51 replies to this topic

[tbris84]

[***ALMOST COMPLETE***]
Just have to order the water cooling hardware.

(((UPDATED)))
● GPU - $527.55 - EVGA GTX 680 SuperClocked
● BOX - $259.99 - Corsair 800D
● CPU - $249.99 - Intel Core i5 3570K
● MBo - $132.86 - ASRock Z77 Extreme4
● SSD - $135.99 - Samsung 830 128GB
● PSU - $119.99 - SeaSonic X750 Fully Modular
● MEM - $47.98 - Samsung Eco 30nm 2x4GB DDR3-1600
● ROM - $22.99 - LiteOn DVDRW w/LightScribe

● Spent: $1497.34



Probably going to wait a few weeks to order the water cooling hardware. That budget was originally $125, but it's slowly creeping upto the $500 range. I'll post pictures of that when it happens. Thanks for all the help choosing hardware!

Edited by tbris84, 08 May 2012 - 11:46 AM.

[El_Capitan]

I'd not hasten the need for an Ivy Bridge CPU over a Sandy Bridge CPU, yet. Rumors so far have the Ivy Bridge CPU's overclocking lower and with higher heat output than the Sandy Bridge equivalents.

[tbris84]

I'd not hasten the need for an Ivy Bridge CPU over a Sandy Bridge CPU, yet. Rumors so far have the Ivy Bridge CPU's overclocking lower and with higher heat output than the Sandy Bridge equivalents.

I know this is sacrilege on these forums, but I don't plan on overclocking this machine just as I don't plan on running SLI/CF GPU's. I know I can save a few bucks and get the locked CPU's, but it's only a few bucks for the choice to OC if I get the urge to do so. As far as IB running hotter than the SB, I'm sure if that is true it'll only be by a few degrees. The H100 should be more than capable of handling the extra heat. Don't you agree?

[El_Capitan]

If you're not overclocking, then even the stock cooler will be fine.

http://www.nordichar...ndy-bridge.html
http://www.custompcr...m_medium=tumblr

[ComputerEd]

I know this is sacrilege on these forums, but I don't plan on overclocking this machine just as I don't plan on running SLI/CF GPU's.

Hey there are more of us than you know. On a 1080 display there is really no need for a multicard solution and the potential software issues it brings. As for overclocking the truth is there are no games out there that need this.

I know I can save a few bucks and get the locked CPU's, but it's only a few bucks for the choice to OC if I get the urge to do so. As far as IB running hotter than the SB, I'm sure if that is true it'll only be by a few degrees. The H100 should be more than capable of handling the extra heat. Don't you agree?

Without overclocking, and even with light overclocking the H100 is overkill. Go with an H60 or Antec 620 and you will be fine if you want to use a none stock cooler. Also unless you are set on waiting there is no real reason to. IB is basically SB on a smaller die with better graphics. The raw performance should be close in a straight clock to clock comparision. If you want pure value I suggest looking at the i5 2400. While not unlocked it can overclock to 3.9 Ghz and I have not seen one of these not make this overclock with ZERO tweaking. This basically gives you a 4 GHz i5 which is more than fast enough for ANY game out there. The 800D case is in my opinion not worth the cost, the 650D or the 600 series are better cases in my opinion.

[tbris84]

The only reason I'm waiting is to see what sort of performance gain PCIe 3.0 offers, if any, over 2.0. I don't mind waiting another week for IB. If there is no noticeable gain there will still be SB processors for sale, probably even cheaper than they are now.

What do you think about the mATX ROG board? Is there any noticeable difference in gaming with that GamFirst LAN software? Or ROG Connect?

[El_Capitan]

There isn't any data on any performance gains from PCIE3.0 over PCIE2.0.

At this time, not even PCIE2.0 is being close to saturated, even with two overclocked HD 7970's in CrossfireX. If they even came close to handicapping a $1100 card set-up, then there would have been more noise about it. There's even PCIE4.0 in the works. Right now, it's not something you should even worry about.

Don't worry about gaming LAN stuff, all gimmicks.

[vandreadstriker]

IMO don't even bother with the Corsair Hydro series. Even with the discount, they still ain't worth the price.
E.g: you'd get a $10 discount on the H60 so it'll cost $59.99. You can get the NZXT Havik 140 for the same price but the Havik 140 performs almost as good as the NH-D14 whilst the H60 can't match it at all. Plus, if the fans of the H60 are the same as the H100, it wouldn't be silent at all.

The Motherboard. A fellow member of this forum (Wevspot) found this: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H. It's $189.99 which is $10 cheaper then the MV-Gene and has almost all the features of the Gene except for the SupremeFX III Audio and those ROG Gimmicks. IMO you wouldn't need the SupremeFX III anyway since the Realtek codec is enough for gaming.

And like El_Capitan said, no need to hasten since we don't know anything about IB Chips yet.

[tbris84]

IMO don't even bother with the Corsair Hydro series. Even with the discount, they still ain't worth the price.
E.g: you'd get a $10 discount on the H60 so it'll cost $59.99. You can get the NZXT Havik 140 for the same price but the Havik 140 performs almost as good as the NH-D14 whilst the H60 can't match it at all. Plus, if the fans of the H60 are the same as the H100, it wouldn't be silent at all.

The Motherboard. A fellow member of this forum (Wevspot) found this: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H. It's $189.99 which is $10 cheaper then the MV-Gene and has almost all the features of the Gene except for the SupremeFX III Audio and those ROG Gimmicks. IMO you wouldn't need the SupremeFX III anyway since the Realtek codec is enough for gaming.

And like El_Capitan said, no need to hasten since we don't know anything about IB Chips yet.

Thanks for the advice, but I want to give water cooling a shot. The reviews I've seen of the H60 are pretty impressive. It stays within 1degree of the NH-D14 in every test except the Overclocked with Load test and even that is only a 4 degree difference. Impressive for a 60$ cooler versus a $90 air cooler. The H100 beats it or ties it in every test too. If the fans are too loud, I can always swap them out. I've heard the H80 fans and they weren't too loud at all.

That motherboard caught my eye too. The only difference between it and the UD3H was an extra 3 SATA3 ports, but it has 2 fewer USB3.0 ports. Not sure if that warrants the extra $30 price tag over the UD3H. Unless the audio VIA VT2021 versus Realtek ALC898 is a game changer?

[Muchoman1]

just a question, why get a matx board, then put it in a corsair 800d?

[vandreadstriker]

Thanks for the advice, but I want to give water cooling a shot. The reviews I've seen of the H60 are pretty impressive. It stays within 1degree of the NH-D14 in every test except the Overclocked with Load test and even that is only a 4 degree difference. Impressive for a 60$ cooler versus a $90 air cooler. The H100 beats it or ties it in every test too. If the fans are too loud, I can always swap them out. I've heard the H80 fans and they weren't too loud at all.

That motherboard caught my eye too. The only difference between it and the UD3H was an extra 3 SATA3 ports, but it has 2 fewer USB3.0 ports. Not sure if that warrants the extra $30 price tag over the UD3H. Unless the audio VIA VT2021 versus Realtek ALC898 is a game changer?

Well it is ultimately your choice. Since you've used an i5 2500K, I'm sure you know how great SB Overclocks regardless of cooler. If IB's the same, then it doesn't really matter. But you should know that the NH-D14 is better then any cooler when holding temperature down under high overclocks, that's why you pay the premium. I personally categorize the Hydro series as air cooling instead of water cooling. Also, bear in mind that the included fans provides lot's of static pressure. If you switch the fans, you'll lose that static pressure which would lower it's performance. Also, most quiet fans are very expensive. Take the Noctua Focus Flow for example. It's optimized for high static pressure while being as silent as can be but it's $24 a pop. That's a total of $84 cooler with still lower performance then the D14.

What you need to understand is that instead, that $30 is not only for the extra features you get but also the extra performance.

[d6bmg]

For CPU cooler, think about Noctua D14 @~$88.
Worth the price tag.
And about CPU: wait for 8 more days and we all can see what IB have to offer to us.

Edited by d6bmg, 15 April 2012 - 10:58 PM.