Hello all I am looking to buld a pc that I wont have to replace for a number of years. This is what I have come up with that I wanna get and I have a number of questions like should I go with 1366 or 1155 or wait for the 2011 if it will be affordable. The chip I want -- Intel Core i7-950 BX80601950 Processor - Quad Core, 8MB L3 Cache, 1MB L2 Cache, 3.06 GHz (3.33 GHz Max Turbo), Socket B (LGA1366), 130W, Fan, Retail The board I was looking at -- intel BOXDX58SO2 Socket LGA1366 Motherboard - ATX, Socket B (LGA1366), Intel X58 Express, 1600MHz DDR3, SATA 6.0 Gb/s, RAID, Dual Gigabit LAN, SLI/CrossFireX Ready, USB 3.0 24 total GB of ram --- Corsair CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9B Vengeance Desktop Memory Kit - 16GB (4x 4GB), PC3-12800, DDR3-1600MHz, 9-9-9-24 CAS Latency, Intel XMP Ready, Unbuffered I did want this but I don’t think it is available any more --- VisionTek 900307 Radeon HD 4670 X2 Video Card -2GB DDR3, PCI-Express 2.0, CrossFireX, w/4x DVI Ports <<< supported 4 screens I only run 2 at the moment was thinking of going to 3 in the future This power supply ( I think it would be enough) ---Kingwin LAZER 850W Power Supply - 850-Watt, Modular, ATX, SLI-Ready, 6x 12V Rails, Blue & White switch LED fan, 80 plus Bronze One last question should I go with liquid cooling or just a regular fan would be fine. I do not over clock anything. I do some gaming ill run up to 5 accounts on 2 screens and music and skype in the back ground and I was thinking the 3rd screen would be for cable tv I have hooked up to my computer. The more info the better and all opinions welcome. If that video card is no longer availavle then I would run one card that does 2 screens and like to have the capability of adding a 2nd card for the 3 screen any suggestions on video cards and if that board I want can handle all of that
Go 1155, cheaper and more recent. Where are you worldly located? Easier to spec up with that knowledge! Also AMD Graphics is the way to go with multiple screens. You'd need to pay particular attention to what display adaptors might be needed to connect the GPU to your screens however.
If you want to go with liquid cooling you could build your own loop but its not really necessary for the 2500k as they run very cool already. You could get a closed loop liquid cooler such as the Antec 620 or the Corsair H60, both of which are easy to install and effective. If you want to use a heatsink and go the air cooling route, well there are dozens of choices there to suit every budget.
Yes, choosing an antiquated spec system is a total waste of money. i5 2500k is the processor to get in terms of performance and value for money. Get 16gb gskill 1866mhz ram. When I bought it 2 weeks ago it was 109 pounds... now on sale at ebuyer for 65 pounds (assuming you live in the UK). I find air cooling boring, a pain in the ass to fit and of course it dumps all that hot air in the room not to mention the noise. I have waterblocks on my 560Ti SLI setup. The noise of even a single MSI 560Ti Twin Frozr OC is quite awful on air. I run water loop primarily because it can cool silently (even with fans throttled back to 30% RPM). Asus P8Z68-V/GEN3 motherboard. Kingston Hyper X 120gb SSD. The waterblocks on my 2 x 560Ti's cost £35 each and are universal. EK VGA blocks.
Out the window. My rad, res and pump sit remotely from the PC case. In summer the hot air from the radiator is blown straight outside via the window. In winter the window can be closed. Win/Win. This setup allows me much lower temps than a conventional water loop. My dual 560Ti will be 35 - 40c full load compared to the 75 to 80c they reached on air. Currently 25 and 26c and 28 to 30c full load (window closed). Radiator fans 30% RPM.
In my world every water setup does. In my world some water loops are sucking in water from their neighbour's swimming pool and radiators are attached to the outside wall of the house. Then again there are the roof based water systems using a roof mounted plastic bucket as reservoir. I am currently looking at cutting a hole in left corner of ceiling to feed the water tubes up into the attic where it's very cold in winter.
Im willing to bet snowjunkie will not be putting holes in ceilings and buckets on roofs. The question was if theres a benefit to going water cooled. Its like me saying "I have an air cooled rig, there are no wall or windows in my house but its air cooled, what? doesnt everyone do that?"
WC is always more of 'a pain in the ass to fit' that air cooling. Given the OPs component choices I'd say an air cooled build might suit his skill level better. Anyway: Back on topic: A budget would be really useful matey, without one its hard to suggest exact components.
Air cooling is better for your first time. It might not be as quiet, but in a good case; it should stay well within good operating temperatures. The 2500K should easily suit all of your needs. It's not worth going AMD at the moment. (Yes. I appreciate the Irony.) 8GB of RAM should do everything you need, you might, just, juuuust be able to scrape 16GB if you're rendering and Photoshopping absolutely massive images, but beyond that; there's no use for that much memory, short of serious Virtualisation madness. For the GPU; go for the 5970, it'll be more than fast enough for most needs. If all else fails; prices will drop in Janurary when the new series comes out, so you can pick up a second and crossfire the lot for Eyefinity madness. I wouldn't trust your suggested Powersupply for more than about four hundred watts. If that. Go for a Corsair, Antec, Silverstone or CoolerMaster unit, all of them are reliable, and have dramatically lower chances of exploding if you actually put full load on them. (One in a few trillion, compared to something like one in a few thousand.)
Whats the brand to go for with regards to water cooling? Are those all in one kits worth while or is it best to select individual components?
WC is pain in the ass to fit? Not like an oversized heatsink blocking ram modules then? The benefit is cooling quietly. I just can't take the noise of an air cooled GPU. As someone mentioned, i5 is a pretty cool processor so it's less of an issue. The real issue for me is the GPU. WC can be a pain depending on complexity. Obviously a 2 piece kit is easier to fit than a large heatpipe. For a full liquid setup for me it's worth the pain in the ass-ness of fitting for the silence and efficiency in cooling it brings. Ultimately it's personal choice so don't listen to me. Your neighbour's probably doen't have a swimming pool anyway.
The all in one kits like the Corsair H80 and the like aren't customizable without a large amount of effort. The huge kits that come with everything already aren't a bad starting point. Best thing is to get one of those, then slowly expand, at least that's my opinion. My issue with Water Cooling is the maintenance. I don't want to have to completely empty my system once a year to change coolant and clean out blocks. Simply going at it with a can or two of compressed air every year is so much easier. On the subject of obtrusive air cooling; My Frio was a touch annoying, you had to use Low-profile modules. Wasn't that much of a fuss. Really easy to fit, too. The Archon is slightly more of a pain in the ass, because of the way it's mounted, but I could use stupidly high memory with it if I wanted, even Corsair Dominator will fit in my system with it. Work out how much cooling you need; work around that. Watercooling might give you more space, but if anything goes wrong; it's a hell of a mess. Worst issue I've had, by far, with air cooling was one time I forgot to plug in a CPU fan.
Depends what u want. If you want only CPU cooling then u can go for one of the 2 piece kits. I personally opt for a full setup where I buy the tubing, connectors and choose my own waterblocks. On the CPU I have a Swiftech Apogee XT rev 2. http://chrisreynolds.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/swiftech-apogee-xt.jpg A beautiful block entirely metal. Easy to fit because it has a backplate and the waterblock thumbscrews that screw into the backplate easily. Water pump is EK DCP 4.0. Small but extremely powerful. Inexpensive. I prefer at least a triple radiator so I have a Thermochill 120.3. My reservoir is extreme but any will do. I have an XSPC 500mm heatsink water tube. It acts like a second radiator and cools passively. I use 12mm ID tubing. Very flexible XSPC tubing. My 560Ti's use EK VGA waterblocks. 2 of my friends have/had XSPC water kits. One of those friends has upgraded his CPU waterblock, pump and rad. The 2 piece mini setups don't allow additional waterblocks.
Were you using water? I stopped using that several years ago. Problem with water cooling (in the literal sense) is that it needs to be treated to stop algae. Needs to be cleaned out and replaced as you say. Modern coolants such as thermochill EC6 are plant based industrial coolants, don't need algae inhibitors and don't even need changing once a year. These modern coolants keep your tubing and waterblocks very clean. I only changed my coolant this year after buying new computer parts. The loop was very clean. I've been liquid cooling since 2003. Went back to air cooling once for about 3 months and found it so boring I have been on liquid cooling ever since.
thanks all for the info i am from the USA. in New york to be exact. ill check out the other brands that everyone was talking about thanks all the info will be helpfull. i think id like to stick with the i7 chip but ill look for another board and ill cut down the ram also id rather have over kill now and not have to upgrade any parts till it is time for a compleat rebuild space is not a problem since the case i am planing to get big so ill stick with the air cooled not looking for more complicated or more maintanance. once again thanks and ill check back in when i have some new options.
ok i found new options and was wondering if i did better this time Video card --- ATI 100-505519 FireGL V8600 Video Card - 1GB GDDR4, PCI Express 2.0 x16, Dual DVI, OEM chip still the i7 but with the k ---- Intel Core i7-2600K BX80623I72600K Unlocked Processor - Quad Core, 8MB L3 Cache, 1MB L2 Cache, 3.40 GHz (3.80 GHz Max Turbo), Socket H2 (LGA1155), 95W, Fan, Retail Motherboard ---- GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 Intel Z68 Motherboard - ATX, Socket H2 (LGA 1155), Intel Z68 Chipset, 2133MHz DDR3, SATA 6.0 Gb/s, RAID, 7.1-CH Audio, Gigabit LAN, SuperSpeed USB 3.0, CrossFireX/SLI Ready this is what i found for ram but am i better off going with 8 Gb at 1866 or 16Gb at 1600MHz? ram ---- Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1866C9R Vengeance Desktop Memory Kit - 8GB (2x 4GB), PC3-15000, DDR3-1866MHz, 240-pin DIMM, 9-10-9-24 CAS Latency, 1.5V, XMP Ready power suply----- Corsair HX650W Power Supply - 650-Watts, Modular, ATX, Single 12V Rail, 80 Plus Bronze CASE----- NZXT PHAN-001WT Phantom Full-Tower Case - E-ATX, ATX, MicroATX, 5 x 5.25" Bays, 7 x 3.5"Bays, 200mm LED Fan, White fan --- Corsair CAFA70 A70 Air Series Performance CPU Cooler - 120mm, LGA 775, LGA 1366, LGA 1156, AM2, AM3 i hope i did better this time if u need more information on any of this stuff i am looking at tigerdirect.com i have not shopped around for prices just trying to figure out the parts first. also aside from a hardrive anything else u might think i may need like certiain cables or stuff they wont come with hardware that i think would? thanks again everyone
Thanks for the help thanks again for all the info i am from the USA in New York to be exact. i have made some changes in my hardware choices thanks to everyone. let me know if there is something better i can do. Video card just one for now with posibly adding a 2nd in the future without having to change anything------ COLOR="Blue"] ATI 100-505519 FireGL V8600 Video Card - 1GB GDDR4, PCI Express 2.0 x16, Dual DVI, OEM[/COLOR] case----- mediumturquoise"]NZXT PHAN-001WT Phantom Full-Tower Case - E-ATX, ATX, MicroATX, 5 x 5.25" Bays, 7 x 3.5"Bays, 200mm LED Fan, White power supply----- Corsair HX650W Power Supply - 650-Watts, Modular, ATX, Single 12V Rail, 80 Plus Bronze instead of the 24 i am going with 8 (i was wondering if it would be better to have 12 at like 1600MHz or the 8 at 1866 MHz?)------ Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1866C9R Vengeance Desktop Memory Kit - 8GB (2x 4GB), PC3-15000, DDR3-1866MHz, 240-pin DIMM, 9-10-9-24 CAS Latency, 1.5V, XMP Ready --- there are good reviews on this ram and it has a life time warantee. Motherboard------ GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 Intel Z68 Motherboard - ATX, Socket H2 (LGA 1155), Intel Z68 Chipset, 2133MHz DDR3, SATA 6.0 Gb/s, RAID, 7.1-CH Audio, Gigabit LAN, SuperSpeed USB 3.0, CrossFireX/SLI Ready chip----- i would like to stay with the i7 but i did find it with the k i hope this is better-----Intel Core i7-2600K BX80623I72600K Unlocked Processor - Quad Core, 8MB L3 Cache, 1MB L2 Cache, 3.40 GHz (3.80 GHz Max Turbo), Socket H2 (LGA1155), 95W, Fan, Retail if there are any hints like any acessories i should buy to ge able to assemble the system that would be great ex. cables or stuff like that, that does not come with the hardware
