Advice: Super Nova ROG (3930K)

Maeldor

Maeldor

Maeldor

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25 Jun 2012
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8
Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some advice on whether the super nova rog intel core i7 3930k 3.20ghz @ 4.40ghz ddr3 overclocked bundle bundle would be a good choice for me for upgrading my current system. i've asked a few friends, but they think i'm nuts to consider £979.99 on just the motherboard, ram, and cpu. i know they're probably right, but i tend to want to get better components and not need to upgrade as often along the line. i have already saved more than enough, so that's not an issue.

my main concern at the moment is whether my current case and cooling will be up to the job of this bundle. i have a Gigabyte 3D Aurora 570, and while it's very pretty and nice, I don't think the airflow is as good as the reviews at the time said it was. My current Q6600 (the first version, I got it when it first came out) with a Corsair H70 still runs very hot (about 60-70C under load), and I've barely overclocked it (it's about 3.1 GHz). Before I got the H70, there was no way I could overclock it at all. I'm hoping it's just a bad CPU and not just the case.

I really hope I don't have to buy another case. I was hoping for an upgrade rather than a complete replacement, lol. I'm hoping the 3930K will do a much better job of staying cool than my terrible Q6600.

I also have a Corsair HX650, which is enough for my current setup: P5K Deluxe, Q6600, 4 GB DDR2 800MHz RAM, ATI Radeon HD 5850; but will it be enough for this bundle? I hope and think so; I'm not planning on going Crossfire/SLI anytime soon.

Another concern I have: I saw that there's a version 2 of the 3930K coming out. Another site is listing it for pre-order as the "C2". What's this!? Have I timed this badly? :( Then again, you could say to wait for IVB-E, but I'll just be waiting forever if I keep waiting for the next thing.

So, is this bundle a good choice? I've been reading reviews and the motherboard (Asus X79 Rampage IV Extreme) and CPU look like absolute beasts. The motherboard is probably overkill for my needs, but I want to be future proof and I don't mind paying for the current best. I notice the RAM is at 1866 MHz, which is not the highest I've seen (but I believe that requires overclocked RAM). I'm not an expert at overclocking, but I assume 1866 MHz is integral to the 4.40 GHz overclock? I've also never heard of Patriot Viper 3 "Red Venom", but I assume it's good, otherwise OcUK wouldn't have chosen it.

That's a point: overclocking bundles. I know you void the overclock warranty on the bundle if you change the overclock, but you can always restore it with the OC profiles, so can you tweak along the line and then restore the profile to maintain the warranty?

Thanks very much! I'm about to fly back to the UK in a few hours (currently in Australia) so I have a 23 hour flight ahead of me (not including the stop in Singapore), so it may be a while before I can reply.

By the way, if anyone's wondering why I want to go overkill: I frequently do a lot of intensive tasks, including rendering, encoding, image processing, development etc. I also game a lot, but my 5850 is adequate for now :)

Thanks again! And sorry for the long post, lol.
 
Long post indeed, though a lot to mull over.

The 3930k is a serious chip, reflected in the price. Do you do this intensive work a lot of is it just the odd occasion? If its part of your job/degree/side-project the investment may be worthwhile though its just recreational id suggest saving money and follow one of two options:

1) If you think you may need a hex core in the future, go for the 3820.
2) Will just be a gaming rig with the ocassional video being edited, 3770k.

Though like I mentioned before, if a lot of Cpu power is justifable the 3930k is the right way to go.

Not heard of this C2 version, more research needed. :).

hope I could help. :)
 
No disrespect intended but you seem to have lots of questions and uncertainties which suggests to me this bundle is not right for you. This board is really aimed at the crazy tweaking and overclocking crowd who like to tweak memory timing and straps all night.

You say you do a lot of encoding and rendering? In that case the 3930k is a good choice. However I would just pair it with a cheaper board, something like the ASUS Sabertooth which is rock solid, but in all honesty the majority of the boards sold here will offer you some overclocking room.

On RAM don't worry. Buy the cheapest ram you can find which will run at 1600+. You can overclock by using the bclk on boards but it is far easier to keep your ram locked at 1600 or 1833 or whatever and simply increase the multiplier. Note the difference between running ram at 1333 and 2133+ is negligible. SandyBridge is not bandwidth starved.
 
Thanks for the quick replies. I have already justified the price and I do want the overkill on the motherboard and CPU as it will benefit my work. My main concern is if my case will take it with the cooling. (Edit: Though if it isn't, your suggestions are definitely a good fallback! Thank you.)

Also, dazzerd, as you say the motherboard is aimed at people who want to tweak a lot (I do, I'm just not that proficient yet! I've only been overclocking my P5K and Q6600, only partially successfully due to the heat it produces), how does this work with a bundle's overclock warranty? Can you just restore the profile in the future to keep the warranty valid, or is the tiniest tweak you make just out of curiosity going to void it forever?

Thanks!
 
3930k isn't a cool chip as they are 130w tdp rated. Ivybridge chips however are 77w on the Z77 boards which is what you could look at instead as a 3770k still has plenty of cores (4 + 4HT) to keep you busy. Not sure that powersupply would do if you intended on overclocking the 3930k also as they are insanely power hungry when overclocked. I've read numerous articles online about them pulling some crazy high watts at 4.6ghz +
 
Thanks, James J. I may need to rethink the whole idea. I expect my cooling isn't enough, which would probably mean a new case, and possibly a H100 instead of a H70 (or maybe just better fans for the H70), plus maybe a new power supply as well, lol.

If I stuck with 4.4 GHz, are the watts that 'crazy high'? I guess I could just get it and see if it works. If not, then I could look at getting more stuff, but I'd probably need to expect to pay half as much again, lol. It would be worth it to me in the end though, as my computer is very, very important to me.
 
You could downgrade the bundle slightly and spend the difference on a better case for air cooling if you're really worried.
 
It really depends on exactly how much money you are willing to spend, although from your OP it seems that money isn't a big issue.

So, based on that assumption, you should just make sure that you get an adequate case for cooling (such as a Corsair 800D, BitFenix Shinobi XL, CoolerMaster HAF X ... ). And yes, as Doomedspeed says, that bundle does come with a cooler (which is a very good one too, although I'd prefer the K2 Alpenföhn MD if I was going with air cooling).
 
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