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Lethumb

Lethumb

Lethumb

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Joined
13 Sep 2010
Posts
23
Hi,

I've finally decided to build myself a new pc. I've never built one before but am pretty confident I can do it. Only problem is I need LOTS of help with the spec.

Case > Silverstone FT02B

Q1. I'm absolutely smitten with the silverstone Fortress 2 ...AP181s are £14.66 each. That’s £43.98 added to cost of case for this minor upgrade. The new Red edition is only £23.50 more with these as standard.. Is this a worthwhile upgrade? Does anyone know when the revised edition will come out?
Also should I expect to replace the top fan with something quieter? (if so what?)

PSU > Corsair HX850X

Q2. This seems like the best Modular Power supply for if/when I decide to go SLI or Crossfire at a later date. Is this ok?

Motherboard > ASUS P6X58D-E

Q3. Can't decide on the P6X58D-E or the GA-X58A-UD3R??? (silly thought) If I were to go for the red case with a window I should probably think about a less blue Motherboard?? Perhaps? Not too fussed about having window in the first place.

CPU > I7 950

Q4. I will be using mostly Photoshop and zbrush as well as Maya and of course games. This has now dropped enough in price for me to consider. Is this a good idea?

RAM > Corsair 6GB XMS3

Q5. I may go for 12GB at a later date (another 3x2GB of same) is this my best choice? I'll need low profile if I'm to get the CPU cooler I want

GPU > ????

Q6. Nvidia or ATI? Am I right that Nvidia are better for Photoshop, Maya etc? Will a GTX460 Suffice for now? Or should I take the plunge and go for a 480? Or is there evidence that the ATI 5870 is just as good for Photoshop and Maya? Also do I really need to concern myself with air cooling heatpipe cards having problems in a FT02 case?

CPU Cooler > Noctua NH-D14

Q7. I have read hundreds of reviews and can't decide on the NH-D14, Polimatech Megahalems or the Thermalright Silver Arrow? Quietest coolest solution?

SSD > None at this time

Q8. I WILL be getting one of these just not sure I'll need it straight away. The 128GB Crucial C300 seems ok?

HARD DRIVE > Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB

Q9. This seems the most popular choice at the moment. Other recommendations welcome

DVD/CD RW > ????

Q10. I understand there are a few problems fitting optical drives into a FT02B which would be my best option?

Final bonus question. what else will I need (extra tools, cables. fans etc) as I have never built my own pc before and want this to go as smoothly as possible :)

Any advice is welcome at this time as I'm inches away from ordering, any links you think might help please also mention and thanks in advance for reading my thread :)
 
Case is gorgeous, very nearly my choice but needed bigger.

Psu is a good one. Double check it has enough PCIe connectors mind, but unthinkable it does from memory.

Processor is a good choice, should handle everything you need.

I'm incredibly annoyed with gigabyte mind. My ud7 is awful. Won't hold a simple overclock and the sata3 refuses to work. Definaty get on their forums fir that model and review whether it will be bug free under the latest bios.

I believe Photoshop can be gpu accelerated by both red and green now, though hold on fir someone else. I think team green were previously the beat choice but I have been out the game for a while and team red have pulled their socks up in the last 12 months.

Get an SSD! It's the best investment you can make! Even a small one for OS, programs and temp files. Then use mechanical for storage.

The noctua is incredible. One of the best out there. However, it's huge and other alternatives are out there that may suffice. Prolimatech megahelms is awesome.

For fans, I am addicted to the sharkoon silent eagles. Yate loons are also reportedly very good and cheap.
 
WOW that was fast! :)

I think the psu has 6 x 6+2pin PCI-E Power connectors? is that enough?

I'm guessing 'CUDA' would help with the Photoshop GPU acceleration? and I think I read somewhere that 'Team green' has better 2d support too? is that correct?

Maybe I'll go for the 60GB SSD for now?...I can always give it to my brother if I decide to get a bigger one I guess?...or keep it? LOL! ;/

The size of the Noctua doesn't really bother me if it's as good as they say... I will NOT be water cooling. however I read that the Silver Arrow is cooler and considerably quieter??? True or false?

The Sharkoon fans you mentiond... where should I place them and how many would I need? :)

Thanks DJC :)
 
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id reccomend the Asus board, i own the P6X58D Premium, works beautifully, and looks quiet attractive (<-yesisaidthat) also any RAM was compatible with it so long as it is DDR3 so i purchased the Viper raptor 6GB which also look beautiful, and even better IRL.

That psu would be cutting it very close, not to mention other things such as dvd drive fans etc, BUT i would reccomend a higher watt, and possibly because of the price, a different PSU, my next is this :

Do not post competitor links.

It looks nice, and depending on psu flip side, totally black for me, high quality decent psu that will future you fairly well, i know of a guy running an overclocked system with 3 gtx 480s with this.

Current is a Corsair HX750 with that board ^ and a Asus GTX 480

Take a look at the Cogage Arrow CPU cooler, thermal take sister company i think? buy a 6gb/s 1TB WD Caviar black for now id reccomend, prices will decrease on SSD's within the year to next few, and youll be laughing when you own a 250gb-500gb version.
 
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@ Mango Assassin

Yeah I am leaning towards the ASUS board atm..

You think 850w is too little? really? ok... how is the revolution noise wise?
I pretty much doubt I'll be tripple sli'ing? max would be normal sli I think?... you never know though I guess? :/

I'll be starting with 1 gpu for now....still not sure which?

I looked at the CB drive and read a little http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=16216247
Sammy seems quieter and just as reliable for cheaper price?

Not seen the cogage before it looks just as big as the Noctua once fans are on? Is it as quiet?
How is it in comparisson with the 3 I mentioned? and which fans would I need to go with it?

Thanks Mango :)
 
For the motherboard, get the ASUS P6X58D-E over the Gigabyte. I've tested both and the ASUS was better. It overclocks and performs better.

As for the cooler, check my sig for the results but the Silver Arrow is definitely the one to go for. It's even cheaper than the Noctua whilst performing slightly better. The Cogage Arrow wouldn't be a bad choice either but you'd only get a single fan instead of two 140mm ones.

The Corsair power supply should be more than fine :).
 
Thanks Helios :)

Cooler wise looking at those round up results there's not a lot in it especially if I use 2xSWIF2 120P's? are they the fans to get or has this changed since roundup results?
 
Looks very similar to the build I am planning and you have a few similar questions to me so looking forward to the answers :D

The case does looks very good watched a few youtube videos of it and with the problems with the optical drives. It looks like a tight fit between them and the side(normally the bottom) of the mother board.
Think some right angled connection cables would help.

Good luck with your build ;)
 
Lethumb said:
Thanks Helios :)

Cooler wise looking at those round up results there's not a lot in it especially if I use 2xSWIF2 120P's? are they the fans to get or has this changed since roundup results?
Click to expand...

I'd stick with the stock fans really. I just used the Coolink fans so people could have an idea how it performs with higher RPM fans. But the stock ones are brilliant and quiet! :)
 
Lethumb said:
Thanks Reflux :)

What about programs like Illustrator, Maya and Zbrush? I know very very little about CUDA :(
I think I read a while ago that ATI cards were having difficulty when going from 3d like games etc to 2d environments? this may well have been fixed since with new drivers though? I think this might be where I saw it?
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/2d-windows-gdi,2539-11.html
Click to expand...

CUDA is essentially Nvidia's way of being able to run general purpose (read: not gaming) tasks off the GPU. AFAIK the only thing vaguely worthwhile that uses it is Adobe Premiere. I think I'm correct in saying the only Adobe programs that feature anything in the way of 3D acceleration are Photoshop and Premiere.... Illustrator just does what little 3D it can muster on the CPU.

No idea about ZBrush or Maya.

I remember there being some issues in Photoshop about 6 months ago (full screen mode would not work properly) but I've had absolutely zero issues since. I'm using a 5870 with Photoshop CS5.
 
@Helios1234

Am I right that the Silverarrow fans can be connected to the motherboard for automatic speed control? I don't think the Noctua can? Probably wrong though? :/
Why do they both have hideous colour fans included?... LOL!

@reflux

Zbrush is a 2.5d program, not really 3d as such although a lot of it is. So you think I should go for a 5870 and I'll be fine? I'll probably be getting a second monitor in the new year to seperate workspace and tools etc I understand most GPU's (at least the ones I'm interested in) can do that easily these days?
 
Lethumb said:
@Helios1234

Am I right that the Silverarrow fans can be connected to the motherboard for automatic speed control? I don't think the Noctua can? Probably wrong though? :/
Why do they both have hideous colour fans included?... LOL!
Click to expand...

Yeah that's right. They have PWM functionality so you can control them yourself without using adapters etc (as long as you connect them to a 4pin header). The Noctua uses those 7V/5V adapters so speed control isn't as flexible.

Hehe the colours are a bit strange but you do get excellent performance to compensate for that and they are very quiet!
 
Well I never thought I'd be swayed so fast but am leaning towards the Silver Arrows now :)

although the case I'm getting has fan controllers for the 3 bottom fans will I need to replace the top one and will I need a controller of some sort?
 
Lethumb said:
@ Mango Assassin

Yeah I am leaning towards the ASUS board atm..

You think 850w is too little? really? ok... how is the revolution noise wise?
I pretty much doubt I'll be tripple sli'ing? max would be normal sli I think?... you never know though I guess? :/
Click to expand...

dual 480's need about 750 watts, so the corsiar 850 is fine, especialyl as they can usually go beyond thier rated wattage as well.

u only need more than 1000 if you plan on going tripple sli.

althou the 850 would handle tripple sli for lower cards like the 460's

it also comes with at least 6 pci-e cables, so plenty for your needs
 
^ What about extra case modifications, hard drives, possible overclocking? i wouldnt want to run two 480's off a 850 Watt, and itll be running the psu at a larger load, and depending on next gen cards etc could be problematic, considering he is putting a good bit of money in already, i dont think itd hurt.

Viper Raptor 1600Mhz's over xms3's anyday. they have better timings to.
 
@Mango

Viper Raptor?? I can't seem to find them anywhere? do you mean Patriot Viper? I think I read somewhere that Patriot ram isn't low profile so will not fit under the fans of the cooler I'm after?

As for overclocking I'll dabble but I'm going to be using this thing 4 or 5 hours a day so I'll need it to be as stable as possible

The Graphics card has me stumped! If I were to get a GTX 480 I doubt I'd need a second for a while? If the next generation were to come out before I did I'd probably need to rethink my options? I would be more likely to SLI/Crossfire lower end cards like GTX460/470's or 5850's My main objective is a fast stable air cooled machine that will last me a couple of years My reasoning behind building my own is that should I need to upgrade parts gradually I'll have a better working knowledge of my needs :)

I guess I'll have to think about which psu I get based on my gpu?
 
I recently built my first PC, you might find my thread quite interesting here as it didn't go as smoothly as I would have liked.

In my original spec I was going to go for an SSD however last min change I went for two Samsung F3 drives instead to save money and there fantastic, no doubt SSD will increase performance, but I feel my machine zips so don't feel you actually need to jump on the SSD bandwagon just yet, you can wait for prices to drop, well that what am going to do anyway.

I also use photoshop, illustrator and maya as well, I have a ATI 5870 card, not sure if Nvidia will give you a boost over performance, but as things stand with my machine everything seems so fast, sometimes the speed increases are so insignificant that you just might not even notice.

Corsair PSU just oozes quality as soon as you open the box, I went for 750W.

The Asus ASUS P6X58D-E is what I went for, was 3rd time lucky for me with the mishaps I had, but I still recommend it.

Only other things I recommend is:
Arctic Cooling MX-3 Thermal Compound
NZXT 8-Pin (EPS12V) Black Sleeved 25cm Extension Cable(if your not interested in cable management don't bother) here

You didn't really mention any peripherals so I assume you already have a good mouse, keyboard, mat, monitor etc
 
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