Build advice needed!!Post Date: 2013-02-03 |
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AlCoito 
Newbie 
Joined: 25 Mar 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 17 |
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 Topic: Build advice needed!!Posted: 03 Feb 2013 at 7:31pm |
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Budget:
$3500.00 - $5000.00 Expectations: [Please Type Here] Usage: Gaming - FPS and Simulation games like iracing. Special Needs: I prefer air cooling (Noctua). What are the advantages of the stage 4 LCS. I just don't want to have to deal with too much maintenance. The Corsair SSD how does it compare to the Intel 520. Saved Ticket #: 783447 Specifications: Specifications: Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Black OPS HailStorm Edition Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish Processor: Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition 3970X 3.5GHz (Six-Core) (Extreme Performance) Motherboard: ASUS Rampage IV Extreme X79 (Intel X79 Chipset) (Features USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s) System Memory: 16GB DDR3 1866MHz Corsair Dominator Platinum DHX (Extreme-Performance) Power Supply: 1200W Corsair Pro Platinum Series with Corsair Link (CP-9020008-NA) (Quad SLI Compatible) Expansion Bay: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (240GB Solid State (By: Corsair) (Model: Neutron GTX Series) (SATA 6Gbps) <b></b> 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 4: Sub-Zero LCS Cooling System: CPU Only H20 Tube Color:Red Tubing with High-Performance Fluid (UV Lighting Reactive) 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 2: Overclock CPU 4.5GHz to 4.8GHz (Requires Pro/Deluxe/Sabertooth Motherboard) 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 Home Premium (64-Bit Edition) Recovery Tools: Windows Recovery Toolkit (Bundled with Windows CD) Virus Protection: - No Thanks Office: - No Thanks Game: - No Thanks Display: - No Thanks Surge Shield: - No Thanks Speakers: - No Thanks Keyboard: - No Thanks Mouse: - No Thanks External Storage: - No Thanks Exclusive T-Shirt: - No Thanks 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 |
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HockeyBuck
DS Veteran 
Joined: 27 Jul 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1608 |
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Posted: 03 Feb 2013 at 11:00pm |
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Hello AlCoito..... You didn't mention what monitor setup and resolution are you planning this build for?
The Hailstorm's excellent Corsair 800D case is considered the best for a liquid cooled build, and a Stage 4 LCS is considered the minimum for a "real" LCS... Should give a solid overclock. Eventually in a year or two the loop will need to be flushed out & refilled with new coolant...that's usually about it, but be sure to request DS place quick disconnects & drain plugs on the loop for easier maintenance when it's time. If this rig is only for gaming, I want to make sure you are aware that gaming will only use or require 4 core processors... If you do other things like Photoshop or rendering or do a lot of multitasking, the 6 core CPU's can help with that. You have chosen the top of the line i7 3970X 6 core processor... You could consider dialing that CPU down and in gaming you wouldn't notice much difference. The X79 Rampage is a great enthusiast mobo if you plan to go tri-SLI, but the durable military spec X79 Sabertooth will get you a better 5 yr MFG warranty, and costs less... should overclock about the same....All of the other mobo's have 3 yr mfg warranty. Suggest you drop to 1600 mhz RAM... You wouldn't be able to tell any difference from 1866 mhz, but the 1600 mhz RAM is preferred for overclocking simplicity....and less expensive. Regarding the SSD question, you can see this comparison review... http://www.anandtech.com/print/6058 Intel has a good reputation for reliability...Corsair Neutron GTX is a bit faster and less expensive. I went with the Neutron GTX 240 gb in my Hailstorm rig and it's very speedy...no problems. Here is a build example where I dropped to the i7 3930 6 core CPU, X79 Sabertooth mobo, and 1600 mhz Corsair Dominator RAM....and used some of the savings to 1) bump up to Win 7 Pro so you could add more RAM in the future if desired. 2) added a chassis mod...one 120 mm side window intake fan over the GPU area will keep your SLI video cards cool by pushing plenty of fresh air right where it's needed.... 3) Added the $10 internal lighting to match your tubing. 4) Don't forget the free t-shirt and free game download! This build would game at ultra settings and save you about $500 while staying with the X79 and a fast 6 core CPU. See ticket number: 783501 Hope all that gets you started... 
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AlCoito
Newbie
Joined: 25 Mar 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 17 |
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Posted: 04 Feb 2013 at 7:29am |
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Thanks for the advice HockeyBuck
I am using 2 Dell 24 inch UltraSharps and I game at 1920x1200. I am intrigued with the X79 SaberTooth mobo you recommended. Is it capable of tri SLI? Will it service upgrades to newer technology for years to come? Would I be able to go with air cooling instead of LC with this build? Or is it not advisable. Thank You AlCoito |
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Asangard
DS Veteran
Joined: 21 Aug 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2209 |
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Posted: 04 Feb 2013 at 8:01am |
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Hi AlCoito,
HockeyBuck's suggestions are all great. Here is another way to go since you mentioned that you would prefer air cooling and only mention this rig would be for gaming. See comments afterwards. Ticket # 783569 Price $ 3272 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 3770K 3.50 GHz (Unlocked CPU) (Quad Core) Motherboard: ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 (Intel Z77 Chipset) (Features Thermal Armor and Thermal Radar) System Memory: 16GB 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: AIR: Stage 2: Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 Extreme Performance 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: Internal Chassis Lighting System (Red) Enhancements: - No Thanks Chassis Mods: - No Thanks Noise Reduction: - No Thanks LaserMark: - No Thanks Boost Processor: Stage 2: Overclock CPU 4.5GHz to 4.8GHz (Requires Pro/Deluxe/Sabertooth Motherboard) 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 went with the HAF X case as it is the best DS has for air cooling. It has a front 230mm (Red LED) intake fan, side 200mm intake fan (blows directly on graphics cards) a top 200mm exhaust fan and a 140mm back exhaust fan. These fans move slowly and move lots of air. I went with the I7 3770K CPU with the Z77 chipset as gaming doesn't use the extra memory bandwidth of the X79 chipset. I dropped the memory to 1600MHz as you will not see any different in gaming with the higher speed RAM. I used the Corsair 1050HX PSU. The 1050HX is more than plenty to handle this system. (Even if you were to add a 3rd graphics card). I used the Intel 520 240GB SSD. Both the Intel and Corsair are good SSDs and both have a 5yr warranty. Here is a link comparing the 2. Looking at the comparison the Corsiar does better in some things while the Intel is better at others. I give a slight edge to the Intel but you can't go wrong with either. I stayed with the GTX 680s as they are within your budget. You could save some more by going with the GTX 670s as their performance is within 5 to 10% of the 680s. I used the Noctua NH-D14 air cooler. This is the best air cooler DS offers. I also included the free game and free T-Shirt. This system should play your games at max settings while keeping noise relatively low. This is just another way to go that meets your stated requirements. I hope you found this helpful. I also included Win 7 Pro. If you ever wanted to add more than 16GB RAM you will need it.
Edited by Asangard - 04 Feb 2013 at 8:12am |
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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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HockeyBuck
DS Veteran
Joined: 27 Jul 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1608 |
Quote Reply
Posted: 04 Feb 2013 at 12:50pm |
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Hi AlCoito... Sorry... My post was getting long, so I didn't comment about air. Asangard suggested a great build for air cooling using the Half-X case... It's regarded as the best case for high airflow, but yes you could use air cooling for the CPU in any of the other cases including the Hailstorms Corsair 800D case. DS has options to add intake fans to the 800D case window...and extra intake fans on the case top that would improve airflow in the 800D.
I went Stage 4 liquid cooling in my Hailstorm rig and I'm very happy with the performance I get. Personally, I prefer liquid cooling but that roomy 800D case can do just about anything you can think of. DS can make it happen, whatever you choose. If you need Tri-SLI on your motherboard, then Sabertooth won't do that and you would need the Rampage, Deluxe or the Pro board after all. Any of these reliable Asus boards will have strong upgrade support for many years, and a great feature set. Here is a sample Hailstorm build # 783642 on air, using the Rampage and the best Noctua NH-D14 air cooler. With the very large heatsink, clearance space between the board and heatsink for tall RAM like the Dominator is always a concern, so I switched to lower profile DS RAM. Note in comments at bottom you would have to ask DS for a price for adding the top 3 extra 120 mm intake fans I would recommend using to put lots of extra fresh air on the big Noctua cooler. Here is a photo I clipped from overclockers forums showing a Noctua NH-D14 mounted in the Corsair 800D case. 
Another way you could go would be using a closed loop liquid cooler like the Vortex 240 or the Corsair H100i. These are zero maintenance cooler units and would use a 240 mm radiator with 2 x 120 mm intake fans under the case top. Very reliable, and the Corsair H100i is a refined new model with more flexible tubing than the old model. Here's a build using the H100i cooler and putting taller Dominator RAM back in....#783649 Hope this helps you focus on what you want for your build. 
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ArkansasWoman777
DS Veteran
Joined: 19 Aug 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4314 |
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Posted: 04 Feb 2013 at 1:54pm |
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That looks wicked.
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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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AlCoito
Newbie
Joined: 25 Mar 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 17 |
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Posted: 05 Feb 2013 at 4:18pm |
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Well I took the great advice from HockeyBuck and Asangard. Thanks I greatly appreciate it. It was a big help. I struggled with the I7-3770K or I7-3930K. I went with the I7-3930K. I took the advice HockeyBuck suggested and went with the Corsair H100i cooling. I hope I made the right choices.
Thanks again AlCoito Order Contents: - Digital Storm Desktop 452439 Quantity: 1 $4,104.00 - PROMOTION: 10% Discount of $456 Applied to Digital Storm Desktop 452439, Original Price $4,560 Quantity: 1 $0.00 System Configuration: Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Black OPS HailStorm Edition 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 Rampage IV Extreme X79 (Intel X79 Chipset) (Features USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s) System Memory: 16GB DDR3 1600MHz Corsair Dominator DHX (High-Performance) Power Supply: 1200W Corsair Pro Platinum Series with Corsair Link (CP-9020008-NA) (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: DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 24x / CD-Writer 48x) Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections) Video Card(s): 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: Internal Chassis Lighting System (Red) Enhancements: - No Thanks Chassis Mods: HailStorm & 950Si Case Only: Video Card(s) Area: Drill and Mount a Side Window 120mm Fan Blow-Hole Noise Reduction: - No Thanks LaserMark: - No Thanks CPU Boost: Stage 2: Overclock CPU 4.5GHz to 4.8GHz (Requires Pro/Deluxe/Sabertooth Motherboard) Graphics Boost: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s) Memory Boost: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory OS Boost: - 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 |
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HockeyBuck
DS Veteran
Joined: 27 Jul 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1608 |
Quote Reply
Posted: 06 Feb 2013 at 1:31am |
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Congrats & well done! A very solid Hailstorm build sir! Welcome to the club! Now you get to wait like we all did - impatiently. DS will build you a beauty with a solid stable overclock, and stress test the heck out of the build before shipping it out to you.
You'll have to post some pictures when you get it.... Red always looks sharp with the Rampage ROG mobos. If you ever decide to add more flash, you can get a red sleeved Corsair modular cable set for your PSU for around $100, or install a NZXT Hue RGB-LED light strip & optical bay controller unit for around $34.  Edited by HockeyBuck - 06 Feb 2013 at 1:45am |
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