My first time build, would welcome comments before I purchase hardware!

[mrmotivator]

This is my first time build...

Im looking to for a pc i can do a bit of everything and use as a home theater primarily.

I have listed the components i have so far, my big question is do i need a good graphics card or sound card?? I notices the motherboard has 7.1 audio support is the enough to play DD and DTS etc??

Would welcome any help!!!

CPU(+Cooler)

Intel+Core+i5-2500K+3.30GHz+%28Sandybridge%29+Socket+LGA1155+Unlocked+Processor


Motherboard

Intel/Socket+1155+-+Intel+Z77/GIGABYTE+GA-Z77X-UD5H+Intel+Z77+Socket+1155+DDR3+PCI-Express+Motherboard+w%2F+FREE+Water-Cooler

Ram

Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9)


Case

FRACTAL DESIGN Define XL PC Tower Case


PSU

/650W+Corsair+TX650+V2+80PLUS+Bronze+Power+Supply+?productId=49407


HDD

2TB+Seagate+Barracuda+Green+3.5%22+SATA+III+Internal+Hard+Drive+

Graphics Card (Optional)

/Sapphire+Radeon+HD+7770+1024MB+GDDR5+PCI-Express+Graphics+Card+?productId=48499


SSD for OS (Optional)

OCZ+Agility+3+120GB+2.5%22+SATA-III+Solid+State+Hard+Drive+?productId=47341

 

[jasper1605]

That's a solid kit right there. I've heard a mixed bag on ocz ssd reliability so be warned there I'll leave that to others for comment.

As for sound yes the mobo will support 7.1 but no it will not be crazy high quality. What you can do if you have an HDMI passthrough receiver is funnel your audio through the graphics card in 7.1 lpcm and let the receiver decode it. That should jump quality up a bit though I ran into stability issues with drivers 2 years ago with that set up. Could be fixed now but I can't test it because of my current set up/lack of free time for a Med student haha

 

[mrmotivator]

thanks man, so you think its essential i get the graphics card, cant make do with just the motherboard?!

 

[Cybrnook]

I see your listing the SSD as optional, but having the 2TB green drive as your main. I would personally switch that around. If you are going to have a rotational HDD as your main drive, I would get something more sturdy than a green. Not to say greens are bad (Have them in my file server), but I would user something like a velociraptor, or a WD Black if I had only 1 main drive.

Also, I am partial to the Samsung 830 SSD's, they are astoundingly stable. Compared to some of the OCZ's I had and a couple patriots. All the sandforce controllers eventually acted. Samsungs proprietary one has held up solid for 3 months straight so far.

samsung 830 ssd

I like Seasonic PSU's
Computer Hardware, seasonic

annnnd, People (myself included) are having great luck with the Samsung ECO green half height ram kits. Plus they are dirt cheap.
SAMSUNG 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600...


Either way, looks like a nice build. Good luck!

 

[Cybrnook]

thanks man, so you think its essential i get the graphics card, cant make do with just the motherboard?!

Well the onboard graphics is just linking you to the built in graphics of the CPU. If your ONLY doing home theater, it will be fine for you. But if you start wanting to game with anything other than flash games, or old legacy games it will hold you back.

But it will steam 1080P just fine for video.

 

[mrmotivator]

What about playing blurays/ripping and downloading full Iso files i take it those files will play just fine with out a graphics card as well???

Excuse my lack of knowledge on the subject Thanks!

 

[Cybrnook]

What about playing blurays/ripping and downloading full Iso files i take it those files will play just fine with out a graphics card as well???

Excuse my lack of knowledge on the subject Thanks!

As long as your TV or monitor is HDCP complient, should not be a problem.

Downloading has nothing to do with your GPU, neither does ripping. Thats all resource bound. (HDD space, CPU/RAM)

 

[NdMk2o1o]

Why not Ivy Bridge which was released today

 

[mrmotivator]

Thanks for the advice

Back to the 7.1 sound issue, jasper1605", mentioned the sound wouldn't be very good with just the motherboard?? Sound card suggestions so I can get the best sound?

Thanks,

 

[lilhasselhoffer]

Two comments:

You aren't overclocking. You want to skip the external graphics card. You don't, apparently, want to game.


As such:
1) Get an i5 3750 for your processor. The graphics have been improved, there is a smaller power usage, and you will be able to use the features of Z77 in the future.
2) Wait just a little while if you can. Initial reviews of IB are less than great, so those processors should become commercially available (ie reasonably priced) relatively soon.
3) An SSD isn't necessarily a good investment for this type of project. Home theater PCs generally run constantly, so the much faster random access speeds aren't necessarily going to equate to better performance.
4) Do not use a green drive for your OS. Green drives are only good for storage, and only if there are no other options. Always get a decent 7200 RPM drive for the OS.

 

[mrmotivator]

I was planning on using the SSD drive for the operating system to make use of the speed, think theres no need?? what about the WD black drives, better I know there more expensive??

Oh and I plan to get about three 2tb drives to begin with expanding to nine over the next year or two to store all my movies. Is this the beat method for storage or would I be better to build a small server???

Thanks

 

[Cybrnook]

I was planning on using the SSD drive for the operating system to make use of the speed, think theres no need?? what about the WD black drives, better I know there more expensive??

Oh and I plan to get about three 2tb drives to begin with expanding to nine over the next year or two to store all my movies. Is this the beat method for storage or would I be better to build a small server???

Thanks

Build a small server using the green drives with something like "UnRaid" as your os.

Then get a nice Black for your HTPC build.

 

[Huddo93]

Mrmotivator, before criticing your choices, What are the main purposes of this rig? purely for browsing, watching/burning/ripping bluray dvd @ 1080p? any gaming? or any multithreaded cpu programs?

If you are not looking at gaming, I would just skip the graphics card, and go with the new i5 3570 (Ivy Bridge). The on board graphics on the CPU with the motherboard you have chosen is more than enough to play Bluray DVD's and video @ 1080p.

If this is the case (not gaming), look at using the money saved on not buying a graphics card, and instead go with a WD Cavier Black 1/2TB and look into getting a sound card (as above I saw you were a little worried about sound quality).

Boot SSD is definitely a must out of all the components you have chosen though.

If you can give a better idea on the purpose of this build, it would be greatly appreciated

 

[lilhasselhoffer]

Mrmotivator, before criticing your choices, What are the main purposes of this rig? purely for browsing, watching/burning/ripping bluray dvd @ 1080p? any gaming? or any multithreaded cpu programs?

Im looking to for a pc i can do a bit of everything and use as a home theater primarily.

I have listed the components i have so far, my big question is do i need a good graphics card or sound card?? I notices the motherboard has 7.1 audio support is the enough to play DD and DTS etc??

The sound card is a goofy add-on in my opinion. If you want to go to truly awesome sound (read: spend several hundreds of dollars on speakers, if not thousands), then you need a sound card. If you're like most people, a sound card is expensive and you won't notice a difference. I'm running the audio channel in my HDMI cable to the TV, and the sound reproduction is more than adequate.

Given the way you seem to want a home theater, the question is how much are you going to spend. A decent 5.1 speaker set probably won't benefit substantially from a separate sound card. If you've got a more discerning ear, or high quality speakers, then spend the money on a card.

 

[Fourstaff]

If watching movies is your greatest power usage (and you are not encoding videos to other formats), I would take a 180 degree turn and recommend i3 2100, and something which fits into a mATX.

You can skip on graphics card, but if it doesn't play all your videos stutter free then get one. No need to be powerful, something even a low end should suffice.

Also, SSD is not really going to help you much other than boot times if you don't really play games and other intensive activities.

 

[mrmotivator]

Mrmotivator, before criticing your choices, What are the main purposes of this rig? purely for browsing, watching/burning/ripping bluray dvd @ 1080p? any gaming? or any multithreaded cpu programs?

If you are not looking at gaming, I would just skip the graphics card, and go with the new i5 3570 (Ivy Bridge). The on board graphics on the CPU with the motherboard you have chosen is more than enough to play Bluray DVD's and video @ 1080p.

If this is the case (not gaming), look at using the money saved on not buying a graphics card, and instead go with a WD Cavier Black 1/2TB and look into getting a sound card (as above I saw you were a little worried about sound quality).

Boot SSD is definitely a must out of all the components you have chosen though.

If you can give a better idea on the purpose of this build, it would be greatly appreciated

Thanks for the advice Huddo93.

I will mainly use the system as a source to play all my movies, full blurays etc (no gaming) I already have about 5TB´s on external WD hardrives so need alot of space. Was thinking of the Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB SATAII 64MB Cache 3.5-inch Internal Hard Drive, to start with and the add plenty more. Whats the difference between that and the black?? Also i heard about Ivy Bridge, where do you even get it i cant see it on ebuyer?

 

[mrmotivator]

If watching movies is your greatest power usage (and you are not encoding videos to other formats), I would take a 180 degree turn and recommend i3 2100, and something which fits into a mATX.

You can skip on graphics card, but if it doesn't play all your videos stutter free then get one. No need to be powerful, something even a low end should suffice.

Also, SSD is not really going to help you much other than boot times if you don't really play games and other intensive activities.

Thanks Fourstaff...

I have been trying to do some encoding, plus i want to future proof it so i dont have to upgrade the motherboard and processor for a long while. I think your probably right about the SSD i was just told it made it go lightning fast on startup and shutdown etc.

 

[mrmotivator]

The sound card is a goofy add-on in my opinion. If you want to go to truly awesome sound (read: spend several hundreds of dollars on speakers, if not thousands), then you need a sound card. If you're like most people, a sound card is expensive and you won't notice a difference. I'm running the audio channel in my HDMI cable to the TV, and the sound reproduction is more than adequate.

Given the way you seem to want a home theater, the question is how much are you going to spend. A decent 5.1 speaker set probably won't benefit substantially from a separate sound card. If you've got a more discerning ear, or high quality speakers, then spend the money on a card.

Thanks lilhasselhoffer...

I plan to run the sound into the new Samsung HT-D6750 7.1ch 3D Blu-ray Smart Hub Home Cinema System i have, i just wanted the best sound but if you think the motherboard will be good enough ill give that a go. Will if i play a full bluray rip will it be true surround though?

 

[Dimi]

I suggest these components.

Motherboard (Onboard X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity Audio Chip):
Asus Republic Of Gamers Maximus V GENE

CPU (Quick Sync for ULTRA FAST encoding)
Intel Core i5 3570K + Corsair H100 Cooler

Case:
Fractal Design Arc Mini

SSD:
Samsung 830 SSD

Corsair AX650 PSU
Corsair 8GB Memory

If you wanne play games then get a graphics card, depending on your games, anything from a GTX 560 Ti to a HD7870 or even a GTX680 if you wanne go all the way.

 

[Fourstaff]

Thanks Fourstaff...

I have been trying to do some encoding, plus i want to future proof it so i dont have to upgrade the motherboard and processor for a long while. I think your probably right about the SSD i was just told it made it go lightning fast on startup and shutdown etc.

You can use the multiquote button if you are going to quote many people, and use the thanks button instead of posting 3 times.

If you are going to do some encoding then you might want to consider i7 3770K.

 

[mrmotivator]

where do you even get intel Core i5 3570K, i checked ebuyer.com and aria.co.uk? also i went with the big case so i can get alot of hardrives in it, i have like 5tb of movies and stuff already so want to future proof it a bit. thank

 

[Dimi]

where do you even get intel Core i5 3570K, i checked ebuyer.com and aria.co.uk? also i went with the big case so i can get alot of hardrives in it, i have like 5tb of movies and stuff already so want to future proof it a bit. thank

The 3570K came out yesterday, should be hitting shelves really soon.

That case is really compact AND can hold a ton of hard drives, like 6 or so. More than you will ever need. You should look into it. Lots of cooling options too.

 

[Dent1]

Thanks lilhasselhoffer...

I plan to run the sound into the new Samsung HT-D6750 7.1ch 3D Blu-ray Smart Hub Home Cinema System i have, i just wanted the best sound but if you think the motherboard will be good enough ill give that a go. Will if i play a full bluray rip will it be true surround though?

The ATI 7770 has integrated audio, and you'd be better off using it opposed to the motherboard because it has HDMI out and supports DTS Masters and Dolby Digital True HD 7.1 decoding, unlike the motherboard's onboard audio.

 

[Cratzky]

I would not recommend getting the WD green drive unless ur gonna use it ONLY for storage, i feel its too slow and i would have picked anything else then the green drive.

The OCZ agility3 is a solid choice and a nobrainer , it performs flawlessly, i got one myself, and many of my friends got agility3 aswell, and it works flawlessly for everyone i know. Very stable, and extremely fast.

I would put the agility3 as boot drive + essential programs + maybe a few games. Thats what i got mine for and i couldnt be more happy with it .

I use my WD green for storage, and its barely fast enough to playback a 1080p movie , its right on the edge, and it can also stutter sometimes in games, its NOT for games if u need loading times and texture loading from the drive etc (starcraft2 is a good example, aswell as alot of MMO's)
Also, when i have BF3 on my WD Green, on the map metro as attacker, the attacker team is already down in the subway before my WD green has finished loading.
But with my SSD, im already in the game long way before it even starts.

I used my WD green as boot drive first, and the experience was: abyssmal, horrible, slow, throw-computer-out-of-window.

Other then that, ur build is very nice and u made the right choice if u got the cpu at a good price

 

[Dimi]

I would not recommend getting the WD green drive unless ur gonna use it ONLY for storage, i feel its too slow and i would have picked anything else then the green drive.

The OCZ agility3 is a solid choice and a nobrainer , it performs flawlessly, i got one myself, and many of my friends got agility3 aswell, and it works flawlessly for everyone i know. Very stable, and extremely fast.

I would put the agility3 as boot drive + essential programs + maybe a few games. Thats what i got mine for and i couldnt be more happy with it .

I use my WD green for storage, and its barely fast enough to playback a 1080p movie , its right on the edge, and it can also stutter sometimes in games, its NOT for games if u need loading times with textures etc (starcraft2 is a good example, aswell as alot of MMO's)

I used my WD green as boot drive first, and the experience was: abyssmal, horrible, slow, throw-computer-out-of-window.

Other then that, ur build is very nice and u made the right choice if u got the cpu at a good price

What are you talking about? Any HDD is fast enough to play 1080p movies from. I would also opt for the Samsung 830 SSD because its more reliable than OCZ SSD's and its one of the fastest Sata3 SSD's on the market.