My first build

[SHOrdr]

First build ever. Gaming PC for a semi truck (lots of vibration, heat, dust, and almost no ventilation) $xxx.xx ($xxx.xx) is advertised price and final cost to me in parentheses. Tyvm for your help.

Photos to come by the end of the week.

Cooler Master HAF XB
$99.99 ($105.99) Purchased
ASRock Z77 Extreme6 LGA 1155 ATX Intel
$151.99 ($145.29) Purchased
Intel Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz LGA 1155 Processor
$229.99 ($219.99) Purchased
ASUS 2GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660ti
$286.99 ($263.98) Purchased
Samsung 840 SATA III 250GB SSD
$179.99 Purchased
Kingston HyperX Black Series 8GB (2 x 8GB) SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
$89.99 Purchased
Corsair HX650 PSU
$101.99 ($81.99) Purchased
NZXT Kraken X40 140mm Liquid CPU Cooler
$99.99 Purchased
Roswell Wireless N Dual Band Adapter
$34.99 Purchased
LiteOn IHAS124 24X DVD Writer SATA Black OEM
$15.99 Purchased

$1,291.90 ($1,156.20 under the $1,250 budget! tyvm everyone!)
-----------------$83.29 Razor Deathstalker Keyboard
---------------$103.93 Misc. Cooling
-----------------$99.99 Windows7 OEM
------------------$0.00 Logitech MK Revolution Mouse
------------------$0.00 Plantronics Headset
------------------$0.00 Vizio 26" LED LCD 1080p T.V.
-------------$1,443.41 Final Cost (After a few first timer mistakes $1,566.64)

 

[lehtv]

Are you going to be overclocking, then?

Do you already have all the peripherals? What's your gaming resolution?

Why not get Windows 8?

 

[riversend]

Ooops, now I see the AeroCool USB 3.0.

 

[SHOrdr]

^edited and 7 is a preference plus was told u can only upgrade to 8

 

[SHOrdr]

I have speakers and keyboard/mouse

 

[lehtv]

^edited and 7 is a preference plus was told u can only upgrade to 8

No, you can buy an actual Win8 license.

Going over your parts list...

CPU Good $180.19 with tax
Cooler Overpriced. Hyper 212 Evo $30 ($25 AR) or TPC-812 $60 ($40AR)
Mobo Extreme4 is good but you can get it for $100 after tax from MC when combined with 3570K in-store
RAM Samsung 2x4GB 1600 $40 - will probably be in stock by the time you purchase
GPU Very much underpowered for a rig this costly. Asus GTX 660 Ti DCII $274 or Sapphire 7950 $300 ($280 AR)
SSD Overpriced. Samsung 840 250GB $178
DVD Good $20
Wireless Good $35
Controller Unnecessary. You don't get above average cooling by having a controller; controllers are used to decrease cooling in favor of lower noise. What you need is a better case.
PSU Good pick $102 ($82 AR)http://redirect.anandtech.com/r?url...duct.aspx?Item=N82E16817182263&user=u00000687
Case Antec Eleven Hundred $85 @ncix (on newegg it's $110 shipped...) - has usb3.0, excellent cooling, and of course it's well built and roomy

Total = $1044 ($1019 AR) to $1100 ($1040 AR)

Oh and Win 8 64bit is $88 at NCIX.

 

[DSF]

lehtv's tweaks to your build are all very similar to what I was going to say.

There's no point in buying a weak GPU now and needing to upgrade later. Either buy a nice GPU now or grit it out with integrated graphics until you plan to game. Anything else is a waste of money.

 

[SHOrdr]

Cool knew I was cutting my GPU short for now so I could upgrade elsewhere but I think I'll take the advice on just the integrated till this summer or whenever as long as it can still handle stuff like black opsII

Thnx for the MoBo i5 combo in store highlight = $ saved

Not sure about the suggested cooler as I'm worried about the vibration of the truck and that extra weight on the MoBo. I'm cool spending the extra $ there to reduce the stress on the motherboard.

As for the fan controller that's just mostly to moniter temps

On the win8 thanks for that nugget of info

 

[DSF]

No reason to spend $65 to monitor temperatures when you can do it with a software app for free.

As far as the integrated graphics I wasn't suggesting playing Black Ops on the integrated. I was saying buying a cheap GPU now doesn't make sense only to replace it in 6 months. It's essentially a waste of $150. Either you're planning to play now, in which case you buy the nice graphics card, or you're not, in which case you deal with integrated until you're ready to play. You have room in your budget for a nice graphics card, so why not get one? I really don't understand your intention here. Do you not have all $1100 (lehtv's build price including a 7950) available to you right now?

Last thing, this sounds like an odd operating environment for a typical PC. I would be very tentative about overclocking when you're running in a high ambient heat environment and you're nervous about a larger cooler.

Have you considered a horizontal-style case so that the cooler would be sitting above the motherboard, rather than leaning off of it? That would probably handle bumps in the road better.

 

[SHOrdr]

What's the difference between the 650ti and 660ti - 2gb v 1gb

 

[SHOrdr]

@DSF - And yes I have more then enough money but I'm evaluating everything seperately and as a whole cost wise. And the horizontal set up still has extra weight on the motherboard so I kinda liked the water cooler for the CPU as the main weight (the radiator) is not supported by the motherboard. Probably gunna have the 660ti gsu posted by the end of the night.

@lehtv - Haven't seen any bad reviews on the cooler master case just good ones if you could link me something about it I'd highly appriceate it.

 

[dragantoe]

Kraken x40 $100 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835146027
it's costly, but seems to be in your budget and is a better cooler than anything else for that much
also, for a case I'd prefer nzxt source 220, it's roomy, has excellent cable management, usb 3.0, sleek looking, great build quality, which I have put to the test several times, but most importantly, it's CHEAP $50 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811146083

 

[Termie]

Black Ops benchmarks: http://www.techspot.com/review/601-black-ops-2-performance/page3.html

For the OP's unique situation, I totally understand the water cooler. It might not perform better, but it's much more compact. And external fan controls with a temperature readout makes perfect sense. I do agree that you should consider a horizontal layout, even if that just means laying a standard case on its side.

As for graphics cards, don't be talked into spending more just because you have the budget for it. The 660ti is a lot of card for that game. You should be fine with a 650ti, although the 7850 is about 40% faster in your game for just a bit more money.

Take a look at the benchmarks above to understand better (the 650ti is way behind here, although in most games it would be a closer match).

 

[SHOrdr]

@dragantoe - corsair cooler out kraken in love it

@dragantoe/@Termie hows this for a horizontal case: Cooler Master HAF XB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119265
the nzxt sourse 220 is a good tower option for me by the looks of it.

Still in the air about the video card but still leaning 660 ti

 

[lehtv]

What's the difference between the 650ti and 660ti - 2gb v 1gb

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/680?vs=647

@lehtv - Haven't seen any bad reviews on the cooler master case just good ones if you could link me something about it I'd highly appriceate it.

I isn't a bad case but Antec 1100 is better. HAF 912 lacks front panel USB 3.0 ports and comes with only two 120mm fans. You said you wanted good cooling, well the 1100 is it. HAF 912 has mediocre cooling without additional fans.

 

[Termie]

@dragantoe - corsair cooler out kraken in love it

@dragantoe/@Termie hows this for a horizontal case: Cooler Master HAF XB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119265
the nzxt sourse 220 is a good tower option for me by the looks of it.

Still in the air about the video card but still leaning 660 ti

The CoolerMaster HAF XB is a really innovative case. It's brand new, so there aren't any tests out there that examine its cooling ability. But here's one that just touches on the basics of the case design: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/2076/6/

I'd definitely suggest adding a few more fans to the case, as it just has two intake fans, but other than that, it seems like a perfect match for your computing environment. It's fairly compact, the video card and CPU cooler will put less pressure on the motherboard, and it looks very stable (i.e., it won't fall over).

I still think the 660Ti is a bit more card than you need, and at $270AR, not a particularly good deal.

If you really want more power than the 650Ti, just go for the GTX660 at $195AR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814500270

 

[SHOrdr]

Yes any case I get will get a fan treatment.

List Updated 8 -> 16gb RAM, Samsung SSD, LiteOn Drive, Kracken Cooler, & Antec case

 

[lehtv]

The Antec case doesn't really need a "fan treatment" and I wouldn't recommend replacing the top 200mm whatever you do. What you can do though is add two 120mm intake fans, it will somewhat improve airflow to the GPU. But like Antec cases usually, it's a negative pressure case

 

[SHOrdr]

Yeah that's what I meant by fan treatment just adding not replacing fans.

 

[dragantoe]

@dragantoe - corsair cooler out kraken in love it

@dragantoe/@Termie hows this for a horizontal case: Cooler Master HAF XB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119265
the nzxt sourse 220 is a good tower option for me by the looks of it.

Still in the air about the video card but still leaning 660 ti

it's a drool worthy case but it is on the more expensive side IMHO

 

[SHOrdr]

Thank you to all who have helped me with my first build including leftv for the case, SSD, & GPU and dragantoe for the cooler! Cheers to you all!

Above list now reflects final build.

 

[mfenn]

Looks good to me. Let us know how the build goes! (Went?)

 

[SHOrdr]

Looks good to me. Let us know how the build goes! (Went?)

Will do just ordered stuff so far I should have it built by the end of next week and then I'll share that experience and a couple pics on this thread and a pic for the members rigs galleries

 

[Charlie98]

I've never seen that HAF XB... that's pretty cool.

As a former trucker myself, I'd make a few more suggestions...

Build a box with thick foam in it (like that heavy duty stuff they use in Pelican cases) to put the PC in when you are driving... to take the shock and vibration instead of the PC itself. You probably ought to do the same for whatever monitor you are going to get as well. Newer trucks ride much better than they used to, but 100-125K/miles per year will beat that thing to death.

You are also going to have to deal with dust and dirt... especially if you have a bunch of fans. Make sure whatever case you get is accessable so you can blow out the dust on a fairly regular basis. If you have an air gun in the cab, that should be dry air and you can use that.

As far as hot temps... get an external fan and park it in front of the case, too. I do have a 4-channel fan controller on mine, a Lamptron FC-3 , to keep the noise down when I'm not gaming, and ramp it up when it's time to go. I even control the CPU fans with it. If you are having problems with high temps you may consider going with a controller...

Back when I drove we didn't have so much as a cell phone... having a laptop or even a smart phone would have be awesome...