Why would you RAID0 an SSD? Transaction rates don't go up at all, latency is already near zero... The only benefit would be moving huge files, but even then you would be read limited from wherever you copy from. And that is giving up a LOT of data security - one drive goes bad, and you lose the whole array.

On the other hand, if you want more than 2 SSDs, you will want to use SATA3 for full speed.

Since performance is negligible and price ($20 difference), it makes sense to me to go 4670k/Newer socket.

The thing I hate about Intel is the large number of different sockets.. For example

Friend 1) His 1st/2nd gen Intel i5 motherboard broke, and with the socket dead, there was basically no retailers selling it, and if there was, it was double the price. There was barely any used motherboards.. so he ended up hoping to a new AMD FX build.

Friend 2) His LGA775 motherboard broke (was running a Q6600 which is fine even for today's games), and again the socket was completely obsolete, and no retailers sold it. There were quite a few used LGA775 motherboards, but he didn't wanna deal with it (worried). He ended up going i5 3570k.

If you're really worried about future-proofing, look into an AMD build. The current sockets for FX-series are backward compatible, but I think a completely new socket is coming out soon as well.

I'm thinking of returning the z87. I only bought it off impulse. My mutual friend then offered to sell me his 3770k as he heard I'm building a new comp.

I am saving almost 75$ After tax for sticking with IB. So i'm still on the fence with this. Cuz when its time to upgrade, i'll get a new mobo anyways right?

I dont think there are much ppl just upgrade the CPU nowadays... even going from Ivy Bridge to Haswell... performance difference is already hardly noticeable other than benchmarks.

:okay:

Looks like i'm sticking with Haswell. When Broadwell comes out, i'll probably upgrade again.

Buying the tock!

A good 600W PSU can handle a single nVidia card just fine, the current 6xx/7xx generation has fairly low power consumption excepting the Titan/GTX690 etc.

A good SSD is about $120 for 128GB, $180 for 240GB.

Current gen Intel chipset is Z87 or Z77 depending on whether you're going with Haswell or Ivy Bridge.

not many people would want to upgrade from 3770k to 4770k, but i am jumping from E7200 o/c to 4770k...definitely feel the diff

^ same boat! e8400 3.6ghz oc -> 4670k

First time building. Just ordered ALL my parts today.... Kinda scared lol... Any hints or tips for newbies

Go through this whole article first, and keep it on hand during the process

How to build a PC: The Tech Report guide - The Tech Report - Page 1

plenty of articles and videos on how to put all the parts together
just take your time and refer to the videos/articles when you need help
honestly after you do it once, building computers really isn't that hard

good luck lol, im probably gonna try to build my next comp

very easy to put the parts together, the most difficult.part for 1st time builder is the case to motherboard jumper wires.

There is very little need for elbow grease since everything is designed to be ZIF. If you find that you need to apply force, check it again.

Plan to get this for my father for birthday:

550P7C-S04 - OVERVIEW | SAMSUNG

It's around CAD1,000+ (HKD8,400 or so...) Just curious if there is anything within that price range that is better?

Also, Skinnypupp, what SSD would you recommend these days (best bang for your buck in the 128-250GB range? I have a Samsung 830 in my desktop and I am quite happy with the performance; but I have been out of the loop in the past year and was avoiding Sandforce drives when I got the 830... With that said, the laptop only has SATA2.

Best bang for buck seems to be the Kingston HyperX 3K but it changes all the time... You might not notice it, but that Samsung 830 is probably quite a bit slower than any Sandforce drive you could have gotten, now that it has been in use for a while. Also avoid Crucial m4.

quick question for all that can chime in. for my windows experience index, everything is from 7.6-7.8. however, my primary hard disk is at 5.9. this has to do with the disk data transfer rate according to windows. i have a mushkin chronos 128gb sata3 ssd. anyone know why it would be rated so low?

whats wrong with m4? i have been using it for.2 yrs, so far so good

It's a reliable drive, but it's slower than the SandForce-based offerings.

m4 gets REALLY slow once it has been used for a while. Yes, even with TRIM. The fuller it gets, the slower it gets.

Of course compared to an HDD it will always feel lightning fast. But compared to better drives, it will be slower.

It is reliable though! I would use it for a read drive rather than a Windows install drive. Install your programs on it, and forget it. If you have to do a lot of read and write ops, other drives will feel faster.

For those running Haswell, what are your temperatures like?

I'm running 4670k stock for now on a 212 Evo and I idling around 29-32 C and full load at 70 C with Intel burn test [Max ram setting]. Ambient temperature is around 20-22 C

Just wanted to see how mine stacks up with other Haswell chips

Currently idling at 32-37 with the EVO 212 on my 4570. Ambient temperature 26-27C.

Yes, my house lacks AC and enough windows with screens that would prevent my indoor cat from getting to the outside world.

An update: with ambient temperature around 20C idles around 28-31C now.

Idle at 39, load at 57-59. Running stock speed on a corsair h60 set to really slow at idle

OC my i2500k to 4.9
Idles @ 40-45
Load @ 60-65 (at night)
Im on the third floor, so mid-day the temps goes up to 75... lol
running H60