Help with a new gaming computer… Have many MANY questions

[Lychee3000]

Finalized build and ordered my new computer at 6:30 PM EST... Now it's processing. I even got confirmation an hour ago (midnight EST) that they accepted my price match. I gained probably a miniscule $15 that I was hoping for but I got them! I <3 NCIX. Thanks everyone for all your help! =).

Computer Case: -
Corsair Carbide Series 500R Mid-Tower Gaming Case ATX 4X5.25 6X3.5INT USB 1394 No PS Black
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=62757&promoid=1030
$79.99 CAD ($99.99 - $20 rebate)

Motherboard: -
ASRock Z77 EXTREME4 ATX LGA1155 DDR3 2PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 2PCI SATA3 DVI HDMI USB3.0 Motherboard
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=70902&promoid=1030
$109.99 CAD ($144.99 - $35 rebate)

Processor: -
Intel Core i5 3570K Unlocked Quad Core Processor LGA1155 3.4GHZ Ivy Bridge 6MB Retail
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=70541&promoid=1030
$219.99 CAD

Memory: -
Corsair XMS3 CMX8GX3M2B1600C9 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 240PIN Dual Channel Memory Kit
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=63...acture=Corsair
$44.95 CAD

PSU: -
Corsair Professional HX650W 650W ATX 12V 52A 24PIN ATX Modular Power Supply Active PFC 120mm Fan
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=42532
$79.99 CAD ($89.99 - $10 rebate)

Cooling: -

Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo Direct Touch 4 Heatpipe Heatsink AM2 AM3 LGA1366/1155/1156/2011 120MM
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=64385&promoid=1030
$27.99 CAD
^This will force me to make sure that I don't overclock too heavily and just stick with mild-moderate overclocking.

Operating System: -
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64BIT SP1 DVD OEM
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=45...t&promoid=1030
$89.99 CAD

Optical Drive: -
ASUS DRW-24B1ST 24X SATA DVD Writer OEM Black
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=49597&promoid=1030
$17.99 CAD

SSD Drive: -
Samsung 830 Series 128GB 2.5in SATA3 MCX Solid State Disk Flash Drive SSD
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=74132
$119.99 CAD

SATA Drive: -
Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA3 6GB/S 7200RPM 64MB Cache 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=50895&promoid=1030
$89.99

Case Fans: -

None. Can add them later if needed.

Graphics Card: -
Gigabyte Radeon HD 7870 OC 1100MHZ 2GB 4.8GHZ GDDR5 DVI HDMI 2XMINIDP PCI-E Video Card
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=69492
$234.99 CAD

TOTAL: $1502.40 [Includes HST tax, assembly charges $50 CAD, 3-year on-site coverage for parts by NCIX, but no rebates or shipping charges since I am going to pick it up from location)


-------------------------------


Computer Chair: -

MARKUS Swivel Chair, Blue
http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/20178865/#
$179.99 CAD
^I won't be paying for it so it's not gonna come into my total.

Computer Desk: -

OSP Designs Horizon Computer Desk with Keyboard Tray
http://www.wayfairsupply.com/OSP-Des...5-OSP1311.html
$177.78 CAD
^I won't be paying for it so it's not gonna come into my total.



__________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________


INCOMING VERY long post… I humbly apologize in advance but I want you guys to know as much information as possible so you guys can
help me easily and without any misunderstanding, hopefully… Here it goes… (I had to type it in MS Word because… well it was too long for me to write it in the post and having it crash on me or log out and lose everything =/):

Hello everyone!

I have decided finally to get a new computer after having my current desktop for 3 years. I have many questions, which will be throughout this post. I need a lot of advice of what is good to get or how something works and stuff like that so I hope you guys can help me with this.

I have been researching for a new desktop computer for many months now. Recently, I have been researching the parts for many days consecutively and I want to get a new computer, probably when there is a big discount or something, so in a couple of days or in the next week or so due to Black Friday sales.

I will be copying the template from the sticky, Help Requests & Upgrades. Here it goes:

Current Build~
I bought this desktop computer on January 21st, 2009. It cost me $1291.57 CAN total. This includes GST and HST (I live in Canada). Subtotal was $1142.98 with GST $57.15 and PST $91.44. I got it from a store called Canada Computers. I can’t really give links ‘cause it was a prebuilt one from… well, more than 3 years ago, but I will list all the components of my current desktop here since I have the whole order receipt. I will not include the links since there aren’t any because this computer is so old now. The case + monitor are included in the above cost (~$1300) as well as the DVI to DVI cable. I did not upgrade anything of my computer since then except the mouse, keyboard and headset.

Computer: -
It’s called Mercenary MC-500.

Manufacturer: -
Canada Computers I think.
www.canadacomputers.com

Case: -
Antec Sonata III Quiet Super Mid Tower with 500 Watt power supply

Ram: -
2x Kingston ValueRAM 1GB DDR2-800MHz Non-ECC CL5 DIMM

CPU: -
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad-Core Socket LGA775, 2.40 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB, 8 MB L2 Cache, 65 nm

PSU: -
500W Antec EarthWatts

GPU: -
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4830 512MB DDR3 HD Audio 640 Stream Processor UVD 2 Dual Dual-Link DVI Display PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card

Motherboard: -
Asus P5QL-E Socket 775 Intel P43 + ICH10R Chipset Dual-Channel DDR2 1066/800/667 MHz Gigabit LAN 8-channel High Definition Audio PCI Express 2.0 x16 Slots 6x Sata 3GB/s 1600MHz FSB

Operating System: -
Microsoft Windows XP Professional 32-bit Service Pack 3

Monitor: -
LG Flatron W2242TQ

Sound Card: -
On-board 8 channel high-definition audio

Network Card: -
Inbuilt with the motherboard and wired connection

Hard Drive: -
Western Digital Caviar 500GB SATAII 7200RPM 16MB Buffer (OEM)

Optical Drive: -
Samsung SH-S223F/BEBS SATA Black 22x DVD-Writer OEM

Peripherals: -
DVI to DVI (DVI-D) Digital Dual Link 24-pin M/M 2 m 6.56 ft
Logitech MK120 USB Wired Desktop Keyboard & Mouse Combo ($17.99)
Logitech ClearChat Comfort USB Headset ($39.99)

I bought the keyboard/mouse combo and the headset in November 9th, 2011. I was using an old keyboard, mouse and headset from before then.

DxDiag: Can anyone tell me how to post this please? I don’t know how to post that spoiler tag thing on the sides or whatever. (If you guys need it... if not, disregard this)


================
Now what is it I want....

Upgrade or New Computer: -
New computer

Upgrade on what (you hope): -
Everything

Willing to Self Build or Pre-Built: -
Pre-built from NCIX so there will be building charges, which I will mention later.

How much you want to spend: -
$1000 - $1200

How much you can spend: -
$1500 (this includes GST and HST + shipping fees + RMA fees)

What all you plan to use it for: -
Gaming (WoW, Diablo III, SC II, SWTOR, Rift (maybe), GW2 (maybe), surfing, Microsoft Office applications

What Operating system you want to use & Bit: -
Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit

What Resolution you hope to be in: -
1680 x 1050

What Settings do you want & how much FPS: -
High/Ultra in all those games I mentioned, especially WoW, D3, SC2 and SWTOR with consistent 60 FPS if possible or between 40-60 range. I don’t care for more than 60 FPS since you cannot notice the difference after that anyway.

What Country are you from: -
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

What can you re-use: -
DVI to DVI (DVI-D) Digital Dual Link 24-pin M/M 2 m 6.56 ft Cable
Logitech MK120 USB Wired Desktop Keyboard & Mouse
Logitech ClearChat Comfort USB Headset
LG Flatron W2242TQ Monitor

Network will be wired or wireless: -
Wired

Any Additional Info Here: -

Ok, I have a lot of questions so bear with me. But, first, I will give some more information.

I have been playing WoW since it released in 2004, not consistently but off and on throughout. I get around 15-30 FPS consistently for that many years I think maybe more when WoW was newer but my settings are all maxed, including multisampling at 8x and shadow quality at high. I would really love to get 60 FPS if possible consistently in WoW at completely ultra settings or close to 60 FPS if possible.

I bought both D3 and SC2 but I have only played a bit of both because I lag a bit on high/ultra settings and I don’t like to play games that I cannot play smoothly or as smooth as possible on high graphical settings (I like pretty pixels… maybe too much). I tolerated WoW for a really long time because it did not have any hiccupping or frame skipping or as much before… but now it is happening often and it really ruins my gameplay, especially in PVP. In D3 and SC2, I can’t play at ultra settings without lagging or gameplay not being smooth… I would really love to play D3 again and play SC2 through all of its campaigns finally before HoTS releases in max graphical settings.

I also want to play SWTOR at max settings if possible with the least lag/slowdown as possible. I understand that SWTOR is not very optimized at the moment but I think getting a better computer than my current one will help fix that greatly (hopefully). I might play subbed or F2P in SWTOR depending on my new computer’s performance in it. I get frames skipping and slowdown when I have maxed settings in SWTOR and FPS is around 25-30 on my current desktop computer.

Rift and GW2 is something I would like to try out and see how it looks graphically on my new computer but I am not much invested in them. GW2 a bit more invested to try out but not that much. We’ll see.

Now, onwards to the build I want to get and I really need everyone’s input on this if possible before the sales are gone… I think I have until the end of November or until 1st week of December. First, I will go over the desk and chair I need quickly since I am looking to buy a new chair and desk. Then I will go over the computer build I want.

Earlier, I mentioned that I was going to re-use certain things… Here they are again:

DVI to DVI (DVI-D) Digital Dual Link 24-pin M/M 2 m 6.56 ft Cable
Logitech MK120 USB Wired Desktop Keyboard & Mouse
Logitech ClearChat Comfort USB Headset
LG Flatron W2242TQ Monitor

I am also planning on buying a computer chair and a computer desk for my room as I mentioned earlier. I will list the options for them now. I could use some input on them if you guys want but I am pretty set on the chair. The desk I need some help with, though, but I will list the questions I have for it under them.

Computer Chair: -
http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/20178865/#

My big brother bought this computer chair for himself since he works a lot on the computer and he also works in the computer field. I have tried the chair by sitting on his at his computer and I really love it. I like how it tilts back. I like how the fabric is not leather and the cushion is very comfy on it. I love the mesh back and the headrest. I really love everything about it except I wish there was a black colour for it. Oh well. I think a blue computer chair will be a shot of colour in my bedroom, I think, in between all the black and brown furniture. Oh, forgot to mention. My computer will be in my bedroom beside my bed… Not much room, but I think there is enough space for everything =).

On to the computer desk now… I want to mention a few things. I am also thinking of either getting a L-shaped desk(s) or two desks or even a big enough desk to accommodate both my computer stuff and also have enough room to study on it with my books laid on it (I will be going into a Nursing program very soon so I know there will be a lot of books to study).
Regarding computer desks, I would really like to have my computer case sitting on the desk. I am pretty set on this. The reasons are because I don’t want to reach down to tinker with my computer or turn it on or whatever. I also want more air circulation for my computer case. I live in a 4-floor townhouse and I am on the 4th floor (actually 3rd floor since the floors go like Basement>Ground floor>2nd floor>3rd floor). I also have carpet throughout the house so I would prefer not to have my computer on the carpet or even close to it so the dust from the carpet doesn’t go into my computer case. I rather have it high on my computer desk on the right side of the computer desk.
Here are the computer desks I have been thinking about and I would like people’s input on whether the desks can handle the weight of the computer or not or if they look sturdy or whatever. I will be getting the desks shipped so I need input on these sooner than later since buying the actual computer and getting it shipped or even picking it up, won’t take 2 weeks to do, like the desk might (maybe or maybe now, depends, of course).

Computer Desk: -

http://www.wayfairsupply.com/OSP-Des...L-OSP1263.html
OSP Designs X-Text 29.5" L-Shaped Computer Desk

This desk looks nice. I don’t know if it is sturdy though to hold a LCD + case at the top + other misc things. I also want to know if this can be made into 2 separate tables to put side by side instead of in an L shape in a corner since I might not have enough space to put it in an L shape. What do you guys think? Is the framed tempered glass too fragile to put a case on it? Also, this desk weighs 86 lbs so I think it might be able to hold everything I want on it… maybe?


http://www.wayfairsupply.com/OSP-Des...L-OSP1324.html
OSP Designs X-Text L-Shaped Computer Desk

This desk is one of my top choices. I want to know if this desk can hold my computer case + LCD monitor without breaking. It looks sturdy but I don’t know if it is in actuality… I think it is since it is reinforced by the leg shapes in the back and sides. This desk weighs 81 lbs. Also, can this L-shaped desk be separated and used as two separate desks side by side?


http://www.wayfairsupply.com/OSP-Des...5-OSP1311.html
OSP Designs Horizon Computer Desk with Keyboard Tray

This desk is also one of my top choices. Actually, I would rate it as my number 1 choice since I really like the overall look of this desk.
This desk is one unit by itself so it is not an L-shaped desk. It is also bigger and longer and looks sturdy by its legs. I think I can use this desk for both studying with my books on one side and having my monitor and case on the other side. Also, the glass looks really nice but I don’t know if it is a bit fragile to hold everything on it. I really like the colour and design of this desk as well.

By the way, I absolutely <3 the free shipping for those desks from Wayfair… Just love it =). And they ship to Canada, too! =P

Now, let’s start on my build. For some parts, I mentioned 2 or more choices because I want to see what you guys think out of those. I will be getting all of my parts for my computer from NCIX in Canada, either shipped to my address or I will go pick it up myself from a local NCIX store… What do you guys think I should do? Get it shipped to my place or pick it up at a local store and save on shipping costs? Also, should I order everything online or should I talk to them on the phone about it… OR should I go in person with my list of components?

I will be getting my computer built and tested by NCIX so I will get the Assembly and Testing thing from them, which costs $75… They will install my OS on the computer and test everything to make sure it works and there is no weird noise or faulty parts, etc. I like this option because I don’t want any unfortunate surprises or make any mistake if I build it. I don’t want to take any chances of destroying or damaging any of my computer parts. Also, it will give me a peace of mind knowing that when I pick it up or get it shipped, everything will be ready to go and there will be no problems, hopefully.

I am going to be getting the Corsair H100 water-cooling kit and I want to install it in a push and pull (P/P) if possible. The hard part is making sure my case is compatible with it. I have researched a lot into cases and into H100 case compatibility and I am still iffy on whether my case will be compatible on it. I will list some questions related to each part when I mention them below…

I want to list the websites that I looked into for researching a lot of my parts… They might be helpful for you guys as well to look into to give me advice or input on what is best and whatnot:

http://www.shopbot.ca/computers.html
I used this site for finding the prices and brands for all of my parts

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/5592454629#1
This forum post on the WoW site I used to find out what computer components are best for what I want to achieve out of my new rig.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1144409/h...-full-listings
I used this site to find out the cases that are compatible with the h100 in push/pull configuration.

http://www.ncix.ca/
I used this site and will use it to order my computer components from and build from as well. I also LOVE their price matching system =).

So, finally, here are the computer parts I am looking into:

New Computer Build (Finally =P)

Computer Case: -
Corsair Carbide Series 500R Mid-Tower Gaming Case ATX 4X5.25 6X3.5INT USB 1394 No PS Black
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=62757&promoid=1360

This is my top choice for the case I want and plus it is going to be on sale starting tonight or something for $80 or something. I like the customizability and versatility of this case very much. I also like how it has 10 fan mounts and it has a balance of everything I am looking for. You guys can suggest a case as well if you want but I would prefer it to be a Corsair since I really like their brand and almost everyone likes Corsair I have seen on online reviews due to them being just a great brand in almost all aspects.

Motherboard: -
ASRock Z77 EXTREME4 ATX LGA1155 DDR3 2PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 2PCI SATA3 DVI HDMI USB3.0 Motherboard
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=70902&promoid=1209

I chose this motherboard because of its overclocking capability and just being a great all-rounder mobo. And it is on sale on NCIX so that is good.

Processor: -
Intel Core i5 3570K Unlocked Quad Core Processor LGA1155 3.4GHZ Ivy Bridge 6MB Retail
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=70541&promoid=1209

Nothing much to say for this… I like this processor and it has overclocking capabilities so that’s perfect.

Memory: -
Corsair Vengeance CML8GX3M2A1600C9 Lowprofile 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 Dual Channel Memory Kit
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=61961

This memory is a bit expensive but I like the black colour of it so I chose it ‘cause of it.

PSU: -
Corsair Professional HX650W 650W ATX 12V 52A 24PIN ATX Modular Power Supply Active PFC 120mm Fan
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=42532&promoid=1209

This PSU is fully modular I think and it has enough Watts to power the graphic card that I will choose eventually and enough additional watts for overclocking needs and additional case fans. And it’s Corsair =).

Cooling: -
Corsair Cooling Hydro Series H100I CPU Cooler System LGA1155 1156 1366 2011 AM2 AM3 FM1 & FM2
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=77648

I was initially looking into the H100 but then I found out about the H100I and I have to get this one now. Much improved version than the H100. I also like that I don’t have to buy additional hardware for the Corsair Link since its already built-in and I just need the free software and that’s it. I also like the design/colour of this. I don’t know if push/pull will work in a Corsair Carbide 500R case since the radiator is 2 mm thicker than the original H100 but if anyone can find out if they have this case and can measure the clearance above the motherboard and RAM heatsinks to see if it is possible. How would I find out if there is enough clearance above the motherboard for a P/P setup, without having bought my system? I want to tell the NCIX builders to prepare the P/P setup if possible beforehand so I don’t need to do anything. But if it is not possible, I can always check it out at home or whatever.
Also the fans included with this are corsair fans and they are better than the H100 ones so I don’t need to buy additional fans if I am only going for a push or pull setup.
Also, can someone explain to me how the setup should be for intake/outtake push/pull for H100I? Like what would be more beneficial for more air cooling? I think I will just go for only the pull setup so it acts as an exhaust at the top but I don’t know how it would be oriented on the radiator? The fans I mean. Would the NCIX builders know about this and how to do it? If they do, then disregard this question… But I still would like to know how it works exactly. I know high static pressure is better for radiators but I don’t know if the fans are exhaust out the top, should the fans be on top of the radiator or the bottom of the radiator? Just need an explanation on how the radiator/cooling/fans system works, if someone can help me with that… Mainly for my curiosity/learning and maybe for the future if I need to change settings in my computer even if I can only get a pull or push setup.

Operating System: -
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64BIT SP1 DVD OEM
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=45...t&promoid=1209

I am choosing to go with Windows 7 because I have it on my laptop and I am much more familiar with it than Windows 8. And I can always upgrade later if needed.
I think the NCIX peeps will make sure to install the OS on the SSD of my choice in the proper way I think. You can refer to the site I mentioned earlier on the WoW site… As you scroll down, you can see that the poster goes over on how to have the OS installed in the SDD in an optimized manner but I think the NCIX peeps know how to install an OS on a SSD.

Optical Drive: -
ASUS DRW-24B1ST 24X SATA DVD Writer OEM Black
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=49597&promoid=1209

Not much explaining needed. I need a generic optical drive that is black so it goes with my case. And I like DVD burners for times I might need it.

SSD Drive: -
Intel 520 Series 120GB 2.5in SSD MLC 25nm SATA3 Solid State Disk Drive Retail w/ Mounting Bracket
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=67...l&promoid=1209

I chose this because I think I will need the 120 GB. I want to try out the SSD as well and see how fast it is. I want to know if all my games I mentioned earlier can fit onto here, especially WoW, SC2 and D3 alongside the OS, and how much I might have leftover to use on the SSD.

SATA Drive: -
Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA3 6GB/S 7200RPM 64MB Cache 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=50895&promoid=1030

After reading more reviews, I think a Western Digital HDD is better than a Seagate Barracuda. And 1 TB is enough for me I think since I won't be using it much anyway except for a few small games and for storage.

Case Fans: -
Before I mention any fans, should I get them now or should I just stick with the original case fans for now and get the fans later?
I plan on getting the corsair AF120s and SP120s and outfit all the fan mounts with them, but I don’t know which type of corsair fan, AF120 or SP120, go at which fan mount and whether they should be intake or exhaust? I know that there needs to be some kind of positive airflow or something I read online but I am still a bit confused on this… If someone can explain how the fans are supposed to be oriented and which fans go where, I would appreciate it =).

Graphics Card: -
Now for the graphics cards, there are many options I have and I need you guys to help me to choose the best one in regards to performance and price if possible.
I chose these ones because of their overclock-friendliness according to the WoW post by Kalganized here
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/5592454629#1.
He could be wrong but if he is, let me know.
I would prefer the 7870 because if I overclock it, the performance is equivalent to or a bit lower than the GTX 670 / HD 7950.
I also heard something about that if a graphic card has more fans, it is better for overclocking… I don’t know how true that is so if you guys have heard any different, let me know.
Also, some of these graphic cards have one fan or it looks like a long-closed bar with no fans visible, so I don’t know if it affects the temperature in overclocking or not. Does it?

Ok, so here are the graphic cards:

ASUS Radeon HD 7850 V2 860MHZ DirectCU II 2GB 4.8GHZ GDDR5 2xDVI HDMI DisplayPort PCI-E Video Card
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=76...S&promoid=1209

MSI Radeon HD 7850 OC Twin Frozr III 900MHZ 2GB 4.8GHZ GDDR5 DVI HDMI 2x Mini-DP PCI-E Video Card
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=69...r&promoid=1209

Powercolor Radeon HD 7850 PCS+ 1000MHZ 2GB 4.9GBPS GDDR5 DVIX2 HDMI 2XMINIDP PCI-E Video Card
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=72...ure=PowerColor

ASUS Radeon HD 7870 1.0GHZ 2GB 4.8GHZ GDDR5 CrossFireX DVI HDMI DisplayPort PCI-E DX 11 Video Card
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=73...S&promoid=1209

MSI Radeon HD 7870 Hawk 1100MHZ 2GB 4.8GHZ GDDR5 DVI HDMI 2XMINIDP PCI-E Video Card
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=77...SI%2FMicroStar

Powercolor Radeon HD 7870 PCS+ GHz Edition 2GB 5.0GBPS GDDR5 2xDVI HDMI 2XMINIDP PCI-E Video Card
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=77988

Powercolor Radeon HD 7870 1000MHZ 2GB 4.8GBPS GDDR5 DVI HDMI 2XMINIDP PCI-E Video Card
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=69557

I also need ease of overclocking in these graphic cards since I have never overclocked before but if it is easy to understand on how to overclock, then you guys can choose for me which one is the best one in terms of performance/price ratio.

I did not mention any prices for any parts because I know they fluctuate a bit but I think they are in a range where they are suitable for me. You guys can list the prices for me if possible… please? =P

Whew, this has taken me 6 hours to type up. I am sorry again for such a long post but I wanted to cover all of my bases so you guys have as much information as you need and there is no misunderstanding or anything like that, hopefully.

I hope you guys can help me in deciding what is best for me… and soon =). And I hope I did not forget to mention something but if I did, let me know.

Many thanks in advance =P.

EDIT #1: I just found out that even though the prices for some components are high, I can get them price matched to a lower price from NCIX... So no need to find out the prices for me... Just tell me what part is the best.

EDIT #2: I updated my choice of HDD after some more deliberation... Went for the WD instead of Seagate Barracuda.

EDIT #3: I have added a "TLDR" kind of thing at the top, which is or is going to detail the finalized build that I am going for... So bear with me... Its a work-in-progress =).

[Faithh]

Well nvidia cards are easier nowadays to overclock because they limited the voltage on the GPU though.

I'd prefer the Asus whatever radeon V2 V2. The V2 is the one with a redesigned cooler.

Intel SSD's are reliable but not the fastest on the market. If you want a faster one for the same price look for the Samsung 840 basic (Non-pro).

Instead of a seagate buy a western digital. My seagate just occured a s.m.a.r.t. error.

About the Corsair H100i, indeed this unit doesn't grind but some units were grinding but this was fixable with a firmware update. Don't forget to update the firmware if you have the issue


The SP120's are meant for radiators and heatsinks, this one should be used for your H100i cooler.

The AF120/AF140 is meant for case cooling for airflow..

Btw, let me know if the H100i remains silent

[chaud]

I would go ASUS over ASRock if you are going to overclock to the limit of air cooling.

Intel 520 drive is overkill, get something else.

Seagate is cheaper for a reason, pay a little more for Western Digital if you can.

Gigabyte or MSI 7870 with the 3 or 2 fan coolers are the way to go.

[Milkshake86]

I would go ASUS over ASRock if you are going to overclock to the limit of air cooling.

Intel 520 drive is overkill, get something else.

Seagate is cheaper for a reason, pay a little more for Western Digital if you can.

Gigabyte or MSI 7870 with the 3 or 2 fan coolers are the way to go.

You'd be severely mistaken, ASRock has better $100-$200 bracket boards in general and the z77 E4 is an overclocking champ.

[Lychee3000]

Well nvidia cards are easier nowadays to overclock because they limited the voltage on the GPU though.

I'd prefer the Asus whatever radeon V2 V2. The V2 is the one with a redesigned cooler.

Intel SSD's are reliable but not the fastest on the market. If you want a faster one for the same price look for the Samsung 840 basic (Non-pro).

Instead of a seagate buy a western digital. My seagate just occured a s.m.a.r.t. error.

About the Corsair H100i, indeed this unit doesn't grind but some units were grinding but this was fixable with a firmware update. Don't forget to update the firmware if you have the issue


The SP120's are meant for radiators and heatsinks, this one should be used for your H100i cooler.

The AF120/AF140 is meant for case cooling for airflow..

Btw, let me know if the H100i remains silent

Well, for the 1st part you said about nvidia cards, I would like to stay with AMD if possible. What I meant in terms of ease for overclocking is that there is a software that is easy to understand and use to overclock easily. That's mainly it... I think the MSI Afterburner or something like that for overclocking... Or is this only for MSI cards?

The ASUS V2 7850 is the one you mentioned, right?
ASUS Radeon HD 7850 V2 860MHZ DirectCU II 2GB 4.8GHZ GDDR5 2xDVI HDMI DisplayPort PCI-E Video Card

It's the DirectCU one and I think it is one of the overclock-friendly brands with the redesigned coolers according to the post on the WoW forums.

I thought Intel SSDs were the fastest and also had all the brackets and the cables and stuff? Or am I wrong? I was always told for many months that Intel 520 Series SSD were the king in SSDs... Has it changed now?

Aren't Western Digital Hard Drives just a bit expensive... just because? Like there is no reason for them to be more expensive except for the branding? Is there a difference in performance?

I just recently looked at reviews for the Corsair H100i on newegg.ca and there were many bad reviews in regards to the grindy noise as well as faulty tube. I think the NCIX peeps will make sure it performs as it should and its parts are all fastened properly, right? I could add in a note for the builder's note when ordering so that should take care of that part.

---------- Post added 2012-11-22 at 09:49 PM ----------

I would go ASUS over ASRock if you are going to overclock to the limit of air cooling.

Intel 520 drive is overkill, get something else.

Seagate is cheaper for a reason, pay a little more for Western Digital if you can.

Gigabyte or MSI 7870 with the 3 or 2 fan coolers are the way to go.

I read reviews saying that ASRock is the best for overclocking past stock and I will be getting the H100i, which is a pre-filled watercooling system so I will have better than air cooling, technically speaking.

Why you Intel 520 drive is overkill? If it is the best, shouldn't I get it? I mean SSDs last at least a few years, right? So wouldn't it best to get the best one, unless otherwise there is a SSD with similar performance-wise to the Intel 520?

Why is Seagate cheaper? I think I posed the same question to Faithh... Are Western Digital HDDs more "reliable"?

I will keep that in mind in regards to the Gigabyte MSI 7870. You do think that graphic cards with 2 or more fans are better than the closed 1 fan ones, right? I am guessing from your last statement, you meant that.

EDIT:

Ok, I have read more reviews in regards to HDDs and I have decided to go for a Western Digital HDD. I have updated my OP with the one I am getting. It is the Black WD 1TB SATA 6 GB/S 64 MB Cache and its only 2 dollars more than the Seagate but i lose 1 TB, which is not an issue at all. I gain in performance and warranty though =)

[Kyokudai]

Most of your component choices look fine. I have a few suggestions and comments but ill get there in a bit. To preface, these are just my opinions and shouldn't be taken as standard nor will i claim to have facts and numbers to back them up.

First and foremost I have to ask a couple of questions.
What is your main goal with the overclocking?
While there are a lot of tools now to assist with overclocking these days, overclocking always comes with risks. Overclocking is expert friendly no matter how you look at it.
If your main goal is to get a little bit better performance, i have to ask, why not just get slightly better components that don't need to be overclocked to achieve the performance you are looking for?

Is the place that is building it going to do the overclocking for you?
I would make sure because many assembly places won't overclock for you.

What is your desired life span of the system?
If you are determined to overclock then keep in mind that overclocking will degrade the lifetime of the system.

Do you intend to upgrade this system through it's lifespan?
Overclocking will have to be re-tuned when you do upgrade. And if someone else does it for you the first time then you won't be as prepared necessarily.

To sum up the above. I would suggest you be cautious with the overclocking. It can be fun to play with and get you a decent boost to performance. But it does come with a cost. If you are doing it yourself, you can easily destroy components. Also at best it will get you around 1/2 generation more in terms of speed and performance. (once again my opinion)
-----

On to components:
Case seems fine to me, the fans that come with it are small so will be noisier. But you can upgrade those easily. Keep in mind you'll have approx 9 fans (give or take) in the case running. So these will generate noise but will be mostly necessary with overclocking. As an upgrade i would say a large side mount fan can go a long ways

Motherboard should be fine.
Processor is fine for just gaming.

Memory: Memory is one of the cheapest and most effective upgrades to a system. Windows 7 is capable of handling more memory. I would honestly recommend upping the amount of memory to 16Gb if you can swing it. And while matching memory isn't a huge deal these days, it's usually easier to do it initially.

Cooler: From what i can read via research, it should fit in that case. I think someone has already replied about the case so ill leave it there.
Optical Drive: Any will do, you won't need a disc in the drive to play those games.

SSD: an SSD won't boost in-game performance a huge amount, the only point it'll boost is the load times and perhaps transition points in MMO's. The main thing you want is reliability. Speed differences between models wont really help game performance. I don't know about current IBM performance, their initial entry into the SSD market wasn't too hot, but then again nobody's was. I will say this: consider that an SSD is just solid state memory, and IBM's specialty isn't necessarily solid state memory. Nor is it drive controllers. Samsung is highest rated at the moment, but I think Crucial and Corsair also have entries that are reliable. They've been doing solid state memory for a long time. All the same, back-up your SSD drive with an imager to be safe.

SATA HDD: A seagate barracuda might be overkill if you are using an SSD for your primary load drive (if there's a price difference even). Western Digital has a better overall track record for their drive controllers. Just keep in mind that this is your secondary drive, so you don't need top of the line performance here.

Graphics Cards: Your choices really boil down to 2 chips: 7850, 7870. Something to think about is that alot of times the next step up in video cards in the same generation use the same physical chip with the "better" one being already overclocked. I can't say that this is the case for this, but it does happen alot. That means you might not be able to squeeze more out of the 7870 through an overclock. Since you're overclocking, go for the 2 fan configuration where one fan is over the GPU and the other is over the heat sink. And I, personally, would go with the 7850 over the 7870 unless the price difference is big. Other than that, you can choose whichever one matches those two things. As far as more enclosed or less enclosed, it's really hard to tell if the enclosure makes a big difference without using a smoke to watch the airflow.

OS: Definitely windows 7. Don't do 8 right now.

Desk: The L-shaped desks seem a little flimsy, and 'L' shaped desks are difficult to place in rooms especially if you move. (I use an L shape desk so i speak from experience). One thing to ask yourself, are you ever going to dual or multi screen? If so you will want more area and the larger desk, if not then the single will be fine. Also if you are planning on having your CPU on the desk make sure the single has enough physical room, especially if you have a (or may eventually get) a very large monitor.

I hope this is all helpful, and enjoy the new computer! (new toys are always fun!)

-Kyo

[Xuvial]

Sorry if I missed one or two questions, your post is really huge and it would've sorta helped if you had just bullet-pointed/numbered all your questions in one place so I could fire-off answers/opinions quickly.

> CPU cooler - H100i - stay away from this till Corsair fix their shit up. I'm an H100 owner, you could also call me ahuge Corsair fanboy, but even I will say that Corsair need to fix some shit with H100i. The benchmarks are awesome but they don't tell the story of reliability or quality assurance. E.g. the fans are way better now, but ironically the fan controller is screwy and can't regulate voltage properly, ending up with fans being too loud or grindy (back to square one Corsair!). Also yhe tubing isn't secure in 100% of cases and that can end up being nothing short of a disaster. No NCIX won't make sure the "tubes are tight" or whatever, that's not how it works. I dunno what NCIX's policies are but it'll ultimately be Corsair's responsibility if you're not happy with your pump once the build has been delivered.
I would either sit tight with stock cooler until Corsair do some fixes, or play it safer with an air cooler (a Noctua one maybe?), or buy an H80/H100 which have proved themselves to be mostly fine.

> SSD - Intel 520 series is solid, but not the best bang for the buck. Samsung 830 series is the hot thing right now, you get 128gb for $99.99 CAD on NCIX. Why would you pay $157 for a 120gb? Even if the specs are better on paper, in real-world performance the difference is jack-all. You won't even notice it because all SSD's more or less do the same thing, offer instant access times and ridiculous sequential reads.

> HDD - Western Digital HDD's could be considered a tad more reliable than Seagate HDD's. But the thing with HDD's is that it's still on a case-to-case basis when it comes to failures, it doesn't matter if you take Seagate or WD (though I personally prefer WD, a lot of people here also do :P) because both will have a reasonably small chance of failure.

> GPU - WoW is known to be somewhat friendlier with nVidia GPU's but whatever, when you're talking HD7850/HD7870 performance the differences don't matter because those cards aren't even close to being bottlenecks. I would stick with Asus DCII cards though, MSI Twin Frozr cards are known to be a tad on the louder side for no real performance benefit.

Can't answer anything about tables/desks/chairs because I haven't even heard of those companies, plus the fact that a solid computer desk can pretty much come from anywhere. I got mine for $50 when a company was clearing out their offices, a desk which just happened to be made of incredibly strong wood reinforced with steel framing+legs from below, could probably carry an elephant :P

[Lychee3000]

Most of your component choices look fine. I have a few suggestions and comments but ill get there in a bit. To preface, these are just my opinions and shouldn't be taken as standard nor will i claim to have facts and numbers to back them up.

First and foremost I have to ask a couple of questions.
What is your main goal with the overclocking?
While there are a lot of tools now to assist with overclocking these days, overclocking always comes with risks. Overclocking is expert friendly no matter how you look at it.
If your main goal is to get a little bit better performance, i have to ask, why not just get slightly better components that don't need to be overclocked to achieve the performance you are looking for?

Is the place that is building it going to do the overclocking for you?
I would make sure because many assembly places won't overclock for you.

What is your desired life span of the system?
If you are determined to overclock then keep in mind that overclocking will degrade the lifetime of the system.

Do you intend to upgrade this system through it's lifespan?
Overclocking will have to be re-tuned when you do upgrade. And if someone else does it for you the first time then you won't be as prepared necessarily.

To sum up the above. I would suggest you be cautious with the overclocking. It can be fun to play with and get you a decent boost to performance. But it does come with a cost. If you are doing it yourself, you can easily destroy components. Also at best it will get you around 1/2 generation more in terms of speed and performance. (once again my opinion)

My main goal of overclocking is to get a little more performance from my computer overall... Basically extend the performance/life of my computer for up to 3 years if possible from the time I buy it... So until Dec. 2015. This is the same amount of time I have used my current desktop and its outdated now, heh.

I think I am going to go for components that are overclocked initially, like factory overclocked and overclock it a tiny bit more if I need more performance but I think it will depend on each component that gets overclocked.
I will probably do a mild overclock of the i5-3570K to like 4.4 GHz from the software that is provided with it or from the motherboard or whatever.
I will probably do no overclocking for the video card because I have decided to get the Gigabyte Radeon HD 7870 GV-R787OC-2GD. It will come overclocked and I will very mildly overclock it if needed later down the years for a bit more performance. But I will not overclock it when I get it initially.
I have done some more research on the Gigabyte Radeon HD 7870 and I have found many positive reviews on it so I will stick to it.
I will not probably overclock the RAM until maybe an year down the road or two, and it will be a mild overclock... Not too much.

I will only mildly overclock over the 3 years I am hoping to have my new computer.

I believe NCIX peeps do overclocking and or test it out if I tell them to beforehand.

I will probably not upgrade my computer or I am hoping not to for any of the major components. Only maybe upgrading fans if needed. But not video card, PSU, mobo, CPU, RAM, case, etc.

On to components:
Case seems fine to me, the fans that come with it are small so will be noisier. But you can upgrade those easily. Keep in mind you'll have approx 9 fans (give or take) in the case running. So these will generate noise but will be mostly necessary with overclocking. As an upgrade i would say a large side mount fan can go a long ways

Motherboard should be fine.
Processor is fine for just gaming.

Memory: Memory is one of the cheapest and most effective upgrades to a system. Windows 7 is capable of handling more memory. I would honestly recommend upping the amount of memory to 16Gb if you can swing it. And while matching memory isn't a huge deal these days, it's usually easier to do it initially.

Cooler: From what i can read via research, it should fit in that case. I think someone has already replied about the case so ill leave it there.
Optical Drive: Any will do, you won't need a disc in the drive to play those games.

I agree with everything you said and I will go through with them

For memory, I have decided to go with the Corsair Vengeance Black 16GB 2X8GB DDR3-1600 CL10-10-10-27 1.5V Dual Channel Memory Kit. I think having the extra RAM would be great and its only $55 total with rebate. I am not worrying about the heatsink that much since if I am not able to get push/pull with the Corsair H100i then I will just settle for it without P/P and just go for pull or exhaust out the top.

SSD: an SSD won't boost in-game performance a huge amount, the only point it'll boost is the load times and perhaps transition points in MMO's. The main thing you want is reliability. Speed differences between models wont really help game performance. I don't know about current IBM performance, their initial entry into the SSD market wasn't too hot, but then again nobody's was. I will say this: consider that an SSD is just solid state memory, and IBM's specialty isn't necessarily solid state memory. Nor is it drive controllers. Samsung is highest rated at the moment, but I think Crucial and Corsair also have entries that are reliable. They've been doing solid state memory for a long time. All the same, back-up your SSD drive with an imager to be safe.

I will look into Corsair SSDs since I like their brand and their sturdy/reliable components in general. I want to reduce the cost of my computer since it's getting a bit much, lol.

SATA HDD: A seagate barracuda might be overkill if you are using an SSD for your primary load drive (if there's a price difference even). Western Digital has a better overall track record for their drive controllers. Just keep in mind that this is your secondary drive, so you don't need top of the line performance here.

I will definitely look into a WD HDD... I think I updated the OP with it. I am getting the Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA3 6GB/S 7200RPM 64MB Cache 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM

Graphics Cards: Your choices really boil down to 2 chips: 7850, 7870. Something to think about is that alot of times the next step up in video cards in the same generation use the same physical chip with the "better" one being already overclocked. I can't say that this is the case for this, but it does happen alot. That means you might not be able to squeeze more out of the 7870 through an overclock. Since you're overclocking, go for the 2 fan configuration where one fan is over the GPU and the other is over the heat sink. And I, personally, would go with the 7850 over the 7870 unless the price difference is big. Other than that, you can choose whichever one matches those two things. As far as more enclosed or less enclosed, it's really hard to tell if the enclosure makes a big difference without using a smoke to watch the airflow.

I will be getting the Gigabyte Radeon HD 7870 GV-R787OC-2GD so it will be factory overclocked and no need to overclock it further until a few years down the road.

OS: Definitely windows 7. Don't do 8 right now.

I agree. I will just go with Windows 7.

Desk: The L-shaped desks seem a little flimsy, and 'L' shaped desks are difficult to place in rooms especially if you move. (I use an L shape desk so i speak from experience). One thing to ask yourself, are you ever going to dual or multi screen? If so you will want more area and the larger desk, if not then the single will be fine. Also if you are planning on having your CPU on the desk make sure the single has enough physical room, especially if you have a (or may eventually get) a very large monitor.

I hope this is all helpful, and enjoy the new computer! (new toys are always fun!)

-Kyo

I will be going with the OSP Designs Horizon Computer Desk with Keyboard Tray since it weighs 75 lbs and it will probably hold all of my computer components on top. I will not be getting multiple monitors and the monitor I have is pretty big for me for now. And I would have enough room for a bigger monitor if needed maybe an year or two down the road, depending on how much I can spend on a new monitor.

Thank you very much for the advice, Kyo

@Xuvial... I will respond to you very soon.

[Faithh]

@OP: Yep I meant the Asus 785x V2

All of you guys trying to say that the H100i is a bad one are wrong..

The H100i currently has a firmware bug. When the fans are at a low RPM, the pump is running at a much much higher RPM which is causing the grinding noise. Corsair fixed this yesterday with a firmware update.

With a large heatsink like NH-D14, you can't have the 200mm fans on the side panel. But depends on case to case though.

Reviews are pretty much irrelevant because they didn't use it in a case environment but once you compare a noctua nh-D14 with a H100 in pushpull you notice the difference clearly. The most being irrelevant is that they were running their CPU at a very low wattage while watercooling loves more wattage better than aircooling though. That's the main reason why they sometimes perform better than H2O with stock clock speeds..

In my Nzxt phantom I have 2x 200mm fan in the top as outtake, 140mm in the back as outtake, 200m and 2x 120mm as intake on the side panel and in the front a 140mm intake fan.

I couldn't mount the 200mm fan with my noctua. I had temperatures of 80° (noctua nh-d14) with a 2600k 4.7GHz @ 1.375V and with my H100 I have a max of 70° in prime95 small fft's ofc.

Most graphics cards are rather blowing their heat just in the case and the heatsink getting warmer.. Compared to a H100 with in pushpull configuration the cooler rather blows immediately the heat away from your case.

Graphics card such as the Asus are blowing the heat direct from the IO backplate (however you want to call this) away.

Just one question.. Why are people here still recommending that the 830 is the best for the bucks? The 840 (non-pro) performs clearly better than the 830 and costs the same as the 830 which makes 90$ -> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820147188

You'd be severely mistaken, ASRock has better $100-$200 bracket boards in general and the z77 E4 is an overclocking champ.

Doubt it. They don't use thermal pads between the heatsink and vrm >.<

Uhm the Z77 Extreme4 from Asrock is only making use of a 8 power vrm phase design while the Asus is making use of 12. The Asrock z77 extreme4 is very very unstable during EXTREME loads because of an overheating VRM. http://www.overclock.net/t/1271002/a...g-badly-needed

The overheating VRM is even causing a failed prime95 run.. -> Asrock failed?

I'm pretty certain that my Asus P8z68-v pro gen3 clocks better than any Asrock junk tbh.

Still for overclocking Asus > MSI > Asrock > Gigabyte

Gigabyte just makes the most reliable boards of them all. I had like a bunch of them without having problems but they were shit to overclock.

A lovely board to OC would have been the Asus p8z77-v pro or the MSI Mpower z77.

[Lychee3000]

Sorry if I missed one or two questions, your post is really huge and it would've sorta helped if you had just bullet-pointed/numbered all your questions in one place so I could fire-off answers/opinions quickly.

> CPU cooler - H100i - stay away from this till Corsair fix their shit up. I'm an H100 owner, you could also call me ahuge Corsair fanboy, but even I will say that Corsair need to fix some shit with H100i. The benchmarks are awesome but they don't tell the story of reliability or quality assurance. E.g. the fans are way better now, but ironically the fan controller is screwy and can't regulate voltage properly, ending up with fans being too loud or grindy (back to square one Corsair!). Also yhe tubing isn't secure in 100% of cases and that can end up being nothing short of a disaster. No NCIX won't make sure the "tubes are tight" or whatever, that's not how it works. I dunno what NCIX's policies are but it'll ultimately be Corsair's responsibility if you're not happy with your pump once the build has been delivered.
I would either sit tight with stock cooler until Corsair do some fixes, or play it safer with an air cooler (a Noctua one maybe?), or buy an H80/H100 which have proved themselves to be mostly fine.

Yeah, sorry about that :/. I just copy and pasted it from Word and it took so long to write it, I was exhausted by the end. I got confused at the end on how to list the questions so I didn't do any organizing at the end.

I found that there was only 1 incident of a leaky H100i and it was on Newegg. Majority of the complaints were for the grinding noise I think but that has been fixed by the firmware update. When you told me about it, I got completely turned off from buying the H100i. But now, after I have read more reviews of it online, I find that the leaky H100i was just one case out of many good condition H100i's... So now, I am on the fence on buying it or not.

> SSD - Intel 520 series is solid, but not the best bang for the buck. Samsung 830 series is the hot thing right now, you get 128gb for $99.99 CAD on NCIX. Why would you pay $157 for a 120gb? Even if the specs are better on paper, in real-world performance the difference is jack-all. You won't even notice it because all SSD's more or less do the same thing, offer instant access times and ridiculous sequential reads.

I can't seem to be able to decide on a SSD. I looked for more reviews online on SSDs and some say that the Samsung 840 Pro series is better. Some say that Samsung 830 series were better. I just want to find a good balance of cheaper price and performance. I can't decide on which one to get.
Also, I can't seem to find the 128GB Samsung 830 SSD for $99.99 on NCIX... Can you give me a link please?

> HDD - Western Digital HDD's could be considered a tad more reliable than Seagate HDD's. But the thing with HDD's is that it's still on a case-to-case basis when it comes to failures, it doesn't matter if you take Seagate or WD (though I personally prefer WD, a lot of people here also do :P) because both will have a reasonably small chance of failure.

Definitely going with a WD HDD.

> GPU - WoW is known to be somewhat friendlier with nVidia GPU's but whatever, when you're talking HD7850/HD7870 performance the differences don't matter because those cards aren't even close to being bottlenecks. I would stick with Asus DCII cards though, MSI Twin Frozr cards are known to be a tad on the louder side for no real performance benefit.

I have decided on getting the Gigabyte Radeon HD 7870 GV-R787OC-2GD that has 3 fans and is factory overclocked, meaning that its overclocked from the initial get-go. I will update OP with it.

Can't answer anything about tables/desks/chairs because I haven't even heard of those companies, plus the fact that a solid computer desk can pretty much come from anywhere. I got mine for $50 when a company was clearing out their offices, a desk which just happened to be made of incredibly strong wood reinforced with steel framing+legs from below, could probably carry an elephant :P

Yeah, I understand. I have decided on a desk though. I will be getting the OSP Designs Horizon Computer Desk with Keyboard Tray. It has a 8mm tempered bronze glass on the top and it has a metal structure, which is really sturdy. I also like the overall design of it... It looks really nice.

---------- Post added 2012-11-23 at 04:37 PM ----------

@OP: Yep I meant the Asus 785x V2

All of you guys trying to say that the H100i is a bad one are wrong..

The H100i currently has a firmware bug. When the fans are at a low RPM, the pump is running at a much much higher RPM which is causing the grinding noise. Corsair fixed this yesterday with a firmware update.

With a large heatsink like NH-D14, you can't have the 200mm fans on the side panel. But depends on case to case though.

Reviews are pretty much irrelevant because they didn't use it in a case environment but once you compare a noctua nh-D14 with a H100 in pushpull you notice the difference clearly. The most being irrelevant is that they were running their CPU at a very low wattage while watercooling loves more wattage better than aircooling though. That's the main reason why they sometimes perform better than H2O with stock clock speeds..

In my Nzxt phantom I have 2x 200mm fan in the top as outtake, 140mm in the back as outtake, 200m and 2x 120mm as intake on the side panel and in the front a 140mm intake fan.

I couldn't mount the 200mm fan with my noctua. I had temperatures of 80° (noctua nh-d14) with a 2600k 4.7GHz @ 1.375V and with my H100 I have a max of 70° in prime95 small fft's ofc.

Most graphics cards are rather blowing their heat just in the case and the heatsink getting warmer.. Compared to a H100 with in pushpull configuration the cooler rather blows immediately the heat away from your case.

Graphics card such as the Asus are blowing the heat direct from the IO backplate (however you want to call this) away.

Just one question.. Why are people here still recommending that the 830 is the best for the bucks? The 840 (non-pro) performs clearly better than the 830 and costs the same as the 830 which makes 90$ -> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820147188

There was only 1 review from 1 guy whose H100i leaked and destroyed his computer parts, like his video card. I think all the other reviews were all 4-5 star reviews and the major complaint was the grinding noise, which, as you said, got fixed by the firmware update. I am much more leaning towards getting the H100i now then before... Probably will get it in push/pull but I don't how to make sure to see if my motherboard will allow enough clearance for it to work... Any way to measure that somehow before ordering the computer?

Doubt it. They don't use thermal pads between the heatsink and vrm >.<

Uhm the Z77 Extreme4 from Asrock is only making use of a 8 power vrm phase design while the Asus is making use of 12. The Asrock z77 extreme4 is very very unstable during EXTREME loads because of an overheating VRM. http://www.overclock.net/t/1271002/a...g-badly-needed

The overheating VRM is even causing a failed prime95 run.. -> Asrock failed?

I'm pretty certain that my Asus P8z68-v pro gen3 clocks better than any Asrock junk tbh.

Still for overclocking Asus > MSI > Asrock > Gigabyte

Gigabyte just makes the most reliable boards of them all. I had like a bunch of them without having problems but they were shit to overclock.

A lovely board to OC would have been the Asus p8z77-v pro or the MSI Mpower z77.

I am probably not going to do any extreme overclocking whatsoever. I just want to do some mild overclocking like up to 4.3 or 4.4 but nothing higher than that, hopefully. With the games I will be playing, I won't be needing that much overclocking... And I want my computer to last me 3 years from now so then I can upgrade my parts if needed.

I think I will stay with the asrock motherboard since I will only do mild overclocking as I mentioned... What you think?

EDIT:

I will update my OP in the beginning of it with my finalized build very soon... Hopefully, people can give input on it so I can get it ordered soon

[Xuvial]

I found that there was only 1 incident of a leaky H100i and it was on Newegg. Majority of the complaints were for the grinding noise I think but that has been fixed by the firmware update. When you told me about it, I got completely turned off from buying the H100i. But now, after I have read more reviews of it online, I find that the leaky H100i was just one case out of many good condition H100i's... So now, I am on the fence on buying it or not.

Corsair have indeed claimed they can fix the fan grinding/clicking with a firmware update. But that firmware update remains to be seen, they haven't released it yet. Until you can find some kind of confirmation that the update is out and it fixes the fan issues people have been having, stay on the fence :P

I can't seem to be able to decide on a SSD. I looked for more reviews online on SSDs and some say that the Samsung 840 Pro series is better. Some say that Samsung 830 series were better. I just want to find a good balance of cheaper price and performance. I can't decide on which one to get.
Also, I can't seem to find the 128GB Samsung 830 SSD for $99.99 on NCIX... Can you give me a link please?

That's why the Samsung 830 was recommended, it IS the ultimate combination of price/performance and the superb reliability rates are the icing on the cake.

Also I can't find that one for $99.99 CAD anymore o_O it's back up to $119.99...very strange.

I have decided on getting the Gigabyte Radeon HD 7870 GV-R787OC-2GD that has 3 fans and is factory overclocked, meaning that its overclocked from the initial get-go. I will update OP with it.

Yup solid card

There was only 1 review from 1 guy whose H100i leaked and destroyed his computer parts, like his video card. I think all the other reviews were all 4-5 star reviews and the major complaint was the grinding noise, which, as you said, got fixed by the firmware update. I am much more leaning towards getting the H100i now then before... Probably will get it in push/pull but I don't how to make sure to see if my motherboard will allow enough clearance for it to work... Any way to measure that somehow before ordering the computer?

I just measured my own setup...it's H100, but I heard the radiator is more or less exactly the same. The rad is exactly 27mm thick, the fans 25mm thick (SP120s) for a total of 52mm. Now whether adding another two fans for push/pull will fit or not is heavily reliant on your case and your motherboard. In my case, my upper VRM heatsink is too tall and the RAM sticks are right there as well, the top of my case doesn't have enough clearance. In other cases the CPU pin comes in the way, etc.
From what I have read so far, a Carbide 500R won't be able to accommodate push/pull, you will need something like a 650D or a full tower like Phantom/HAF-X. Not to mention your ASRock Extreme4 seems to have it's top VRM heatsink right at the top, it could make even 650D not enough. A full tower is your safest bet for push/pull.

I am probably not going to do any extreme overclocking whatsoever. I just want to do some mild overclocking like up to 4.3 or 4.4 but nothing higher than that, hopefully. With the games I will be playing, I won't be needing that much overclocking... And I want my computer to last me 3 years from now so then I can upgrade my parts if needed.

I think I will stay with the asrock motherboard since I will only do mild overclocking as I mentioned... What you think?

Of course, the Extreme4 is great and will handle mild/moderate (even heavy) overclocks for a long time.

[Faithh]

There was only 1 review from 1 guy whose H100i leaked and destroyed his computer parts, like his video card. I think all the other reviews were all 4-5 star reviews and the major complaint was the grinding noise, which, as you said, got fixed by the firmware update. I am much more leaning towards getting the H100i now then before... Probably will get it in push/pull but I don't how to make sure to see if my motherboard will allow enough clearance for it to work... Any way to measure that somehow before ordering the computer?



I am probably not going to do any extreme overclocking whatsoever. I just want to do some mild overclocking like up to 4.3 or 4.4 but nothing higher than that, hopefully. With the games I will be playing, I won't be needing that much overclocking... And I want my computer to last me 3 years from now so then I can upgrade my parts if needed.

I think I will stay with the asrock motherboard since I will only do mild overclocking as I mentioned... What you think?

EDIT:

I will update my OP in the beginning of it with my finalized build very soon... Hopefully, people can give input on it so I can get it ordered soon

The Asrock would suit for your use tbh. But still I won't recommend them over Asus. Been hearing a lot of rumours their rma service is crap etc.

Well about your 500r with an H100i in push pull configuration.

As far as I can see on this forum -> http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showthread.php?t=101182

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y19...4/P1000344.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y19...4/P1000348.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y19...4/P1000343.jpg

As far as I can see, the room between the radiator/fans and motherboard is too small to do pushpull. But if you do it like he did you can have a push configuration. One more option you still have is, mounting 2 fans on the radiator (top) but you can't close it with the panel I think so you have your push pull configuration.

If you plan to pay an additional 60eur, try the case nzxt switch 810 which is a lovely case with a huge sidewindow/fan filters. The case is very huge but it's almost complety customizable and supports up to 480mm rads though and a lot of space between the motherboard and the top (like 90mm). You can press a button to switch the colour though.

There might be other cases which will do push pull configurations without taking the toppanel off, but I'm only familiar with a few cases :/

[Lychee3000]

Corsair have indeed claimed they can fix the fan grinding/clicking with a firmware update. But that firmware update remains to be seen, they haven't released it yet. Until you can find some kind of confirmation that the update is out and it fixes the fan issues people have been having, stay on the fence :P

Yeah I just looked online regarding that just now. I found that people are finding other issues with the new firmware update... So I am going to wait a bit.

I was actually thinking of getting the Corsair SP120 High Static Pressure Fans x2 and get the NCIX peeps to put them as exhaust out on the top, basically sidelining the whole issue with the original H100i fans' grinding/clicking noise...

I am a bit confused still on something though. Should I get the 2 fans exhausting underneath the radiator or above the radiator? I can have either the fans exhausting out on top of the case and under the lid with the radiator under and inside the case... OR... I can have the fans exhausting underneath the radiator inside the case while the radiator is out on the top of the case but under the lid? Which setup is better? I heard something about the radiator needing to have the fans facing it or away from it... I don't know... I can't seem to figure it out... :/

That's why the Samsung 830 was recommended, it IS the ultimate combination of price/performance and the superb reliability rates are the icing on the cake.

Also I can't find that one for $99.99 CAD anymore o_O it's back up to $119.99...very strange.

I found it even more strange that I find TWO prices listed for the Samsung 840 (non-pro) on NCIX... o.O

Here:

http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=77...e&promoid=1030 - $104.99
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=77...e&promoid=1209 - $99.99

So weird... I have been refreshing all those parts' pages and searching for them for the past week and I have seen prices fluctuate like crazy... For the same parts even... Very strange.

Here's the price for the Samsung 830:

http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=74...0%26%20Storage - $119.99

I will probably wait and see which one is cheaper out of them in the next day or two and choose that one... I am leaning more on the Samsung 840 at the moment so hopefully it turns out that way. I can always do the Price Matching for NCIX and get the cheaper price from another Canadian store... which I am going to be doing anyway for every price I am going to order and save some dollars from there :P.

I just measured my own setup...it's H100, but I heard the radiator is more or less exactly the same. The rad is exactly 27mm thick, the fans 25mm thick (SP120s) for a total of 52mm. Now whether adding another two fans for push/pull will fit or not is heavily reliant on your case and your motherboard. In my case, my upper VRM heatsink is too tall and the RAM sticks are right there as well, the top of my case doesn't have enough clearance. In other cases the CPU pin comes in the way, etc.
From what I have read so far, a Carbide 500R won't be able to accommodate push/pull, you will need something like a 650D or a full tower like Phantom/HAF-X. Not to mention your ASRock Extreme4 seems to have it's top VRM heatsink right at the top, it could make even 650D not enough. A full tower is your safest bet for push/pull.

I am confused on what exactly is the VRM heatsink. I know the RAM sticks have heatspreaders which are the RAM heatsinks I think... I could be wrong though. I also cannot figure out where or what the CPU heatsink is... I am confused on which is which.

I want to try out a different case but I really like Corsair 500R... It has a variety of things that I like that make it a great case for me.
I have looked and researched for other cases... I have looked at the 650D and other Corsair cases and even other brand of cases, also full tower cases, but I always come back to the 500R. I guess I will not have push and pull but I will have good quality fans at ALL the fan mounts of the 500R.
I will make a new separate post attached to this post or a new post entirely, regarding fans... But that will be after I have finalized the main components for my CPU .

Also, is it possible to get a different motherboard but with similar performance as the ASRock Extreme 4, which has bigger clearance at the top of the 500R case for a P/P setup with the H100i? How would I figure this out? I think I can look at zoomed in pictures of motherboards and correlate from that... maybe... What would you suggest?

EDIT:

I forgot to add something. I had used this site where there's a long thread on the H100 Case Compatibility:

http://www.overclock.net/t/1144409/h...-full-listings

On the 1st page, if you scroll down, you will see that H100 P/P is feasible on a 500R, which is entirely dependent on hardware, as you said earlier....

But, either way, I will be getting the H100i instead of the H100 (finally decided on this!)...Its radiator is 27mm thick so there won't be enough clearance for another fan anyway... I am hoping that getting the H100i in a push or a pull setup will overcome the benefit of having a P/P setup for a H100.

---------- Post added 2012-11-23 at 08:46 PM ----------

The Asrock would suit for your use tbh. But still I won't recommend them over Asus. Been hearing a lot of rumours their rma service is crap etc.

Well about your 500r with an H100i in push pull configuration.

As far as I can see on this forum -> http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showthread.php?t=101182

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y19...4/P1000344.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y19...4/P1000348.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y19...4/P1000343.jpg

As far as I can see, the room between the radiator/fans and motherboard is too small to do pushpull. But if you do it like he did you can have a push configuration. One more option you still have is, mounting 2 fans on the radiator (top) but you can't close it with the panel I think so you have your push pull configuration.

If you plan to pay an additional 60eur, try the case nzxt switch 810 which is a lovely case with a huge sidewindow/fan filters. The case is very huge but it's almost complety customizable and supports up to 480mm rads though and a lot of space between the motherboard and the top (like 90mm). You can press a button to switch the colour though.

There might be other cases which will do push pull configurations without taking the toppanel off, but I'm only familiar with a few cases :/

Lol. Sorry... I forgot to reply to your post...

But it's the same thing as I said earlier in this post, which I replied to Xuvial about... I will just go for the 500R with the H100i in a push or pull setup, whichever is better for better airflow and better temperatures.

[Faithh]

Yeah I just looked online regarding that just now. I found that people are finding other issues with the new firmware update... So I am going to wait a bit.

I was actually thinking of getting the Corsair SP120 High Static Pressure Fans x2 and get the NCIX peeps to put them as exhaust out on the top, basically sidelining the whole issue with the original H100i fans' grinding/clicking noise...

I am a bit confused still on something though. Should I get the 2 fans exhausting underneath the radiator or above the radiator? I can have either the fans exhausting out on top of the case and under the lid with the radiator under and inside the case... OR... I can have the fans exhausting underneath the radiator inside the case while the radiator is out on the top of the case but under the lid? Which setup is better? I heard something about the radiator needing to have the fans facing it or away from it... I don't know... I can't seem to figure it out... :/



I found it even more strange that I find TWO prices listed for the Samsung 840 (non-pro) on NCIX... o.O

Here:

http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=77...e&promoid=1030 - $104.99
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=77...e&promoid=1209 - $99.99

So weird... I have been refreshing all those parts' pages and searching for them for the past week and I have seen prices fluctuate like crazy... For the same parts even... Very strange.

Here's the price for the Samsung 830:

http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=74...0%26%20Storage - $119.99

I will probably wait and see which one is cheaper out of them in the next day or two and choose that one... I am leaning more on the Samsung 840 at the moment so hopefully it turns out that way. I can always do the Price Matching for NCIX and get the cheaper price from another Canadian store... which I am going to be doing anyway for every price I am going to order and save some dollars from there :P.



I am confused on what exactly is the VRM heatsink. I know the RAM sticks have heatspreaders which are the RAM heatsinks I think... I could be wrong though. I also cannot figure out where or what the CPU heatsink is... I am confused on which is which.

I want to try out a different case but I really like Corsair 500R... It has a variety of things that I like that make it a great case for me.
I have looked and researched for other cases... I have looked at the 650D and other Corsair cases and even other brand of cases, also full tower cases, but I always come back to the 500R. I guess I will not have push and pull but I will have good quality fans at ALL the fan mounts of the 500R.
I will make a new separate post attached to this post or a new post entirely, regarding fans... But that will be after I have finalized the main components for my CPU .

Also, is it possible to get a different motherboard but with similar performance as the ASRock Extreme 4, which has bigger clearance at the top of the 500R case for a P/P setup with the H100i? How would I figure this out? I think I can look at zoomed in pictures of motherboards and correlate from that... maybe... What would you suggest?

http://imgur.com/HMKJe

The Red & yellow circles are the VRM heatsinks. Sometimes you have situations that the radiator is not fitting because it's interfering with the Red circle I painted on that picture.

Try this case: Nzxt phantom OR Nzxt switch 810 (which can do much fatter radiators in PP)

Nzxt phantom -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0b-pZmSv6A
Nzxt switch 810 -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfu_1GWDraI

With the nzxt phantom you get a bracket so you can do PP. I can't promise if the VRM of the asrock won't interfer the radiator though with the nzxt phantom. But with Any Asus p8z77 or p8z68 it will work. The motherboard being used on that video was an Asus p8z68-v or pro, just like I have now.

For the Nzxt switch 810, there's no need for a bracket. There is 90mm space for radiators + fans which is more than enough for H100 with any kind of motherboard. Also you can add 3 fans in the top while having the toppanel on it, so you don't see the fans at all so it's fully covered. This case will guarantee you 100% pushpull.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfu_1GWDraI This dummy guy didn't mount 3 fans on the top :P

[Lychee3000]

http://imgur.com/HMKJe

The Red & yellow circles are the VRM heatsinks. Sometimes you have situations that the radiator is not fitting because it's interfering with the Red circle I painted on that picture.

Try this case: Nzxt phantom OR Nzxt switch 810 (which can do much fatter radiators in PP)

Nzxt phantom -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0b-pZmSv6A
Nzxt switch 810 -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfu_1GWDraI

With the nzxt phantom you get a bracket so you can do PP. I can't promise if the VRM of the asrock won't interfer the radiator though with the nzxt phantom. But with Any Asus p8z77 or p8z68 it will work. The motherboard being used on that video was an Asus p8z68-v or pro, just like I have now.

For the Nzxt switch 810, there's no need for a bracket. There is 90mm space for radiators + fans which is more than enough for H100 with any kind of motherboard. Also you can add 3 fans in the top while having the toppanel on it, so you don't see the fans at all so it's fully covered. This case will guarantee you 100% pushpull.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfu_1GWDraI This dummy guy didn't mount 3 fans on the top :P

Hmm... Thanks. Now I know what they are lol.

I am still researching so that's why it took me a while to respond. Umm... There are few things I am looking for in a Computer Case. Well, actually, let me tell you the reasons why I like the Corsair Carbide 500R series.

- I love that it is completely black finish
- I love that it can hold up to 10 fans (even though I only count 9 but it says 10, whatever.... I still like the number of fans I can mount)
- I love the removable hard drive cages... Helps in giving more air flow into the case to the graphic card when it's removed
- I love the cable management grommets that are available in it
- I like the dust filters
- I like that the external inputs (USB 3.0, USB 2.0, audio jacks, etc.) are on the front of the case and not the top of the case (if its on top of the case, then it's easy to catch dust in the holes of those ports)
- I like the mesh side panel... I would prefer a mesh panel instead of a plain window non-mesh one since I can put more fans on it

If I can find all of the above in a case and it looks good from the outside, as well as the inside, then I will definitely consider it... I am looking into the NZXT cases right now, and looking at reviews and videos on it... So far I like them, but I need to research some more.

[Xuvial]

Lol most good cases have pretty much everything you listed there. What's your max budget for the case?

[Faithh]

Hmm... Thanks. Now I know what they are lol.

I am still researching so that's why it took me a while to respond. Umm... There are few things I am looking for in a Computer Case. Well, actually, let me tell you the reasons why I like the Corsair Carbide 500R series.

- I love that it is completely black finish
- I love that it can hold up to 10 fans (even though I only count 9 but it says 10, whatever.... I still like the number of fans I can mount)
- I love the removable hard drive cages... Helps in giving more air flow into the case to the graphic card when it's removed
- I love the cable management grommets that are available in it
- I like the dust filters
- I like that the external inputs (USB 3.0, USB 2.0, audio jacks, etc.) are on the front of the case and not the top of the case (if its on top of the case, then it's easy to catch dust in the holes of those ports)

If I can find all of the above in a case and it looks good from the outside, as well as the inside, then I will definitely consider it... I am looking into the NZXT cases right now, and looking at reviews and videos on it... So far I like them, but I need to research some more.

Let me count.. 1 fan in the back, 3 fans in the top, 2 fans on the hdd bays, 2 fans on the front, 1 fan at bottom which makes 9. Also you can add another 1 or 2 or 3 for the radiator.

The 2 fans on the hdd bays can be positioned like you want. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tTwXq0MaNY for the case nzxt switch 810

About the watercooling options, you can mount upto a 420mm in the top though and also you can remove the hdd bays and place there another 240m radiator or 120mm radiator. So you have 2 radiators in total and both radiators are can be in pushpull.

There is also a black mat version btw.

The switch is the hardcore of hardcore cases though.

Just a suggestion: A case with a big window is rather going to get more attention of you than a case without one if the case is at a desk.

[Lychee3000]

Lol most good cases have pretty much everything you listed there. What's your max budget for the case?

Sorry, went to sleep lol.

My max budget for the case is around $150 for now. The Corsair Carbide 500R is $79.99 with discount and rebates... Which is pretty awesome... But if I can get a push and pull system without any modding, that would be perfect, and I would choose it over a 500R.

I think I am going to put up my build soon... Give me an hour or so and I should have the OP updated with my new build so you guys can critique more if needed... I will put it in the very beginning of it so you don't have to hunt for it.

I also might need to shave off some pricey things if possible, like getting a cheaper component for the same or similar performance if possible. The total amount is getting a bit expensive for me.... But I will pay the extra for reliability. I want my computer to last me 3 years if possible. I don't want it to break down and I am hoping not to upgrade much until after 3 years, one component at a time.

[CheezusCrust]

Remember to get a 3rd party HDD bracket for the Switch 810, the stock ones are absolutely HORRIBLE & it gives heavy, heavy vibrations on my 7200RPM HDD.

[Xuvial]

edit: You know what, forget it. The number of cases which accommodate push/pull with zero modding almost don't exist. Maybe Xigmatek Elysium if you enjoy fridge-sized cases.

See this thread: http://www.overclock.net/t/1144409/h...-full-listings