Black Pearl
OCZ ZS Series 650W
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 560 Ti OC 1024MB GDDR5

Team at pccomponentes

The computer will be used basically to play in Windows and work in Linux (that practically obliges me to go for NVIDIA, since ATI seems to still have quite a few problems) with several virtual machines (VirtualBox). The main requirement apart from being powerful to play everything or almost everything at 1920x1080 is that it is very quiet which I suppose is not always easy, that's why I chose that case and I think the rest of the components (cooler, graphics card, power supply) are also quiet but I would appreciate any confirmation in favor or against my hopes ;D, I don't rule out doing OC in the future (that's why the 2500K) but for now I don't think I will.

The budget I have is between 800-900 (if it's closer to 800 then better), I have only put the SSD as storage, because I already have quite a few hard drives even if they are SATA2, but these are bad times to buy others, so I'll make do.

I'm also not in a hurry, but I've been thinking about buying the new computer since Christmas... and from what I've read the movement in new graphics cards and processors will be delayed a bit and I don't want to get to summer... besides, the jump from my old computer to the new one I think is going to be big enough and the new computer should last me a few years I hope.

Well I think that's all, I appreciate that you have read this little "novel" and any contribution to overcome my indecision to change my computer will be welcome

[Obione]

For a little more you can get a P67A-UD4 or a P67 Extreme6. You wouldn't be able to use the integrated one if you sell or RMA the 560 but if you keep the 7600GT even if it's on the other computer you won't be left high and dry. If you want PCIe 3.0 you'll need to put together an Ivy and they don't have much left to release, having stretched that team so much it wouldn't be a bad idea to wait.

A shame they don't have the HR-02 now, you can tell the difference from the 212 and it's only 10 euros more. If you're a power user it can limit your OC. I have a maximum of 60º with 1.25v and it hasn't been a power user, in the summer at full it would be short but for gaming it should hold up because I had 50º with The Witcher 2 and I don't play Battlefield 3 xD

If you want SLI you could get the 750W one that comes with 4 PCIe. By the way, the 560 isn't PCIe 3.0 either, there's still a long way to go before it's useful and of course the graphics card that would appreciate it will cost an arm and a leg, whenever you find a graphics card with a performance/price ratio that's worth a PCIe 3.0 you'll probably be short on CPU :ugly:

Finally, before I would get the M4 128 for capacity and price/megabyte, and I would go for an ASRock P67 Pro3 or a P67X-UD3 if you want SLI.

[raffk]

First of all, thank you for responding

Regarding the P67, I am not very up to date on chipsets, I understood that the z68 being more "modern" would be somewhat better and not just for the possibility of using the CPU's integrated one which is not important to me because although it probably won't keep the 7600GT in case of need I would get a cheap graphics card and run. Although I see that you recommend all P67 motherboards, is it better to get that chipset? what would I gain, and what would I lose?
Regarding waiting for the Ivy, is it worth it? I imagine that until they come out it's a question without an answer, but when do they come out and at what prices, is there anything known? maybe I should ask in the processor forum no…? I read on the internet that they may be delayed until June, too much waiting :ffu:

I don't see SLI as particularly interesting mainly because I suppose that by the time I have "need" to put in a second graphics card it's possible that even economically and "energetically" it would be better to get a new more powerful graphics card and sell the old one. It's also true that the last time I looked into SLI it was still giving some performance issues which I suppose have improved considerably, it's just that I've been disconnected from hardware news for a long time, as can be seen by the E2160 ;D

I'm considering getting the Crucial 128GB even if I have to raise the budget a bit... since as you say the price per mega is clearly better.

[Obione]

Z68 allows you to use SSD as a cache for a magnetic one, which would be fine if there were decent, small, and cheap SSDs. Then you have the Virtu that is not polished in operation or compatibility, it is an attempt to use the integrated and dedicated one as needed. So far 2 aspects without importance, a push on a magnetic and an attempt at power saving in some graphics that suck less at rest and low load each day. Then of course, you have the important stuff, graphics outputs + OC.

Well, being that way, you could get a SilverStone Strider Essential that will move a graphics performance/price and an ASRock P67 Pro3 that will comply with a moderate/decent OC with which the 212 will not fall short. You leave the money on SSDs which is what is most noticeable in overall performance. A good board will be more durable but the increase in extra OC is going to be laughable and the disipation will be short with a good OC in summer, even in winter if you are a big eater.

@raffk:

I don't see SLI as especially interesting mainly because I suppose that by the time I have the "need" to put in a second graphics card it is possible that even economically and "energetically" it will be better to get a new more powerful graphics card and sell the old one. It is also true that the last time I looked into SLI it still gave some performance problems that I suppose have improved considerably, it's just that I have been disconnected from hardware news for a long time, as can be seen by the E2160 ;D

A lot of time has passed since then, I had a 1650Pro DDR3 that performed similar to your graphics card and I mounted it on an Athlon 64 with a single core that back then cost me 100 euros along with the board and disipation xD Then I changed to the "same micro" that you have (E2180) with a 4850, 150€ micro+board+disipation and less than 100 GPU. Clearly you have surpassed me in bragging :ugly:

Nowadays almost all the demanding games support multiGPU and there are interesting configurations, with their pros and cons. The Gigabyte P67X-UD3 is not a bad board, the truth is that price/performance (SLI/Cross) is cool but 2 graphics cards will need more power supply and more cooling, if we add possible dizziness with drivers and some lack of utilization I think that for what you want there are enough cons to dismiss it.

As for the Ivy, they are not going to be a revolution but between the reduction in consumption, a 10% of performance (playing it will be less) and the OC, it is worth considering. If you are in a hurry, that's fine, what you will really notice when playing is having a good graphics card.