Cooling & Power supply for a new build

[Deleted]

Hi,
I'm building a new rig in the next month or so.

Current parts are:

• Intel 520 Series 120 GB SATA 6, for the OS
• Western Digital 1TB VelociRaptor SATA 6Gb/s x2 in a raid array (for gaming)
• MSI Big Bang-XPower II S2011 Intel X79 DDR3 XL-ATX
  I realise that a RoG motherboard would also be a valid alternative, but I had several bad experinces with them, as did friends, so no thanks.
• Random bunch of other SATA 2 & 3 hdd's. Backup drives.
• SATA DVD RW & Blueray Disk.

The CPU I'll be getting is one:

• Intel Core i7-990X
• Intel Core i7-3960X

With the graphics card again, the choice of:

• 2GB GeForce GTX 680 x2 in Sli
• 4GB GeForce GTX 690 x1, with a second one later on. Price difference is negliable.

My case is a CM Stacker. Ram wise, well something motherboard appropriate. Thats a minor point though.

Currently I have a fairly powerful AMD & ATI rig. But I've just got so pissed off with stuff not *quite* working perfectly, and the CPU is rather dated (amd Phenom II 965 Black) so I'm doing a major upgrade. I dont envision upgrading this rig for 2+ years.

Fistly, the HDD's are going to be in their own CM service bays. The SSD & backup drives will be in one, the Raptors in another.
For those who havent encountered them, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817993002.
They look like that, although that grill on the front is somewhat oversized, and the stock fans are something terrible.

So air flow isnt an issue, but. I dont really want this to be super loud either. At the moment its exceptionally quiet, even when playing Battlefield 3 for hours.

1) Given the power of the cpu & graphics, I was pondering on water cooling. I've not mucked around with it much, so, anyone have any suggestions of the best way to cool this, quietly be it by water, air, or a captured Leprechaun?



2) Secondly, power supply.
I've got an 800w PSU atm. Its a mid range one, not a cosiar psu, but not a Cheapo-McCheap one. I've never really looked at how to establish how big the PSU your pc needs, I just chucked in a powerful one. So... suggestions?
I was assuming I'd have to change it with this rig, as well, if im spending that much why would I save £10 on a psu to have it fry the system. (I'm assuming the more powerful it is, the more heat it kicks out, which infulences 1) )


Finally! This is about the cooling & power supply points. Economics isnt the driving factor here, its getting a rig which I can just setup and leave. I'm all for modding, been doing it since ~7 with the good old K6's but I'm tired of buying mid range and upgrading one part every 6 months.

[Deleted]

I'm aware you say money is not an issue but there is still no point in wasting money. Do you believe the $450+ extra for the i7-3960X for slightly better performance and bigger cache compared to the i7-3930K, is worth it?

If your PSU is descent quality then just keep it, you could run triple GTX680's, overclocked 3960X on the unit (again assuming it's descent quality).

I don't have enough experience with water cooling that I can recommend either or. However if you stick with air or a closed loop then I'd suggest any of the following:

Noctua NH-C14 (NewEgg link)
Phanteks PH-TC14PE (NewEgg link) (these come in different colors)
Corsair H100 (obviously with custom fans)

[Deleted]

I'd not looked at the 3930k to be honest. Given the $450 (or whatever that is in real money, ££, :P ) difference, I'll take a look. I'd presumed the X would be more suitable for overclocking. Still, if that means $450 extra or so on cooling... I guess it'd be worth it.

As for the cooling, I cant really do a closed loop (I assume you mean closed air loop, intakes at the front of the case, exhaust at the back) with the CM stacker case. The sides, front, bottom, and top are all mesh. So that'd mean a new case.

[Deleted]

I was talking about the Corsair H100 which is a closed, no maintenance circuit/loop.

~£321 difference between 3930K and 3960X.

Performance comparison 3930K vs 3960X

Feature/spec comparison 3930K vs 3960X

[Deleted]

Been looking into it since you mentioned it earlier. Not sure why I glazed over it. I'm going to go with the 3930k. 60's nice, but the difference is so tiny that its not worth it.
As long as I can OC it enough for me to speed up large matrix multiplications thats fine by me.

As for the closed loop, yeah that makes more sense. I've seen a few friends actually cut & make plastic tunnels to funnel air through a pc case with a grill, to reduce sound. Worked, but they didnt game or do anything particurally intensive. Definately makes more sense given with the H100.

Cheers. Looks like a H100 for me for this then

[BicycleMafioso]

The difference between the sound level on the lowest and highest setting on the H100 is apparantly rather large.
However, the performance difference is minor, at best 2-3°C at loads, if that.