Could you guys review and check this proposed build I’m planning? Can't believe the time has come to ask for advice for my new build. i remember asking four years ago for advice when i knew nothing about building pc's. Since I’m older and hopefully much the wiser this build shouldn't have so many faults. It was a fantastic experience. It was the friendly and helpful advice of this forum that got me into building Pc’s in the first place. Researching the components is almost as much fun as building it right? The reasons for the build are slightly different that when i build my first pc back in 2008. The main priority will be for gaming but my GF is looking to use it for Photoshop as she is a keen photographer. I am looking to build this pc into a much smaller form factor as i did with my last one which was held in an Antec 1200 (see sig). I still managed to carry it frequently up and down from halls whilst i was at university. Those days are long over but i want this one to spend some time under a big TV in a living room aswell as at a desk. The power sipping characteristics of the new Ivy Bridge processors should help. I do have a couple of 1tb HDD's from my previous build which i may carry over. I know space is limited in the FT-03S and ideally (if i'm felling brave enough) put those into a NAS box and only use the SSD. As a keen guitarist i wouldn't mind using this new build as a bit of an audio workstation in which to record guitar and potentially other instruments. In this case perhaps the extra HDD space would be valuable? Making sure it is reasonably quiet for these tasks is paramount. My 7 case fans and noisy GPU fan in the Antec 1200 didn't make it ideal for that purpose. Intel Core i7 3770K Silverstone Fortress FT03S Corsair H80 8GB (2x4GB) Corsair DDR3 1600MHz Asus MAXIMUS V GENE 256GB Crucial RealSSD M4 550W PSU, Corsair Enthusiast Series ASUS GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU II Blu-ray slot loading drive (the problem with this Silverstone case is you can only use a slim slot loading drive) The total build comes to a smidge under £1400 GBP. A couple of concerns I have with the build are: Will the graphics card fit into the case? I know the 670 has a short stock PCB. For such a small case is a graphics card with an exhaust directly out of the case more suitable as opposed to the one which i have listed? Am i wasting my money opting for the corsair cpu cooler? Is this wattage of PSU okay ? Any suggestions how trivial or important are most welcome.
Yes, it should fit in fine In some ways, though the 670 is a fairly cool running card so I wouldn't worry about it No, its a great cooler. In all honesty you could go for an H60 and save some money, performance would be about the same and its a smaller size. Yes, PSU should be fine.
The case supports up a graphics card up to 13.7 inches, so you're fine in that respect. If you want to do audio work a soundcard might be a good idea. This or this should work well (depending on how much you can spend). The PSU wattage will be fine, just make sure its modular as air flow needs to be good in a case like that.
With regards the quietness - the H80 is not supposed to be the quietest out there and control of the fans is only by physically pressing the button on the pump top isn't it? I've looked into similar and am tempted by the antec 920 as you can control fan profiles from the desktop as it plugs into a USB header on the motherboard itself. The other thing you could try (or I will try if I get a 920) is changing the fans for quieter ones - the akasa apaches seem to be quite good and PWM too.
I do have an Xonar DX from my previous build that i may carry over. I probably would get an M-Audio external soundcard that has all relevant inputs to carry out the job.
Whatever you do, don't buy the FT03S, get the FT03B. Basically, buy it in black not silver, the silver looks terrible. You will also need a SATA to Slimline SATA adapter for the BD drive. Note this is NOT micro-SATA, despite appearing almost identical. Scan sell them for a few quid. A rear exhaust GPU is preferred for the FT03 to be honest. I have a reference 580 in mine. As for noise levels, I'm using the previous board revision to you, and have all the fans on PWM management with the Asus software. At the desktop/browsing internet etc everything is down at 20% speed, running near silent. Only goes up to around 60% under gaming load, and I'm happy with that.
Would you be able to fit a Corsair H100 in that case rather than the H80 as it will offer better performance and be allot quiter. Other than that it looks ok.
http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/chassis/31483-silverstone-fortress-ft03/?page=2 A H100 in that? You're having a laugh...
I had an FT03. It's a great case, well built and looks brilliant but it had a few too many compromises for me and I was never 100% happy with it so I sold it and replaced with the Silverstone TJ-08E. It's smaller, quieter, cooler and holds a lot more hard drives than the FT03 but you do end up with much more conventional looking PC. You also save a reasonable amount on the cheaper case and full size Blu-Ray drive. If you do go for the FT03 then replace the included fans with something like Akasa Apache's and you must buy a rear venting GPU. My GPU vented into the case and I think it was one of the main causes of the heat and noise. My GPU fan would regularly spin up to full speed when gaming in the FT03 and it hardly ever does that in the TJ-08E.
