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Cmustang87

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Oct 4, 2007
Messages
4,498
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Web Browsing, Maybe some VMs, Games

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$650 shipped and out the door

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Charlotte, NC

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
CPU, RAM, Motherboard, (maybe) PSU, Case

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Corsair HX520 PSU, Crucial C300 128GB SSD, 2x2TB Seagate HDDs, MSI TwinFrozr 7870, my case is a CoolerMaster RC-690

6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
1920x1080p 24"

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Within the week

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support?
USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
RAID, SATA 6Gbps, I may get a second 7870 within 6 months

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes, Windows 7 x64

With no local Microcenter, I have taken it upon myself justifying updating my QX6850 rig. In some games, it's being stressed. I'm assuming that's expected.

Currently I'm looking at the Intel 4670k + Gigabyte Z87X-UD4H for $350
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1389946

The 7870 is a beautiful card that I would like to continue using. The power supply is as old as the system, built in August 2008. Corsair HX520, I think I may need to replace this. However the QX6850 is a 130W CPU, and a 4670K is less than that. I'm not entirely familiar with how that translates.

I would really like to budget a new case, I'm currently eyeballing the Obsidian 550D, but i'm getting pretty tight on my budget. If I don't reuse anything from my old computer save the 7870, optical drive, SSD and my 2x2TB, I can probably sell it for $400 which I had planned on using that cash towards this budget. I have the funds to pay for it up front, however.

EDIT: One small caveat, the case I would prefer to be rather quiet, with no bright lights. I can probably change this later when I can place my computer in another room that isn't the bedroom.
 
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$350- Intel Core i5-4670K CPU + Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD4H Intel Z87 Motherboard
$59 - Corsair CMX8GX3M1A1333C9 8GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$84 - Corsair Hydro H80i Liquid Cooling System
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Total: $493 shipped.

The PSU you have now should ok. It is of good quality so it should last long enough. However, if you plan on getting that second HD 7870, you will need a new PSU as that second card may push the PSU a tad. Since the 4670K does get a bit hotter than past SB or IB CPUs when overclocked, I included a liquid cooling kit. As for the case, the 550D is a solid case. But I also recommend taking a look at some other cases just to be sure:
$100 - Fractal Design Define R4 Arctic White ATX Case
$112 - Fractal Design Define R4 with Window Arctic White ATX Case
$110 - Antec P280 ATX Case
$144 - Silverstone RV03B-W ATX case
$144 - Silverstone RV03B-WA ATX case
 
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Thank you for the case recommendations, Danni Bui. I've been so much on the Corsair bandwagon and Antec had been forgotten by me.... I think I may switch to that P280.

However, the 550D top can be closed off, with a moderate overclocking rig (H80i will exhaust out the back anyway) should I leave that open and install a fan up there, or do you think the stock cooling is sufficient. I'm going for a modest look, and quiet as possible. The P280 case has an open top, so I'm not sure how much more noise it makes.

Thank you again.
 
Nice setup Deja, but unfortunately, I do not wish to do business with Asus. That's a nice case option, and since I'm not going for a maximum overclock, I'm wondering if I should stick with the Hyper 212 Evo, but if I'm sacrificing noise for cooling I may have to go to the H80i... what are your thoughts folks?
 
No Asus? No problem. Amazon has it for the same price, but no 10% off code. Could maybe do a price match, though.

The H80i will keep the temps a bit lower than the H212Evo, but once you put the CPU under heavy load OC or not , both units will have to spin the fans up, thus creating some noise.
 
Cmustang87 said:
However, the 550D top can be closed off, with a moderate overclocking rig (H80i will exhaust out the back anyway) should I leave that open and install a fan up there, or do you think the stock cooling is sufficient. I'm going for a modest look, and quiet as possible. The P280 case has an open top, so I'm not sure how much more noise it makes.
Click to expand...
You can compare SilentPCReview's reviews of the ANtec P280 and Corsair 550D here:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/Antec_P280
http://www.silentpcreview.com/Corsair_Obsidian_550D
http://www.silentpcreview.com/Silverstone_Raven_RV03

I threw in the Raven RV03 as another comparison. THey haven't reviewd the 350D yet so can't say whether or not that case is truly quiet.
Cmustang87 said:
since I'm not going for a maximum overclock, I'm wondering if I should stick with the Hyper 212 Evo, but if I'm sacrificing noise for cooling I may have to go to the H80i... what are your thoughts folks?
Click to expand...
Due to the pump, the H80i will be a bit noisier than the Hyper 212 Evo by default. But it will cool significantly better than the 212 Evo. In addition, the 212 Evo can become louder than the H80i since the fan has to work harder to cool the system in systems with relatively high internal temps.
 
Ok, I finally ordered all the parts, and I'm waiting on the motherboard and other pieces to come in. This is what I went with:

Gigabyte Z87X-UD4H - $36 - http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1775789&page=2 Post #50
Intel 4670K + Corsair HX650 PSU Combo - $305
G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 - $63
Corsair 600t - $80 From Corsair Outlet
Corsair H100i CPU Cooler - $100

All for around $580. When all the parts come in, I will post pictures! Thanks again for the help here.
 
Cool. Let us know what you think of everythng once it's up and running.
 
Pictures coming tonight, I had a few dumb dumb moments with the H100i mounting on the 600t.

I ended up not waiting for Amazon to fulfill my UD4H and ended up ordering a MSI Z87-G45.

Everything booted just great, the post splash screen seemed finicky with a USB keyboard or mouse connected up until I went from 1.2 to 1.3.

Ran AIDA64 last night, temps at stock were about 55C max. System is stable, made passes in memtest, This weekend I will do some overclocking to see how the chip does, I got one from Puerto Rico.

The UD4H is still ordered, just waiting for it come in stock. I will end up selling it to offset the cost of the mainboard, or maybe buy a nice new SSD with it.
 
I'd probably just stick with the MSI mobo since it's less likely to have quirks.\

EDIT: Oh you got it for $36? Never mind then.
 
I'll be keeping the MSI board, I'll sell the Gigabyte.

I was able to get the CPU overclocked to 4.5Ghz @ 1.25 just as a first try. Only settings I changed was ratio to 45, DDR Speed to 1600, and voltage locked at 1.25. Was able to run AIDA64 for 45 minutes, temps maxed at 73C, with my H100i on balanced mode. I may have gotten a decent chip.
 
Got booted to desktop @ 4.6 with 1.20 volts.

So having a strange issue.

I'm using a Logitech G500 mouse and Logitech G15 keyboard. Keyboard is working great.

My G500 mouse buttons won't work (middle mouse wheel click, left click, right click, side buttons) but the mouse moves around and icons highlight. The keyboard works fine. Tried a new USB port and uninstalled the mouse drivers in device manager and reinstalled and rebooted. Still same results.

Cleared CMOS and got it back to defaults. Still the same results. The mouse works fine inside the UEFI, I can click and everything like normal.

My old Logitech MX518 works fine with it.
 
Fixed the issue. Just had to reinstall the Logitech software after uninstalling from safe mode.
 
Danny Bui said:
$350- Intel Core i5-4670K CPU + Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD4H Intel Z87 Motherboard
$59 - Corsair CMX8GX3M1A1333C9 8GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$84 - Corsair Hydro H80i Liquid Cooling System
---
Total: $493 shipped.

...
Click to expand...

This is a pretty good build. I would recommend going 16gb of RAM though if you plan on running any VM's.
 
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Thanks Mikey, but I don't plan on doing any VMs. I couldn't justify the extra cost of 16GB with the current costs of DDR3. Here are the pictures that I promised:

Credit goes to my girlfriend for taking these photos.

NTjAw60.jpg

All of them together, ready to go.

d8HkbYu.jpg

Case taken apart for easy installation

RvEyAi1.jpg

RAM installed

1vgYiXM.jpg

Right here is where I screwed up, the heatsinks on the G45 didn't allow me to mount this like that. I had to put the radiator inside the case, and the fans up on top. This is not the end results of the build.

kVnT7b4.jpg

H100i installed, with video card: MSI TwinFrozrIII 7870

qPrSRCx.jpg

Corsair fanboy :)

2NMCO3B.jpg

Ahhh....

J0KasqX.jpg

The final product.

I want to thank everyone here for the help with the build and their recommendations. Currently my system is running solid at 4.4Ghz @ 1.20v. I think i will leave it at that, or I may try to dial down the volts if I can. This is just a very quick dirty overclock.
 
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