Finally went to Micro Center; built my 2500k rig last night

M

Mizugori

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
Messages
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Man, when you get out of things for just a little while it takes some effort to jump back in! It took me several hours to assemble this beast last night, largely because it took FOREVER to get the motherboard into the case properly, and then even longer to get the Hyper 212+ situated. Then doing some cable management ate some more time, and when I finally was ready to try booting I realized that my video card needs TWO pci-e power connectors so I had to add 2 cables to the modular psu and figure out how the hell to tuck them out of the way to keep airflow as efficient as possible...

I remember when aftermarket hsf's were a snap! It would literally take all of 2 minutes to pop one on. This Hyper 212+ was like a rubix cube to me lol.

The final build is:

Asus P8Z68-V LX
Core i5 2500k
CoolerMaster Hyper 212+
Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600 CL9 Dual Channel 2x4gb (the blue heat spreader variety; 9-9-9-24 and 1.5V)
EVGA GTX 560 Ti 1024mb
Corsair TX650M 650 Watt Modular PSU
Crucial M4 128GB SSD
Asus DVDRW/RAM Sata Drive
Corsair Carbide Series 400R (Case)
Windows 7 Pro
 
Mizugori said:
Man, when you get out of things for just a little while it takes some effort to jump back in! It took me several hours to assemble this beast last night, largely because it took FOREVER to get the motherboard into the case properly, and then even longer to get the Hyper 212+ situated. Then doing some cable management ate some more time, and when I finally was ready to try booting I realized that my video card needs TWO pci-e power connectors so I had to add 2 cables to the modular psu and figure out how the hell to tuck them out of the way to keep airflow as efficient as possible...

I remember when aftermarket hsf's were a snap! It would literally take all of 2 minutes to pop one on. This Hyper 212+ was like a rubix cube to me lol.

The final build is:

Asus P8Z68-V LX
Core i5 2500k
CoolerMaster Hyper 212+
Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600 CL9 Dual Channel 2x4gb (the blue heat spreader variety; 9-9-9-24 and 1.5V)
EVGA GTX 560 Ti 1024mb
Corsair TX650M 650 Watt Modular PSU
Crucial M4 128GB SSD
Asus DVDRW/RAM Sata Drive
Corsair Carbide Series 400R (Case)
Windows 7 Pro
Click to expand...

I personally would have gone with a different PSU than that TX650M: The TX-M series stands out from other non-entry-level Corsair PSUs in that the TX-M series is surprisingly average in performance and quality, as the recently posted review of the TX550M and TX750M units at the [H]ardOCP has revealed. Corsair claimed that the units were based on the TXv2, but in fact both of those lines are based on completely different platforms. The non-modular TXv2 line is Seasonic-built while the TX-M line is CWT-based (and in fact, the TX-M is based on a modified CWT PSH-II platform). As such, you did pay quite a bit too much money for such an undistinguished PSU.
 
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I didn't have a lot of options and I was absolutely refusing to go with an OCZ (or the pc power and cooling one they have at microcenter, which appears to be a re-branded OCZ??)

It runs dead silent and seems to be of decent quality, as long as it can hold my 2500k overclocked at 4-4.5 ghz stable I will have no complaints. I only paid a hundred bucks for it...
 
Mizugori said:
I didn't have a lot of options and I was absolutely refusing to go with an OCZ (or the pc power and cooling one they have at microcenter, which appears to be a re-branded OCZ??)

It runs dead silent and seems to be of decent quality, as long as it can hold my 2500k overclocked at 4-4.5 ghz stable I will have no complaints. I only paid a hundred bucks for it...
Click to expand...

It's too bad that Micro Center does not carry any semi-modular or modular PSU options in that price range without downgrading to a crappy or shitty unit. Especially when (after the TX-M line) the least expensive worthwhile modular or semi-modular PSU costs more than $150 over there.
 
Yeah with what they had in stock it was like well you can get a questionable OCZ, some off brand crap, Corsair (what I chose,) or a Seasonic which was 200+. They did not even have the $140 Seasonic. Do you expect I will have difficulty getting a stable OC with my Corsair PSU?
 
Mizugori said:
Yeah with what they had in stock it was like well you can get a questionable OCZ, some off brand crap, Corsair (what I chose,) or a Seasonic which was 200+. They did not even have the $140 Seasonic. Do you expect I will have difficulty getting a stable OC with my Corsair PSU?
Click to expand...

should be fine, it's just not a standout performer like the bulk of the corsair psu line.
 
I went up to 4121mhz last night without even touching the cpu voltage, rock stable so far, plan to keep playing around with it and see if i can get 5ghz stable
 
Very nice build. I am going to be making my way up to the Chi-Town area this weekend and plan on stopping by MC to see how many of my Benjamin's I will parting with.
 
I'm guessing you got the Microcenter combo bundle for the mobo+cpu? I have the exact same combom but haven't built it yet. What are your thoughts on the mobo? It's not a very common model and hard to find reviews on.
 
the mobo is fine only thing that sucks is there is no connector for front usb 3.0 but I knew that and it was worth the huge price difference. very easy to OC
 
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