New PC time *boxes* Laptop Base System: Clevo p157SM CPU: i7 4710MQ Memory: Corsair Vengeance 1866 MHz 8 Gb GPU: GTX 860m 4Gb Kepler Storage: OCZ Vertex 3 MAX IOPS 256 Gb, Hitachi Travelstar 1 TB 7200 RPM Sound Card: Soundblaster x-Fi3 Headphones: Same as below OS: Dual boot with Windows 7 Pro + Linux Mint 17 on the SSD Full Tower (22-3-14) (Loaned out for the year) Case: Corsair Obsidian 800D Mobo: ASUS Sabertooth Z77 CPU: Intel 3570K CPU Cooler: Swiftech H320 Memory: Patriot Viper Black Mamba 2133 MHz 16 Gb GPU: 2x EVGA GTX 670 4gb superclocked Sound Card: Creative Z Headphones: Sennheiser HD 595 PSU: Seasonic 860w Platinum Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 128 Gb, OCZ Vertex 3 120 Gb, OCZ Vertex 3 MAX IOPS 256 Gb, 2x WD Caviar Black 1 Tb Cooling: 2x Silverstone FHP-141, 1x Corsair SP120 Performance Edition, 1x Corsair AF140 Daily Use Programs: foobar2000 VLC Player Firefox uTorrent Dxtory Handbrake Notepad++ Foxit Reader CCLeaner Thunderbird Alternate OS: Linux Mint 17 Cinnamon
If you want a single SSD for your operating system and a few games then you really need to look at how much space those games will take up. TERA for example requires 40GB+ for initial download and install. TOR takes a huge amount of space too. MMOs grow as content is released too. Also I would stick with either an Intel drive, Samsung, or the newest OCZ with the Indilinx controller. Those are the fastest and most reliable drives on the market now. You can easily get away with the HX1050, no need for a 1200 watt power supply. Doing all this stuff and SLI in the future will still be fine with a 1000w The Sabertooth board is WAY better than any EVGA crap. EVGA may make good graphics card, but never buy their motherboards unless you absolutely have to. They have terrible bios support, bad customer service, expensive prices, and sub-par build quality. They just bank off gaming brand recognition and good color scheme, but the boards are worthless. With this kind of money, get 32GB of RAM as it is really cheap anyway. 4 x 8GB sticks @ 1600MHz or more. Preferably 1866. Even 2133 at high densities is starting to become affordable now days.
Yes, but that is last generation. Most of the bugs in that drive have been fixed, just like the Corsair variants of the exact same thing. The fastest version of that drive is the Intel 520 series, which is also the most reliable of those types of drives. Samsung drives are fast, right about as fast as that Vertex 3 in actual use and are a bit more reliable. OCZ just released their new drive, the Vertex 4 that is the fastest of any drive so far. These are really the only drives I would buy today: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147164 http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=71145&vpn=SSDSC2CT180A3K5&manufacture=Intel http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=67712&vpn=SSDSC2CW180A3K5&manufacture=Intel http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=69939&vpn=VTX4-25SAT3-256G&manufacture=OCZ Technology&promoid=1114 And the Vertex 4 still hasnt been 100% proven yet, wont be for a few more months.
Is it safe to assume the vertex 4 is at least as good as the previous vertex 3 series and would be reliable even though it has not been proven?
Well historically Indilinx has been an ok controller company in reliability, in this case they are simply using a Marvell controller with a lot of custom firmware tweaks. So similar thing anyway really, all of them are just ARM cores with custom designs and firmware. Usually the problems with those drives is bad drive design and something else breaks in the drive. Serious bugs in the firmware are fixed somewhat quickly. So it should be an ok drive to get. Thankfully if it breaks OCZ is very good with customer service. And if for some reason you do have any issues getting an immediate replacement, you can pretty easily contact Ryan or Tony and get things moved along more quickly. They hang out on the forums a lot, especially Ryan.
So I ended up settling on the Vertex 4 128 GB. OS will be roughly 30gb to be safe and GW2 + skyrim will be another 40 gb and those will be my main games for now. When I get sick of skyrim it will go away. Anything else can sit on the mechanical unless I decide to make it my primary focus. I also stayed with 16gb @ ddr3 1600 since home premium 64bit only supports 16 gb. So final build is corsair obsidian 800d sabertooth z77 i5 3570k evga gtx670 4gb superclocked corsair h100 cooler corsair vengeance ddr3-1600 2x8gb memory ocz vertex 4 128gb corsair hx 1050 Total: ~2050 after taxes + free shipping on the whole order (thank god) I ordered everything through NCIX and price matched the case and videocard. I'm not sure why the card on their site is $40 more expensive than anywhere else as it was the same price just a few days ago, quite odd. Thanks for the advice Enigma! Once I get everything and it is all built up I will post some pics. I would expect to have everything by the first week of June as the GPU is currently on backorder with them. If they decide not to accept the price match then I'll have everything sooner by just ordering from tigerdirect.
Just missing the GTX 670 :/ damn items on backorder!! Likely start putting it together and if not then on the weekend.
Couldn't help but start building it yesterday. My only complaints with building it so far is the rear bracket for the H100 is a pain in the ass to get correctly mounted because the mounts slide to align with the holes on the mobo. Also the 800D doesn't have the required connection to go from USB 3.0 front I/O to the header on the mobo, it just dead ends with 2 male usb 3.0 plugs. I went to 5 PC stores yesterday to find the correct adapter and I got lucky that Canada Computers had one. The guy I spoke to didn't even know they had it until I gave him the item code and told him the website said they had one in stock. Also found out that none of my old hard drives or optical drives are compatible :/ So picked up a 1TB caviar black and will get a new optical drive today. ETA I called corsair about the USB 3.0 problem and the guy told me that an update is in the works for the case to change the lack of header connector problem. I wouldn't consider this a shortfalling on the case as it has been around longer than USB 3.0 and SATA 3. The case I have with SATA3 in the hotswap bays and USB3.0 is just a revised version with parts anyone with an old model 800D can purchase.
Wow. If all your mechanical and optical drives are IDE then they are OLD. And that is one sexy looking build.
Not only that, the GPU is AGP 8x The desktop that the drives would have come from was built in 2004 but it hasn't functioned properly for a year or two now. I just used it as a virus buffer for downloading. As far as monitors go, any thoughts on this monitor? I'm not a fan of 3D but the rest of the features look nice. That being said, I could likely just use my LG scarlet as it is 120hz with a 2.7ms response time. Contrast ratio isn't as high but it is a nice looking TV.
That is an ok monitor, but there are much better ones. Either get a cheap TN panel monitor that looks average and plays well, which you can get a 27" for a little over $200. Or get the good stuff and get a proper 120Hz panel for $500+. Dont bother with any of the in between category monitors. TV's make terrible computer monitors for gaming use. The only ones that dont would be certain models of Panasonic plasma screens. And how did you even go with an AGP card in 2004? :O Looks like your pickings are slim from that sight and the prices are jacked up high. Might be the exchange rate but I thought Canadian Dollars were right about equal with US Dollars right now. Either way, big price increase. I would choose one of these four monitors: http://canadacomputers.com/product_...item_id=045943&sid=0ip72tspkdf0l23554ujt7e5c0 http://canadacomputers.com/product_...item_id=039119&sid=0ip72tspkdf0l23554ujt7e5c0 or the real monitors that will look amazing, perform amazing, and be the best looking monitor you have used: http://canadacomputers.com/product_...item_id=039748&sid=0ip72tspkdf0l23554ujt7e5c0 http://canadacomputers.com/product_...item_id=043034&sid=0ip72tspkdf0l23554ujt7e5c0 Dont need to use the 3D feature, take advantage of the 2D 120Hz refresh rate. Or try and find a Yamakasi Catleap Q270 (2B model). Production is starting up again in a couple weeks for a short batch: http://www.amazon.com/YAMAKASI-CATLEAP-2560X1440-Computer-Monitor/dp/B007OWDW34
I don't know. I was a dumb kid back then and didn't know a whole lot about it. Some guy was building a computer and it had a mobo with AGP and for some reason I decided that I wanted a 9800xt. The card was hotter than hell the entirety of it's life. Like 98 degrees C some days while gaming. I even added an after market arctic cooling cooler to it. It burned out after a few years and I replaced it with a cheaper but better ati x1600 pro card. One of the last AGP cards ever made I would imagine. Newegg, NCIX and tigerdirect are all options but I just discovered that store is a 15 minute drive from me so it would be handy if they had what I needed. As in the case of the USB3.0 connector. The monitor is probably going to be the toughest decision for this thing :S I think they had that samsung monitor at the local bestbuy. I read that the monitor didn't sit level because of the way the stand is designed. I'll giver it a look when I am by there next. The employees are utterly useless though. They had no idea what I was talking about when I asked about 120hz monitors.
This one is also a very nice monitor. A better looking color and much nicer resolution, but a bit slower response time and no nice and smooth true 120Hz: http://canadacomputers.com/product_...item_id=042094&sid=0ip72tspkdf0l23554ujt7e5c0 So it is more a choice between superior image quality vs superior gaming quality. But both the 120's and this one may be out of your price range anyway so it wouldnt even matter. I am big on getting nice monitors. The monitor is what you actually see the whole life of the computer. The perfect monitor is much better to have then going all out on hardware and then playing on a crappy little monitor. It also is what makes people say "wow" when they look at your computer. If need be you could cut your budget in small bits elsewhere to divert money to a great monitor instead.
I'm not thrilled at the prospect of spending 6-700 on a monitor but if that is what it takes in the end for me to be happy then so be it. I do totally agree with you on the idea behind getting a nice monitor. It would be a shame to build a nice computer such as this and not be able to experience it fully because of a poor quality monitor. Which is consequently my main reservation about getting a lower quality screen. Anything I get will be light years ahead of the monitor that was on the desktop and the screen on the laptop right now. I'm not sure that a PLS monitor is for me. While I do appreciate a good quality picture I do have some qualms about spending 800 for a monitor. Like I said, this will be a bit more of a difficult decision as it is going to be my main method of interaction for a long time. I'm going to start with a list of what I want and go from there and keep your suggestions in mind. Also, I was really annoyed with the 24 pin connector and it clashing extremely badly with the rugged look of the rest of the system. While I was at the canada computer store picking up the USB3.0 adapter I discovered individually sleeved extensions in a pack for all the cables I will need to run to the mobo/gpu. It came with a 24 pin extension, 8 pin extension and 2x6 pin extensions. It also made for an easier time routing the 24 pin as it was just at it's limit being plugged in, It looks a ton better now. EVGA also missed there ship date of the 28th to have the card delivered to NCIX they haven't advised them of another date so hopefully the shipment has just been dleayed somewhere along the line and I will get it before the next GW2 beta. Would be nice to have the build complete in the next week.
You could go with this one: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=71705&vpn=GTX670-DC2-2GD5&manufacture=ASUS Or Newegg Canada has one in stock of what you want: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130785 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121637 The 4GB versions are not very common and may have been only a limited run or very rare card runs, just like the 690 is. And the 590 before that, etc. All the big special cards from Nvidia are special short runs :/ 2GB of vram would still be fine for you. And that ASUS card is really good, it has better voltage regulation and higher maximum power delivery. The custom cooler will also keep the card a a cooler temperature. The DirectCU II series cards are well known for being very good. That Asus uses stock speeds, but is capable of so much more. You can easily overclock it to the same EVGA speeds like it was nothing, or go beyond that an extra 100MHz easily too if you wanted.
That is pretty sexy looking inside. I have always had to run on high end laptops due to my travel needs for real life work, but just seeing the inside of a build like this makes me wanna build a desk top for the hell of it.
It has actually been fun building a PC for the first time and having Enigma around made it a little less stressful when trying to decide on what works. Assembling the hardware has been the easiest part of the build somewhat. I discovered that the hotswap bays in the 800D don't like SSDs at all. Detection of the drives is hit or miss with mostly misses occur. The mechanical drive has no problems with detection though. So now I just have 2 SSDs sitting in the lower hard drive bay on brackets and plugged in. It doesn't make it any less tidy looking since everything is hidden really well but it just adds another cable to deal with. I ended up getting the BenQ XL2420T (the monitor I first posted). 27" I decided was far too large for my liking and I had settled on ~400 for the monitor which is what I ended up getting the 2420t for. I also had a BenQ monitor previously and they were very good to me when it burnt out only a couple weeks to the end of the warranty period. I called and they shipped me a new one straight away. The one that died was ~5 years old. I am quite happy with the monitor after using it for the last day. I also didn't end up getting from the canadacomputer place because the salesman was an idiot. They didn't have any on display for me to see and they wouldn't set up the one they did have for me to see when I asked. They said I could take it home and if I didn't like it could return it and would have to pay a restocking fee. I took my business to bestbuy who doesn't do that and it was free shipping to my house + price matched to a lower price. If I wasn't satisfied I could just return it for a full refund no questions asked. I ordered it Friday and got it yesterday. I felt like an idiot after setting it up though. I plugged in an HDMI cable to the mobo and turned on the monitor and was getting no picture. I tried 2 cables and then tested them with my laptop which also didn't work even though the monitor was detected. I then used VGA from my laptop which worked. So I went out looking for a displayport cable to test that and when I got home I discovered there was an input select button ~.~ and it all worked fine ~.~ Damn new fangled monitors and their multiple inputs. Installing windows was a pain in the ass. I installed it on the hard drive first so I could update the firmware on both SSDs which weren't being detected at the time because of the durn hotswap bay issues. Then I couldn't get the drives to boot properly and the boot order in the bios wasn't working properly. I don't know exactly why I was having such a problem. I eventually just wiped the drives clean and started with the vertex 3 as the OS drive and added the next two drives one at a time from there which worked fine. Transferred my user folder from the vertex 3 to the caviar black without any trouble and now everything seems to be running smooth. I decided to wait on NCIX for the 670 but my patience with them is reaching an end. The card is still in stock at newegg as you(enigma) pointed out so that is becoming more attractive by day. I have my heart set on that card so I'm not keen on getting another. I've got the thing spread out in my dinning room right now with a 20 ft ethernet cable going to my modem which has been relocated so I could hook it up to the net down here. It'll be nice once the card gets here so I can start packing everything away.
And it's all done. Glad I held out for the 4gb edition now that I have it in and skyrim installed and running. There are numerous areas in the game I am using 2400-2500 mb of the memory on the card. The thing runs 18.9% over stock GPU clock speeds in Skyrim without even touching the precision X software to overclock the card, memory runs at 3005 Mhz. This game is beautiful on this card.