# My new rig, a bit of advice needed!



## Valenciente (Apr 17, 2009)

Hi guys,

These last couple of days I have posted a lot, from everything to cases to the i7 core.

Anyway, I have decided for these parts so far:

CPU: Intel Core i7 920 2.66Ghz | £493.06*
Motherboard: Gigabyte EX58-UD3R | £493.06*
RAM: Corsair Dominator 3GB DDR3 NQ PC3-12800C8 1600MHz | £493.06*
(*Bundled price, so it's £493.06 for the CPU, the mobo and the RAM.)
GFX: Asus ATI Radeon HD 4890 1024MB | £203.99
Soundcard: Thinking of sticking to the onboard
HDD: I'm popping my old 500GB Seagate and my 250GB Maxtor. The second Seagate goes to my girlfriend
Case: Lian Li PC-V2010B (Which I am going to mod later) | £220.44
Optical Drive: Sony NEC Optiarc AD-7200S 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer | £20.99
PSU: OCZ EliteXStream 800W (I am keeping my old one) | £71.99 (Buying a new one for the old rig, as I'm stealing the old one)
Cooling: HELP?! I have thought a lot about watercooling, but I could use some advice. | £???

Total: £1010,47
Budget: £1200

So, any advice?
Thanks,
-Valen


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## h3llb3nd4 (Apr 17, 2009)

try and get a foxconn bloodrage... it has better OC ability...


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## Tatty_One (Apr 17, 2009)

Can I ask where you are buying this from?  Also, the motherboard choice is phenominal and very much budget dependant, have a Look at the Biostar TPower X58 for good prices and high overclockability.


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## lemonadesoda (Apr 17, 2009)

This is a nicer case IMO: http://www.sundialmicro.com/lianli_mid-tower-pcv1110b_1928_1341.html

(or the 2110 version if you need MASSIVE).

I thought you were on a tight budget! LOL. Top stuff in your list there.

Don't overpay for the highest, fastest RAM. On DDR3 and tri-channel AND i7 platform, there is loads of bandwidth, memory is not a bottleneck anymore. These higher rated RAMs are not going to give you any noticeable real-world performance gains... their stats are seen only in synthetic benchmarks.

You will do yourself a favour getting regular DDR3 and with the money you save buying a new much faster HDD or SSD, eg. Samsung F1, or OCZ Vertex.

If you are a REALLY BRAVE MAN, then get a dual socket board (Nehalem-EP platform) and just populate the board with ONE Xeon CPU today. It will fit within your budget. Next year, drop in a second CPU to double your performance at very little extra cost.


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## Valenciente (Apr 18, 2009)

The thing is, the motherboard, the i7 and the RAM is a bundle price.
It is not really configurable, so unless I can get the RAM, the i7 and a nice mobo, with good cooling which I haven't calculated the price on yet, and keep it under my budget, it is going to be hard.

I like the case, so =)

And I am buying this off OcUK, and the case from www.caseking.de.

Any advice on cooling?


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## Tatty_One (Apr 18, 2009)

Valenciente said:


> The thing is, the motherboard, the i7 and the RAM is a bundle price.
> It is not really configurable, so unless I can get the RAM, the i7 and a nice mobo, with good cooling which I haven't calculated the price on yet, and keep it under my budget, it is going to be hard.
> 
> I like the case, so =)
> ...



If it's air the best for i7 (and thats available from ocuk) is either the TRUE or the Noctua with  a dual fan push/pull setup..................

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-005-NC&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395

Damn Overclockers dont stock the Thermalright................


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## Valenciente (Apr 19, 2009)

I can order the Thermalright elsewhere if you give me the name of it? =)

I'm not sure whether or not I want to go water, but for now, I think I will stick to air.


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## Tatty_One (Apr 19, 2009)

Valenciente said:


> I can order the Thermalright elsewhere if you give me the name of it? =)
> 
> I'm not sure whether or not I want to go water, but for now, I think I will stick to air.



http://www.scan.co.uk/products/Ther...m-heat-sink-for-Intel1366-CPU-inc-1600RPM-fan

make sure you get the one with the 1366 mounting otherwise you will need the 1366 bolt through kit as well.


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## Valenciente (Apr 19, 2009)

I'm going to buy it off caseking.de then.

I will be needing the Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme, and the Thermalright LGA1366 Kit then right?

http://www.caseking.de/shop/catalog/CPU-Coolers/Socket-775-Intel/Thermalright/Thermalright-Ultra-120-eXtreme::6940.html
http://www.caseking.de/shop/catalog/CPU-Coolers/Fan-Adapters/Thermalright-LGA1366-Kit::11874.html

A small question then. Is the copper one any better? Seeing as it's 30 euro's more.


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## Valenciente (Apr 19, 2009)

So, if I go with this instead:

CPU: Intel Core i7 920 2.66Ghz | £246.09
Motherboard: Biostar TPower Intel X58 | £218.49 
RAM: ???
GFX: Asus ATI Radeon HD 4890 1024MB | £203.99
Soundcard: Thinking of sticking to the onboard
HDD: N/A
Case: Lian Li PC-V2010B | £220.44
Optical Drive: Sony NEC Optiarc AD-7200S 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer | £20.99
PSU: OCZ EliteXStream 800W (I am keeping my old one) | £71.99 (Buying a new one for the old rig, as I'm stealing the old one)
Cooling: 
Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme | £41.4
Thermalright LGA1366 Kit | £8.74
Anything else | £???

Total So Far: £1032.13
Budget: £1200

Advice on RAM and more cooling? Watercooling is going to have to wait 'till some point later on.


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## Tatty_One (Apr 19, 2009)

Valenciente said:


> So, if I go with this instead:
> 
> CPU: Intel Core i7 920 2.66Ghz | £246.09
> Motherboard: Biostar TPower Intel X58 | £218.49
> ...



Firstly, what other UK stores will ship to you?  I only ask because you can get some of those components alot cheaper elsewhere.  I paid £220 for the 920, and you can get a 4890 for around £170.  How many gigs of ram do you want... 3 or 6?


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## Valenciente (Apr 19, 2009)

I have no clue, the only one I really know of is overclockers.
I don't really know much UK stores, but if you know some, could you send some URL's my way, and I can check if they ship to Denmark?

I was thinking 6gigs of RAM, seeing as my current rig has 4.


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## Tatty_One (Apr 20, 2009)

Valenciente said:


> I have no clue, the only one I really know of is overclockers.
> I don't really know much UK stores, but if you know some, could you send some URL's my way, and I can check if they ship to Denmark?
> 
> I was thinking 6gigs of RAM, seeing as my current rig has 4.



Well there was scan that i linked earlier, try Ebuyer, Aria and novatech.


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## Valenciente (Apr 20, 2009)

Aria, Ebuyer doesn't ship internationally.
Novatech does. They have some items more and some items less expensive than overclockers.
I don't think scan ships internationally, but I'm not sure, I can't really find any info on their site about it.


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## n-ster (Apr 20, 2009)

DFI DK is probably the board that OCs the BEST (or almost)... ask Fit 

A cheaper cooling solution would be the s1283V or s1284EE from Xigmatek

You can get a 2nd HD that's the same as one of yours and RAID 0 them...

You could get 6gb of RAM if you want... I recommend crucials (the ones without Heatspreaders), they overclock like hell! also, they are really cheap! Look at these! but this is in US though, try the Crucial website for Europe or something

Pleaseeeeeee get a cheaper case... spending that much money is practically useless! I'm not sure of your choices, but a popular choice is an Antec 902 or 1200... I would personally go with ABS Diablo or NZXT cases or XCLIO cases... especially NZXT


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## Valenciente (Apr 20, 2009)

n-ster said:


> DFI DK is probably the board that OCs the BEST (or almost)... ask Fit



Will look into it.



n-ster said:


> A cheaper cooling solution would be the s1283V or s1284EE from Xigmatek


I don't want cheap, I want GOOD. Not sure if it is better than the Thermalright?



n-ster said:


> You can get a 2nd HD that's the same as one of yours and RAID 0 them...


I don't need it.



n-ster said:


> You could get 6gb of RAM if you want... I recommend crucials (the ones without Heatspreaders), they overclock like hell! also, they are really cheap! Look at these! but this is in US though, try the Crucial website for Europe or something



Will check on that.



n-ster said:


> Pleaseeeeeee get a cheaper case... spending that much money is practically useless! I'm not sure of your choices, but a popular choice is an Antec 902 or 1200... I would personally go with ABS Diablo or NZXT cases or XCLIO cases... especially NZXT


Those cases are either too small; the full tower ones are ugly; and some of them even have shiny feeble plastic, which was why I came across the Lian Li cases. They are not.


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## Tatty_One (Apr 20, 2009)

n-ster said:


> DFI DK is probably the board that OCs the BEST (or almost)... ask Fit
> 
> A cheaper cooling solution would be the s1283V or s1284EE from Xigmatek
> 
> ...




No need to ask Fit..... ask me!  yes it is a good board but the Biostar is equally as good and quite often cheaper... my advice.... go for the cheaper of the 2, in fact go for the cheaper of the 3 and include the Gigabyte UD3P.

And No, the Thermalright is the best or eqaul best with the Noctua, the Prolimatech Magalems is the overall best but not available in the UK, I think his point is that the Xigmatek is also excellent and within a couple of degrees of the TRUE for a fair bit less, definatly a good buy also.


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## Valenciente (Apr 20, 2009)

The Biostar TPower is £218.49 on OcUK.
The Gigabyte I can't find, only the UD3R or the UD4P, which are £169.99/£213.89 on OcUK.
The DFI Lan Party LP DK is £224.24 on OcUK.
The Foxconn Bloodrage is £275.99 on OcUK.

So the cheapest is the Gigabyte UD3R, but I think I will go for the Biostar TPower.


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## Tatty_One (Apr 20, 2009)

Valenciente said:


> The Biostar TPower is £218.49 on OcUK.
> The Gigabyte I can't find, only the UD3R or the UD4P, which are £169.99/£213.89 on OcUK.
> The DFI Lan Party LP DK is £224.24 on OcUK.
> The Foxconn Bloodrage is £275.99 on OcUK.
> ...



Dont get the UD3R but the UD4P is a very good board, it will do you just as well as the Biostar or DFi DK, if price isnt an issue, go with whicewhever brand gives you the warmest feeling!  System Viper in these forums can get 4.6gig out of a UD4P.


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## Valenciente (Apr 20, 2009)

I would probably be most comfy with the DFI, as my current mobo is from them, and it have served me very well.

I might go with it instead.


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## Tatty_One (Apr 20, 2009)

Valenciente said:


> I would probably be most comfy with the DFI, as my current mobo is from them, and it have served me very well.
> 
> I might go with it instead.



Good choice!  I have had mine for less than 2 weeks but it's doing just fine, am upto 4.2gig on air with an i7 920.


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## Valenciente (Apr 20, 2009)

I could still use some advice on what kind of cooling except for the Thermaltake I should get, and also which ram?

This whole DDR3 is new to me =D

What should I get for a noticeable performance gain?
DDR3 Tri-Channel - PC3-10600
DDR3 Tri-Channel - PC3-12800
DDR3 Tri-Channel - PC3-14400+
DDR3 Tri-Channel - PC3-16000+

I can Corsair Dominator 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 (1600MHz) Tri-Channel for £162.99.
Or OCZ 'FlexEX' 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800 (1600MHz) Tri-Channel for £114.99.
Or Crucial Ballistix 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10600C7 1333MHz Triple Channel for £185.99.

Now, the Crucial are lower MHz, but they are more expensive than the Dominators.
I need help =D

There are a lot more to choose from at http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=8
Those were just exampled of brands I know of.


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## Tatty_One (Apr 20, 2009)

Valenciente said:


> I could still use some advice on what kind of cooling except for the Thermaltake I should get, and also which ram?
> 
> This whole DDR3 is new to me =D
> 
> ...



personally if you cant get the TRUE and the £18 isnt an issue I would go for the Noctua 1366 I listed earlier with the 2 fitted fans.  As for Memory, depends in part how much you wanna overclock, the Crucial 1333mhz kits without the heatspredders @ CL9 on just 1.5v (so headroom there) have a really good reputation, check out the i7 overclocking thread....with the Tri channel low voltage kits (upto 1.65V) the specs on the tin are not always the defining performance indicator, if you want a mix of value and performance, I think these are decent.........

As mentioned

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-125-CR&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1390

OR

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-048-KS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1389

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-033-GS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1389


But you really need to google for reviews and as I said, check out the i7 overclocking thread, there are members with the Crucial and the HyperX that say they are very good, mine are great also but only 3GB kit rated at 1600mhz @ CL7 and they were only £38!


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## Valenciente (Apr 20, 2009)

Just a quick overview again:

CPU: Intel Core i7 920 2.66Ghz | £246.09
Motherboard: DFI Lan Party LP DK | £224.24
RAM: G.Skill 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 NQ PC3-12800C9 (1600MHz) Tri-Channel | £100.04
GFX: Asus ATI Radeon HD 4890 1024MB | £203.99
Soundcard: Onboard
HDD: N/A
Case: Coolermaster HAF 932 | £105.79 
Optical Drive: Sony NEC Optiarc AD-7200S 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer | £20.99
PSU: OCZ EliteXStream 800W (I am keeping my old one) | £62.99 (Buying a new one for the old rig, as I'm stealing the old one)
Cooling:
Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 | £52.88 

Total: £1017.01

More to come on cooling.

P.S. This is the correct Noctua, right?


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## jagass (Apr 20, 2009)

Looks fine...Keep us updated...


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## Tatty_One (Apr 20, 2009)

OK, just to save you a few pounds, have you considered the Coolermaster RC932 HAF case?  It's probably the best there is for airflow and can be had cheaper and it's a bit special 

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-157-CM&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=29

Also, save yourself a little on the 4890 here:

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?POW-4890

OR

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?HIS-4890

Both 190.89


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## Valenciente (Apr 20, 2009)

I'm pretty sure that if I order the 4890 from Novatech, the price of shipping to Denmark will equal it's price on OcUK, and so, I actually save but buying it on OcUK, even though the initial price is cheaper.

And yes, I have considered the HAF a lot, but I'm not a big fan of the big fan on the side. I like to see my hardware =) Of course, I haven't seen the fan in spinning action, so it might be okay, will look up on that.


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## Tatty_One (Apr 20, 2009)

Valenciente said:


> I'm pretty sure that if I order the 4890 from Novatech, the price of shipping to Denmark will equal it's price on OcUK, and so, I actually save but buying it on OcUK, even though the initial price is cheaper.
> 
> And yes, I have considered the HAF a lot, but I'm not a big fan of the big fan on the side. I like to see my hardware =) Of course, I haven't seen the fan in spinning action, so it might be okay, will look up on that.



You can still see inside.


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## Valenciente (Apr 20, 2009)

I read some reviews of the case, and also watched some on youtube.
It seems like a lot of a better case for me than the Antec 1200, so thanks for the suggestion =)
Do you know if those big fans have any LED/UV in them? Or else, I might have to buy some seperate ones.


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## Valenciente (Apr 20, 2009)

So, here is my final build, this is what I will be getting.

CPU: Intel Core i7 920 2.66Ghz | £246.09
Motherboard: DFI Lan Party LP DK | £224.24
RAM: G.Skill 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 NQ PC3-12800C9 (1600MHz) Tri-Channel | £100.04
GFX: Asus ATI Radeon HD 4890 1024MB | £203.99
Soundcard: Onboard
Case: Coolermaster HAF 932 | £105.79 
Optical Drive: Sony NEC Optiarc AD-7200S 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer | £20.99
PSU: OCZ StealthXStream (for old rig) | £62.99
Cooling & Modding:
Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 | £52.88
Xigmatek XLF-F1453 LED Fan 140mm | £11.39
Cold Cathode Twin-Set UV (Blacklight) 30cm | £7.86
Cold Cathode Twin-Set Red 30cm | £7.86
2xCooler Master 200mm Red LED Fans | £31.6


Total: £1067.86
Budget: £1200
Saved: £132,14

Looks like I get a new rig, and can take my girlfriend out for dinner in a month =)

I will start ordering these parts next month, at the end of the month I should be done with it, seeing as I need to get together a bit of cash for this, but half of it will come from selling the old rig, so it's not the biggest deal =)

Thanks to everyone who have helped me with this, and especially thanks to Tatty_One for sticking to the thread and guiding me with bunches of stuff!
-Valen


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## Tatty_One (Apr 20, 2009)

Valenciente said:


> I read some reviews of the case, and also watched some on youtube.
> It seems like a lot of a better case for me than the Antec 1200, so thanks for the suggestion =)
> Do you know if those big fans have any LED/UV in them? Or else, I might have to buy some seperate ones.



Side and top fans....  no LED, Front fan has a nice red LED, all fans are silent.  I see you have listed 200mm coolermaster fans seperatly, they are 230mm in the case.  Nice build!

Give me a shout if you need any help overclocking that setup as we have the same CPU and motherboard.


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## Valenciente (Apr 20, 2009)

Oh yeah, that's an error on the caseking.de site, in the describtion they are listed as 230mm =)

One thing came to my attention though, will 800watts be big enough for the PSU?
Just want to be sure =)


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## Tatty_One (Apr 20, 2009)

Valenciente said:


> Oh yeah, that's an error on the caseking.de site, in the describtion they are listed as 230mm =)
> 
> One thing came to my attention though, will 800watts be big enough for the PSU?
> Just want to be sure =)



Yes, for that system, any high quality unit 600W and above is more than enough, I am running mine with a 4870x2 on 750W and I have about 200W to spare!


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## Valenciente (Apr 20, 2009)

Well, then my 800watts should be fine =) Thanks again!


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## Tatty_One (Apr 20, 2009)

Your welcome, enjoy it when it arrives!


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## n-ster (Apr 21, 2009)

Nice build ! happy you took our advice! wouldn't buying everything at the same time save you $$ on shipping? Put your money in your bank and get a few extra dollars until you can get everything at once would be smart too


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