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Core i5 Sandy Bridge Box


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I'm starting the process of a new build. As the recent thread action shows, I picked up a Corsair H60 CPU Cooler. Trying to be cost effective on my build, yet I do lean more toward an Intel i5-2500k Sandy Bridge build.

 

I'm looking to go with:

  • CPU:
    Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge CPU
    $224.99
  • Mobo:
    ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 (Go Pro for RAID0 SATA3 Ports)
    $204.99
  • RAM:
    CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9B
    $93.99
  • Power Supply:
    Corsair TX550W Enthusiast Series Modular PSU Got this last week
  • SSD:
    (2x) Corsair Force Series GT CSSD-F90GBGT-BK 2.5" 90GB SATA III (went with RAID0 on the 90 GB SSDs)
    $289.98 ($144.99 each)
  • Total (with some Artic Silver 5 @ $12.98
    $835.76

 

 

I have some existing hardware I will use for this build. After I have it built up and get some more free loot, I will add a SSD Drive into the mix. SATA 3.0 drive for initial build, since I already have that.

 

- Items I already have for this build:

  • HDD:
    Seagate Barracuda ES.2 SATA 3.0-Gb/s 500GB (storage)
  • Video Card / GPU:
    MSI GeForce 460 GTX Hawk
  • Case:
    Antec P180 Case
  • CPU Cooler:
    Corsair Hydro Series H60 CPU Liquid Cooler

 

I am replacing an Aspire (Apevia) 500W PSU <- Pretty shitty brand with the Corsair unit. My 1.5V ratings have been quite low and the current PSU doesn't like when I add a 3rd SATA HDD. The Aspire works for a buget build PC, but not so well for a rig with a beefier video card or multiple hard drives.

 

PSU has come and works well in my current setup. I am thinking I'll grab a single SSD with the order. I also decided to just go with 16GB of RAM and upgraded to the Pro Model motherboard. SATA 3 RAID support / extra ports was a big push for this.

 

I am verifying the SSD choice via reviews and actually found some damn handy tips for SSD based tweaks for Win 7 / Vista in this review.

 

I also wanted to go Dual SSDs for speed and the ability to talk shit on b0x speed. ;)

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  • 2 weeks later...

:macho: Thanks! I figure I'm going to build a beastly rig so I can be all set for quite some time. :lion:

 

Checking my current install, 60GB is going to be a tight fit, so I may go with 2x 90GB SSDs so I can RAID0 it up. Price makes me cringe there though, since 2x 90GB SSDs would be little under $300 bones :afro:

Edited by Pic0o
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  • 2 weeks later...

I made my RAID0 array and have my updated drivers rolling. Skyrim install almost done, then I will update over some :zzz:

 

My System Specifications

 

Operating System:

Windows 2.6.1.7600

CPU Type:

Intel® Core™ i5-2500K CPU @ 3.30GHz

CPU Speed:

3.32 GHz

System Memory:

15.97 GB

Video Card Model:

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460

Video Card Memory:

3.97 GB

Video Card Driver:

nvd3dum.dll

Desktop Resolution:

1920x1200

Hard Disk Size:

167.59 GB

Hard Disk Free Space:

129.46 GB (77%)

Download Speed:

1.48 MB/s (12.4 mbps)

 

This b0x is hyper BEAST fast! :lion: :reptar:

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I am up and rolling, as I had to do some mad testing to determine some of my RAM is bad. Had some BSOD after about 10 hours of OS uptime, wanted to be sure it wasn't due to RAID0 or any other components.

 

On the good side of reinstalls, they are stupid fast! Also speaking of fast, here is an ATTO bench of my current SDD config,

 

Wow dude, my 460 GTX was hyper limited in my old CPU/RAM config! :afro: :bday: 3D Mark 2011 now plays like a film. :smurfy:

P3832 3DMarks

3DMark:2011v103

 

I have my SATA Drive subbed in from DVD drive. Made top power on extension, so off array POWA cable. :yar:

 

HDD Benches before the following SSD Windows 7 tweaks were applied. My only real variation was to keep Drive Indexing on, and set a fixed 1600MB Swap file (running on 8Gb awaiting RMA for my 16GB kit)

ATTO.png

FFXIVBench-i5Stock.png

TowerFrontSSD_HDD.jpg

H60Coolingi5-BasementCold.jpg

Edited by Pic0o
Pics + Bench
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  • 2 weeks later...

Running on 3 sticks of 4GB for now. Doing some burnin on 4.6GHz. Default voltage options, 1.4V peak thus seen. This wasn't stable, so I am chilling just under 4.5GHz at about 1.3V

 

Turned out that 4.6GHz was a bit too much on stock voltage. Pushed back to a 42 Multiplier to my 106.6 FSB (~4.5GHz) and this seems more a less, like my sweet spot. Burn ins and tweaking to continue tonight. I should be back up to 16GB RAM by the weekend. :bunny:

 

Gonna want to do some GPU encoding tasks as well. Likely will install Linux on a SATA HDD, as I don't want to break up my Windows Boot / Game Drive array.

 

Fun observation. On ASUS boards, you may not see video post while having your onboard GPU enabled, but being hooked to an addon (PCIE) card. I found the best way to force display is to press 'Delete' on startup. I had a few scares with the machine having issues, but found this POST display to be common upon active displays being switched around.

 

I have since disabled the onboard GPU in my BIOS, as I wasn't blown away by LucidLogix Virtu.

 

Meanwhile, my OC has been working out. Almost +1000 points on the 720p FFXIV Benchmark.

- Installed 296.10 Drivers for 460 GTX and jumped my score into 6531.

I also am on 16GB RAM vs 12GB, but memory usage was under 20% with more than Benchmark running.

FFXivWinBenchmark 4486MHz.jpg

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New RAM went in last night from my RMA. I did some tweaking to find that 106.6 BCLK / FSB was just too fast for the memory in 1600 (1701 with OC) mode. I had a single memory error in the 11GB range, that was gone upon the slight BCLK decrease. Dropping back to 106.4 BCLK let me jump up to a 43x multiplier. So far the overnight burn in test is a pass, as was last nights Memtest.

 

Ballin out @ 4574 MHz at this time. :booty:

 

Just for shits, yes I didn't OC my machine, until after I figured out I had bad RAM (and removed the bad stick). Once I learned that, OC Party Time was on!

 

Nite Time:

44x106.4 @ 4680 GHz. 1.45 v peak on these settings.

62 C - highest CPU. FYI Asus Users. CPU temp listed is much lower than Speedfan (measured) Core0

 

3DMark 2011v103:

P3931 3DMarks

 

3DMark 2006v1.20

26678 3DMarks

 

Mornin:

Back to 44x106.4 @ 4573 GHz. 1.35 v on this clock

59 C - highest CPU.

 

Sunday:

Decided to roll back since this didn't pass the overnight loops. 43x105.8 @ (4549.5 GHz) is my current OC, runs like an appliance currently. This is looking like my winner. 63 C is the peak temp I saw from this weekend, up until last night (Tuesday - 2012-03-27)

FullScreenCPUZ-443x106p4.jpg

Edited by Pic0o
Solid
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  • 2 weeks later...

Same clocks, mad steady on the clock. I got my Skyrim purdy and mostly capped @ 1080P and 1900x1200. Turned off the splash option on my Water mod. Still get the vastly increased quality H20 tho. :beer:

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I'd like to grab Unigine Heaven and give that a run. My build remains on the same OC as before, while running nice and stable.

 

I also ran the GTAIV Benchmark (included with game) and it clocks at the 66 FPS range. Oddly, going down from 1900x1200 to 1680x1050 gave the same results.

 

With some pretty heavy writes to my RAID0 SSD setup, I ran another test with ATTO. Little under 1000MB/s at this time. The Intel RST (version 10.8.0.1003) utility says I am running TRIM, but I don't know if it's actually working on the RAID array.

 

After a month, I see an approx 5MB/s jump off. I've had the array down to 25GB or so free, currently in the 40GB range.

ATTO-2012-04-10.png

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  • 1 month later...

y0 dude Im pretty sure my netbook rolls a higher score than the one you just posted.

 

 

It's all good though P, I will refresh my scores soon on my ub3r rig and show you what greatness really looks like. Becareful tho, seeing my scores will blow your fuxin mind out of your ear hole like a blob of ooze if your not used to epic greatness!

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