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Back to the drawing boards !!! Lookin' at specs for a new build...

post #1 of 24
8/12/12 at 7:28pm
Thread Starter 
Hey guys! Well...it's getting to be that time again. This will be my second build and I'm quite excited about it. Many of you helped me with my first one. I haven't started ordering just yet as I wanted to bounce some ideas off of you guys...

So Far I'm not 100% sure on the case but maybe wanted to do a little something different....

*Corsair Vengeance Series C70 High Airflow Military Green Mid-Tower Case
http://*******.com/8slzd98


*ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 TUF Series Motherboard
http://*******.com/9tmtvrm


*Intel Core i7-2600K (not really interested in Ivy Bridge)
http://*******.com/8hc4ucm


*Corsair Hydro Series H100
http://*******.com/8mbnd8k


*CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866
http://*******.com/8j5nqdb


*SAMSUNG 830 Series 2.5-Inch 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive Desktop Upgrade Kit MZ-7PC256D/AM
http://*******.com/8ltxq8d


*Seagate Barracuda 7200 1 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb/s NCQ 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive
http://*******.com/9om2hr4


*ASUS BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS 12X Blu-ray Internal Burner
http://*******.com/9m9r8vv


*EVGA GeForce GTX690 Signature 4096MB
http://*******.com/8cy4l4n


*ASUS Xonar Essence ST 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Audio Card - OR - I'll just use my Auzentech HTHD Card that I already have in another machine.
http://*******.com/8ar57uz


*Corsair Professional Series Gold 1200W 80 Plus Gold Certified Performance Power Supply (1200AX)
http://*******.com/8as2xpw


Any input would be greatly appreciated . Obviously this machine is going to be for gaming...I play FPS's like COD, Crysis, BF3, etc.
Edited by OmfgItzThaMack - 8/13/12 at 10:57am
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post #2 of 24
8/12/12 at 10:50pm
None of your links work.

What's wrong with your current computer? Iirc, you made a pretty potent gaming computer.
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post #3 of 24
8/13/12 at 6:36am
It's way overboard if you ask me, but it you've got the money and it's something you enjoy, why not?
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post #4 of 24
8/13/12 at 10:42am
I'm working on my third build right now and I've found, for the components I'm gathering that Newegg's prices have been beating Amazon's. And I've got three rebates to work on too.

You have expensive tastes, no doubt about that. wink.gif I went with the Antec P280 case that I actually picked up from a Microcenter computer store we have here in the Dallas area, and it's turning out to be quite easy to work with. Here's Neweggs version: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129179
It's gone up 10 bucks since I bought mine, and it's considered a "super mid-tower" so if space is a concern it might not be the best solution.
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post #5 of 24
8/13/12 at 10:53am
Awesome rig..but like jmwatkins said overkill....but i have never seen a computer that is too fast smile.gif

I run a tri-core amd with a ati 6890 and never have any hicups with COD or BF3.
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post #6 of 24
8/13/12 at 11:12am
Thread Starter 
Damn, wtf? I just edited my OP to include new links and they still don't work. Oh well...

If I make any changes I'll probably go with another i5 2500k. I've already had one and got it stable at 4.4GHz on air. This next build I'll have liquid on the CPU so I hope to push it more toward 5GHz or at least 4.8-4.9GHz.

Then I could probably bump the PSU down to the 850W AX and that would save me around $150 b/w the those two changes.

Question though...I've had two Auzentech sound cards...both of them would "hiss" and make a static noise when changing between modes; game mode, entertainment mode, etc. Has anyone had any experience with the Xonar? I'm trying to avoid another sound card that gives me problems.

And I guess one last question...is 16GB of RAM just a complete, total waste?


***I know the build's ridiculous and overkill and all that but that's kind of how I tend to do things wink.gif***

Thanks biggrin.gif.
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post #7 of 24
8/13/12 at 11:14am
I've got two 8GB sticks in my build right now with room for two more later. Who knows what the future holds.
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post #8 of 24
8/13/12 at 6:24pm
keep your 1200 psu, buy as much ram a humanly possible, It's cheap as heck so stock up (I'm running 64 gigs, it was under $230 for both 32 gig kits) You build looks fine but ditch that pile of crap H100. Every single one of them is defective and corsair is just getting to swapping all these in the field out with "new" ones that have the same problems as the last batches had lol. Wouldn't you love to come home to a crapped out H100 and a burnt cpu? Either build a real WC or go with a really good air cooler IMO. My buddies store has away 30 x H100's in the last 2 weeks.
As fort Soundcards, after my last fiasco with my Asus phoebus that I broke in half and sent to the asus ROG mod because it's the biggest pile of crap SC on the market. What freaking disaster of a card lol. I still like my STX but I hate it for gaming. I went back to my good ol forte for now anyways.
Rest of your build looks good. BTW the 690 OC's can use up to 400watts on it's own biggrin.gif
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post #9 of 24
8/13/12 at 6:49pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by N8DOGG View Post

keep your 1200 psu, buy as much ram a humanly possible, It's cheap as heck so stock up (I'm running 64 gigs, it was under $230 for both 32 gig kits) You build looks fine but ditch that pile of crap H100. Every single one of them is defective and corsair is just getting to swapping all these in the field out with "new" ones that have the same problems as the last batches had lol. Wouldn't you love to come home to a crapped out H100 and a burnt cpu? Either build a real WC or go with a really good air cooler IMO. My buddies store has away 30 x H100's in the last 2 weeks.
As fort Soundcards, after my last fiasco with my Asus phoebus that I broke in half and sent to the asus ROG mod because it's the biggest pile of crap SC on the market. What freaking disaster of a card lol. I still like my STX but I hate it for gaming. I went back to my good ol forte for now anyways.
Rest of your build looks good. BTW the 690 OC's can use up to 400watts on it's own biggrin.gif


N8Dogg !!! Good to hear from you man...it's been too long. I started this new job back in Feb. and have been busy, busy. But things has settled down for now so I have more free time to play some games. I've actually been playing, although I never thought I'd say this, Black Ops on the PC and damn that game is good on PC. No lag handicap like in MW3. Geez...

But anyways...your Phoebus was garbage? I'm glad I didn't ever snag that up. I still have that HTHD that Auzentech sent me and that's surprisingly been holding up well opposed to the two Forte's I had that were both junk. I'm glad you chimed in on that.

What's your feeling on the 2500k vs. 2600k? Which would you do if you were me? I've read that hyper threading does nothing for games (?).

And I guess what I could do is get the GTX 690 Hydro Copper and get a real water cooling system from frozencpu...hmm...

Damnit N8...look at what you've done !!!

biggrin.gif
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post #10 of 24
8/14/12 at 4:18pm
I'd still go for the 2600K as you can find it for very close to the 2500K on sale. Ya, I HATED my phoebus. for $200 you'd think that pile of crap could work properly. They did update the drivers and it fixed the punkbuster issues everyone was having but the card still sounds pretty blah. There is no EQ on the card itself, you HAVE to use dolby HT if you want any sort of EQ and Dolby HT sucks balls. I had soooo many problems with that card. The best thing I ever did was change back to my forte.
As for WC, it's pretty fun the first couple of time you do it but I've lost the will do bother anymore. It can cost more than you entire rig if your not careful lol.
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post #11 of 24
8/15/12 at 10:06am
Why a mid-tower? Go full or go home. smile.gif
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post #12 of 24
8/15/12 at 11:13am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by N8DOGG View Post

I'd still go for the 2600K as you can find it for very close to the 2500K on sale. Ya, I HATED my phoebus. for $200 you'd think that pile of crap could work properly. They did update the drivers and it fixed the punkbuster issues everyone was having but the card still sounds pretty blah. There is no EQ on the card itself, you HAVE to use dolby HT if you want any sort of EQ and Dolby HT sucks balls. I had soooo many problems with that card. The best thing I ever did was change back to my forte.
As for WC, it's pretty fun the first couple of time you do it but I've lost the will do bother anymore. It can cost more than you entire rig if your not careful lol.

One of the guys I work with is a tech and has built a bunch of systems; hardware is his specialty so we're going to look into a water cooled system. I don't know if I'll end up doing it for sure but I'd really like to. So, you're saying under no circumstances use a H-100? If for some reason the build ends up costing too much to water cool I'd at least like to cool the CPU. I'm getting 4.4GHz out of my 2500k right now on air but know I could get more if it were on water.

Quote:
Originally Posted by DeltaDeuce View Post

Why a mid-tower? Go full or go home. smile.gif

That Corsair Obsidian 800D would be my first pick...I do like that military green through although I really doubt I'd ever do anything like that. The 800D just screams "class".
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post #13 of 24
8/15/12 at 9:17pm
If you can get an actual fixed H100 then sure but the problem is, there is so much stock of all the messed up units with the bad pumps around, it might be tough to get a good one. I know a guy who has been through 6 x H100's on the past 6 months lol
if you are set on getting a closed loop water system, look at the H80 or the Thermaltake Water 2.0 extreme. it's the same sized rad but thicker, though for lots of cases that will not fit the best without mods.

this was my new system before I had my 680's in there. I've since made a few more mods but the case is a switch 810 that I took to work (car painter) and painted. I must say I love this case.

sideopen2.jpg

frontvg.jpg

frontfan.jpg
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post #14 of 24
8/16/12 at 2:40am
Nice Noctua. smile.gif
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post #15 of 24
8/17/12 at 10:10am
Thread Starter 
Hey N8...

Having a hard time deciding what to do here...

Do I keep my 3GB 580's in SLI and thrown them on blocks to keep in the custom WC'd system I'm throwing together?

Or do I sell them off for $600 and throw in a 690 HC?

I just don't know if there's any games coming out that are really going to require the power of that 690. I can push Crysis 2 with the DX11 & High Res patch easily with these 580's and they're not even on water, temps get high, but...

What's your take?
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post #16 of 24
8/17/12 at 12:10pm
The 690 would be more powerful...... I dunno, personally, I'd keep the 580's and wait for the GK110 chips to come out early next year.
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post #17 of 24
8/17/12 at 3:25pm
Having just gone a particular route myself, here's my thinking:

580x3 = with the 660 TI announced, its time to either keep these forever or get them out now as the 600..with its MUCH lower fan noise and power requirements I can see the 500 series fading quickly. I have my 580 on ebay right now.

GTX 690 = The only compelling reason I'd see to buy this card is if your motherboard did not support SLI. Otherwise you are paying a price premium of several hundred dollars for less performance than you'd get with, say, even twin 670's overclocked in SLI.

However, if you want to get two or three 690's...well then sir, you will be gaming like a Boss. smile.gif

(and Crysis 3 will run at 45ps)
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post #18 of 24
8/17/12 at 6:54pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by HeadRusch View Post

I have my 580 on ebay right now.

For how much? I've got mine on Craigslist for $325.


So far...pulled the trigger on:

*Sabertooth Z77 MB: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=69881&vpn=Sabertooth%20Z77&manufacture=ASUS&promoid=1205

*800D Case: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002JLAU58/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00

*Seasonic SS-1250XM PSU: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00607JLWU/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00

Still deciding on water cooling stuff but I know I''m snagging these up...

*Rad: http://www.frozencpu.com/products/5326/ex-rad-109/Black_Ice_GTX_Xtreme_360_Radiator_-_Black.html

*Res/Pump: http://www.frozencpu.com/products/13884/ex-res-300/XSPC_Dual_525_Bay_Clear_Reservoir_-_w_D5_Variant_Pump_Installed.html & I'm getting the Swiftech MCP655 variable speed pump in that.

This is fun...I've been geekin' out on caffeine and pcpartspicker.com all day smile.gif
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post #19 of 24
8/25/12 at 8:50pm
Thread Starter 
So....the parts are starting to come in...kinda went in a different direction but this thing is going to be an absolute beast! Will post pics when it's all up and runnin!!! smile.gif
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post #20 of 24
9/9/12 at 12:29am
Thread Starter 
It's finally up and running...still not quite finished yet...
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post #21 of 24
9/9/12 at 4:16pm
looking good!
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post #22 of 24
9/10/12 at 11:36am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by N8DOGG View Post

looking good!

N8...I kept my 580's in there for now & just threw some blocks on them...figured it was either $200 worth of blocks or a $1200 GTX690 HC...I'll wait a while before I upgrade those cards I suppose. There's really no need when you use V-Sync anyways...I still have some work to do yet but it's been fun; not nearly as big of a pain in the ass as my first build. What are you playing now anyways? Still BF3?
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post #23 of 24
9/10/12 at 3:36pm
Not playing much right now lol. I'll be playing a bit more Bf3 when the new pack hit tomorrow but the new NHL 13 will be out and I play on a team, so that will take up most nights.
The second build is always so much easier that the first lol. Good call keeping the 580's, Wait till the GK110 hits in March-April and do it up then.
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post #24 of 24
9/10/12 at 7:21pm
Thread Starter 
Yeah man...make no mistake about it...the 580's still get up and move smile.gif

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