Its finally done! Pics and Benchmarks soon to come.

[Stonerboy779]

Whats the new budget for your build stretched out too?

 

If it's $2k I can detail a build with a water-cooled 2500k and 7950/70 using three rads (120, 240, 200) all fans inc in price. In a corsair 600T white or black edition. This will also include a 120gb SSD force gt, a 750watt PSU with a 7 year warranty and 80+ silver rating. What you think?

 

If your not interested in changing the rest of the build I can detail the cooling you could use which comes in at ~$550 I think it was fans in. Then $160 for white case or $145 for black

[Tjj226_Angel]

Well that kit is out of the question. It is an older model and is deactivated on newegg. Seriously, what is wrong with the XSPC kit? If you are really afraid of messing something up, then get a bunch of compression fittings and use those. They are more expensive, but usually idiot proof and they look nicer.

 

As for the cases, well there is a lot of arguments over that. Out of those, I would say that the 650D would still be the best choice. The 800D is a brilliant case, and if you were going to put in another 7970 in the case for crossfire, then I would say that would would be the way to go even over the level 10 case. See I have the 800D case myself, and there are two main problems. 1 is that the window exposes the PSU .....really stupid move corsair.....and it doesn't have any front intake. This means that the intake comes from underneath. Well this would all be fine and dandy if you could natively install a 120mm fan on the very bottom of the case. However you can't. What happens is that the heat from the PSU come through that 140mm fan and just blows warmer air into the case rather than ambient temperature air. Now if you wanted to use that 360 as an exhaust that is fine, but when you put a rad there, you are not going to be getting fresh cool air over your rad, but rather warm air which might not be the best for OCing. What you would have to do is use the 360 as an intake (as I have) and use the 140mm bottom one as an exhaust. Since heat rises, it makes the whole system not perform to expectation. Now with air cooling you loose about 6 degrees on everything that heats up, but water cooling you only loose like 2 degrees. Is this a huge sacrifice? No. However, if you are spending 200+ dollars on a case you would probably want it to be a bit better.

 

I will say it is a great looker though. I bought it simply because it was my dream case, and I probably will never give it up.

 

It sounds like you feel the same about the level 10 GT. If that is the case, then buy it. It is a great case. It doesn't have the worlds most amount of space, but is definitely unique.

 

Now I think that a sort of best of both worlds approach would be the Raven RV01

 

It is a lot less expensive than the 800D, but it gives you tons of flexibility. Check it out and let me know what you think

[DrDigitized2]

Wow. Thats alot of money for water cooling. After looking at my budget a little better which is about 2k atm. I think I am going to stick to the XSPC Rasa 750 RS240. Its $100 cheaper then the Swiftech and $420 cheaper then the model you have chosen. I can always upgrade next year if I need or want to.

 

I think I am going with what I have already listed. I need the HDD space and the SDD will benefit me greatly from what I have read. The 1000 watt psu that I am going to get will be great for upgrading later on and I dont think it would be wise to settle for less now and have to pay more later. I still can't decide on the case but I guess thats more of a personal thing.

 

Thanks for your input though Stoner. It helped me realize that the price can get way out of hand when you start thinking an extra $100 here and $100 there would be worth it.

[DrDigitized2]

The Raven RV01 looks great. It also has a mean aggressive look. Almost as if it were leaning forwards. One of my concerns with it is that I dont think it has quite enough air flow such as with the 800D and it has kind of a plastic look. It would be nice to look at it in person though. I miss being only an hour away from Frys. Its so much easyer to pick out a case when you have it right in front of you.

[Stonerboy779]

CPU - i5 2500k - $220 or $180 if you can walk into a microcenter, the i7 2600 is $280 ($320 newegg) at microcenter is you want the hyperthreading.

 

Mobo - ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 - $125 don't cheap out too much on a mobo especially if you will overclock. The 8+4 phase power design on this board is perfect for SB overclocking. It also offers plenty of upgrade options into the future, including sli/cf gfx cards and ivy bridge CPU support, it is nice to be able to cheaply upgrade builds to keep up with current markets.

 

RAM - Patriot Signature 8GB (2 x 4GB) 1600Mhz - $35 memory is memory is memory, patriot is a good brand and unless you run very memory intensive applications going more than 1600mhz and 8gb is really throwing away money that is better invested in something like an SSD

 

SSD - Corsair Force Series GT 120GB - $150 after MIR, if you are using an SSD as a boot drive i suggest going no lower than 120gb and this force gt is a great deal on a really fast sata 3 SSD.

 

HDD - If you can survive without it till things return to normal do so

 

PSU - PC Power and Cooling Silencer Mk II 950W 80PLUS Silver - $140 after MIR, it is perfect just perfect will support upgrades do sli/cf in the future and it comes with a huge 7 year warranty from a great PSU brand not to mention it comes with an 80+ Silver rating. If this was sold in Aus I would have bought it myself in a heartbeat.

 

 

So total so far is - $730 with the i7 2600k from microcenter and $770 from newegg. If you want to go 2500k then you will save $100

 

 

Now the case it will make a huge difference to what you can do with cooling.

 

Here is my idea for the case and cooling.

If you are bored of the plain old cases I suggest getting this Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T - $160 after MIR the black edition is $145 after MIR.

 

Now the cooling you can do with this is quite great.

3 rads - 240mm up top a 120mm on the rear exhaust and 200mm if you want on the front intake

 

You can push pull with the front and rear rads and pull with the top meaning you will have plenty of airflow.

 

240 Rad - XSPC EX240 Dual 120mm for performance but for less noise XSPC RS240 Dual 120mm - both $50

 

120 Rad - Again the Ex 120 and Rs 120 same pros and cons and price - $40

However if you mount one fan outside you can use this XSPC RX120 120mm Radiator to get the best performance and lowest noise - $57 tho

 

200mm Rad - Phobya Xtreme 200mm Radiator - $83 if you decide on this rad use two of these Yate Loon 220mm x 30mm fans - $15 each

 

Pump - EK D5 X-Res Top 140 Pump Top / Reservoir Combo w/ Alphacool VPP655 Variable Speed Pump Installed - $173 it is a pump res combo using arguably one of the best pumps the d5 and coupling it with a great res top. This will keep up very quick flow rates.

 

120mm fans - cythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm x 25mm Fan - 1450 RPM - $16 each all 4 for $64

 

Tubing - whatever tubing suits you really, colour diameter ect ~$20

 

CPU Block - XSPC RayStorm High Performance Acetal CPU Liquid Cooling Block - $63 this is if you dont go with the TEC you can also mount 3mm leds in this and make it glow it comes by default with blue I myself am getting one and putting uv leds in it.

 

 

Approximate price of cooling ~530 add fitting ect and you are looking at about ~$560

 

 

This means $730 pc + $560 cooling + $160 case = $1450

 

(unless my math has really begun failing me )

 

 

Now you have $550 which is supposed to be a brand new 7970 and if you are willing to go another $100 you can put it's water-block on.

Oh and if you ditch the 2600k for a 2500k from microcenter you could fit the water-block in for the 2k budget

 

 

Hope some of this makes sense/ helps

[DrDigitized2]

Btw Tjj, I think that they have upgraded the Swiftech water cooler. Or at least thats what I am getting from the article. The only reason I even looked at it was that I seen it on the hardware round up today. Either way I am going to go with the water cooler you suggested.

[Tjj226_Angel]

The Raven RV01 looks great. It also has a mean aggressive look. Almost as if it were leaning forwards. One of my concerns with it is that I dont think it has quite enough air flow such as with the 800D and it has kind of a plastic look. It would be nice to look at it in person though. I miss being only an hour away from Frys. Its so much easyer to pick out a case when you have it right in front of you.

 

The ravens have better air flow believe it or not. Air flow is what killed the 800D. Seriously a 30 bucks case has given me better temps. The lack of front intake fans is what makes it undesirable for air cooling. I could almost guarantee you that unless you would kill yourself to have the case like I would, then you be better off with the raven. The reason why I like the 650D a lot is because they took the complaints from the 800D and tried to fix them in the 650D. They go so much right that it just made the 650D an amazing amazing AMAZING case. However, the biggest draw back is size. If you want to go higher end then the raven is the best of both worlds. You get the improved airflow like the 650D and you get the space like you do in 800D.

[Tjj226_Angel]

@ Stoner Boy.

 

I heard that with the 600T it is a little bit tricky to get a radiator in there do to the position of the fan mounts. Do you know if that is true or if it just some BS someone posted on a review?

[Stonerboy779]

@ Stoner Boy.

 

I heard that with the 600T it is a little bit tricky to get a radiator in there do to the position of the fan mounts. Do you know if that is true or if it just some BS someone posted on a review?

Plenty of people have mounted 240 low profile rads in pull up top without issues.

 

The only issue is when people try and get a rad thicker than 35mm up top internally. That is when you will start hitting the RAM one thing noted in the link I am posting below is the rad touches the PWM heatsync on the gigabyte board. This shouldn't be an issue for the mobo in the 2k full watercooled pc i detailed.

 

Here is someone that put a dual loop in the top fans are mounted under the mesh in pull.

 

I am fair certain the rx will squeeze in back either way the ex or rs will fit and you mount one fan outside the back and it cannot be seen side on due to design of the case creating a lip greater than 25mm.

I would say best performance for cooling put EX rads top and rear phobia up front. Then use use push/pull AP13s or 14s on rear ex and pull on top ex with the two yate loon 200mm fans push pull on front rad. The D5 pump and ek res combo can be mounted vertically where the cable grommets are with only a little ingenuity.

[DrDigitized2]

Well guys I finally found my Case. I am trying so hard not to go wake up my wife and show it to her. So I thought I would share my #1 choice with you guys. It's none of the mentioned above. The case I have chosen is the Giant Sexy CoolerMaster Cosmos II

 

I can't beleave I kept looking over this case. This is a case I would be prowed to show off. I love how thick the doors are. That should dampen any loud HDD. They even give you a place and brakets so you can put in a water cooler at the bottom. There something about this case that screams. TAKE ME HOME! I can also add 2 more 120mm case fans at the top to push even more hot air out.

 

So there is my new Dream case. Hope you all think its good enough to.

 

PS. I know it cost $350.

[Stonerboy779]

Well guys I finally found my Case. I am trying so hard not to go wake up my wife and show it to her. So I thought I would share my #1 choice with you guys. It's none of the mentioned above. The case I have chosen is the Giant Sexy CoolerMaster Cosmos II

 

I can't beleave I kept looking over this case. This is a case I would be prowed to show off. I love how thick the doors are. That should dampen any loud HDD. They even give you a place and brakets so you can put in a water cooler at the bottom. There something about this case that screams. TAKE ME HOME! I can also add 2 more 120mm case fans at the top to push even more hot air out.

 

So there is my new Dream case. Hope you all think its good enough to.

 

PS. I know it cost $350.

Pump/Res - EK D5 X-Res Top 140 Pump Top / Reservoir Combo w/ Alphacool VPP655 Variable Speed Pump - $173

Rad (Top) - XSPC RX360 Triple 120mm Radiator - $95

Rad (Bottom) - XSPC RX240 Dual 120mm Radiator - $73

Fans - Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm x 25mm Fan - 1450 RPM - $16 each ($112)

CPU Block - XSPC RayStorm High Performance Acetal CPU Liquid Cooling Block - $63

 

Price with 7 fans (don't think you can push-pull with the rx and not interfere with the mobo) - $516

 

Just need to add barb or compression fittings, tubing, water and a kill coil.

 

Red the guy that did the review on the case for OCC may be able to get you some more specific dimensions of clearances if you ask him. Review images however hint to a rather decent bit of room.

[DrDigitized2]

Pump/Res - EK D5 X-Res Top 140 Pump Top / Reservoir Combo w/ Alphacool VPP655 Variable Speed Pump - $173

Rad (Top) - XSPC RX360 Triple 120mm Radiator - $95

Rad (Bottom) - XSPC RX240 Dual 120mm Radiator - $73

Fans - Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm x 25mm Fan - 1450 RPM - $16 each ($112)

CPU Block - XSPC RayStorm High Performance Acetal CPU Liquid Cooling Block - $63

 

Price with 7 fans (don't think you can push-pull with the rx and not interfere with the mobo) - $516

 

Just need to add barb or compression fittings, tubing, water and a kill coil.

 

Red the guy that did the review on the case for OCC may be able to get you some more specific dimensions of clearances if you ask him. Review images however hint to a rather decent bit of room.

 

 

 

I think you missed my answer on post 51 to your solution on post 49. I think I was answering you when you typed it all out. Its a nice build but I dont think I need to go that extreme at this point.