Building new computer some help please

[Jadessia]

so yeah, my computer is 2.5 year old now, changed memory on it recently, tried a new gfx(wouldn't work with the computer for some reason, "seemed" to lack power to run it but it should have) new SSD( OCZ Agility 3 120gb which won't let me update the firmware and keeps crashing even after sending it in and getting it back twice. it freezes and doesnt show up on a warm boot, have to do a cold boot) and during reloadui i sometimes get a memory error. And the AHCI doesn't seem to work.

so basicly I tried replacing some parts with completely new parts (built 4-5 pcs previously never had a problem with them. this one was bought prebuilt by "komplett") but now I'm giving up on it after struggling with it the last 3 months and just decided to abandon the either thing and starting off fresh.

basicly here is what I got so far but I want to cut some prices down if possible.

Gfx card:
2x ASUS Geforce GTX 560TI 1GB PhysX CUDA "DirectCU II TOP", 900 MHz in SLI config
Price: 3.500 NOK | ~450 Euro | ~650 USD

or

ASUS GeForce GTX 580 1536MB PhyX CUDA "DirectCU II TOP"
Price: 3.749 NOK | ~480 Euro | ~700 USD

CPU:
Intel® Core™ i7-2600K Processor 3.4 GHz
Price: 2.450 NOK | ~315 Euro | ~455 USD

Motherboard:
ASUS Maximus IV Extreme-Z, Socket-1155
Price: 2.790 NOK | ~360 Euro | ~520 USD

or

ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe, Socket-1155
Price: 1.849 NOK | ~240 Euro | ~345 USD

or

ASUS P8Z68-V PRO, Socket-1155
Price: 1.349 NOK | ~175 Euro | ~250 USD

Memory:
Corsair Vengeance™ DDR3 1600MHz 16GB CL9
Price: 1.299 NOK | ~165 Euro | ~240 USD

or

2x Corsair Dominator GT DDR3 2133MHz 4GB
Price: 1.958 NOK | ~250 Euro | ~365 USD

or

Corsair XMS3 DDR3 2000MHz 8GB CL9 (currently none available from the store I'm gonna order from).
Price: 829 NOK | ~105 Euro | ~155 USD

SSD:
Corsair SSD Force Series™ GT 120GB
Price: 1.995 NOK | ~255 Euro | ~370 USD

PSU:
Corsair AX 1200W PSU
Price: 2.349 NOK | ~300 Euro | ~435 USD

Case:
Corsair Obsidian 800D
Price: 2.289 NOK | ~295 Euro | ~425 USD

Total Price:
Minimum : 14.761 NOK | ~1.900 Euro | ~2.750 USD
Maximum:17.580 NOK | ~2.265 Euro | ~3.275 USD


The Case I'm 100% certain I want as well as the PSU even tho its kinda overkill.
I'm uncertain about the SSD, cause it could very well be that my current SSD is 100% function then again I could test this and buy it later, or I could just buy both and have the Crosair as my operation system and my OCZ as secondary for programs etc, I could ofc run it in raid but considering that I had some issues with the agility 3 that would be risky. I am considering asking to get my money back tho since this has happen twice now.

so yeah as everyone else I want the best bang for the buck, and I would prefer a ASUS MB and a Crosair Memory, but open for other suggestions of course!

also was considering throwing in a http://www.bigfootnetworks.com/killer-nic-m1/

can get it for 40% off.. but is it worth it?


anyways! feed back and suggestions would be great, thanks in advance! and yes the system is going to be OC and will likely use get watercooling for it at a later time!

[SylarAC]

Well I can't really answer some of your questions but I can tell you this. If you're ordering from U.S. your pricing is a little off. I've looked at quite a few of those items recently and your CPU price in USD is off by a little over a $100 (price you listed is more). But some simple questions to ask you that others will ask...

1. What's your budget? You've listed the minimum and maximum for what you have listed but there is no budget.
2. What's your location? This will help to find best deals for where you are ordering from etc. etc.
3. What's your uses? Video editing? Just gaming? Etc. etc.

[vesseblah]

basicly here is what I got so far but I want to cut some prices down if possible.

Easy to cut down whole lot of the pricetag.

Gfx card:
2x ASUS Geforce GTX 560TI 1GB PhysX CUDA "DirectCU II TOP", 900 MHz in SLI config
Price: 3.500 NOK | ~450 Euro | ~650 USD

or

ASUS GeForce GTX 580 1536MB PhyX CUDA "DirectCU II TOP"
Price: 3.749 NOK | ~480 Euro | ~700 USD

Cut back to one GTX570, and add second card later for SLI if you feel like you need it. Also you need to pay attention to what cards you're actually getting if you're planning to do custom watercooling, since not all cards are compatible with the waterblocks.

CPU:
Intel® Core™ i7-2600K Processor 3.4 GHz
Price: 2.450 NOK | ~315 Euro | ~455 USD

i5-2500K instead. i7-2600K does nothing for gaming use.

Motherboard:
ASUS Maximus IV Extreme-Z, Socket-1155
Price: 2.790 NOK | ~360 Euro | ~520 USD

or

ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe, Socket-1155
Price: 1.849 NOK | ~240 Euro | ~345 USD

or

ASUS P8Z68-V PRO, Socket-1155
Price: 1.349 NOK | ~175 Euro | ~250 USD

First two are unnecessary unless you want to strive for extreme overclocking close to or above 5GHz. You'll be most likely capped by random chance with CPU sooner than the OC capabilities of a motherboard. Only thing you get from Maximus IV for example is support for 3-SLI.

Memory:
Corsair Vengeance™ DDR3 1600MHz 16GB CL9
Price: 1.299 NOK | ~165 Euro | ~240 USD

or

2x Corsair Dominator GT DDR3 2133MHz 4GB
Price: 1.958 NOK | ~250 Euro | ~365 USD

or

Corsair XMS3 DDR3 2000MHz 8GB CL9 (currently none available from the store I'm gonna order from).
Price: 829 NOK | ~105 Euro | ~155 USD

Sandy Bridge CPUs work just fine with cheap RAM, any superfast memory kits are pure waste of money unless again you want to aim for overclocks past 5GHz which depends on luck with the chip.

PSU:
Corsair AX 1200W PSU
Price: 2.349 NOK | ~300 Euro | ~435 USD

Far overshot. AX750 is enough to run GTX580 SLI. If you're going to build custom watercooling on all graphics cards and CPU AX1200 might be justifiable, but not with some sealed water kit.

Case:
Corsair Obsidian 800D
Price: 2.289 NOK | ~295 Euro | ~425 USD

Veeeeery expensive. Meant for custom watercooling. If you aren't going to get one, this is very easy place to shave off money.

also was considering throwing in a http://www.bigfootnetworks.com/killer-nic-m1/

Useless unless you're making money out of internet gaming. Changing ISP makes bigger difference than network card.

[Drunkenvalley]

What pricetag is OP looking for anyway?

[Jadessia]

yeah ofc my pricetag is off from the US, these are based on Norwegian tags and the price based is 18.000 NOK(Norwegian currency) which is 3.350 USD or 2.320 Euro, but cheaper the better.

I listed both Prices cause there might be some pros that uses EU and some that uses US, I'll be ordering online on norwegian shops so these are the prices I'd be looking at pretty much. Yeah hardware is expensive here I know. even if I ordered from US(most companies won't mail stuff here...) I'd be looking at more travel expenses and I can add 25% taxes.

Case and PSU price I'm fine with even if overpriced, the GFX well I got 3 screens and I want to be able to run future games as well.

also the computer ain't used for just gaming I also use it for video editing and Photoshop etc.

and yeah I will be watercooling in the future with this, but not the GFX/CPU/MB etc waiting for the new extreme CPUs to change to that next summer.
so for now I just want a "killer" PC that can handle most of what I'm doing atm, be it gaming or Video editing or simply editing photos, I want it to preform more then good enough.

also would you recommend getting a new CPU cooler or just use the stock one?

[naadra]

I second what vesseblah said heh, and get a after market cpu cooler if you are going to be overclocking of course, if you are not going to be overclocking then you can stay with the stock fan

[Jadessia]

hehe

which cooler would you recommend then tho?

but yeah the Case and PSU is an investment for the next computer after this one

[naadra]

Oh sry heh, for mild overclocks like 4.4ghz or less I would go with a cooler master hyper 212 plus, normally runs 20-30 us dollars, anything 4.5ghz or above I would go with the Noctura NH D14, which is normally around 80-90 us dollars

[Deleted]

Easy to cut down whole lot of the pricetag.

Cut back to one GTX570, and add second card later for SLI if you feel like you need it. Also you need to pay attention to what cards you're actually getting if you're planning to do custom watercooling, since not all cards are compatible with the waterblocks.

i5-2500K instead. i7-2600K does nothing for gaming use.

First two are unnecessary unless you want to strive for extreme overclocking close to or above 5GHz. You'll be most likely capped by random chance with CPU sooner than the OC capabilities of a motherboard. Only thing you get from Maximus IV for example is support for 3-SLI.

Sandy Bridge CPUs work just fine with cheap RAM, any superfast memory kits are pure waste of money unless again you want to aim for overclocks past 5GHz which depends on luck with the chip.

Far overshot. AX750 is enough to run GTX580 SLI. If you're going to build custom watercooling on all graphics cards and CPU AX1200 might be justifiable, but not with some sealed water kit.

Veeeeery expensive. Meant for custom watercooling. If you aren't going to get one, this is very easy place to shave off money.

Useless unless you're making money out of internet gaming. Changing ISP makes bigger difference than network card.

This man speaks the truth. A lot of your components are overzealous and frankly unnecessary. You could easily cut your price tag in half by making more sensible purchasing choices as suggested above.

[Jadessia]

mm okay whats your take on the Corsair H80? (just looking at alternatives )

also a suggestion on diferent GFX is welcome as well, I just picked those two.

edit: also about the cheaper ram, I got Crucial DDR3 1333MHz 8GB KIT, CL9 in my current computer, guess I could save a few bucks on using those? (bought them a few weeks ago).

and no, on the system I'm building next year it will be custom watercooling and not some kit. but the same case etc will be used.(these parts will be moved over to the old Case when new computer is being made)

[naadra]

If I remember correctly, at mid temps its on par with most other coolers in its category, but when things get going the NH d14 takes the cake.

Oh and dont forget using those H series coolers you normally have to take out your rear exhaust and actually make that an intake I believe for the H 80

---------- Post added 2011-07-28 at 08:35 AM ----------

Ya you are not going to see any difference at all with the ram speeds or the timings really. well nothing that you can actually notice. So yes I would reuse the ram myself as well

---------- Post added 2011-07-28 at 08:38 AM ----------

For the most part on the video cards, about the 560ti or 6950hd and on up, will pretty much run every game out right now on ultra, so I would buy one single powerful card and then later down the road when it starts to not be able to max current games, just buy another one at that time. The GTX 580 is the most powerful single GPU card out right now. If you have the money in your budget for it, I would definately purchase that one. Not purchasing another until you need a second will save you money in the long run as well, by the time you need a second one the price on it will be lower of course

[Drunkenvalley]

NOCTUA NH-D14
CORSAIR AX 1200W
CORSAIR OBSIDIAN 800D
GIGABYTE GEFORCE GTX 580 1536MB
WESTERN DIGITAL CAVIAR BLACK 1TB
CORSAIR 4GB DDR3 VENGEANCE LP (4 x 4GB)
GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3P-B3 Z68 S-1155 ATX
INTEL CORE I5 2500K 3.30GHZ 6MB S-1155

Sadly, the damned list is in caps due to copy-paste. Ah well.
That list weighed in at 12,6k NOK @ Dustinhome.no ...

Would have added in the Twin Frozr of the GTX580, but the site doesn't list those at all! O.o
Kept the case and PSU since you insist on them.

Also: Don't convert to alternate currencies using currency converters. It's just confusing for everyone since prices vary ridiculously.

[Deleted]

My opinion:
1. i5 2500k over the i7 2600k unless you are messing around with a lot of video rendering, F@H, etc.
2. Get the GTX 580 over 2x 560 ti's. The performance difference is less than 10% and the GTX 580 will pull less power and heat. Not to mention that you can upgrade to 2x 580 later.
3. Cut down on the PSU. Even 1000W is overkill. For a single 580, 650-700W is well over enough. For 2x 560 ti's 750-800W is well over enough.
4. Go for 8Gb 1600Mhz RAM. You will be happy.

[naadra]

Ya what drunkenvalley listed would be a good setup, of course you can swap in your current ram that you have now to save on that as well. I can vouch for the motherboard it is the board I have in my current build.

[Jadessia]

NOCTUA NH-D14
CORSAIR AX 1200W
CORSAIR FULLTOWER OBSIDIAN 800D
GIGABYTE GEFORCE GTX 580 1536MB
WESTERN DIGITAL CAVIAR BLACK 1TB
CORSAIR 4GB DDR3 VENGEANCE LP (x2)
GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3P-B3 Z68 S-1155 ATX
INTEL CORE I5 2500K 3.30GHZ 6MB S-1155

Sadly, the damned list is in caps due to copy-paste. Ah well.
That list weighed in at 12,6k NOK @ Dustinhome.no ...

Would have added in the Twin Frozr of the GTX580, but the site doesn't list those at all! O.o
Kept the case and PSU since you insist on them.

Also: Don't convert to alternate currencies using currency converters. It's just confusing for everyone since prices vary ridiculously.

actually found the twin frozr on komplett Oo but wont be in until 1 sep even that might vary and yes it was the 580 one

and sorry about the currency thing not entirely sure why I added it -.-

also meh gonna swap out the 1200 for Corsair AX 850W PSU instead. but will it be enough to run 2x 580s later tho?
Cooler I'll take as well, HDD I dont need have one which I dont use.

[naadra]

Measured power consumption

1. System in IDLE = 187W
2. System Wattage with GPU in FULL Stress = 447W
3. Difference (GPU load) = 260W
4. Add average IDLE wattage ~ 20W
5. Subjective obtained GPU power consumption = ~ 280 Watts

This is the test from Guru 3d so for two 580 I would add another 280 watts which would give you about 727 watts for the system under full load, so I would go with a 850 myself, but a high quality gold rated etc 750 and I think you will be ok too. The AX ones are good, or the seasonic gold rated ones are real nice too, just make sure to get a high quality one especially because of the 580s

[Jadessia]

yeah the Corsair AX series are all 80+ Gold from the info I've found.

anyways thanks a lot guys sorry if I'm a bit stuborn really apprieciate the help I really do! and again sorry about the currency convertion >__< next time I'll check sites with EU numbers and USD numbers as well and not convert incase I should need help!

now I'm just sitting her and wondering if I should wait for the 580 twin frozr or use another one or just go for the sli 560ti as i originally planned. going for the 580 i linked will be hard to sli tho due to it takes up 3 slots each card and not sure the motherboard has space for it.

[naadra]

Get the 580, It is easier to buy one card later and it be a huge upgrade then to have to buy two more video cards later on, not to mention the problems you can encounter when using SLI in games, especially ones that just come out.

[Jadessia]

hehe true, and yeah just checked there is space for 2 of the ASUS 580 cards actually Oo but they'll be standing tight together not sure I'm to fan of that due to fans atm etc just have to find out which one I want now then :P while I got the spot any recommendations?

[naadra]

Well if they are going to be right next to each other and there is not a full slot in between them, I would go with twin frozer ones or another good brand that has a cooling setup like it. I would imagine two 580 almost touching each other are going to get very very hot, I have dual 6950s and before a custom fan profile was set up my top card was almost always 8-9 degrees hotter then the lower card just from the heat rising and the top card sucking in the heat from the lower one. With a customer fan profile though mine never go above 50c anymore. I would Imagine as long as you have a good case with good airflow you should be ok.