Building a new gaming PC

[meaze]

This forum has always given me great advice. I am back again to seek some input on building/upgrading my PC. Thanks in advance on any input that you guys can offer.

Parts I am already own and plan to reuse:

Antec Nine Hundred Two V3 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Gaming Case
Model #:Nine Hundred Two V3
Item #:N82E16811129097

OCZ StealthXStream OCZ600SXS 600W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready Active PFC Power Supply
Item #: N82E16817341010

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 92mm Fluid Dynamic CPU Cooler
Item #: N82E16835186134

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders - OEM
Item #: N82E16832116488

Also Have a Nvidia GTX 470 Video card. Don't see it on newegg though. I am very happy with this card and don't intend on upgrading it yet

What I intend on buying:

Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K
Model #:BX80623I72600K
Item #:N82E16819115070

ASUS P8Z68-V LE LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
Model #:P8Z68-V LE
Item #:N82E16813131773

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Profile Desktop Memory Model CML8GX3M2A1600C9
Model #:CML8GX3M2A1600C9
Item #:N82E16820233186

Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Model #:CT128M4SSD2
Item #:N82E16820148442

LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM
Model #:iHAS124-04
Item #:N82E16827106289

My questions:

Sould I get 16GB of memory?
Is my Power Supply still sufficient for this build?
Will I notice a huge increase in performance by using this SSD for my boot drive? I intend on storing all my music/videos on my existing HDD
Will my Arctic cooler definitely work with this CPU?

[glc]

1. I don't think 16gb is necessary, you can always get the extra 8gb later if you find you do need it.

2. If it's currently working okay with the GTX470, it will work okay with the new components.

3. Yes. Another option is a 64gb SSD using Intel Smart Response Technology to cache the existing hard drive. This will give you a noticeable increase over the use of just a standard hard drive.

4. Yes.

If you need to save some money, the i5-2500K will game just as well. The i7 hyperthreading doesn't make any difference with games.

[meaze]

I have built several computers. However I don't pretend to be tech savy! Could you please explain what you mean when you say to cache the existing hdd. Aside from plugging parts in and loading up programs I am not really to good with this stuff?

[glc]

HARDOCP - Introduction - Intel Smart Response Technology - SRT

[meaze]

Thanks for the link. That was definitely informative. A couple more questions:

1) Will using SRT give me the same preformance as just using the SSD for WIN7 and programs and kicking videos/music to a spinner? Is one way better than the other

2) How hard is this SRT to setup? Is this BIOS managed or thru software in the windows environment

3) I noticed my mobo does support SRT. However none of the SSD's mentioned it. Are all SSD's capable?

[Masaki 7-11]

Originally Posted by meaze Thanks for the link. That was definitely informative. A couple more questions: 1) Will using SRT give me the same preformance as just using the SSD for WIN7 and programs and kicking videos/music to a spinner? Is one way better than the other 2) How hard is this SRT to setup? Is this BIOS managed or thru software in the windows environment 3) I noticed my mobo does support SRT. However none of the SSD's mentioned it. Are all SSD's capable?

1) No, SRT puts your most commonly used data into the cache, so you'll only be able to get the performance boost the 2nd time you run a program/app as the first time it's added to the cache. Usually an SSD will also outperform a cache even after the programs are added to the cache, but not by much. An SSD cache is a lot more reliable than running everything off the ssd.

2) Very easy, as I remember you have to set your drives to RAID (rather than IDE or AHCI) in the bios, then you run the software in windows to finish setup).

3) All SSDs are capable of the caching as the caching algorithm is on the chipset and software and not on the SSD itself.

[meaze]

Thanks for all the info guys. One last question and I will leave you guys alone.

What 128GB SSD would you guys use if you were putting it in your computer? After looking a little more into it I am not convinced the one I picked out is the best

[birddog_61]

The only SSD I trust is Intel, their failure rate is less than half of the next most reliable brand.

[glc]

I personally would use an Intel 510 if it's going to be a primary drive. I would not be as fussy about a SRT drive, and a M4 would be an acceptable choice.

[meaze]

OK I built my computer last night. The specs are exactly as I posted previously. I have one snag. I know WEI does not amount to a whole lot. However I did reuse my GTX 470 which previously scored a WEI of 7.9 while installed in my old build. It is now only scoring a 7.1. This is the kind of thing that will drive me nuts if I can't figure it out. Are you guys aware of anything that could be holding it back? Maybe a setting somewhere. My wifes 4670 scores about the same. And I believe the 470 to be a far superior card.

[David M]

The WEI does not really measure performance. It only provides a predetermined score produced by Microsoft without running any sort of test. It's pretty useless as an accurate benchmark.

Use a benchmark that actually measures your system and then provides a score, like 3DMark11 or 3DMark Vantage.

Tom's Hardware has rankings of different graphics cards based on different benchmarks.

[meaze]

Yea I realize that WEI does not mean much. However I can't understand how the same card was a 7.9 with my other build. Thanks for the info

[David M]

Originally Posted by meaze Yea I realize that WEI does not mean much. However I can't understand how the same card was a 7.9 with my other build. Thanks for the info

WEI measures relative theoretical relative speeds and not actual speeds.

The true speed of graphics cards has increased making the relative speed of your existing cards decrease. The 6990 or 595 did not exist when your card was new.

The same has happened for the ratings of hard drives with the advent of solid state drives. Although the true speeds of hard drives have not fallen, their relative speeds have dropped.

This is why WEI not a very good benchmark. WEI measures relative speeds and not true speeds. Only with benchmark software can true speeds be measured.

[meaze]

Thank you for the explanation. That makes a lot of sense. One question.
I put the Video card in the PCI express 2.0x16 X4 Mode Slot (The black one on the board) I just read that the blue slot is X16. Does this matter? Should I swap them?

[glc]

Yes, you need to put the card in the x16 slot. That will make a difference!

[David M]

Since you are using a single card you definitely want it in the 16x slot for one graphics card. Otherwise you risk your card being slowed down by being limited to 4 graphics lanes.

[meaze]

Awesome! Can't wait to get home and try it out. Thanks

[meaze]

Swapped card to the 16x slot. Working like a champ. Thanks again for a successful build. Great advice from you guys!