Review my Build Please

[Fazzar]

Hi all, building a new computer and would like your input please.

Required Info:

1) This PC will primarly be used for gaming. Some limited picture/video editing.

2) My budget is very flexible... like to keep around two grand or under, but willing to spend more.

3) I live in Hudson, WI.

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? (this will be a total build - see below).

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? None.

6) Will you be overclocking? No. Too complicated for me.

7) I have a 30-inch dell and I run everything in 2560x1600 resolution.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Almost immediately.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Yes. Firewire? dunno Crossfire or SLI support? No. USB 3.0? dunno

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit? I currently run 32-bit Vista. I'm guessing nothing is transferable and I'm planning to buy Windows 7 64 bit.

The components (with a lot of advise from a friend):

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P55-USB3 P55 (I've had a good experience with this brand)

CPU: Core i7-870

RAM: 12GB G.Skill DDR3 1600 (Ram is cheap, I'd rather over do it)

Video: MSI R5870 Lightning II (looking for brand advice)

HD: WD1500HLFS 150GB 16MB (2 of these for Raid 0)

DVD: Asus DRW-24B1ST (just want something very reliable)

CPU cooler: Zalman CNPS9900ALED

Case: Antec 900 (I don't want to do liquid cooled again)

PS: Corsair 750W CMPSU-750TX

OS: Windows 7 - 64-bit


So in the end, I don't need cutting edge, but I do want a pretty high-end gaming rig. Thanks in advance.

 

[E4g1e]

Hi all, building a new computer and would like your input please.

Required Info:

1) This PC will primarly be used for gaming. Some limited picture/video editing.

2) My budget is very flexible... like to keep around two grand or under, but willing to spend more.

3) I live in Hudson, WI.

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? (this will be a total build - see below).

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? None.

6) Will you be overclocking? No. Too complicated for me.

7) I have a 30-inch dell and I run everything in 2560x1600 resolution.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Almost immediately.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Yes. Firewire? dunno Crossfire or SLI support? No. USB 3.0? dunno

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit? I currently run 32-bit Vista. I'm guessing nothing is transferable and I'm planning to buy Windows 7 64 bit.

The components (with a lot of advise from a friend):

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P55-USB3 P55 (I've had a good experience with this brand)

CPU: Core i7-870

RAM: 12GB G.Skill DDR3 1600 (Ram is cheap, I'd rather over do it)

Video: MSI R5870 Lightning II (looking for brand advice)

HD: WD1500HLFS 150GB 16MB (2 of these for Raid 0)

DVD: Asus DRW-24B1ST (just want something very reliable)

CPU cooler: Zalman CNPS9900ALED

Case: Antec 900 (I don't want to do liquid cooled again)

PS: Corsair 750W CMPSU-750TX

OS: Windows 7 - 64-bit


So in the end, I don't need cutting edge, but I do want a pretty high-end gaming rig. Thanks in advance.

There are some problems with this build:

1. The i7-870 does not have a triple-channel memory controller - in fact, it has only a dual-channel memory controller. And 12GB of memory via three 4GB sticks would force a Flex memory controller mode in which 8gb would run in dual-channel and 4GB would run in single-channel. In this arrangement an LGA 1156/P55 platform with three 4GB sticks of RAM actually performs noticeably slower with some applications than an LGA 1366/X58 platform with the very same RAM.

2. The Radeon HD 5870 is now no longer cost-effective these days, especially since the newer HD 6870 comes close to the 5870's performance for about $100 less. In fact, at $400 shipped that particular 5870 is now a total waste of money given its older design. (And I do not factor in rebates in the price since I got screwed on nearly half of them - many of those were lost in the mail).

3. The Antec 900 is embarrassingly cramped from front to rear. This significantly complicates the installation of even internal SATA hard drives because there is almost no room to put a typical SATA plug in between the front edge of the motherboard (where the Gigabyte mobo's internal SATA connectors are located) and the fixed steel hard drive cage bracket. Plus, the HD 5870 and most other high-end graphics cards might not fit the Antec 900 case at all because they can be longer than the depth between the case's backplate and the rear edge of the hard drive(s) mounted in their cage. And even if a single 5870 does physically fit, there is virtually no room whatsoever to even fit the PCI-e power connectors into the card because of the cramped and obstructive case design.

4. The 150GB Velociraptors are of an older design, providing sequential transfer speeds that are still slower than many of the current-generation 7200 RPM hard drives on the market (and slower than even one of the newest 5400 RPM hard drives). Plus, the Velociraptors (like all other recent Western Digital hard drives short of the enterprise-class RE series) are known for their issues being run in any RAID array at all. Worst of all, the 150GB Velociraptor is now a complete ripoff at its current street price: It costs as much as many of the 2TB hard drives that perform as well as or faster than the 150GB Velociraptor despite spinning at significantly slower RPMs than the 10K Velociraptor.

5. The Zalman cooler is a remarkably poor performer for the price that you'd be paying. In fact, its cooling performance is worse than coolers costing half as much. This is due to its less-efficient round HSF design despite using 120mm fan(s). In fact, its design is similar (but not identical) to the Thermaltake SpinQ, which has been criticized for being so noisy for such middling cooling performance.

In other words, as listed you'd be paying too much money for too little substance.

I'll let the others chime in on the recommendations.

 

[Fazzar]

Thank you for the input. I look forward to more input. Since I'm not that tech savvy, I'd also appreciate alternatives to this build.

Edit: I should also mention, that I've had two XFX 5870's go bad on me in the course of two months. I don't know if XFX is a poor manufacturer, the 5870 is flawed, or I just have really bad luck. So I'm very open to video card suggestions, but it will have to be something hefty as I mentioned, I run in 2560x1600.

 

[Dangman]

I concur with E4g1e's statements 100%.

Now onto actual hardware recommendations:
- GPU wise, as of right now for you resolution, you might be better off with GTX 460 1GB SLI or GTX 470 SLI. Do note that GTX 470 SLI will suck up a lot of power and output a lot of heat. Another alternative is HD 6850 1GB Crossfire. If you do SLI, you're gonna have to change the motherboard to this:
$140 - Asus P7P55D Pro Intel P55 ATX Motherboard

- Either get two or four of this RAM set and you'll be set:
$55 - G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-10666CL9S-4GBRL 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM

- HDD wise, these days, the common and one of the faster setups for the money is a SSD + fast hard drives setup. The OS + critical apps + 1-2 games is stored on the SSD while the main applications, data, and other game installs are stored on the fast hard drive. So I recommend the following:
$145 - Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC064MAG-1G1 2.5" 64GB SSD
$70 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
---
Total: $215 plus tax and shipping.

$45 cheaper but still faster.

- HSF wise, I recommend this:
$30 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156

- Case wise, I recommend taking a look at these other cases:
$70 - Cooler Master RC-590-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$80 - Cooler Master CM690 II Basic ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K56 ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$105 - Fractal Design Define R3 Black ATX Case (Fill in the ++++ with "N C I X" without the spaces)
$105 - Fractal Design Define R3 Titanium ATX Case (Fill in the ++++ with "N C I X" without the spaces)
$105 - Fractal Design Define R3 Silver ATX Case (Fill in the ++++ with "N C I X" without the spaces)
$100 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case
$110 - Lian Li PC-7FN ATX Case
$120 - Velocity Micro GX2-W Silver Classic Aluminum Case with Side Window
$140 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT Black Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - Cooler Master HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$135 - Antec P183 ATX Case
$160 - Corsair Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$160 - Silverstone RV02B-W ATX case
$180 - Cooler Master Cosmos S 1000 RC-1100-KSN1-GP Full Tower ATX Case
$200 - Cooler Master ATCS 840 RC-840-KKN1-GP Full Tower ATX Case
$200 - Lian Li PC-B25F ATX Case
$240 - Silverstone FT02B-W ATX Case
$220 - Lian Li PC-A71F Black ATX Case
$270 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Full Tower ATX Case
$330 - Silverstone Temjin SST-TJ07B Full Tower ATX Case

Any of the above cases will be a huge step up over the Antec 900.

- PSU wise, you can get the better quality Antec Truepower New 750 for the same price:
$110 - Antec Truepower New TP-750 750W PSU

If you go GTX 470 SLI, then I recommend this PSU:
$130 - Corsair 850TX 850W PSU

 

[dotCapone]

For the GPU, I would recommend a GTX 580. It's new, it runs cool and quiet, and it should run pretty much everything at 2560x1600 that is out. In 6-12 months when it isn't quite enough, you can pick up another one and run it in SLI. Going with a dual card setup right now means that in order to upgrade, you will have to replace both cards.

As for the CPU and RAM, if you need more than 8GB, go for an X58 and an i7 930 and get 12GB in tri-channel. Since it doesn't sound like you would be using even close to 8GB, you can stick with the i7 870 and a cheaper P55 motherboard and get either 4 or 8GB in dual-channel. If decide to go dual graphics cards, the X58 setup may be a better choice since it will allow both cards to run at the full x16 bandwidth.

I definitely agree that an SSD with a larger capacity HDD is the way to go. A 120GB Sandforce-based drive runs around $200 quite often and performs on par with the Crucial. The larger drive will allow you to install more apps and games on the SSD.

I highly recommend the CoolerMaster 690 II Advanced. Two of my friends have the case and love it. It has wonderful airflow, it is extremely easy to work in, and it is pretty quiet. I recommend the Advanced over the Basic because it comes with a toolless 2.5" drive bay and an extra fan I believe.

 

[E4g1e]

I highly recommend the CoolerMaster 690 II Advanced. Two of my friends have the case and love it. It has wonderful airflow, it is extremely easy to work in, and it is pretty quiet. I recommend the Advanced over the Basic because it comes with a toolless 2.5" drive bay and an extra fan I believe.

In addition to the two extras listed (the extra included fan is a top-mounted 140mm fan), the Advanced also comes with a built-in SATA drive dock designed for internal desktop 3.5" hard drives. This allows you to use cheaper internal SATA hard drives for off-PC storage instead of pricier external hard drive kits. Too bad the SATA connectors from the front (top) panel are unlabeled, so plugging the connectors into the appropriate internal motherboard SATA sockets is trial and error.

 

[Fazzar]

Thanks again for the suggestions. I'll try to re-spec and post a close-to-final build for one last review (just to make sure everything works together).

Also, on the case, I do have a requirement I forgot to mention. I am in a wheelchair and my case will sit on the floor. Therefore, I need something with buttons, usb ports, etc. positioned on the top. I'm going through the case suggestions now and looking at the pics.

 

[Fazzar]

OK, still need a bit of help dialing this in, but I've taken into the account the suggestions above and have rethought how I want to future proof this rig:

Board: GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 (I'd prefer an easy set-up board with friendly bios)

CPU: Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor BX80601950

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156

RAM: G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-10666CL9S-4GBRL 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM (3 sticks)

Video: EVGA 015-P3-1583-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) Black Ops Edition 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support

HD: $145 - Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC064MAG-1G1 2.5" 64GB SSD
$70 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s

Case: Cooler Master ATCS 840 RC-840-KKN1-GP Full Tower ATX Case

or.......

COOLER MASTER RC-692-KKN2 CM690 II Advanced Black Steel ATX Mid

P/S CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply



I've decided I want SLI capability for down the road.

I do want 12 gigs of Ram.

I took a bit of a shot in the dark for mobo and cpu given I've decided to go higher end.

The SSD was a great suggestion, I had forgot all about that. However, some specific suggestions on a larger SSD and a smaller HD would be appreciated. I currently have an external network HD at 2tb that I will keep.

Thanks again.

 

[Dangman]

Why did you move from socket LGA 1156 to LGA 1366? The performance difference between the i7 950 and the i7 860/870 are pretty much nilch.

Also, unless you need the PC ASAP, I highly recommend waiting until Intel's Sandy Bridge CPUs are available on January 5th. It's only a few weeks away. Those Sandy Bridge CPUs will be faster clock for clock than Intel's current Core i7 lineup while being able to OC very high. In fact, it's been shown that a Sandy Bridge CPU can hit 5Ghz on AIR. If the price leak is true, you can get the i5 2500K for around $253. That's cheaper than the i7 950 and you can get a significantly higher OC on top of the faster clock for clock speed.

So all in all, you're better off waiting until then for an expensive PC build.

 

[Fazzar]

Perhaps I read the recommendatons wrong, but I picked up on tri-channel and thought perhaps that was the way to go. I'm not in a huge hurry to build, so perhaps I will wait for the Sandy Bridge CPUs. Is the January 5th date solid?

 

[Haiku214]

Intel and its suppliers are very well prepared for the January 5 2011 launch date. You should be able to buy Sandybridge on the second week of January. I highly recommend you wait until then.

 

[Fazzar]

Cool, I will wait until then, great advice. An x58 mobo still the right call then for this new CPU?

 

[trxjw]

"Waiting" is relative.

Folks like myself are content for waiting for Sandy Bridge because I haven't upgraded my PC significantly since 2007. Another 5 weeks isn't going to kill me, and in the meantime, there will be a couple new video cards as well that I have to consider (namely the 570).

I can certainly understand the "hate for the wait" when it comes to things that are 5, 6, or even 9 months out. Waiting for that period of time is just silly.

So the only thing you need to answer right now is this: Is your current machine so bad that it is unable to do what you need it to do? If you said yes, then by all means go ahead and upgrade now.

However, since you said your primary need is for gaming, isn't it more likely that you're trying to squeeze some more frames out of your machine? 30" at your resolution is a lot of real estate for a 5870 to push. So if that's an upgrade, I can understand that your current set-up might be struggling a bit, but at the same time, that means you've gone a while without an upgrade, and it really is worth it to at least wait for the 570 to be released (supposedly on Dec 7th).

You should also see a few benefits of price drops as the new tech is released. Intel isn't really quick about dropping prices on last-gen models, but the peripherals should dip between now and then. RAM, MoBo's, etc, that would work with the i7 should all be cheaper.

 

[modulus]

I'd say wait for SB as well.

Good choice moving to an SSD and upgrading from the 5870. If you're going to wait for SB then you can check out new amd video card offerings like the 6970 and see how they compare to the 580.

Generally I'd say if you're putting together a low end system then who cares about waiting. If you're putting down a couple g's then I'd definitely recommend waiting the month.

 

[E4g1e]

Cool, I will wait until then, great advice. An x58 mobo still the right call then for this new CPU?

No. The new CPU will use a completely new and totally incompatible socket. The first Sandy Bridge CPUs will use LGA 1155, which is physically incompatible with all current Intel CPU sockets including LGA 1156. The chipsets that will be available at introduction will be the H65, P65, H67, P67, Q65 and Q67 chipsets. The H and P chipsets will no longer have native support for the PCI-Legacy bus (although most motherboards will incorporate PCIe-to-PCI bridge chips to allow for the inclusion of PCI-Legacy slots).

 

[avddreamr]

Sort of quote by OP

Board: GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 [FINE]

CPU: Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor BX80601950
[FiNE]
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156
[ Suggestion: Thermalright Silver Arrow ($80.00)]

RAM: G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-10666CL9S-4GBRL 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM (3 sticks)

[ Suggestion: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 12GB (3 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9T-12GBRL ($249)]

Video: EVGA 015-P3-1583-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) Black Ops Edition 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support

HD: $145 - Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC064MAG-1G1 2.5" 64GB SSD
$70 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
[Suggestion:
Intel 120GB SSD $215 or so (Reliability + More Space)
WD Caviar Black 2TB ($180 or less), Very Fast, and surprisingly quiet.]
Case: Cooler Master ATCS 840 RC-840-KKN1-GP Full Tower ATX Case
[ Awesome case, I have it, great for LQ, rediculously heavy and unwieldly, the stealth usb/headphone area is by far my best feature in the case.]
or.......

COOLER MASTER RC-692-KKN2 CM690 II Advanced Black Steel ATX Mid
[Don't buy advances unless you are going to use the sata dock on top, save money and buy the regular version.

Consider the Silverstone FT-02b, if you want sleek and great air cooled performance... works really nice with a potential sli setup down the road.]

P/S CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply

[Great PSU, you can spend 30 dollars more and get the HX850, but both of them will be at close to the limit for a gtx 580 sli setup.]

 

[E4g1e]

Sort of quote by OP

Board: GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 [FINE]

CPU: Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor BX80601950
[FiNE]
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156
[ Suggestion: Thermalright Silver Arrow ($80.00)]

RAM: G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-10666CL9S-4GBRL 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM (3 sticks)

[ Suggestion: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 12GB (3 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9T-12GBRL ($249)]

Video: EVGA 015-P3-1583-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) Black Ops Edition 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support

HD: $145 - Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC064MAG-1G1 2.5" 64GB SSD
$70 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
[Suggestion:
Intel 120GB SSD $215 or so (Reliability + More Space)
WD Caviar Black 2TB ($180 or less), Very Fast, and surprisingly quiet.]
Case: Cooler Master ATCS 840 RC-840-KKN1-GP Full Tower ATX Case
[ Awesome case, I have it, great for LQ, rediculously heavy and unwieldly, the stealth usb/headphone area is by far my best feature in the case.]
or.......

COOLER MASTER RC-692-KKN2 CM690 II Advanced Black Steel ATX Mid
[Don't buy advances unless you are going to use the sata dock on top, save money and buy the regular version.

Consider the Silverstone FT-02b, if you want sleek and great air cooled performance... works really nice with a potential sli setup down the road.]

P/S CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply

[Great PSU, you can spend 30 dollars more and get the HX850, but both of them will be at close to the limit for a gtx 580 sli setup.]

Your suggested substitutions will cost the OP at least $125 more than his latest listed build - for practically zero performance or thermal improvement. (To be honest, the Thermalright Silver Arrow does perform better than the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus - but the improvement is much too small to justify the $50 price premium; in fact, that HSF should cost no more than $50 total IMHO. And outside of some benchmarks the performance difference between PC3-12800/DDR3-1600 and even PC3-6400/DDR3-800 memory on a 1366/X58 platform is virtually nil.) And the CM 690 II Basic is not that good of a value compared to the Advanced because the Basic requires the purchase of an additional 140mm ball-bearing (not sleeve-bearing) fan mounted on top to make it comparable (air circulation wise) to the Advanced in stock form. (The Basic does not include a top-mounted fan at all; the Advanced does. Plus, the Basic needs a ball-bearing fan and not a sleeve-bearing fan because sleeve-bearing fans do not work well in a horizontal orientation.) And the cost of just one 140mm ball-bearing fan more than offsets the current $10 price difference (shipped) between the Basic and the Advanced. (At first glance, the Basic costs $70 compared to $90 for the Advanced - until you look at the shipping charges below the price tag. The shipping charge is free for the Advanced but costs $10 for the Basic. That makes the real shipped price of the Basic $80, not $70.)

 

[avddreamr]

Your suggested substitutions will cost the OP at least $125 more than his latest listed build - for practically zero performance or thermal improvement. (To be honest, the Thermalright Silver Arrow does perform better than the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus - but the improvement is much too small to justify the $50 price premium; in fact, that HSF should cost no more than $50 total IMHO. And outside of some benchmarks the performance difference between PC3-12800/DDR3-1600 and even PC3-6400/DDR3-800 memory on a 1366/X58 platform is virtually nil.) And the CM 690 II Basic is not that good of a value compared to the Advanced because the Basic requires the purchase of an additional 140mm ball-bearing (not sleeve-bearing) fan mounted on top to make it comparable (air circulation wise) to the Advanced in stock form. (The Basic does not include a top-mounted fan at all; the Advanced does. Plus, the Basic needs a ball-bearing fan and not a sleeve-bearing fan because sleeve-bearing fans do not work well in a horizontal orientation.) And the cost of just one 140mm ball-bearing fan more than offsets the current $10 price difference (shipped) between the Basic and the Advanced. (At first glance, the Basic costs $70 compared to $90 for the Advanced - until you look at the shipping charges below the price tag. The shipping charge is free for the Advanced but costs $10 for the Basic. That makes the real shipped price of the Basic $80, not $70.)

1)I saw the basic for sale for 40 bucks, it might of been black Friday. Either way it's not my primary suggestion, if you are air cooling, and you're going to put an fermi in your build.. then if you can afford it.. one of the Silverstone Cases V-ATX is certainly a great option to consider. And i have built systems using the CM 690, it's a great value case. And I recommend it to everyone on a budget. But if you're looking at a 200 case the atcs 840 (my current case)... then take a look at the ft-02
2) The ram suggestion, is not for performance, in all probability he might attempt to overclock, since it's fairly easy. Having faster ram gives you better flexibility when you are o/cing the i7. A side benifit, is to run tighter timings.
3)An intel SSD will provide great reliability. Much lower failure rate. <1% vs 5%+ for most of the other manufactures.
4)The Suggestion of the thermal right silver arrow, is simple. The performance increase is substantial is not as the acoustic payoff. I've used both.
5)Regarding the sleeve/bearing... do you think those 200 mm fans that everyone uses are ball bearings? No... do they work fine yes. Scythe S-Flex.. are they ball bearing? No they are modified sleeve bearing.