Advice: Super Nova ROG (3930K)

[Maeldor]

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.

 

[Maeldor]

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!

 

[Maeldor]

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.