What Board & Chip if no graphic card required

[Graceman]

I am interested in a new build with no HDD just Pcie Sdd drive and as I only use the PC for office work I really do not need a graphics card so the new built in graphics if the Intel cpu will do what I need.

I only do office accounts and some internet films BBc iplayer. I have never tried gaming and it has no interest I just want raw speed to keep up with my new Internet speed. Plus latest accounts packages, these take processing power.

Any suggestions I7 or I5 and what gigabyte board would anyone suggest.
OCZ Revo 240 Gb Intel Cpu? and Gigabyte board but thats where I am stuck .
The I7 cpu is only a suggested option others would be interesting if its fast.

Currently I7/930 on GA-X58A-ud3r rev 1.0 running Xp Pro.
its fast'ish but does hang at times.Seems to be waiting for HDD to catch up. Cursor freezes and I hear the HDD & Processor clonking and wait then its free.
I also think  its waiting for the Anti spyware system so speed is important.

[Graceman]

I sthis an option just found on Amazon?

    Intel Core I7 3770K 3.5Ghz Quad Core Ivybridge CPU Processor - BX80637I73770K - Socket 1155
    Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H Intel Z77 DDR3 ATX HDMI Motherboard - Socket 1155
    Arctic Cooling Freezer 13 High Performance CPU Cooler
    8GB Corsair Vengeance LP DDR3 1600MHz RAM Memory

Has the DDR 3 triple channel now returned to Dual channel as I noticed with the I7/3770K it had 2 channel memory?

[MarkJohnson]

I think you'd only need as SSD upgrade.  Accounting programs aren't usually CPU limited, but storage limited.  You should only need quick access to your data.  That revo drive should be very fast.  Maybe even add an SSD boot drive to go along with the revo as data on;y. Samgung 830 SSDs are very popular and fast.

I can't imagine your cpu being bogged down at all.  Try running task manager and see if your cpu is anywhere near 100% across all cores.  I'm sure it is all but idle.

What programs do you use?

That parts list is fine, although I suggest a SSD upgrade first.

socket 1366 has 3 memory controllers in dual channel, 2011 has 4 memory controllers in dual channel, 1155/1156 have 2 controllers and dual channels.

If you web browsing is slow, you may need better internet service or maybe have malware infection.

Luck
-=Mark=-

[Graceman]

Thanks for the reply

I run currently XP Pro 32 bit, with accounts packages like Quick Books.
Plus office applications. Some Iplayer for back TV programmes I miss when wife watches soaps.
Internet speed is now 13Gb to 17Gb and its not this that is slow its when I am waiting for data as I cannot do anything until the HDD liight goes out then it works fine its been like it since new.
I run PcTools antispytware & anti virus.  This has its overheads but mostly only on start up.
The task manager is never busy which has always puzzled me even when its locked waiting for control to return to the keyboard & cursor.

This is why a new build is being considered. Plus Windows Upgrade.

I currently have 6GB memory in Three 2Gb channels. all are visible in boot & in windows.

[MarkJohnson]

XP may be a huge part of your problem.  It isn't fully supported anymore and may be more vulnerable.  Upgrade to 7 would probably help (64-bit) and the SSD/revo would put you at full speed I'm sure.  

You could upgrade your hardware if you wish, but I'm positive what you have is way, way more than enough.   I run quickbooks on a Intel G830 Celeron dual-core with a 60GB ssd just fine.  It is smoking fast and mine is much slower than what you have now.

For video playback, you could buy a budget video card ( Nvidia GeForce 620 or AMD  HD 6450) would handle video playback as they have built-in hardware acceleration taking the load off your CPU, although your cpu will handle it just fine.

-=Mark=-
so, an SSD and Win7 upgrade and test.  then upgrade hardware if unhappy.

[Graceman]

I already have the Amd radeon 4350 board with built in memory.
 
If you run Quickbooks is it Uk version?

Would Windows 8 be a better option as its launch date is this month?
 

[MarkJohnson]

I don't know about better, but the menus are skewered and you have two different desktops.  It's kind of confusing as it's more for touchscreen tablets/phones.  But it works fine once you get used to the interface and the extra keystrokes to navigate around the menu system.

Not sure if 4350 have many of the hardware accelerations the newer ones have.  but should do just fine.

[Graceman]

My board the GA-X58a-ud3r rev 1.0m does not have slot for pcie x4 which is the form for the pcie card I wish to purchase.
So does this card use the PCIE x16 slot as I have two of these one is ocupied by graphics card.
I wash to insert the ocz revo drive ssd card which comes in the pcie x4 format.

[MarkJohnson]

Yes, the x4 will work in the x16 slot just fine.  Although if your board supports crossfire or sli it will lower your graphics speed to x8 if using its paired slot.  The last one is usually the x4 speed slot with a x16 connector. even if using the graphics slot, the x8 for video is good enough.  The video card won't use the full speed anyway and not affect the video card performance.

I see you're using the x58 chipset which is configured differently.  looking at the manual it says on page 7 that you can use the two video card slots at x16 if not using the other two (which are x8)  so make sure they don't correspond with each other.  The 4 x16 slots are labeled on the motherboard as PCIex16_1, PCIEx16_2, PCIEx8_1 and PCIEx8_2.  So if you use x16_1 for video use x8_2 for revo to keep full video speed.  which end up being the first and last PCIex16 slots

also,  PCIe cards are universal and they'll work in any slot it will fit into.  They are also hot-swappable.

[Dark Mantis]

If I can just interject my two cents worth here, you might find that the Revodrive might not work properly in all the slots. They can be a bit fussy about where they are installed so I would try that first before deciding on the rest of your hardware installation.

[Graceman]

The graphic card is Asus EAH4350/Silent/DI/1Gb
It does have compatibility issues in that the driver does not load but a generic one does, It is supposed to be compatible to crossfire but I do not use this and have not fitted any of the extra Gigabyte connectors that were supplier with the board (MB).

What will I see if the card does slow down to x8 speed ?

Will it still run thre monitors HDMi, DVI & Dsub connected all at once?

[Graceman]

If the revo drive is fussy I stil favour a new build so the original question s still valid if no Graphic card required what board would best suit the Intel I7-3770K chip? and what chipset ?

[MarkJohnson]

The graphic card is Asus EAH4350/Silent/DI/1Gb
It does have compatibility issues in that the driver does not load but a generic one does, It is supposed to be compatible to crossfire but I do not use this and have not fitted any of the extra Gigabyte connectors that were supplier with the board (MB).

If this is 2008R2 I got mine working by going to amd.com and telling it to find drivers and it loaded in the appropriate driver and I got full 1080P resolution. I have the HD 4200 built-in graphics.  

What will I see if the card does slow down to x8 speed ?

Probably nothing.  It may affect 3d games with high end cards in SLI/crossfire but not much (maybe 10 to 20 per cent)

Will it still run thre monitors HDMi, DVI & Dsub connected all at once?

If it does now, then it should be fine.

If the revo drive is fussy I stil favour a new build so the original question s still valid if no Graphic card required what board would best suit the Intel I7-3770K chip? and what chipset ?

Any Z7x board should be fine, they support that chip at release day.  The 6X series should work if BIOS is updated.  That CPU has HD4000 graphics built-in.  Not sure it supports 3 monitors.  I know it supports two.  Your current video card will work on the board just fine.

The revo drive shouldn't be too much of an issue.  It's mostly the motherboard auto configuring the addresses for it.  You may want to check the OCZ forums and see what they say.  Search for your board and see what revo works or common issues.

-=Mark=-