i7 960 Build

[enaberif]

I know that SB is coming out but a customer came in and wants a machine built and has money to spend.. so I told him I'd put something together for him and this is what I came up with.

Case: Haf-X
Proc: i7 960 or 980x
Ram: 12gb Corsair
Board: Rampage III Extreme
GPU : 2 x 580
PSU: Corsair HX 1000

DVD/Blu Ray drive
Windows 7 HP
Sleeved LED lighting
Card Reader
2 x 24" Monitors (probably samsung or something cheap)
H50/70 Cooler

I think that is it.. if you think of something or want to comment feel free, but I think this would be a solid build for awhile to come.

[_dangtx_]

hr-02 for cooler? beast of an understated cooler :)

also 960 ok if no oc at all, maybe go for a 930 and clock? but if hes spending that dough, he may want to be different from his cheaper neighbour.

the 980x or 970 if he makes use of all the cores/threads. if so, ignore the above.

looks good either way. have fun with the build man

[rjbarker]

^^^ Looks good Enaberif....perhaps replace the older HX 1kW for a AX 1.2kW or Silverstone 1.2 kW.....I think they maybe about the same price as the HX, then if the guy gets really "crazy" he can go ahead and add another 580 in the future....if its a good price on the HX forget about it ;)

What about Storage / Boot...maybe a small SSD and a WD Black?

Tell him you'll OC his 980X for him......for "extra" ;) ....that way you can have some "fun" with it!!

[enaberif]

Originally Posted by rjbarker

^^^ Looks good Enaberif....perhaps replace the older HX 1kW for a AX 1.2kW or Silverstone 1.2 kW.....I think they maybe about the same price as the HX, then if the guy gets really "crazy" he can go ahead and add another 580 in the future....if its a good price on the HX forget about it ;)

What about Storage / Boot...maybe a small SSD and a WD Black?

Tell him you'll OC his 980X for him......for "extra" ;) ....that way you can have some "fun" with it!!

64GB Corsair v64 for boot.
2 @ 1TB WD Black for storage

AX 1.2? I'll check it out.

[chrisk]

Rampage III Formula can be had for $300 and has an excellent PCI-E layout, and will allow you to put the GPUs in the PCI-E slots 1 and 3, at 16x. This will allow for better GPU cooling due to the extra space. Comes with a long SLI bridge for such a setup. Has the extra molex connector on the board for the GPUs. Intel Nic too.

Edit: Here is a post from Asus engineer mentioning the differences:
[H]ard|Forum - View Single Post - Rampage III Formula Brings the Ingredients

[Soultribunal]

I agree with RJ that you should opt for a more efficent and newer platform PSU. The HX is great and all, but its an aging platform.

ST

[Arinoth]

Does the customer really need 12GB of RAM, what's he going to be using the system for?

[enaberif]

Originally Posted by Arinoth

Does the customer really need 12GB of RAM, what's he going to be using the system for?

Nope.. he just wants something that will last him for 3-4 years.. and I explained to him how volatile the industry is and probably just quote him on 6gb to save some money for other stuff.

[draemn]

Originally Posted by enaberif

Case: Haf-X
Proc: i7 960 or 980x
Ram: 12gb Corsair
Board: Rampage III Extreme
GPU : 2 x 580
PSU: Corsair HX 1000

DVD/Blu Ray drive
Windows 7 HP
Sleeved LED lighting
Card Reader
2 x 24" Monitors (probably samsung or something cheap)
H50/70 Cooler

Case: Spend more dough for a better case if he's got such a huge budget to blow.
Proc: the 960 is stupid buy over the 950 imo and just wasting his money... especially in such an o/c friendly build. The 980x is the best option if he's wants to spend the dough. less heat, easier to o/c, 6 cores for future software, etc.
RAM: RAM is cheap right now, might as well put in the 12 now (instead of 6) while it's this cheap :)
Board: Great board for PCIe layout if someone ever goes 3-way SLI (but I don't see the use of going 3-way personally...). Otherwise, this board is a wast of his money imo. Otherwise buy something like the Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD5 or the ASUS P6X58D line (or look into the formula like the post above).
GPU: Niiiccceeee... Sure, why no just put in two of the best GPUs on the planet and call it day. If price becomes a factor, the 570 SLI will do best.
PSU: 2x580 thankfully won't require an o/c, so really, the only o/c in this build will be the CPU, so 1k is sufficient. The only reason I'd say you should step up to 1.2k is to get 80+ gold rating, other wise the 1000hx is fine. If someone is adding a 3rd 580 to an o/c build, they should have 1.5k or a 2nd PSU to plug in the GPUs imo.

Storage: You left this blank, but this build will want at least a 60GB SSD (sandforce 1200 controller, corsair, or intel only). Momentus XT is a great option if a SSD isn't going in the build. 2GB HDDs are usually the best performers if you buy the right ones.
Optical Drive: Make sure it's a 10x BD drive not a 2x...
Monitors: 24" or 23" should be the option. Samsung has decent sale prices for good quality. Don't go too cheap.
Cooling: I'm not sure on this, so ask someone else... does the H50/70 void your warranty as water-cooling or not? The h50 isn't worth it imo.

[enaberif]

Basic System lay out now is as follows:

Silverstone Fortress FT02
Rampage III Formula
I7 950
6gb Corsair XMS3 (12gb if he really wants it)
Corsair 60GB SSD
WD Black 1tb X 2 in RAID for data
2 GTX 580s
Corsair 1200AX
2 x Samsung 24" Monitors

Plus a few small extras and the ncix total is about $3800