It's build time!

agnes · 19 Jun 2017 at 11:03

With my current machine being 5 years old, it's time for an upgrade, and as fun as mATX builds have been, I'm going back to watercooling and full tower, my current spec is:

Lian Li PC-A04B
i5 3570k @ 4.2Ghz
EVGA 980ti
16GB Corsair Vengeance
Asrock Z77 Extreme M
And some Corsair PSU which is lovely. But it's not an ultra silent one.

All of the above will be sold, but price isn't much of an issue with my new build so any extras from the above will be nice. I will be keeping my 2x 4TB and 1x1TB mechanical drives, along with my 3 SSD's, although only 2 SSD's are needed, the 3rd is just not used anymore.

The new case is the Lian Li PC-011, here is a VERY quick spec:

** Do Not link to competitors ** - Sorry! Didn't even think about the competitor links in the build.

CPU - i7 7700k
RAM - 4x8GB Corsair Vengeance LPX
GPU - EVGA 1080ti Founders edition
PSU - Corsair RMi 1000w
Case - Lian Li PC-011 WX

I can't decide on a motherboard! Any advice?

Watercooling, I'll probably go down PETG tubing route, with 2 rads, one on the bottom and one at the top. Not sure if I want a dual loop or single yet... I love the idea of dual, but having 2 pumps running might be a bit too noisy. CPU and both GPU's will be under water, and I'm aiming for silence, so normal web browsing I'll likely have just 1 fan on each rad pushing air slowly. Then when gaming, all fans at a medium speed to keep temps down.

Any thoughts on the build? What should I change? Any new tech coming out that I should wait for?

Thanks!

locrieth · 19 Jun 2017 at 12:26

would a 7700k at around the same price, slightly higher clock and better overclocking potential not be a better choice?

Danny75 · 19 Jun 2017 at 13:49

750W is fine if not overclocking the 2 x 1080Ti* and just an overclock on the CPU. But add up all the little increases like a pump or two, nice amount of fans, the RAM, drives, and it can all trickle up quite easily to around 750W on max CPU & GPU load (depending on the CPU overclock, the power-draw for the specific pump etc) meaning no, or little headroom. For this set-up 850-1000W would be comfier, imo. Especially if you're after silence, and it could avoid PSU fan running maxed when on full load.

* With Power Draw set to 120% TDP, 2 x 1080Tis are pulling 850-900W on some systems (obviously depends on type of CPU, overclock etc but just to show overclocking the GPUs won't really be advisable with 750W).

agnes · 19 Jun 2017 at 13:58

locrieth said:
would a 7700k at around the same price, slightly higher clock and better overclocking potential not be a better choice?

My understanding is that they perform so closely, it's not worth the extra cash? Do you think it's worth it?

Danny75 said:
750W is fine if not overclocking the 2 x 1080Ti* and just an overclock on the CPU. But add up all the little increases like a pump or two, nice amount of fans, the RAM, drives, and it can all trickle up quite easily to around 750W on max CPU & GPU load (depending on the CPU overclock, the power-draw for the specific pump etc) meaning no, or little headroom. For this set-up 850-1000W would be comfier, imo. Especially if you're after silence, and it could avoid PSU fan running maxed when on full load.

* With Power Draw set to 120% TDP, 2 x 1080Tis are pulling 850-900W on some systems (obviously depends on type of CPU, overclock etc but just to show overclocking the GPUs won't really be advisable with 750W).

Ah yes, I originally had a single 1080ti but decided to SLI, I'll likely go for a 1k PSU as you say, just to have enough headroom. I'll be using an Aquaero 6 XT to control all the fans, I'm thinking I'll have 3 fan groups, case and rads. I also want it to control the pump. Ideally, at idle, I don't want anything running, so I may have to have just 1 rad running super low and the pump barely pushing liquid around the loop.

Danny75 · 19 Jun 2017 at 14:07

agnes said:
Ah yes, I originally had a single 1080ti but decided to SLI,

Ah gotcha.

I'd probably just go for 1K if it was my rig too. I would want the overclocking headroom plus just some spare headroom too.

agnes · 19 Jun 2017 at 14:16

Danny75 said:
Ah gotcha.

I'd probably just go for 1K if it was my rig too. I would want the overclocking headroom plus just some spare headroom too.

Fully agree, I'll be OC'ing the CPU, that's a given, I rarely bother OC'ing GPU's as I've always had bad luck and only get fractional gains. So I don't bother, but being back under water, I imagine I can stretch their legs a bit more. The last time I WC'd I had 2 GTX 9800's with Danger Den blocks on, they loved to be overclocked!

Further to that, I'm going to have to get my modding socks on to fit the fan controller in the front so I can see the screen, and not have it look like arse. Exciting!