New build....advice welcomed

[Mena]

Well it has been a while since I came here.

I have been saving and saving for a good build and I need your help deciding on a few parts. I use ONLY CORSAIR, INTEL, AND ATI BASED VIDEO CARDS. Just to make that clear. This will be a gaming computer and used for maybe a little video editing.

Case: Corsair 650D

Hard Drives: 4 x Intel 520 120GB SSD's ( Already bought ), 3 x 3GB Western Digitals Greens for storage.

Video card: Undecided. Either a 7970 or a couple 7950's. XFX perfered.

RAM: Depends on the mobo and CPU. 16GB for now, 32GB for later. Corsair Vengeance Red 1866. Not bought yet

Cooling: Corsair H100, 1 200mm Bitfenix red fan for the front, 2 x Red 120 BF Pros for the H100 in push/pull, 1 red non pro BF 120mm for the rear end.

Power Supply: Corsair AX850 should suffice.

ODD: LG Bluray

Mods: I think that a strip or two of the red Bitfenix LED strips should suffice.

Now here is the issue....Have trouble deciding where to go with the INTEL platform. 1155 or 2011.

I want future proof and that, to me, would point to the 2011. However I am being told that it is a power hog and hot and that 1155 would be a better choice. Money is not important right now so I will not say what the budget is....plus I spend HOURS pricematching everything.

SO ladies and germs.....how would you advise me?

Please keep it civil.

[Pabz0r545]

Hi Mena. WOW looks like an awesome rig. A dream rig to many :)

I think 1155 is recommended because the Ivy Bridge next gen cpu from intell will also use the 1155 socket. Aslo I may be wrong but I believe the 2011 socket offers pcie lanes in 16x,16x as opposed to 8x,8x when running crossfire so might be a little better for a crossfire setup.

[Mena]

Thank you for that advice Pabz0r545.

Sorry but what is Ivy Bridge? An upcoming 1155 Tech?

EDIT: Stupid me.....you explained it. Sorry for my stupidity.

[great_big_abyss]

Ivy Bridge is the upcoming die shrink of the current Sandy Bridge platform. It will use the same sockets as 1155 and 2011 (for IB-E).

I would recommend going for 2011. The new Ivy Bridge-E will also be compatible with 2011. The 3820 is a great quad-core, 8 thread processor. Read the HWC review here
That processor should retail for approx $320, and a 2011 board should run you anywhere from $260 to $470, depending on how much you want to spend. If money is no object, go for the 3930 SB-E CPU. It's a $600 chip, but you get 6 cores and 12 threads. The beauty of SB-E is that it gives you 40 lanes of PCI-E connectivity, so if you ever want to crossfire your cards AND have a RAID controller, you'll have no problems there. As far as heat production is concerned, it won't be anything that the Corsair H100 can't handle. It's always nice having a watercooling unit that expels all that heat outside of your case! SB-E will also run quad channel RAM (which is much more conducive to large amounts of RAM i.e. 32GB)

Speaking of RAID, I'm assuming you'll want to run your 3 intel SSD's in a RAID configuration. I'm not an expert on RAID, so someone else will have to chime in. I do know that PCI-E RAID controllers are a popular option (another reason for the SB-E and it's insane number of PCI lanes)

Other than that, hopefully Eldonko appears to convince you further on the merits of SB-E. Linus is also experienced with the use of RAID controllers.

EDIT: Oh, and while 2 7950's will give you better FPS than 1 7970 putting in 1 7970 will allow you to Crossfire another 7970 at a later date, if you wish. Which, considering how awesome this rig will be, shouldn't be outside of the realm of possibility.

[Mena]

Hmm.... a hardware RAID solution is an excellent idea. Any suggestions that will use a PCI Express Slot 1x? Is it true that they slow down bootup time?

[JJThomp]

I don't recommend running crossfire in that case without water cooling, it is known to be a bit of a hotbox and to run CFX on air you need some pretty good airflow especially if you don't have optimal spacing on your Mobo.

I recommend socket 2011, might as well give er hell if you are running 2x 7970/7950

[Masteroderus]

If money is no issue I would say go 2011.

Also, I urge you to reconsider the 650D in favour of the 800D, for extra watercooling room. You are running some SERIOUS hardware and I think you should consider a full custom loop to cool your cpu and gpu(s). Dazmode offers a really good triple radiator kit for about 350 (with upgrades), plus ~ 120 for a full cover video card block.

If money is no issue then you'll not only want good lookin and good preforming hardware; you want it QUIET!!

[moocow]

I suggest switch out that LG Bluray for something else.

[Mena]

Originally Posted by moocow

I suggest switch out that LG Bluray for something else.

Very interesting. May I ask why you say this? I have had zero issues with LG drives.....unlike their refrigerators. LOL!!!!

I was considering the 800D but it is way too big. I have a friend that just build a PC with that monster. YIKES! LOL!

Hmm....the 800D is only $50 more. I just might take that up at Tigerdirect.ca. Good advice. Thank you.

EDIT: crud.....to dear for my taste for just a case. Gonna look around for a pricematch for it.

[moocow]

It's personal experience, I had 2 dead LG DVD that died within a year. Another member had his/her Bluray died right after 1 year warranty mark.