Finished building my new PC finally wooohoooo. Hit kinda a big snag that hindered me from completing the build. But after troubleshooting I was able to find what the issue was and fixed it ..after almost 2 weeks :(. But now its complete and man I could no be happier.

I am so pleased with how everything came out. It blows my old computer out of the water ( wish I benched marked but again before giving it away, Think it was around 740 or something stupid) I was even able to be a little below my budget which I used today to purchase XCOM. Extra hours at work and some patience made this venture totally worth it....so yeah pretty freaking great.

OH yeah btw I have not overclocked anything yet so when I get around to doing that I will post another benchmark.

The Desk in this last picture is a temp , last one broke in a move. :( Next thing on the list to get besides new monitors

What problem did you run into? I recently had an issue with the computer I just built where it won't run stable unless I over clock it from 3.4 to 4.2GHz. Good problem to have I suppose.

And +1 for Duke.

looks great, congrats on a new (and finally working) build!

@Toxeia: The MB that was given to me as a B-day gift had the release BIOS on it. Which was not compatible with my processor. At first I thought it was a issue with my memory because of the error light I was getting. But switched it out and still would not post. So after talking to Asus and doing some research I found what the issue was , Got a hold of a processor that was able to allow it to post and updated the BIOS.

I had a similar problem a month or two ago. Literally both my GPU and CPU just fucking tanked. Stock voltages, very nice temps, and only OC'd the tiniest fraction but I guess they were just bad pieces, since the replacements have been running fine for longer than either of the old ones. Be happy you didn't run into my problem, haha.

Build looks clean, too. Anyways, congrats on getting the kinks worked out - feels good when you get a hardware refresh. I'm due for a new gpu, tbh (running a 6850) but once xmas is over I have a job lined up and I'll probably pick up a 580.

OH yeah btw I have not overclocked anything yet so when I get around to doing that I will post another benchmark.

I really don't get why, in 2012, anyone would get an any i5 over even the worst i7.

@thabigred: Because from benchmark test , research about the product and performance reviews the I5 I purchase is a quality processor. I don't base my purchasing decisions on it be a higher number/series then the other.

well thats pretty good man.

@iam3green: Thank you :) and everyone else as well

I'm pretty sure this belongs to the PC board.

@ShockD: Yeah it probably does , I made this post after finishing getting everything setup after being up sense 3 am so I was kinda struggling staying awake.

I got a good laugh out of DNF. Congrats on your successful build!

That's some pretty tidy cabling you've done there. Mine's always a fucking mess. Good job!

@FlemmingM: Besides the waiting and TS that part of the build itself took the longest.

Pretty good on a budget, but what the shit are you gonna do with 16GB of RAM?

@SharkEthic: that is a very good question ..of which I do not have a answer lol . I can say I got a great deal on New Egg for that ram Through.

@SirOptimusPrime: Thats sucks about the original problem you had. But awesome that you will have good things happening soon and will be able to get those upgrades you want. I just went through a layoff not too long ago and been struggling even after getting a job. But I was able to balance things out well enough to catch up a bit. Then put in some crazy overtime to get this ...kinda my victory prize after all this crap I have had to deal with lately. Its nice to be able to reward yourself from time to time.

@thabigred said:

I really don't get why, in 2012, anyone would get an any i5 over even the worst i7.

Because for gaming it is entirely pointless? Why would you need multithreading for games that rarely take advantage of more than 2 cores?

@AlexW00d: <---agree's with this man :P . plus what I said earlier to him.

I'm with Alex on this too. I have an i7 entirely because I'll be running up to 5 virtual machines at once (and one of those with a virtual machine inside that one, dawg) and the 4 real cores and hyper threading are a complete blessing.

@Deathshroud: What bullshit that you had to get a different processor to update the bios to use the one you wanted to. It seems like if they're at the point where entire lines of processors are being phased in with bios updates they'd have a way to flash the bios without a processor. By the way, I doubt you're overclocking, but how's that stock cooler doing you?

I saw this and had to have it. Which meant I needed a bigger case to fit the damned thing. Here's the result:

With it overclocked from 3.4 to 4.2, at load it's still at room temperature. Also, my dick's way tiny, so this makes me feel better :( but I've never really liked the heatsink and fan combos that blow air against the motherboard.

Edit: I should also mention that despite the 200mm fan on top, the 140 on the back, the 2x120mm by the hard drives, the 2x120mm on the heatsink, and the 2x80mm fans on the video card, it runs almost completely silent just because even at 40% everything's room temp.

You left the most important detail out, the Windows Experience Index.

Also burn that copy of Duke Nukem.

@Toxeia: Yeah, you are telling me . When I called ASUS all they could offer me was for me to send my MB to them of which I would have to pay S/H charges for one way , Plus wait 3 weeks to process.

I asked if they could just send me a new board with a updated BIOS but they refused. They told me that my MB does not support either using a USB to Flash without it posting in the first place or to send a BIOS chip in which I could just install. So that's all they could offer me. So I talked to a buddy of mine who works at a local cable company as IT Admin . They also do Comp repair as well. So he went to that department to see if there was a processor they can let me borrow or sell to me. They went with the selling side ( which was pretty cheap) and he got that to me a few days later. Updated it and it worked like a dream. .. good thing is that second processor I got I have now is looking to be going to a good home soon for a little more then what I paid for it.

I was looking to get a new Heat-sink setup for the CPU besides the stock but was not at that time in my budget. Something later to look forward to . That one you have is pretty crazy lol. I was looking at some of those and the fact they stick out like 6 to 7 inches from the CPU/Processor is crazy lol. pretty sure I would end up having to get another case... possibly.

@Mr_Skeleton: 7.6 bw lol

@Toxeia: Oh yeah also to answer the other two questions Nope I am not Overclocking as of yet. I plan onto soon but for the moment I am happy with how its working without doing so. As far as the stock cooling its working great but as I did post above I will upgrade that later.

@AlexW00d said:

@thabigred said:

I really don't get why, in 2012, anyone would get an any i5 over even the worst i7.

Because for gaming it is entirely pointless? Why would you need multithreading for games that rarely take advantage of more than 2 cores?

I guess I just don't understand why people only game on their PCs. Mine is my hub for everything. Multithreading makes everything better.

@thabigred said:

I really don't get why, in 2012, anyone would get an any i5 over even the worst i7.

For reasons like this.

OP's i5 is essentially the upgrade of the 2500k and, in terms of cost/performance, is absolutely fantastic. Anything much more powerful than that for games at the moment is largely redundant. Besides that, if you aren't doing anything massively CPU heavy (rendering/video processing), you just do not require it.

@thabigred: Well I don't only game on it personally. I use it for media/entertainment reasons as well as using GIMP and other art programs ( want to get Photoshop soon * crosses fingers*) I have no TV service or anything like that so it is pretty much the center of my needs when it comes to providing that type of content.

I don't know if you saw in the pictures but I have my TV right next to it in which it is also hooked up to my comp and my Tablet is connected as well which I used as a big remote. So for me anyway its not a one trick pony.

@GetEveryone: RIght , as Get said and which I agree from the research I did on everything before purchasing its suits my needs perfectly @thabigred:

That's a sexy build! I'm jealous. What made you go with the GTX 480 over a newer card? Did you get a good deal on it?

@Laurentech: I did get a great deal on it. Also the 480 in benchmark reviews and other data is better then just about everything else up until the 680 ...in terms of Nvidia that is. I have always been a ATI guy but this time I really couldn't pass it up.

@Deathshroud said:

@Laurentech: I did get great deal on it. Also the 480 in benchmark reviews and other date is better then just about everything else up until the 680 ...in terms of Nvidia that is. I have always been a ATI guy but this time I really couldn't pass it up.

.......!?!

@DetectiveSpecial: Yeah I was kinda on a business call when typing that lol

I bought an SSD, and didn't install it. Gotta get around to doing that.

@psylah: Yeah totally worth it . I am looking to get another.

@Deathshroud: take some pictures of games that you play on it. i like the duel monitor.

@thabigred said:

I really don't get why, in 2012, anyone would get an any i5 over even the worst i7.

Because there is literally nothing I do on my PC that requires me to have an i7? I game, surf the internet, and talk to my friends on Skype. Nothing about that requires me to have an i7, and an i5 with a higher clock speed IMO is actually preferable to an i7 with a lower clock speed. Especially for gaming.

I get why someone would want an i7, but if you spend the majority of your time on your PC gaming, then you are better off spending the extra money you would have spent on a more powerful i7 on a better GPU. My i5 2500k can run any game on the market just fine.

@Huey2k2: web-browsing is faster with multithreading, especially if you have a game running already.

@thabigred said:

@Huey2k2: web-browsing is faster with multithreading, especially if you have a game running already.

Yes, I am sure the milliseconds I will save web browsing with my i7 will more than justify the price tag. Nothing I do is being inhibited in any noticeable way because of my processor.

@Huey2k2: @Deathshroud: @GetEveryone: Do you bards heralding the dual core CPU use more than one monitor by any chance?

@thabigred said:

@Huey2k2: @Deathshroud: @GetEveryone: Do you bards heralding the dual core CPU use more than one monitor by any chance?

No, I do not use dual monitors.

Also my i5 2500k is a quad core processor. Not dual core.

@thabigred: Mine is also a Quad-Core i5-3570 and yes I do use two monitors .One of the main things I do is watch Netflix , Hulu etc on it while I play games or doing whatever. in fact you can see in one of the pictures my setup. No issues what so ever. runs beautifully

@Huey2k2 said:

@thabigred said:

@Huey2k2: @Deathshroud: @GetEveryone: Do you bards heralding the dual core CPU use more than one monitor by any chance?

No, I do not use dual monitors.

Also my i5 2500k is a quad core processor. Not dual core.

Like I specifically said: that processor is great for things that aren't hugely CPU intensive. Dual-monitor displaying at 1920x1200 isn't your bread and butter set-up. You'd be hard pressed to find many typical gamers with that kind of deal, and so for the majority of us, a 2500K/3750 will do very, very well for the foreseeable future.

@iam3green: I will do so soon :)

@GetEveryone: * nods*

Why did you build an Ivy Bridge system with a Z68 chipset? I imagine it would have been a little cheaper than a Z77 but I don't know if I would have skipped out on PCI-E 3.0 and native USB3.0/SATA3 just to save the 30 odd bucks. I'm also amazed you managed to find a GTX 480 to buy, that thing is 2 generations old at this point and the biggest power whore anyone's ever produced :D

@Deathshroud:

@Korwin said:

Why did you build an Ivy Bridge system with a Z68 chipset? I imagine it would have been a little cheaper than a Z77 but I don't know if I would have skipped out on PCI-E 3.0 and native USB3.0/SATA3 just to save the 30 odd bucks. I'm also amazed you managed to find a GTX 480 to buy, that thing is 2 generations old at this point and the biggest power whore anyone's ever produced :D

No seriously, this point is blowing my mind. The hell did you find that relic? I kept wondering if mine was actually defective, as it functioned as a space heater as well as a GPU. What possessed you to use it?

@Deathshroud: You are misinformed. The 480 is worse then the 570, 580, 660, 670 and 680, and even ties with some versions of the 560. I'll go and pull some charts if you'd like. My advice; return the card for something that isn't two years old and doesn't try and jump start a fusion reaction with the amount of heat it pours out. Grab yourself a nice 570 or 670 and watch as your FPS goes up by 50% and your power bill goes back to under four figures.

@Mirado: No , not really . I will say the 570 and 580 are slightly better but by very much . And again for the price I got on it I really don't think for a very minor improvement I will return it. Also I don't know where you get the info on it running hot being a power eater but I really don't have that issue with it. maybe it was just a bad exp you had with it. But mine is running just fine. . Oh also if you are wondering ..which i am ssuuurrreee you ..my power suppose is not even the recommended Wattage but I have had no issues and have done power testing and it does not even come close to using the amount my PSU puts out.