Not another "I'm building a computer" thread...

BobbyPeru

Man of Letters
Joined
Sep 12, 2009
Posts
1,677
But I am, bros!

It's already bought, paid for, and all the bits are on the way as we speak, so feel free to tell me what I did wrong.

It's a high-end midrange setup, or the low end of the high-end type of thing. Know what I mean?

Here's what I got:

Corsair Carbide Series 400R Mid-Tower Case
Gigabyte X58A-UD3R ATX LGA1366
Intel Core i7 960 Quad Core Processor LGA1366 3.2GHZ
Corsair CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9 Vengeance 16GB 4X4GB
MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr II OC 880MHZ 1GB
OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W ATX 20/24PIN SLI Ready Modular Cables
Noctua NH-U12P SE2 LGA1155/1156/1366 AM2/AM3 I7/I5/PHENOM Heatpipe Cooler
ASUS 24X Internal Super Multi DVD-RW
D-LINK DWA-556 Xtreme N Desktop Adapter 802.11B/G/N 3X3 PCI-E1 Adapter
OCZ Vertex 3 60GB 2.5IN SATA3 6Gbps Sandforce SF-2281 Solid State Disk Flash Drive SSD
Noctua NF-P12-1300 120MM Ultra Quiet Cooling Fan 1100-1300RPM 63-92M3/H 12.6-19.8DBA Molex

It came to about $1500 all told.

I've been using Apple computers for about six years, but just decided I'd like to try something new.

I was going for a powerful, but quiet build. I think I did everything correctly, but who knows. We'll see when it gets here.

There's so much stuff out there right now. I wasn't sure if I should have gone for a LGA2011 board, or wait for some of the upcoming graphic processors, but the bug bit me now so I jumped on it.

Anyway, it's been fun looking at stuff again, and I'm looking forward to putting it all in the case.
 

cdamm

Trust the French?
10 Year Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2011
Posts
10,587
But I am, bros!

It's already bought, paid for, and all the bits are on the way as we speak, so feel free to tell me what I did wrong.

It's a high-end midrange setup, or the low end of the high-end type of thing. Know what I mean?

Here's what I got:

Corsair Carbide Series 400R Mid-Tower Case
Gigabyte X58A-UD3R ATX LGA1366
Intel Core i7 960 Quad Core Processor LGA1366 3.2GHZ
Corsair CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9 Vengeance 16GB 4X4GB
MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr II OC 880MHZ 1GB
OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W ATX 20/24PIN SLI Ready Modular Cables
Noctua NH-U12P SE2 LGA1155/1156/1366 AM2/AM3 I7/I5/PHENOM Heatpipe Cooler
ASUS 24X Internal Super Multi DVD-RW
D-LINK DWA-556 Xtreme N Desktop Adapter 802.11B/G/N 3X3 PCI-E1 Adapter
OCZ Vertex 3 60GB 2.5IN SATA3 6Gbps Sandforce SF-2281 Solid State Disk Flash Drive SSD
Noctua NF-P12-1300 120MM Ultra Quiet Cooling Fan 1100-1300RPM 63-92M3/H 12.6-19.8DBA Molex

It came to about $1500 all told.

I've been using Apple computers for about six years, but just decided I'd like to try something new.

I was going for a powerful, but quiet build. I think I did everything correctly, but who knows. We'll see when it gets here.

There's so much stuff out there right now. I wasn't sure if I should have gone for a LGA2011 board, or wait for some of the upcoming graphic processors, but the bug bit me now so I jumped on it.

Anyway, it's been fun looking at stuff again, and I'm looking forward to putting it all in the case.

you forgot the floppy. this one is cool.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820300009

i like having a card reader built into my machines. super handy.

seriously- good luck with the build.
 
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68k

Tung Fu Rue's Prize Student
20 Year Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2006
Posts
6,780
I've always wanted to retro-fit a modern computer into an IBM 5150 case. I'll probably get around to it one day.

I did recently install a 5.25 floppy drive in my PC. Nerd cred?
 

BobbyPeru

Man of Letters
Joined
Sep 12, 2009
Posts
1,677
Hey man, I'm sure there are totally legitimate uses for a floppy.

Can't you use them to flash a bios?

EDIT: 5.25? Wow!

Oh yeah. I got a mechanical keyboard, too. 'Cause I'm cool like that.
 
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Adderall

Leona's Therapist
Joined
Jan 16, 2008
Posts
1,954
Nice build. I put together something similar last year with a slower CPU but an EVGA mobo. I know your aftermarket cpu cooler comes with grease.. but I really like MX-2.

so what are you going to do with it?
 

BobbyPeru

Man of Letters
Joined
Sep 12, 2009
Posts
1,677
Nice build. I put together something similar last year with a slower CPU but an EVGA mobo. I know your aftermarket cpu cooler comes with grease.. but I really like MX-2.

so what are you going to do with it?

Mainly Youtube.
 

NeoSneth

Ned's Ninja Academy Dropout
20 Year Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2000
Posts
11,084
looks good.

I just steer people away from SLI / crossfire. Not worth the cost. Extra $$, Heat, and Watts for little gain.
 

Curt

apostate
Joined
Feb 2, 2004
Posts
7,710
Great computer, I recently built a monster as well.

I would say its definately too light on power, I think you want 1100.... if you go and SLI that 560ti. (also the cards I have).

I am disapointed with the 560ti though because you cant TRI way SLI it.

Also Cooling/fans should be important.
You can get that i7 to 4.3 mhz easy.

Im using liquid cooling and am really impressed.

I also love macs, still do. But I needed a truck of a beast to crunch big data.
 

Curt

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Feb 2, 2004
Posts
7,710
As for SLI/Crossfire 3 waying a 590 at $1,000 a pop is lunacy.
But SLIing older cards or early GTX's is FANTASTIC. No one should ever hate on SLI. EVER. Price is not a factor at all. (considering all these older dirt cheap cards)
Just significant performance boosts. Also alot of cards have great integrated cooling already. I disagree with the young gentleman from Saint Louis.
 
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Fett

Camel Slug
Joined
May 17, 2009
Posts
520
With newer cards there's absolutely no reason to use SLI/crossfire anymore, unless you want more than 3 monitors.
 

Curt

apostate
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Feb 2, 2004
Posts
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With newer cards there's absolutely no reason to use SLI/crossfire anymore, unless you want more than 3 monitors.

Again I disagree, Battlefield 3, Batman, MW3, and Skyrim being prime examples. There are still LOTS of room for improvement. Especially if you want to do 1080p 3Dat 24 to 60 fps.. (You do)

It's kind of like saying theres no need for the Xbox 360 because the Xbox is plenty good.
 
Joined
Sep 11, 2000
Posts
2,542
all complains above

+ I don´t like Gigabyte mobos, they do work when you get it, but it tends to malfunction very early.
 

NeoSneth

Ned's Ninja Academy Dropout
20 Year Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2000
Posts
11,084
Again I disagree, Battlefield 3, Batman, MW3, and Skyrim being prime examples. There are still LOTS of room for improvement. Especially if you want to do 1080p 3Dat 24 to 60 fps.. (You do)

It's kind of like saying theres no need for the Xbox 360 because the Xbox is plenty good.

Well for one, Skyrim can be played on Max settings with an average gaming PC.

It's still minor gains for something that costs an extra $1000. Just get the latest video card.
 

CrackerMessiah

Fu'un-Ken Master
Joined
Jan 22, 2003
Posts
1,526
It appears solid enough, but one question: why not use the later generation Sandy Bridge processors? Why the older Bloomfield? Unless there's some kind of overclock magic just waiting to be tapped, (I don't overclock; never could see the expertise needed justifying the sometimes marginal gain in horsepower) isn't the overall architecture and power draw of Sandy Bridge better?
 

BobbyPeru

Man of Letters
Joined
Sep 12, 2009
Posts
1,677
It appears solid enough, but one question: why not use the later generation Sandy Bridge processors? Why the older Bloomfield? Unless there's some kind of overclock magic just waiting to be tapped, (I don't overclock; never could see the expertise needed justifying the sometimes marginal gain in horsepower) isn't the overall architecture and power draw of Sandy Bridge better?

That's some of the stuff I wanted to talk about. I really should have made this thread before buying, but I got excited.

In a practical sense, it won't make much of a difference to me; I'm not a power user (single monitor, light gaming) so I'd probably never notice the difference anyway.

There is, however, a significant price difference when you start looking at lga2011 mobos and the newest processor chips, so I did take that into account.

I think my board was about $150, and another $250 for the CPU. I could have spent a great deal more on those parts of the build.
 

CrackerMessiah

Fu'un-Ken Master
Joined
Jan 22, 2003
Posts
1,526
That's some of the stuff I wanted to talk about. I really should have made this thread before buying, but I got excited.

In a practical sense, it won't make much of a difference to me; I'm not a power user (single monitor, light gaming) so I'd probably never notice the difference anyway.

There is, however, a significant price difference when you start looking at lga2011 mobos and the newest processor chips, so I did take that into account.

I think my board was about $150, and another $250 for the CPU. I could have spent a great deal more on those parts of the build.

OK. But two things going in. First, this may be like the blind leading the blind, as I can't afford any of the stuff I'm about to discuss. If anything, it's probably akin to 95% of the membership of some high-end supercar board. And secondly, the prices I'm grabbing come fro NewEgg.com, which is based in the USA. I only mention that because I see the Canadian flag on your user-dealy, so there may be price differences given locales with respect to either retail pricing or shipping/customs.

You also mentioned LGA2011 motherboards. As far as I know, they're meant to support the newest Sandy Bridge E series, which was only released about a month ago. While it's probably the fastest of the current generation, it's also much more expensive, as you've noticed. When I thought "Why not SB?" I thought of the LGA1155 platform, which is way more affordable than the SBE platform.

First off is the CPU/Motherboard combo. The Bloomfield chip is a good chip, but Sandy Bridge performs better. There's many reasons for this, many of which are too technical for a casual forum post. But suffice to say, the degree to which it performs better varies from application to application, but the bottom line is you'll get more out of it for the money. Not only that, but it'll draw anywhere from 10-25% less power than the Bloomfield setup, and that'll save some cash and spare your new system extra heat. Hell - the SB chip draws 35 watts less than Bloomfield. Over the life of the box, it's something to consider. If you have time, I'd read the Sandy Bridge reviews from AnandTech and the TechReport.

Here are some prices from NewEgg. Your http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128423&Tpk=X58A-UD3Rmotherboard is currently on sale for $190 and the processor for $290 USD before shipping, for a total of $480 before shipping and taxes. A casual search of SB equivalents yielded this LGA1155 Gigabyte motherboard and the current "I'm an enthusiast but I pull real people money" Core i7 2600K CPU. At 130 and 320 USD respectively, they still come to $30 cheaper at $450 before taxes and shipping. You can search around for alternative motherboards, as with the one I chose, you lose built-in support for FireWire and one PS/2 port. But performance-wise, you're still coming out on top.

Going down the list, this is what comes to mind...

Heatpipe Cooler: Perhaps a knee-jerk reaction, but I'm wondering if this is even necessary. Unless you're concerned with noise, and someone can offer a convincing argument otherwise, I don't see anything wrong with using the stock cooler if you wanna save money.

D-LINK DWA-556 Xtreme N Desktop Adapter 802.11B/G/N 3X3 PCI-E1 Adapter: Unless you're putting this in a room completely out of range of a practical ethernet cable connection, I'd wager you don't need it. A wired connection would be more faster and more stable, if you have that option. If not, then this should be OK.

OCZ Vertex 3 60GB 2.5IN SATA3 6Gbps Sandforce SF-2281 Solid State Disk Flash Drive SSD:

Here's an except from the TechReport's Holiday Buying Guide:

"The first, OCZ's Vertex 3 60GB, is a speed demon with top read and write speeds of 535 and 480MB/s, respectively. On paper, it's a superior choice to Crucial's m4 64GB, which has a top write speed of only 95MB/s and doesn't cost a whole lot less. (The m4's write performance trailed the Vertex 3's by a fair amount in our testing.) Things get a little more complicated in practice, because some folks have complained of stability issues with SandForce SF-2200-powered drives like the Vertex 3. OCZ recently released a firmware update that purportedly addresses those problems, but it's hard to tell if the bugs have been squashed for good. After much deliberation, we've decided to give the Vertex 3 our tentative nod while recommending the m4 as a fallback solution for folks who can't afford to compromise stability."

With that in mind, maybe that Crucial M4 might be better?

And that's all I've got. The rest of the stuff you've picked out look OK, but if it's not too late to send some unopened things back, think of Sandy Bridge.
 
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