Check my spec please

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4 Sep 2011
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Been playing around for a few hours now. Which is the better setup:


MSI ATI Radeon HD 6970 2048MB Twin Frozr III GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **Supplied with Dirt 3 & Deus Ex PC Games

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail

Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2)

Cooler Master HAF X Gaming Tower Case - Black (RC-942)

MSI Z68A-GD65-G3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard

XFX 650W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply

LG BH10LS38 10x BluRay-RW / 16 x DVD±RW Lightscribe Drive - Black (Retail)

Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX)

Corsair Hydro H80 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366/LGA2011/AM2/AM3)


or with these changes (keep everything else the same):


Antec TruePower New Modular 750W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply

MSI GeForce GTX 560Ti OC Twin FrozR II 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (x 2)

Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366)

Thanks
 
id go with the top one, but with the 750W PSU and, if your ok with the looks of it, the thermalright silver arrow

i assume youve chosen the HAFX for its looks, because when your spending ~£150 on a case the looks are the most important thing

also, im glad you chose the 6970. i had completely forgotten about the deal going on for it
 
Yes I am really set on the HAF-X but I have also taken into account it's functionality and in my opinion it's one of the best if not the best case available currently and it's future proof. Others may have a different view.

Yes, the Silver Arrow seems to crop up here and then and seems a popular choice. Do you rate that above the H80?

Wondering if the H80 is more whistles n bells. Reviews on it seem good but people mentioning the supplied fans are loud when at full tilt.

Also, I'm wondering if the Silver Arrow would affect my ram as you need plenty of clearence but them sticks are low profile so shouldn't be any issues, I think.
 
from the reviews ive read, you choose the silver arrow if you want silence, and the corsair H80 or antec khuler 920 if you are happy to put up with the extra noise for some extra cooling. the silver arrow and the H80 perform almost exactly the same if they are making the same amount of noise

you wont have any problems with the RAM. the kingston stuff is standard height and will fit under it just fine.

if your set on the HAFX then go for it. its got very good airflow and layout. i just dont like the looks much myself and much prefer the raven 2 in white.
 
Exactly. Everyone has different tastes. A mate of mine said he can't stand the look of the HAF-X and thinks I'm mad at paying that price for a case.

Would you recommend having the 2x 560Ti's for SLI or just the singular 6970?

I would obviously get the higher rated PSU to suit.
 
two 560Ti's will be faster now, but will have no upgrde paths. the single 6970 has the obvious upgrade path of going crossfire.

also, PSU wise i was keeping crossfire and SLI in mind when i recommended a 750W PSU for the 6970. for the 560Ti in SLI 650W is plenty
 
Owning a HAF, i really wish I didn't!!!

No sata backplate for the internal HDD, cable management isn't the best. Way too gimmicky for me tbh. It's also a fairly noisy case as you're shifting a lot of air and there's lots of mesh.
 
Reaper, yes I realise now that was your intention with regards to the PSU.

To be honest I was more set on the 560Ti's as I've heard that cross fire can be a right pain and the driver support is quite bad too but that's only what I've heard. I cannot back that statement up.

Yes it does leave a blank in terms of upgrade path but what I hear about Cross Fire and user issues, well.....hhhmmmmm.

Thanks for throwing a giant, rusty spanner in the works Irlcr :)
 
On your other issues, buy the most powerful single card you can now. What res will you be playing at? For everything foreseeable (next 12 months) any of the current high end cards 560ti\570\580\6950\6970 with more than 1.5gb vram will push an 1080p monitor although not necessarily at 120hz if you go that way.

On the case front, what I've done in my search for the replacement was decide what I want to put in it (namely watercooling and about 8 5 1/4" bay devices) and decided on cases that will physically fit all my parts :D

Then I've taken that short list and looked at all the build logs of those cases to determine which ones will actually build a decent looking rig without have messy cables sticking out.
 
Fair point fowler. As I said I can't back that statement up. for any one person that has a good experience with cross fire, your guaranteed that someone else will have a bad one.

The same will of course apply to SLI but I don't hear much about it or I'm not looking in the right places.

I am very much aware about the ram deal.
 
I will freely admit that I'm a little eccentric.

What bugs me about the haf-x is that it seems to have been designed with very little thought. Rather than make it a fraction wider so there's a bit more space behind the mobo tray they've put in huge cut-outs and then let you cover up your excess with plastic covers.

The GPU duct is a PIG to fit, although it does hide cabling nicely.

Once you've installed the aforementioned silly plastic psu cover then the whole case starts to feel a lot smaller inside.
 
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