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Upper Mid-Range Build, GPU and MOBO missing

C

c0brakai

n00b
Joined
Aug 22, 2011
Messages
60
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
HD Video editing, Some modern gaming, internet browsing

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Less than $800 preferred

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

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
GPU
PSU
RAM
MOBO


5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Case (ATX FF)
HDD (Seagate 7200.10)
Optical Drive (Sony)
Monitor (Samsung 204BW)
Mouse
Keyboard

6) Will you be overclocking?
No

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
20" 1680x1050

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

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.
Maybe SLI in the future. Otherwise the regular SATA, eSATA,

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 and x86



I already have the listed parts. I am already pretty set on:
CPU - Intel i5 2500K, local
GPU ??
PSU - Corsair TX850M, amazon
RAM - 2x Corsair 4GB 1600MHz, amazon
MOBO ??

Thank you for some suggestions :)
 
If you plan on doing video editing, I suggest getting the i7 2600 instead. Since you aren't over clocking, no need in getting the "k" model.

If you are using Adobe as your editor, then I suggest getting an Nvidia 560 Ti at the minimum, but I recommend a Nvidia 570 GTX.

PSU is alright, maybe a little overkill at 850W as I would suggest going with a 650W unit.

RAM should be DDR3 1333, as you will not see ANY performance increase going with DDR3 1333. Just make sure it's 1.5v and you'll be good.

Do you live by a MicroCenter?

$299.99 - i7 2600
$234.99 - GIGABYTE GV-N560OC-1GI GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1GB
$84.99 - CORSAIR TX650 V2 650W
$44.99 - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (Use Promo Code EMCKAKJ22 to knock $5 off)
$134.99 - MSI P67A-G45 (B3) LGA 1155

Total: $799.95 + shipping (think shipping was like $8 on one of the items, but if you order in time to get that promo code, you can take an additional $5 off the total price)

If you really think the 2600 will not benefit your modeling projects, then you can save ~$100 and go with the 2500.
 
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Thanks for the quick help. I forgot to mention that I will also be doing some CAD (Pro/E & Solidworks) on this computer as well as some HD video decoding/encoding. I do indeed use Adobe as my editing software. I guess I will go with the GTX570. I had been eyeing that card all along anyway. :)

The reason I spec'd out the 850W PSU was that I understand they operate more efficiently when the load is much less than their rated output. I also plan on keeping it for many years and was accounting for aging losses that I read about. SLI is also something I am considering down the line when card prices come down.

Will the i7 2600 really benefit much more than the i5 2500K? You are right, I don't need the K model if I'm not overclocking. For $10 more it is nice to have the option though. I do live somewhat near a Microcenter, but considering tax and fuel costs I think ordering from Amazon is about the same price. I prefer ordering from Amazon for the no-tax benefit.

Thanks again.
 
Yeah I missed that you are from CA. Part prices should be about the same on Amazon, just tax free. So I would just source them that way.

The 2600 will benefit a lot in CAD and HD video decoding/encoding in fact, that's where it shines most. Going with the 570 GTX will put you over your budget of $800. I will mention that the 2600k is only $180 at MicroCenter so unless it's really far away, it will probably be cheaper to get it at Microcenter with a motherboard combo.

If you plan on going SLI in the future, then yes go with the 850W, but a 750W should be enough for SLI'd 570s (I'll have to look that up right quick)

As I mentioned, yes. The 2600k will benefit a lot more in those programs. The only thing the 2500k can keep up with the 2600k is in gaming and that's simply because games don't really make use of hyper threading as much as those programs will, specifically the video encoding/decoding.

I will mention though that SLI'd 570s @ 1680x1050 is a waste. You probably wont even notice a difference at that resolution.

edit
As recommended in this review of SLI 570s, the lowest PSU recommended is a "true" 750W unit.
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-570-sli-review/13
 
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You are welcome.

Post up the final build when you get it all together.
 
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I believe the G45 has Firewire and the G43 doesn't. Since you don't need Firewire, going with the G43 would be fine.
 
Thank you :)

Now I'm just deciding... i5 2500K for $220 or i7 2600 for $300. Ahh!
 
Well that's your call. Like I said, gaming you wont notice a difference. Those other programs though can take advantage of the HT on the i7s SB.
 
Yeah, I just read a review saying sure... the i5 is a great value, but the i7 is noticeably faster. My budget might have to stretch a little here.
 
Here it is. The case is super old but it works. I'm replacing the upper fan and also adding one on the bottom. Everything is at stock clocks and so far it's running very cool.

It started up on the first try and has been working perfectly! Thanks for the suggestions, Skillz.

FI90A.jpg
 
Nice. Next you need to save up a hundred dollars or so and get a better case. 80mm fans suck.
 
Skillz said:
Nice. Next you need to save up a hundred dollars or so and get a better case. 80mm fans suck.
Click to expand...

Definately a new case. A nice aftermarket HSF would be good to blow all the hot air out the back with a new case. :D
 
For the love of God. Please up that multiplier. Just 1 notch. At least then your CPU goes up to 11.
 
:D Yeah.. the case is sort of janky. I'm just glad everything fit. I might unplug everything and do the cable routing a bit cleaner, I was just really anxious to see if it worked.

What's so bad about 80mm fans? The one in there is pretty quiet and moves quite a bit of air. The PSU and GPU both exhaust out the back, so there shouldn't be as much heat to expel out of the case, right?

I still need to play with the MSI utilities and whatnot. I ran HWInfo64 and during idle the CPU was at 1.6Ghz, then jumped to 3.6ish when doing things.

WEI ratings right after windows install are:
CPU: 7.6
RAM: 7.6
Graphics: 7.9
Gaming Graphics: 7.9
Hard Drive: 5.7 :(
 
c0brakai said:
What's so bad about 80mm fans? The one in there is pretty quiet and moves quite a bit of air.
Click to expand...
80mm fans simply can't move enough air in a normal atx case for a modern system to cool that well without being excessively loud. An 80mm fan that's quiet doesn't move much air. You may think it's moving a bit of air but it really isn't. The smaller size of the fan just focuses air in a smaller zone which makes feel like a lot of air.
c0brakai said:
The PSU and GPU both exhaust out the back, so there shouldn't be as much heat to expel out of the case, right?
Click to expand...
The CPU dude. I don't see a single intake fan on that case. As such, that CPU will run hotter as there is no cool air being pulled around the CPU area.

Dude, get a new case. Until then, leave the side of the case open. That'll do more for cooling than adding a half a dozen 80mm fans to that system.

Adding a bottom fan isn't gonna help the internal temperatures for two reasons:
1) The HDD bay and GPU effectively traps most of the air in that bottom area
2) The grill is very tight/small. As such, not much air will be pulled

I recommend any of these cases:
$60 - Cooler Master HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 ATX Case
$60 - NZXT Source 210 Elite ATX Case
$70 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58W ATX Case
$70 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K56 ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$100 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$110 - NZXT Whisper WHI - 001BK ATX Full Tower Case
$100 - Lian Li PC-7FN ATX Case
$110 - Lian Li PC-60FN ATX Case
$113 - Velocity Micro GX2-W Silver Classic Aluminum Case with Side Window
$110 - Fractal Design Arc Mini Tower
$120 - Corsair Carbide Series 400R ATX Case
$130 - Fractal Design Define R3 Black ATX Case
$140 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - Lian Li PC-9F ATX Case
$140 - Cooler Master HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$140 - Antec Performance One Series P183 V3 ATX Case
$143 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-002OR Black Finish w/Orange Trim Full Tower ATX Case
$160 - Corsair Graphite Series 600TM ATX Case
$170 - Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$160 - Silverstone RV02B-W ATX case
$178 - Silverstone RV02B-EW ATX case
$190 - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ATX Case
$220 - Cooler Master ATCS 840 RC-840-KKN1-GP Full Tower ATX Case
 
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Okay, I guess I already spent $900 on this build, I might as well spend $100 more on a nice case to finish it all off properly.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Edit: I do have the side of the case open for airflow right now. I will keep it that way until I fix it up right.
 
I second everything Danny said.

I also have a CM 690 II Advanced case and love it.
 
How about from a quality standpoint? I know Corsair makes good power supplies, but I have not heard the end of Lian Li's quality raves.
 
Personally, I've owned one lan Li case and would never buy another. It's junk

That's not to say that they don't make better ones, but that one blew hard. I've always been a fan of coolermaster cases. Their usually pretty well build (solid) and hold up pretty well. They're also cheap :) The Centurion 5 was a great case... it looked great and had a lot of really nice feature. Using an Antec 300 now and I'm also pretty impressed with it. It's a little flimsy, but has a good setup.
 
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Well I went ahead and ordered the Corsair 400R. I read some really good reviews about it. $100 shipped from amazon. This thing is going to be awesome looking now. I'll post a new picture when it's all built.
 
c0brakai said:
Well I went ahead and ordered the Corsair 400R. I read some really good reviews about it. $100 shipped from amazon. This thing is going to be awesome looking now. I'll post a new picture when it's all built.
Click to expand...

Cool! Good luck!
 
c0brakai said:
Well I went ahead and ordered the Corsair 400R. I read some really good reviews about it. $100 shipped from amazon. This thing is going to be awesome looking now. I'll post a new picture when it's all built.
Click to expand...

I helped a neighbour do a build last week with a 400R. AWESOME case.
 
On question I had during assembly was with the CPU heatsink. It looks like it came with some grey compound on it already and I assume pushing down the snaps through the motherboard was enough? How well does that compound work?
 
c0brakai said:
On question I had during assembly was with the CPU heatsink. It looks like it came with some grey compound on it already and I assume pushing down the snaps through the motherboard was enough? How well does that compound work?
Click to expand...

the pushpins don't work very well. The first few times, they're usually ok... but they tend to wear out pretty fast. My old POS Sunbeam cooler didn't even work correctly out of the box. Only 3 of the 4pins would even snap into place (but it worked ok, so didn't bother exchanging it... it was only $20.00). Most enthusiests will recommend upgrading to a CPU cooler that uses a mounting bracket like the Megahalems uses.

As for the thermal compound, it will be ok (albeit, maybe a little thick). I've never had ANY issues using a CPU cooler with the pre-applied thermal compound.
 
I got it all put together. The Corsair case is very well made. I couldn't be happier with the quality. The HDD mounting is very interesting, it suppresses hard drive noise very well.

Unfortunately, the 1394 and USB3.0 ports on the front of this case will only work with the MSi -G45 motherboard, not the G43. So now the 1394 doesn't work at all, and the USB ports are reduced to USB 2.0. I wish I would have gone with the G45 motherboard.

Anyway, the fans and everything is very quiet. In fact... strangely quiet. That's because there is no speaker in this case. It no longer beeps during startup.

One last question... is my PSU mounted properly? I realized I had the fan on the top afterward. It blows a good amount of air, but I recall people flipping it so it sucks in from the bottom. Will it really make a difference?

Thanks again for the help!!

EQIcL.jpg


koZJ9.jpg
 
Ouch, sorry to hear about the firewire and USB 3.0 issue.

As for your PSU mounting question, yes it makes a difference if the PSU is flipped the other way, drawing air from the bottom of the case for a few reasons:
1) It's not competing with the GPU for air
2) It's not drawing warm air from the case
3) It's a tad safer since you can easily drop a screw inside the PSU with the fan facing up like that.
 
Just a little update in case anyone reads this thread. Everything is still working perfectly and there are no compatibility issues.

The GPU and CPU run very cool in this case. GPU idles at 28-32 deg. C and reaches about 65 deg C while playing BF3. The case fans remain quiet and smooth after many hours of running.

Overall very satisfied. Corsair makes high quality stuff.
 
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