Quote: Harducore on 06/22/2012, 07:43 AM - view

Thanks Harducore, I love your site! That build is very similar to the one I was thinking of before Ivy bridge came out. I'm not sure if there is even much of an advantage to getting Ivy Bridge considering its more of a side-grade than an upgrade from Sandy.

But you know as I always want the latest and greatest, I guess I have to get it. I saw this article on overclocking it:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5763/undervolting-and-overclocking-on-ivy-bridge

Which seems to indicate I can get a modest 4.4 OC at very low temps, but its almost a downgrade from the i5 2500k, lol.

few things i would suggest is if you like the asus extreme4 newegg has one cheaper then you posted plus an additional 10% off code EMCNDHJ226 making it like $120 and the haf 912 for $70 another thing instead of spending so much money on that intel ssd get the ocz vertex 4 its 100 bucks cheaper and has better performance for the loss of a few gigs which is still plenty the last thing i want to suggest to you is that if your dropping money for a z77 chipset is to spend a lil more money and get some faster ram than 1600.... go with ddr3 2400 or better with tight timings because these new boards running an ivy just love these higher clocked rams and support them without even having to mess with your bios like the gskill trident x's which i own

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227791

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231587

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233

Thanks for all your feedback on this. I just ordered and ended up with:

Mobo: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 Motherboard
CPU: Intel Core i5 3570K
CPU cooler: CM 212 evo
RAM: 8GB (2x4) G.Skill Ripjaws @1600
GPU: Asus Radeon HD 6850 (salvaged from current pc) free
PSU: 620w Antec gamer modular
HDD1: Intel 320 SSD 180gb
HDD2: 500GB WD blue
LG OEM 24x DVD-RW Drive
Case: HAF 912 advanced
Windows Home Premium 7 64 (OEM)

I was just about to get the Palit jetstream GTX670 for another $500, but my friend talked me out of it as he thinks the HD6850 will play most games at decent fps if I turn down the graphics level somewhat, especially mmos. I actually feel somewhat disappointed about that, but I like being $500 richer too.

I also got a new 620w psu because I just felt my old 500w was slightly on the edge if I was going to overclock; it was probably ok but I thought it was worth $100 to feel safe and to prepare for future upgrades.

I think it should be a decent system overall. Next I just have to put it together, which should be fun.