PC Build Advice/Review Thread

[zeal5050]

Okay, Build v3.

Spoiler: show

I'm not sure if the CPU heat-sink I chose will fit with the Rampage IV & the Corsair Dominator memory. These are my choices. Also, should I go with a 1200watt PSU or stick with the 850?

[Fairy-Killer]

That heatsink is gigantic. I would worry about it clearing the side of the case, also. As for clearing the memory, you can move the fans up and down. I had to move mine up to clear my Ripjaw X RAM. I'll post some pics of how gigantic it really is inside my case.

Also, 850 is plenty even if you SLI another 670. Hell, you could maybe even tri with an 850 lol.

[Fairy-Killer]

Heatsink

Ignore how blurry they are... If you can't see, the fan right above the RAM is higher than the fan in the middle. This actually helps clear the air over the top of the heatsink while the other is lower and pulls air from the RAM underneath the heatsink.

Added some temps for my CPU. I'm not quite sure why the 4th core is so much cooler than the rest, but that's the temperatures with a 4.4 GHz OC and +.005 V offset on my 3570k.

[zeal5050]

Heatsink

Holy Crap. I figured it was big, but that thing is like XBOX huge. Going to have to re-measure the case. Might have to look at a different option. Thanks for the pics.

[oblit]

@Fairy-Killer, is your EIST disabled? The idle temps are a lot closer to my 3930K @4.6Ghz -0.005 offset voltage. My 2700K @4.8Ghz was idling 17-19c on all cores and my son's 2500K @4.8ghz was idling lower than the 2700K because no Hyper Threading. I don't believe people should turn EIST off unless they are benchmarking or doing extreme OC.

@zeal5050 did you consider close loop watercooling? As much as I hate fake watercooling I had no choice but to use them on SB/Ivy/SB-E because of tall DIMMs and I switch hardware a lot.

[zeal5050]

@zeal5050 did you consider close loop watercooling? As much as I hate fake watercooling I had no choice but to use them on SB/Ivy/SB-E because of tall DIMMs and I switch hardware a lot.

I'd like to avoid water cooling if possible. Is the standard Intel heat sink a bad option? I'm not interested in over clocking (for a long while anyway.) Only other choice is the Thermaltake Frio which is a bit louder than the Phanteks.

[oblit]

I'd like to avoid water cooling if possible. Is the standard Intel heat sink a bad option? I'm not interested in over clocking (for a long while anyway.) Only other choice is the Thermaltake Frio which is a bit louder than the Phanteks.

Thermaltake Frio is huge. I was using it on my old X58 before switching to Sandy Bridge. Mine was silent because I switched out the stock fans with the AP-15s
http://tryimg.com/1/2kck.png

I was really excited on putting it on my SB because those red bars are easily customizable, just paint them to what color you would like to match your system. I wasn't able to do it because the G. Skill Snipers I was using at a time were too tall. I had low profile RAMs that I was selling and close loop watercooling units that I was also selling. I had to think about it for a while but as much as I hate those fake watercooling I had to use one. Oh and I don't consider these watercooling, I have to call them that so you would know what I was talking about lol. Only real watercooling is custom watercooling as far as I'm concern.

Edit: Stock cooler would be bad. You may have to underclock your CPU just so it wouldn't overheat lol.

[zeal5050]

Alrighty, I talked to the rep at Tigerdirect. He told me that they have a large selection of heatsinks for the 3930k that are not online yet. Going to check them out in-store and I'll update the list as soon as I get back.

@oblit: Thanks for the pic/info. Your setup looks/looked amazing.

[oblit]

@zeal5050 Thanks, that was my first build back in May of 2011. I quickly found out that I made a bad choice(hardware/platform). 2 months later I switched to Sandy Bridge.

[Draygon]

It's amazing to me how clean all your shit looks, especially for a first build.

[Boyiee]

holy shit what are you going to do with a $450 motherboard, quad sli?

The 680 isn't really any better than a 670 if you want to save a hundred dollars. The 670 FTW is an amazing card. That sure is a lot of ram. Also check out the noctua NH-D14 or whatever model they have now for a cooler. HardOCP did a review on several big air coolers, you should look into that.

[oblit]

@Draygon Thanks!

Quad SLI is just icing on the cake, The board has a lot of great features, dual bios, more power phases. Extra 4 pin power socket for cpu, 4 pin power for RAM, 6 pin power for PCIE slots. The OC key is really handy and a lot more. With the help of the extra power on RAM I was able to populate all 8 DIMM slots without increasing any voltages. Not sure if the 6pin pcie power is helping my video card OC though but it is more stable than before.

The benefit of buying premium parts is that they are easy to sell and 95% of 3930K owners own Asus RIVE so if you have any questions it would be easy to find answers.

[zeal5050]

Also check out the noctua NH-D14 or whatever model they have now for a cooler.

I saw this in store, and was blown away(pun intended) by the build quality. Those Germans. Do you think it would fit my build if I went with the Corsair Vengence Blacks 32gb? They have a smaller profile then the Dominators. I'm finding it difficult to find sizes online.

[oblit]

If you can get the Corsair Vengeance LP then you should be fine.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-pla-_-NA-_-NA

[zeal5050]

Yup, they only come in the 16GB kit, so I'll have to buy 2. Cost is about the same. Seriously getting excited, cant wait to put this together and post some pics. :D

[zeal5050]

Also picked up the Filco Majestouch 2 w/ Browns. On sale +$10 off coupon. This thing makes me feel stupid for not buying it sooner. First real mechanical keyboard. Glorious.

Spoiler: show

[Boyiee]

Google specs/site for the noctua. Their site tells you what cases and ram it wont work with if any. I had corsair dominator ram and it said "remove the fins on the ram and it will fit". I did this and it worked out great.

Nice filco, here's one of mine:

Spoiler: show

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...e/a9c88c6b.jpg

And here is my riddler ? key. I have it in reverse color too, bright green key black ?.

Spoiler: show

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...e/47dd8bfc.jpg

[zeal5050]

Found it, thanks. If anyone else is interested the Noctua Spec sheet can be found here.

@Boyiee: Wow, looks great with white keycaps. Very nice.

[Fairy-Killer]

To give you an idea on the Noctua, I think the Phanteks is slightly taller but almost the same size otherwise. The Phanteks was also shown in a few reviews I found to be 1-2C cooler. It's really which ever one you can find cheaper because they are both amazing. Another word of advice, both the Noctua and Phanteks are around 3 lbs and will bend your motherboard if not handled carefully. I'd suggest mounting the board inside the case first.

As for EIST, no, I didn't mess with any other options besides multiplier and the offset.

Edit: Take that back, all power saving is disabled.

[jinkazama]

was looking at a 2700K and saw something ive never seen before, im sure its a new feature, but does "Integrated Memory Controller Speed
Dual Channel DDR3-1066/1333" mean I can only use 1066 or 1333 and not 1866