New high end build... thoughts and opinions?

[Hero_OT_beta]

Hey so I'm trying to revive this thread as I've made a few changes to the build. I'd like to start by restating that this build is for gaming and I'd also building and rendering out complex 3D models and digital artwork.

Here's the revised list:

Intel i7 920 processor
2 Geforce 480 video cards
Corsair Obsidian 800D
Corsair 1000W power supply
Western Digital 1TB Hard Drive
EVGA X58 motherboard
6GB G Skill DDR3 memory
Thermalright ULTRA-120 heatsink
2 Noctua NF-P12 fans
3 Noctua NF-S12B fans

So I'm not sure about a few things first of all the motherboard... I ultimately would like to add 2 more of those cards but I need a motherboard that can do that and I don't think the X58 can. Now before I was going to get a 5870 and the 1000 watt PSU was enough.... Should that still be sufficient or would it be safer to get a 1200 watt? I'm also kind of worried about the heat. Are the three fans I'm going to mount at the top of the case going to be enough because I know the 480's run hot? Should I just make the jump to liquid cooling? To be honest I've never done it before and I'm kind of intimidated. The last thing is the heatsink. I have a friend who's using it and is getting very good results. It's priced at $71 on NCIX but I was wanting to see if there was anything you guys might recommend, I'd like to stay under the $80 dollar range.

Any input is really appreciated, thanks a lot.

[Rison]

I've wrote so many of these replys.. i'm just going to do point form from now on.

- SSD: sandforce. OCZ Vertex2 is best. Corsair Force and Gkill also very popular. Somewhere in the 100-120 gig range.. but don't know how many programs / games you have installed. Any 'high end' system would have the os drive as an SSD, imo.
NCIX.com - Buy OCZ Vertex 2 Extended Sandforce 120GB 2.5IN SATA2 Solid State Disk Flash Drive SSD - OCZSSD2-2VTXE120G In Canada.
- Power supply: everyone goes way overboard and crazy. Dual 5870s in crossfire on a standard system would be less than 600W at peak
source: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...0,2422-20.html
750/850W would be sufficient. Seasonic / Corsair are my top picks, OCZ and Silverstone make good PSU's too, and are more budget friendly. To each his own, lots of people end up buying 1k-1.2k-1.5k and use 40% load.
-CPU: get a 930. Cheaper than 920 D0, has higher multiplier, and just price match instead of using 'weekly special bundles'
-Ram: what you said is fine, if you have extra cash, get something with lower timings. 8-8-8 or 6-7-6

[Rison]

k, I totally didn't see the second page. RJBarker, go do some research before posting. :)

Dual 480s do bring a bit more to the table for power.. but that's just it: a bit more.
People keep on toting the 1kw PSUs.

Read: Power Consumption of Two GTX 480 in SLI With FurMark and 3DMark03 - 3D Tech News, Pixel Hacking, Data Visualization and 3D Programming - Geeks3D.com

If you can't click that, then:

624 watts is the power consumption of two GeForce GTX 480 under FurMark (res: 1280×1024):

What they fail to mention on that page, is if it's total system, or just the two cards. I'm guessing just the two cards.. but their methodology is somewhat flawed. Add 200W for system, and an 850W would be more than sufficient.

You also left out an SSD. Drop the second 480 and grab a sandforce.. the difference is crazy.

[Hero_OT_beta]

Ya I was still debating an SSD but I guess it would be a valuable edition.

I'm still kind of worried about the heat from those cards. I guess I'm kind of skeptical of how good the are flow will be inside of the Obsidian.

I was also wandering if those new 23" Acer Monitors were the only ones that ran at 120Hz?

[fishingfanatic]

I'm not that familiar witheither case from personal experience but from all the threads I've read, it seems the Corsair isn't as good for air flow as say the CoolerMaster HAF series. Look at the 932 or HAF X. People who use WC systems say the Corsair is quite good for that cooling method. +1 for the SSD as an OS.

Good luck with the build and enjoy the new system. Sounds like it'll kick butt!

[sswilson]

Originally Posted by Rison

k, I totally didn't see the second page. RJBarker, go do some research before posting. :)

Dual 480s do bring a bit more to the table for power.. but that's just it: a bit more.
People keep on toting the 1kw PSUs.

Read: Power Consumption of Two GTX 480 in SLI With FurMark and 3DMark03 - 3D Tech News, Pixel Hacking, Data Visualization and 3D Programming - Geeks3D.com

If you can't click that, then:


What they fail to mention on that page, is if it's total system, or just the two cards. I'm guessing just the two cards.. but their methodology is somewhat flawed. Add 200W for system, and an 850W would be more than sufficient.

You also left out an SSD. Drop the second 480 and grab a sandforce.. the difference is crazy.

I would assume that the 600W+ SLI power usage would be full system rather than 300W draw per card, but even using the figures as a system draw rather than just the cards I can't support your suggestion that a 750W PSU (you used worst case of 624W + 200W for your 850W suggestion) would be fine with that kind of draw.

Even without factoring in PSU degredation over time, I personally wouldn't put a PSU in that was rated less than 75% of expected draw. Anything less than that would be akin to redlining your car's engine every time you used it to go further than the corner store.

An 850W would be the bare minimum that I'd be comfortable with (it certainly wouldn't be overkill), and personally (I know it's overkill) I shoot for closer to 60% max draw as opposed to 75%.

[xlilmissmjx]

+1 with the HAF X! It's an awesome air cooling and wc too! The corsair 800D on the other hand seems to be more for the water cooling setups, but there's quite a bunch of owners that run it on air and love it.

As for the 1000W psu, I say stay with it as it's better to have the headroom and keep it under say 80% load then getting an 850W and pushing it to almost 100% for most of the time! If you think that you will get the extra 2 480's then I would suggest getting the AX1200W from corsair instead to save you in the long run.

Since there's a possible 4 way SLI I would recommend EVGA's X58 Classified XL-ATX 4 way SLI board, here's a link to it for ya

NCIX.com - Buy EVGA X58 Classified XL-ATX LGA1366 4-WAY SLI DDR3 7PCIE-16 SATA2 Dual GBLAN 1394 Motherboard - 170-BL-E762-A1 In Canada.

I really like the cooler master hyper 212+ myself for cpu air cooling, maybe even the V6 (due to similar specs on paper), but each to their own choices lol

For the rest of your setup, I'm happy with it

[rjbarker]

k, I totally didn't see the second page. RJBarker, go do some research before posting. :)

Rison this Threads almost a yr old..what Post did I make that you felt required more "research"....?....btw...my Rig in my "Spec" draws 910W from the Wall under full Load. (everything OC'd of course, including GPU's)...hhhmmm..wonder just how long an 850W would last.....

Anyhow.....I've been running multi High end GPU's in my Rigs for about 4 yrs now and I stick to my guns on recommending "more than enough" power, as apposed to "should be enough".....

2 x 480's...bunch of Drives and Fans or WC....1 kW min. is what I would feel comfy with....but at this point would go with either the new Corsair 1.2kW or Silverstone ST 1.2 kW....

I guess I'm kind of skeptical of how good the are flow will be inside of the Obsidian.

....not very good at all, particularly with 480's...either some Case Modding, (additonal Fans) or a different Case...these Cases are designed for WC..

[lowfat]

Originally Posted by rjbarker

Rison this Threads almost a yr old..what Post did I make that you felt required more "research"....?....btw...my Rig in my "Spec" draws 910W from the Wall under full Load. (everything OC'd of course, including GPU's)...hhhmmm..wonder just how long an 850W would last.....

Just an FYI, 910W from the wall means your PSU is only using 728W assuming 80% efficiency. So no a 1000W is most definitely not required.

[rjbarker]

^^^^ Excellent....so I have exactly what I'm after when I select a PSU.....a little headroom for future upgrades.....