High End Build Advice

idiocious

idiocious

idiocious

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Joined
3 Oct 2011
Posts
109
Location
Scotland
Afternoon!

I've been feel the upgrade itch for a while and with the release of the R9 290s and the Black Friday CPU deals it would seem like an excellent time to buy!

From my current build I'll be keeping:
  • HDDs
  • SDD
  • Bluray Optical Drive
  • Keyboard
  • Mouse

I'm looking at a watercooled build with an orange/black theme. I'll likely pick up two more Eizo monitors down the line for portrait Eyefinity but it's not set in stone. The budget is fairly open ended but I'd still like decent value for money.

Here are the parts that I'm fairly settled on but open to change:

YOUR BASKET
2 x OcUK Tech Labs EXPRESS - HIS Radeon R9 290 Pre-Flashed to R290X 4096MB Watercooled Graphics Card with BattleField 4 PC Game Included £479.99 (£959.98)
1 x EIZO Foris FG2421 23.5" 240Hz Widescreen Gaming LED Monitor - Black/Red £443.99
1 x Corsair Obsidian 900D Super Tower Case (CC-9011022-WW) £299.99
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £247.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-OC Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £158.99
2 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2133HC11ADC01) £59.99 (£119.98)
Total : £2,257.55 (includes shipping : £22.20).




I've not had a chance to do much research on the watercooling side so suggestions with regards to good value CPU blocks, fittings etc. would be much appreciated!
 
The Phanteks has gained my attention and does seem superb especially at nearly £100 cheaper. I've had the 800D before and loved Corsair design and quality. Their customer service has also been phenomenal for me. I've found a pretty in-depth review of the Phanteks case so I'll go ahead and watch that. I'm curious as to how easy it is to mod the LEDs for a different colour - perhaps the review will reveal.

The RAM on two sticks I did notice and will likely opt for at just £10 more.

Thanks for the advice so far guys!
 
your need to lose to optical drive tho buddy and get a blue ray external one :( can't have an epic looking build with an optical drive now can we Mr Speed?
 
I do have a PS3 for which I can play blurays. I've got the drive primarily for burning my collection to HDD because I don't much like having so many discs/boxes around. :P

I do have an older PC that I can do this with though so I'm open to no optical drive with this build as I rarely ever need one.
 
OK then :)

Doomedspeed I'm sure will jump in if I have made any errors ;)

for fans try and find the 120mm versions of these:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-008-AL&groupid=701&catid=2331

YOUR BASKET
2 x HIS Radeon R9 290 Pre-Flashed to R290X 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with BattleField 4 PC Game Included £383.99 (£767.98)
1 x Corsair Obsidian 900D Super Tower Case (CC-9011022-WW) £293.99
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £247.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-OC Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £152.99
1 x Antec High Current Pro 750W Modular '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £129.95
2 x EK Water Blocks EK-FC R9-290X - Nickel (Original CSQ) £99.95 (£199.90)
2 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C10 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC10TDC01) £79.99 (£159.98)
1 x EK CoolStream RAD XTX (360) £74.99
1 x XSPC D5 Vario with Front Cover (1/2” barbs) £66.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £65.99
1 x EK-CoolStream RAD XTX (240) £64.99
1 x EK-RES X3 400 Reservoir £56.99
1 x EK-Supreme LTX CSQ Intel CPU Waterblock £29.99
2 x EK Water Blocks EK-FC R9-290X Backplate - Black £26.99 (£53.98)
1 x EK-FC Bridge DUAL Parallel 3-Slot CSQ Plexi £18.98
2 x Mayhems Pastel - Gigabyte Orange Concentrate 250ml £11.99 (£23.98)
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 24pin ATX extension 30cm - Orange £8.99
4 x BitFenix 6+2-Pin PCIe Extension 45cm - sleeved orange/black £5.99 (£23.96)
4 x Primochill Primoflex Advanced Tubing 16/11 - Clear £5.99 (£23.96)
2 x BitFenix Alchemy SATA 6GB/s braided cable 30cm - Orange £5.99 (£11.98)
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 8pin EPS extension 45cm - Orange £5.99
12 x Monsoon 16/11mm (ID 7/16 OD 5/8) Free Center Compression Fitting - Orange £5.29 (£63.48)
3 x BitFenix Alchemy Molex to 3pin x3 Fan adaptor 7V 20cm - Orange £4.99 (£14.97)
1 x BitFenix Alchemy Internal Audio Extension Adaptor 30cm - Orange £4.49
4 x BitFenix Alchemy 2pin I/O extension 30cm - Orange £3.95 (£15.80)
Total : £2,609.89 (includes shipping : £22.20).

 
Last edited:
Ethermaster said:
your need to lose to optical drive tho buddy and get a blue ray external one :( can't have an epic looking build with an optical drive now can we Mr Speed?
Click to expand...

They do look messy. :)

Ethermaster said:
OK then :)

Doomedspeed I'm sure will jump in if I have made any errors ;)

for fans try and find the 120mm versions of these:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-008-AL&groupid=701&catid=2331

YOUR BASKET
2 x HIS Radeon R9 290 Pre-Flashed to R290X 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with BattleField 4 PC Game Included £383.99 (£767.98)
1 x Corsair Obsidian 900D Super Tower Case (CC-9011022-WW) £293.99
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £247.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-OC Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £152.99
1 x Antec High Current Pro 750W Modular '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £129.95
2 x EK Water Blocks EK-FC R9-290X - Nickel (Original CSQ) £99.95 (£199.90)
2 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C10 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC10TDC01) £79.99 (£159.98)
1 x EK CoolStream RAD XTX (360) £74.99
1 x XSPC D5 Vario with Front Cover (1/2” barbs) £66.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £65.99
1 x EK-CoolStream RAD XTX (240) £64.99
1 x EK-RES X3 400 Reservoir £56.99
1 x EK-Supreme LTX CSQ Intel CPU Waterblock £29.99
2 x EK Water Blocks EK-FC R9-290X Backplate - Black £26.99 (£53.98)
1 x EK-FC Bridge DUAL Parallel 3-Slot CSQ Plexi £18.98
2 x Mayhems Pastel - Gigabyte Orange Concentrate 250ml £11.99 (£23.98)
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 24pin ATX extension 30cm - Orange £8.99
4 x BitFenix 6+2-Pin PCIe Extension 45cm - sleeved orange/black £5.99 (£23.96)
4 x Primochill Primoflex Advanced Tubing 16/11 - Clear £5.99 (£23.96)
2 x BitFenix Alchemy SATA 6GB/s braided cable 30cm - Orange £5.99 (£11.98)
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 8pin EPS extension 45cm - Orange £5.99
12 x Monsoon 16/11mm (ID 7/16 OD 5/8) Free Center Compression Fitting - Orange £5.29 (£63.48)
3 x BitFenix Alchemy Molex to 3pin x3 Fan adaptor 7V 20cm - Orange £4.99 (£14.97)
1 x BitFenix Alchemy Internal Audio Extension Adaptor 30cm - Orange £4.49
4 x BitFenix Alchemy 2pin I/O extension 30cm - Orange £3.95 (£15.80)
Total : £2,609.89 (includes shipping : £22.20).

Click to expand...

Looks epic mate. :) EPIC!

Only spotted one mistake mate:

The EK Bridge..

You picked a 3 slot one, you need a two slot..

This one:

YOUR BASKET
1 x EK-FC Bridge DUAL Serial CSQ Plexi £18.98
Total : £21.26 (includes shipping : £1.90).



Another few cometic changes id make..

The Pump and res, you could go for a combo like this, it also comes with a light in it, set it to white and watch the orange coolant light up. :)

YOUR BASKET
1 x XSPC D5 Photon 270 Reservoir/Pump Combo £139.99
Total : £148.69 (includes shipping : £7.25).



And i'd personally get the Enthoo primo and save £100.. Its a stunning case for watercooling.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Phanteks Enthoo Primo Full Tower Case £199.99
Total : £213.49 (includes shipping : £11.25).

 
Aha, thanks for the insight guys.

After watching the lengthy review and reading various other reviews I agree that the Phantek case seems a lot better for watercooling with the plethora of features it has. It also seems decently easy to mod a few things. First on the list will definitely be the blue LED strip in the front panel! Now to source a 6mm wide LED strip. White or orange, hmm...

As for monitors I've been looking at the Eizo Foris VA panel. I could keep my 3 x LG 22" 1080p TN panels but I think an upgrade is in order. Eventually will pick up two more down the line. It was an incredibly difficult decision between 1080p VA 120Hz and 1440p IPS (potentially Korean for overclock?) but I feel that the Eizo would be better because I game more than anything else on my PC.

Budget isn't as much of a concern as value is while maintain some eye candy. :P
 
Alright, just about to order now. I'll go with 8GB of RAM for the time being. It should be enough for what I need it to do and I can always add more later. I'll reuse my Corsair AX760 Platinum and buy a different PSU for my old machine before selling it.

The only question I have; is the Mayhem's Pure H20 worth it? Would the dye settle well with just normal distilled H20 or is Mayhems the best choice here?


YOUR BASKET
1 x EIZO Foris FG2421 23.5" 240Hz Widescreen Gaming LED Monitor - Black/Red £449.99
2 x HIS Radeon R9 290 Pre-Flashed to R290X 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with BattleField 4 PC Game Included £379.99 (£759.98)
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £247.99
1 x Phanteks Enthoo Primo Full Tower Case £199.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-OC Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £152.99
1 x XSPC D5 Photon 270 Reservoir/Pump Combo £139.99
2 x EK Water Blocks EK-FC R9-290X - Nickel (Original CSQ) £99.95 (£199.90)
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C10 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC10TDC01) £79.99
1 x EK CoolStream RAD XTX (360) £74.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £71.99
1 x EK-CoolStream RAD XTX (240) £64.99
1 x EK-Supreme LTX CSQ Intel CPU Waterblock £29.99
2 x Monsoon 16/11mm (ID 7/16 OD 5/8) Free Center Compression Fitting Six Pack - Orange £27.95 (£55.90)
2 x EK Water Blocks EK-FC R9-290X Backplate - Black £26.99 (£53.98)
1 x EK-FC Bridge DUAL Serial CSQ Plexi £18.98
2 x Mayhems Pastel - Gigabyte Orange Concentrate 250ml £11.99 (£23.98)
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 24pin ATX extension 30cm - Orange £8.99
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 8pin EPS extension 45cm - Orange £5.99
2 x BitFenix Alchemy SATA 6GB/s braided cable 30cm - Black £5.99 (£11.98)
4 x Primochill Primoflex Advanced Tubing 16/11 - Clear £5.99 (£23.96)
4 x BitFenix 6+2-Pin PCIe Extension 45cm - sleeved orange/black £5.99 (£23.96)
2 x Mayhems Ultra Pure H20 Watercooling Fluid 1L £4.99 (£9.98)
3 x BitFenix Alchemy Molex to 3pin x3 Fan adaptor 7V 20cm - Orange £4.99 (£14.97)
1 x BitFenix Alchemy Internal Audio Extension Adaptor 30cm - Orange £4.49
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 2pin I/O extension 30cm - Orange £3.95
Total : £2,760.50 (includes shipping : £22.20).



[EDIT] I'll be seeing about getting good matching fans. OTherwise I might just go with Gentle Typhoons and spray 'em orange.
 
Last edited:
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