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grandvitesse

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  1. All the specs (independent, not theirs) show Intel SSD have the best reliability by a skosh, but you pay for it.
  2. If you are looking for a very clean and streamlined case, I would go with Corsair's Obsidian series, the 650D or 800D. The 650D is a mid-tower, but a big one. The 800D is a full tower. I have the 650D have it and cable management is outstanding. Lots of grommeted areas. Both designs are more Scandinavian modern -- straight lines, simple design, sleek. My 650D has a 200mm inlet fan front, two 140mm outlet fans top, a Corsair H70 cooler with 2x 120mm fans in push/pull config, two internal RAM cooling fans, and an 850 Watt PSU. It has two HDD cages that are moveable/removeable. See attached photos.
  3. 10 Total 1x 200mm case intake (front) 2x 140mm case exhaust (top) 2x 120mm Corsair H70 CPU cooler 2x 60mm Corsair RAM cooler 2x 90mm GPU 1 PSU
  4. I hope you have better luck than me. I went with 2x HD5850s in Crossfire, powering three 24" monitors. Couldn't handle it. Lots of tearing. Replaced it with 2x HD5870s in Crossfire. Couldn't handle it. Same problem. Replaced with 1x HD6970. No problem. Everything works ... and it wasn't for gaming either. Could have been due to the problems I had been reading about regarding the HD5850 cards, but the HD5870s didn't fix the problem. I'm running Win7 Pro 64-bit.
  5. I've got 3x Asus VE247H monitors (23.6"). Mine were $199.99 about two months ago. 2ms, 10,000,000:1 contrast ratio. I don't plan on disassembling my frames, but I can atest to great quality and image so far. I used to have comparable monitors using VGA and a HueyPro to calibrate my monitor color, so I have a good eye. 25" monitors could be nice, but it all depends on how much space you have. My three monitors (all in landscape mode) take up about 61" of horizontal desk space. The two outside monitors are angled at about 15 degrees or so.
  6. I'd like a pepperoni, mushroom and flash drive pizza to go. I have a Corsair Flash Voyager. Rubberized cover, good speed.
  7. Regarding coolers, I like my Corsair H70. It has a more compact pump than the H50. If you are satisfied with a single fan and smaller radiator I would go with the Corsair H60, which just came out. Otherwise the H70 with its bigger rad and push-pull 2x fans will give you great cooling. If you have a fan controller you can dial down the fan speeds to quiet the operation and still get plenty of cooling for your set up. I hear the Antec solution is good, but have no experience. Supposedly the non-ribbed tubes bends easier, although I don't think arching the tubes around is much of a problem for most people.
  8. Sorry, my mistake, the Lamptron "Fan Control Touch" is just called the "Fan Control Touch". The FC8 is another fan controller that handles 8 fans, but doesn't appear to have a read-out. Also, the Fan Control Touch and the FC5V2 fit in a single bay.
  9. Here are a couple from Lamptron. Their Model FC8 "Fan Controller Touch" () handles six fans at 30W/channel and has a touch screen. I have their Model FC5V2 (My link). It only handles 4 fans at 30W/channel, but if you plan to run some fans in tandem (such as 2x 140mm on the top of the case), you probably would just want to hook them up via a 3-pin "Y" anyway and just control the pair as if they were one. I considered the . appeal of the touch screens, but decided to go with the more traditional (and hopefully longer lasting) analog knobs.
  10. Size matters ... especially when there isn't much room for size. You have a couple of options to improve cooling if for some reason you are still a little worried. First, replace the top exhaust 200mm with two 140s (or two 120s). You'll get more air out. Second, if you have a access to a hole saw and drill, you could cut a hole in the clear side panel, add four mounting holes and an inlet cover and install a side fan. Would probably look hot too. Cutting into Plexi is pretty easy. Just make sure you put a good quality tape all over the Plexi to keep from scratching it and you'll get a cleaner cut (less crazing on the edges). Then go over the hole with a nice grade of sandpaper to smooth out the edge. I might do that in the future just for kicks. There is plenty of depth for the fan and you could install it wherever you need to direct blow. I also wouldn't be surprised if Corsair comes out with a mesh grill kit like they did for the 600T. You might check with them to see if the 600T mesh panel is the same size as the 650D window. Check out Corsair 600T panel. Let me know if you contact them and if it works in the 650D. The side panel with window and mesh is $29.99. Can't believe the mesh alone (including vibration damping screws) could be more than $15.00. Good luck with the studies.
  11. I have a lot of respect for Cooler Master. They have a great rep. I looked at one of the HAF models and passed for the following reasons. Corsair had significantly better cable management (i.e. lots more grommets). As mentioned, I really wanted a real clean inside and wanted as many holes as possible in order to get the cables out of the box as soon as possible. The HAFX is still low on grommets. I thought the Cooler Master cases looked a lot more plasticky. I also thought it looked more gimmicky with the "tank-like" style. In my situation, I wanted and needed a more solid and cleaner look. Please keep in mind, however, that mine is going into my office. If I was buying a gaming computer, I would not be so critical of Cooler Master's looks -- I get the reason for making it look the way it does as compared to the Corsair which is probably more of an understated sleeper look. In my tuner days, my car was also black with no trim and totally un-blinged. A complete sleeper. I probably just like understatement. Positive sides to the HAFX is that they have a good reputation for cooling and LED fans don't hurt either. You'll certainly have plenty of space in it for future water cooling. I think the Corsair's price is due to the fact they are using almost no plastic on the case (just the feet as far as I can tell). Stamping and forming metal is more expensive than injection molding plastic. Doesn't mean plastic is bad, however.
  12. BTW, if you are adding cathode lighting, you can add a reflector. I picked up a 4"x10" sheet of ).008" thick aluminum from Ace Hardware (hobby shops carry these sheets too) for $1.79. They are usually in the same spot as small brass and aluminum tubes. The mfr is K&S. I cut it approx. in half lengthwise and bent it over a sharp edged countertop to get the reflector in the proper shape. To improve the reflectivity, I put a piece of Reflectix brand tape on the inside of the reflector. You could also use FlexFix tape. Both of these tapes are used to tape insulation that has a reflective coating on one side. They are also used by heating and air conditioning people for duct taping (this tape is definitely a step above duct tape). A roll costs about $3.99 (also from Ace). The tape has nearly a mirror finish. FlexFix is slightly more reflective, but they print their logo all over it. I then velcroed the reflectors into position around the light tubes. Lighting definitely improved in the case.
  13. I built it about a month ago. The build was easy. Everything was black (screws, rivets, etc.). I was sold on the case after watching a number of videos showing (and touting) the cable management. Corsair puts in a lot of grommets and all in the right places. Airflow is very good. I'm an aerospace engineer by training, so I have some background in airflow dynamics. Bottom line for me is looking for lots of open space and as few airflow bends as possible. The 650D has it. I looked at the 600T, but preferred the all-metal structure of the 650D. The plastic bezel on the 600T was turning me off. I don't use the hot swap bay on the top or the fan control on mine, so that part didn't matter. I have my own front panel mounted fan controller. Regarding airflow, I have run Furmark tests and Prime95 and don't even hit 70 degC on my GPU and stay below 50 degC on my CPU. I have the stock 200mm inlet fan in the front. I replaced the top 200mm fan with two 140mm's, but I don't think it was necessary. As you see from the photo, I am using the Corsair H70 in a push/pull config for CPU cooling. I also have the Corsair RAM cooling fans. They actually knock about 4-5 degC off the RAM temps (I have 4x4GB), but they weren't very hot to begin with. All fans, except the RAM fans run around 900-1000 rpm and my case ambient temp is <25 degC. I have a Core i7-2600 (not the K), but changed the BCLK to 105.5, so I'm overclocking very conservatively to 4.0GHz (in Turbo). My GPU is slightly overclocked too. Bottom line is this is my business computer, so I need it stable. The reason for the extensive cooling is so I can keep my fan speeds really low and the sound even lower. Obviously, I need to get a good game on this thing and test it out. Regarding a second GPU and sound card, I would think you'll be just fine. I still a newbie on builds, but I originally had two HD5870s in CrossFire and had plenty of room. They just couldn't handle my triple monitor set-up, so I replaced them with one HD6970. My only other add-on cards is a D-Link router and a USB 5-port card (both small).
  14. I am trying to find a source that has a USB3.0 cable to go from my front panel USB3.0 cable (male end) to my MOBO USB3.0 header. I have a Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD3P-B3 and a Corsair 650D case. I have already contacted Gigabyte. In their wisdom I was first told that my case was special in that it had USB3.0 cables from the front panel rather than a header cable (hmmm...seems most cases nowadays are still providing USB3.0 cables that route through the case in order to plug into the back I/O panel). Then they said that they checked and their MOBO uses the same header for USB2.0 and USB3.0. I wonder where they checked because my Gigabyte manual diagram, the Gigabyte website photo, and the MOBO in my case distinctly show two different types of headers. My goal, like I suspect most, is to free up my USB3.0 ports on my rear panel and plug my front panel cables into the MOBO header. Is this still a problem due to standards still being in flux or something?
  15. $100-$199.99 Corsair 650D Good build quality. Great cable management. Clean look (doesn't look Star Wars). Good expansion space for a mid-tower. Great support.
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