My Ultimate SFF Gaming Build

[techguy31]

Hi guys, so I just bought the following:
Mobo: ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6...
HDD: Western Digital VelociRaptor WD1000DHTZ 1TB 10000 ... OR Western Digital VelociRaptor WD6000HLHX 600GB 1000...
Case: COOLER MASTER RC-120A-KKN1 Black Appearance: Alumi...
Fan Inside Case (x1): COOLER MASTER R4-C2R-20AC-GP 120mm Case Fan
Fans Outside Case (x2): 80mm MISC. fans mounted on both sides of the case. 2 on the right and left.
PSU: Corsair HX650W
GPU: Sapphire 7970 OC Edition
CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER GeminII M4 RR-GMM4-16PK-R2 120mm Sli... OR Scythe SCBSK-2100 120mm Sleeve BIG Shuriken 2 Rev....
CPU: i7 3770K OR i7 2700K

Basically, I want to cool this SFF gaming rig with all the items I have. I want to maxmize the most airflow utilizing all the fans I have right now, hopefully to ensure that when I overclock this board that the case will get too hot. Should I keep the Cooler Master Gemini II or the Scythe CPU Cooler? There are very few reviews for both these coolers and wanted to get some feedback which would be the best for my setup. Both will fit ever so slightly in the case. Should I face the PSU's fan upward or downward facing directly at the CPU cooler? Is mounting 2 80mm fans on each side a good idea? I want to cool this case as much as possible. Should I get a different 120mm fan? It is one of the fastest RPM fan. I won't overclock this gaming rig, but I will in the future.

 

[AlienIsGOD]

i had the CM HSF you listed there on a Q9450 o/c to 3.0 ghz. its alright for light overclocking but its not a standout performer.

 

[techguy31]

Which direction should I face my 80mm fans? Should it be blowing air in on both sides or blowing the air out? Also, would it be smart to have the PSU fan and the CPU cooler fan both facing directly together or should I face the PSU fan upwards?

 

[techguy31]

Bump! Need help. Should I keep the 2700k or 3770k? I do plan on overclocking in the future.

 

[Jegergrim]

I bought the Shuriken Big 2 Rev B cpu cooler, but had nothing but trouble, also you need to mod the backplate, drilling a hole to make it fit with the board... not sure how others attached the cooler to the board, the ram/VRM is in the way for the top-right screw to be tightened/attached.

 

[CDdude55]

Which direction should I face my 80mm fans? Should it be blowing air in on both sides or blowing the air out? Also, would it be smart to have the PSU fan and the CPU cooler fan both facing directly together or should I face the PSU fan upwards?

Face the PSU fan downward towards the CPU if you already have a fan/s pulling in air. The key to air flow is simply making sure you are getting cool air in and moving the hot air out elsewhere, so if you have a fan or two at the front or sides then i'd use the PSU fan as an exhaust. Remember that hot air rises, so it's better to have a fan there then not imo. Plus since that case doesn't have any rear fan mounts then i think it would be the best solution to have the PSU pulling air out of the case.

Bump! Need help. Should I keep the 2700k or 3770k? I do plan on overclocking in the future.

Performance wise Ivy Bridge is not worth the upgrade over Sandy, it's big advantages are basically the stronger on die GPU as well as the the 22nm process which helps keep power consumption and heatput down. So if you're getting the performance you need out of that 2700K then i see no reason to upgrade to a chip that ill not give you much to any of a performance increase.

 

[techguy31]

I bought the Shuriken Big 2 Rev B cpu cooler, but had nothing but trouble, also you need to mod the backplate, drilling a hole to make it fit with the board... not sure how others attached the cooler to the board, the ram/VRM is in the way for the top-right screw to be tightened/attached.

Did you mount the Shuriken on a P8Z77V-i?

 

[Batou1986]

Coming from someone who owns one the WD raptors are not worth the money now that SSD's have came down in price.

 

[Jegergrim]

Did you mount the Shuriken on a P8Z77V-i?

No, on a P8Z77-I, and no again, never got to fully mount it, as stated above

 

[Elmo]

Coming from someone who owns one the WD raptors are not worth the money now that SSD's have came down in price.

Strongly agree.View attachment 47772

 

[techguy31]

Coming from someone who owns one the WD raptors are not worth the money now that SSD's have came down in price.

I couldn't pass up the good deal I got on the 600GB Velociraptor.

 

[Jegergrim]

I finally found the best cooler for this board, which fits without any height issues, ram compatibility issues and backplate issues: http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=46&lng=en&set=1

It's brilliant, cool and silent, I'm so sad I missed this and bought the Big Shuriken 2 Rev B.... had nothing but headache and pain, worst part is, Drilling the backplate also ruined the warranty, will definately do better research next time. GL with your build

 

[techguy31]

I finally found the best cooler for this board, which fits without any height issues, ram compatibility issues and backplate issues: http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=46&lng=en&set=1

It's brilliant, cool and silent, I'm so sad I missed this and bought the Big Shuriken 2 Rev B.... had nothing but headache and pain, worst part is, Drilling the backplate also ruined the warranty, will definately do better research next time. GL with your build

I've looked at that one; however, it looks like it is 1mm higher than the maximum height in the case. Haven't got the Shuriken yet, so I can't confirm if the backplate will be a pain in the arse.

 

[Jetster]

cookies

 

[gopal]

Strongly agree.http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=47772&stc=1&d=1342089373

Looking pretty delicious to me.

 

[Jegergrim]

I've looked at that one; however, it looks like it is 1mm higher than the maximum height in the case. Haven't got the Shuriken yet, so I can't confirm if the backplate will be a pain in the arse.

Hey, no there are no height issues, since the cooler will be mounted in another way than the default, meaning the heatpipes go towards the IO panel, this opens up for the PCI-E slot, doesn't interfere with ram, and also the height doesn't exceed the VRM- daughterboard, and I've seen pictures of people mounting it in this fassion, and it works

Edit: http://forums.bit-tech.net/showpost.php?p=3057195&postcount=37 could show you exactly what I mean.

 

[phanbuey]

I would like to see this - for a build like this, I would not go with that case - the cooling is going to be a problem.

SG08/07 or bitfenix prodigy would handle those components fine, especially with a Hydro cooler on the proc.

If you do mod the case, I would take out the front drive bays and put a 120mm drive bay cooler in there, and then have the 80MM fans exhaust.

 

[happy]

I would like to see this - for a build like this, I would not go with that case - the cooling is going to be a problem.

SG08/07 or bitfenix prodigy would handle those components fine, especially with a Hydro cooler on the proc.

If you do mod the case, I would take out the front drive bays and put a 120mm drive bay cooler in there, and then have the 80MM fans exhaust.

I like this case

 

[Jegergrim]

I like this case

I have the same case PC-Q08, and I gotta admit the air flow is better than the sugo series.., also lighter even though its bigger, only negative aspect of it, which I must admit, is pretty huge, is the paint litterally sucks, takes scratches very fast.

 

[techguy31]

I bought the Shuriken Big 2 Rev B cpu cooler, but had nothing but trouble, also you need to mod the backplate, drilling a hole to make it fit with the board... not sure how others attached the cooler to the board, the ram/VRM is in the way for the top-right screw to be tightened/attached.

I finally attacted the Big Shuriken to the motherboard. However, as you stated the top right was super hard to tighten. It is possible, but I didn't want to spend another hour trying to nudge the screw and tighten it. I also didn't have any trouble mounting the backplate.

 

[techguy31]

Are there other was of mounting fans without the screws? I plan to mount 4 80mm fans outside of the Cooler Master Elite 120 but because the ventilation holes aren't circles, I can't just mount them.

Thanks

 

[Jegergrim]

I finally attacted the Big Shuriken to the motherboard. However, as you stated the top right was super hard to tighten. It is possible, but I didn't want to spend another hour trying to nudge the screw and tighten it. I also didn't have any trouble mounting the backplate.

How did you manage to get into the nut at the top right?? It's practically closed off entirely

 

[techguy31]

How did you manage to get into the nut at the top right?? It's practically closed off entirely

I didn't. I could actually get the top to screw if I spent another hour moving the Shuriken around and trying to screw it from the back. It's definitely possible for sure. You just have to spend the time and patience to do it. You can tighten the top right nut if you spend time. I just didn't want to spend that extra hour trying to tighten it. It would've been a bitch if I was going to upgrade in the future and had to take the cooler off.

I don't know if screwing the top right will drastically lower the temperature, but right now the CPU idles at 105 Farenheit and the motherboard idles at 90 Farenheit.

Here's my revised build:
CPU: i7-3770k
CPU Cooler: Big Shuriken Rev. B (The stock fan is quite loud)
MOBO: Asus P8Z77-I
PSU: Seasonic X-Series 850W
GPU: Sapphire 7970 GHZ Vapor X Edition OR MSI GTX 680 4GB
SSD: Samsung 830 Series 512GB
HDD: 1TB Velociraptor
Case: Cooler Master Elite 120 Advance
RAM: 16GB Corsair Low Profile 1600MHZ

I also used one of those more compact antennas for wireless internet and ditched the wierd looking circle antennas as I would have to worry about it moving around when going to LAN parties.

Hopefully, I won't have crazy heat problems adding the 1TB Velociraptor. I don't think the case will get that hot if I'm just using it as storage and maybe when I do some video editing, gaming and such.

 

[techguy31]

Here are some pictures of my final build
I ended up sticking with the AMD 7970 Vapor X
I have one question. When I insert the GPU to the motherboard, the motherboard is a bit bent. In the long run, will the motherboard retain this bent figure? Will it be bad? Because the motherboard is elevated up by the two pins, the motherboard curves, and I am afraid that this will damage some circuit. Am I just being to paranoid?