Building new i7 rig next week - your thoughts on my spec.

Antec Sig is definitely the best on your short list.
 
Corsair now makes an 850W PSU......it's been reviewed on [H].
I have an Ultra X3 1000W and it's been a great heavy duty work-horse for over two years now.

I've powered triple 8800 GTXs with it and use it for my current system that has SLi'd GTX 280s. The modular aspect cannot be beat.

Look, I don't know about everybody else, but EVGA support was exceptional for me. My first X58 board was DOA. I called support on a Saturday afternoon during the holidays, waited less than 2 minutes to speak with a tech. In less than 5 minutes of conversation I had an RMA set up and taken care of.

I ended up actually sending the board back to mwave for a refund, and bought the board I use now from newegg, but nonetheless, EVGA support was exactly what I anticipated it would be.
 
Yeah, the EVGA board looks very solid. I'd have no reservations buying that board if I wasn't super excited about my P6T6 WS Revolution. :)

Antec 850W Signature review here - from the guru of PSUs.
 
Thanks for all your help on this :D

I will be going the EVGA route, and ordering tomorrow! :cool:
(then hopefully building next weekend! :D :D )

As for the PSUs, the only issue I see with the Antec compared with the others is that it's only 80+ Bronze, (other two are silver plus) and at a similar price which is very similar.

I tracked down some reviews on them, they're in a PSU thread this I started

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1033543458#post1033543458

currently swaying towards the Enermax. The only point is that all the reviews I've read are for the 1050 unit, and i'm considering the 850. I like the fact that they have some future proofing features going-on in the connectivity department too.
 
philhumphrey said:
As for the PSUs, the only issue I see with the Antec compared with the others is that it's only 80+ Bronze, (other two are silver plus) and at a similar price which is very similar.
Click to expand...
Shouldn't be a concern IMO based the data in Oklahoma Wolf's review I linked above. I'd rather have an outstanding performing Bronze than a mediocre Silver which is why I own a Signature series (650W) myself. Oklahoma Wolf and Jonny Guru are the reviews to read before, and to follow back up with after, reading other reviews. These two are of the few who know how to properly evaluate PSUs.
 
You're probably right, but i'm still undecided between the Antec and the Enermax.
There's also a [H] review of the 1k Enermax, which also looks good......

Based on a lot of reading now, I also probably wouldn't classify this as a mediocre silver, seems to get good marks all round.
 
Yup, the Enermax Revolution85+ 1050W is a nice supply as well and the [H] review is a good one. Flip a coin time probably. :D
 
sounds like it yes......but then there's the question of availability in Europe (Switzerland or Germany for me)

If I go for the Enermax, then i'll get the 850 anyway, which is also Silver rated.

BTW - did you know that on the 80plus site, it mentions an Antec Sig 850 Silver.
http://www.80plus.org/manu/psu/psu_detail.aspx?id=6&type=2

Looks like a new model with silver certification, but can't find it anywhere on the net yet....
 
Dear all,

Many thanks for your help and feedback, following a lot of discussions and reading, i'm now in the process of ordering the components for my new rig.

Update on spec is as follows:

CPU: Core i7 920 ORDERED
Cooler: HR-01 plus with 1366 bracket ORDERED
MB: EVGA X58 ORDERED
RAM: Corsair Dominator DDR3-1600, CL8-8-8-24 ORDERED
Case: Antec P182 RECEIVED
PS: Corsair Hx620 RECEIVED (will use until the Enermax Rev 85+ 850 is available)
GPU: EVGA 260 SSC (675mhz) 55nm About to order

I'm looking forward to building and some mild OCing (until my 850 arrives :D )

:):):):):):):):):)
 
Outamyhead said:
kevineugenius

My two cents:

Evga's customer support is worthless and BFG has a lifetime warranty. How is thier customer support? I honestly don't know, haven't used it.

As apposed to EVGA's lifetime warranty, and I have not had to use that yet either?
[/B]
Click to expand...


Yes, Evga also has a lifetime warranty on some of their stuff, but not all of it.

Also, the poster bashing Gigabyte has every right to do so, it was just the way he did it.

"i mean, gigabyte? you know what i mean."

Honestly no, I don't know what you mean. If I said "Dude, EVGA? Come on, you know what I mean." no one would know what I meant.

Yes, every brand has ups and downs, and I hope the OP has good fortune with his EVGA. I had a couple good EVGA products and 1 bad one; it's not their product I don't like... it was the money I wasted to get their product, then when it didn't work they shrunk back into their little shells, told me I was inept, and they weren't going to do anything for me. *shrug* oh well, then I won't do anything for them either. Anyone want to buy a nearly brand new EVGA 650i? I sure can't use it.
 
i finally based by spec on some good feedback, and a lot of research based on that, which i'm thankful for.

Sure everyone has different experiences, that a HW and also a personal thing. But I thought to myself, why not give EVGA a try; makes a change to the usual toss-up between Asus and Gigabyte anyway.

Can't tell you how it is though, as it's still sitting in it's box at the moment.

I'm now waiting on the 285, which looks very interesting and was able to return my HX620, so will probably pickup the Enermex.

A quick question on that: with a 285 (possibly SLIing later) plus the mild OC I mentioned earlier, will an 850 still be sufficient? I've seen varying load no.s for the 285s so i'm not sure.

Thanks.
 
Update on build:

CPU: Core i7 920 installed
Cooler: HR-01 plus with 1366 bracket installed
MB: EVGA X58 installed
RAM: Corsair Dominator DDR3-1600, CL8-8-8-24 Installed
Case: Antec P182 Getting full!
PS: Enermax Rev 85+ 850 Ordered
GPU: EVGA 285 installed

Just waiting on the PSU, then the fun will really start! :D :D :D :D :D
 
Definitely keeping an eye on this thread. Your hardware choices have been almost identical to the ones I've made but I'm only now ordering, so I'm very eager to see how your build goes and I wish you luck! Mine will be my first totally solo build so I have to ask, is everything going smoothly so far? If you get the chance, post some pics so I.. *ahem* we have something to drool over! :p
 
philhumphrey said:
A quick question on that: with a 285 (possibly SLIing later) plus the mild OC I mentioned earlier, will an 850 still be sufficient? I've seen varying load no.s for the 285s so i'm not sure.
Click to expand...

Yes, the 850w Enermax will run two 285's in SLI with an overclocked i7 processor. You can run two GTX 280's on a 750w PSU so an 850w should be fine.
 
philhumphrey said:
Update on build:

CPU: Core i7 920 installed
Cooler: HR-01 plus with 1366 bracket installed
MB: EVGA X58 installed
RAM: Corsair Dominator DDR3-1600, CL8-8-8-24 Installed
Case: Antec P182 Getting full!
PS: Enermax Rev 85+ 850 Ordered
GPU: EVGA 285 installed

Just waiting on the PSU, then the fun will really start! :D :D :D :D :D
Click to expand...


Grats on your build. For sound onboard?
 
burningrave thanks! :)

Infantwar - here are a couple of initial pics.

P1010431.jpg


Antec P182, with everything in, apart from the PSU. Build was relatively straight forward, put I still haven't powered it up yet. :p

P1010432.jpg


P1010434.jpg


there's still some room for the 285 with the middle cage in, but I think finally i will remove it and install a low rpm fan in the middle fan socket. Opinions?

P1010433.jpg


set the HR-01 up for a classic push pull out of the back, with the additional roof fan pulling the warm air out too (heat rises)

P1010435.jpg


still enough room next to the 120mm fan to get another 3 sticks in, which is great! :D
Installing this fan was a hassle though, as the HR-01 moved on it's mount when doing it. But after doing some research i've found out that this is normal with this type of mount.

P1010437.jpg


Hope my Enermax get's here soon! ;)
 
Nearly identical to my upcoming rig, except I will be cramming it all inside an Antec Three Hundred case.
 
shagvirus said:
Grats on your build. For sound onboard?
Click to expand...

Thanks! Yep on board for the moment.

Did some reading on the on-board sound chips available on the various X58 MBs, and EVGA and Gigabyte have both an 889 (i think) which can pass HD audio.

I didn't like the cut-down X-Fi bundled with some of the other cards, so when I go X-Fi in the future i'll do it with a better card anyway.

Although the deciding factor for EVGA was reading in various places how good it is, plus it's a bit different than always choosing between Asus or Gigabyte.

But I still can't tell you much about it yes, as it's still sitting behind me sans PSU..... ;)
 
cheezies said:
Nearly identical to my upcoming rig, except I will be cramming it all inside an Antec Three Hundred case.
Click to expand...

Not too much cramming here thus far (luckily) ! :D

But one thing of concern will be the PSU; that will be a tight squeeze at (W x H x D): 150mm x 85mm x 180mm!

At 180mm long so I guess i'll have to relocate the 120mm fan to fit it all in, that is unless i can root most of the cables straight to the back of the case.

Wonder what others with large PSUs in P182 did?

Will post pics once it's in.
 
Wow that rig is already lookin' tight. Color me jealous! Can't wait to see it when it's all done.

With regards to the power supply, I looked into this a little further and found a thread where a fellow [H]'er picked up a computer from a certain controversial boutique builder and put up pics here. He was running a Corsair 1000HX which measures 150mm(W) x 86mm(H) x 200mm(L), giving it a good 20mm on the PSU we're getting. From the looks of it (and a few similar builds done with the same PSU and same case on their forums) they moved the lower fan to the other side of the divider to accommodate the extra size and cords like you mentioned. So I think you (and eventually me) will be sitting pretty space-wise.

Can I ask why you chose the HR-01 versus the TRUE or similar HSF's oft swooned over by these forums?

Also with regards to your future plans for possible X-Fi or similar, if you do SLI where will you put the audio card? PCI in one of the lowest slots or PCIe in one of the 16's (if that works)?
 
TitanT30 said:
How is the boards build quality?
Click to expand...

Build quality looks good; all components are very secure, and the build itself caused no issues.

Got to say as well, the component and socket placement seems to fit really well with the Antel P182. Very happy thus far.
 
Infantwar said:
Wow that rig is already lookin' tight. Color me jealous! Can't wait to see it when it's all done.

With regards to the power supply, I looked into this a little further and found a thread where a fellow [H]'er picked up a computer from a certain controversial boutique builder and put up pics here. He was running a Corsair 1000HX which measures 150mm(W) x 86mm(H) x 200mm(L), giving it a good 20mm on the PSU we're getting. From the looks of it (and a few similar builds done with the same PSU and same case on their forums) they moved the lower fan to the other side of the divider to accommodate the extra size and cords like you mentioned. So I think you (and eventually me) will be sitting pretty space-wise.

Can I ask why you chose the HR-01 versus the TRUE or similar HSF's oft swooned over by these forums?

Also with regards to your future plans for possible X-Fi or similar, if you do SLI where will you put the audio card? PCI in one of the lowest slots or PCIe in one of the 16's (if that works)?
Click to expand...


Thanks, looks like i'll be shifting the fan then, but that won't be difficult, I tried it already. As for the PSU, it was supposed to come into stock today, but I got an email this morning stating it will be another 1-2 weeks..... :eek:

So I quickly cancelled that order, and have ordered one from Germany, which is cheaper and is on-stock now! So hopefully in 2-3 days i'll be installing that too.

I chose the HR-01 after reading a large comparison of coolers. (It may have been in silent pc review, don't remember) anyway it stated there that the cooler performance was a little better on the HR-01, in comparison to the True - something to do with the fin angles or something. Anyway i'll let you know how it is when I finally get some power & heat running through it ;)

Will have to look at the X-Fi option, I guess it will work in one of the PCI slots, or the middle PCI-E, as anyway it's designed for tri-SLI which i won't be doing, but that for another time.....
 
I just got an E-mail back from Performance PC's regarding putting the Enermax PSU in the P182 and they said "We checked and unless you remove the bottom divider and fan there is no way this PSU will fit the case.".

I'm not sure if they mean removing the whole metal divider or what exactly. Guess I'll ask for some specifics but hopefully I'll see otherwise from philhumphry when he gets his PSU in, because I'd rather not have to cut out a chunk of the case (unless the divider comes out without cutting)!
 
Is it all of the extreme mb's that are having this kind of problems or just giga?

Not sure about the 182 case, I have a 180 and hate it. Is the 182 a big improvement?
I have a 180 a 900 and a 300.....all purchased on sale last year. The 300 is the best that is sad.
 
Infantwar - I guess from the pics you posted of that Corsair 1000, which is longer and seemed to fit, the enermax shouldn't be an issue. I however unfortunately can neither confirm or denie this, as i'm still waiting for the damn thing to be delivered.......
 
Well here's hopin' it gets to you soon! From what I understand your enermax is making some kind of pan-european journey!
 
I ordered an eVGA X58 board from Amazon the other night to have on hand if I decide to test it out in place of my Gigabyte board. The only thing I don't like about the eVGA is the board is kind of bland looking compared to some of the others, especially the Foxconn Bloodrage.
 
Well it's finally finished.... :D

After it's long pan-european odyssey my Enermex finally arrived, then the fun began.

Despite by fears of this not fitting, after removing the cage, it went in easily.

P1010441.jpg


however the clearance between the PSU and fan was just too tight, so I swapped it over to the opposite side. (small tip - do this before fitting the PSU.....)

P1010442.jpg


on the drive side (got 2 in the lower bay, with the stock cables, the clearance was tight, so I swapped these out for two 90 degree ones, which solved the problem.

P1010443.jpg


Managed to do a relatively clean wiring job, using the cable management, and plenty of friendly ties.

P1010447-1.jpg


I also included a dampening mat on the PSU bay divider, which has definitely helped quieten things down.

Although the main leads on the enermex are bundled rather thickly, which took a while to route correctly through the gap in the backside of the case

P1010445.jpg


I also used a piece of the left over dampening mat to isolate some of the sound coming from the blu-ray drive. I've also covered the majority of the door on the opposite side too, that also helped with noise.

Here it is now home in it's natural habitat.

P1010449.jpg


P1010451.jpg
 
I will concur with Phil who has a near identical build to mine and say the 285 works juuuust fine. Finally got mine together a few days ago. Kudos on the cabling job! Those mains are just stiff as all hell! Where did you get those cable ties from? Or were they included with the case? Ah well, excellent use of electrical tape, btw. The show Red Green comes to mind. ;)

P.S.- I'm kinda glad to see you don't have a lot connected to the PSU either. I honestly felt kinda bad leaving half those connectors empty but at the same time I'm SO glad I got something modular. Congrats again on the rig!
 
Thanks Infantwar.

The fatter ties are part of the Antec 182s cable management, and keep things nicely in place, that and a whole load of other standard electrical ties.

Yeah the elevctical tape is a little dodgy; must admit that, but it's just to keep everything in place till the case side was put in place, which then holds them solidly.

Glad you got your build together - yeah it really is quite similar! :)
Maybe we should start the naked Enermax society, due to our under-utilised PSUs (at least at the moment)

Haven't played with OCing really yet, just pumped up the Corsair's to run at 1600.

Must try and finish off the dampening soon too. It did make a difference, the only prob is that at present only half of the left side door is covered, due to the HR-01+ being long (don't want any fires) and i'm sure i could also put something in around the cables on the opposite side, to hold them in place and quieten things down some more (got lots of dampening mats left....)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top