# Gaming pc



## Mr.Alaska (Dec 10, 2011)

So you all seam a lot more friendly then the last site I tried to get help from so I think I'll try my luck with you guys. The last site kinda rubbed me the wrong way when I told them my preferred brand for motherboards is ASUS and the only guy that replied tried to sell me on a ASRock. While I have no doubts thats It's a decent board I am a firm believer in you get what you pay for. Anyway pretty much all the computers I have owned have been hand-me-downs of some kind. Right now I'm using my brothers old macbook so I thinks its time to get a proper gaming PC.

My original budget was about $1500 but I don't want to cut corners and that motherboard kinda broke the budget so now it's $2000 and I can work with the price a little but this is going to be a basic build for now and I will add a lot more in the months to come. I am aiming to build a gaming PC that will last as long a possible without having to rebuild the whole thing and just add parts as I go. With my limited knowledge about real computers something tells me I will need a high end motherboard for this. 

On the case I am not looking for anything fancy with flashy lights. Cooling is top priority with noise and wire management a close second. I originally was going to get a cooler master HAF 912 but I think It's to small for the board. I will get a ODD in a few months but for now I want the speed of a SSD. While I know nothing about over clocking reading about it has gotten me really interested and I know it will probably lead to playing with just about everything the motherboard can do.

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Motherboard: Z68? Open to suggestions.

CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Tu... Intel Core i7-2600K - $279.99
I have read that the I5 2500k is the best for the money so I might go with that. But won't games in the future use Hyper Threading? Maybe in 2012 if we survive the end of the world? If not I will go with I5 2500k.

CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO - 33.99

Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 - $29.99

SSD: Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III  - $209.99

GPU: MSI N570GTX Twin Frozr III - $369.99

PSU: CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX850 - $189.99

DVD Burner: ASUS 24X DVD Burner - $21.99

Total: $1,167.93


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## LiveOrDie (Dec 10, 2011)

Mr.Alaska said:


> So you all seam a lot more friendly then the last site I tried to get help from so I think I'll try my luck with you guys. The last site kinda rubbed me the wrong way when I told them my preferred brand for motherboards is ASUS and the only guy that replied tried to sell me on a ASRock. While I have no doubts thats It's a decent board I am a firm believer in you get what you pay for. Anyway pretty much all the computers I have owned have been hand-me-downs of some kind. Right now I'm using my brothers old macbook so I thinks its time to get a proper gaming PC.
> 
> My original budget was about $1500 but I don't want to cut corners and that motherboard kinda broke the budget so now it's $2000 and I can work with the price a little but this is going to be a basic build for now and I will add a lot more in the months to come. I am aiming to build a gaming PC that will last as long a possible without having to rebuild the whole thing and just add parts as I go. With my limited knowledge about real computers something tells me I will need a high end motherboard for this.
> 
> ...




 The  Rampage IV Extreme is LGA 2011 when the CPU you have pick isn't its LGA 1155 if your getting LGA 2011 you will need a 3930k CPU.

Sandy Bridge LGA 1155
Sandy Bridge-E LGA 2011


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 10, 2011)

Live OR Die said:


> The  Rampage IV Extreme is LGA 2011 when the CPU you have pick isn't its LGA 1155 if your getting LGA 2011 you will need a 3930k CPU.
> 
> Sandy Bridge LGA 1155
> Sandy Bridge-E LGA 2011



I failed here. I went to hit preview and hit submit on accident but to be honest i didn't even notice that before. Time to update!


You sir have just crushed my dreams on that board unless I get some extra Christmas money from Santa this year. Thank you for pointing that out and I am now open to all suggestion on a motherboard. probably a Z68 is it?

Although when I have my mind set on something I usually get it bit the $600 price tag on the I7 3930K might be a little steep for me.  Its over $500 if I go with a Z68 board and a I5 2500K


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## LiveOrDie (Dec 10, 2011)

Mr.Alaska said:


> I failed here. I went to hit preview and hit submit on accident but to be honest i didn't even notice that before. Time to update!
> 
> 
> You sir have just crushed my dreams on that board unless I get some extra Christmas money from Santa this year. Thank you for pointing that out and I am now open to all suggestion on a motherboard. probably a Z68 is it?



Yep how about this board 
Maximus_IV_Extreme


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## entropy13 (Dec 10, 2011)

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Tu... - $220
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R1 Contin... - $34
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR... - $30
ASUS Maximus IV Extreme-Z LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA ... - $340
Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD2 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Int... - $370
MSI N570GTX Twin Frozr III PE/OC GeForce GTX 570 (... - $370
Corsair Obsidian Series 650D (CC650DW-1) Black Ste... - $190
OCZ ZX Series 850W Fully-Modular 80PLUS Gold High ... - $170
ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X... - $19

TOTAL: $1743


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 10, 2011)

Ok hopefully I am done with the edit button. 



Live OR Die said:


> Yep how about this board
> Maximus_IV_Extreme



The sexiness of the red in black instantly sold me on the RAMPAGE IV.  I will look more into this it now.




entropy13 said:


> Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Tu... - $220



So am I wrong to assume that games will use hyper threading in the near future? I have looked but can't find a real answer.


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## entropy13 (Dec 10, 2011)

entropy13 said:


> Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Tu... - $220
> COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R1 Contin... - $34
> G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR... - $30
> ASUS Maximus IV Extreme-Z LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA ... - $340
> ...




Or if you want:
COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel ... - $90 (instead of $190)
MSI N580GTX Twin Frozr II/OC GeForce GTX 580 (Ferm... - $500 (instead of $370)

TOTAL: $1773

I included an 850W PSU so that you can go multi-GPU. If that's out of the picture, you can get the 750W version of the same product series.


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## xxdozer32 (Dec 10, 2011)

^id take that 580 over the 570 anyday, nice job on putting that money somewhere else thumbs up


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 10, 2011)

Accidentally deleted and can't get it back. Something about liking the case I think...


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## entropy13 (Dec 10, 2011)

Go with the SSD I listed, which is the 256GB M4. The one you posted is just half its capacity. This way you'd have a lot of space while you wait for the HDD prices to normalize. Then you can get 2TB drives for cheap again.


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 10, 2011)

I was going to wait till after I get some Christmas money but looking at everything in the Newegg cart is tempting. Is there any brands you guys would recommend over what I picked out other then that PSU entropy suggested? And that Maximus IV Extreme-Z doesn't support the new LGA 2011 socket type so does that mean it will be outdated in like a year or two if I try to upgrade the CPU?


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## Darkleoco (Dec 10, 2011)

Mr.Alaska said:


> I was going to wait till after I get some Christmas money but looking at everything in the Newegg cart is tempting. Is there any brands you guys would recommend over what I picked out other then that PSU entropy suggested? And that Maximus IV Extreme-Z doesn't support the new LGA 2011 socket type so does that mean it will be outdated in like a year or two if i try to upgrade the CPU?



The Maximus IV will not be outdated because:

1: It is for the LGA 1155 socket which supports Sandy Bridge and the to be released Ivy Bridge as well.
2: LGA 2011 Sandy Bridge-E does not have a consistently significant gaming performance improvement over LGA 1155 Sandy Bridge.

I also would not recommend anything other than a Corsair PSU.


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 10, 2011)

Is it because there is no real advantage for gaming with Sandy Bridge-E or are games just have not written to fully take advantage of it yet?


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## entropy13 (Dec 11, 2011)

Mr.Alaska said:


> Is there any brands you guys would recommend over what I picked out other then that PSU entropy suggested?



Using this page, I would rank them thusly:

1. Corsair AX 850 and Seasonic X-850 (arguably the best, but expensive)
2. OCZ ZX 850
3. Kingwin Lazer Gold 850W and NZXT HALE90 850W
4. Antec High Current Pro 850W
5. Silverstone Strider Gold 850W and Thortech Thunderbolt 850W 
6. Sparkle GOLD CLASS 850W (identical to the ZX 850, but the Sparkle one is more expensive right now, thus the lower rank)




Mr.Alaska said:


> Is it because there is no real advantage for gaming with Sandy Bridge-E or are games just have not written to fully take advantage of it yet?



No significant advantage. Even if the case was that "games just have not written to fully take advantage of it yet", the price difference is still quite huge, that it's still hard to really justify getting a 3930K over a 2600k/2500k.


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 11, 2011)

Sorry I didn't mean about the PSU specifically but overall with everything I picked out. That Corsair AX 850 is the one I was originally looking at but I don't see a multi-GPU option in the description.


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## entropy13 (Dec 11, 2011)

Mr.Alaska said:


> but I don't see a multi-GPU option in the description.



Of course you wouldn't. It would be pointless. So long as there are enough wattage, and enough amperes delivered for each card in a multi-card setup, then it's all good. They don't have to be explicit about it. Let the box of the PSUs themselves handle all that slightly useful information.


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 11, 2011)

Ah ok thanks for clearing that up. I thought it was odd that a high end PSU didnt support multiple GPU's. Thanks for all the help and I will post back when I'm a little closer to buying if anything changes.


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 13, 2011)

Should i consider CORSAIR Professional Series HX1050 for just $10 more after mail-in rebate then CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX850? I will SLI in the future when the price of a GTX 580 comes down and a single 580 Isn't enough to keep up with current games.


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## entropy13 (Dec 13, 2011)

Mr.Alaska said:


> Should i consider CORSAIR Professional Series HX1050 for just $10 more after mail-in rebate then CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX850? I will SLI in the future when the price of a GTX 580 comes down and a single 580 Isn't enough to keep up with current games.



An 850W PSU is enough for 2x GTX 580, i7 2600k @ 4.6GHz, 4 HDDs, 1 SSD, 6 120mm LED fans, 4 sticks of DDR3 RAM.

Well you can go for it still since the price difference isn't much. But the "performance" also degrades a bit.


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 13, 2011)

Is that including OC GPU's as well? I have been reading a lot of mixed thoughts on it.


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## erocker (Dec 13, 2011)

entropy13 said:


> An 850W PSU is enough for 2x GTX 580, i7 2600k @ 4.6GHz, 4 HDDs, 1 SSD, 6 120mm LED fans, 4 sticks of DDR3 RAM.
> 
> Well you can go for it still since the price difference isn't much. But the "performance" also degrades a bit.



If things are going to get overclocked, there's no way I would purchase an 850w PSU for that system. Something larger for sure.


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## Crap Daddy (Dec 13, 2011)

I don't think it's the right time to spend 500$ on a GPU right now. In one month we'll see the new Radeons. If the top dog will be priced at 500$ it should outperfom by a fair margin the 580 in which case NV should drop the prices. So either way you'll win in near future.


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## clothoBuerocracy (Dec 13, 2011)

Mr.Alaska said:


> and a single 580 Isn't enough to keep up with current games.



Thaaaaaaat is going to be a few years.


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 13, 2011)

Crap Daddy said:


> I don't think it's the right time to spend 500$ on a GPU right now. In one month we'll see the new Radeons. If the top dog will be priced at 500$ it should outperfom by a fair margin the 580 in which case NV should drop the prices. So either way you'll win in near future.



I'm not planing to do this till the beginning of January anyway I am just getting everything ready for when the time comes. So if prices come down its even better for me.



clothoBuerocracy said:


> Thaaaaaaat is going to be a few years.


I know but  I would like to avoid buying thins twice if I could to save money in the future. I want to keep games running at max settings so theres no point on getting a 850w power supply if I have to buy another one at the end of next year.


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## Irony (Dec 13, 2011)

Corsair PSUs are nearly silent, and I haven't had a single problem with mine. and since the 1000w is only 10 bucks more I would get it.
Gskill RAM is excellent;
ASUS is generally awesome.


I have no personal experience with Intel or Nvidia; but the 7000 series ATI cards are coming out in a couple months, so since you're going to wait till january anyway, I would keep those in mind. 

Corsair obsidians are very nice user friendly cases. I have a Cooler Master 922, But I would get a Cooler Master HAF 932 or maybe HAF X if I was gonna do it again.

Edit: 





Mr.Alaska said:


> So you all seam a lot more friendly then the last site I tried to get help from



That's why I'm here. 

Edit: I mean, I'm Not just here to be friendly; I'm here because these guys were friendly when I was feeling newbish.


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 13, 2011)

Is there a switch to turn off the lights on the fans? I found Corsair Graphite today. Same inside as the Corsair obsidian but with a side mesh panel for extra fans.


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## Irony (Dec 14, 2011)

Yeah, they have a switch. It turns off the LEDs on the front fan. 

Obsidians are pricey. I guess not anymore than a HAF x... They have some conveniences like slide out HDD trays and click in 5.25 bays; which CM cases also have.


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## John Doe (Dec 14, 2011)

You don't need no 1000W of shit.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-570-sli-review/13

578W *peak* on an OC'ed, watercooled i7 965 machine with CCFL's from the wall. And that's not even DC power. You have to convert AC to DC, which then would equal about 500W. And take off an another 50W because their setup is more intensive than yours. 450W for 570 SLi. Nothing even a 750W PSU can't handle.


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## linoliveira (Dec 14, 2011)

My opinion on your build is very simple:
Wait for the Radeon 7900 Series launch in January and see how they perform and then build a powerful system at the time.
You don't need a 430$ board to overclock a 2600k to 4.5GHz or more... a 200$ board is more than enough (Asus, MSI, AsRock, wich you can't go wrong with them atm) and save that 200$ to improve something in your rig (dual GPU's maybe?).

CPU: i7 2600k - 319$
Board: AsRock Extreme4 Gen3 - 184$ (because i own one and love it :b but as i said, other boards from Asus and MSI are top choices)
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB 1600MHz CL9 - 29$
PSU: OCZ ZX 1000W - 199$ (just in case you want your system very power hungry xD)
SSD: Mushkin Chronos 120GB - 184$ (i have no reason to recommend SSD's larger than 120GB, because i have a 120GB one and i find it enough for a gamer)
GPU: as I stated before, wait for the 7900 Series from AMD and place your bet on the best choice at the time.
Case: I Can recommend the Carbide 500R (129$) its a damn good case, and fits the mobo color scheme  a review with lots of photos can be found Here.
Cooling: you can take a look Here for a review on some good coolers available today (with good photos on how it fits the mobo and the RAM slot area), if you like one, pick it, all are good performers (the NH-C14 is the top one tho :b).

And that's 1044$ counting with NO rebates, so it may be cheaper with it. I know you might want a powerful board than this, if so, do it, but the rest i think its the best in slot for the price .
Hope i did good recommendations on your budget (yeah, bash me for AsRock mobo :b)
Good luck on you'r build! 


EDIT:


John Doe said:


> You don't need no 1000W of shit.
> 
> http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-570-sli-review/13
> 
> 578W *peak* on an OC'ed, watercooled i7 965 machine with CCFL's from the wall. And that's not even DC power. You have to convert AC to DC, which then would equal about 500W. And take off an another 50W because their setup is more intensive than yours. 450W for 570 SLi. Nothing even a 750W PSU can't handle.



I think you got a point here 
In that case, best choice maybe is this one: OCZ ZX 850W - 169$ (rebate to 139$ !!!)


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## John Doe (Dec 14, 2011)

linoliveira said:


> OCZ ZX 1000W - 199$ (just in case you want your system very power hungry xD)



His system obviously isn't "very power hungry". Even if it was, 850W is all you need for 570 SLi. Even 750W is sufficient for him.

Though for the price, this is the best PSU on Newegg right now.

TOPOWER POWERBIRD TOP-900W 900W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS1...

http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article/2008/10/07/topower_powerbird_series_power_supplies/8

It gets 30/10mV ripple pulling 900W in the hot box. Upper limits for dirty power is 120/50mV.


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## Irony (Dec 14, 2011)

I like linoliveira's setup, Although you may not need that big of a PSU. 

As for cooling, I would have to recommend the NH-D14 to the C14. Awesome cooler.


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 14, 2011)

I should probably update my first post with what my potential build will be. John Doe I was strongly considering the GTX 580 so there will be quite a but more power being used if I over clock them in them I think...



linoliveira said:


> You don't need a 430$ board to overclock a 2600k to 4.5GHz or more... a 200$ board is more than enough (Asus, MSI, AsRock, wich you can't go wrong with them atm) and save that 200$ to improve something in your rig (dual GPU's maybe?).



The more I read the more I am starting to agree with the board and I am looking into other ASUS options. And everyone is telling me games are pretty much not going to use hyper threading in the next year and the price difference isn't worth it for the I7 so I am going with the I5 2500K.


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## John Doe (Dec 14, 2011)

Mr.Alaska said:


> I should probably update my first post with what my potential build will be. John Doe I was strongly considering the GTX 580 so there will be quite a but more power being used if I over clock them in them I think...



http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-580-sli-review/14

710W *peak* from the wall again on their power hungry machine. A PSU rated at continous output will power it for the operational lifetime of the unit.

The PowerBird 900 I linked to is well sufficient for your machine.


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 14, 2011)

So I am going to assume that thats with OC GPU's. When I read it this morning I was thinking only the CPU was OC'ed.


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## John Doe (Dec 14, 2011)

720W is from the plug, not from the PSU itself. You have to convert AC to DC by counting in inefficiencies, which usually is from %85. If I assume 650W, then you have to pull of an another 50W because of their setup. They have CCFL lights, their setup is watercooled and the CPU they use is more power hungry than yours. You'd pull 600W abouts stock, say 650-700W with an OC. A solid 900W unit can easily handle it.


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## linoliveira (Dec 14, 2011)

Mr.Alaska said:


> I should probably update my first post with what my potential build will be. John Doe I was strongly considering the GTX 580 so there will be quite a but more power being used if I over clock them in them I think...
> 
> 
> 
> The more I read the more I am starting to agree with the board and I am looking into other ASUS options. And everyone is telling me games are pretty much not going to use hyper threading in the next year and the price difference isn't worth it for the I7 so I am going with the I5 2500K.



I think you would make a big mistake not to wait for Radeon 7900 Series, but the decision is yous.
As for games "using Hyperthreading" (translation: using more than 2/4 cores) that is about to change when the new consoles come out (god knows when), or when some one decides to pay decent programmers do make nice ports for the PC optimized for Multithreading.
You said your taste was a future proof machine, so i gave you one future proof CPU


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 14, 2011)

John Doe said:


> 720W is from the plug, not from the PSU itself. You have to convert AC to DC by counting in inefficiencies, which usually is from %85. If I assume 650W, then you have to pull of an another 50W because of their setup. They have CCFL lights, their setup is watercooled and the CPU they use is more power hungry than yours. You'd pull 600W abouts stock, say 650-700W with an OC. A solid 900W unit can easily handle it.



I know its from the wall but for some reason I didn't think they over clocked the GPU's so I thought I would need more power. Thanks for clearing this up and I will probably stay with a 850W PSU now.



linoliveira said:


> I think you would make a big mistake not to wait for Radeon 7900 Series, but the decision is yous.



This isn't going down till January so we will see how it goes then and go from there but for now the GTX 580 is on the list.


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## John Doe (Dec 14, 2011)

Mr.Alaska said:


> I know its from the wall but for some reason I didn't think they over clocked the GPU's so I thought I would need more power. Thanks for clearing this up and I will probably stay with a 850W PSU now.



An OC doesn't add more than 50-100W anyway. Yep, the AX850 is a good unit. However, the PowerBird 900 I suggested is better. It's fully modular, cheaper and regulates better. I picked one up for my other machine a while ago and it looks very nice with the shiny chrome finish.


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 14, 2011)

John Doe said:


> An OC doesn't add more than 50-100W anyway.



This is the answer I have been looking for all day! 


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is a update on what I am currently considering. Open to suggestions on everything and nothing is final. Should I update my first post?


Motherboard: Open to suggestions.

CPU: [url="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072]I7-2500K[/url] Intel Core i7-2600K - $279.99

CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO - $33.99

Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 - $29.99

Case: Corsair Graphite - $159.99

SSD: Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III  - $209.99 Maybe the 256 one

Hard Drive: I was told to wait till prices come down.

GPU: MSI N580GTX Twin Frozr III - $499.99 Waiting till Jan to see what prices do. Possible downgrade to 570 or AMD GPU

PSU: CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX850 - $189.99

DVD Burner: ASUS 24X DVD Burner - $19.99

Total: $1,363.93


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## John Doe (Dec 14, 2011)

The Hyper is a budget cooler. Not that it's bad, it's a good cooler and would be sufficient, but if you want, you can get something like a Noctua NH-D14 (dual tower) as was suggested before. Or a Thermaltake Frio if you want a smaller one (single tower).

As for the PSU again, you're better off with the Topower PowerBird 900. Don't fall for the Corsair name, my suggestion is a better unit. There're better deals than Corsair unless you want to pay for the Corsair name.

This is the AX850, single transformer desing.







This one OTOH is the PowerBird 900 with dual-transformer/more coils (higher quality) and heatsinks.


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 14, 2011)

John Doe said:


> As for the PSU again, you're better off with the Topower PowerBird 900. Don't fall for the Corsair name, my suggestion is a better unit. There're better deals than Corsair unless you want to pay for the Corsair name.



I know but my first post was a mess and I was simply updated with what I currently had in my new egg cart. I am taking everything you all said into consideration. I will looking into everything probably tomorrow and give a update on what I have decided.


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## Irony (Dec 14, 2011)

Momentary change of subject: Your avatar's awesome, linolivera.

Subject resumed.

Edit: I bought the RAM you're looking at today, so when it comes I can give you a synapsical review of how good they are.


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 14, 2011)

John Doe said:


> The Hyper is a budget cooler. Not that it's bad, it's a good cooler and would be sufficient, but if you want, you can get something like a Noctua NH-D14 (dual tower) as was suggested before. Or a Thermaltake Frio if you want a smaller one (single tower).



Your pictures kinda distracted me on the first read-through of this.  Would I be better off going liquid cooled at this price? Something like the H60?


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 14, 2011)

Any way to delete this? Editing fail


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## John Doe (Dec 14, 2011)

Mr.Alaska said:


> Your pictures kinda distracted me on the first read-through of this.  Would I be better off going liquid cooled at this price? Something like the H60?



lol. Yeah, you can try all-in-one water as well. A H80 would be better off. Though, a solid cooler would be more reliable.


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 14, 2011)

I like the full reviews I found on the PowerBird 900 but it looks like I get to learn about single and multi rails tomorrow.


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## Irony (Dec 14, 2011)

The corsair all in one water coolers are just about as simple as air coolers to install.

Heres a comparison with idle and max temps.


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## JrRacinFan (Dec 14, 2011)

My suggestion, get a 560Ti for now instead of the 580. Seems logical with the new stuff coming out rather soon, I foresee them within the next 6 months. Just my speculation though. Regarding cooling, it doesnt matter what you get, between the cheapest Hyper 212+ and the expensive H100. they both would work out fine.


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## BarbaricSoul (Dec 14, 2011)

here's my 2600k OC'ed to 4.2ghz under a corsair A50 heatsink running under full load crunching 8 threads-


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## user25 (Dec 14, 2011)

Motherboard: ASUS MAXIMUS IV GENE-Z


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 14, 2011)

For $35 less and only a 1.2 difference looks like Noctua NH-D14 would be the best if I go that way. 

user25 I like that board and its quite a bit less then the ASUS Maximus IV Extreme-Z I was looking at yesterday. For some reason I seam hell-bent on getting the highest end Motherboard I can find even though I know I don't need it.


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## Irony (Dec 14, 2011)

NH-D14 is generally considered the best air cooler.


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 14, 2011)

Is there a problem with it covering all the memory slots? Clearance or heat issues? And whats with the color of the fans? It looks pretty bad.


Little change in subject. Here are the cases I am looking at. Obviously my color preference is black.

The HAF X is a nice case but its too pricy and I am not a big fan of the big plastic side panel.
 Corsair Carbide  400R - $99.99
Corsair Carbide 500R - $139.99 -Only difference from 400R is side panel?
COOLER MASTER HAF 932 - $159.99
Corsair Graphite - $159.99

I am kinda leaning towards the HAF 932 but it doesn't have dust filters. What do you all think?

A new challenger has appeared!
COOLER MASTER CM Storm Series Trooper  - $189.99 Its a little pricy but I like it.


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## Irony (Dec 15, 2011)

932 or 500R. 

If the storm trooper is in your budget, It pretty cool. 

The cooler. I have mine installed, and there is plenty of room for the likes of Ripjaws X. I have some cheapy ram with no heatspreaders, and there's a full 3/4 of an inch between them and the bottom of the cooler. And thats with it installed backwards.  (I accidentally installed my heatsink on backwards, and instead of taking it off and flipping it around I just put my fans on the other sides. You'd be surprised the difference in cooling when you've got all your fans blowing the same way. )   

This shows it quite nicely.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkA6rf_6CE8


I installed my ram last, (stupid) I would most definitely install it first. You can still sqeeze it in under the heatsink if it doesn't have any heatspreaders.

Edit: try not to comment on my installation fails.


----------



## Mr.Alaska (Dec 15, 2011)

Irony said:


> try not to comment on my installation fails.



I kinda want to just because you said that.  Thanks for the video. After seeing it I just might get it. I think if I can settle on a Motherboard I might have everything picked out. If I go with the ASUS Maximus IV Extreme-Z suggested on the first page I'm right at $1733.92 witch is at the high end of my original budget or $1563.92 with the ASUS Maximus IV Gene-Z.

With a quick price check I got the total down to $1694.78 ASUS Maximus IV Extreme-Z  and some random sites and $1524.78 with the ASUS Maximus IV Gene-Z. Still unsure about the board though. Might not get either one.


----------



## entropy13 (Dec 15, 2011)

Go with the Corsair cases since I have a couple. lol


----------



## JrRacinFan (Dec 15, 2011)

What's the irony of installing my ram wrong?  

Another case you may like, Xigmatek Midgard II. I absolutely love that case.


----------



## mediasorcerer (Dec 15, 2011)

Hi mate, theres a lot of folks on tpu that know a lot more than me and im the first to admit it, but, i will say this if i may be so bold, i have a asus z68 mobo and i5k and my machine absolutely ripps it for me, i got a vertex 3/60gb ssd for os and really i can do just about anything including gaming and video/photo rendering with ease, i can overclock my rigg up to 5ghz if needed and it sits stable at oc-4.7ghz= 24/7.

I would recommend a closed loop radiator combo for cpu cooler over air, but thats just me, they can be had for nearly the same price as hi end air now anyway and do a bit better job, with room for your ram too, just something to consider.hope it works out for you ,regs ms.

ps, theres a lot of very bright minds here to learn from and good natured folks too which is very refreshing. i find.!!!


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 16, 2011)

Thanks for the help everyone. I think I am going with the NH D-14, Storm Trooper case and because I can squeeze it in under $1650 with free shipping on everything the ASUS Maximus IV Extreme-Z. Maybe I have room for a 500GB Hard Drive till prices come down on the 1TB+ ones.


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## johnnyd (Dec 17, 2011)

Mr.Alaska said:


> I like the full reviews I found on the PowerBird 900 but it looks like I get to learn about single and multi rails tomorrow.



Hey, I can't login to my account (idiotically changed my mail and pass at the same time - now can't remember), but thought I'd help ya out on this one.

The "rails" don't actually exist. They're just over circuit protection points to shutdown the unit when it's extremely overloaded, or when a short circuit occurs. There's a lot of misinfo out there on this subject. Anyway, take the PowerBird for example. It has six 20A rails, with each of them triggering OCP at at least 300W. So there you have six 300W rails. Two rails for your CPU, three for GPU's and the last one for Molex.

And that's a more secure way against failures than a huge single rail, because you'll only lose whatever part is on one rail that way. On the other hand, you'd lose more parts when a catastropic failure occurs on a single rail.


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 17, 2011)

Yeah it was interesting to read about all that and the myth of trapped power.


Its getting harder and harder not to click the checkout button.


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## johnnyd (Dec 18, 2011)

Yep, single rail is no more than marketing for manufactorers to fool people into, which they've been shoving off in the past years. It's cheaper to not put in OCP shunt points. That's why they do it. Either way, you're better off with the PowerBird over the AX.


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 18, 2011)

I put no research in this one but whats the average life of a good PSU? Will I have to upgrade GPU's before the PSU dies?


----------



## entropy13 (Dec 18, 2011)

Mr.Alaska said:


> I put no research in this one but whats the average life of a good PSU? Will I have to upgrade GPU's before the PSU dies?



100,000 hours.

100,000/24= ~4166 days
4166/365= ~11 years


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## johnnyd (Dec 18, 2011)

11 years is optimistic for any unit. The fan is the first thing to die, then comes capacitor failure or solder joints and such. A solid PSU (like PC P&C) would last 5 to 7 years, but beyond that would depend on your luck.

Now the PowerBird has a San Ace 120 fan, which is good one. It also has Japanese Toshin Kogyo caps, which are the highest quality second next to Hitachi's (also better than the Nippon's used in the AX).

Plus, it's based on the exact same design as the 1100W version. So you can overload it yet it'd keep in spec. Pretty much nothing can stop that unit; you can Tri-SLi 580's yet it'd keep going. Well unless you tried 480 Quad or something...


----------



## Mr.Alaska (Dec 18, 2011)

So should I invest in slightly more powerful ones to allow future upgrades past the two 580's?


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## entropy13 (Dec 18, 2011)

Mr.Alaska said:


> So should I invest in slightly more powerful ones to allow future upgrades past the two 580's?



Not necessarily. For example, maybe a GTX 680 would already be 80% the performance of two 580's but with a much lower power consumption, maybe 30% lower, than two 580s. Purely hypothetical, but that is usually the case. Considering you might keep the two 580s for longer, maybe you'd reach the GTX 700 series before upgrading.


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 18, 2011)

Ok I was just curious because I just got done reading something about 590 SLI at guru3d and they recommend at least 1000w PSU.


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## johnnyd (Dec 18, 2011)

There's no reason to look beyond 900W for a pair of 580's. It's sufficient and gives you room to spare. Also, like he said, new cards are going to pull significantly less power on 28nm. They're getting more efficient on smaller manufactoring processes, not less:

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-HD-7900-XDR2-Rambus-Memory,13408.html

Have a look at the TDP ratings. As for 590 Quad, it can be ran on 1000W easily. And the unit in question is a very good one. It already provides performance way below ATX specs, so even IF you overloaded it, it still would provide clean power.


----------



## Mr.Alaska (Dec 18, 2011)

Good read. I was just assuming more performance means more power. Thanks again for the help.


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## johnnyd (Dec 18, 2011)

NP. By the time of that upgrade comes, your PSU would be aged, then you may want a new one again. Regardless of the size of your PSU. But if you still want more power (overkill ), you can get the 1100W version of PowerBird from here;

http://www.provantage.com/epower-technology-top-1100w~4EPOW01J.htm

It performs slightly worse per-watt though (than the TPPB900). Or I can look for something else.


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 18, 2011)

No you guys have me convinced on the 900w one now.


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## johnnyd (Dec 18, 2011)

Yeah, the 900 watter is better. But I just found an amazing deal on this beast.

SILVERSTONE ST1200 1200W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready...

It's the same unit (both built by Enhance electronics) as this one.

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=162

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story5&reid=162


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## entropy13 (Dec 18, 2011)

Mr.Alaska said:


> No you guys have me convinced on the 900w one now.



LOL

Why not go all out then?
Seasonic Platinum 1000 or XFX ProSeries 1000 (they're the same inside)
OCZ ZX 1000W
NZXT Hale90 1000 or Kingwin Lazer Gold 1000 or Rosewill LIGHTNING Series 1000 (they're the same inside)
Thortec Thunderbolt 1000W
Silverstone Strider Gold Evolution 1000W


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## johnnyd (Dec 18, 2011)

Actually, the PowerBird 900 does better than all those you listed. In one way or another. It's about the performance/built anyway, not wattage or price.


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 18, 2011)

Dang It's only $20 more after mail-in rebate.


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## entropy13 (Dec 18, 2011)

johnnyd said:


> Actually, the PowerBird 900 does better than all those you listed. In one way or another. It's about the performance/built anyway, not wattage or price.



Is the PowerBird 900 at least 87%-90%-87% efficient @45-50C for 20%-50%-100% loads?


EDIT: Nope.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Topower-PowerBird-900-W-Power-Supply-Review/738/7



> PowerBird 900 W achieved efficiency above 85% when we pulled between 40% and 60% from its labeled wattage (i.e., between 360 W and 540 W). Under light load (20% load, i.e., 180 W) efficiency was still high, at 84.5%. At 80% load (720 W) efficiency was at 83.7%, which is a good number. At full load efficiency dropped to 81.1%, but still above the 80% mark.



So how is it better then? Noise and ripple as well as voltage regulation are similar to the Seasonic/XFX and OCZ PSUs, and the Superflower made PSUs are just a bit behind.


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## johnnyd (Dec 18, 2011)

Mr.Alaska said:


> Dang It's only $20 more after mail-in rebate.



Yeah, I'd shoot for it. A lot more PSU for the money. 



entropy13 said:


> Is the PowerBird 900 at least 87%-90%-87% efficient @50C for 20%-50%-100% loads?



It's not, it's efficiency curve is %80-83-85. However, you save $8 a year with Gold over Silver in U.S prices. Efficiency is much of the least important thing of a unit.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/10/04/80_plus_irrelevant_to_you_when_buying_psu/3

On the other hand, it gets lower transient response, ripple and closely good regulation as the SeaSonic Platinum 1000. That is the best one out of all those.


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## entropy13 (Dec 18, 2011)

johnnyd said:


> It's not, it's efficiency curve is %80-83-85, however, you save $8 a year with Gold over Silver in U.S prices. Efficiency is much of the least important thing in a unit.
> 
> http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/10/04/80_plus_irrelevant_to_you_when_buying_psu/3
> 
> On the other hand, it gets lower transient response, ripple and closely good regulation as the SeaSonic Platinum 1000.



The article is saying that the 80PLUS certification is irrelevant, not that efficiency is the least important thing in a unit. 

And a 3-year warranty from Topower isn't exactly good when most of those that I listed (excepting Rosewill iirc) have 5-year and 7-year warranties.


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## johnnyd (Dec 18, 2011)

entropy13 said:


> The article is saying that the 80PLUS certification is irrelevant, not that efficiency is the least important thing in a unit.



In U.S where electricity is cheap, it's one of the least important things. Ripple, regulation or even modularity/color finish trump efficiency. I mean, at least they should.

Anyway I suggested the Strider 1200 instead.


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## entropy13 (Dec 18, 2011)

johnnyd said:


> In U.S where electricity is cheap, it's one of the least important things. Ripple, regulation or even modularity/color finish trump efficiency. I mean, at least they should.



Electricity in the developed countries aren't cheap. They're just cheaper than the other "typical" commodities.

"Ripple, regulation or even modularity/color finish trump efficiency. I mean, at least they should." Ok, let's go with this. Efficiency is less important. But considering that noise, ripple and voltage regulation are almost identical anyway, you'd still opt to sacrifice efficiency...?


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## johnnyd (Dec 18, 2011)

Uhm, what are you actually on about? Not only those aren't the "same thing", performance of built of a PSU is way more important than efficiency. Would you pick a Gold rated Coolmax unit, or a Silver rated PC P&C?


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 18, 2011)

If we can all agree that the Powerbird 900w is good and anything more is overkill than thats what I'm getting.


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## johnnyd (Dec 18, 2011)

Sure, you can't go wrong with either the PowerBird or the Strider. Up to you chief, your call. GL.


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 18, 2011)

Just out of curiosity in normal conditions will anyone notice ripple or noise that I see some reviews say is bad but still passes? I'm not talking about of these PSU's specifically just in general with some reviews I read.


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## johnnyd (Dec 18, 2011)

An oscilloscope is required for ripple measurement, it (ripple) is basically dirty power. But yeah, as long as it's under ATX specs (120mV for major {+12v}, 50mV for minor rails {+3.3v/+5v) you wouldn't notice any difference. However if it's beyond, it might cause instabilities or worst, part failure. That also depends on loading levels. For example, a PSU may have 100mV ripple at 1200W, but if it gets 25mV at 500W, then you wouldn't have much to worry about. That said, ripple is one of the strongest points of the PowerBird. It gets 30/10mV while pulling 900W in the hot box. The Strider gets a bit higher, but it'd make up for it from it's higher capacity.


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 19, 2011)

I mostly understand that. So unless its way out of spec I will never notice. Anyone have any experience with adorama.com or nothingbutsoftware.com I can save $40 if I get the case and SSD from them.


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## Irony (Dec 20, 2011)

I have the Gskill RAM you're getting. Its great RAM. It will run at 1600 with timings at 7-7-7-24, and I got mine to do 1840mhz. I'm very happy with it, especially for 29.99!


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 20, 2011)

Unfortunately I missed the sale and its back to $43.99. Should have jumped on it when I had the chance.


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## Irony (Dec 20, 2011)

Well thats sucky


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 20, 2011)

Yep Its not even Christmas and the sale ended. I think I will start buying stuff when I see them on sale.


Is this a good deal? 500GB 7200 RPM HITACHI Hard drive for $79.99.
HITACHI HDS721050CLA362 (0F10381) 500GB 7200 RPM 1...


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 27, 2011)

Sorry for the double post but I had a question. When the new AMD processor comes out will it make the GTX 580 price drop more than $100? If not I might as well order everything now.


----------



## linoliveira (Dec 27, 2011)

Mr.Alaska said:


> Sorry for the double post but I had a question. When the new AMD processor comes out will it make the GTX 580 price drop more than $100? If not I might as well order everything now.



I doubt the price will drop at all, because the 7970 will be priced at 550$ if the rumors are right. Maybe when the 7950 launches (i think performance wise it will be on par with the GTX 580) and it will cost much less than the 7970.

Just my opinion, but if you want a top performer, go with the 7970 when it launches in middle January. It eats the GTX 580 for breakfast and consumes much less power. With optimized drivers i believe the 7970 will have some serious gains in performance as its a fresh new architecture that surely needs some tweaking, and it will make it even more attractive (just my thoughts here).
You can find a review of the AMD 7970 HERE.

Cheers


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## Mr.Alaska (Dec 28, 2011)

Theres always that one little upgrade that only a few bucks more I could get but so far its added up to like $500. I need to learn when enough is enough but I will wait and see what happens. If it's as good as the link shows I will get it.


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## Irony (Dec 28, 2011)

Hear hear. buy it buy it buy it!


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## Mr.Alaska (Jan 14, 2012)

So it looks like I will be getting the 7970 if I can find one. Suggestion on brands?


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## JrRacinFan (Jan 14, 2012)

At this point in time they are all reference. Just get one with the best warranty available.


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## linoliveira (Jan 14, 2012)

XFX launched a card with a custom dual fan cooling system, but you pay a 50$ premium for it.
You can find it HERE. The rest are pretty much the same.


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## Mr.Alaska (Jan 14, 2012)

I guess I was trying to find out if I should avoid someone for whatever reason. The only one in stock right now is MSI buts its $580. Wonder how long it will take for the other cheaper  companies to get more.


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## linoliveira (Jan 14, 2012)

Avoid PowerColor because they are using inferior components as announced HERE.


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## Mr.Alaska (Jan 14, 2012)

Thanks for the tip. You guys have been really helpful and if Newegg doesn't have more by the end of tomorrow I will just get the MSI one. I think I have waited long enough.


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## Mr.Alaska (Jan 17, 2012)

Thanks to some car starting problems that hope I have fixed now and Newegg being out of the I5 2500K processor this might have to wait a few weeks. On the bright side they have the Sapphire cards in stock now but they will probably be out when they get more processors.


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## Irony (Jan 17, 2012)

I say get it. Its fine to buy the parts separate; get the card and whatever else, and then grab the CPU when its in stock.


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## Mr.Alaska (Jan 18, 2012)

Its done. Should be here in 3 days and the Noctua NH-D14 came with a free 2.5'' and 3.5'' dock. Aluratek External 2.5" & 3.5" Black SuperSpeed USB...


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## Irony (Jan 18, 2012)

Yay. Thats cool, I'm sure you'll be happy.


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## Mr.Alaska (Jan 18, 2012)

I hope so for this much money. I can't wait to play Skyrim with all Its awesome mods without lag. It's so bad on my PS3 I can't even play it. I think I get like 3-6 FPS inside buildings so I gave up with just 2 achievements to go and I don't want to start over and have the lag come back again.


----------



## Irony (Jan 18, 2012)

You should be pegged at at least 60 fps, probably even with ultra settings. Erocker has an i5 2500K and a 7970 I think. He can tell you how it performs with Skyrim


----------



## Mr.Alaska (Jan 19, 2012)

So everything will be here tomorrow except the case which shows up on the 23. Should I wait for it before I put everything together?


----------



## entropy13 (Jan 19, 2012)

Mr.Alaska said:


> So everything will be here tomorrow except the case which shows up on the 23. Should I wait for it before I put everything together?



Wait for it.


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## Mr.Alaska (Jan 19, 2012)

The case. I don't know if I should have it together for 3 days without a case.


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## linoliveira (Jan 19, 2012)

I see you are in a hurry to start the party xD
But if i were you, i would wait for the case, so i knew my sweet hardware would be safe inside the case.


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## Mr.Alaska (Jan 19, 2012)

Yeah well I have been thinking about doing this for a good 6 months or more and the 5 year old macbook I am using sucks.


----------



## JrRacinFan (Jan 19, 2012)

I would at least do a post test on a cardboard box to make sure everything worked.


----------



## Mr.Alaska (Jan 21, 2012)

So a little warning Bestbuy is involved. I went down there to get one of those power strips with a battery built in and the guy said I have to get one with AVR and he also said anything over 26" or 27" monitor will fry the graphics card real fast. Is any of this true? I was going to use my 46" LED tv for my monitor for now but if I have to I will get a monitor.


----------



## Crap Daddy (Jan 21, 2012)

Mr.Alaska said:


> So a little warning Bestbuy is involved. I went down there to get one of those power strips with a battery built in and the guy said I have to get one with AVR and he also said anything over 26" or 27" monitor will fry the graphics card real fast. Is any of this true? I was going to use my 46" LED tv for my monitor for now but if I have to I will get a monitor.



I don't understand. You wanted to buy a UPS and the guy there said that if you will use a bigger monitor it will fry the GPU? It all boils down to the resolution of that monitor or TV set used as a monitor and not the dimension. And all current cards can provide up to 2560x1600 maximum digital resolution if I'm not mistaken.

And no, the resolution of a display can't fry a card only using that card out of spec, or shorting it or a defective card can die unexpectedly.


----------



## Mr.Alaska (Jan 21, 2012)

Well he asked why I needed one and I told him I was building a computer and thats how we got in the whole big screen will burn the graphics card really fast. I don't know the exact resolution but I doubt its even 2560x1600. I never trust what Best Buy tells me without looking into it and that just sounded completely wrong when he said it. What about the AVR thing? That also sounds a little weird to me. I have lived here my whole life and never noticed small random power surges like he was saying.


----------



## linoliveira (Jan 22, 2012)

Mr.Alaska said:


> So a little warning Bestbuy is involved. I went down there to get one of those power strips with a battery built in and the guy said I have to get one with AVR and he also said anything over 26" or 27" monitor will fry the graphics card real fast. Is any of this true? I was going to use my 46" LED tv for my monitor for now but if I have to I will get a monitor.



HAHAHAHA!
Sorry i couldn't hang my laugh! 
That guy must be a clueless guy trying to sell some electronics. How tha hell can high resolution kill a card? Jesus...

And please, use your monitor on your rig! Because that must be astonishing to game on!


----------



## Irony (Jan 22, 2012)

Ignorant salesmen really bug me. 

Definitely use your 46" like you were planning. I have a 32, and its awesome for gaming. I don't even have a UPS, never had a problem.


----------



## Mr.Alaska (Jan 22, 2012)

linoliveira said:


> And please, use your monitor on your rig! Because that must be astonishing to game on!



Oh it is! I play BF3 with my PS3 all the time. 

I was able to test it today and all checked out I just need my case now. Playing with all the power connectors wasn't half as bad as I thought it would be. Pictures online make it look much more confusing.


----------



## HammerON (Jan 22, 2012)

Mr.Alaska said:


> Its done. Should be here in 3 days and the Noctua NH-D14 came with a free 2.5'' and 3.5'' dock. Aluratek External 2.5" & 3.5" Black SuperSpeed USB...



So what components are you ending up getting for your new rig? Is your original post current?
I have had the NH-D14 for several years and is a beast of a cooler
Off topic question: Do you live in Alaska and if so where?



Mr.Alaska said:


> So a little warning Bestbuy is involved. I went down there to get one of those power strips with a battery built in and the guy said I have to get one with AVR and he also said anything over 26" or 27" monitor will fry the graphics card real fast. Is any of this true? I was going to use my 46" LED tv for my monitor for now but if I have to I will get a monitor.


This is complete nonsense!!!


----------



## Mr.Alaska (Jan 22, 2012)

If you want links let me know and I will add them.

Motherboard: Asus Maximus Extreme Z
CPU: I5 2500K
CPU Cooler: NH-D14
Video Card: MSI 7970
Memory: Ripjaw X 1600 8GB
PSU: Topower 900w
SSD: Crucial M4 128GB
Hard Drive: Hitachi 500BG 7200 RPM
DVD: Asus 24x DVD burner
Case: CM Storm trooper Price came down to $149.99. I just couldn't pass up a deal like that.

I have the feeling I am missing something from the list.



HammerON said:


> I have had the NH-D14 for several years and is a beast of a cooler


The cooler is a lot heavier than I was expecting. 



HammerON said:


> ]Off topic question: Do you live in Alaska and if so where?


I live in Tampa Florida and have only been to Alaska once on a cruse back in August.

Slightly off topic here but my god clamping the processor down made me nervous as hell. I wasn't expecting it to take that much pressure to do it.


----------



## HammerON (Jan 22, 2012)

Thanks for the list. No links necessary

So you decided not to wait for the case. Good for you!!!
We will be expecting pics of course...


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## Mr.Alaska (Jan 22, 2012)

I am waiting for the case I was just making sure I didn't get any bad parts. Everything Is back in the boxes already.



HammerON said:


> We will be expecting pics of course...


When I figure out how I will. I am assuming I need to use a site like photo bucket or something.


----------



## Irony (Jan 22, 2012)

Mr.Alaska said:


> The cooler is a lot heavier than I was expecting.



Yeah, its a beastie. Like 2.75 pounds, I think. It made my mATX mobo sag. 




Mr.Alaska said:


> When I figure out how I will. I am assuming I need to use a site like photo bucket or something.



Imgur.com is a simple one.


----------



## Mr.Alaska (Jan 22, 2012)

Did I mention I have a 5.1 Bose surround sound system connected to my TV. I can't wait to get this thing up and running.


----------



## linoliveira (Jan 22, 2012)

I can't wait for some photos of your rig, you seem to have a great environment there :b


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## Mr.Alaska (Jan 22, 2012)

The book doesn't talk about it at all but I am assuming that I can just plug a fiber optic cable in the motherboard for the sound and call it a day? If not I need to fine me some extra cables.


----------



## Irony (Jan 22, 2012)

I think so.


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## HammerON (Jan 22, 2012)

To upload pictures to TPU I like to use TPU's Free Image Uploader:


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## Mr.Alaska (Jan 22, 2012)

Tanks but I think the pic I got yesterday of all the parts is too big so I keep getting a error. This might be a dumb question here but on the coolers mounting plate it only talks about 1366, 115 and 775. Do I just use 1156 for my 1155 CPU?


----------



## linoliveira (Jan 22, 2012)

Yes, socket 1155 is compatible with the 1156 mountings.


----------



## Mr.Alaska (Jan 22, 2012)

So I just noticed I got a PCI 3.0 video card and a 2.0 board. I am sure they will work together but should I have gotten a board that supports 3.0 instead?


----------



## Irony (Jan 22, 2012)

According to wikipedia, The difference between PCI 2.0 and 3.0 is 5 gigatransfers p/s, as opposed to 8 gigatransfers p/s, respectively.


----------



## linoliveira (Jan 22, 2012)

You are fine with PCI 2.0 because todays cards use only x8 of PCI 2.0, so you are fine with it as long as you don't Xfire that beast.
To take use of PCI 3.0 you also need a PCI 3.0 compatible processor (Ivy Bridge coming soon). So for now you can't get use of PCI 3.0, unless you buy the X79 platform (wich is... alot cheap  ).


----------



## Mr.Alaska (Jan 22, 2012)

Ok good. I was getting worried I was going to have to return this amazing looking motherboard for a ugly blue one that wouldn't match my RAM or video card.


----------



## HammerON (Jan 22, 2012)

Mr.Alaska said:


> Tanks but I think the pic I got yesterday of all the parts is too big so I keep getting a error. This might be a dumb question here but on the coolers mounting plate it only talks about 1366, 115 and 775. Do I just use 1156 for my 1155 CPU?



Use Paint to resize the photo before uploading.


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## Mr.Alaska (Jan 23, 2012)

Didn't even think about that but I would have to go through Bootcamp to do it. I saw the site has a option to resize it but I don't know what to make it. I will mess with it tomorrow but for now its time for another dumb question. 

When I did the test earlier I didn't even think about it and used a power cable that splits into a 8 and 6 pin connector at the end but only uses a 6 pin connector at the PSU for my video card. Why is there only one cable like this? It's so much more convenient then running a 8 and 6 pin connector to the video card. I also noticed that all of the 8 pin connectors only have 6 wires going to one side. Why is that?


----------



## OOZMAN (Jan 23, 2012)

I was gonna say go with a 6970 for now, which will play all current games on max, then CFX with a 6990 later on when theyre cheaper, when you need extra power. But I see youve already made your purchase. the 7970 is overkill for current games, youll love it.


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## Mr.Alaska (Jan 23, 2012)

The case was waiting for me when I got home from work so let the madness begin!


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## Irony (Jan 23, 2012)

Sweet. Tell us when its up and running. Or if you have any problems...


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## Mr.Alaska (Jan 23, 2012)

Everything is in place and I just need to connect all the plugs and power. There is so many plugs for the case and I am kinda winging it. I am having problems trying to put the SSD in place. I am trying to avoid using the cage at the bottom and if I do it by the book I won't be able to plug it in.


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## Mr.Alaska (Jan 23, 2012)

Great so I unplugged everything to try to organize the wires some and now I have no idea how they all connected to each other.

I think I got it now. It looks like it has extra wires for one more fan that was throwing me off.


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## Irony (Jan 24, 2012)

Mr.Alaska said:


> Great so I unplugged everything to try to organize the wires some and now I have no idea how they all connected to each other.
> 
> I think I got it now. It looks like it has extra wires for one more fan that was throwing me off.



Yeah, thats always the fun part, stringing all the wires and trying to find where they go.  especially all the tiny 1-2 wire plugins to the mobo from the case.


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## Mr.Alaska (Jan 24, 2012)

So its running and all fans even the video cards fan and lights are on but no picture.

Quick look in the book showed the error code was the ram so I pulled them both out and reinstalled them and all is well. Playing with setup now.


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## Irony (Jan 24, 2012)

I wanna see a benchie.


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## Mr.Alaska (Jan 24, 2012)

I am typing this from my new computer! Still installing all the drivers that came with everything.


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## Irony (Jan 24, 2012)

Cool. So everything seems to be happy?


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## Mr.Alaska (Jan 24, 2012)

Everything except my wallet.  It wouldn't let me install XP so I had to go down and get a full version of Windows 7. I think my fiber optic cable is dead. It stopped working on my PS3 a while ago but I had no way to test it till now.


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## Irony (Jan 24, 2012)

Yep, lol. I like kevinheraiz's sig. \/

A computer is never done, you're just out of money.


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## Mr.Alaska (Jan 24, 2012)

I'm not out of money yet but I am trying like hell to run out.


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## Mr.Alaska (Jan 24, 2012)

So what are those little test programs called so I can see what this thing can do?


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## Irony (Jan 24, 2012)

Cinebench is one that benchmarks CPU and GPU. I think you can download it here.

http://download.cnet.com/CINEBENCH/3000-6677_4-10788988.html

3DMark06 and 3DMark11 cover graphics benchmarking mostly. You can find them in the downloads section of this site. 

http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/Benchmarking/Futuremark/


Those three are my favorites.


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## HammerON (Jan 25, 2012)

I like to use LinX for stability (as well as WCG)
http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Benchmarks/LinX-benchmark.shtml
http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/index.jsp


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## Mr.Alaska (Jan 30, 2012)

So I oveclocked to 4.5GHZ at 1.280v and my max peak core temp is 60c but it was mostly 57-58 after about a hour in LinX  so I think I will call that a success. As for Cinebench CPU got a score of 6.88 and GPU got 86.61. I am assuming the GP is good but CPU was in the middle of the chart and its saying I am running at 3.3GHZ when I am at 4.5 GHZ. Also how come it never drops below 1.280v even if the CPU drops to like 1.6GHZ?


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## Irony (Jan 30, 2012)

Mr.Alaska said:


> So I oveclocked to 4.5GHZ at 1.280v and my max peak core temp is 60c but it was mostly 57-58 after about a hour in LinX  so I think I will call that a success. As for Cinebench CPU got a score of 6.88 and GPU got 86.61. I am assuming the GP is good but CPU was in the middle of the chart and its saying I am running at 3.3GHZ when I am at 4.5 GHZ.



I don't know about intel voltages, But it looks good. Nice clock, and awesome temps. Especially for intel. (they tend to run warmer) Thats great, everything works and runs cool. 

I don't know what the deal is with your Cinebench score. That should be much higher. Are you running the 32 or 64-bit version of it? It should correspond to your OS, 32 or 64. My score is 7.46 points and 71 fps. I think your GPU score should be higher too. Maybe cinebench is just screwy, a score 3DMark11 or 3DMark06 should look better.


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## Mr.Alaska (Jan 30, 2012)

I ran the 64-bit one. Give me a sec and I will run 3DMark11.


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## Irony (Jan 30, 2012)

Mr.Alaska said:


> I ran the 64-bit one



Cinebench must just be having a mental disorder.


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## Mr.Alaska (Jan 30, 2012)

After closing everything even my anti virus Cinebench gave my CPU 7.11 GPU was the same. The free 3DMark11 score was P7457 and it says my graphics card is my processor.


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