Critique My September PC Build

[thm1223]

Hi fellas,

So I'm going to be building my first PC ever. As such I figured I'd run by you guys the parts I intend to use, as well as answer the mandatory PC build questions:

Use: Gaming, Word Processing, Photoshop, etc. Maybe light video editing.

Budget: $2500-$3000

Country: Amurrica

Brand Preferences: Intel/Nvidia unless someone can convince me otherwise

Overclocking: Yes, but perhaps not immediately since I'm a custom rig noob.

Resolution: Will be purchasing an HP ZR30w with this, so 2560 x 1600

When: Early September


OK, so now to the parts:

Case: Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case

Motherboard:ASUS Maximus V FORMULA LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Extended ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770K

RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9

Video Card: EVGA 04G-P4-2690-KR GeForce GTX 690 4GB 512-bit
GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

SSDs (Quantity 2): Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD2 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Power Supply:CORSAIR Professional Series HX1050 1050W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Semi Modular ...

CPU Liquid Cooler: CORSAIR H100 (CWCH100) Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler

Case Fans (Quantity 4): XIGMATEK eXTREME SILENT Series XSF-F1452 140mm Case Fan

CPU Cooler Fans: Scythe SY1225SL12L 120mm "Slipstream" Case Fan

Fan Controller: Scythe Kaze Master Pro 5.25 Fan Controller


So besides anything you guys may have to suggest, here are my questions:

1. Do I/should I purchase additional/aftermarket fans for my case? And is buying the 2 120mm fans for the H100 a good idea? What is your opinion of the fans I've chosen?
2. Should I buy optical drives?
3. Is the motherboard overkill?
4. Is the power supply adequate, especially if I decide to add another GTX 690 or go SLI with a different set of cards in the future? I plan on gaming at 2560 x 1600 resolution btw (going to buy an HP z30w).

That's all I can think of for now. Hopefully this proposed build doesn't reveal that I am glaringly inept. Like I said, this will be my first build ever!

 

[Durvelle27]

please answer this sticky

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=80121

 

[N4n45h1]

It would help us best help you if you filled out a good portion of this form: Link

1. Fans seem fine to me, but best left answered by someone with more experience. Although, the number of fans you have seems overkill, especially with a case as big and open as the 800D.
2. One optical drive is probably good enough for odds and ends. I originally didn't get an optical drive for my recent build, but then some work in my research lab that I brought back required it, so I bought a cheap $20 DVD-RW.
3. Whether this is overkill really depends on your budget and overclocking desires. There's a pretty good chance that it is overkill though.
4. The Corsair PSU is a high quality unit, so that you'll probably be fine with 1050W. In fact, I doubt you'll get very close to maxing out your PSU unless you have a bunch of other components.

You could consider getting the Samsung 1.35v DDR3-1600 RAM instead, it's a much smaller form factor and overclocks very well.

 

[thm1223]

please answer this sticky

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=80121

Oops! Sorry about that I went ahead and edited the original post.

 

[Durvelle27]

Intel Core i5-3570K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116504

ASRock Z77 Extreme4 1155
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157293

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600MHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820233144

Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD2 256GB SSD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148443

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 1TB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152185

ASUS 24X DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827135204

SAPPHIRE Vapor-X HD 7970 GHz Edition
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202001

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835103099

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139021

Corsair Obsidian Series 650D
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139006

Total: $1,558

 

[DSF]

If this is your first build ever, I have to question watercooling. What's the appeal for you? If it's about noise, then you have to think about the fact that any acoustic gains you're going to make via watercooling are pretty much going to be wiped out by running two high-powered graphics cards in SLI.

 

[lehtv]

Comments on the parts in your OP below. A lot of these are way too costly than needed, you should think about what you actually need the PC to do. Avoid spending hundreds of pointless dollars that don't actually translate to any real benefit.

Case: Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case

Motherboard:ASUS Maximus V FORMULA LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Extended ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770K

RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9

Video Card: EVGA 04G-P4-2690-KR GeForce GTX 690 4GB 512-bit
GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

SSDs (Quantity 2): Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD2 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Power Supply:CORSAIR Professional Series HX1050 1050W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Semi Modular ...

CPU Liquid Cooler: CORSAIR H100 (CWCH100) Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler

Case Fans (Quantity 4): XIGMATEK eXTREME SILENT Series XSF-F1452 140mm Case Fan

CPU Cooler Fans: Scythe SY1225SL12L 120mm "Slipstream" Case Fan

Fan Controller: Scythe Kaze Master Pro 5.25 Fan Controller

Case: $250 for a case? You can get a high quality, spacious, SLI capable case for half that.
Mobo: Shouldn't need to spend more than $150 on a mobo.
CPU: Good pick on your budget.
RAM: 2x4GB should be enough for your uses, unless you know for a fact you need more than that for Photoshopping (doubt it). If so, get 2x8GB instead of 4x4GB.
GPU: GTX 670 SLI performs the same, costs less, makes less noise.
SSD What do you need 512GB of SSD space for? I would recommend a single 256GB SSD and 7200RPM 1-2TB hard disk. 256GB is plenty of space for storing the OS, games and programs, everything else can be stored on the HDD.
PSU: You'll never need 690 SLI for 2560x1440. You won't be disappointed with the performance of 670 SLI, and when they're too slow there will be faster GPUs on the market to upgrade to. With that in mind, HX1050 is about 300W overkill
Cooler: For a beginner at custom builds, I definitely recommend H100. You'll be fine with a $50 tower cooler. Ivy bridge isn't that overclockable beyond a mild voltage bump anyway, there are diminishing returns to spending a lot on cooling.
Fans & controller: maybe

You can build a similarly performing rig for less than $2000, that's with all the bells and whistles. Since you're not building until September, I can't be bothered to suggest specific components. Bump this thread around a week before you plan to buy.

 

[thm1223]

If this is your first build ever, I have to question watercooling. What's the appeal for you? If it's about noise, then you have to think about the fact that any acoustic gains you're going to make via watercooling are pretty much going to be wiped out by running two high-powered graphics cards in SLI.

The appeal is the ability to OC no?

 

[thm1223]

Comments on the parts in your OP below. A lot of these are way too costly than needed, you should think about what you actually need the PC to do. Avoid spending hundreds of pointless dollars that don't actually translate to any real benefit.

Case: $250 for a case? You can get a high quality, spacious, SLI capable case for half that.
Mobo: Shouldn't need to spend more than $150 on a mobo.
CPU: Good pick on your budget.
RAM: 2x4GB should be enough for your uses, unless you know for a fact you need more than that for Photoshopping (doubt it). If so, get 2x8GB instead of 4x4GB.
GPU: GTX 670 SLI performs the same, costs less, makes less noise.
SSD What do you need 512GB of SSD space for? I would recommend a single 256GB SSD and 7200RPM 1-2TB hard disk. 256GB is plenty of space for storing the OS, games and programs, everything else can be stored on the HDD.
PSU: You'll never need 690 SLI for 2560x1440. You won't be disappointed with the performance of 670 SLI, and when they're too slow there will be faster GPUs on the market to upgrade to. With that in mind, HX1050 is about 300W overkill
Cooler: For a beginner at custom builds, I definitely recommend H100. You'll be fine with a $50 tower cooler. Ivy bridge isn't that overclockable beyond a mild voltage bump anyway, there are diminishing returns to spending a lot on cooling.
Fans & controller: maybe

You can build a similarly performing rig for less than $2000, that's with all the bells and whistles. Since you're not building until September, I can't be bothered to suggest specific components. Bump this thread around a week before you plan to buy.

I've made some changes based on these suggestions:

1. I am going to put 2 128GB SSDs into RAID0. I have a NAS that I can use to store anything that I want to have on a HDD.

2. Changed the RAM to 2x8GB. For $84 I'll splurge and get 16GB:
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-16GBXL

3. Changed graphics cards as you suggested. Do you think I should stick with the following, or get the 4GB versions for $100 more?
EVGA 02G-P4-2678-KR GeForce GTX 670 FTW 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

5. Downgraded the PSU. Is 850w sufficient for GTX 570 SLI?
CORSAIR Professional Series HX850 (CMPSU-850HX) 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC ...

4. Anyone have any input on the fans? Are they unnecessary, are there better ones (no LEDs please... or at least the option to have them permanently off)? Do I even need the 120mm for my H100?

 

[DSF]

The appeal is the ability to OC no?

You can overclock just fine on an air cooler unless you're going for something nutty. Since this is your first build, you don't plan on overclocking right away, and it sounds like this machine has some productivity apps, I'm guessing you aren't planning on trying to push the machine to its limits.

 

[Durvelle27]

for that res i recommend an HD 79xx series video card ?

 

[thm1223]

You can overclock just fine on an air cooler unless you're going for something nutty. Since this is your first build, you don't plan on overclocking right away, and it sounds like this machine has some productivity apps, I'm guessing you aren't planning on trying to push the machine to its limits.

No you're honestly correct. However, I was interested in using it since the computer will be in the same room I sleep (I always have it on). And the only time the SLI video cards will make a lot of noise is when I'm gaming. Do you think that an H100 is warranted given these facts?

 

[lehtv]

No, H100 isn't any quieter than a good air cooler half as expensive. Scythe Mugen 3 operates at silent RPM on idle.

 

[azeem40]

for that res i recommend an HD 79xx series video card ?

Nope. A GTX 670 is better price/performance and is only within 5% of the 7970.

 

[Durvelle27]

Nope. A GTX 670 is better price/performance and is only within 5% of the 7970.

that gape been closed with thr release of the 12.7 beta drivers ?

 

[thm1223]

No, H100 isn't any quieter than a good air cooler half as expensive. Scythe Mugen 3 operates at silent RPM on idle.

What do you think of this fan:
Noctua NH-D14 120mm & 140mm SSO CPU Cooler

My only concern is that I may have to order a different set of RAM sticks because the heat sinks on the G-Skill may get in the way per reviews I read on the Egg

 

[DSF]

It's more expensive than you need.

lehtv already recommended a very powerful, very quiet cooler:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835185175

I have several Scythe products and have been extremely happy with every one.

 

[lehtv]

I agree with DSF, the D14 is a bit overkill. I mean, it's an awesome cooler and Noctua is definitely a company worth supporting - they will ship you installation brackets for free when a new CPU socket is released. But Scythe Mugen 3 is already sufficient. If you buy Mugen 3, get it from NCIX for $40. They will ship orders over $50 for free, combine it with something else, like a Seagate hard drive which NCIX generally also sells for a good price.

 

[thm1223]

I agree with DSF, the D14 is a bit overkill. I mean, it's an awesome cooler and Noctua is definitely a company worth supporting - they will ship you installation brackets for free when a new CPU socket is released. But Scythe Mugen 3 is already sufficient. If you buy Mugen 3, get it from NCIX for $40. They will ship orders over $50 for free, combine it with something else, like a Seagate hard drive which NCIX generally also sells for a good price.

Gotcha.

Ok so last question (at least until I'm right about to pull the trigger on this build). What Mobo should I get instead of the one listed in my original post?

 

[mfenn]

I agree with lehtv, DSF, and the others. You're spending a lot of money on parts that don't really make much of a difference.

- Case: Overkill IMHO. The 650D will do what you want for $80 less.
- Mobo: Earth-shatteringly insane overkill. The ASRock Z77 Extreme4 has all the gaming features you need for 1/2 the cost.
- CPU: Unnecessary for the purpose of this rig. Get a 3570K instead.
- RAM: Superior memory with no silly heatspreaders is available. There is next to no chance that you will ever go to 32GB, so enjoy the overclocking potential of these Samsung modules.
- GPU: GTX 670 SLI as has been suggested.
- SSD : There are a very few reasons to RAID0 SSDs. Gaming isn't one of them, it just can't push the queue depths necessary to extract the performance. Get a single 256GB Samsung 830.
- PSU: A GTX 670 is less than 200W. The CPU is less than 100W. You'll have no problem with a 750W unit like this OCZ ZT.
- HSF: The thing to understand about water cooling is that it isn't magic. Water is just a medium to move heat from one place to another, same as the heatpipes in a tower cooler. Save some money and get a Mugen 3 as has been suggested.
- Fans: The best way to have a loud build is to have a bunch of fans blowing air around with no plan. Corsair cases have good airflow design from the get go, start with that and only add/replace fans if you find it necessary.

Also, a point on the ZR30w. While it is certainly an awesome monitor, you can get 90% of the pixels for about 50% of the price if you get the 27" ZR2740w instead.

 

[thm1223]

I agree with lehtv, DSF, and the others. You're spending a lot of money on parts that don't really make much of a difference.

- Case: Overkill IMHO. The 650D will do what you want for $80 less.
- Mobo: Earth-shatteringly insane overkill. The ASRock Z77 Extreme4 has all the gaming features you need for 1/2 the cost.
- CPU: Unnecessary for the purpose of this rig. Get a 3570K instead.
- RAM: Superior memory with no silly heatspreaders is available. There is next to no chance that you will ever go to 32GB, so enjoy the overclocking potential of these Samsung modules.
- GPU: GTX 670 SLI as has been suggested.
- SSD : There are a very few reasons to RAID0 SSDs. Gaming isn't one of them, it just can't push the queue depths necessary to extract the performance. Get a single 256GB Samsung 830.
- PSU: A GTX 670 is less than 200W. The CPU is less than 100W. You'll have no problem with a 750W unit like this OCZ ZT.
- HSF: The thing to understand about water cooling is that it isn't magic. Water is just a medium to move heat from one place to another, same as the heatpipes in a tower cooler. Save some money and get a Mugen 3 as has been suggested.
- Fans: The best way to have a loud build is to have a bunch of fans blowing air around with no plan. Corsair cases have good airflow design from the get go, start with that and only add/replace fans if you find it necessary.

Also, a point on the ZR30w. While it is certainly an awesome monitor, you can get 90% of the pixels for about 50% of the price if you get the 27" ZR2740w instead.

I do want to keep the Case and PSU, since they leave room for future expansion and, unlike most other PC components, do not become obsolete nearly as quickly. I also think I'll keep the 3770k since I do want to overclock.

The ASRock you listed made me a little nervous, as some reviews commented on the fact that it felt flimsy and had issues with overclocking components. In the end I decided to change both the MOBO and RAM to the following:
ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M2A1600C9

I did change the HSF to a Mugen 3 as everyone has suggested, and got rid of the additional fans (will purchase later if necessary). I also decided to go with a 256GB Plextor SSD.


So currently my total for all components and peripherals except the screen ((keyboard and webcam... already have a great mouse) is $2,427. I definitely am intrigued now at purchasing a 27" screen. However I'm not sure an HP would be the best bet. Or would it?

 

[krnmastersgt]

The 3570K can overclock as well, it just doesn't have HyperThreading which I agree isn't necessary for only light video editing. Unless you professionally use Photoshop you really don't need an 8 thread rig.

That motherboard, and the RAM actually, are gigantic wastes of money. The motherboard doesn't really give you anything over the Extreme4 but costs twice as much. The RAM is quite overpriced even for 8 GB DIMMs, but also has very tall heat spreaders which will interfere with almost any air cooler as they have a lot of mass typically.

How did you manage to come up with a total of 2,427?

 

[DSF]

I hope this post doesn't sound surly, because I don't mean it to be. I'm not personally offended that you're rejecting most of the suggestions you're getting.

I'm just a little bit disappointed that you're going to waste a lot of money and get almost no return for your money in terms of performance increases over midrange parts.

You've stated more than once that this is your first build. So, while you may not have zero experience in computer part selection, I'd venture to bet you have relatively little. Fair? You're asking your questions on a forum with pretty knowledgeable people, unlike some of the other places you can go for advice.

AsRock is a fine brand for a build like this. I don't personally care whether you buy the AsRock motherboard or not. I have used Gigabyte and MSI motherboards as well, but I've never paid for an (almost always overpriced) ASUS motherboard. You have to understand that online reviews need to be taken with a giant grain of salt. Think kosher salt that's really big and coarse. When you're reading a e-tailer review you have no idea whether the person has any experience handling computer parts, whether they installed it correctly, whether it was damaged in shipping and the person didn't have the experience to diagnose that, etc.

You're not really getting mixed messages here, or wildly different viewpoints. If that were the case I could better understand you sticking to your guns on your part choices. You're getting several people who don't know each other and have no interest in acting as a unit, and yet all giving generally the same advice.

You're overspending. Unless future expansion means 8 more hard drives and a 3-GPU setup the 800D isn't really giving you room the 650D doesn't. The AsRock board will be fine. 750W is plenty of PSU headroom, again unless you're planning to add a third video card or something blatantly excessive like that.

Trust me. (Or don't, it's your computer and your money. If the ASUS board will give you a warm, fuzzy feeling inside every time you look at your computer, then enjoy it. I just want you to understand that you're paying $100 extra for a warm, fuzzy feeling, not for performance or reliability.)

 

[Durvelle27]

I hope this post doesn't sound surly, because I don't mean it to be. I'm not personally offended that you're rejecting most of the suggestions you're getting.

I'm just a little bit disappointed that you're going to waste a lot of money and get almost no return for your money in terms of performance increases over midrange parts.

You've stated more than once that this is your first build. So, while you may not have zero experience in computer part selection, I'd venture to bet you have relatively little. Fair? You're asking your questions on a forum with pretty knowledgeable people, unlike some of the other places you can go for advice.

AsRock is a fine brand for a build like this. I don't personally care whether you buy the AsRock motherboard or not. I have used Gigabyte and MSI motherboards as well, but I've never paid for an (almost always overpriced) ASUS motherboard. You have to understand that online reviews need to be taken with a giant grain of salt. Think kosher salt that's really big and coarse. When you're reading a e-tailer review you have no idea whether the person has any experience handling computer parts, whether they installed it correctly, whether it was damaged in shipping and the person didn't have the experience to diagnose that, etc.

You're not really getting mixed messages here, or wildly different viewpoints. If that were the case I could better understand you sticking to your guns on your part choices. You're getting several people who don't know each other and have no interest in acting as a unit, and yet all giving generally the same advice.

You're overspending. Unless future expansion means 8 more hard drives and a 3-GPU setup the 800D isn't really giving you room the 650D doesn't. The AsRock board will be fine. 750W is plenty of PSU headroom, again unless you're planning to add a third video card or something blatantly excessive like that.

Trust me. (Or don't, it's your computer and your money. If the ASUS board will give you a warm, fuzzy feeling inside every time you look at your computer, then enjoy it. I just want you to understand that you're paying $100 extra for a warm, fuzzy feeling, not for performance or reliability.)

i agree

 

[thm1223]

I hope this post doesn't sound surly, because I don't mean it to be. I'm not personally offended that you're rejecting most of the suggestions you're getting.

I'm just a little bit disappointed that you're going to waste a lot of money and get almost no return for your money in terms of performance increases over midrange parts.

You've stated more than once that this is your first build. So, while you may not have zero experience in computer part selection, I'd venture to bet you have relatively little. Fair? You're asking your questions on a forum with pretty knowledgeable people, unlike some of the other places you can go for advice.

AsRock is a fine brand for a build like this. I don't personally care whether you buy the AsRock motherboard or not. I have used Gigabyte and MSI motherboards as well, but I've never paid for an (almost always overpriced) ASUS motherboard. You have to understand that online reviews need to be taken with a giant grain of salt. Think kosher salt that's really big and coarse. When you're reading a e-tailer review you have no idea whether the person has any experience handling computer parts, whether they installed it correctly, whether it was damaged in shipping and the person didn't have the experience to diagnose that, etc.

You're not really getting mixed messages here, or wildly different viewpoints. If that were the case I could better understand you sticking to your guns on your part choices. You're getting several people who don't know each other and have no interest in acting as a unit, and yet all giving generally the same advice.

You're overspending. Unless future expansion means 8 more hard drives and a 3-GPU setup the 800D isn't really giving you room the 650D doesn't. The AsRock board will be fine. 750W is plenty of PSU headroom, again unless you're planning to add a third video card or something blatantly excessive like that.

Trust me. (Or don't, it's your computer and your money. If the ASUS board will give you a warm, fuzzy feeling inside every time you look at your computer, then enjoy it. I just want you to understand that you're paying $100 extra for a warm, fuzzy feeling, not for performance or reliability.)

Ok you've convinced me. And made me realize how rejecting advice from more knowledgeable people as a complete nub makes you look like an ass!
I've now managed to reduce my total build price to $2,320 before shipping.

So I did change to the 650D and the HX750. HOWEVER, my only concern is that 750w doesn't give me a lot of room to upgrade my video cards when I eventually want to. Would an 850w be worth it simply for this reason? Besides the video card and the RAM though, I really don't anticipate upgrading much over the next several years without having to build a completely new rig.

Also, how is the ASrock board you recommended in terms of overclocking potential/features? And in terms of downgrading to the 3570k processor, what is the difference in performance between it and the 3770k other than hyperthreading?