Thinking of building this! Would like some feedback

[nekrosoft13]

Originally Posted by ViN86

Bah, price to performance ratio on SSD's are still way too high imo.

nah, is just right.

you can get SATA III 120GB SSD from frys after AR for 150.

you might argue that price to capacity is off, but performance is amazing, especially for OS.

[mullet]

Kain will never built a rig. He has had billions of threads asking should I buy this or that for the past 2 years. He will never buy a thing.

[Greedo]

Originally Posted by ViN86

Bah, price to performance ratio on SSD's are still way too high imo.

well worth plunking down $100 for a smallish one for your OS, regardless of the ratio, imo.

[Kain]

Okay, I decided to wait on that build because I wanted a PCIe 3.0 CPU and motherboard to support the upcoming HD 7xxx and GTX 6xx series graphics cards. Ivy Bridge is too far away for me right now (they are saying March or April) so I've decided on Sandy-Bridge-E. The high-end AMD graphics cards are due in January according to rumors so that is only a two month wait or even one month if they come out early January.

This is what I've planned now:

Processor: Intel Core i7-3930K ($599.99)
Cooler: Corsair Hydro Series H80 ($93.99)
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-X79-UD3 ($269.99)
RAM: 16 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 MHz CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9 ($89.99)
Graphics card: 2 x XFX Radeon HD 7970 ($699.98?)
Sound card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD ($139.99)
SSD: Intel 510 Series 120 GB ($275.00) or Intel 520 Series if available by the time I buy
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB WD1002FAEX ($79.99?)
Optical drive: Sony Optiarc AD-7261S ($19.99)
Power supply: Corsair Professional Series Gold AX850 ($183.99)
Case: Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ($189.99)
Monitor: ASUS PA238Q ($274.99)
Speakers: Corsair Gaming Audio Series SP2500 ($199.99)
Keyboard: Microsoft SideWinder X4 ($42.77)
Mouse: Logitech G9x ($59.99)
OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate

Questions:

1. Will an H80 be good enough to cool an overclocked 3930K or should I swing for the H100? I know that the 3930K is not exactly a cool running CPU.

2. Will the AX850 be enough to power this build?

3. What happened to the Intel 520 SSD? Rumors were saying early November release date.

4. Is it better to get two HD 7970 cards in CrossFireX or a single HD 7990?

[Redeemed]

Originally Posted by Kain

Okay, I decided to wait on that build because I wanted a PCIe 3.0 CPU and motherboard to support the upcoming HD 7xxx and GTX 6xx series graphics cards. Ivy Bridge is too far away for me right now (they are saying March or April) so I've decided on Sandy-Bridge-E. The high-end AMD graphics cards are due in January according to rumors so that is only a two month wait or even one month if they come out early January.

This is what I've planned now:

Processor: Intel Core i7-3930K ($599.99)
Cooler: Corsair Hydro Series H80 ($93.99)
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-X79-UD3 ($269.99)
RAM: 16 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 MHz CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9 ($89.99)
Graphics card: 2 x XFX Radeon HD 7970 ($699.98?)
Sound card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD ($139.99)
SSD: Intel 510 Series 120 GB ($275.00) or Intel 520 Series if available by the time I buy
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB WD1002FAEX ($79.99?)
Optical drive: Sony Optiarc AD-7261S ($19.99)
Power supply: Corsair Professional Series Gold AX850 ($183.99)
Case: Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ($189.99)
Monitor: ASUS PA238Q ($274.99)
Speakers: Corsair Gaming Audio Series SP2500 ($199.99)
Keyboard: Microsoft SideWinder X4 ($42.77)
Mouse: Logitech G9x ($59.99)
OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate

Questions:

1. Will an H80 be good enough to cool an overclocked 3930K or should I swing for the H100? I know that the 3930K is not exactly a cool running CPU.

Well, what are you hoping to OC to? Yes an H80 will be enough to cool an over clocked 3930K. Will the H100 *possibly* allow for a higher OC due to lower temps? Yes. Notice I emphasised "possibly". As always OC'ing is not a guarantee- there are other variables such as MOBO and RAM that play a big part in a units over all over-clockability.

2. Will the AX850 be enough to power this build?

I don't see why not. If you're worried about it and can afford it jump up to a 1200Watt PSU. Single or Quad Rail recommended of course. I've been using my 850Watt PSU since mid'06 so over 5 years now. Ran dual 8800GTXs without a problem and those things were far from energy efficient. I imagine the 7970s will be much more power-friendly than the top-tier G80 was so I'd say even running two of them you should be fine. But again, if you are concerned about it just bump up to a 1KW or 1.2KW PSU. If it's from a reputable vendor like Antec, Silverstone, SeaSonic, OCZ, etc you'll be fine- but just check the AMPs on the 12v rail(s) just as a precaution. Likely at that wattage you'll be more than sufficient but always a good thing to check just in case.

3. What happened to the Intel 520 SSD? Rumors were saying early November release date.

Oooh... good question- I've no idea. I don't follow SSDs too closely but I know Slawter does. Maybe he'll be able to chime in here.

4. Is it better to get two HD 7970 cards in CrossFireX or a single HD 7990?

There is no "yes" or "no" answer here. It strictly boils down to preference. So the right question is "Which would you prefer- two HD7970s or a single 7990"?

See bold.

[K007]

Originally Posted by ViN86

Bah, price to performance ratio on SSD's are still way too high imo.

yea this exactly how i feel too...its awesome to have one, but the price is just a bit too high still....

[Kain]

Thanks for the replies.

Unfortunately, that ASUS motherboard is too expensive and, secondly, I like some of GIGABYTE's features and that is why I chose GIGABYTE.

By the way, the Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB is too expensive right now. Any recommendations of another good/fast 1 TB HDD or are they all roughly the same price right now?

[Q]

Originally Posted by nekrosoft13

plus that dell is IPS.

if you care about image quality, get IPS screen, not any TN crap, like that asus.

This times infinity. The truest thing that the nekro has ever posted.

[Kain]

Originally Posted by slaWter

The Intel 520 was supposed to be available starting November 4th. But that didn't happen obviously. The drives are still listed for a Q4 release on Intel's latest SSD roadmap. And the 710s are now available, so the road would be clear for the 510 refresh. But honestly, once you have an SSD, the differences between SSDs are hard to notice in everyday usage. First generation SSD vs current generation SSD is different but the 520 will just be a refresh, you shouldn't worry too much about it.

Thanks for this info. Is it safe to say that it is not worth waiting for the Intel 520 SSDs? I heard they were suppose to be the fastest SSDs around. Will there be a noticeable difference between the 510 and the 520 in real-world scenarios?

Secondly, how are Hitachi HDDs? I read about the Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.D 1TB and it seems to be the fastest (or one of the fastest) HDDs around (if I am not mistaken). How do they compare to Western Digital HDDs, especially the Caviar Black?

[Kain]

Thanks.

By the way, I am getting a little impatient over here.

The laptop in my sig is my current PC and obviously can't do much on it.

I am thinking of building the PC already but not getting an SSD for now (wait for the Intel 520) and getting an HD 6870 while I wait for the HD 7970 and then I'll give the HD 6870 to my brother who is currently running a HD 5770. So, basically, I will compromise on the SSD while I wait for the Intel 520 and use a HD 6870 while I wait for the HD 7970.

Sound reasonable or should I do something else?

[Redeemed]

I'd say it sounds reasonable. The 6870 is a great card. Not no 7970 for certain but for it's present price range... hard to beat. And it'll be a nice little upgrade for you brother as well.

[XDanger]

Gigabyte has SSD Caching? Asus x79 does.