New PC for me, non gaming

germanjulian · Jul 15, 2010, 12:05 PM

Hi guys,

not been on here for a while nor have I been keeping up much with the PC world

Its time for a 2nd PC as my old one will become a HTPC minus my Intel SSD drive. I only surf and do some light Photoshop and Lightroom and sometimes video encoding so I am thinking of getting the below and maybe even overclock the processor a bit. What do you guys think? Any recommendations?

Intel Core i3 550 3.20GHz
Asus P7H57D-V Evo Intel H57 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard ( I read that only the H57 boards have full AHCI support which I need for trim on the SSD hence the expensive H57)

Not sure about Ram, any recommendations from here: Components » Memory » DDR3 Dual-Channel - PC3-12800 - Overclockers UK

Antec TruePower New Modular 550W
Case will be a Lian-Li and some cheap DVD writer.

***craig5320*** · Jul 15, 2010, 07:02 PM

Welcome back, sounds like a decent system to me, I like Corsair for RAM, but I don't think you can go wrong with any of those listed there.

The i3 530 is another option to the 550, you can easily clock it past the 3.2 of the 550.

Takaharu · Jul 15, 2010, 07:52 PM

You should be quite content with this memory. It's cheaper than Overclockers and isn't on special offer.

germanjulian · Jul 16, 2010, 09:14 AM

Thanks guys,

went with the 3.20Ghz anyway as I am not sure yet I want to OC. 95% of the time the PC is used for surfing, watching movies, listening music so to OC for 5% of usage time seems a bit over the top

mkk · Jul 16, 2010, 02:43 PM

Looks fine. I'd just like to add that for the same money you could get an AMD X6 system. Higher price for CPU, about as much less for good motherboard. Just saying.

***Veridian3*** · Jul 16, 2010, 03:33 PM

Curious about the "Full AHCI" comment... what have you heard about other boards? To my knowledge pretty much any recent board supports AHCI and none that I have used had a problem with TRIM as long as 1) The drive supports it and 2) the correct driver is installed (standard MS one or the latest Intel).

There are some boards which run their SATA 3 controller over PCIe in a different way to others, maximising bandwidth but the real world increases are not that noticable... and that doesnt affect AHCI.

Also, TRIM works in IDE mode too...

NOTE: Still a good choice of board regardless. Just curious about the source of the info.

mkk · Jul 16, 2010, 04:22 PM

I'm not completely up to date on this but there's been problems getting TRIM working in IDE mode using Intel drivers, though the Microsoft defaults seems to do the trick. Juggling drivers might not be more than a hassle, unless you have some other drive that runs best in AHCI mode. I've read about AHCI been missing on a recent socket 1156 chipset from Intel, though that was also some months back.

***Veridian3*** · Jul 16, 2010, 08:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mkk

I'm not completely up to date on this but there's been problems getting TRIM working in IDE mode using Intel drivers, though the Microsoft defaults seems to do the trick.

Yeah, thats been resolved for a while now. All people need to do is install the latest Intel driver and TRIM is fine (provided its Win 7 and the SSD supports it).

As for the H55, been looking into this and AHCI is supported on all the boards I have checked. Added to that, when i tested the chipset at launch I would have enabled AHCI for the testing as all my builds use it. Would have noticed if it wasnt there.

mkk · Jul 17, 2010, 01:49 AM

Good to hear!

germanjulian · Jul 22, 2010, 11:29 AM

Hi,

build the machine on Saturday. As I thought the initial version of the BIOS on the board did not have the AHCI option for SATA drives. A quick BIOS update fixed this after which I installed Windows 7 64bit. Everything went fine, the Intel SSD has the correct offsets and trim works etc. in Windows natively. PC seems a tad faster but when using Lightroom I do notice the faster processor. Very happy with the i3 power saving options

1200Mhz and suddenly back to 3200Mhz fantastic

* Lian Li PC-A05NB Aluminium Mini-Tower Case
* Intel Core i3 550 3.20GHz
* Asus P7H55D-M Evo Intel H55
* Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 12800C7
* Intel X25-M SSD 160GB SSD
* Antec TruePower New Modular 550W PSU
* Asus Xonar DX 7.1 Sound Card
* Akasa AK-CCX-4001HP Nero S Cooler

Jul 15, 2010, 12:05 PM	#1
germanjulian Back in London Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: London Posts: 1,797 Rep Power: 0	New PC for me, non gaming Hi guys, not been on here for a while nor have I been keeping up much with the PC world Its time for a 2nd PC as my old one will become a HTPC minus my Intel SSD drive. I only surf and do some light Photoshop and Lightroom and sometimes video encoding so I am thinking of getting the below and maybe even overclock the processor a bit. What do you guys think? Any recommendations? Intel Core i3 550 3.20GHz Asus P7H57D-V Evo Intel H57 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard ( I read that only the H57 boards have full AHCI support which I need for trim on the SSD hence the expensive H57) Not sure about Ram, any recommendations from here: Components » Memory » DDR3 Dual-Channel - PC3-12800 - Overclockers UK Antec TruePower New Modular 550W Case will be a Lian-Li and some cheap DVD writer. __________________ /\|\ Asus P5W DH Deluxe, Intel C2D E6600, 2GB Corsair XMS2-6400C4 DDR2, E-VGA GeForce 7800 GT, Creative X-Fi Extreme Music, 500GB Seagate 7200.10 SATA, Lian Li PC-V1100 Aluminum Case Black, etc. http://germanjulian.com /\|\

Jul 15, 2010, 07:02 PM	#2
*craig5320* HH Administrator Join Date: May 2002 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 8,568 Rep Power: 445 System Specs	Re: New PC for me, non gaming Welcome back, sounds like a decent system to me, I like Corsair for RAM, but I don't think you can go wrong with any of those listed there. The i3 530 is another option to the 550, you can easily clock it past the 3.2 of the 550. __________________ HardwareHeaven on Facebook

Jul 15, 2010, 07:52 PM	#3
Takaharu I can fart in 7 languages Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: England, UK Posts: 1,847 Rep Power: 110 System Specs	Re: New PC for me, non gaming You should be quite content with this memory. It's cheaper than Overclockers and isn't on special offer. __________________ I don't get paid to know the answer, therefore I'm far more likely to give you a straight and honest answer. Mods Rig, Box Mods Rig, Folding details

Jul 16, 2010, 09:14 AM	Thread Starter #4
germanjulian Back in London Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: London Posts: 1,797 Rep Power: 0	Re: New PC for me, non gaming Thanks guys, went with the 3.20Ghz anyway as I am not sure yet I want to OC. 95% of the time the PC is used for surfing, watching movies, listening music so to OC for 5% of usage time seems a bit over the top __________________ /\|\ Asus P5W DH Deluxe, Intel C2D E6600, 2GB Corsair XMS2-6400C4 DDR2, E-VGA GeForce 7800 GT, Creative X-Fi Extreme Music, 500GB Seagate 7200.10 SATA, Lian Li PC-V1100 Aluminum Case Black, etc. http://germanjulian.com /\|\

Jul 16, 2010, 02:43 PM	#5
mkk Cthulhu/Dagon 2012 Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Gefle, Sweden Posts: 4,490 Rep Power: 132 System Specs	Re: New PC for me, non gaming Looks fine. I'd just like to add that for the same money you could get an AMD X6 system. Higher price for CPU, about as much less for good motherboard. Just saying.

Jul 16, 2010, 03:33 PM	#6
*Veridian3* Administrator Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Cloaked Posts: 5,028 Rep Power: 181	Re: New PC for me, non gaming Curious about the "Full AHCI" comment... what have you heard about other boards? To my knowledge pretty much any recent board supports AHCI and none that I have used had a problem with TRIM as long as 1) The drive supports it and 2) the correct driver is installed (standard MS one or the latest Intel). There are some boards which run their SATA 3 controller over PCIe in a different way to others, maximising bandwidth but the real world increases are not that noticable... and that doesnt affect AHCI. Also, TRIM works in IDE mode too... NOTE: Still a good choice of board regardless. Just curious about the source of the info.

Jul 16, 2010, 04:22 PM	#7
mkk Cthulhu/Dagon 2012 Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Gefle, Sweden Posts: 4,490 Rep Power: 132 System Specs	Re: New PC for me, non gaming I'm not completely up to date on this but there's been problems getting TRIM working in IDE mode using Intel drivers, though the Microsoft defaults seems to do the trick. Juggling drivers might not be more than a hassle, unless you have some other drive that runs best in AHCI mode. I've read about AHCI been missing on a recent socket 1156 chipset from Intel, though that was also some months back.

Jul 17, 2010, 01:49 AM	#9
mkk Cthulhu/Dagon 2012 Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Gefle, Sweden Posts: 4,490 Rep Power: 132 System Specs	Re: New PC for me, non gaming Good to hear!

Jul 22, 2010, 11:29 AM	Thread Starter #10
germanjulian Back in London Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: London Posts: 1,797 Rep Power: 0	Re: New PC for me, non gaming Hi, build the machine on Saturday. As I thought the initial version of the BIOS on the board did not have the AHCI option for SATA drives. A quick BIOS update fixed this after which I installed Windows 7 64bit. Everything went fine, the Intel SSD has the correct offsets and trim works etc. in Windows natively. PC seems a tad faster but when using Lightroom I do notice the faster processor. Very happy with the i3 power saving options 1200Mhz and suddenly back to 3200Mhz fantastic * Lian Li PC-A05NB Aluminium Mini-Tower Case * Intel Core i3 550 3.20GHz * Asus P7H55D-M Evo Intel H55 * Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 12800C7 * Intel X25-M SSD 160GB SSD * Antec TruePower New Modular 550W PSU * Asus Xonar DX 7.1 Sound Card * Akasa AK-CCX-4001HP Nero S Cooler __________________ /\|\ Asus P5W DH Deluxe, Intel C2D E6600, 2GB Corsair XMS2-6400C4 DDR2, E-VGA GeForce 7800 GT, Creative X-Fi Extreme Music, 500GB Seagate 7200.10 SATA, Lian Li PC-V1100 Aluminum Case Black, etc. http://germanjulian.com /\|\