Topic continuously updated. Last update 08.05.2012
Disclaimer
I am human (for now, I'm working on ..) and as such I may be wrong.
In the configurations below to find an infinity of numbers and symbols,
and often a typing error, or omission of a single number or a letter
can lead to the purchase of components that are not compatible with each
other.
Ergo, trust me because I always try to double check what I write, but
before purchasing would be the case that you check yourself the ultimate
compatibility of all.
What and where to check?
Motherboard:
CPU compatibility (found only on the official website of the
motherboard, cpu often some are supported only by dates or revisions of
PCB bios)
RAM compatibility with motherboard.
Case: for video cards of medium / high heat sinks or not all the houses are fine, but they serve some very spacious.
Unfortunately there is no way to check if you do not rely on the
experience of others, so you should search the forum or google someone
who has installed the components you want to buy or similar on the case
you are interested.
PSU: I've checked the cables you need in particular PCI-E video cards suitable for medium / high.
Major new features:
- Ivy Bridge CPU
- Video Cards next-generation 28nm
- Z77 Motherboards
- New SSD
Some considerations:
CPU:
As you can see almost all the configurations are Intel, is absolutely
not a partisan choice, but simply that AMD is not competitive at the
moment.
As I feared there was a premium at launch, I predict that within the next few months will drop at least 20-30 € any ivy bridge.
At the moment it still makes sense to buy a sandy bridge for those who
are at the limit with the budget, partly because the difference in the
games is rather marginal (about 5% at the same clock).
Motherboards:
probably the component that is more difficult to get information, so
the choices are to be taken with care because it's early and only time
will give confirmation or denial. ASUS and ASROCK depart from the already excellent P67/Z68, and the new models do not seem to be less. Gigabyte seems to have made great strides and recovered the gap also makes the transition to EFI bios.
The MSI for now look good, but taking into account the many problems on
the previous generation, should I wait a bit before placing them among
the recommendations.
Ram: No difference from Sandy Bridge, are always recommended the usual 1600 MHz at 1.5V.
Video cards: there is little to say until our new mid-range nvidia. The GTX670 is rumored very promising, will probably end up in the price range 300-400 €.
SSD: the Samsung 830 have proved to be excellent, in particular the 64GB that is faster than the Crucial M4. The Vertex 4 new apps are very promising, also the new firmware promises more speed. Here, too, given the many problems of the previous generation, before inserting expect a little bit.
Power: I remember, as usual, that is totally unnecessary and may indeed be counterproductive, buy oversized power supplies.
I will never see anything more than 650W advice because you can be sure
that with a good 500W is fed any system with a single GPU and even some
dual-gpu. Aim for quality, not size.
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Configuration "I've got a penny but I want the new pc"
Motherboard: ASRock H61M (50 $)
Processor: Intel Celeron G540 (50 $) or Intel Pentium G630 (80 $)
Ram: 2x2GB Kit DDR3 1333 MHz (25 $)
Video Card: ATI HD6670 (80 $)
PSU: Corsair CX430 (50 $)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 3xx (35 $) or Cooler Master 430 ($ 45) or Thermaltake V3 (40 $)
Hard disk: WD 500gb 5000AAKX (65 $)
Optical Drive: DVD all (20 $)
TOTAL $ 330 - $ 350
Note: the H61M there are several versions that differ in the video outputs, a feature negligible if you use a dedicated video card. The cpu listed are considerably faster than any dual core AMD and often even more than the X3. There are a dozen houses Cooler Master 300 series, with small differences between them.
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Configuration "short-Eye"
Motherboard: ASRock P67 PRO3 SE (70 $) or ASROCK P67 PRO (75 $) or GIGABYTE GA-P67A-D3-B3 (80 $)
Processor: Intel Pentium G840 (70 $) or Intel Pentium G850 (75 $)
Ram: 2x2GB Kit DDR3 1333 MHz (20 $)
Video Card: ATI HD6750 (75 $) or ATI HD6770 (90 $)
PSU: Corsair CX430 (40 $) or XFX PRO 450W (50 $) or Corsair CX500 (55 $)
Case: Cooler Master 430 ($ 45) or Cooler Master Centurion 5 II (55 $) Antec Three Hundred (60 $) or Thermaltake v3 (40 $) or Thermaltake v4 (45 $)
Hard disk: WD 500gb 5000AAKX (65 $)
Optical Drive: DVD all (20 $)
TOTAL 400 $ - 465 $
Note: The HD6750 and HD6770 are nothing more than the old HD5750 and HD5770 rimarchiate, if you find the latter two for the same price, there is no reason not to buy them.
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Configuration "AMD <3"
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Extreme3 (70 $) or Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 ($ 80)
Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 965 ($ 100)
Ram: 2x2GB Kit DDR3 1600 mhz 1.5v (25 $) or 2x4GB Kit DDR3 1600 mhz 1.5v (45 $)
Video Card: ATI HD6770 (90 $) or ATI HD6850 (115 $) or ATI HD6870 (140 $) or Nvidia GTX560 (135 $)
PSU: Seasonic S12II 520W (80 $) or XFX PRO 550W (60 $) or Cooler Master M500 (80 $) or Corsair GS500 (65 $) or Corsair TX550M (85 $)
Case: Cooler Master 430 ($ 45) or Cooler Master Centurion 5 II (55 $) Antec Three Hundred (60 $) or Thermaltake v3 (40 $) or Thermaltake v4 (45 $)
Hard disk: WD 500gb 5000AAKX (65 $)
Optical Drive: DVD all (20 $)
Sound Card: Asus Xonar D1 (60 $) or Asus Xonar DX (60 $) or integrated (0 $)
TOTAL $ 470 - $ 655
Note: This configuration is recommended with respect to a dual-core Sandy Bridge for those over the gaming makes intensive use of well optimized for multi-threaded applications.
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Configuration "Okay, we're almost there"
Motherboard: ASRock Z68 Pro3 Gen3 (85 $) or GIGABYTE GA-P67A-D3-B3 (80 $) or ASRock Z77 Pro3 (95 $)
Processor: Intel i3 2100 ($ 105)
Ram: 2x4GB Kit DDR3 1600 mhz 1.5v (45 $)
Video Card: ATI HD6770 (90 $) or ATI HD6850 (115 $) or ATI HD6870 (140 $) or Nvidia GTX560 (135 $)
PSU: Seasonic S12II 520W (80 $) or XFX PRO 550W (60 $) or Cooler Master M500 (80 $) or Corsair GS500 (65 $) or Corsair TX550M (85 $)
Case: Cooler Master 690 II Lite (80 $) or Cooler Master CM690 II Advanced (90 $) or Cooler Master HAF 922 ($ 100) or Thermaltake V9 (85 $)
Hard disk: WD 500gb 5000AAKX (65 $)
Optical Drive: DVD all (20 $)
Sound Card: Asus Xonar D1 (60 $) or Asus Xonar DX (60 $) or integrated (0 $)
TOTAL $ 545 - $ 715
Note: The performance dell'i3 2100 are much higher than those of a Phenom II X4 965, except in the few games very cpu dependent. There is also the possibility of an upgrade with the new Ivy Bridge CPUs coming in 2012 (for this, however, first check the compatibility with your motherboard choice).
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Configuration "start to get serious"
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LX ($ 120) or ASRock Z77 Pro4 (105 $) or Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H (100 $)
Processor: Intel i5-3450 ($ 175) or Intel i5-3550 ($ 195)
Ram: 2x4GB Kit DDR3 1600 mhz 1.5v (45 $)
Video Card: ATI HD6870 (140 $) or Nvidia GTX560 (135 $) or Nvidia GTX560 Ti ($ 185) or ATI HD6950 1GB (190 $)
PSU: Seasonic X-560 (125 $) or Enermax Modu87 + 500w (120 $) or Enermax Pro87 + 500w (105 $) or Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 600w (130 $) or Cooler Master M500 (80 $) or Corsair TX550M (85 $)
Case: Cooler Master CM690 II Advanced (90 $) or Cooler Master HAF 922 ($ 100) or Antec Nine Hundred Two V3 (115 $) or Cooler Master HAF 932 ($ 130)
Hard disk: WD 500gb 5000AAKX (65 $) or Samsung 830 64GB (90 $) or 128GB Samsung 830 (140 $) or Crucial M4 64GB (80 $) or Crucial M4 128GB (130 $)
Optical Drive: DVD all (20 $)
Sound Card: Asus Xonar D1 (60 $) or Asus Xonar DX (60 $) or integrated (0 $)
TOTAL $ 710 - $ 1030
Note: The K series processors are useless if you do not plan to overclock. SSDs are equivalent in performance in denominations of 128GB, while among the Samsung 64GB is a bit faster, even though the Crucial is still a good choice.
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Configuration "The little overclocker"
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V Pro (175 $) or Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H ($ 165) or ASRock Fatal1ty Z77 Performance (150 $)
Processor: Intel Core i5-3570K (225 $)
Ram: 2x4GB Kit DDR3 1600 mhz 1.5v (45 $)
Video Card: Nvidia GTX560 Ti (185 $) or GTX560 Ti 448 ($ 210) or ATI HD6950 1GB (190 $) or Nvidia GTX570 (240 $)
PSU: Seasonic X-560 (125 $) or Enermax Modu87 + 500w (120 $) or Enermax Pro87 + 500w (105 $) or Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 600w (130 $) or Cooler Master M500 (80 $) or Corsair TX550M (85 $) or Corsair AX650 (125 $)
Case: Cooler Master CM690 II Advanced (90 $) or Cooler Master HAF 922 ($ 100) or Antec Nine Hundred Two V3 (115 $) or Cooler Master HAF 932 ($ 130) or Cooler Master HAF-X (155 $) or Antec Twelve Hundred V3 (165 $) or Corsair Graphite 600T (145 $)
Hard disk: WD 500gb 5000AAKX (65 $) or Samsung 830 64GB (90 $) or 128GB Samsung 830 (140 $) or Crucial M4 64GB (80 $) or Crucial M4 128GB (130 $)
Optical Drive: DVD all (20 $)
Sound Card: Asus Xonar D1 (60 $) or Asus Xonar DX (60 $) or integrated (0 $)
TOTAL $ 860 - $ 1215
Note: The 3570K is a forced choice, the i7 only in the HT than it does not benefit in games. The GTX560 Ti 448 is not very easy to find but performs only slightly less than the GTX570. The HD7850 has performance almost identical to the HD6950, while it is slower than the GTX570 which costs equal. The amount of Vram top in my opinion does not justify the price. SSDs are equivalent in performance in denominations of 128GB, while among the Samsung 64GB is a bit faster, even though the Crucial is still a good choice.
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Configuration "Both mother pays"
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V Deluxe ($ 220) or Asus SABERTOOTH Z77 (210 $) or Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H ($ 200) or ASRock Fatal1ty Z77 Professional ($ 210)
Processor: Intel Core i7-3770K (320 $) Intel Core i5-3570K (225 $)
Ram: 2x4GB Kit DDR3 1600 mhz 1.5v (45 $)
Video Card: Nvidia GTX570 (240 $) or ATI HD7870 (275 $) or ATI HD7950 (315 $) or Nvidia GTX670 (360 $)
PSU: Seasonic X-660 (140 $) or Enermax Revolution87 + 550W (130 $) or Corsair AX650 (125 $) or Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 600w (130 $)
Case: Cooler Master HAF-X (155 $) or Antec Twelve Hundred V3 (165 $) or Corsair Graphite 600T (145 $)
Hard disk: 64GB Samsung 830 (90 $) or 128GB Samsung 830 (140 $) or Crucial M4 64GB (80 $) or Crucial M4 128GB (130 $)
Optical Drive: DVD all (20 $) or Samsung SH-B123L (55 $) or LG CH10LS28 (60 $)
Sound Card: Asus Xonar D2 ($ 115) or Asus Xonar D1 (60 $) or Asus Xonar DX (60 $) or integrated (0 $)
TOTAL $ 1080 - $ 1565
Note: The 3770K is recommended only to those who use programs that take advantage of the HT (games are not among them), otherwise the difference in performance with the i5-3570K is irrelevant. SSDs are equivalent in performance in denominations of 128GB, while among the Samsung 64GB is a bit faster, even though the Crucial is still a good choice.
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Note that:
- Even in the economic figures, a power supply OEM NEVER to go to savings
- It's never included the monitor, the choice of video card must also be made depending on the resolution you want to use.
- For hd the choice is wide and can vary greatly according to the needs.
- For the Rams, the choice is almost endless, see what he has available to the store where you buy and maybe check if they are certified for your motherboard manufacturer's website.
