at the moment my drivers are:

8.17.12.6309

I've just got a new PC, specs:

Intel i5, 2500K 3.3Ghz
Asus P8P67
Asus GTX570
8GB DDR3 ram
Seagate Barracuda 1T x2
Win7 Pro, 64Bit
750W

The system is for games mainly, but I'm not quite satisfied with it. I have already installed 2 games ( Arma2, Prototype) and they are both stuttering, not smooth. It feels like a bottleneck somewhere. I've tried lowering the settings but there's only a small improvement. I was more than sure that with my new cpu+vga I could play any game at high settings without a glitch.

There must be a problem somewhere.

My GTX570 is at:

742Mhz - Memory 3800Mhz - Vcore 0.976v - processor 1484 Mhz

This is a gaming system, if games don't run well then what?

Does anyone have any idea, I am quite disappointed about this.:(

This is what I have on my list so far:

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

CORSAIR Vengeance 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ4GX3M1A1600C9B
(but even a 1333 will do just as well)

ENGTX570/2DI/1280MD5 GeForce (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support
(if I go over my budget I could swap it for the Palit GeForce GTX 560 Ti Sonic OC) The performance seems impressive for its price, about 100$ less than the 570
http://www.guru3d.com/article/palit-gef ... c-review/1

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
(I'm not interested in SSD for now)

Sony CD/DVD Burner +R - SATA (they are so cheap either one will do)

750W Corsair TX 80% plus ( again, if necessary I can get the 700W)

Cooler Master 690 II Advanced (but I'm still considering other options as well....again, budget)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGvBjEmXJnI

Win7 PRO 64Bit

You may have noticed that I've left the Mobo for last, that's because I'm still deciding, my options are:

Asus P8P67

Asrock P67 Extreme4

Gigabyte P67A UD3P

They all are at the limit of my budget, I can't afford anything better. I was also considering the MSI C43-C45-GD55-GD65 but the other three seem to be better (I think).
The only thing that worries me is getting a buggy mobo, to me stability is more important than anything else, unfortunately every motherboard comes with its horror story which makes choosing difficult.

As stated before my overall budget is around 1350$ but that's not really in US$. I forgot to mention that I'm English but have been living in Taiwan for the past 5 years. Here hardware costs around 15-20% more than in the states.
Even Asus, which is in Taiwan, costs more.
For example the asus P8P67 LE which you can get for 135-145$ here costs 5590nt$ = 194$
The P8P67 model US 160$, here 211$.
So when I say 1350$ I mean 1150$, that's why I don't really care about prices on newegg or other sites, those are not my prices.

Thank you for the help, now I understand and have decided what to get. I'm just in the process of choosing a Mobo which fits my budget.

By the way, is it necessary to have the sp1 version of win7 pro?

Thank a lot guys:)

Well....

I think that I am 80-90% sure on what I want to get but there's still a nagging thought about the whole sandy bridge - P67 -Z68 system that bothers me.

First of all early this year Intel recalled a large number of "faulty" SB CPUs, are the new ones ok? Are some of the faulty batch still around?

Second, Regarding the asus p67 boards P8P67 - P8P68 LE/PRO. From what I heard Asus were still dealing with a few bugs early this year, have they been resolved, are their P67 MOBOs alright now. Maybe a Gigabyte MB would be better.

On the whole S3 issue and restart issue, which some people have with their p67/z68 MB. Is this a win7 problem or a P67 mobo problem, I remember reading is some forum that after OC the SB on P67 if the cpu temp went below a certain number it would freeze.

Are Z68 mobo better/more reliable/bug free/work better than the P67?

What I am really asking is if this whole Sandy Bridge P67 technology is actually ready yet or still in the "experimental" mode.

I've received this long suggestion and i'd like to know what you think

look m8, i know i sound like i'm telling you what to buy, but having obsessed over the hardware during the last six months, i more or less know *exactly* what to get - of course some people would be better off with a diffrent choice of hardware, but those come from rather unique situations.. on good example is the HT function on the 2600k, it slows down the CPU and really works only for applications which require multiple cores.. and by that i mean *more than 4 cores*, so unless you are running a weather simulation software, or other math-intensive application, it's better to have it off. mobos for example , a P67 is about $15-$50 cheaper than a Z68 at most, but the Z68 is worth it, always. P67 will OC better than Z68, but *only* because the BIOS (hermm.. UEFI) steppings are relatively new, later BIOS releases will perform better, and even now we are looking at 100Mhz difference tops.

here is a lovely OC guide http://www.overclock.net/intel-general/ ... -p67a.html - note how simple and easy it is.. and your CPU will most likely give you 4.4Ghz .. minimum.
seriously, press delete, change 3 settings in your UEFI, and you got a 4.4 processor.. that on stock speed, performs better than any Conroe ever has - you are looking at what, 3 times the computing power of a Netburst PER HERTZ.

if you feel you are a n00b, here is a protip : buy a CPU cooler with preattached thermal paste - not only you save another $20 from buying the TIM and cleaners, but you avoid the one step which has given me the most hardships.

PC cases (this is one instance where you get *what you want* instead of *what you need*) : go to your local retailer (not etailer) and look at them - you don't have to buy it from them, just play with it a bit, i'm 100% sure you'll know what you want if you do that.

video card ... this is a painful subject.

generally speaking, (since VGA cards cost money) you want something that plays every game out there for the smallest money; VGAs depreciate both in actual value and in computing power too, so double depreciation - a XT1900 isn't just old, it also lacks SM3.0, DX10, etc.. example.
if (and i stress *if*) you were to buy a 5770, *for example*, ($99) instead of a 570 ($350), you would have enough graphics power to play 1)everything at 1680x1050 high - fro the next 2 years, 2)most titles 1680x1050 ultra high - for the next 2 years, and 3) a few games on high after the 2 years. two years from now you will still be able to play most new games on decent settings, and you could stretch that card's life by up to another 2 years. example, is someone today owns a 8800GTS, they would still be able to play Brink on medium, which looks practically identical to ultra-super-high, less a few2 minor details .. nothing that will make you spit at the screen.
AND all this still leaves you with more than enough money to actually just throw away that 5770 whenever you feel like it and buy THE SAME CARD AT PRICE POINT, BUT TWO YEARS LATER.

if you instead go with a £350 card, that card will also stretch maybe 4 years, but not really any more than that. then you have to spend another $350.

in the end, it's the same as if someone had a 8800GTX and used it until now, and instead someone who bought a 8800GTS (half the price), and then a 370GTX. they are actually better off in the second "two year" section, and they never, ever have any problem getting their games to work flawlessly. the only difference is that having a more expensive video card "actually makes our dick bigger";

smaller VGAs also draw less power .. save anotrher $50 every year.. it all adds up.

and think of the satisfaction of never having to "save for a week" to buy a new piece..

i'm at a loss at finding an adequate comparison, but try to think of it as hunting small game, and wanting a huge caliber gun just for the sake of things.. as long as the bullets are big enough to kill the thing, you can only do worse by getting a "bigger gun".


you might have an argument for buying a large power supply, although i have found in real life experience that PCs never really need more than 500W, and also nowadays power consumptions are going down, instead of up. However, multiple VGA setups will, and since Xfire/SLI scaling is something serious these days (not liek a few years back) then sure, if you want to, go ahead. after all, next year you will be able to buy a 5770 from eBay for like, $40; nice way to double your GPU power. larger power supplies though cost a stupid amount of cash, and they only do so because the market is all "enthusiasts", which reads "morons" in any other language; you can read, for example, this : http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/power-sup ... 32187.html which will tell you that power supplies are actually all made by the same bunch of companies, and what you are paying for is really just branding, so, while it's entirely possible to buy a total piece of **** (beware, don't buy a cheap PSU), it's also possible by careful examination, to buy a high quality PSU unbranded, ending up with the same stuff you get in a Odin 1100W but paying a fraction of the cost for it.


now.. for the bit where we shout and insult each other ...

don't buy a SSD;

if all, wait until the hybrid HDD come out, even though they are just an idea now, i reckon this will be the future of storage .. basically, what you will get is a normal HD, where instead of say, 64MB of cache, you will have 16Gb of cache. yes, they will still have moving parts, and yes, their performance will not be as awesome as a pure SSD, but they will be cheap, and seriously, when was ever a HD the bottleneck in a computer ?? even the ****tiest HD can read 80MB/s, and that's a lot of data for a CPU to crunch.
ok so, Windows, where you have to read a gazzillion microscopic files.. hmm, so, if you buy a SSD, you boot up in 10 seconds instead of 25. wow. and you pay $500 for the privilege, when my PC gets rebooted maybe once a week, no tnx, i'm ok with my normal HDDs.

PC case ..
let me say this again, cases, buy the nicest case you can find - you'll have to live with it, so make sure you love it.
cable management is something i overlooked early on and now i regret it, the insides of my PC are a mess, while a nice, clean looking PC is a beauty to look at.
removable motherboard tray is also something you really, really want, even though you'll maybe use it five times in the life of a PC, when you do, you will be glad you forked out that extra $10.

tell ya, if i were to choose today, i'd get the 600T, and f**k the temps. love it. and maybe get it to the paint shop and have it aerographed with a mean ass stormtrooper. or a rising sun.

thats it, i guess i covered everything a coputer has inside it, so good luck and happy overclocking.

oh yeah one last thing -don't buy a CPU cooler where the fan is held in place by those horrid flimsy metal brackets .. buy one where the fan locks solidly in place to the heatsink; and go 100% with a cooler that has a backplate, they are sooo much better.

AND THIS:

I don't mean to confuse you even more, and I offer this strictly as my opinion because I admittedly haven't researched it fully and many will disagree with me, but if I were building right now I would go with s1366 x58 i7. Even Intel themselves say that x58 is still the choice for enthusiasts. Sandy Bridge was never meant to replace x58 as the enthusiast platform, but rather a step below x58. That is not to say there is anything wrong with SB and it is a great choice for the budget minded, but I still like x58 for high end performance for several reasons. One, it supports triple channel ram. Two, it is tried and true where SB boards still seems to have certain issues including the confusion about certain features being available or not, like VT-d, with certain CPU/board combinations. Three, although the benchmarks show SB beating out x58 for the majority of uses it is only by the smallest margins and for some reason I just don't trust those benchmarks to be absolutely correct in real life situations. Four, I haven't looked thoroughly but it seems SB boards do not support dual x16 PCIe slots, but run in x8 mode with multiple GPU's. Many X58 boards support dual x16 mode. Again, this is my opinion and a bit of a gut feeling.

If I were to go SB I would go Z68. From what I have read about it it so far is supposed to combine the features of H67 and P67 as well as some additional features.

I highly recommend a full tower case. You just can't get the same airflow in a mid tower. And cable management is so much easier in a full tower, which also leads to better airflow. But look to spend at least $100 on a good full tower.

ARE THEY RIGHT? COMMENTS?? I AM CONFUSED NOW!

First of all I really appreciate all the help from everyone.
I still have a few points to clear up

Many people suggested me to with a Z68 MOBO over the P67, one of the reasons is this:

"Well the goto sleep and wake up problem stems from the fact that CPU PLL Overvoltage doesn't do well with S3 sleep, its a known intel issue, and that is why many companies were very slow to adopt it, because when you OC with CPu PLL Overvoltage and come back from S3 sleep the OC fails.

IDK how intel will deal with it for Z68, but that is just a problem we have to live with for P67."

Is this really an issue?

I seem to be steering towards the 2500K but...
this also came up:

"If you have some older XP games and you buy the pro version of windows 7, you will be able to download a free version of a virtual copy of XP (XP Mode)to run those, so a 2600K is what you want."

I'm interested in virtual xp, but does this mean that only a 2600k will run it? I don't understand.
I also thought tha win7 pro already had xp virtual inside, am I wrong?

The one real issue left is the MOBO. Many suggested the fololowing P67 boards:

GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD4-B3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128478

ASRock P67 EXTREME4 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157229


ASUS P8P67 LE (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131706



A last thing:
I heard that using 2 memory slots is always better than using the whole 4. Is there any truth in that?

Thanks man!

This already cleared up many things for me. I really appreciate the help.

About the mobo I want to keep it under 200$. Let's say 150 - 180$

So then what's the difference between the 1333 and 1600 RAM?

Will the cpu stock cooler be sufficient, even if I overclock?

I have some questions on choosing the parts for my new PC. The new system will be used mainly for games and perhaps some light video editing but nothing too serious.

1) CPU
Originally, I wanted to get an i7 960, but from what I have read on different forums, it seems that the LGA 1366 is considered to be "old" technology for a new system.
Sandy bridge LGA 1155 appears to be the way to go and the benchmarks do confirm it. The question is which one?
I have my eyes set on the Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) however, a lot of people say that the i5 2500k is more than enough for gaming, but down the line will it not be better go with the more powerful chip?

Another point is regarding the 2600 vs 2600K. I have never done overclocking and I'm not even sure how to go about doing it. If it's an easy-to-do thing, maybe one day......but it's not something that I'll do the moment I get my hands on the new PC. I know that the price difference is quite small but would keeping the 2600K at stock be considered a waste of potential?

Some people say that "the 2600 is better than the 2600k, because they want vt-d virtualization, which the 2600k does not support, (only supports vt-x hardware virtualization)."
To tell you the truth I don't really understand what that is, or how useful it would be to me!

Becuse i will buy a VGA card, should I get the 2600k with the HD2000 instead of the HD3000 to save money, does it have any performance difference?

Lastly, what about the difference between the P67 and Z68?

2) MOTHERBOARD
I will only get a single VGA card, therefore I'm not interested in crossfire/sli. A P67 MOBO is what I want, but not quite sure which one. In the past I've always used Asus and would like to continue, also their mobo have the new ASUS EFI BIOS and TPU/EPU. But their P67 mobo are not cheap. Maybe the only Asus model for me would be the P8P67 LE, the PRO model looks good but it's too expensive. Can you suggest any good P67 motherboards which don't cost an arm and a leg. I'm looking for a good and stable MB without too many frills, not a budget model but good.

3) VGA CARD
I've decided to go with the GTX570

4) OS
Win XP has been very good to me over the years but it looks like win7 is here to stay, I don't really like to change but I will get WIN7 Professional 64 bit. By the way, will the 64 bit be compatible with older softwares and games? Should I get the 32bit?

5) MEMORY
4GB DDR3 RAM. I know it's not much but I'm trying to save a little money. Memory can always be added later on.

My question is: Should I get the DDR3 1333 or the 1600? I heard that If you are not going to be overclocking, get 1333 speed 1.5 volt ram. Why?

I know there is ram especially for sandy bridge and P67 MOBOs. Are these the ones I should buy, will others not work as well? I was considering this:

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBXM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231430

I don't know how to choose, any suggestion would be appreciated.

6) POWER
Considering the above system will a 750W be sufficient or should I go with a 850W?

7) Cooler
I'd like to know how good is the 2600k/2500k stock cooler. If I decide to overclock will it be strong enough, or do you suggest to change it?

8 PC CASE
I think a Mid-Tower should be big enough. There is something I'd like to know: why do newer cases have the PSU placed at the bottom? Is it safe with only 1-2cm of space for ventilation, it does't seem like a good idea to me.
Anyway, again here I'm not sure, except that I don't want to spend more than 80/85$.

9) HD
I heard that the Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive, is quite good.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533&cm_re=caviar_black_1tb-_-22-136-533-_-Product&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=4169931&SID=10np8vvqkxkrm

This will be my primary and only HD.

Well, this is it, sorry for the long and "demanding" post but as you can see I'm not a computer expert. You can only go so far on your own reading forums and articles, eventually questions pile up and you need to ask.

Thank you for any advice.

the side panel of the case is already open!