Need input on my prospective custom PC build

MrTub

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Fluse said:
Find me a link to where Asus do not recomend useing them in SLI mate...

Seriously, it is _NOT_ a problem atall... if you have a case with good airflow.

i know people that run GTX 580 Lightning's in SLI, heavily overclocked without issue...
look up the card if you dont know what the cooler on it is like :p
Cannot find the link atm so until I do you can dismiss it.

But overall I would advice against having two CUII in sli since they take up so much space as well, so if you really want two custom coolers I would then recommend CUII & Lightning or 2x Lightning
 

Fluse

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Also, the refrence design cooler for the 560Ti cards (and lower models aswell) are center fan solid heatsink designs (just like the DCII), and will exhaust just as much hot air inside the case. http://media.bestofmicro.com/geforce-gtx-560-ti-gf114,O-6-278214-13.jpg

Only the 570s and 580s refremce cooler use rear exhaust, vaporchamber design.

Many of the AMD cards use rear exhaust to tho...
 

Fluse

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Seriously Tubez, if you dont know what your talking about then dont give advice... The 560Ti DCII cooler is 2 (TWO) slot, just like refrence.

Its only the bigger models that use the stupid 3 slot design.
 

MrTub

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Fluse said:
Also, the refrence design cooler for the 560Ti cards (and lower models aswell) are center fan solid heatsink designs (just like the DCII), and will exhaust just as much hot air inside the case. http://media.bestofmicro.com/geforce-gtx-560-ti-gf114,O-6-278214-13.jpg

Only the 570s and 580s refremce cooler use rear exhaust, vaporchamber design.

Many of the AMD cards use rear exhaust to tho...
Fluse said:
Seriously Tubez, if you dont know what your talking about then dont give advice... The 560Ti DCII cooler is 2 (TWO) slot, just like refrence.

Its only the bigger models that use the stupid 3 slot design.
Oh lol, then my point is moot, thought all recently released reference gtx cards used rear exhaust.

0.o my bad again, I havent really looked at 560 coolers so I assumed it was the same cooler as the rest of the cards. so again my point is double moot.
 

Noxman

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Amnestic said:
RhombusHatesYou said:
Also, don't knock the 8800s, even the 8800 GTS. Good line of GPUs, good longevity of quality performance.
Don't get me wrong, I love my 8800 GTS and I'll be sorry to see it go. It still holds up today (mostly). New Vegas and Mass Effect 2 are perfectly playable on it...but with Skyrim around the corner, I think it's about time I moved to something a bit more modern.

Did that recently! My beloved 8800GTS held up so well, ran Deus Ex HR and Space Marine perfectly on medium graphics but.... Skyrim, it has to be on max graphics or ill be a sad sad person.

On tight budget so I got a GTX 460 off ebay (got lucky with a display model for 85 quid!).

It runs real nice and seems quite powerful for being a mid to lower range card.
 

RhombusHatesYou

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Tubez said:
Idd, I went from 40c idle and 70'c full load with overclocked i7 2600k (h50) and now I have 25-28'c idle and 45'c full load with even more overclock i7 2600 (with open loop watercooling) and I would advice that you buy h60/h80/h100 instead of h50.
The downside to open loop systems being how much a decent setup can cost and having to pull it, break it down, clean it and reinstall it every 3-6 months. Oh the other hand, they're much less pissing about that the even more efficient cooling systems.


And the airflow in most prebuilt are very bad.
Although prebuilt cases are superfun for case modders who want a blank slate to start with... of course case modders are very strange people.


@fluse, you should never use two CUII in sli since it will just pump around very hot air in the chassi
Bah... 2nd open loop system with GPU waterblocks.
 

MrTub

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RhombusHatesYou said:
Tubez said:
Idd, I went from 40c idle and 70'c full load with overclocked i7 2600k (h50) and now I have 25-28'c idle and 45'c full load with even more overclock i7 2600 (with open loop watercooling) and I would advice that you buy h60/h80/h100 instead of h50.
The downside to open loop systems being how much a decent setup can cost and having to pull it, break it down, clean it and reinstall it every 3-6 months. Oh the other hand, they're much less pissing about that the even more efficient cooling systems.


And the airflow in most prebuilt are very bad.
Although prebuilt cases are superfun for case modders who want a blank slate to start with... of course case modders are very strange people.


@fluse, you should never use two CUII in sli since it will just pump around very hot air in the chassi
Bah... 2nd open loop system with GPU waterblocks.

Yeah it did cost quite a lot for to cool 2 gpus and one cpu. And I guess its quite some work with taking everything a part and replacing the tubing and water but overall I find it to be worth it =).


I meant prebuilt computers, not prebuilt cases :p

You really do not need two loops, I'm using one loop with 360 rad and im cooling 2x 480 and a i7 2600k and my water never goes over 60'c and Im using 1150rpm fans
 

Cowabungaa

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I'd like to say one thing in particular; that PSU is utterly pointless. You won't even need that for an SLI/Crossfire setup. A 650-700W PSU from a good, respectable brand will do you just fine, even when you get two GPU's.

Also, as a low-cost GPU alternative I suggest getting two AMD 6870's in SLI. Cheap, and pretty much as powerful as the best single-card GPU you can get these days. Just make sure the airflow in your case is good, because they can get pretty warm, but nothing some good case fans and cable management can't fix.

I also suggest ditching that sound card, because really what's the point of that if you get a simple speaker set. And when your budget is that high, I'd just get 4X 2GB RAM 1333Mhz RAM. It's not like that costs a lot or anything, and for games like BF3 4GB of RAM is starting to get on the low side.

And why 2 20" screens? Why not game on one, good 24" screen?

In the end, that seems like a helluva lot of money for not even such an amazing PC. I'd post this thread in the Help forum to attract more experts, or look for a specialized hardware forum. You're being ripped off here buddy.
obscurumlux01 said:
Please please AVOID THERMALTAKE!!!!
Funny that, some experts (yes, experts, no not on this forum, yes on a specialized hardware forum) recommended me one. This one [http://thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?S=1344&ID=1944#Tab0] to be precise. I didn't get it yet though, but it's the first time I heard something that negative about Thermaltake.

And they can't be worse than the brand-less bullshit that can fry your entire PC.
 

Treblaine

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HassEsser said:
So, I've never built my own computer before, only swapped parts on a number of my computers, but I've been really meaning to build one for a looong time, and now I'm taking initiative! I don't have any money at the moment, so really, it's wishful thinking at the moment, but humor me, k?

So, hear are the parts:
GPU - ASUS ENGTX550 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121434]
PSU - Thermaltake 800W [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153130]
Sound card - OMEGA STRIKER 7.1 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829271001]
Case - Centurion 5 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119077]
MoBo - GIGABYTE AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128519]
CPU - Intel i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz Quad-Core [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115211]
Internet - Rosewill RNX-G300EX Wireless Card [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833166020]

Also, 1TB Cavier black, slick mouse and key, blu-ray drive (might conflict with MoBo), 2x2GB RAM, Logitech 2speak/1sub, and 2 20" monitors; don't think links for those are super necessary.

So, can any computer-literate users give me some pointers? Any components not too good, better stuff out there? Items conflicting with each other? I really don't know, so, any and all advice, I appreciate.

It's also coming out to 11 dollars shy of $1,500, so I think that's pretty darned good.
Kind of an obvious one but your chosen motherboard and chosen CPU are completely incompatible. The mobo has an AM3+ socket and you have chosen an intel i7-950, that particular CPU needs a LGA 1366 type socket.

Which motherboard is honestly the toughest question. I lucked out on mine... or maybe I didn't. Mobo is the most important component (second only to PSU as if your PSU breaks, then it fries everything its plugged into) as everything must interface through it, it is the ultimate thing holding everythign else back, you need to not jsut think of compatibility with THIS setup, but a future upgrade.

HDD capacity is cheap, and upgrading to a larger HDD is a pain in the ass, I'd go for a bigger capacity than even 1 terabyte.

You serious about a sound card? Stereo Headphones will go you far better for gaming performance than 7.1 surround sound speakers. That's for clarity and being able to tell where sounds are coming from. 2 ears. 2 Speakers. With headphones that's all you need. Unless yu gotta have the sub, I respect that.

I wouldn't bother with blu-ray, it doesn't look like any games will be requiring and as for movies I REALLY suggest you consider if DVD quality isn't enough. Blu-rays are MUCH more expensive for how much more quality?

More RAM. Or at least leave slots open to double it up to 8GB. Go with DDR3 type and AS FAST AS YOU CAN AFFORD!

Consider one big monitor rather that 2 medium sized ones. Yes, 20 inch is medium sized.
 

RhombusHatesYou

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Tubez said:
Yeah it did cost quite a lot for to cool 2 gpus and one cpu. And I guess its quite some work with taking everything a part and replacing the tubing and water but overall I find it to be worth it =).
It always comes down to that in the end - is the cost and hassle worth what you get in return? People who want to squeeze every ounce of performance out of their system that they can generally think it is.

I meant prebuilt computers, not prebuilt cases :p
Brand name prebuilts are only good for cannibalising for bits and pieces or as the basis for a frankenstein-machine if you're bored and have a lot of parts laying around.

You really do not need two loops, I'm using one loop with 360 rad and im cooling 2x 480 and a i7 2600k and my water never goes over 60'c and Im using 1150rpm fans
Need? Psssht... Of course not. Did a mate and I need to turn a bar fridge into a fucked up pov-tech PC case and super cooling system? No, we didn't but we did it anyway... mostly because we're mad buggers.
 

RhombusHatesYou

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Cowabungaa said:
Also, as a low-cost GPU alternative I suggest getting two AMD 6870's in SLI. Cheap, and pretty much as powerful as the best single-card GPU you can get these days.
Errr... that'd be 2 HD 6970s in Crossfire if you're putting up against either a HD6990 or GTX 590 (both being dual GPU cards)... and, at least where I easily source parts from, dual HD6970s is the cheaper option.

Unless you're saying that 2 HD6870s in Crossfire will do better than a HD6970 or GTX 580... which... yeah, not sure on that but in most places a HD6970 is cheaper than a pair of HD6870s, even if it's only by a small bit.
 

Treblaine

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RhombusHatesYou said:
Amnestic said:
Bookmarking this thread for future reference, as my old rig is in dire need of some upgrades (Go go 8800 GTS! Yes, really.) so as someone else who's looking into upgrades, I'll also express my thanks to the input from other people here :p
There's always a few PC hardware enthusiasts available on the Advice forum and less likelihood of your thread falling off the first page within an hour or two.

Also, don't knock the 8800s, even the 8800 GTS. Good line of GPUs, good longevity of quality performance.
I'm always looking for today's equivalent of the 8800GT.

Damn, that was a good card in power:performance:price ratio especially how well it doebled up with SLI.

I wish I'd gone with that back in 2007.

What would be an equivalent of today? Following Moore's Law there should be a card 4x as powerful (doubled twice) out there and I really want to move on up to get that DX11 hardware tessellation goodness!
 

jimahaff

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HassEsser said:
So, I've never built my own computer before, only swapped parts on a number of my computers
I didn't look super closely but it looks like you picked some pretty beast components. I recently built my computer (similar to yours, except an I5 processor, and a better GPU) and I had never done it before; so let me tell u the problems I ran into.

1. This is the biggest, you have to activate the computer once its built. So putting it together isn't enough. If you don't activate it it won't turn on; I had to take mine to my college IT guys and they activated it for me.

2. make sure your power supply has all the cables and that the cables are long enough. I needed to send a power-supply back, because it didn't have enough cables for my high end GPU.

3.It looks like you will be OK on this one, but make sure your tower is big enough to hold the GPU. A GPU like yours won't fit into a micro ATX. again you picked a Mid ATX tower so I think your ok.

That's about all I have for you. but on a side note expect that computer to be super fast, mine is about on the same level, and its the fastest computer I have ever worked with (not that I'm an expert). Have fun, and good luck with the build.
 

Treblaine

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jimahaff said:
HassEsser said:
So, I've never built my own computer before, only swapped parts on a number of my computers
I didn't look super closely but it looks like you picked some pretty beast components. I recently built my computer (similar to yours, except an I5 processor, and a better GPU) and I had never done it before; so let me tell u the problems I ran into.

1. This is the biggest, you have to activate the computer once its built. So putting it together isn't enough. If you don't activate it it won't turn on; I had to take mine to my college IT guys and they activated it for me.
Activate???

Huh?!?!

I've built my PC and read all the assembly manuals, once all the components are installed, flipping the on switch is all you'll ever need to do to get the system running.

The only "activation" is registering your copy of windows, which I believe is essential in order to get security/performance updates. Then of course there are all the drivers, but the hardware shouldn't need any "activation" one everything is plugged in properly.
 

RhombusHatesYou

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Treblaine said:
I'm always looking for today's equivalent of the 8800GT.

Damn, that was a good card in power:performance:price ratio especially how well it doebled up with SLI.

I wish I'd gone with that back in 2007.
Enhhh.. I found the 8800s to be massively overpriced for their performance when put against the HD3870 which had similar performance and, here anyway, you could pick up a pair for less than half the price of a 8800 Ultra.


What would be an equivalent of today? Following Moore's Law there should be a card 4x as powerful (doubled twice) out there and I really want to move on up to get that DX11 hardware tessellation goodness!
Tessellation goodness? For all, what, 10 games or so that currently have it? :p

All depends on what you're looking for and what sort of budget you're running. One single GPU card? Multi single GPU cards? Dual GPU card? Multi dual GPU cards? I mean, hey, if you've got a couple thousand quid laying around doing nothing, why not quadfire 4 HD 6990s (for a total of 8 GPUs)? Not sure what you'd do with that sort of set up except crush everyone in ePene measuring contests... as well as run 24 monitors and contemplate suicide the next time your electricty bill comes.

If you're looking for a single GPU card that just has fuck off raw power, then you're either looking at the GTX 580 or the HD6970. As per usual, the nVidia has PhysX and slightly better numbers but the HD6970 is a lot less damaging to the wallet.
 

RhombusHatesYou

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Treblaine said:
The only "activation" is registering your copy of windows, which I believe is essential in order to get security/performance updates. Then of course there are all the drivers, but the hardware shouldn't need any "activation" one everything is plugged in properly.
Only the most specialised of hardware, meaning shit you just don't find in a PC, needs activation. Windows OSes give you that "You have X Days to Activate Or I'll Start Acting the ****" routine... and then the whole 'Windows Genuine Advantage' song and dance.
 

Treblaine

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RhombusHatesYou said:
Treblaine said:
The only "activation" is registering your copy of windows, which I believe is essential in order to get security/performance updates. Then of course there are all the drivers, but the hardware shouldn't need any "activation" one everything is plugged in properly.
Only the most specialised of hardware, meaning shit you just don't find in a PC, needs activation. Windows OSes give you that "You have X Days to Activate Or I'll Start Acting the ****" routine... and then the whole 'Windows Genuine Advantage' song and dance.
I always activated my windows.

I just thought it would be less hassle, it would just nag away at me that Microsoft might feel like withholding some vital update because "Hurr, guess you should have activated Ur copy, derp!". Because they would do shit like that. I never had any fucking clue what they meant by "Genuine advantage", I just thought they'd be less likely to fuck me.

But the questions is... what the hell is jimahaff going on about? Did his college IT guys just rip him off? Or could there be trolling a foot!