Which ASAUS P8Z77-V variant ?

[Osprey]

Been building spec for a new W7 64bit PC ... had thought I had the MB choice nailed down.
Was going to get the P8Z77-V Pro
Then someone has mentioned if I am only running 1 Graphics card, then the P8Z77-V Lx would do what I need and save about %30

I do not do gaming, PC is for general business apps, Photoshop CS5 editing and what kills my current PC ... HD Video editing.

Be interested in advice to make the correct choice on MB
Rest of build is looking like

CPU i5 3750 IvyBridge
8 GB Ram
500W PSU
GTX 560Ti
1 x PCI Firewire card
1 x DVD/CD RW
1 x DVD/CD ROM
120GB SSD
2 x 500GB

I know there are different SATA options on the 2 MB's ... I currently run 2 x HDD, have one HDD partitioned .. OS on it's own partition, apps & data in general on separate 2nd HDD.
As I will have SSD for the OS, I could instead make the 2 x 500GB a single 1 x 1TB.

 

[KenB]

Synapse is the best person to answer this - but 500 Watt is the minimum requirement for that Video Card.
You may be better with 550 - 600 Watt PSU.

 

[Osprey]

Synapse is the best person to answer this - but 500 Watt is the minimum requirement for that Video Card.
You may be better with 550 - 600 Watt PSU.

I had follwed the on-line guide which said card max power + 15amps for everything else + 5 amps spare .... came to 420W .... so 500w seemed well over power needed.

Hope SYNAPSE sems the post ...

 

[Synapse]

I've seen it, just mulling it over and reading the mobo manual

I am assuming your DVD drives are SATA 2, also same for your two existing SATA drives. Can you confirm please.

Also, do you have a specific PSU in mind?

 

[KenB]

I had follwed the on-line guide.......

I was going from this:
click here

 

[Osprey]

I've seen it, just mulling it over and reading the mobo manual

I am assuming your DVD drives are SATA 2, also same for your two existing SATA drives. Can you confirm please.

Also, do you have a specific PSU in mind?

This will be a new build so HDD will be new .. (originally was going to reuse my existing HDD) will instead pass on existing PC to family.
So I will buy SATA III ........ for the SSD and HDD for this new build.

As mentioned in OP ... I was going to use 2 x 500GB ... but as I will now have OS on the SSD, perhaps there is no benefit, and might as well get a single 1TB.
Probably the 6Gbs WD Caviar Blue

The DVD/CD RW and ROM drives ...most of them seem to be SATA II .... and when I add a BluRay RW in future that is when I would look for Sata II (if they exist)

I am not fixated on what PSU ... I just did the calcs that worked out even with safety factor I only needed 400W, so getting a 500W seemed more than enough.
'Overclockers' had priced for the Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 500W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply, but not decided welcome any advice.


On the MB .. I am trying to understand right variant for me .. and having doen some manual reading on LX > LEPlus > Pro
'Maybe' the LE Plus might be the option. Benefits over the LX would seem to be:

# Graphics support - Intru 3D, Quick Sync Video & Clear Video HD
# 2 x PCIe3 slots
# Marvel PCIe SATA controller
# 24bit audio and Blu Ray audio layer protection
# ASMedia USB 3 Controller
# Dual Processor with SMART DIGI+
# 3 6 GB SATA 3 porst (compared to 2)

The LE Plus is pitched midway between the LX and Pro and sems to have all the key features of the PRO. The main addition the PRO has is WiFI and 1 extra SATA 6Gbs interface, neither of which are needed by myself.

 

[Synapse]

It looks like you just about have it sorted - the LE seems more high end multimedia friendly, both full ATX, essentially will do the job.

Just going back to Ken's point about your PSU, the Asus manual suggests 450W plus for both boards, and adding your extra drives and video card I'd go up a notch.

Have a look the Asus power calculator here http://support.asus.com/powersupply.aspx

I came up with about 600W, Coolermaster's units are solid, I've use them myself in the past.

 

[Osprey]

600W it is then.

Thanks for sanity check.

Could I ask one more Q ... what RAM do I fit in board ... I know it will be dual Ch DDR3, but when I look at RAM on sale ... even if just one manufacturer there is a huge range.
Should i just select from 1600MHz range ...or do I need (should I go to) 2133 MHZ ?

 

[Plastic Nev]

At some point, data will be flying backward and forward between the RAM and processor during editing and playback while in the editing software, so I would say yes for the higher speed RAM, might cost a bit more but hopefully worth it, though will wait for Synapse on that as he knows, or to be more correct has forgotten, more than I will ever know.

As I said earlier I also am thinking of upgrading via a new build, so will be interested in how yours works out, if it does, I may follow you and build to the same specs.

Nev.

 

[Synapse]

If you select higher spec memory, it will run at the 1600 rate with the BIOS settings as standard. If you start to over clock it, you will start to use the extra bandwidth of the higher spec memory.

So if you don't plan on over clocking, 1600 will be fine.

 

[Osprey]

So if you don't plan on over clocking, 1600 will be fine.

OK ... typical .. things change as you learn more ... and 2 questions have come up ...
I had no intention to Overclock ... but just watched this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20rCMNzkwJo&feature=player_embedded

It would seem that with the i5 3570K and the ASUS P8Z77-V LE Plus .... they do fit together very well for overclocking, and it seems easy & painless.

If I put this together run the "Auto System Leveller", and using this in "Fast mode" (not extreme or manual) would seem a fairly safe way to optimise the install ? .......... would you agree.


If so then I should buy RAM that would suit going to the modest 'auto fast' overclock, the video advises that this is 20% ... so assume that would take my stock i5 up to 4.1GHz - 4.2GhZ.
I see overclock bundles pushing this CPU to 4.4GHz and still using the 1600MHz RAM .... If I stick with the 1600MHz am I still OK ?

Second Q aligned to this ..
With this modest overclock what cooling do I need to look at, assume the Intel standard cooler is not enough.
Would something like "Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition+sharkoon fan" or "Gelid Solutions Tranquillo " both are just under £30

Or do I not need anything that big.


My goal would be to put it together in non-clocked mode, and then if I need extra speed in future, I can at least overclock .. knowing RAM & CPU cooling is in place.

 

[Synapse]

If you are going down the over clock route, you are best asking on the specialist forums for 'tried and tested' configs. Personally, I don't have experience of the config you want to run, my own experience is to buy good quality memory, advised by the over clockers and I've managed a good over clock, on Intels and AMD's.

Sorry I can't help you anymore on that, as you say, 1600 has worked for others so it should work for you.

BTW, I'd like to put a bet on that as soon as you build it and get running you'll over clock it - no leaving it standard for a few months........

 

[Osprey]

If you are going down the over clock route, you are best asking on the specialist forums for 'tried and tested' configs. Personally, I don't have experience of the config you want to run, my own experience is to buy good quality memory, advised by the over clockers and I've managed a good over clock, on Intels and AMD's.

Sorry I can't help you anymore on that, as you say, 1600 has worked for others so it should work for you.

BTW, I'd like to put a bet on that as soon as you build it and get running you'll over clock it - no leaving it standard for a few months........

Was waiting to see if you had any other comments ... have decided against any overclocking (at least for now)
Looked on ASUS web site and they state approved memory for MB is Corsair XMS3

This has very low CAS score, so should be good performer .... I will order 16GB of this.

Thnx

 

[Synapse]

Osprey, do come back and let us know how your build goes

 

[Osprey]

As I said earlier I also am thinking of upgrading via a new build, so will be interested in how yours works out, if it does, I may follow you and build to the same specs.

Nev.

In case it is of interest after loads of Q's on several forums ... and much help from those that know,, I'll list my spec.

BTW - the Internet was not around for public use last time I built a PC - so much easier to hook into right people.
Last time I built you loaded DOS first via a box of FDD's and then spent an age loading Windows 3.1 off FDD's

Since then I have upgraded many machines .. incl my own, but not built from scratch.

My final spec ... and all parts now purchased was ...
Motherboard ASUS P8Z77-V LE
CPU i5 7350K IvyBridge
RAM 16GB Corsair XMS3
SSD Crucial M4 128GB
HDD WD 1TB Caviar Black
PSU Cooler Master Silent Pro M2 620W
GPU MSI GTX560 Ti Hawk 1GB / 980MHz
Optical Samsung DL DVD RW
Case Fractal Design Define R3

I'm in UK same as you ... if you do go ahead and want to know where I bought the bits, let me know.

I don't intend overclocking ... but if I want to the board & processor as ideal to do this, the GPU comes factory overclocked using military garde components.

 

[Plastic Nev]

OK Osprey, thanks for the list of parts, I will look first into how much I can get locally and prices, if not available or can be bought cheaper on line I will do, there are some pretty good local shops and computer part retailers in this town, so like to give my business first to the local guys.

Besides, I might be able to get a part time bit of work with at least one of them when I retire from full time work.

Nev.