PC Build Advice/Review Thread

[oblit]

GTX 480s are loud because of the heat and high power consumption. Owned two of these but I had to water-cool them right away. They were running so hot that lava was oozing out of them... The 600 series are really power efficient and they run super cool and quiet. My 2x GTX 680 in SLI is a lot quieter than a single GTX 580 Matrix I used to own.

My computer runs dead quiet when gaming and its about a foot away from me. I could even hear my wrist watch ticking from 10 feet away lol.

Edit: my case's 90 degree orientation design helps cool reference design cards more efficiently. That could be one reasons why my GPUs are running cooler than normal.

[Boyiee]

The 600 series blows away the 500 series in every category, including noise.

If you're looking to buy, get yourself a 670. Don't waste your money on 680's, they aren't totally worth it. 670 2gb FTW is an incredible card. Will save you a hundred dollars and get you about 97% of the performance of a 680. No voltage unlock makes the 670 a lot more worth it.

[Draygon]

Have a few weeks left on my step-up (EVGA), should I go with a 670 or 680? You can only step-up to the base model, and I bought the 570 for $300. So $100 for a 670, or $200 for a 680.

[oblit]

The 600 series blows away the 500 series in every category, including noise.

If you're looking to buy, get yourself a 670. Don't waste your money on 680's, they aren't totally worth it. 670 2gb FTW is an incredible card. Will save you a hundred dollars and get you about 97% of the performance of a 680. No voltage unlock makes the 670 a lot more worth it.

^This, I paid $330 for a brand new EVGA GTX 670 FTW and it was money well spent. My 680s are technically free and I got them before the 670 was released. Get the 670 if you can!

[Boyiee]

Have a few weeks left on my step-up (EVGA), should I go with a 670 or 680? You can only step-up to the base model, and I bought the 570 for $300. So $100 for a 670, or $200 for a 680.

absolutely absolutely the 670.

[Boyiee]

^This, I paid $330 for a brand new EVGA GTX 670 FTW and it was money well spent. My 680s are technically free and I got them before the 670 was released. Get the 670 if you can!

That price on a 670 is murder!

I must tell you though, the new 680 msi lightnings look cool. I really am disappointed with the voltage locks on this series, some of them seem like they'd be able to push insane numbers. And there is pretty much no reason to put them under water except to lessen the noise, really disappointing!

[shaddix]

putting together a mid-high end system
parts:
case: corsair carbide 500r
cpu: i5 2500k
mobo: evga z68 sli (the cheap one)
ram: 8gb vengeance CML8GX3M2A1600C9
psu: corsair hx850
gpu: evga gtx 670 ftw
sdd: vertex 3 128gb

looks good?

[Arkanna]

You could get away with a lesser PSU if you wanted. A decent 600w would drive that easy.

[shaddix]

I may add another 670 down the line. Would a 750w work for two?

[Arkanna]

Yeah. That's probably as low as you'd want to go though, imo.

[Adajer]

Why do so many people recommend the evga ftw 670? The gigabyte windforce 670 is cheaper and has a better cooler. Though getting one for $330 is a steal.

[shaddix]

Customer service is why I buy evga stuff. They seem to be a little better than Asus/gigabyte etc

[oblit]

^This, you can call EVGA 2am in the morning and talk to a rep that lives and work in California.

And I only like dealing with EVGA, Asus and MSI video cards.

[Adajer]

I see. I just remembered that some people prefer the heat to be expelled outside of the case instead of dumped into the case.

[oblit]

I prefer the blower type fan for the case I'm using. I still prefer the dual fans for regular build but for 600 series it doesn't matter that much because they run very cool.

http://tryimg.com/1/2ljl.png
http://tryimg.com/1/2fhf.png

Heat rises so the orientation really helps out with these type of coolers.

[Adajer]

You just wanted a reason to show off >.>

nice rig tho.

[oblit]

Man I wish I could show off what it looks right now! I made so many changes since then lol. And thanks!

[Mathayus]

So I got this Kuhler 920 and I don't know if i need to install it so the tubes come up to it on the bottom or if it really matters. My BIOS is also saying the CPU fan speed is 570ish rpm and it's giving me a CPU fan error on boot. Is this normal for a first time boot or did I get one with a bad pump or something?

[oblit]

I don't think the orientation matters on the Kuhler 920. My radiator fans are hooked up directly to the fan controller so the CPU fan error message was expected. That message shouldn't show up if you hook it up directly though but i'm not sure. You can go to BIOS and turn of CPU fan monitoring so you wouldn't get the message.

[Treble]

I was doing more research on what I would need for my build, when I ran across a discussion about the gtx 680 being neutered when it came to professional programs like Maya (or at least the viewport renderer). Something about the CUDA cores not being optimized for 3D work? Just for reference:
"Gtx cards are deliberated handicapped in opengl, the default maya viewport. The other link you showed used viewport 2.0 which is directx, which as you should know is also used by games, so any consumer card handles them pretty well. (It is literally 2 clicks to change the viewport renderer.)...
Both the 7970 and 680 will handle maya over 100 fps in the viewport for even moderately sized projects but for gaming the 680 has an edge and would be my suggestion."

Does this mean I shouldn't need to get a refund? I panicked a little when I thought I might have sunk so much money into a 680 only for it not to do what I need it to do for work. What would you guys recommend?