New Rig Plan? (C70 - IVB - HD7xxx/8xxx?)

Hi people, I'm pretty new here, but I just wanted to discuss some ideas for a new rig I'm building post-xmas maybe next year. My budget is going to be about £1750... Here is what I've got so far. It's going to be a work/rendering/gaming eyefinity system.

CPU: Intel Core IvyBridge i7 3770k (Maybe overclocking to 4Ghz? )

MBO: Msi Z77 MPower (black and yellow colour scheme - plus it looks great specs wise!)

RAM: 2 x 8GB Packs of Crucial Ballistix Tactical Tracer 1866MHz Green and Red (black and green colour scheme)

CASE: Corsair C70 Black (black and green colour scheme - also looks sexy as)

PSU: OCZ ZT 750W Modular PSU (black and yellow - sorta goes with MBO)

Storage: 2 x 120GB OCZ Agility 3 SSD's in RAID 0 (black and green)
2 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB (6Gb/s) in RAID 0 (might spray the tops black)

Cooling: Corsair H60i - this appeals to me (already in black C70) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/popup_image.php?prodid=HS-006-CS&imgID=5

Graphics: Thinking of going with single HD 7950 - However if 8000 series is being released in Q1 2013, I may hold back - the 8000 series looks crack-a-lackin'!

Extras:
2 x Xigmatek Crystal 140 Green LED Fans (for the top)
2 x Xigmatek Crystal 120 Green LED Fans (for the front intake)
Asus DVD Drive
AeroCool X Vision Fan Controller
Green LED modding strip (maybe)

Peripherals (Outsourcing - Sorry OcUK, but these bits are cheaper / available elsewhere)

Logitech G510 - For the gimmicky screen (Sold) and the green backlit keys (Uber Sold). Loads of macros too.

Mionix Mouse - Green, plus looks decent and I'm a fan of Mionix with an Alitoth 320.

Roccat Kave Solid - Sorry but this headset looks too gimmicky to overlook. It looks tankin'. Covered in lights and dials and whatnot.

Active Mini DP adapter - depends on 7000/8000 and connectors available etc.

3 x Acer S240HL 24" LED Monitor - Not 100% sure about these, if someone else can recommend some other 24" monitors between £100 and £130, I'm open to suggestion, but for eyefinity, ideally they need a small bezel - don't care about VESA mounting - not going to bother with a stand.

As you can probably tell, I have a black and green colour scheme fetish and am sold by gimmicks... Please tell me what you think!

That looks like it's going to turn out as a beastly system! If your going for a black and green colour theme it might be worth checking out the Sniper series motherboards from Gigabyte.

Only thing I would change is the headset and the lighting. I had the Roccat Kave and they are pretty heavy. Also I wasn't too keen on the sound quality but that might just be me =p I'd recommend the Corsair Vengeance 1500 headset. The quality is amazing and they are much comfier than the Kaves. In regards to the lighting, I thoroughly recommend the Bit Fenix Alchemy strips. They provide an awesomely bright and even light spread. I have 2 6 inch blue strips, one at the top and one at the bottom of the case (Also a Corsair C70 which is just an amazingly high quality case. Almost entirely metal and the handles are incredibly helpful for transport ;]).



You might have already heard of him but there's a guy on YouTube who is incredibly helpful when it comes to PC building. He's unboxed and reviewed pretty much anything you can think of =P His channel is LinusTechTips. Definitely worth a look =]

Hopefully I've given you some helpful stuff in there somewhere!

Nice build!

That looks like it's going to turn out as a beastly system! If your going for a black and green colour theme it might be worth checking out the Sniper series motherboards from Gigabyte.

Only thing I would change is the headset and the lighting. I had the Roccat Kave and they are pretty heavy. Also I wasn't too keen on the sound quality but that might just be me =p I'd recommend the Corsair Vengeance 1500 headset. The quality is amazing and they are much comfier than the Kaves. In regards to the lighting, I thoroughly recommend the Bit Fenix Alchemy strips. They provide an awesomely bright and even light spread. I have 2 6 inch blue strips, one at the top and one at the bottom of the case (Also a Corsair C70 which is just an amazingly high quality case. Almost entirely metal and the handles are incredibly helpful for transport ;]).



You might have already heard of him but there's a guy on YouTube who is incredibly helpful when it comes to PC building. He's unboxed and reviewed pretty much anything you can think of =P His channel is LinusTechTips. Definitely worth a look =]

Hopefully I've given you some helpful stuff in there somewhere!

Thanks for getting back to me man! Yeah, the BitFenix alchemy strips were on my mind for the LED strip lighting, I've read and heard so much good about them. I'm subbed to Linus, TimeToLive, Motherboards.org, etc. I love my hardware. Your rig looks neat as hell mate, what graphics have you got in your system?

Also, with regards to the headset, I have read the odd review about them being cumbersome, and the Corsair set does look pretty slick!

Also, I was thinking of doing the side window mod - can be found on YouTube - replacing the window with the fan grills to be plain plexi. That does get rid of the tint on the window, but to be honest, I would pay the extra £20 for a version without the side vents - that, and I would like the power and reset switches to have those sprung "missile launch" button covers on both, because they are so damn cool - I can't remember the last time I hit the reset button in practical usage... I guess only time will tell.

Haha! Yea I would like to replace the panel with a clear bit of plexi when I get the moeny. 1 less hole for dust to get in =p Although the filtering on the C70 is really good. Keeps it pretty damn clean with some positive air pressure!

I got the GTX 670 running in there. ASUS DirectCU II version to be precise! Runs almost anything with ease which makes a nice change from my previous system =D

I think the part I'm most proud of is the cable management! Got it really neat and it was relatively easy with the C70's clips! Bit of a corsair fanboy haha

Love a bit of cable management I must say, awesome job you've done back there. Haha to the Corsair fan boy comment - I'n not exactly a fan boy - it's just that I like their products! I wish I could afford a GTX 670 If you like I can add you as friend and show you my complete work of art when I do it just after Xmas - planning to make a time lapse build video as well and maybe some sort of unboxing of everything.

Haha. I'm a definite fanboy. I have Corsair speakers, mouse, keyboard, case and PSU. Even a Corsair memory stick! =p

Yea that sounds awesome! I'd love to see the finished build. Time lapse video is an awesome idea!

Sorry to hijack the thread a bit but

Iain

Could you do me a favor and measure how much room there is in you C70 to fit a large heatsink in. I am looking for a new case and like the look of the C70 but can't tell if my heatsink will fit. It is a Phanteks PH-TC14PE which is 171 mm tall.

Can do! Your looking for depth from motherboard to side panel right? Just to make sure I'm measuring the correct thing for you =p

Iain529 said:

Can do! Your looking for depth from motherboard to side panel right? Just to make sure I'm measuring the correct thing for you =p

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Yes top of the motherboard to the side panel, so I can get it on.

From the motherboard to the sidepanel, I get 17cm +/- 0.1cm.

Personally I don't think that would fit, and even if it does, it'd be pressed up against the window. Might be worth getting a second opinion though! Sorry!

Iain529 said:

From the motherboard to the sidepanel, I get 17cm +/- 0.1cm.

Personally I don't think that would fit, and even if it does, it'd be pressed up against the window. Might be worth getting a second opinion though! Sorry!

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Looking around online I knew it was going to be a tight fit, but I was wanting a bit of conformation.

I think I may have to see if OCUk have one on show that I can take a tape measure to.

Thank you for measuring you case.

I've only been here 3 days and I already love the atmosphere.

Fire_fly said:

Looking around online I knew it was going to be a tight fit, but I was wanting a bit of conformation.

I think I may have to see if OCUk have one on show that I can take a tape measure to.

Thank you for measuring you case.

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Not a problem! Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.

British IT Bod said:

I've only been here 3 days and I already love the atmosphere.

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I've had an account for ages but I've only just started using the forum properly in the last 2 days haha!