FFXIV+D3 Gaming Rig - Parts Questions First, Assembly Questions Soon

[Roranora]

Hi tech peoples. I too am building a computer for FFXIV; I too have never done this. I have tried to lurk this section, the benchmark thread, and a couple computer hardware websites to get an idea of what I should get. However, I'd like to see what others have to say about this list of parts. I still have a day or so to figure out any small changes before I make the order, but hopefully I don't have to change much.

Before I get started, I want to thank in advance those people with any feedback, input, advice, and/or tips. I plan on bumping this thread again when I start putting this together later this month, because I know I will encounter some situations in which I won't feel very comfortable about what to do next.

My budget is above the optimal bang-for-your-buck PC, I realize that. My budget isn't unlimited, but I would potentially be willing to drop a little more in some areas if I'm not getting a good 'balance' in my build. I certainly don't claim to know this stuff well. -.-;

Now, expectations for this computer: I want this computer to run FFXIV extremely well, as well as D3 when it comes out. I'll probably put 5+ years of gaming on this rig, and I would like to not have to worry about very many upgrades to run those 2 games well. I understand you can't future-proof any build, but I'm not really confident in myself to be savvy enough to know when and what to upgrade individually as time passes.

Shit, I'll be doing good to get this built, figure out how to OC the processor a little, get Win7+games on the SSD, everything else on the HDD, and mount the heatsink successfully. I am excited to learn by doing though. And after seeing people say countless times 'BUILD UR OWN IT'S LIKE LEGOS N EASY,' I'm going to stick with it and figure it out. Last week, I just watched someone at work drop $2200 on an Alienware PC with barely half of these specifications below >.>; ..as if I needed further motivation to see my own build all the way through.



Edit: All the parts below are what I ordered, my PC build is now final. I still have a monitor to pick out, but yeah.. I'm reading to build the rig at least; we'll see how it goes together in a couple weeks.

Case: Antec 1200
Power Supply: Antec CP-1000
Motherboard: ASUS P6X58D (combo'd with i7-930)
Processor: Intel Core i7-930 2.8GHz (combo'd with X58, no Microcenter near)
CPU Fan/Heatsink: Noctua NH-D14
GPU: ZOTAC AMP! GTX480 1536MB (Fermi)
Memory: Muskin Enhanced Redline 6GB DDR3 1600
Storage: Intel X25-M 160GB SSD + Western Digital 1TB 7200RPM HDD
Thermal Paste: MASSCOOL G751

Other stuffs
CD/DVD Burner: PLEXTOR CD/DVD Writer
Mouse: Logitech G500
Keyboard: dunno just yet.. simple decision; will prob just buy local (not yet ordered)
Monitor: also don't know yet.. tougher decision here; input appreciated (not yet ordered)



Some questions to start..
I know the CPUs above the 930 are way more expensive; are any of them justified? I remember reading somewhere in a hardware thread here how much more helpful a 12MB L3 cache is? I don't know what's best for sure, but my guess those other processors would only marginally outperform this 930. I do plan to OC the 930; it seems unanimous that it OCs beautifully, and I hope my aftermarket cooler is sufficient.

Also, I've read that this Noctua NH-D14 is super huge.. but so is my case, right? Does this look like a problem to anyone? At worst, I may have to put the RAM in first and hope I never need to change it out? >.>; Also, what about the 2 fans, the 120mm and 140mm? Will I use both? Just one? Which? And is that paste good for this HSF? Does it matter, or are they all pretty much the same?

As for the graphics cards, I'm thinking about getting just 1 and seeing if I want a 2nd based on how that does. I do want to run FFXIV at superhigh pretty settings (it's going to be gorgeous and I want to enjoy it in all its glory!) If I just get one though, it feels like I'm wasting that huge PSU. Of course, if I get 2, I may not need all that performance and it's another ~$450. I haven't got a new PC in nearly 8 years though, so I'm willing to splurge a little..

And finally, any and all monitor suggestions are appreciated. I'm pretty sure I want a 16x10 ratio though, not 16x9.. and support a resolution high enough to justify potentially 2 480s.

[Balthasar]

If you're getting this anytime soon, stick with 1 GPU. Nvidia has all sorts of issues with SLI on the 400 series cards with the current drivers. I'd wait until a month or two after FFXIV's release to try any kind of SLI setup, assuming XIV is your primary purpose.

[Evanos]

Edited in to the top for importance:
Just looked at your PSU, if you honestly plan on running 2 GTX 480s you'll probably need a bigger power supply. A typical load draw on one of those cards is 465 at stock for one (see link here: http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/...0_sli_review/7). Draw for 2 cards isn't equal to one times two, but you will still see a significant jump in power needed, up to occasional spikes near 700 I would guess. And generally these spikes would occur in high graphical areas when the CPU is also working hard and also needs more juice. On top of the GPU requirements you'll want a good 250-300 for everything else. So, personally, I would get a minimum of 1200 if you are planning on 2 480s. Also, watch the GTX 480 noise/temp test on that site I just linked for an idea of the temp/noise factor that you'll get with a stock GTX 480 (not nearly as bad with the Zotac one I link below):
You may be able to sqeak buy with a 1000 watt PSU, but don't expect to overclock them very much and expect potential crashes in very demanding graphical areas of games.



Your system is very similar to my system so I'll give my best input on what I enjoy/would change about mine and answer some of your relevant questions.

As far as i7 930, it is a very powerful processor and going up to the next step will cost you a decent amount more money especially compared to the performance it will get you. Your 930 shouldn't bottleneck the 2 GTX 480s if you do a decent overclock on your CPU.
i7 930s are also one of the easiest CPUs to overclock that I have ever owned. I have mine and my fiancee's at a easy 4.0 sitting at about 72c after hours of prime95 stress testing (this was on a summers day on the 3rd floor of a California house with no air conditioning, so pretty high ambient, I haven't bothered to do that long of a stress test since then). You can generally get these processors way up without having to push the voltages too high and if you have the right cooling (which you are planning on getting) you shouldn't have any problems.

The Antec1200 will fit that cooler. If you aren't planning on getting some fans I would do that. Get a good push/pull going through your case. Depending on how loud/quiet you want your PC (and if you are planning on staying on stock fans for your GPU I would say loud). As for fans for maximum performance/noise Scythe Kaze 3000 do the best cooling, but I personally prefer Coolermaster R4s for a decent price, whisper quiet and decent CFM (wouldn't recommend putting them on a radiator or anything though due to low static pressure).

For thermal paste I generally prefer Arctic Silver because it is high performance/low cost. But many companies have done huge comparisons. Here is a good example of that (from benchmark reviews): http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.ph...1&limitstart=6

As for graphics cards. I personally would start with 1 card and move on to 2. Currently the beta is having some issues with Nvidia cards and temps, but that will hopefully be solved by the time of release. The card you have is a nice card, but it is a reference card and they are notoriously hot/loud (some may dispute that here, but compared to other cards on the market they are very much so). It is the reference model, most models like that will largely perform the same. I have read many reviews of people who have used GTX 480s and the Zotac AMP with custom cooler has seemed to be a favorite of many people with 480s. The cooling is far superior to the reference cooler in terms of temperatures and volume, and because the temps are generally lower it is easier to overclock. Only draw is that it is a little bit bigger so fitting it in for SLI will be more challenging depending on the room at the bottom of your PC. Here is a link to that card if you are interested: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-166-_-Product

As to your RAM, that was the RAM that I chose to go with for my set and I couldn't be happier. I was actually able to tighten the timings fairly easily for my overclock and not seeing any issues.

As for monitors, 16:10 is the way to go. If you want huge at a low price this is a good monitor: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...558&CatId=3774
The outside looks a little unpolished but all in all it is a sweet monitor for the price. Hard to beat 16:10, 28" and $250, the only draws would be that it is a less reputable company (though they do fill contracts for the much larger HannsG), looks a little like an office monitor and not the pretty smoothed off finish of a monitor such as a Samsung RoseBlack, and has a 3ms refresh rate (which is still good, but some have 2ms).

Hopefully that helps with some of your questions. Good luck with the build!

[xopher]

How many "Hey guys help me build my FFXIV rig" threads are there going to be? Why aren't they a part of the random questions about FFXIV thread?

[Jak]

Because sometimes it is easier to get peoples attention, and thus answers, than to post in a random thread where it may or may not be skipped over. I had several questions skipped over until I made my own threads in recent months.

[Furtwangler]

How many "Hey guys help me build my FFXIV rig" threads are there going to be? Why aren't they a part of the random questions about FFXIV thread?

Because then people complain about computer questions all over a FFXIV thread, and because most of these are meant for a lot of answers/varying opinions; shoving them all in one thread is going to get pretty clustered, sides thats what tech is for haha

anyways, I wish I had the dough to have a similar build. I skimped a bit when I made mine, and went with a radeon card. Good hardware choices if you can afford them though

[Adajer]

Make sure you get the right cabling to run that monitor at native on an hdmi.

[Roranora]

Edited in to the top for importance:
Just looked at your PSU, if you honestly plan on running 2 GTX 480s you'll probably need a bigger power supply. A typical load draw on one of those cards is 465 at stock for one (see link here: http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/...0_sli_review/7). Draw for 2 cards isn't equal to one times two, but you will still see a significant jump in power needed, up to occasional spikes near 700 I would guess. And generally these spikes would occur in high graphical areas when the CPU is also working hard and also needs more juice. On top of the GPU requirements you'll want a good 250-300 for everything else. So, personally, I would get a minimum of 1200 if you are planning on 2 480s. Also, watch the GTX 480 noise/temp test on that site I just linked for an idea of the temp/noise factor that you'll get with a stock GTX 480 (not nearly as bad with the Zotac one I link below):
You may be able to sqeak buy with a 1000 watt PSU, but don't expect to overclock them very much and expect potential crashes in very demanding graphical areas of games.



Your system is very similar to my system so I'll give my best input on what I enjoy/would change about mine and answer some of your relevant questions.

As far as i7 930, it is a very powerful processor and going up to the next step will cost you a decent amount more money especially compared to the performance it will get you. Your 930 shouldn't bottleneck the 2 GTX 480s if you do a decent overclock on your CPU.
i7 930s are also one of the easiest CPUs to overclock that I have ever owned. I have mine and my fiancee's at a easy 4.0 sitting at about 72c after hours of prime95 stress testing (this was on a summers day on the 3rd floor of a California house with no air conditioning, so pretty high ambient, I haven't bothered to do that long of a stress test since then). You can generally get these processors way up without having to push the voltages too high and if you have the right cooling (which you are planning on getting) you shouldn't have any problems.

The Antec1200 will fit that cooler. If you aren't planning on getting some fans I would do that. Get a good push/pull going through your case. Depending on how loud/quiet you want your PC (and if you are planning on staying on stock fans for your GPU I would say loud). As for fans for maximum performance/noise Scythe Kaze 3000 do the best cooling, but I personally prefer Coolermaster R4s for a decent price, whisper quiet and decent CFM (wouldn't recommend putting them on a radiator or anything though due to low static pressure).

For thermal paste I generally prefer Arctic Silver because it is high performance/low cost. But many companies have done huge comparisons. Here is a good example of that (from benchmark reviews): http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.ph...1&limitstart=6

As for graphics cards. I personally would start with 1 card and move on to 2. Currently the beta is having some issues with Nvidia cards and temps, but that will hopefully be solved by the time of release. The card you have is a nice card, but it is a reference card and they are notoriously hot/loud (some may dispute that here, but compared to other cards on the market they are very much so). It is the reference model, most models like that will largely perform the same. I have read many reviews of people who have used GTX 480s and the Zotac AMP with custom cooler has seemed to be a favorite of many people with 480s. The cooling is far superior to the reference cooler in terms of temperatures and volume, and because the temps are generally lower it is easier to overclock. Only draw is that it is a little bit bigger so fitting it in for SLI will be more challenging depending on the room at the bottom of your PC. Here is a link to that card if you are interested: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-166-_-Product

As to your RAM, that was the RAM that I chose to go with for my set and I couldn't be happier. I was actually able to tighten the timings fairly easily for my overclock and not seeing any issues.

As for monitors, 16:10 is the way to go. If you want huge at a low price this is a good monitor: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...558&CatId=3774
The outside looks a little unpolished but all in all it is a sweet monitor for the price. Hard to beat 16:10, 28" and $250, the only draws would be that it is a less reputable company (though they do fill contracts for the much larger HannsG), looks a little like an office monitor and not the pretty smoothed off finish of a monitor such as a Samsung RoseBlack, and has a 3ms refresh rate (which is still good, but some have 2ms).

Hopefully that helps with some of your questions. Good luck with the build!

Good info all around; thanks a lot. So the CP-1000 is potentially inadequate for 2 480s... If I just go with 1 480 (that Zotac you linked), should I step down to the Antec CP-850 and save a little money? I suppose I sorta feel obligated to one of the Antec PSUs designed for their cases since I'm getting the 1200, thus the CP-850 or CP-1000. (maybe this is unnecessary?) If I do get the smaller one, I'll just have to know that if I ever want a second card, I'll also need an entirely new power supply as well.

Also, noise level and heat aren't really a concern to me, as long as the heat is acceptably high for the hardware. I just want everything to fit and work well together. What does a good push/pull through the case mean exactly? And will the 2 fans with that Noctua HSF be sufficient?

[Evanos]

Good info all around; thanks a lot. So the CP-1000 is potentially inadequate for 2 480s... If I just go with 1 480 (that Zotac you linked), should I step down to the Antec CP-850 and save a little money? I suppose I sorta feel obligated to one of the Antec PSUs designed for their cases since I'm getting the 1200, thus the CP-850 or CP-1000. (maybe this is unnecessary?) If I do get the smaller one, I'll just have to know that if I ever want a second card, I'll also need an entirely new power supply as well.

Also, noise level and heat aren't really a concern to me, as long as the heat is acceptably high for the hardware. I just want everything to fit and work well together. What does a good push/pull through the case mean exactly? And will the 2 fans with that Noctua HSF be sufficient?

The 1000 may be inadequate in some cases, but it may also squeak by. It is difficult to say as there can be a considerably variance from card to card on wattage draw. Just something you should be aware of. Even if you do decide to go with one card I would personally go with the 1000W so I would have an option later on (I'm not usually a gambler though and would just jump up to the next level). The one nice thing about the Antec PSUs that would make more likely to withstand 2 GTX 480s is that it is a constant output and not a maximum (most PSUs simply list their output max, not their constant).

2 fans with the Noctua will be sufficient. You'll want to make sure that they (like the case) are set up on a push/pull and if you have them blowing sideways in the case have them blowing with the push/pull, and if you have them blowing up make them go out the top vent in your case.
A push/pull is a setup where you have fans in the front of the case facing into the case pushing air in, and fans in the back pulling air out, this gives you a very good flow through the case and can generally lower temps considerably. Your case has the perfect setup for a good push/pull with easy mounts for fans in the front and the rear.

[Knyghtmayre]

If you plan on OCing the i7-930 a bit, then you may want an H50/70 instead of an air cooler. 850w for 1 480 should be sufficient, as well as 1 480 being sufficient for your needs overall. 2 480s would produce some massive heat, but an Antec 1200 is just about the best bet for an aircooled case. Throw an intake fan on the door and in the included HDD-cage fan mount and you'll be doing quite well though. At current prices, you could SLI 2 470s for not much more than a 480 and get a bit more performance. Plus there's the Twin Frozr II model for 470s which run much cooler than reference coolers. Just a thought though.

[Katlan]

If u want to SLI the cards I'd get a 1200 PSU. A 1200 PSU is a good idea anyways since it will allow more flexibility over starting lower and then needing more later
I believe 480 SLIx2 needs 1k minimum (just for the gpu's)

[Evanos]

If you plan on OCing the i7-930 a bit, then you may want an H50/70 instead of an air cooler. 850w for 1 480 should be sufficient, as well as 1 480 being sufficient for your needs overall. 2 480s would produce some massive heat, but an Antec 1200 is just about the best bet for an aircooled case. Throw an intake fan on the door and in the included HDD-cage fan mount and you'll be doing quite well though. At current prices, you could SLI 2 470s for not much more than a 480 and get a bit more performance. Plus there's the Twin Frozr II model for 470s which run much cooler than reference coolers. Just a thought though.

Well, that cooler is a very good one, and I have seen plenty of results where in a good airflow environment that beats the H50 (not necessarily the H70). One of the advantages of big air vs. little water is that it tends to keep the other vital components nearby such as northbridge much cooler. There are tons of comparisons of big air vs. little water, but you can't really go too wrong with either. This model of CPU is very easy to get up into 4.0 GHZ range on either big air or little water.

[Zeille]

I just built a similar system to yours, but used a few different parts. I'd probably only go with one video card for now and wait to pick up a second after prices drop a bit. One 480 will handle FFXIV no problem for the time being.

I went with an H50 instead of the Noctua. If you do end up getting an H50 you don't need to replace the TIM. The H50 comes with Shin Etsu paste, which is really good quality stuff.

[Katlan]

Noctua is good, but its BIG. Here is a pic of it on my system

My only issue is the fan speed only goes to 1200rpm.

hiding pic because its huge

Spoiler: show

http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/1897/photohg.jpg

[Roranora]

All good stuff, thanks again everyone. I'll stick with the CP-1000 and just go with 1 GTX480 for now. I think I'll also stick with the D14 as I'm pretty intimidated by liquid cooling as this is my first attempt at even building a computer (even if the H50/H70 are both supposedly easy installs)

And wow@Katlan; I can't wait to try to get that beast mounted. >.>;

Anyone else have monitor suggestions/recommendations? I'd like 24"+ and 16:10; I looked at that 28" I-Inc, but I wonder if I could get one comparable to that but would support a resolution higher than 1900x1200. I can probably spend up to $500-$700 on a monitor if it's sexy enough.

[Katlan]

1000 watt is "too much" for 1 480 and "too little" for 2 480's. If either get a 850 or 1200 watt

[Wulfgang]

If you plan on OCing the i7-930 a bit, then you may want an H50/70 instead of an air cooler. 850w for 1 480 should be sufficient, as well as 1 480 being sufficient for your needs overall. 2 480s would produce some massive heat, but an Antec 1200 is just about the best bet for an aircooled case. Throw an intake fan on the door and in the included HDD-cage fan mount and you'll be doing quite well though. At current prices, you could SLI 2 470s for not much more than a 480 and get a bit more performance. Plus there's the Twin Frozr II model for 470s which run much cooler than reference coolers. Just a thought though.

I have my 930 at high 60's under Prime with HT on at 4.0 ghz with Noctua NH-D14. It's expensive but an amazing cooler.

[alecrast]

The Antec CP-1000 is more than adequate for dual-GTX480 SLI and is one of the power supplies recommended by NVIDIA itself on their slizone website ( http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_psu.html ).

Anandtech has demonstrated that, under Furmark, the entire system (I'll let you google the benchmark system specs but they're not too far off from the OP's), not just the GPUs, is drawing 851W peak. ATI doesn't consider Furmark a real benchmark as it generates load that is not typical of real world usage and, in fact, you can see that to be the case with the Crysis benchmark where the peak was 668. Not that that's an excuse, of course. I hold the opinion that if you can draw 300W, you better be able to dissipate 300W, not just hope that nobody ever does it.

Anyway, just tossing it out there that NVIDIA makes a website specifically for SLI, filled with their QVL.

[Roranora]

So, say I get the CP-1000 and just 1 GTX480 for now; is there anything bad about having this big of a PSU without all the hardware to draw nearly its max power?

[Roranora]

I hope to finish ordering everything tonight, but got a last-minute decision remaining.


ZOTAC AMP! GTX 480 vs ASUS GTX 480

Which and why? :l I have one friend who swears by ASUS, afraid a less 'proven' manufacturer's cards may crash or fail in some way. ..But Evanos' suggestion of this Zotac card sure looks pretty >.>; And even though there aren't many reviews, all 19 people seem to view it quite favorably.


Edit: I'm probably making it a needlessly difficult decision when the two cards will be largely the same. -_-; Going to complete the order..