OLD rig - Costing estimates?

• 

  Aragami on 21/06/2013 - 13:48

  +1

  Oh wow nice username, reminds me of old alias's i used to use. For the computer maybe 500$ if sold as a unit, possibly around 600-650 if sold separated.

  I recommend separating, keeping your hdds + ram and using them in your new rig. No real need to go Haswell, it runs a lot hotter than ivy and with a lot more watts drawn and not a terribly massive performance difference. I'd personally recommend finding a good ivy bridge board with cpu and hooking up perhaps a 7950 gpu with it (they're great value for money atm).

  Really does depend on what your reason for wanting to upgrade is though, if you stated why you're looking to upgrade and what use your new computer would be needed for, then i could help you out with more info.

  • 

    ThadtheChad on 21/06/2013 - 15:26

    I have 2x SSDs and HDDs that I'll be using in my new rig. I think I'll keep the RAM in that case.

    The reason why I'd like to go Haswell and not Ivy is:
    1. Same shitty OC performance; yet clock for clock Haswell is ~15% faster
    2. Pricing difference is not that appreciable (~$30 between 3770k vs 4770k)
    3. Newer socket so relatively future proof (hah.. well not really.. you never know with Intel). :)

    I don't really care about power draw or heat. :) Planning to go H100i before dabbling in custom water cooling.

    As for GPU, I've got a GTX 670 that I'm still using. Plan to get another one and SLI them.

    Thanks a ton mate!

    • 

      Aragami on 21/06/2013 - 15:52

      +1

      Responses all over the place, ok, decent response.

      1. Yeah, Haswell is a little bit faster, if the extra heat and TDP don't bother you then i can understand that - although due to ivy bridge being phased out for Haswell, there should be decent deals going around for ivy bits, if you're interested in some cool bargains then that might be something to look into.

      2. It is pretty funny how there literally is a 30$ difference, based on current prices i'd have to agree in favour of Haswell.

      3. You should know better than to use the phrase "future proof" =p. 2014 = year of the ddr4, Haswell-E will be released and running on ddr4 ram i believe. So much for futureproof =)

      4. I dont really approve of the 670 sli, i absolutely hate sli or crossfire, and i would always recommend single gpu setups above sli/crossfire setups due to microstutter issues and a variety of other performance issues which aren't shown on benchmark figures for you to see in plain sight. Would definitely recommend a 680 or 780 or Titan if you want top of the line single GPU setups. Make sure you stay away from the 690 as an example, even though its on a single pcb, it still operates on SLI software and that compromises the experience - though lately i have been hearing better things about sli, it's still something to be careful of.

      I've recently tried 2x7950's in crossfire and have definitely noticed microstutter and random odd issues in a few games (went to a lan with a couple friends, so tried out a few games).

      Regardless, you'll end up having a pretty cool little setup since you seem to be able to throw a fair bit of money at it by the looks of it. I'd also recommend looking into sound cards as well, since you play a few games and im sure you listen to music on your computer as well, sound blaster and asus make some very nice sound cards these days. (look at Asus Xonar Essence STX and Sound Blaster ZxR). I can pretty much verify that these things do make a difference, recently bought an STX for myself and am pretty happy with the sound difference - helps if you have a decent pair of headphones as well =)

      EDIT::::: btw, that 30$ price difference from ITestate on the 3770k to 4770k is actually bs, its one of ITesates good old "buy a shit PSU with the CPU and we'll give it to you cheaper!" deals, so its actually closer to 50$+ difference i think. Just an FYI =) ITestate are complete pricks about doing that on Staticice, they're known for it.

      • 

        ThadtheChad on 21/06/2013 - 16:30

        Thanks a ton for your detailed response. :)

        I looked at Netplus (I'm in WA) and PCCG and they have it for ~$30 cheaper and that's where I got my figure. ITEstate are scum anyway (aren't they basically the same as Megabuy?).

        I have exactly the same apprehensions regarding the SLI config as you do. I can't even tolerate stuff without Vsync on. Microstutter is quite a deal breaker if it is pronounced. As a result, I've been toying with the idea of selling off my 670 and getting a 780 in it's place. Wonder how much I can get for that. :)

        Regarding audio, I'm thinking of going for the Asus Maximus VI Hero (ROG) motherboard so that has some pretty sweet onboard audio. I already have some pretty decent IEMs (UE-900) and an budget ATH-M50.

        Thanks a lot mate. Appreciate you taking the time to respond to my questions.

      • 

        Aragami on 22/06/2013 - 15:10

        Ah good old PCCG, always good to support them.

        Good that you're aware of the SLI problem, to be honest if I was in your situation i'd get rid of the 670 and get a 7970 =) but that's just because i'll always try to support AMD where I can :P. If you're set on Nvidia like you seem to be, then yeh, your idea of selling and upgrading to the 780 is perfect.

        I've always been interested in the audio from top of the range motherboards, all I can really say regarding onboard vs sound card is to compare the DAC and AMP chips, sound cards generally have really good chips on them which surpass onboard sound easily - there is a good reason some sound cards cost 200-300$. Conversely there is a good reason motherboards don't cost 200-300$ extra ;)

        The IEM's are rather nice, I've heard good things about them, I've heard ok things about the m50's as well. Only problem there is that from my knowledge the m50's are closed back headphones - which is great if you're moving around or surrounded by people constantly. The bad part about closed headphones is that they just don't sound as good.

        If you're in a position to buy open ear (at home in a room by yourself for example) then I'd recommend a pair of open ear ath-700's or ath-900x, both are open ear, and if you compare the sound difference then I'm sure you'll be swayed =). Personally I've gone to open ear a while ago and whether its for gaming, movies or general music listening - I won't ever go back to closed. The sacrifice is just too big.

• 

  _Bruce_ on 21/06/2013 - 14:09

  +2

  As mentioned why are you changing? The system you have with an SSD is pretty reasonable, what are you looking to improve?

  • 

    ThadtheChad on 21/06/2013 - 15:06

    Hey guys,

    Thanks for responding. :) I have a bit of cash to burn. My existing machine, while still fairly beastly has a bit of trouble with high CPU loads.

    Like I said before, I primarily use it for gaming, VMs, crypto stuff and AV recoding. While it's still fit for purpose, I can see it struggling at time with games (even though I have single GPU: Asus DCUII TOP edition of the GTX670).

    Lastly, I would like to get a few more native SATA and USB3 ports (as I use a metric ton of USB3 drives).

    Business case:
    Haswell being almost 40% faster than my current rig.
    Moar PORTS!
    AES acceleration
    Novelty factor

    • 

      Aragami on 21/06/2013 - 15:22

      +1

      Fair enough, if you're using it for VM's and encoding, then i can understand a want to upgrade. Though to be honest, with a 670, i dont see a point in getting anything better unless you really do want to spill out cash for a dual gpu setup or dual gpu on a single pcb setup etc. A 670 wouldn't struggle on any games, unless you're running resolutions above 1920x1200, on multiple screens.

      The SATA and USB3 argument is probably the most valid, some motherboards have a nice amount of SATA3 ports and are loaded with USB3 ports as well. I still vote for ivy bridge as i can't see a point in getting haswell. A 3770k ivy bridge + a decent motherboard for all your porty needs, as well as your 670, will be able to handle what you're up to with no problem. Best of all you can keep your 16gb of ram.

      • 

        ThadtheChad on 21/06/2013 - 15:37

        For $30 extra I get 15% more performance, a newer platform, and a socket that is newer (not ageless; thanks to Intel!). Thus Haswell.

        Also, the improvements in AES ops is amazing!

• 

  p3rsonally on 21/06/2013 - 15:00

  Why Haswell? It doesn't seem to make a difference at all on Desktops. Seems like there should be some bargain Ivy Bridge stuff out there right now…

  • 

    scrimshaw on 21/06/2013 - 17:11

    +1

    Seems like there should be some bargain Ivy Bridge stuff out there right now…

    Not really the case. Most computer shops won't really drop prices past a certain point — they simply try to sell out of the item as quickly as possible (and not replenishing the stock) while the Haswell stuff still has a 'early adopter premium'

    Occasionally you can get some lower priced bits that are marked as clearance, but they tend to be slower moving items (unpopular) and might not be what a PC builder might want in his system.

    • 

      ThadtheChad on 21/06/2013 - 17:34

      +1 mate. At the moment, Haswell markup is only $50ish over US prices so it is still tolerable. :)

      Most price rationalisation of this sort (to maintain pricing hierarchy) does not really occur in Australia. Unfortunately, else I'd be on to the Sandy Bridge when Ivy came out. :)

• 

  zelda707 on 21/06/2013 - 18:31

  +3

  i thought the title said "oil rig" :)

  • 

    ThadtheChad on 21/06/2013 - 18:37

    Fixed! ;)

• 

  p1 ama on 21/06/2013 - 21:25

  I reckon for that rig, $500 is a fair price, although you have to factor in the fact that the i5 760 is slower than the cheapest Ivy i5 which is the i5 3330 at $199.

  Realistically, you can spec a brand new Ivy Bridge i5 system for around $600 with i5 3330, 16GB RAM, GTX660…etc. which will essentially just be faster than the one you're selling, though I would argue that the Noctua D14 and the Antec PSU are "premium" parts.

  I think $500 is a fair price, but it'd be a tough sell, $400 would be an instant sale though. I'd take it for $450-ish if I was in WA, but sadly not!

  Good luck with your sale though.

  • 

    TheGMan on 22/06/2013 - 00:02

    $500 with the admission that one of the RAM slots is borked… I dunno…

    • 

      ThadtheChad on 22/06/2013 - 02:58

      Haha… Yea true. Although, it still includes the Noctua-D14, the Antec TP 750W, >$100 of case fans. So maybe? Probably better to just sell off the individual components eh?

      • 

        Aragami on 22/06/2013 - 14:57

        Always better to sell individual components, you'll always get a better total price out of it, the problem is the good old "can you be f**ked" - 1 sale for your whole setup, or maybe 5-6 sales for all the bits and possibly combining a few. Selling all the bits separately can be a bit of a drag.

• 

  Briefcase Mong on 22/06/2013 - 22:48

  approx $300-450