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

[Evanos]

It should be noted that generally I am a huge ASUS fanboy (both my and my fiancee's 5970s are ASUS). My only problem with their most recent reference cards (both ATI and Nvidia) is that they haven't been sufficient to get a very good overclock at a good temperature, whereas cards like the Zotac have a very nice non-reference cooler allowing it to go well beyond it's reference potential. You'd be hard pressed to find an aftermarket cooler (that is currently out) other than water blocks that will outperform that Zotac cooler on an overclock.

Here is a video that shows just how much cooler you can get with an AMP! vs stock: http://www.linustechtips.com/ltt-vid...inus-tech-tips

Keep in mind he is testing open case and the Zotac AMP blows into the case, but with your Antec 900 and it's superb ventilation that shouln't pose as big of a problem for you as some.
As far as brands, ASUS is a rock solid brand with a great warranty and a good RMA (I know from experience, RMAing 5970s is pretty much standard issue). One nice thing about the ASUS is that the warranty goes from person to person based on the PIN number on the card (this, however dosen't affect you too much since you plan on keeping the card for a long time, and it would affect the person after you, but expires in 2 years anyway).

Zotac is less of a big name as ASUS but they are known more for taking reference designs and tweaking them for performance (similar to EVGA but less of a big name). The Zotac card does carry a lifetime warranty but to my knowledge only stays with the original owner.

All in all, you should be happy with either card, it is just a matter of which situation you think fits your situation better. If you do decide to go with one card in the long run, the Zotac with it's far superior cooler will ultimately allow you to push a much safer overclock as far as temperatures go.

[Senji]

zotac if they were the same price, but the asus is $80 cheaper.

[Katlan]

Don't get either, get evga. U will not be sorry

[Roranora]

Thanks everyone again so far for your replies. Now that I've got all the PC parts, I'm in search of a clean, sharp monitor.

[altwight]

not a tech guy but im almost certain ff14 doesn't(and will not) support SLI?

[Katlan]

not a tech guy but im almost certain ff14 doesn't(and will not) support SLI?

It doesn't yet but that's oat likely due to the fact the engine isn't full optimized... Makes more sense to add SLI when it's fully optimized vs letting a game that doesn't run well run on two cards. Game has to support SLI to allow the 120fps anyways... Nobody will get close to that if they can only use one card.. Ppl won't hit 60 fps w/max settings (regularly) on one card either

[Senji]

I would imagine that 14 will end being able to suppose SLI, but yeah the is not optimized atm at all. People forget that its beta not a demo. Though I am a fan of game being designed to be open ended graphics wise and not be limited by PC power at launch. Just in case though, if someone would only be using SLI for 14, Id recommend holding off on the purchase of the 2nd card.

[Roranora]

I'm leaning toward the HP zr24w for my monitor. Does anyone have any recommended sites for buying monitors? I would like to have some sort of zero dead pixel policy to ensure I don't hate my monitor right out of the box. Or should I just go to some retailer for the monitor? If anyone has any experience successfully replacing a monitor with a dead/hot pixel, feel free to share.

Also, if you think some other monitor would be better for my preferences (24" to 27" ish, 16:10, and IPS panel) please don't hesitate to share. I'd probably be willing to spend another couple hundred if needed (up to $700-$800), but I think $1k-ish or higher is more than I want to spend on a monitor. Plus, most of those monitors are like 30" and I think that's too much screen for my viewing distance.

[Roranora]

Hmm.. =/ The build went okay for the most part, but uh.. the side panel fan clip hits my cooler. -_-; See pics; should I just saw the clips off? I'll probably never use a side fan there anyway, but I'm not real excited about chopping up my brand new case. If anyone has any experience with the NH-D14 and the Antec 1200, that'd be great.

It may have fit if I mounted the cooler horizontally, but who knows. I don't really want to remount it; plus I like it better vertically. If I move that 120mm fan on the bottom of the cooler all the way toward the mobo, the side panel shuts, but I don't know how detrimental that may be to my CPU cooling or if it's an issue having the clip snug up against the fan and the fan snug up against the board and base of the cooler.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...a/IMG_0298.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...a/IMG_0299.jpg

[Darwinion]

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 this is the tech section of a forum primarily dedicated to Final Fantasy. I find all these threads interesting because I plan to upgrade my own rig so I'm looking for info etc.

[FireCrystal]

Regarding your PSU concerns, check this thread out: https://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=478611