I am researching a new gaming power build

Status
Not open for further replies.
Buying computer hardware because it looks cool is just crazy.

I agree, but I wasn't looking for it because it looked good, I loved the layout. The double spacing between all of the PCIe slots allows for a great SLI setup but after looking into it more, I am definitely going to go with the Sandy-Bridge 2600k because the ASUS P8P67 WS REVOLUTION MoBo has a pretty nice layout as well and going that route is saving me over a thousand dollars. Plus the 2600k can be overclocked a bit higher than even the 990x extreme.
 
I just finished planning out nearly the whole build, I'm still looking for a liquid cooling system, the most I've ever done with liquid cooling is just a Corsair Hydro processor cooler. But I'll list what I have, I think it's real nice....

RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB DDR3 1600 1.5V
MoBo: ASUS P8P67 WS REVOLUTION
CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K
PSU: CORSAIR AX1200
Video: 2x EVGA GTX 580 FTW Hydro Copper 2 in SLI
Case: COOLER MASTER HAF X Full Tower
Boot Drive: Corsair Force Series 3 60GB SSD
Data Drives: 4x Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB in RAID 0+1
Disk: Lite-On BD-R

I haven't messed around with RAID yet so I'm not really sure what I'm going with there, so any input would be helpful. I want the increased performance but I also want mirrored stripes for safety. I think 0+1 does that but I still need to read up on all of that.
 
You've mentioned Overclocking and Gaming so I'll start by saying 16GB of memory will not improve your Gaming Experience and it will lower your potential overclock. If your Gaming and Overclocking I highly recommend buying a 8GB(2x4GB) of DDR3 1600MHz kit of memory.

If your wanting to watercool the CPU and the video cards your going to need a Dual Loop. I would look for a 2x120 radiator for the CPU and a 3x120 for the video cards. If it was me, I would skip the Hydro Copper Video cards and go with the standard models and just buy a couple of nice aftermarket air coolers for them.

I would go with this kit for the CPU.
EK-KIT H3O - Supreme HF 240 Water Cooling Kit Products Model: EK-KIT-H3O-HF240 [EK-KIT-H3O-HF240] : Performance-PCs.com, ... sleeve it and they will come

and a couple of these for the video cards.
Arctic Cooling Accelero XTREME Plus multi-compatible cooler for VGA boards Products Model: ACCELS-XT-PLSII [ACCELS-XT-PLSII] : Performance-PCs.com, ... sleeve it and they will come

or you could go with this watercooling kit for the video cards, you'll wind up with an extra cpu waterblock but you can sell it.
EK-KIT H3O - Supreme HF 360 Water Cooling Kit Products Model: EK-KIT-H3O-HF360 [EK-KIT-H3O-HF360] : Performance-PCs.com, ... sleeve it and they will come
 
Thank you Slaymate you have been very helpful ever since I joined Tech-Forums. What about a 4x2GB memory kit? I think I could get a lower latency with smaller sticks but if I ever needed to expand I would have to get an entire new kit... Or were you just suggesting 2x4 because it's easier to overclock 2 sticks instead of all 4?
 
2 sticks is easier on the memory controller. Lower latencies are good but they are also harder on the memory controller. I have a 8GB kit of Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 8-8-8-24-2T and a 8GB kit of G.Skill DDR3 2133 11-11-11-28-2T.

If I use both kits (at 1600MHz) for 16GB I have to raise my CPU VCore up from 1.465v to 1.485v at 5GHz and while the Memory Bandwidth goes up, the CPU throughput actually decreases. If I just use the G.Skill 2133 @ 2133 I once again have to raise the CPU VCore up to 1.485v and the small amount of extra bandwidth just isn't worth the extra volts needed (which increases the heat). If I run the Corsair at 1600MHz and lower the latencies to 7-7-7-21-1T I once again have to raise the CPU VCore and the DRAM Voltage but the gained Memory Bandwidth is again minimal, it's just not worth the increase in voltage and heat.

While I'm running my i7 2600K at 5GHz with the memory at 1600MHz with 8-8-8-24-1T timings, I can make the same change to my VCore (increase to 1.485v) and run at 5.2GHz, this increases both the Memory Bandwidth and the CPU throughput but it does run much hotter. With the sweltering summer heat I'm staying at 5GHz until Fall/Winter and then I'll boost it up.
 
First, I think 2x4gb was suggested to leave room for upgrades if you ever needed to (But I could be wrong.. :) )

Second, I'd recommend a larger SSD as 60gb is a huge hassle trying to fit all the programs on that you want. I'd say at least 90gb...

Third, as for your raid array, I'd recommend RAID 5 instead of Raid 10 as it stripes the data and has a parity across all the drives:
RAID 5 (block-level striping with distributed parity) distributes parity along with the data and requires all drives but one to be present to operate; the array is not destroyed by a single drive failure. Upon drive failure, any subsequent reads can be calculated from the distributed parity such that the drive failure is masked from the end user. However, a single drive failure results in reduced performance of the entire array until the failed drive has been replaced and the associated data rebuilt.

So the raid array would still function even if a drive died, it would just be slower. Raid 5 is faster than raid 10 due to striping across all 4 drives instead of just 2.
 
Second, I'd recommend a larger SSD as 60gb is a huge hassle trying to fit all the programs on that you want. I'd say at least 90gb...
That's highly dependent on the user. I don't even use 2/3rds of my 60GB SSD (and its actual formatted capacity is 55GB).
 
Well I guess that's true...for me, I had to uninstall Steam from my SSD and reinstall on my regular drive, which took about 20gb off... :/
 
Well I guess that's true...for me, I had to uninstall Steam from my SSD and reinstall on my regular drive, which took about 20gb off... :/
Ah, well I don't keep Steam on my SSD anyway :p My steam folder is about 75GB. I wasn't counting it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom