Advice needed on possible build, 3-4k+Post Date: 2013-02-11 |
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Cipher_8
Newbie Joined: 11 Feb 2013 Online Status: Offline Posts: 14 |
Quote Reply
Topic: Advice needed on possible build, 3-4k+ Posted: 11 Feb 2013 at 2:37pm |
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Hello, I would like some input on a possible purchase. I've been looking for a couple months now and I plan to place the order either today or tomorrow (might have to delay til next week to give you all time to give me some advice though) if I can figure out what I want. I need plenty of adivce though.
My friends, one who runs his own computer shop actually, and I have been shopping around. We started looking on newegg thinking of building it myself but that idea quickly went out the window. Then a friend suggested an Alienware but I'm hesitant to go with them. I think they're overrated and you mainly pay for name not parts or performance. I've pretty much been all over the place but now I've come here to see what Digital Storm can offer. I haven't heard much about Digital Storm but from what I can tell you guys are trustworthy and do good work. I look forward to purchasing my next system from here, if I can come to find the exact system I want through customization. We've been looking on this website now for a couple of weeks but I still am no closer to deciding. My friends have been giving me advice on what type of parts to get and they've been helping me with configurations but to me it's all a little too much. I'm having a hard time deciding but I do not want to overlook something obvious or make an uninformed choice so now I'm posting this. My Budget: Originally I wanted to go with around 2,000 but quickly I realized with the parts I want it'll be much closer to 3-4k. Probably end up going 4k+. I have a budget of approx. $4500 now with a little wiggle room to possibly go closer to $5,000 because I do have certain expectations in mind as far as what parts I want. I know the price can add up pretty fast but I want what I want so what can I say. Still I'm trying for as little mark up pricing as possible because if it is too much I may decide to just buy the parts off newegg and have a local PC shop build it for $50, an estimate I got from them already. That's only if it gets too pricey though because I trust Digital Storm more then them with their warranty, packaging, and testing of the system. I may have to delay purchase or I may just have to settle for something similar but less expensive if it gets too pricey though. Expectations: This is my first foray into buying a performance PC and I'm doing this, buying such a nice PC, as a way to kind of protect myself down the road so that I can be able to play future games. It should meet game requirements for at least 5 years, if not more, running games at "graphical max" and work for me running games for a much longer time at lower settings. I don't plan on doing much upgrading to it as far as parts go too soon but I know down the road, eventually, I'll need to so it's got to have that upgrade-ability and it should be easily upgradeable too because I don't really know what I'm doing inside there (will probably end up taking it to my friend actually). Bottom line is I need a future-safe PC, one that'll last me quite awhile because I don't want to buy another whole system 5 years from now. Usage: First and foremost, I want a good level of Gaming performance as that's the 'main' thing I'll be doing on the computer. Games out now and games in the future. I'm not a "graphic" guy but it's always nice to have better graphics. Mainly I just want to be able to play games smoothly, on higher settings, and have no problems while maybe running other programs from time to time like Skype or Web browser. Which leads me to the next thing. I also plan to do a lot of General Multitasking so it's gotta be able to handle that. I will be using a capture card software with the PC so I need it to be able to do rendering and uploading videos to youtube but also photo editing. Aside from that the basic web surfing. I want to be able to browse and not have issues with watching 1080p videos or keeping tons of different tabs open and having my browser crash or not respond. I probably won't ever take the computer to it's max usage just mainly basic gaming and multitasking on the web. I don't watch movies or listen to too much music but I might down the road so basically I just am looking for something that'll handle anything I throw at it. It's not just for gaming but that is the main, if not the only, reason I am getting high end parts. Special Needs: I'm a very bad user right now when it comes to PC use, like the poster child for what not to do. I don't put my tower in a very good place for air flow right now. It's basically tucked away inside a desk thingy I have my TV standing on. I'm sure it's all dusty as hell inside it because I don't ever take it out for cleaning. Also I never shut my PC off. I would like to get a tower case that's easy to access the inside (like side panel access) because mainly right now it's the little screws that's holding me back from going in and cleaning out the dust with one of those air cans. Also I'de like my case to let as little dust in as possible. Thirdly I need things like mic jack, usb access, and all that on the tower to be accessible because I'm sick of having the tower's backside facing me just so I can plug in stuff and have room for cords to reach where I need. Noise level is a non issue. I don't need this to be a quiet computer, fan noise or just running of the parts does not bother me at all. I want it to be plenty coool (probably going to have to be liquid cooled closed system because I don't want to have to do maintenance) and safe for the parts, that's the main thing. I do not need it to be flashy with lights and all that, though I may decide to get them if it's not too much. Mainly though I'll be storing the tower out of site, probably somewhere where airflow isn't that great, so I just need the best parts I can to keep everything running good, not the flashy stuff that's a waste of money (IMO). Purchase time: I don't really care how long it takes but I guess I would think a month is maybe a little much. I don't need it next day or anything I can wait. I've been patient long enough as is. ___________________________________________________________________
Extreme Cooling System: I have no clue what I'll need but I know two things. 1. I need liquid cooling. 2. I don't want to have to deal with maintenance, refilling/flushing/cleaning the tubes and detaching/reattaching to parts because the risk of me doing this and f*cking something up is too great for comfort. I'de rather get a closed system. I just don't know if one will do the job to keep my system cool because remember I rarely ever shut my PC down. It's always running. I imagine I'll have to have fans and liquid cooling but this is the one area I need the most advice in. Please help me out. Monitor: N/A I'm using my HDTV as a monitor now and honestly I think I like the utility of being able to switch between it. I don't got much room in my room for a desk anyways. I know it's not perfect for gaming and that many prefer monitors but for now it works for me. I'm not playing many FPS's where I need a high end monitor anyways so. Eventually though I may want a dual monitor set-up so it might be good to leave that option open.
Edited by Cipher_8 - 11 Feb 2013 at 3:42pm |
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Asangard
DS Veteran Joined: 21 Aug 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2209 |
Quote Reply Posted: 11 Feb 2013 at 4:26pm | ||||||||
Hi Cipher_8 and welcome to the forums,
Here is a build for you to look at. See comments below. Ticket # 786162 Price $3790 Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Cooler Master 942 HAF X Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish Processor: Intel Core i7 3930K 3.2GHz (Unlocked CPU for Extreme Overclocking) (Six-Core) Motherboard: ASUS Sabertooth X79 (Intel X79 Chipset) (Features USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s) System Memory: 32GB DDR3 1600Mhz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested) Power Supply: 1050W Corsair Pro Silver 1050HX (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible) Expansion Bay: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (240GB Solid State (By: Intel) (Model: 520 Series) Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (1TB Western Digital Caviar (7200 RPM) (Model: Black Edition) Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks Optical Drive 1: ASUS Blu-Ray Player/DVD Writer (Play Blu-Ray and Burn DVDs) (Model: BC-12B1ST) Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections) Video Card: 2x SLI Dual (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB (PhysX) (Overclocked EVGA) Add-on Card: - No Thanks Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 2: Corsair H100i 240mm Radiator Liquid CPU Cooler (Extreme-Performance Edition) H20 Tube Color:- Not Applicable, I do not have a FrostChill or Sub-Zero LCS Cooling System Selected Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans Internal Lighting: - No Thanks Enhancements: - No Thanks Chassis Mods: - No Thanks Noise Reduction: - No Thanks LaserMark: - No Thanks Boost Processor: Stage 1: Overclock CPU 4.0GHz to 4.4GHz Boost Video Card: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s) Boost Memory: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory Boost OS: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (64-Bit Edition) Recovery Tools: Windows Recovery Toolkit (Bundled with Windows CD) Virus Protection: - No Thanks Office: - No Thanks Game: FREE NVIDIA Bundle - Assassins Creed III (Digital Download Code for all GeForce GTX 600 Series) Display: - No Thanks Surge Shield: - No Thanks Speakers: - No Thanks Keyboard: - No Thanks Mouse: - No Thanks External Storage: - No Thanks Exclusive T-Shirt: FREE: Digital Storm T-Shirt - Black (Extra Large) Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 10-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed Warranty: Life-time Expert Customer Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty I started with the HAF X case. It is the best air cooled case DS offers. You CPU will be liquid cooled but the rest of your components will still be air cooled. This case has a front intake 230mm (Red LED) fan, a side intake 200mm fan (blows directly on the graphics cards) and a back 140mm exhaust fan. It comes with a top 200mm exhaust fan but that will be replaced by the radiator for the CPU cooler. I am not sure how much space you have as this case is almost 2 ft tall. If that will not fit then you will need a smaller case. The big difference between the Z77 vs X79 is the memory bandwidth and the number of PCIe graphics lanes. The Z77 is dual chanel memory with 16 lanes and the X79 is quad chanel memory with 40 lanes. Games do not use the extra memory bandwidth found in X79 systems. The X79 shines when doing video editing and rendering which you said you do so I put in the i7 3930K CPU. The i7 3960K would be overkill but that is your choice. I put in the ASUS X79 Sabertooth motherboard. The Rampaige IV Extreme is a great board but unless you are going quad SLI (4 graphics cards) it really isn't needed. The Sabertooth also has a longer warranty 5 yrs vs 3 yrs. I put in 32GB of RAM. Games don't use more that 8GB but with your video editing and rendering the extra RAM will be used. Plus it isn't that expensive these days. I added the 240GB Intel 520 SSD. It is a very reliable drive and has a 5yr warranty. I added the 1TB Western Digital Caviar (Black addition) HDD. This is faster the the standard 1TB Western Digital drive. I put in the Corsair 1050HX Power supply. This will give you plenty of power with headroom to expand later if need. Also has a 7 yr warranty. I used 2 GTX 680 graphics cards instead of the GTX 690. The GTX 690 is actually 2 GTX 680s (slightly detuned) on the same board. It still runs in SLI. Here is a link comparing the performance of 2 GTX 680s vs a GTX 690. Also if any thing goes wrong with the GTX 690 you have to replace the whole card where if one of the GTX 680s goes out you only have to replace the card. Also the GTX 690 has a single radial fan in the center of the card. This pushes half the heat out the back of the computer and the other half gets dumped into the case. Not some thing I would recommend in a closed space. Actually you could get by with just 1 GTX 680 since you are using your HDTV. You could drop down to 1 GTX 680 then add a 2nd later if you find you need it. I used the Corsair H100i CPU cooler. This is a sealed liquid cooling unit so no maintenance and comes with its own fan speed control. I put in Windows 7 PRO. You need the PRO version for RAM over 16GB. I used stage 1 OC. You said you are going to put this in a closed space so I wouldn't go with stage 2. It would be better if you could have this on top of your desk or a small table next to your desk. I hope you find this helpful. Edited by Asangard - 11 Feb 2013 at 4:32pm |
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Not from Without, Therefore, the 1st step on the Holy Warrior path, Is to recognize thyself as thy 1st enemy. |
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DST4ME
DS ELITE Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758 |
Quote Reply Posted: 11 Feb 2013 at 8:57pm | ||||||||
Can DS oc stage 2 with 32GB of ram? I would go stage 2 oc and 16GB of ram, faster cpu means faster pc, unless you need 32GB of ram for your use.
690 = Bad idea, always stay away from dual gpu cards. I would with noctua cooler or subzero for cooling, if you don't want to deal with lc then just get the noctua, you gonna get the same perfomrance anyways, real LC performance starts at stage 4 cooling. Asangard gave you some good info also in the same anadtech link Asangard posted you could do a little work and see that sli 670 will give you around the same performance depending on your res. Edited by DST4ME - 11 Feb 2013 at 9:00pm |
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Cipher_8
Newbie Joined: 11 Feb 2013 Online Status: Offline Posts: 14 |
Quote Reply Posted: 12 Feb 2013 at 2:26am | ||||||||
EDIT: Damnit I had a nice reply post but because there was a link it deleted all that I had typed when I went to post it, cuz i cannot post links? Anyways I'll work on re-typing it I guess. Edited by Cipher_8 - 12 Feb 2013 at 2:40am |
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Cipher_8
Newbie Joined: 11 Feb 2013 Online Status: Offline Posts: 14 |
Quote Reply Posted: 12 Feb 2013 at 2:28am | ||||||||
Thank you for your replies. I'm going to wait and see if I anyone else posts before I decide on anything but I do have some question about your suggestions... Firstly I've changed my mind and I plan to put it out in the open now, not in a inclosed area, because there is no air flow. Would you change your mind on the OC level, or cooling system, or maybe the case now that I've decided to not put it in an inclosed area next to my tv? I appreciate all of the suggestions but some of the parts I was pretty determined to get. The CPU is one of those parts I was going to go overboard on. I'm the type of guy that will purchase the most powerful components I can, regardless of if it will be used fully or not. I like to have it "just to have it" I guess. You did open my eyes to the difference though between the z77 and x79 though. I think I could get by with the 3930k but for only $300 more right now because of clearance the i7 3960X is probably the route I'm going to go. Is it a x79 though? The ASUS Rampage was another part I just wanted. I may not use quad SLI right now but down the road I may. 32GB
of RAM sounds good. Like you said gaming won't use that much but through video editing and rendering
the extra RAM
will be used. I just don't know how much of that I'll be doing to justify the cost of it but I
tried before on my current PC and it struggled mightily so I would like my new PC to be
able to handle it without any issues. A main question I have is why will my HDTV not
be good enough? If it's running 1920x1080 / 60Hz? I know a smaller computer monitor is better for games than a 42" TV but I don't play Crysis or CoD or many FPS's so I think the TV is perfect for games I do play like RPG's and Strategy games like Civ and Total War on high settings. I don't want a single 680. I know your just trying to save me money but I don't want to skimp on Video Card because I don't want to have to upgrade it as soon as the next batch of games come out. I haven't decided yet which I want between dual 680's or a 690 though but know that I'll take your suggestions into mind. It sounds like the 690 is not as much as a plug in and forget type part as I thought. I guess I wasn't aware that the 690 ran in SLI anyways and that it's heat dissipation would cause some problems. I don't really know what to do but your making me think the dual 680's are safer than a single 690. Edited by Cipher_8 - 12 Feb 2013 at 2:49am |
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bprat22
DS ELITE DigitalStorm East -- (Unofficially!) Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20391 |
Quote Reply Posted: 12 Feb 2013 at 3:26am | ||||||||
I'll just chime in to say the rig Asangard showed you is the same rig from me, also. Great case, quality mobo and all the cpu needed.
The Noctua D14 is the only change, it is quiet and the best in reliability if you're looking for longevity. The sealed units like H100 have a good reputation but still more to go wrong. If money isn't an issue then, yeah, you can splurge on everything but the extra cache on the 3960 you'll never use unless you're heavily into rendering, etc. Keep in mind that there is no 'future proof'. Whatever you put together now will need new graphic cards in 2-3 years if you want to stay on top. For thr money you're spending on a quality rig I would get a gaming monitor. Lots are happy with tvs but chevk out the Dell UltraSharps. Good luck. |
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ArkansasWoman777
DS Veteran Joined: 19 Aug 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4314 |
Quote Reply Posted: 12 Feb 2013 at 4:13am | ||||||||
I agree with everyone else that said Asangard gave you a pretty good build and info.
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"Captain Sirius Black"
Storm Trooper i5 3570k Ordered: 11-27-12 Stage 1: 11-29-12 Stage 2: 12-2-12 Stage 3: 12-2-12 Stage 4: 12-4-12 Stage 5: 12-4-12 Stage 6: 12-10-12 Stage 7: 12-12-12 |
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Cipher_8
Newbie Joined: 11 Feb 2013 Online Status: Offline Posts: 14 |
Quote Reply Posted: 12 Feb 2013 at 4:57am | ||||||||
I just really don't know anything about liquid cooling at all but I did some research and a lot of them require you to do a bunch of upkeep or maintenance and I would rather get something I don't have to flush and clean every week/month and refill yearly. The thing is more than that I want to protect my investment in all these expensive parts and make sure my cooling is more than going to cover the amount of heat the parts produce because I'm going to be running this all day, 24-7 most of the time. I do long gaming sessions playing for 6+ hours on end and even when I'm not using the PC it's always on sitting idle or my brother plays it when I'm gone. I want to go over what I need, get something more than what I may need, in order to cover myself so it never overheats and damages my parts but I don't really want to have a complicated liquid cooling system that requires me to check the temperatures and do maintenance because I wouldn't know what to do going inside there and would be afraid to mess something up (hence why I'm buying the PC here not building it on my own).
Edited by Cipher_8 - 12 Feb 2013 at 5:04am |
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bprat22
DS ELITE DigitalStorm East -- (Unofficially!) Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20391 |
Quote Reply Posted: 12 Feb 2013 at 5:13am | ||||||||
I have never gamed on a tv so can't compare. Plenty use tvs and are very happy. Some have gone monitor after tv and will never go back. I guess it would be best to visit a local electtonic store and see if you can compare the two. If your happy with the tv then go for it.
The Noctua isn't a lc, but a big block of cooling fins that dissipate the heat. Both lc and Noctua use fans to blow through the fins to cool. The sealed units like H100 are liquid in a sealed unit loop to radiator. No maintenance with H100 or Noctua. Both will cool about the same. |
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Cipher_8
Newbie Joined: 11 Feb 2013 Online Status: Offline Posts: 14 |
Quote Reply Posted: 12 Feb 2013 at 5:35am | ||||||||
Okay, is that what's in this video? http://youtu.be/9SgooUPp0UA?t=1m58s I think so... but I'm not sure. Anyways I guess I boiled it down to some key questions;
Edited by Cipher_8 - 12 Feb 2013 at 5:44am |
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ArkansasWoman777
DS Veteran Joined: 19 Aug 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4314 |
Quote Reply Posted: 12 Feb 2013 at 6:05am | ||||||||
Yea that is the noctua in the video. I can't give you much help on the other questions though.
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"Captain Sirius Black"
Storm Trooper i5 3570k Ordered: 11-27-12 Stage 1: 11-29-12 Stage 2: 12-2-12 Stage 3: 12-2-12 Stage 4: 12-4-12 Stage 5: 12-4-12 Stage 6: 12-10-12 Stage 7: 12-12-12 |
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Asangard
DS Veteran Joined: 21 Aug 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2209 |
Quote Reply Posted: 12 Feb 2013 at 6:52am | ||||||||
Yes that is the Noctua NH-D14 in the link you posted.
There is nothing wrong with wanting the best parts. This is going to be your computer afterall. My answers to your questions are as follows: 1. The case in the Hailstorm build is the Corsair 800D. It is really designed for full liquid cooling, CPU and GPUs. That would be stage 6 liquid cooling. There is maintence involved in this which you stated you want to avoid. You can make this case work on air cooling but you will need to have additional fans added to provide air cooling to the rest of the components. Many folks do get the Cosair 800D and make it work on air. The case in the Dreadnought, the HAF X, is designed with air cooling in mind. Even if you end up going with the H100 sealed liquid cooling for the CPU the rest of your components will still be air cooled. So in my opinion the HAF X case is the better choice. If you just love the looks of the Cosair 800D then go for it. I actually have both a Hailstorm system (full liquid cooled) and a Dreadnought System (fully air cooled). 2. My case for going with dual GTX 680s is stated in my build above. About the only real benifit of the GTX 690 is it does use slightly less power. Again see the link above. Since dual GTX 680s give better performance and you are looking for the best performance then the dula GTX 680s would seem to be the best fit for you. 3. Both the i7 3960X and the i7 3930K both use the X79 chipset. The i7 3960 has a faster stock clock speed and a larger cache. Since both can be overclocked the speed difference is a moot issue. As bprat22 stated the only time the extra cache will be used is in heavy video editing and rendering. Both will be excellent for you use. If you want the best go for the 3960. If you want to save a few bucks then get the 3930. 4. With you video editing, rendering and multitasking I would get 32GB of RAM. 5. Both the Corsair H100i and the Noctua NH-D14 will cool your CPU about the same. The H100 is a sealed unit so no maintenance required but there is more to go wrong with it than the D14. I would go with the NH-D14 but both have good track records. 6. The Sabertooth can handle tri SLI and the Rampage can handle quad SLI. The Sabertooth is build to military specs so it has a longer warranty (5yrs vs 3yrs). If you are looking for the best of the best then get the Rampage. Either way you will love the performance. 7. The 1050HX will handle your system no problems. There is even headroom to go to tri SLI. If you even went to quad SLI then you might need to go to a 1200w PSU. Since the 1050HX is semi modular, it would be easy to replace. The only cables hard wired into the 1050HX are for the motherboard. All you would need to do is unplug these from the motherboard and the rest of the cables you unplug from the back of the PSU. So you will not have to re-rout any cables except for the motherboard cables. Again this is your computer and if you want the best of the best there is nothing wrong with that. If it is withing your budget go for it.
Edited by Asangard - 12 Feb 2013 at 7:27am |
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Not from Without, Therefore, the 1st step on the Holy Warrior path, Is to recognize thyself as thy 1st enemy. |
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Asangard
DS Veteran Joined: 21 Aug 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2209 |
Quote Reply Posted: 12 Feb 2013 at 7:13am | ||||||||
Ah, one other thing. Glad to see you are going to have this out in the open. Much better. I would now go with stage 2 OC.
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Not from Without, Therefore, the 1st step on the Holy Warrior path, Is to recognize thyself as thy 1st enemy. |
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Cipher_8
Newbie Joined: 11 Feb 2013 Online Status: Offline Posts: 14 |
Quote Reply Posted: 12 Feb 2013 at 7:51am | ||||||||
Okay thank you once again for responding. You're the best Asangard very helpful!
I guess I would have to learn how to do the maintenance on a full liquid cooling system if I went with Hailstorm and that's not something I feel comfortable with. From the sounds of it I can keep my computer plenty cool with the HAF X and sealed liquid cooling? Right? I can run it 24-7 and not have to worry about it overheating? or No? The only other question I have regarding this is... Is there anyway that I can get this (http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6683) Cooler Master HAF X NVIDIA Edition Case through Digital Storm? Maybe paying extra / waiting longer it don't matter to me... The Cooler Master HAF X NVIDIA Edition Gaming Computer Case to me looks 100Xs better than the plain version. I love the Cooler Master 942 HAF X case's functionality and design but the plain black is beyond ugly and one red LED fan is boring. I never thought I'de be saying this but if I'm going to spend nearly $5k on a computer I guess I want to get something that worth bragging about. If I am going to have it out in the open now instead of tucked away in some desk I think I want something that looks good and that I'll want to show off/look at myself. My favorite colors are Purple, Black, and Lime Green. If I got the NVIDIA Edition I could have a Black/Lime Green case and then with internal lighting (UV) I could have purple glow effect from the inside or through purple LED fan lights or something.
I think the amount of heavy video editing and rendering that I'll be doing is minimal so the extra money might not be worth it. Since they are both x79 chipset, both 6 core, and both can be Extreme Overclocked to near 4GHz I think I may just save the extra $300 and spend it somewhere else maybe on a nice gaming keyboard like the Logitech G710+ Mechanical Keyboard or match my Razer Naga Mouse with Razer’s Black Widow keyboard. The one I have now is pretty crappy and dirty.
That's what I was thinking. Messing around with a build right now and that's what I have picked, I'll post it when I'm done. Though I need to know if my cooling system you have suggested will cover that? I suppose I can ask all this stuff to Digital Storm too when I call about ordering this. Edited by Cipher_8 - 12 Feb 2013 at 7:56am |
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Asangard
DS Veteran Joined: 21 Aug 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2209 |
Quote Reply Posted: 12 Feb 2013 at 8:36am | ||||||||
1. I have my HAF X with the Noctua NH-D14 cooler running almost all day with no problems. I do shut it off at night but I could run it 24/7 with no problems. I also have the CPU OCed to 4.5GHz (Stage 2 by DS).
DS will order for you any components that they don't stock. So yes you can get the NVIDIA HAF X version. They do charge extra for it. You will have to ask them how much or Alex might see this and respond. 2. Again here is a link that compares the performance of 2 GTX 680s vs 1 GTX 690 in different games at different resolutions. As you can see 2 GTX 680s out performs the GTX 690. They are close but the clear winner is the GTX 680s. 3. The i7 3930K will do you just fine. 4. For games the higher RAM speeds above 1600MHz will make little to no difference. You might see a slight boost in performance with video editing and rendering. There have been some reports of issues whith the higher RAM speeds and overclocked CPUs. Some have reported no problems while others have had problems. I have not seen nor heard of any problmes with the 1600MHz RAM and OCed CPUs. DS does use quality RAM sticks so I am comfortable recommending their RAM. They do buy from different manufacturers so I couldn't tell you exactly which brand they are currently using. The corsiar brand are excellent RAM. If you go with the Noctua NH-D14 cooler I believe DS would have to remove the heat spreaders on the top of the RAM sticks as the cooler over hangs the RAM slots. This really isn't that big of a deal. They will still work very well. 5. The Corsair H100i is a liquid cooler for the CPU. It is a sealed unit meaning no maintenance required. There are more moving parts such as a built in pump to circulate the water and fans to cool the water in the radiators. The Noctua NH-D14 is an air cooler for the CPU. It is a big block of fins with 2 fans attached to blow air over the fins and get rid of the heat. Less to go wrong with the D14. Even with Stage 2 OC you will be able to leave your computer on 24/7 with either cooler. 6. You will be happy with either board you choose. If the Rampage is in the budget go for it. 7. I would stay with the 1050HX for now. You most likely will never go to quad SLI. Even if you do it is a fairly easy swap. DS tech support can even walk you through it if needed. You should have no worries about the cooling for stage 2 OC with either the Corsair H100i or the Noctua NH-D14. Edited by Asangard - 12 Feb 2013 at 8:39am |
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Not from Without, Therefore, the 1st step on the Holy Warrior path, Is to recognize thyself as thy 1st enemy. |
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DST4ME
DS ELITE Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758 |
Quote Reply Posted: 12 Feb 2013 at 10:33am | ||||||||
Your friend that told you 690 is best has no idea what he is talking about. I can give you same performance depending on your res for games with sli 670.
when you use a 690 you will realize it will run hotter, and louder and give you less performance then 680/670 sli, and because of all of that they tend to go bad sooner, there are many other problems with them that I will no get into or I think has already been mentioned. As I mentioned as far as cooling goes, real LC performance starts at stage 4 cooling with subzero, the h100i will give you the same cooling as noctua, so why bother with inferior cooling when noctua can give you the same thing, also to match noctua you have to set the fans for h100i high which can make it loud. as far as ram goes, Asangard pretty much covered it, once you are at 1600mhz with current platforms, higher ram will make pertty much no noticeable difference. Also tri sli is better then quad sli in most cases, but again if your res is at say 1900 x 1200, tri sli or quad sli is a waste of money cause you will never see the difference between that and dual sli in that res. keep in mind you can add/change all 200mm fans of haf x to blue or red leds, so all fans are leds. if you check the review section of the forum you should some nice all blue or all red haf x cases. TVs don't make the best monitors. |
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Cipher_8
Newbie Joined: 11 Feb 2013 Online Status: Offline Posts: 14 |
Quote Reply Posted: 12 Feb 2013 at 12:39pm | ||||||||
I also think it would be smart for me to add a Temperature Display and Fan Controller on the front like this one. http://img11.hostingpics.net/pics/608223DSC05503.jpg I checked they are under Enhancements and are only like $70 extra. Would be nice to keep an eye on my temps since I'm not going full on liquid cooled.
Edited by Cipher_8 - 12 Feb 2013 at 1:00pm |
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Asangard
DS Veteran Joined: 21 Aug 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2209 |
Quote Reply Posted: 12 Feb 2013 at 1:01pm | ||||||||
Unless you go Sage 3 or higher with liquid cooling you will not be able to use the UV lights. It is the fluid in these higher end liquid cooling system that is UV reactive. You could use any of the interal lighting though just not the UV.
Edited by Asangard - 13 Feb 2013 at 4:23am |
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Not from Without, Therefore, the 1st step on the Holy Warrior path, Is to recognize thyself as thy 1st enemy. |
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DST4ME
DS ELITE Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758 |
Quote Reply Posted: 12 Feb 2013 at 1:32pm | ||||||||
Fan display / controller is pointless, the temps are not correct, hwmonitor or realtemp can do a much better job and they are free.
keep in mind the nvidia edition has green fans which you can't find/get anywhere, and keep in mind you want to add the extra 200mm fan to it, it fits 2 big fans on top but comes with only one, no matter what version you get. It is nice to checkout correct temps with free software, but whether you have LC or not, is not an issue, your system with noctua will have great load temps. AS mentioned by Asangard, led lights are the uv tubes/uv fluid, which you get at stage 3 cooling, the self contained LC units don't qualify for this. I have a huge plasma and I still prefer the monitor. check out dell 30" IPS panel, if you want boss this is what you want, not sure about multi setup, never liked those cause I can always see the edges, but to each his own, I would recommend starting with that 30" then if you still think you want multi monitor setup then go for it. also if you are looking to go 30" or multi monitor setup, then you may want to think tri sli for which you may want to have a bigger psu, I think the 1050hx will handle tri sli ok, but I like a little more headroom with the cpu oc and etc. Edited by DST4ME - 12 Feb 2013 at 1:33pm |
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Cipher_8
Newbie Joined: 11 Feb 2013 Online Status: Offline Posts: 14 |
Quote Reply Posted: 13 Feb 2013 at 12:17am | ||||||||
Okay so which RAM would you choose then the 32GB DDR3 1600Mhz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested) or 32GB DDR3 1600MHz Corsair Dominator DHX (High-Performance)? and also which SSD should I go with? 256GB Solid State (By: Samsung) (Model: 840 Pro Series)240GB Solid State (By: Corsair) (Model: Neutron GTX Series) (SATA 6Gbps)240GB Solid State (By: Intel®) (Model: 520 Series) (2.5in SATA 6Gb/s, 25nm, MLC)My friend told me about the new Samsung SSD's being really good having something like 200 megabit speeds or some crap but then I read that people were having problems with them. I figured before I decide I should ask as I know nothing as to what to look for in regard to (IOPS) and (MB/s). What's more important the input/output operations per second or sequential read performance per second? Might as well recommend a 1TB 7200 RPM Hard Drive as well while your at it. Which brand? Edited by Cipher_8 - 13 Feb 2013 at 12:29am |
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CmmdrShepard
Newbie Joined: 22 Nov 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 63 |
Quote Reply Posted: 13 Feb 2013 at 4:52am | ||||||||
As for the brand of RAM; I would say that it depends on what extreme cooling you are using, the Noctua nh-d14 air cooling for example is large and extend over the RAM slots making it so that there isn't much room for the height of the 32GB DDR3 1600MHz Corsair Dominator DHX to fit in the RAM slots.
As for the 1TB 7200 RPM Hard Drive, I would go with the 1TB Western Digital Caviar Black Edition, they come with a 64MB cache; I have installed a couple and have had no problems with them. Edited by CmmdrShepard - 13 Feb 2013 at 5:02am |
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Asangard
DS Veteran Joined: 21 Aug 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2209 |
Quote Reply Posted: 13 Feb 2013 at 5:14am | ||||||||
If it was me I would get the DS certifed RAM. If you want the best of the best get the Corsair.
Here is a where you can compare different SSDs performance to each other. I have this link set to compare the Corsiar to the Intel. Here I set it to compare the Intel to the Samsung: Comparing the Corsair to the Intel SSD the Corsair is better in some things and the Intel in others. Here I give a slight edge to the Intel 520. Compring the Intel to the Samsung the clear winner is the Samsung. Here is a article discussing the issues with the Samsung 840/840 Pro SSDs. According to this article the problem seems to be with the firmware in the pre-production models that were sent out to different people for testing. According to this article all production models have the new firmware without the bug. Anandtech the people that did the testing in the links above and the article about the firmware bug is a very reliable source. They have not reported any additional failures with their production model. My thoughts are the Intel has an excellent track record with proven reliability. The Samsung is indeed faster and the bug appears to be confined to pre-production models. DS does back all the products they use in their builds. If some thing does go wrong they will take care of you. I have no problem with recommending the Samsung 840 PRO. For the HDD I would go with the 1TB Western Digital Caviar (7200 RPM) (Model: Black Edition). The Black Edition is faster than their standard model. |
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Not from Without, Therefore, the 1st step on the Holy Warrior path, Is to recognize thyself as thy 1st enemy. |
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Cipher_8
Newbie Joined: 11 Feb 2013 Online Status: Offline Posts: 14 |
Quote Reply Posted: 13 Feb 2013 at 6:14am | ||||||||
786680 is the work in progress build I got going... I don't know what Sound Card though... ?
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bprat22
DS ELITE DigitalStorm East -- (Unofficially!) Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20391 |
Quote Reply Posted: 13 Feb 2013 at 6:37am | ||||||||
Real nice rig.
Not sure those tall heat spreaders on the ram will fit under the HafX. DS might recommend the low profile ram. |
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Asangard
DS Veteran Joined: 21 Aug 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2209 |
Quote Reply Posted: 13 Feb 2013 at 8:12am | ||||||||
If you still plan on getting the NVIDIA HAF X case then you might want to consider the green interal lighting. It is $10 for the lighting.
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Not from Without, Therefore, the 1st step on the Holy Warrior path, Is to recognize thyself as thy 1st enemy. |
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DST4ME
DS ELITE Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758 |
Quote Reply Posted: 13 Feb 2013 at 12:01pm | ||||||||
I just want to chime in and say that intel and corsair now have a good track record while samsung is the new kid on the block and its reliability remains to be seen.
Anandtech article also at the end says they are awaiting new samples but when have not heard anything on the new samples as far as I know. keep in mind most of our use is gonna be in the 4k size so those are the speeds you want to compare. You may have to change your cpu cooler if you gonna go with that ram, the heat spreaders may not fit under the noctua. I changed your ssd and cooling, what do you think: Ticket Number: 786797 Edited by DST4ME - 13 Feb 2013 at 1:24pm |
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Cipher_8
Newbie Joined: 11 Feb 2013 Online Status: Offline Posts: 14 |
Quote Reply Posted: 14 Feb 2013 at 6:07am | ||||||||
Well I might change my mind and go with the corsair instead of Samsung SSD then but I don't know yet about the cooling system. I want to see what Digital Storm says first but I really don't want a Liquid Cooling system that requires maintenance because I do not know what I'm doing on how or when to refill it and clean it. I wouldn't ever take it apart to clean it of algae or that metal build up stuff.
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bprat22
DS ELITE DigitalStorm East -- (Unofficially!) Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20391 |
Quote Reply Posted: 14 Feb 2013 at 7:35am | ||||||||
The selections can be mind-boggling. DS can help alot.
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DST4ME
DS ELITE Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758 |
Quote Reply Posted: 15 Feb 2013 at 4:01pm | ||||||||
DS does help but if you want an unbiased advise then you need to look for a lot of info or take the advise of the members here that have read the info from creditable places and understand how things work also, just a review from one place never is a decision maker for me, I trust sites like anadtech, guru3d, techpowerup, driveheaven, etc., but I trust them only so much, often I find problems with reviews or article or recommendation from all places, say 80% to 70% of the time they are good but 20% to 30% of the time I find flaws.
At the end of the day, these are the facts: closed loop or not, you are going to have to mess with it one way or another, maybe because a fan went out or its leaking or pump stopped, that goes both for closed loop or not. As for messing around and etc, here is some info: the liquid in these coolers (closed or not) is non-conductive, which means if it spills it won't short anything. for the zubzero, all you have to do is look at the reservoir and if its half or 60% full you just add a bit of liquid, now before you say "I can't do that" let me show you what that in tells, below you see a reservoir, it has a cap that is screwed in, you unscrew the cap and simply add liquid, feel free to use a funnel if you are worried: Now that should take you under 2 minutes your first time, I mean its that simple, unscrew, put the funnel in and pure a bit of liquid thats it. My point is that if you are not gonna go real liquid cooling/performance, then do so because you don't want/need it. Also keep in mind that if you do get a closed loop, you are not experiencing real LC, so don't base any performance of LC based on the closed loop, the reason for this is inferior waterblock and radiator. As for ssds, again facts, intel has been out for a long time and has a great track record, I'm sporting an intel ssd myself, I was against corsair couple of years ago due to issues it had and its controller track record, however the new controllers have 2 years of good track record behind them and some good speeds. Simply put on one side you have the intel and corsair with proven record, on the other side you got samsung who is the new kid on the block, when you compare the 840 pro with the neutron gtx, the difference is very little is most places, only place samsung is way ahead is in file transfer speeds of 2GB, which should not make much of a difference to most people. So ask yourself, do I want to take a chance on the new kid for better file transfer speeds, or do I want to go with one of the 2 proven guys on the block. AS for cooling simply as yourself ""do I need LC?" if the answer is yes then ask yourself "do I want real LC performance or do I want air cooling perfomrance in a closed LC system?" Its just that simple when you know the facts. Oh btw, for a real LC system, you may need to top it off once every 3 to 6 months (as we discussed above) and its a good idea to flush it once every 3 years, you can make this very easy for yourself by asking DS to install quick release valves for you which make flushing very simple and easy, I could teach your 12 year old cousin that has never seen a pc how to do it in 5 minutes. Hope all that helps |
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Alex
Admin Group Digital Storm Supervisor Joined: 04 Jun 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 16312 |
Quote Reply Posted: 15 Feb 2013 at 4:15pm | ||||||||
I just wanted to say it's always impressive to see the length of detail and help all of you provide. Thank you everyone for your support for helping our new customers.
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DST4ME
DS ELITE Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758 |
Quote Reply Posted: 15 Feb 2013 at 4:22pm | ||||||||
Thank you Alex and DS for being great
Edited by DST4ME - 15 Feb 2013 at 4:49pm |
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Alex
Admin Group Digital Storm Supervisor Joined: 04 Jun 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 16312 |
Quote Reply Posted: 15 Feb 2013 at 4:31pm | ||||||||
You're welcome!
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HockeyBuck
DS Veteran Joined: 27 Jul 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1608 |
Quote Reply Posted: 16 Feb 2013 at 9:58am | ||||||||
Better check first with DS sales to see if the 2011 NVidia Half-X NV-942-KKN1 version green case is still available from Cooler Master....newegg is out of stock. If it can still be ordered, the side window itself is green tinted in that case, and the front 230mm x 30mm fan is green LED.
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tju76
Senior Member Joined: 06 Mar 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 804 |
Quote Reply Posted: 16 Feb 2013 at 12:51pm | ||||||||
Even if the liquid is non conductive it will not stay that way over time it will become conductive just like regular water, things like dust debris in the loop will quicken the process
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DST4ME
DS ELITE Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758 |
Quote Reply Posted: 17 Feb 2013 at 11:11am | ||||||||
If the loop is closed, nothing get in there, if you have dust in your loop then something is wrong with your loop.
only thing in your loop is gonna be from the rad and etc, even after 3 to 5 years a proper loop will not become conductive, but one flushes the liquid out anyways. For non conductive liquid to become conductive you need excessive dust or contact with conductive fluid, neither of which should happen in a proper airtight loop. No matter what one should always take proper care to not spill any kind of liquid in the system period. But yes if a loop is not airtight and neglected for a long time, then you will endup with conductive liquid Edited by DST4ME - 17 Feb 2013 at 11:28am |
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