thoughts on this new build

[xbit]

Building a enthusiast/gaming system w/ a 2k budget. areas that I'm looking for feedback would be the z77 motherboard, ram, cpu cooler, vid and monitor.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/D5Uv
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/D5Uv/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-GD65 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory
Storage: Crucial M4 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk
Storage: Western Digital VelociRaptor 500GB 3.5" 10000RPM Internal Hard Drive
Storage: Western Digital VelociRaptor 500GB 3.5" 10000RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: Galaxy GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card
Case: Corsair 650D ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Corsair Professional Gold 850W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power
Optical Drive: Sony 5280S-CB-PLUS DVD/CD Writer
Monitor: Asus VS248H-P 24.0" Monitor

Thanks!

[brispuss]

This proposed system seems to be basically OK!

The liquid CPU cooler is best suited for when the CPU is (substantially) overclocked because the CPU then generates more heat and the liquid cooler dissipates this heat better than air coolers. If the CPU is not overclocked, then the liquid cooler is not really required. Even the stock CPU fan is fine when the CPU is not overclocked.

If there is to be substantial CPU overclocking (maybe in the near future?) then the CPU liquid cooler may be the better CPU cooling solution. Just watch out for (potential) leaks! Although rare (these days), leaks have occurred! Test the liquid cooling unit before installation, and install it carefully!

16GB RAM is overkill, particularly for gaming. Suggest 8GB (2 x 4GB dual channel modules) instead.

G.Skill RAM is OK. Kingston is another recommended brand of RAM.

850W PSU is really more than necessary for this system. Even allowing for slight overclock, 550W power supply will be adequate. But if overclocking heavily (to around 4.5GHz+?), then ~ 600W power supply would be needed.

If changing PSU, recommend either Seasonic, XFX, and Corsair brands.

[blibba]

Originally Posted by xbit

Building a enthusiast/gaming system w/ a 2k budget. areas that I'm looking for feedback would be the z77 motherboard, ram, cpu cooler, vid and monitor.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/D5Uv
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/D5Uv/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-GD65 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory
Storage: Crucial M4 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk
Storage: Western Digital VelociRaptor 500GB 3.5" 10000RPM Internal Hard Drive
Storage: Western Digital VelociRaptor 500GB 3.5" 10000RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: Galaxy GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card
Case: Corsair 650D ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Corsair Professional Gold 850W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power
Optical Drive: Sony 5280S-CB-PLUS DVD/CD Writer
Monitor: Asus VS248H-P 24.0" Monitor

Thanks!

• Velociraptors are terrible value for money. Two cheaper drives in Raid 0 are better in every way, and cheaper overall.
• 850W is way overkill. This is a 500W system tops.
• Why do you need an optical drive?

[Jetster]

Looks perfect

You really don't need the Raptors. Im assuming your going to load your games on the SSD? Any standard drive is fine for data. Its not like you need a fast drive for watching a movie or listening to music. Unless you got a crap load of games

[xbit]

Originally Posted by brispuss

This proposed system seems to be basically OK!

The liquid CPU cooler is best suited for when the CPU is (substantially) overclocked because the CPU then generates more heat and the liquid cooler dissipates this heat better than air coolers. If the CPU is not overclocked, then the liquid cooler is not really required. Even the stock CPU fan is fine when the CPU is not overclocked.

If there is to be substantial CPU overclocking (maybe in the near future?) then the CPU liquid cooler may be the better CPU cooling solution. Just watch out for (potential) leaks! Although rare (these days), leaks have occurred! Test the liquid cooling unit before installation, and install it carefully!

16GB RAM is overkill, particularly for gaming. Suggest 8GB (2 x 4GB dual channel modules) instead.

G.Skill RAM is OK. Kingston is another recommended brand of RAM.

850W PSU is really more than necessary for this system. Even allowing for slight overclock, 550W power supply will be adequate. But if overclocking heavily (to around 4.5GHz+?), then ~ 600W power supply would be needed.

If changing PSU, recommend either Seasonic, XFX, and Corsair brands.

Thanks a ton for the suggestions, awesome ones at that.

I'm going to start OCing down the road. I want to give the system a good stock burn in and get to know each component first. So thats why I have the h100i listed, as it will be OCed. I may hold off on the h100i and just go w/ the stock cooler as we all wait on the swiftech h220 thats due out at the end of this month!

The 16gigs of ram is indeed overkill. My thoughts on the overall system is to build it for the long haul. in short, I build a new system like this about once every 5 years. So if for whatever unforeseen reason I start using the system for ram intensiveness operations, I'll be ready and then even have two slots open for more. I did have Kingston Beast listed for a bit, and I can't remember why I changed it to G.Skill Same with the PSU, it is overkill at the moment but my thoughts were to be ready for SLI.

[xbit]

Originally Posted by blibba

• Velociraptors are terrible value for money. Two cheaper drives in Raid 0 are better in every way, and cheaper overall.
• 850W is way overkill. This is a 500W system tops.
• Why do you need an optical drive?

I know, I'm being silly w/ the 10k raptors. The Only reason is just due to the fact I've always wanted them and in RAID 0 at that.

My thoughts on the 850W was to have head room for another GTX 670 via SLI. Do you feel this is still overkill?

As for the optical, i think I'll only need it for installing win7 64 I was looking at some blu ray drives but it put me over budget.

[xbit]

Originally Posted by Jetster

Looks perfect

You really don't need the Raptors. Im assuming your going to load your games on the SSD? Any standard drive is fine for data. Its not like you need a fast drive for watching a movie or listening to music. Unless you got a crap load of games

I'm plan on loading the most played games on the SSD then all the others on the HDD. I'll also transfer over gigs of family pics and movies to the HDD. But, your correct on the Raptors.. I could get a lot more for less.

Question, with a setup like this would you move your windows swap to the data drives or keep it on the SSD?

[drdeathx]

Originally Posted by blibba

• Velociraptors are terrible value for money. Two cheaper drives in Raid 0 are better in every way, and cheaper overall.
• 850W is way overkill. This is a 500W system tops.
• Why do you need an optical drive?

Raptors speed in raid0 will kill cheaper drives and the prices on raptors are actually decent nowaday. Optical drive reads cd's/dvd's LOL.

Yes he could save $ on a lower PSU but no headroom for upgrades such as second 670 in the future but he could save some $ here and up to a 3770K.

[Batou1986]

As for the raptors if you do a lot of work with large files such as video editing the like there better for longevity and close on price to large ssd.
If you need the space and you just play games watch movies internet and such an just need storage space for music movies and the like a ssd and a single large hdd would be a cheaper solution where you not going miss the speed of the raptors.

Always invest in a good PSU it will likely out last everything in the build so you don't have to get a new one in the future.
Mine has been through 3 different CPU sockets now and still going strong with plenty of connectors and wattage.

[[Ion]]

Originally Posted by xbit

I know, I'm being silly w/ the 10k raptors. The Only reason is just due to the fact I've always wanted them and in RAID 0 at that.

My thoughts on the 850W was to have head room for another GTX 670 via SLI. Do you feel this is still overkill?

As for the optical, i think I'll only need it for installing win7 64 I was looking at some blu ray drives but it put me over budget.

I'd say that 850w is still overkill. I have two GTX470s and an OCed 2700k that run perfectly on an Antec 650w PSU. I'd say drop down to 650w and you'd still hav eroom for upgrades.

And as long as you know that the Velociraptors made for an odd choice, go ahead. I wouldn't buy them (at least for storage drives--I have one that is the sole drive in one of my systems) and it's very fast.

If you drop the PSU down to a 650w and the HDDs down to something saner, you could get a 3770k easily, which I think would make more sense (realistically, a LGA2011 build could be done for $2000, but not one as well-balanced as you have)

[xbit]

Originally Posted by drdeathx

Raptors speed in raid0 will kill cheaper drives and the prices on raptors are actually decent nowaday. Optical drive reads cd's/dvd's LOL.

Yes he could save $ on a lower PSU but no headroom for upgrades such as second 670 in the future but he could save some $ here and up to a 3770K.

My goal and thought process was to have room to grow years down the road as my build timelines seem to be about once 5-6 years.

I ended up picking the i5 just due to hyperthreading not really being needed w/ a (mostly) gaming box and some reports state that you could even suffer a slight penalty. But w/ that said, if they were the same price i would have picked the i7 I just wanted to stay in budget and have the 10k raid0 data drive.

[drdeathx]

I disagree with not getting the raptors. In Raid0 they are pretty swift and at 500G he has a lot of storage. To get a SSD of that storage capacity will cost a lot more.... What I would do is get a 1T Barracuda and take the $ saved from SSD and raptors and get a Revo Drive. Now your talking serious shizza

[xbit]

So with a setup like this I think I'll move the swap file to the velociraptors along w/ my browser cache. making sure the swap is the first bits of data loaded on the front of the drive. I'm sure my google friend will have quite a bit of info on this when it comes to SSD best practices.

[xbit]

Originally Posted by drdeathx

Now your talking serious shizza

i want serious shizza

I also have a wd 1tb black drive that I'm going to toss in just to run HD tune on to see how bad it gets spanked.

[jmcslob]

I'm gonna say something different then the rest and say Toss the MSI mobo and maybe go for a Asrock extreme6....same perks better caps

[drdeathx]

Originally Posted by xbit

So with a setup like this I think I'll move the swap file to the velociraptors along w/ my browser cache. making sure the swap is the first bits of data loaded on the front of the drive. I'm sure my google friend will have quite a bit of info on this when it comes to SSD best practices.

Why not look into a Revo 3 and a 1T platter then? blazing speeds with the revo.

[xbit]

goes w/ out saying i'm sure.. RAID 0 is a striped volume with out parity and will yield in my case 1TB of space. I could end up putting in another raptor 500gb and go RAID 5 giving it a good balance between speed and redundancy.

[xbit]

Originally Posted by jmcslob

I'm gonna say something different then the rest and say Toss the MSI mobo and maybe go for a Asrock extreme6....same perks better caps

nooooooo! not that the extreme6 isn't an awesome mobo.. its just this was the hardest decision of the entire build. i think I read until my eyes started bleeding on z77 mo's

[xbit]

Originally Posted by drdeathx

Why not look into a Revo 3 and a 1T platter then? blazing speeds with the revo.

$$$.. but dang, i'd do it in a second if I could.

[xbit]

Originally Posted by xbit

nooooooo! not that the extreme6 isn't an awesome mobo.. its just this was the hardest decision of the entire build. i think I read until my eyes started bleeding on z77 mo's

anyway, this msi is looking like it has some good caps

MSI Z77A-GD65 Z77 Ivy Bridge Motherboard Unboxing ...

[blibba]

Originally Posted by xbit

I know, I'm being silly w/ the 10k raptors. The Only reason is just due to the fact I've always wanted them and in RAID 0 at that.

Raptors aren't that fast anymore, but are still really expensive.

Originally Posted by xbit

My thoughts on the 850W was to have head room for another GTX 670 via SLI. Do you feel this is still overkill?

Yes. 600W would be plenty for an OCd 3570K and GTX670 SLI.

Originally Posted by xbit

As for the optical, i think I'll only need it for installing win7 64 I was looking at some blu ray drives but it put me over budget.

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store?...usbdvd_dwnTool

[Norton]

Keep a watch out for these Seasonic X series Gold PSU's (650,750, and 850) they have a tendency to drop to $99 (VERY short duration when on sale) and they are fantastic deals at that price:

Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, L...

Any one of these will be more than enough for your build

*Note- the 850w X Gold is $129 w/promo ATM

[Jetster]

Originally Posted by Norton

*Note- the 850w X Gold is $129 w/promo ATM

Nope its actually $109 with the $40 promo and $20 rebate

Official Newegg Promo Codes, Coupon Code, Coupons,...

I was drooling over that earlier

[xbit]

Quick update: my WD Raptors have arrived first so i'm testing them out in my current system: http://valid.canardpc.com/2686933

I set them up in my hot swap bays and configured them in a raid0 using only win7 (not motherboard). The results are below. Not bad! Once my new system is finished I'm going to use windows raid moving forward just due to some research like this: http://kmwoley.com/blog/?p=429

http://x-bit.org/bench/disk_bench_ATTO_xbit1.jpg

[tokyoduong]

Originally Posted by xbit

Quick update: my WD Raptors have arrived first so i'm testing them out in my current system: http://valid.canardpc.com/2686933

I set them up in my hot swap bays and configured them in a raid0 using only win7 (not motherboard). The results are below. Not bad! Once my new system is finished I'm going to use windows raid moving forward just due to some research like this: http://kmwoley.com/blog/?p=429

http://x-bit.org/bench/disk_bench_ATTO_xbit1.jpg

You did not go wrong with the raptors. I have them. It's better to run a couple raptors than have a bunch of cheaper drives in an elaborate RAID set up. Although I would keep the raptors inside the case because it is on the loud side. The crazy thing is the fastest HD you can buy is also one of the most reliable and longest warranty. Raptors + SSD = storage bliss.