New X79 build, few questions.

YETIsaj

YETIsaj

YETIsaj

Associate
Joined
6 Nov 2012
Posts
6
Location
UK
Firstly wanted to say hi and a little bit about myself. I also want to apologise in advance for the essay that I’m hoping some of you will endure.

I’m new to the forum here at OCUK. Not really been part of a PC system forum before although I’m a big simracing fan and you can find me on many rFactor/GTR2/pCars forums. I work as a freelance architect and 3D designer for Simraceway so my PC doubles up as a workstation as well as a gaming rig. Been building PCs since I was a kid and had my current build for about 5 years or so with a couple of little updates. It’s getting a little tired now (Q6600, X48, 8GB DDR2, 3870x2) and I’ve been looking into building a new rig. Been doing a lot of reading up to get myself up to date and have spec’ed myself a new workstation/gaming rig. Will prob start buying/building it after Xmas. The components are pretty much all set now although I have a few questions about various parts. Thought I’d start a new thread to cover them all instead of posting in individual sections of the forum. Hope you guys can help. Here is my current component wishlist:

...............................................................................................
CASE: CM Cosmos 1000 (already owned)
+ 2x Corsair AF120 fans

PSU: Antec TP Quattro 850w (already owned)* (Q1)

MOBO: ASRock x79 Fatal1ty Champion

CPU: Intel 3930k

COOLER: Corsair H100i
+ 2x Corsair Air Series 120mm for Push Pull** (Q2)

RAM: 32GB (4x8GB) GSkill Quad Trident X 2400mhz

GPU: 2x KFA2 GTX680 exOC 4GB in SLi

HDD: OCZ Agility 3 240GB (already owned)
+ Win 7pro x64 (already owned)

+ other already owned data drives

MAX BUDGET: around £2100 for internals.
..................................................................................

Monitors I already have but am looking to upgrade to 3x BenQ XL2411T with an NVidia 3DVision v2 kit at a later date. Or other depending on budget and product reviews.

From looking at the 2 marked question areas some of you may already have an idea about what I’m going to ask.

*Q1
Now I’ve done some searching and reading and I can see it’s possible to run an SLi setup on good quality 700+watt PSUs so my 850w Antec PSU should be able to cope fairly well with 2 normal GTX680s. However, my concerns are the extra power used by the KFA2 OC cards and also, the SBe3930k is a power hungry little beast and I will be looking to overclock it using the basic mobo OC settings. Im sure the PSU will be able to hang in there but it’s very tight and I’m thinking I may need a bit of headroom

So, do people think the current PSU will cope or should I put aside £150-£200 for a 1000w+ PSU to give me the headroom? The build is already at the max end of my budget so I’m just wondering if I can get away with the existing PSU for now. I can always upgrade later if the Antec can cope for a bit, but there’s no point in risking damage to the rest of the system if it can’t.

I’m looking at the OCZ Fatal1ty 1000w as a possible upgrade, its reviewed as a good PSU for the price (£160) and it fits visually with my other components.

**Q2
Now I’ve been reading about peoples possible setups for a push/pull system on the H100 and looking to do the same. It’s more of a ponder than a question but I’d like to see what others think.

Now, for a push pull system on a rad people use SP fans because the low angle blade causes a greater pressure and forces air through the rad. That bit I get. SP fans should always be used to push. But, why are people using SP fans on the other side? Surely if the fan is pulling air away from the rad an AF fan would be better. The SP is already pushing the air through and with SP on the other side surely the air is just hitting the blades more than it would on an AF? I’ve noticed people getting little to no temp difference with a Push/Pull setup and wondering if an SP push AF pull setup would maybe help the airflow.
I will be using Corsair AF/SP120 QEs as they have good reviews and the red will fit with my build.
Obviously with the release of the H100i on the way this may not be needed at all. Pending reviews we already know that Corsair have updated the fans to modified SP120s and also the H100i has built in C-link so it will be easier to control them. The cooling pipes are larger so Im thinking the H100i will have a better performance than the H100. Having said that, if I still want to add a push/pull setup to the H100i, the above question still stands. Only I would probably be using the supplied stock SP120s to push. Not sure if it will handle 4 fans like the H100 though but thats not an issue as I can run the AF pulls off the board or a FC. Will have to wait and see.

Anyways, If you made it to the end thanks for reading my essay haha. Sorry it was a long one but I like to be thorough so people understand where I’m coming from. As with any forum post, feel free to pick apart my other component choices as I’m always open to suggestions. Just bear in mind this is going to be a workstation as well as a gaming PC, hence the 3930k and 32GB. I was initially thinking dual Xeon but unless you’re spending a lot more you’re never going to see real world performance gains. The 3930k at ~4Ghz will give me plenty of processing power for what I need and will prob deal with my games a lot better than a couple of 2Ghz Xeons.

Thanks guys.

Simon.
 
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Thanks for the reply. This is my chance to build a futue proof machine. I'm not looking at something that can handle current programs and games. Yes I could buy a single KFA2 680 4GB then look into an SLi upgrade with a new PSU later on, but I'm really looking to do as much as I can with the money I have now so I'm not having to save up more money later on. I want this build to last me a good few years like the last one I built. The SLi is for my current triple screen setup and a 3d surround setup when I buy the monitors and the 4GB is for future games running at that res. Even Crysis 2 now is pushing 2GB at high res and max settings. The current 690 only has 2GB per core so I wouldn't see the performance gains that I would from a single core 4GB card. Plus the KFA2 exOC 4GB card gets pretty close to the 690 in some test results. If Nvidia made a 6-8GB GTX690 I would be all over it but we all know, if you wait for tech that's just around the corner, then there will always be something better after that aswell. Ivy-E was supposed to be launched this month on initial Intel plans but sadly that has been pushed back, DDR4 is on its way and I'd love to wait for that, but I need a new PC and can't keep hoping for something new.
 
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What sort of overclock are you aiming for?

I got my [email protected] and my Kuhler920 is struggling to keep the CPU away from the TJmax of 91C when running Prime95

Hopefully a H100i with its larger rad should mange better or you may not be aiming for an overclock that high?
 
Yea, something def stable heat wise. I'm currently running a Q6600 @ stock 2.4 so even the 3930k @ stock will blow me away. I'm thinking with a H100i and maybe a performing push/pull setup the 3930k will sit comfortably @ 4.5. Although I'm gonna look at the basic OC clocks on the ASRock board. I think it offers 4.2/4.4/4.6 & 4.8 with only a touch of voltage needed for the higher clocks. Reckon 4.2-4.4 will be a good stable setup and run at reasonable temps. Like I said, I want this thing to last a while.

Any thoughts on the push/pull SP/AF theory?
 
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I like Gigabyte boards, Im running one at the moment and (touch wood) I've never heard a peep out of it. I cant stand ASUS at the moment, I know they are great boards but every product I've had from them has let me down so it's really put me off. Did have a brief look at the GB UP5 but I really like the look of the ASRocks boards and have heard nothing but good news about them recently, plus they're so easy to clock. Also the fact that the ASR FC has 12 USB3 ports. That seems pretty future proof to me. Although having more USB3 doesn't really stick up for the price difference haha.
 
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Stick to what you know?

I have had a Asrock socket 1155 board last year and compared to the Gigabyte board that replaced it was like night and day, the Gigabyte board was better built/overclocked like a beast and you have a 3 year warranty with a RMA center based in the UK.
 
Well, I could grab a UD5 or a UD7 and save money on both compared to the ASR board, but the feature list of either compared to the ASRock doesn't really stack up. And I like extras haha. 12 USB3 vs 4, Realtek vs Creative Audio. I know these are all subjective to the tech I'm running off it but I'm interested in the little differences. From reading a few reviews The boards prob clock just as good as each other but I don't think the GB boards come close to the ASR one in terms of features. Most people seem to stack the ASRock FC against the ASUS Rampage IV and that seems to be a very highly rated board. I also looked at the G1 Assassin v2 and the MSI BB X power2 but I don't like the silly guns and bullets all over the boards.

If I had to choose 2 boards to put in my list I'd pick the AsRock Extreme 9 and Fatal1ty Champion. They both get superb reviews and look awesome and I haven't found any reviews of problems with either. I think its worth the risk.

Anyways what do you think about the PSU setup with the current list? 850w not enough? I can get a new PSU if I need it but if I have one that's already up to the task I can put the money in my 3D monitor penny pot. Also, is the OCZ 1000w Fatal1ty PSU a good choice or is it worth grabbing a platinum rated PSU. I'm not too sure about how the difference between Gold and Platinum ratings affect my build.
 
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Thanks man. Is there much difference in power usage between a stock 3930k and a clocked version (say 4.5ghz)? If there is I may hold off on the overclock until I buy a bigger PSU.
 
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