New Build - Gaming / Dev box

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Hi all,

Unfortunately I couldnt go for the build I specced on here back in Jan - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18238599

Im now looking to finally go for a new build to replace the old faithfull :)

Here is what im looking to go for:

iXiao.png


Im looking at an I7 over an I5 as I will be using it for both development and gaming. Im hoping to clock it @ 4.6 and I value a nice quiet rig when writing code, hence the H60 cooler. Ive gone for 2 x 4GB so I can easily upgrade to 16GB in a few months; I use a VM's a fair bit when developing.

With those points above taken into account, a few questions

1)Hows the build? Any refinements?
2)I wont ever be SLI'n the card, id just upgrade, so is the mobo overkill?
3)Taking #2 into account, and that i hope to clock it at 4.6, is the 650 PSU going to be enough?
4)After reading over reviews of the H60, it has been suggested in a few places to leave it as the recommended intake to blow air over the CPU block. Then, to have one additional 120mm intake on the front and a 120mm exhaust on the top of the case. Is this the best way to use the H60s fan + 2 additional 120mm's?

Thanks for reading through this and any tips much appreciated.
 
You make some convincing arguments Jony27, especially the 580 :)

Ok here is the build with the above changes:

8Ffif.png


Is this sacrificing quality a little however? With the motherboard and PSU? And would 650 handle and OC'd CPU plus a single 580?

Hmmm, this is tough, it would mean a 580 for £10 more....

<edit>

If I was to with the second build, and sacarfice and modular PSU for some ££ towards a 580, would I be better with this?

Corsair TX 650
 
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modular PSU are worth it, besides theres only £3 difference :eek:

total power consumtion under furmark with a gtx580 is 490w
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/305
and thats with a more power hungry system i7/x58

if you want to save money for the GTX580
get this cooler instead.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-005-AN&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395

and your not sacrificing any "quality", instead you are removing possibilities of "future-proofing" as the asrock wont support CF/SLi,Ivybridge and PCIe 3.0
 
so your looking for a ~£1200 build with a 24" monitor and the tower with everything in it but without a DVD drive:

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 570 OC Twin FrozR III Power Edition 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £259.99
1 x Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £247.99
1 x Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £169.98
1 x Iiyama ProLite E2409HDS 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £134.39
1 x OCZ Z-Series 850W '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £99.98
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 64GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £77.99
1 x Cooler Master Silencio RC-550 Silent Tower Case - Black £69.98
1 x Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £44.99
1 x Zalman CNPS9900-MAX Blue LED CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366/AM2/AM2+/AM3) £43.91
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £39.98
Total : £1,213.31 (includes shipping : £20.10).

motherboard will support PCIe Gen3 when you upgrade to an ivybridge processor
used a more efficient PSU (80+ gold) that will easily cope with two of the graphics cards in SLI
used a similar style case with sound insulation but from a company that doesnt employ toddlers in its quality control department
strange cooler choice was to make sure it fitted in the case. if you look at my sig you'll see that i quite strongly believe that its a very good cooler ;)
 
strange cooler choice was to make sure it fitted in the case. if you look at my sig you'll see that i quite strongly believe that its a very good cooler ;)

Is that why you run your CPU at stock?

I could say a Titan Fenrir is better and cheaper because I can do 4.8GHz from my i5 2500K and keep around 70C:D

Untitleddddd.png
 
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1)Hows the build? Any refinements?
2)I wont ever be SLI'n the card, id just upgrade, so is the mobo overkill?
3)Taking #2 into account, and that i hope to clock it at 4.6, is the 650 PSU going to be enough?
4)After reading over reviews of the H60, it has been suggested in a few places to leave it as the recommended intake to blow air over the CPU block. Then, to have one additional 120mm intake on the front and a 120mm exhaust on the top of the case. Is this the best way to use the H60s fan + 2 additional 120mm's?

i think GTX580 is a better option :)
 
Is that why you run your CPU at stock?

I could say a Titan Fenrir is better and cheaper because I can do 4.8GHz from my i5 2500K:D

you know full well i run my processor at stock because im a lazy git and CBA to overclock it (or if you dont then your the only person who doesnt because i sure do go on about that cooler). also, i would have recommended the fenrir if it was a) available from OcUK and b) if it would fit in the case (max cooler height is 154mm in that case)

*edit*
@OP: just noticed you said you had no intention of going SLI in the future. any reason why because its very often a fantastic upgrade path. there are certainly plenty of 5850 owners who are being recommended to go crossfire for an upgrade
 
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you know full well i run my processor at stock because im a lazy git and CBA to overclock it. also, i would have recommended the fenrir if it was a) available from OcUK and b) if it would fit in the case (max cooler height is 154mm in that case)

Im just saying you go on about how you recommended it because you use one, yet don't even bother overclocking the cpu to prove this is a good cooler.

Im not recommending the Titan at all, just saying I can say the same thing and show that it does what it says on the tin.:D

@OP keep the Corsair H60 or the cheaper Antec kuhler620.
 
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Im just saying you go on about how you recommended it because you use one, yet don't even bother overclocking the cpu to prove this is a good cooler.

very true, but i was just trying to say that ive put my money where my mouth is with this cooler if you get see what i mean
 
Thanks for all the help on this guys :)

As Jony27 has said above Im seeing that this comes down to bang for buck now vs futureproofing.

Although I probably will never SLI, allowing for an Ivybridge and PCI3 upgrade from the same board I have now is a big consideration; flogging in I7 and 570 when I next come to upgrade and using the same board is a nice upgrade path.

Hmmm....

Again thanks for the tips on this guys, I need to think on this one!
 
ooh, while i remember, if you do go for the zalman i recommended i would strongly recommend you go for the resistor cable. from the reviews ive seen it makes it a lot quieter without losing very much cooling performance.

all i need to do now is find somewhere reputable that has reviewed the zalman with the resistor cable in it and some of the watercoolers. the only one i can find is guru3D, but i really dont trust them as they think its better than the noctua NH-D14. its a good cooler but i know full well its not that good
 
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