Building a monster..thoughts?

[apeiiron]

Hi there. Before I begin, a little about myself. I work at CompUSA and from time to time while helping people pick out builds as well as laptops,etc. I like to shop for me. At the moment this is what I'm running:

I7 2600k @4.8ghz
Corsair H80 w/Scythe fans
16gb Corsair Vengeance
Asus Z68-V Pro board
MSI 6850 OC
OCZ Vertex 3 120gb
WD Caviar Black 1TB
TT 750w modular psu
CM Storm Enforcer case

Well..I've decided that while this is proving adequate for what I'm playing now ( SC2, WoW, GW2), I'd really like to go a bit further. On my desk I've had a 3930k in a box that's just staring at me, and while I know I can't take full advantage of it...I want to put it to work. But that's not the issue as much as wanting to go custom is. Custom as in..I want a solid mid tower that I can take a dremel to and paint. It's been a bitch trying to figure out which one to go with, but the Corsair lineup is looking good. I'm also anxious to drop in some quad-channel ram and a 7950, and most likely a revo drive.

With that being said,anyone have some suggestions on how to get started case-wise? On the card, the new XFX stuff we've gotten in looks great, but reviews make me slightly skeptical (cards failing, falling apart). I've had Sapphire in the past, maybe go back to them?

I'm pretty comfortable with doing builds..but I'm really aiming to go into territory I'm not that familiar with..a nice new project lol. Thanks for input!

[Nips]

If the machine is for gaming only, you won't need an i7 2600k. The i5 3570k is newer tech and provides the same performance (arguably even better at comparable clocks).
Z68 is an outdated chipset - go with Z77 instead. Asus is fine, but so would be Asrock, for example.
16gb ram is not needed. 8gb would be plenty, but since ram is cheep, it's up to you.
The gpu on the other hand is fairly weak and also outdated. You would be better of using a HD 7870 or a HD 7850 - both had just had significant cuts in price and are great cards that will easily max the games mentioned at standard resolution.
The Vertex 3 is a bad choice for a SSD. Samsung 830, Crucial m4 and also most Corsair/Intel drives are much more reliable.
For a single GPU setup you can easily get away with a 400-500W psu. If you are thinking about going for a second GPU in the future, go with a 600W psu. Also, what does TT stand for? I just don't see it right now.. Thermaltake? More reliable units come from Seasonic, Corsair etc.

[apeiiron]

This is what I'm already running... The post was about what I'm going to run lol. I've found the Vertex 3's to be fast (550/525) and pretty reliable, but I'm aware of the older ones having major issues. Yeah, it's a Thermaltake psu.

The post was focused more on doing a more serious custom-style build (emphasis on the case), but your critique is appreciated.

[Nips]

Sigh ... too early for me obviously

Sorry.

[apeiiron]

Lol all good, and too late for me

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Make sure you have a drill to take out rivets and send the case off to have the paint/powder coat removed before having it repainted/powdered.

[Skarsguard]

Iv never had a problem with my vertex 4 maybe I'm lucky and the other 3 I have installed in friends computer have been running fine as well.

[apeiiron]

Make sure you have a drill to take out rivets and send the case off to have the paint/powder coat removed before having it repainted/powdered.

Ahh, I haven't thought of that. Thanks! Having a tough time picking the case. I'm leaning towards the 600T, and I think I'd like to lexan/plexiglass the door with a 200mm+ fan. Not sure if it'd come out clean or not though :/

Is making the jump to a conventional liquid cooling setup extremely difficult?

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Fan mounts in acrylic/plexiglass panels look shit, just saying.

[apeiiron]

Fan mounts in acrylic/plexiglass panels look shit, just saying.

Tbh..i've been debating on doing an acryllic case, possibly a cube lol. I've seen some builds that just looked too busy, and some that were pretty badass.

[Kinettik]

Fan mounts in acrylic/plexiglass panels look shit, just saying.

I dont think so, if done correctly. Using rivets to secure the fan is always cleaner, the only issue you will have is hiding the wires. Running a tinted strip south, centered to the fan to run the wires down is the cleanest, easiest way to avoid seeing the wires IMO.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

I dont think so, if done correctly. Using rivets to secure the fan is always cleaner, the only issue you will have is hiding the wires. Running a tinted strip south, centered to the fan to run the wires down is the cleanest, easiest way to avoid seeing the wires IMO.

The issue I have with it is that the holes in the plastic refract the light so much that the panel is practically opaque, right over the hardware a window is designed to show off.

[Kinettik]

I dont disagree there, which is why i would only personally run tinted acrylic. You dont get to see the components well in the light, but at night, with the proper lighting, you can get the desired effect. Also helps to hide any poor cable management you may have done (hope you havent, lol). Then again, Id take a mesh side panel anyday, and not worry about seeing inside with the case closed.

[apeiiron]

Been looking at cathodes, dunno if mesh would be the way to go lol. I did just look at the 600T with the mesh side.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

If you are using a water cooling loop you don't really need the fans on the side panel anyway.

[apeiiron]

If you are using a water cooling loop you don't really need the fans on the side panel anyway.

i think im just obsessed with cooling.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Unnecessary extra noise IMO

[apeiiron]

I've actually found that the larger fans make way less noise than to be expected, but meh.

What are your thoughts on 7870 vs 7950?

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Yeah, but not having a fan there at all would make zero noise

[apeiiron]

Anyone go from dual to quad channel ram and notice a big difference? I'm really looking forward to taking advantage of pci 3.0. still cant decide between the cards (7870 or 7950).