Suggestions for i5-2500k

[edrod13]

Been contemplating this for some time and have decided to upgrade my current machine (Intel DG965SS, E6300). This machine is needed strictly to edit RAW files for my photography.

I am gonna use my current INWIN case because I really like the build quality but will need a better PS. Been out of the loop for a couple of years but it looks like my choices are P67, H67, or the newer Z68 boards? I would like to find a board that will allow me to use the on chip video since I dont game. Also, I would like to have at least 8GB of ram since I will be upgrading to W7-64 bit. I have read here that the 1.5v ram seems to play better with these boards? I currently have SATA drives but my DVR-RW is IDE so that might be a problem. Looking to get a BLACK caviar as they seem highly recommended here. If anyone has some time to school me on the latest stuff, suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Is it possible to pull this off with around $650

[Sourtop]

Newegg.com - ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - CD / DVD Burners

Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Newegg.com - Antec EarthWatts Green EA-380D Green 380W Continuous power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9

Newegg.com - ASUS P8Z68-V LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K

That's ~$650 before tax. The Z68 board will let you use the video of the i5-2500k. You can also get a small SSD (40 Gb or so) down the road to take advantage of the SSD caching of the HDD.

I'm not sure where you could skim some cash off of it. Maybe drop down to the i5-2500 and get a 32 Mb Cache Caviar Black. You could probably find a less expensive MOBO as well, but ASUS makes the highest quality boards so its a worthy investment.

[glc]

Stick with the -K to get the better onboard video. You can skim cash with a Gigabyte or MSI Z68 board.

You can get a bit more power and save a few bucks here:

Newegg.com - Antec Basiq BP430 430W Continuous Power ATX12V Version 2.2 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply

Go for the free shipping:

Newegg.com - Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model AD-7260S-0B - CD / DVD Burners

Save another 5 bucks:

Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9R

[edrod13]

The suggested choices look good. They are very similar to most of the other threads I have been reading. I am not planning on overclocking but I am concerned with the stock cooler? Also will those heatsinks on the ram become an issue if I go with a third party heatsink? Any MSI or Gygabyte boards in particular to look at? I am currently running an ATI Radeon HD4550 so I dont have to use the on chip video and will that give me more board options? for instance the P8P67 or should I just go with the Z68 for future SSD caching?

[Sourtop]

The stock heat sink will be fine unless you're doing anything more than a minor overclock. If you're worried about clearance for a possible heat sink in the future then you could get these:

Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Profile Desktop Memory Model CML8GX3M2A1600C9

You should stick with the Z68. As glc has said in multiple topics on this board - "its what the P67 should have been".

You could save a few bucks with:
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

or

Newegg.com - MSI Z68MA-ED55 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

[edrod13]

Ok my OCD got the best of me and even though I am about 20 minutes from newegg, I just shopped locally. Probably paid 10% more total but thats what you gonna do. probably wouldn't see my parts til thursday and I am leaving for vacation by the weekend.

i5-2500K
ASUS P8Z68-V
8GB DDR3 1600
Caviar BLACK 1TB 64MB
LITEON 24X DVD-RW
ANTEC Basiq 430W
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
ANTEC 300 case (seems ok even though i really liked the corsair 600T)

I have a couple of questions. In the future if I decided to go with an SSD will I have any problems re-using W7? Also, what would be the best way to partition the drive? I was thinking about 100GB for boot and then the rest for music, personal stuff etc... My photography stuff which is what I wanted this machine for are in my current PC on a 1TB seagate sata drive. Should I just build the machine using the caviar and then later just transfer over the drive? TIA

[glc]

Newegg now has a will call in City of Industry with same day pickup..............

[edrod13]

@glc, I remembered that was never an option. Glad to hear they are letting people will call. I'm relatively close and they have great deals. Any suggestions on the last post I put up?

[Khalil]

Originally Posted by edrod13 Ok my OCD got the best of me and even though I am about 20 minutes from newegg, I just shopped locally. Probably paid 10% more total but thats what you gonna do. probably wouldn't see my parts til thursday and I am leaving for vacation by the weekend. i5-2500K ASUS P8Z68-V 8GB DDR3 1600 Caviar BLACK 1TB 64MB LITEON 24X DVD-RW ANTEC Basiq 430W Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit ANTEC 300 case (seems ok even though i really liked the corsair 600T) I have a couple of questions. In the future if I decided to go with an SSD will I have any problems re-using W7? Not at all. Also, what would be the best way to partition the drive? I was thinking about 100GB for boot and then the rest for music, personal stuff etc... Sounds good My photography stuff which is what I wanted this machine for are in my current PC on a 1TB seagate sata drive. Should I just build the machine using the caviar and then later just transfer over the drive? Yes that is a good idea, if the Seagate was a system drive previously, make sure and go into the bios and make the boot hard drive the Caviar. TIA

Hope this helps you

[edrod13]

ok I have run into a small snag. The Antec BP430 has an 8 pin (4+4) ATX12v, the ASUS board has EATX12V and the square to round connectors dont match up. It does seem to insert regardless but I am hesitant to continue or even power this thing up. Anyone know if they are compatible or will the Antec PS not work for the ASUS P8Z68-V? TIA

BTW both connectors have P2 on them?

[glc]

Crap - I'm sorry - you need an EPS compatible PSU, I forgot all about that. Can you take it back and exchange it for an Earthwatts Green or HCG?

[Jeri]

I have the ASUS P8H67-M PRO/CSM MB and Antec BP550 Plus PSU

Newegg.com - ASUS P8H67-M PRO/CSM (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

Newegg.com - Antec BP550 Plus 550W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

The 8 pin CPU power connector was not an exact match (round vs square), but still went in fairly easily.... Is this the same issue the OP is talking about?

I have 4 of these up and running without any problems so far. Should I be concerned?

[edrod13]

Yes. I drove down to the store and the are all the same as the one I returned. The second P2 connector has all round pins when two if the should be squared per the motherboard. Because they are round, they should go into the MB. Looks like I could have kept thymine I bought but will be taking an Antec green 500W that's EPS just in case even though it's the same as the Basiq.

[glc]

The 500 watts will give you more headroom if you ever decide to get a video card.

[edrod13]

@glc, that's why I decided to go with the 500w. It seems to be of better quality also for another $15 or so. It's up and running, just loaded windows and all the drivers on the CD. I haven't done anything with it yet but hopefully it wont dissapoint as far as performance. My Core 2 Dou E6300 seemed just as snappy when loading windows and booting up etc... I am at one of my kids functions using my phone, later I'll get back on here a post some questions regarding some of the performance functions that this board offers.

[edrod13]

I have never been one to overclock anything but it seems these K Series CPU do really well with minimal work. Is this the cooler that is highly recommended here:

FRYS.com*|*COOLER MASTER

Seems to be half the price of newegg which is a good thing since its local for me. Does anyone have this installed on an Antec 300 case? Worried about the fit and finally will the Corsair Vengance DDR3 1600 be ok for overclocking a bit? TIA

[Sourtop]

The Hyper 212+ is a fantastic cooler and it will fit in the Antec 300. You shouldn't bother overclocking the ram because it gives little to no benefit and just make the system more unstable.

Overclocking the i5-2500k is a joke. It took me a few hours to overclock my i7-2600k to 4.5 Ghz with a stable Vcore. There are a ton of how-to guides on overclocking the sandy bridge CPUs and the Asus BIOS are incredible for it as well.

[glc]

The only problem with the Vengeance is heatsink clearance. Corsair has just released a low-profile version of Vengeance to take care of that issue.

[edrod13]

I actually purchased the Low Profile Vengance DDR3 1600, so those should work fine with that heatsink. I have also read that removing the motherboard is a must to install this heatsink but my Antec 300 is open in the rear which gives me access to install the brackets/plates etc...

[edrod13]

Originally Posted by Sourtop Overclocking the i5-2500k is a joke.

By this you mean relatively easy? as I understand your first statement would make me believe that its not worth going through the hassle. TIA

[Sourtop]

Sorry, I meant its really easy. Huge overclocks on air is pretty impressive. I was saying that overclocking the memory (not the CPU) is not worth it.

[edrod13]

Just wanted to report that the install of the Hyper 212 + went well even though its a pain in the @ss to install. Word of advice for anyone wanting this monster, watch the standoffs that make contact with the MOBO so you dont accidently scratch the traces of the surface when tightening the screws. The system has been up and running for a couple of days and my running temps are around 28C. I notice using CPU-Z that my because of Speedstep, my system idles at 1.6Ghz and then ramps up to 3.3 - 3.7 GHz underload. I am going to give it a few more days before I try and manually overclock the PC as it seems very do-able with just a few bios tweaks. Just wanted to thank the contributors of the thread for helping out. In about 3 years I will be at it again. Thanks