So I'm planning on putting together a 3930K gaming and workstation machine (at last) next week, but I'd like some input on my decisions. Intel Core i7-3930K (ideally overclocked to 4.5GHz, daily stable) Corsair H80 2x 4x4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600 C9 kit (I wanted Ripjaws Z, but don't seem to be available) ASUS Rampage IV Extreme (Formula isn't available and hasn't got 8 DIMM slots anyway. Sabertooth might be a cheaper alternative though, but it kinda lacks pointers I want) Palit GTX 560Ti Twinlight Turbo 1024MB GDDR5, or ASUS GTX 560Ti DirectCU II TOP 1024MB GDDR5 Kingston HyperX 120GB SSD Seagate Barracuda XT 3TB ThermalTake Chaser Mk-I I'd like to know if anyone has experience with the Palit Twinlight Turbo and ASUS DirectCUII cards and which might be the better choice here. Bear in mind that I don't intend to keep the card particularly long as I intend to replace it with a Kepler card in due time, or relegate it to PhysX duties at that time. The next question is what kind of temperatures or overclocking targets could I expect from the 3930K on the H80? Would the H60 do (it'd save me $40)? And is the tubing on these Corsair liquid coolers long enough to fix into a bottom fan intake? How's the pre-applied thermal paste, is it better for me to use my tube of MX-2? Or is it simply a better idea to buy a humongous air cooler? Does anyone here have experience between the Seagate Barracuda XT drive and the existing Western Digital 6Gbps FAEX 2TB? Due to the recent price hikes, I can buy the XT for the same price as the FAEX 2TB (which was what I intended to get at first), but I've been rather wary of Seagate lately. For the Kingston HyperX SSD, I'm aware that Sandforce and Intel controllers are just not friends with each other and get random BSoDs. Has anyone got this HyperX drive and had BSoDs, or a fix for it? Is it a better idea for me to buy a Crucial m4 instead? And are there any programs I can use for a manual TRIM command, as I intend to install Vista. Last thing I want to ask about; the case - I'm sure there are some around here using the Corsair Graphite 600T - is there any way at all to turn its lights off? On the other hand, is it worth an extra $110 to buy the Thermaltake Level 10 GT instead? I'm of course carrying over my existing HDDs and optical drives, plus my audio card. Thanks in advance, Gurus.
What kind of work is it for? Are you sure an LGA1155 / 2600K system wouldn't be fine? For gaming, 2500K would be fine so it depends on the work you do whether even 2600K is worth it. What resolution do you game on? 1080p? I'd recommend a 6950 2GB if so. Or even a 6850 to hold you off until Kepler. PhysX is not worth it, only a handful of titles use it... pointless to keep a 560 Ti around just for that. What's your budget? Where are you buying from? I wouldn't go with a Corsair Hydro. There are cheaper tower coolers that perform the same, possibly at lower noise levels. E.g. Scythe Mugen 3 or Thermalright HR-02 Macho. The Hydro does nothing but move the heatsink a few inches for a fee. If you want the absolute best cooler, buy a new Phanteks twin tower. It outperforms Noctua D14 by 5 degrees at load! Crucial M4 or Samsung 830 is a better choice than Kingston HyperX. You could get away with a lot less on the case. Forgetting for a moment the fact that the case is a personal choice in terms of looks, what does the 600T get you compared to e.g. Corsair 400R/500R, Fractal Arc Midi, CM Storm Sniper, CM HAF 922?
Workloads include heavy video work (multithreaded), media with Adobe Photoshop, that sort of thing. Plus some 3D work with Cinema4D and possibly NX. And truth be told, if I can play a game on my extra two cores whilst rendering a video that'd take the sting out of waiting I'd rather buy a 6870 or 6950 myself, but CUDA support in Vegas Pro and Adobe Suite is much more comprehensive or efficient compared to OpenCL or AMD Stream. Furthermore I intend to get what's really best at the moment, as this build is intended to have a long lifespan. Another important point is that I do want the new graphics card, though just a midrange interim step to reduce power consumption and provide DX11 support, to be at least as fast, if not faster than my existing GTX295. Right now, the only card fitting all these conditions is the GTX 560Ti. No specific budget at the moment, though I'm trying to keep unnecessary costs down. http://fuwell.com.sg/uploads/misc/Fuwell121211.pdf <- here's the pricelist of the place I'm buying from. These aren't US dollars so don't bother comparing to Newegg. Limited selection here, check the pricelist and you'll see what I mean. All I get are CoolerMasters, the Tt Frios and the Hydro series. Scythe, Thermalright, Phantek? All difficult to get here. Yeah, I actually really want the Samsung 830, but sadly it's unavailable here. I'm going with the HyperX because it's using Intel NAND (rated for 40% more cycles than others) and it's amongst the fastest SSDs, coming in only second to the MAXIOPS in the reviews I've read. Plus I can get a rebate on it, which increases its attractiveness over the Force GT I was originally intending to buy. I've got a Sniper at the moment, but I do want something different. The 600T is quiet and has pretty much an unprecedented ease of maintenance (e.g. the easilly removed filters, side panel latches), but I need a case that can turn its lights off, I can't sleep with lights going, which is why I've changed my mind to the Tt Chaser. Mind you, buying another Sniper isn't exactly any much cheaper than either the 600T or Chaser. Some cases don't have enough features I do want, like multiple 200mm fans, at least 2+2 USB ports and a minimum of three 5.25" bays (I have 2 optical drives plus I probably need a slot for a controller). You might ask why I need a new case, but I have to hand this existing machine over to someone else (who dreadfully needs a computer), so I can't keep things.
Where did you hear that? Ive never had an issue like that Also, vista supports trim and there is also no way to manually trim. It automatic whenever you delete a file For the ram, did you see any G.Skill sniper? Those are just as good Get an air cooler, not worth going for hxx as those are kinda noisy and kinda a waste for 4.5ghz. Id get something like a silver arrow, notcua dh-14, or prolimatech super mega/megahalem with 2 fans of your choice Asus DCII is a great card, as is that palit; asus probably has a better warranty
Sandforce BSoD issue as a whole, but I've been hearing that it happens much more frequently on Intel chipsets. Do correct me if I'm wrong.
Uhm definetly not; if any bsods happened, it would be caused by bad firmware on the ssd itself(vertex 3 is a good example). But they fixed all those problems. There are no issues regarding sandforce drives conflicting with intel chipsets. Btw i have 2 sandforce drives and ive never had any problems
i use asus gtx560ti dc2 top and it's ok card.. stock at 1.012v i was able to have it stable at 0.950v stock (<- default OC so 900/1800/2100mhz) and highest stable OC was at 975/1950/2120mhz @ 1.0v.. for more i would need much more vcore.. also idle teps are around 27-30°C ant full load at up to 70°C while fans are still under 2000 rpm (1100rpm in idle) and their max speed is 4100 rpm...
xilence x5 Hi, new to this forum, hello. Just about to built a new PC. I have used IC-Diamond and Arctic 5 TIM before but have now bought some xilence x5 thermal paste. Anyone used this on their rig ? Frank
I've had large tower coolers, and I've had all-in-one water coolers. I would never go back to tower coolers now. Anytime you need to do maintenance on your system, the tower is in the way of things. Can't reach your ram sticks, can't reach power plugs, can't reach fan headers, can't reach mobo screws. It's hell. All-in-one water coolers leave the motherboard wide-open. The system is a piece of cake to work on, and the all-in-one water coolers are a piece of cake to install/uninstall. The sheer convenience is worth every penny to me. ( Yeah, performance essentially like the better air coolers : http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/alpenfoehn_himalaya_cpu_cooler_review,9.html ) +1 on the M4. They've served me well so far. I'm prolly gonna try the corsair performance series next, the ones with the marvell controller (like the M4). -scheherazade
That was my main rationale for opting to get liquid, and if I did want to replace the fans on a liquid cooler I'd just have to remove the radiators rather than those on a tower cooler. Plus liquid coolers do look so much more streamlined and aesthetically pleasing...
2600-2700k at 5.2-5.6ghz would actually perform almost the same in most cases, be a lot cheaper and run a lot cooler.
Heh, so would a 2500K (at those speeds). Funny isn't it. asrock extreme 3 gen 3 + 2500K = $350, with OC matches the SB-E in most tests, for less than what a 3930K costs. That said, x79 is just neat for the sake of neatness. I have no regrets about getting it. -scheherazade
I have multithreaded (8C+ supporting) applications that will be used, so I'm certain I will see a marked improvement with the 3930K over a 2600K (which I have strongly considered, with a two-step 2600K->3770K). But I reason the maximum 50% improvement and the ability to multitask even better (e.g. render a video while playing a game) is worth the cost, plus factoring the expected use lifespan (a 3930K will stay relevant longer than a 2600K I'm sure).
Get a 2500-2700k with a z68 instead of that worthless 3930k and X79, and use the extra cash on a much better videocard. Will give you a lot better results.
Aww, come now. If you do a lot of content creation, or parallel compiling large programs, you'll really benefit from a 3930K. No need to be harsh on x79 -scheherazade
I've said it before, not purely gaming machine. I don't want to buy a more expensive video card because I won't keep it very long.
It's way easier changing fans on a Tower cooler that it is on a radiator. Generally you don't have to take the whole cooler out when installing fans on a tower heatsink whereas you have to take the radiator out with ALC units. Liquid coolers are messy with all the cables whereas something like the Alpenfohn K2 is so much more aesthetically pleasing. Not to mention that ALC units are terribly loud.
I'm using a Corsair ForceGT 120GB SSD on my mobo (see profile), and so far, my system boots up w/o any issue whatsoever. It's a different story with my nephew Vertex 3 + P68 Asus mobo (can't recall model number), he tells me that up to today, he'd still get random BSODs.
