Any objections (tips) before I place an order? (PC)

[smiff]

UPDATE:

So I decided to cough up a little bit more money to get an SSD early on, so now, all I need is a silent PSU with enough juice to handle two 670s (alternatively two GPUs from a future gen, assuming the power consumption won't skyrocket) should I be able to pick up another one on the cheap as previous gen "high end" GPUs stays soaring up high in price. Modular is a big plus.

I've been looking at this PSU as it pretty much does the job well enough and has a sufficient amount of power to at least counteract capacitor aging to a certain degree. (also comes with a 5 year warranty, woo) Leaning towards this one, cheaper as well.

The corsair one is generally quiet and has high performance, however, a persistent issue with the HX series seems to be that the fan spins up at full speed during short intervals during idle and keeps on spinning for a while after load (approx. 90 sec). The noise from the other components might drown the noise out at all times though as at roughly 90% load it stays at 32.5db. *shrug* Anyone with any pointers on this one?

Two reviews of Corsair's HX series (little difference between the HX and HX v2 series):
HX 850W v2, the 850W version of the PSU in my current build order down below that line.
HX 750W, AX series predecessor

Updated build:

GPU: Gigabyte GTX 670 2GB GDDR5 OC
CPU: Intel i5 3570k
CPU cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3-1600MHz Memory Low-Profile
PSU: Cooler Master Silent Pro M2 720W 80+ Bronze Modular
Case: Fractal Design Define XL R2
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM
Storage: Samsung SSD Basic 840-Series 120GB

Probably should have mentioned that I want a relatively noise free system when I first posted the topic.
_____________

The time has finally come to replace my old faithful GTX 460 rig with some heavier equipment, so without further ado, hear me out:

After going back and forth between the GTX 660/660 ti and GTX 670 for what seems to have been an eternity, I decided to just swallow that penny-pinching urge and go with the 670 (for now).

I've basically been trying to hit a sweet spot between both price and performance without compromising too much on the latter.

Country of residence: Sweden

Resolution: 1080

Budget: Approximately $1200, with next to no wiggle room because of an already stretched budget.

This is what I've pieced together so far:

GPU: Gigabyte GTX 670 2GB GDDR5 OC
CPU: Intel i5 3570k
CPU cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3-1600MHz Memory Low-Profile
PSU: Corsair HX750w v2 +80 Gold Certified Modular
Case: Fractal Design Define XL R2
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM

I've tried to tailor this build with overclocking in mind (both GPU and CPU) as well as enough headroom to be able to SLI two 670s should I need to before the 800-series/9000-series.

What I want out of this rig...
Other than that, the obvious intention for this rig would be for gaming purposes mainly. Other than "maxing" the few usual titles such as BF3 with decent fps and what not, I have specifically been wanting to play Skyrim with a boatload of graphically enhancing mods with decent fps (45-60ish) and frametimes. My reasoning for picking the 670 over the 660/660 ti would be because of the wider memorybus with all of those high-res textures, ranging all the way down from 512 up to 4k, with 1-2k textures being the most common for environmental objects and surfaces.

The burning question...
Having that said, two 660s almost lands at the same price as a 670, being a bit pricier while performing about 1.25-1.35 times that of a 680. Would the memorybus on the 670 really justify the cost?

Do also note that any noteworthy microstutter (among other inconveniences with SLI) has effectively been eliminated with the 600 serises based on many inputs I've read. If SLI isn't supported by X game? No problem, just about every game that demands more performance than a single 660 WILL have Crossfire/SLI support.

Despite all the research I've done, there's still a little voice in the back of my head yelping "OVERKILL! OVERKILL!" over and over again. Should I abide to that little voice or just scoff at him and shove him off to the side?

Edit: Ended up slightly longer than I expected. I appreciate the assistance from anyone willing to read through that brickwall above and help me out.

[Deleted]

Build looks really good, you can easily use the 650W version of the PSU and still have enough power doe SLI 670 should you decide one day. I would just stick with the 670 single GPU.

[n0cturnal]

Looks good, the PSU is a bit overkill even for SLI but it is nothing major. Where are you ordering from?

You should probably add a SSD to the build though, it is a shame not to.

[glo]

Not sure if you're set on going with Nvidia or not, but a 7970 is the same price for a rather noticeable gain in performance.

[vindicatorx]

Not sure if you're set on going with Nvidia or not, but a 7970 is the same price for a rather noticeable gain in performance.

This and I would also suggest a SSD you really will notice a differences with one in load speeds.
I also have no idea why everyone loves those generic looking fractal cases since you are already getting multiple Corsair parts might I suggest taking a look at some of the Corsair cases I have done 3 builds with them now and I am a big fan of them

[smiff]

Build looks really good, you can easily use the 650W version of the PSU and still have enough power doe SLI 670 should you decide one day. I would just stick with the 670 single GPU.

Hm, looked at a couple of customer reviews of the 650W version (Corsair HX650 v2 650W), all of them having the same issue with the fan ramping up to high speeds during idles in 15 sec intervals. Also seems like it's on the louder side during load as well. I wonder if that issue also applies to the 750w version or the HX v2

Vid for reference:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r5yZuYLEUs

Looks good, the PSU is a bit overkill even for SLI but it is nothing major. Where are you ordering from?

You should probably add a SSD to the build though, it is a shame not to.

Ordering from Inet. Free shipping, good customer support and as of this writing special offers on the case, GPU and mobo.

And yeah, I really contemplated going with an SSD for my OS and a couple of games/software, but damn, my budget is just about already at its breaking point. My wallet says no.

Not sure if you're set on going with Nvidia or not, but a 7970 is the same price for a rather noticeable gain in performance.

That I know. However, I'm pretty certain I'll be going SLI mode in a year or two, and I want to save myself many hours of headache and driver tweaking from Crossfire issues.

There's also that microstuttering issue, but it's set to get fixed and patched in the near future.

[n0cturnal]

Ordering from Inet. Free shipping, good customer support and as of this writing special offers on the case, GPU and mobo.

And yeah, I really contemplated going with an SSD for my OS and a couple of games/software, but damn, my budget is just about already at its breaking point. My wallet says no.

Yeah Inet is a good choice. You can always add a SSD later on.

[smiff]

This and I would also suggest a SSD you really will notice a differences with one in load speeds.
I also have no idea why everyone loves those generic looking fractal cases since you are already getting multiple Corsair parts might I suggest taking a look at some of the Corsair cases I have done 3 builds with them now and I am a big fan of them

Well, what can I say, I love that minimalistic look.

I've also glanced at some of the Corsair cases that competes at the same price point (haven't read too much about them), from what I've gathered so far, the recently released Fractal Design XL R2 has both good cooling solutions and excellent acoustic performance superior to that of the Corsair cases I've checked out.

Review of the XL R2:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6764/f...an-have-it-all

Yeah Inet is a good choice. You can always add a SSD later on.

What I figured as well.

[vesseblah]

And yeah, I really contemplated going with an SSD for my OS and a couple of games/software, but damn, my budget is just about already at its breaking point. My wallet says no.

SSD will be by far bigger quality of life improvement for the $100 than going for GTX670 instead of 660ti.

That I know. However, I'm pretty certain I'll be going SLI mode in a year or two, and I want to save myself many hours of headache and driver tweaking from Crossfire issues.

I wouldn't be so sure you will be going for SLI/CF. In year or two current cards are outdated discount junk, and you'll want to get single good card instead. There's only one plausible scenario of buying into dual gpu setup later, and that is desperate need for more speed at very low budget. Better use for money is buying relatively high end card now, and sell it in year or two. People who are going for the same trap as you do now will buy it overpriced, and you can buy much better single card with the money you just gained and would've used for the second card in pair.

SLI/CF is most useful for people who are working with relatively unlimited budget and want the best, not for somebody like you who has to skip actually handy parts like SSD.

[smiff]

SSD will be by far bigger quality of life improvement for the $100 than going for GTX670 instead of 660ti.

Meh, the way I've been going about it is that while it might be translating into faster load/boot time, it doesn't translate into actual ingame performance. Not to mention that with the 670, I'd still be able to add an SSD later on while maintaining the same performance, whereas if I went with a 660 ti and an SSD I'd still be trucking along with less performance.

I really do see why it's handy though.

On a related note, being a student sucks.

I wouldn't be so sure you will be going for SLI/CF. In year or two current cards are outdated discount junk, and you'll want to get single good card instead. There's only one plausible scenario of buying into dual gpu setup later, and that is desperate need for more speed at very low budget. Better use for money is buying relatively high end card now, and sell it in year or two. People who are going for the same trap as you do now will buy it overpriced, and you can buy much better single card with the money you just gained and would've used for the second card in pair.

SLI/CF is most useful for people who are working with relatively unlimited budget and want the best, not for somebody like you who has to skip actually handy parts like SSD.

Hm, you do bring up a valid point indeed. Looking at the prices of several 570s/580s that statement does hold true.

Dammit, you made a somewhat difficult decision even more difficult.

[n0cturnal]

I would go for the GTX 670 and get a SSD later, even as a student you should be able to save the ~800SEK you need for a ~120GB SSD in a 1-3 months.

[Deleted]

Smiif, how much is it your budget in SEK? (I know I can Google rates but I'd rather see what you got).

[smiff]

Right now, the current build in the OP sits at 9900, rounding up to an even 10k. Don't forget that VAT though.

Also, that includes stuff such as thermal paste, ESD bracelet etc.

[Dizey]

If you're ordering today:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817151087

It will be cheaper than the HX 750 at 89.99 after MIR. Just remember to use the $35 discount coupon.

If you don't hear the fan running on the seasonic, don't be surprised, it will be in silent mode most of the time with your system.

edit: oops, nvm. didnt read the part where you're in europe. sorry.

[n0cturnal]

Right now, the current build in the OP sits at 9900, rounding up to an even 10k. Don't forget that VAT though.

Also, that includes stuff such as thermal paste, ESD bracelet etc.

You get thermal paste with the Hyper 212 evo.

[Deleted]

Meh, the way I've been going about it is that while it might be translating into faster load/boot time, it doesn't translate into actual ingame performance.

Thats not correct. Many games load lots of stuff real-time, WoW is a prime example of that kind of game. You do not have any loading screens when flying across a single continent, but do you actually think that all that data is loaded up in your RAM at once when you enter the world? Nope, it's being loaded as needed.

So a fast hard drive does actually affect in-game FPS. Not mentioning significant quality-of-life improvements for general work, browsing web and of course, starting applications and games.

You do not need to throw an SSD on top of your current build. Just get rid of the HDD for the time being. Suddenly, it's not such a big difference in price.

If your budget is really tight then you should probably not waste money on things such as modular PSU because all it does is looking pretty inside the case. Oh and as others said, SLI doesn't really make much sense (a single modern card is always a better upgrade) so there is no point in 750 W beast.

[Deleted]

This build sacrifices SLI but gets you an SSD and GTX670, I also changed the case option because I think the performance is more important and with the NZXT 220 you still get a decent case, front USB 3.0 and much cheaper. Review of the PSS (KitGuru)

GPU: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 2048MB OC 3228 SEK
CPU: Intel i5 3570k 1849 SEK
CPU cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 260 SEK
Motherboard: ASRock Z75 Pro3 825 SEK
RAM: Corsair 8GB (2x4096MB) CL9 1600Mhz VENGEANCE LP 453 SEK
PSU: be quiet! Pure Power L8 530W 80 + Bronze Modular 660 SEK
Case: NZXT Source 220 Black 539 SEK
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM 550 SEK
Storage: Samsung SSD Basic 840-Series 120GB 879 SEK

Total: 9243 SEK

PSU for SLI+motherboard:

be quiet! Pure Power L8 630W 80 + Bronze Modular 752 SEK
MSI Z77A-G45 ATX 988 SEK

AMD 7970 option:

XFX Radeon HD7970 3072MB Dual Fan GHz edition (XT2) 3635 SEK

[n0cturnal]

*lots of text*

Just a tip, you can push "Lägg i kundvagnen" and it will put it all in the order basket, when you are done with the build you can push the button on the far right side that says "Visa" from there you can push the button on the bottom that says "Skapa länk till kundvagn" and then "Skapa länk" and it will give you a link to the complete build you made.

[Deleted]

Just a tip, you can push "Lägg i kundvagnen" and it will put it all in the order basket, when you are done with the build you can push the button on the far right side that says "Visa" from there you can push the button on the bottom that says "Skapa länk till kundvagn" and then "Skapa länk" and it will give you a link to the complete build you made.

Good to know, thanks

What are your thoughts on the build?

[n0cturnal]

Good to know, thanks

What are your thoughts on the build?

It looks really good, I would probably spend a bit more and go for something like the Corsair Carbide 300R Svart, but that is probably the only change I would make. I might be a bit biased when it comes to that particular GPU :P