Complete my build

G-Sharp

G-Sharp

G-Sharp

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23 Apr 2012
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196
Hello there

My first post here looking for advice on a new gaming build. Here are the components that I am sure about

- Corsair Obsidian 650D (£145.99)
- Corsair AX850 (£149.99)
- Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (£84.98)
- i5 3570K (~£160-£170?)
- Corsair Hydro H100 (£89.99)

I really don't want to be changing these too much, as I am dead set on the case (build quality and the aesthetics are very important to me) and I want the PSU to be future proof.

A question I have is whether the MB is good enough for over-clocking. I'm not really bothered about using multiple GFX cards, so SLI support isn't too important to me.

The following components are what I need advice on

- Graphics card
- 2x4Gb RAM sticks

I have a few HDDs and a DVD drive laying about from an older build, so I won't really need them for now.

The thing is, I really don't want to go over the £900 to £1000 mark, preferably closer to £900. So that would leave me with around £260-£360(max) to spend on the final two components.

Any thoughts?

Cheers
 
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Well little over budget but just think about this:


YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire HD 7950 OC 3072MB PCI-Express Graphics Card (11196-02-40G) - AMD 3 for FREE Promotion £329.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) £39.95
Total : £381.34 (includes shipping : £9.50).



or if you can wait for next ETA, try this one:

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7850 Twin Frozr III OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards £209.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) £39.95
Total : £261.34 (includes shipping : £9.50).

 
also i would say drop the H80 to a H60 or the antec and just put a 120mm fan on the other side. It will be cheaper and do the same.

I have the antec khuler with 1 fan on it and it keeps my cpu cool.
 
the new Ivy's seem to hit their overclocking limit sooner than Sandy's. I would personally aim at 4.4, 4.6 like SB. Going higher is too much of a hassle and little gain imo.

A H60 will get you there.

One thing I don't like about that mobo is the 4 pin CPU power. 'But' IB doesn't look demanding, voltage-wise. So if you don't go into extremes, it should be fine. Can't find reviews of that board though.
 
Hi and Welcome :)

I'd get the following:


YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7850 Twin Frozr III OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards £209.99
1 x XFX 850W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £99.98
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) £39.95
Total : £361.92 (includes shipping : £10.00).



The 7850 is a great card [get one in stock if you prefer], and overclocks very well. See this thread about it.

May I also recommend this PSU over the one you have chosen, it is the same wattage, yet a fair bit cheaper. It gets a great review here too. [The review has an older version with a green fan, it doesn't have that any more don't worry :p]

Though, if you're not concerned about two graphics cards, why not a decent 600W which will run your system with ease, and with headroom should you get a more powerful graphics card. This Cooler Master 600W is modular and reasonably priced. There is a review of it here.

Hope that helps :)
 
I appreciate your input to those who have replied, so thank you.

I have done a little bit more thinking and came across the Silverstone FT02 case, which I must say is quite a looker. So I did a bit of research and it turns out to be a top notch case for air cooling.

I really liked its concept and was wondering how it would compare to the 650D + H100 if I was to equip it with a Noctua NH-14D. Anybody with any experience with the two setups?

I've also done a bit of fiddling with my finances, and managed to squeeze an extra £200 for my build allowing for a GTX 680 GFX card. So I'm thinking of something like this for my final build.

-Silverstone Fortress FT02 USB3.0 Windowed Case - Black (£219.98)
-Corsair Professional Series AX850 (£149.99)
-Noctua NH-D14 Dual Radiator CPU Cooler (£72.98)
-EVGA GeForce GTX 680 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (£429.95)
-Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-16000C9 2000MHz Dual Channel Kit (£59.99)

Total: £947.89

I will need to add ~£170 for the 3570K so I'll have around £100-£150 to spend on a MB which I'm not too sure about. What do people think about the Z77 ASUS Maximus board? Any good? I know it's mATX, but I'm never going to exceed two graphics cards.

Thanks again for the help.
 
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Silverstone make some good case. Maybe look at the Raven? Similar design, and much cheaper! Also, the Phanteks performs similarly/better than a Noctua and is cheaper. Little reason to spend more for 2000Mhz RAM, as it tends to make little difference [unless thats changed with IB]. So I'd suggest:


YOUR BASKET
1 x EVGA GeForce GTX 680 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (02G-P4-2680-KR) £429.95
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £134.99
1 x XFX 850W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £109.99
1 x Silverstone Raven 3 Full Tower Windowed Case - Black/Grey (SST-RV03B-WA USB 3.0) £104.99
1 x Phanteks PH-TC14PE CPU Cooler - Black (Socket LGA 2011/1155/1156/1366/775/AMD AM2/2+/AM3) £66.98
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) £39.95
Total : £901.85 (includes shipping : £12.50).

 
Ivy seems to handle high speed RAM better than SB, although the benefits will be minimal.

Double make sure the phantek works in the case as they are extra-tall.

The RV02 / RV03 borrow their internal design from the FT02, while being 1/2 as expensive. Good cases on a budget, looks are so-so, but they perform really well.

With the price difference between a FT02 and a raven, you can get yourself a SSD.
 
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Just to keep you guys updated. After much deliberation, I have gone for the following components so far

- Silverstone Fortress FT02 USB3.0 Windowed Case - Black
- Asus Z77 Sabertooth Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
- Corsair Professional Series AX850 High Performance 850W Modular '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply
- Samsung Green 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual Channel Kit
- Noctua NH-D14 Dual Radiator CPU Cooler

I'm now just waiting on the new Ivy Bridge CPUs to go on sale and if I can't find a good deal on a GTX 680, I may just go down the 7850 route for now.

I did take a look at the Raven 3, but I did not like the looks and the build quality wasn't on par with the Fortress 2. I was also inspired by the idea of fitting a 3x180 rad for a water cooling loop sometime in the future, those things look pretty awesome in the FT02

Anyway, I would like to thank you again for the help, and I will let you know how everything ends up.
 
Well that's some expensive quality components :)

Good luck with your build! Hope Ivy's wont be too costly over Sandy's.

Here's a video reviewing IVy overclocking capabilities. Note the voltage 'wall' testers seem to be hitting and how it will affect your high overclocks targets.


Stulid's also reported problems with that RAM, I don't how confident I would be, I would personally go with corsair Vengeance low profile.
 
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olivier renault said:
Well that's some expensive quality components :)

Good luck with your build! Hope Ivy's wont be too costly over Sandy's.

Here's a video reviewing IVy overclocking capabilities. Note the voltage 'wall' testers seem to be hitting and how it will affect your high overclocks targets.



Stulid's also reported problems with that RAM, I don't how confident I would be, I would personally go with corsair Vengeance low profile.
Click to expand...

I'm looking to keep that case long term. It is more than I wanted to pay, but it is an investment. I could not ignore the rave reviews surrounding it and it is the best looking case I've come across, in my eyes. As I said, the builds I have seen fitted with a 3x180 radiator got me hook line and sinker. Something I definitely want to do in the future when funds allow.

I'm not going to extreme overclock the CPU, so heat shouldn't be too much of an issue.

Also, I've heard conflicting reports on the two RAM kits. Some say that Vengeance OC really poorly, while the Samsungs run cooler and OC better.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1236120/corsair-vengeance-8gb-1600mhz-or-samsung-green-8gb-1600mhz

To be honest, I doubt they would make a huge difference either way, and I was more swayed by the lower profile of the Greens.


Edit: I just found this review to contrast the one given by OC3D

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Samsung/MV-3V4G3/8.html
 
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G-Sharp said:
I'm looking to keep that case long term. It is more than I wanted to pay, but it is an investment.
Click to expand...

That case sure is sweet. One of my favorite, but be prepare to do some cable management, I've heard the back of the motherboard is pretty tight.

As for the RAM, I wouldn't expect run-of-the-mill 12800C9 to overclock much, if at all. For Sandy, it's not that much of a deal. But yeah, give the Samsungs a go.

As for overclocking, it's not really about heat, but voltages. The 22nm chip has stability issues, and dissipating the extra voltage required for high overclocks, more so than Sandy's. I wouldn't push it past the wall.
 
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Look what's turned up today from OCUK:

20120427135609.jpg


Still waiting on the CPU cooler, but now I'm in sort of a dilemma. I keep looking at other builds using the FT02 and I much prefer the space you get on the inside when using one of the all-in-one water coolers instead of a massive air-cooled heat-sink. I'm seriously thinking about canceling my order for the Noctua, and going for the H80. The H80 would give me better accessibility, and I think the black would go well with the black case and black motherboard. I know that the Noctua would probably offer me slightly better cooling and less fan noise, but I'm really into my aesthetics, so I don't know what to do. I just don't like the look of a massive, obtrusive heat-sink in this case.

Anyway, Monday cannot come any sooner so I can finally get all my orders in and finish this bad boy.

Edit: Haha, I just found a pack of Haribo sweets with my order, nice touch OCUK! :p
 
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olivier renault said:
That case sure is sweet. One of my favorite, but be prepare to do some cable management, I've heard the back of the motherboard is pretty tight.

As for the RAM, I wouldn't expect run-of-the-mill 12800C9 to overclock much, if at all. For Sandy, it's not that much of a deal. But yeah, give the Samsungs a go.

As for overclocking, it's not really about heat, but voltages. The 22nm chip has stability issues, and dissipating the extra voltage required for high overclocks, more so than Sandy's. I wouldn't push it past the wall.
Click to expand...

I'm planning to not go past 4.5GHz, which looks about the sweet spot for the 3570K right now. As long as it doesn't bottleneck my system, and my GFX card is able to perform near to its full capacity, it shouldn't be a problem.

But if there is a big gap in price between the 3570K and 2500K, with no performance upgrade, then I'd seriously have to think it through. It would be nice to have access to PCI 3.0 for the "future proofing", but we'll see how it goes.
 
Seeing as how the initial tests on the 3570K aren't looking to be much of an improvement on the 2500K chips, do you guys think it would be wise to get the tried and tested 2500K now and then see if things improve with future batches of the 3570K?

If there is a big price difference between the two CPUs, that is what I may end up doing.
 
I got built this a few days ago and forgot to post pics. Well, here they are...

20120503210608.jpg


20120503204904.jpg


20120503213657.jpg


The case really is top quality, I haven't handled one as sturdy as this. I'm glad that I stretched my wallet for it as I can see myself keeping this case for many years to come.

I will be getting a GTX 680 soon, so I'll have to put up with integrated graphics for now.

I'm hoping to one day go water cooling, and fit a 3x180 fan at the bottom.
 
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