Hey there guys. You may remember I posted a thread a few months back about an i7 build I was looking to get, but the thread died without really giving me the advice I needed and my specifications were all over the place so i decided to make a brand new updated thread. I intend to use this build for - Gaming - Design - Work - & Running several things at once. - My Budget has been upped and now sits around the - £3500 area. (Could potentially stretch to £4000. But obviously would much rather it to fall under the £3500 mark, as doubtful as it appears currently). Case: Lian Li PC-P80 Armoursuit Chassis Components: Intel i7 D0 920 Processor or Intel 975 Extreme Processor. (Will Overclock) Asus Rampage II Extreme Motherboard. Corsair XMS3 DDR3 6GB x2 (12GB) BFG GTX 295 or BFG GTX 295 H20 GPU. WD Velociraptor 300GB HDD (For OS). Samsung Spinpoint 1TB HDD or Seagate Barracuda 1.5TB. Corsair HX1000 PSU. LG GGW H20L BluRay-HD-RW Drive. Asus Xonar Essence Soundcard. Perpherials: Logitech G9 Laser Mouse. Luxeed LED Keyboard & Numberpad. 25-28" 1900x1200 Full HD Monitor - 2x HDMI+. Matrix Orbital GX Typhoon LCD Display. Logitech Pro 9000 Webcam. Logitech Z-5500 5.1 Speaker System. A Media Card Reader w/ Bluetooth. Software: Windows Vista Ultimate 64-Bit Edition. Kaspersky Security 2009. Watercooling: (Must be compatible with Components and Case) Radiator? Pump? Blocks? Tubing? Coolant? Resevoir? Etc. Additionals: Replace stock Fans in the case with Purple/UV ones. - Possible? Overclock CPU and perhaps the GPU? Run the Watercool on Cycle for CPU and GPU or a Dual Cycle? Worth getting a Gaming Internal Card thingy? I'm not the most computer component savvy person on the planet, or the most intelligent; so I could greatly do with your knowledge and expertise on what is best, compatible and modern for this. Also, I know there are thousands of sites offering components; But was wondering where I can get all the above at the best possible prices, as I have noticed many sites differ substantially. I'm not really all that familiar with Watercooling either, All I know is that with the system I am wanting to build and that I will be after considerable Overclocking, I know Air-Cooling wont cut it, So Watercooling is a must. But not really sure were to start with it. Thankyou in advance for your help guys! I really do appreciate it. As soon as we can get everything finalised, then I can finally get Violet Haze on the workbench!
I'm a total illiterati @ WC stuff, so... ~Replacing the fans with UV ones are totally possible, you just need to buy them. ~And for overclocking an i7, seek a good cooler. Water cool the behemoth of a GTX295, or it'd roast before you overclock much. ~Dual loops if you want to overclock more, as the water in each loop will be cooler than you placed everything in the same loop. ~A NIC, or GNIC in your case will only help a few FPS in games, and a *FEW*. Like 2~3 FPS. Decide if the performance offsets the cost. But since it's an i7, most likely you won't even reach 100% load that often, and a NIC should be worthless in most cases, what with their absolutely terrible performance/cost ratio.
Some questions before I begin: - How silent do you want this machine to be? - Why do you need two (or more) HDMI ports on the monitor? - Would you be against having a 24" monitor if it provided a better picture? - Why does the card reader need to have Bluetooth? - Diosjenin -
if you got the cash to burn on this - awesome it will be very very fast. BUT.... imo you could build a machine alomst as fast for half the cost. drop the 975 to 920 - both models @ 4.2 on water will perofrm the same (may get around 4.5Ghz out of the 975) The mobo is stupidly expensive and offers nothing over cheaper boards - the ASUS P6T deleuxeV2 is the same and much much cheaper. 295 is a waste of money even more so because directx11 cards are coming very soon and you can watch your card drop 50% in price when they do, and be outperfromed by cheaper cards. with your budget drop the 300GB raptor and get the OCZ SSD it soooooo quick will be much better than the raptor. 1000W PSU is complete overkill for single GPU setups. would need at least 3 to get some proper use out of it. drop down to 750W which is more than enough. see i havent compromised on perofrmance at all and ive saved you over £1000
As you are new to watercooling I highly recommend this site: Chilled PC They will offer excellent advice and should you need it they will be happy (at a cost of course) to mod your case for you, to fit radiators etc. I've previously built watercooling systems in 4 cases. I am still trying to forget some of my early modding to get it all to fit in the case. If you are serious about water cooling and with that set up I would, then I would suggest looking at the Silverstone TJ07 case. It's by far the easiest case I worked with for watercooling. In mine I have a Thermaltake PA120.3 (triple) radiator in the base of the case and a double Black Ice gt stealth radiator under the roof. Both of these fit without any problems, not something that many cases will be able to offer. In terms of watercooling components I would recommend the Swiftech MCP655 Pump (re-branded Laing D5) In terms of reservoirs it's up to you. I have a Danger Den double drive bay one. There are also single drive bay ones available Example. I prefer these as they are neater to work with. The CPU cooling block I use is the Swiftech Apogee GTZ Extreme. Does a damn good job. I am cooling my CPU and GPU in the same loop. With my i920 overclocked to 4.4ghz it never goes into the 70's with this block when under full load on Prime. My GPU is the BFG 280gtx H20C. I notice you are looking at the 295 H20C. If you are going to watercool your system then I would highly recommend watercooling the gpu. The 295's run hot, as do the 280's. With my 280 watercooled it never goes over 49deg even when folding 24/7. The advantage of the H20C versions are that 1) You don't have to install a separate waterblock which may invalidate your warrenty and 2) It's pre-overclocked. The disadvantage are that 1) You will only be able to sell it to someone who has watercooling and 2) The price. I went for the H20C version at the time as it was cheaper than buying the card and a separate waterblock. As you are a first timer to watercooling the H20C version would be safer, especially when you consider the money you are spending. Tubing - You need to decide what diameter of tubing you want. I have built 10mm systems and 1/2" systems. I much prefer 1/2" systems, but again it does take up more room. The tubing I use is the clear XSPC tubing. My father's industry is water treatment. His company have tested this tubing and say that its more than adequate for this use. Many people will say to use the Tygon tubing. Yes it's better, but it's horrendously priced and not worth the money. Coils - Use Anti Kink coils on the tubing. This helps prevent any bending in the tubing which would restrict the water flow. They come in many colours and are also UV light reactive. Water - Amazingly after having several brands of water tested, the one my father's company recommended was the battery top up water from Halfords. They were amazed at how 'pure' the water was. I use this with some Fesser UV dye. The pre-dyed Fesser water is also very good. Barbs - Very important to use good ones. I have tried several and prefer the metal hi-flow ones Example. I also use hose clips to secure the tubing to the barb. When you are buying barbs, ensure you get the correct ones. Most watercooling products use 1/4" thread. The thermaltake rads, for example, don't. Again, I learnt this the hard way. Some advice that I cannot stress enough. Take your time. Do not rush into it. Think it through. While the results are worth it, getting it wrong can be soul destroying and expensive. I've gone through both extremes over the years. I will add that I wouldn't even consider building myself a system now without watercooling it. The main thing is google is your friend (as they say). If you search its easy to find many, many projets of work that people have done. Chilled PC has it's own forum with many examples of work. As a recent CPC refugee, I haven't checked out the modding section on here yet. Anyway, sorry for the long post, got a little carried away.
