My first High end PC, done it right!

[Brian J]

Hi everyone,

First post here;-) I'm not some rich kid or something, but I have good job and I enjoy playing the latest pc games as well build my own pc from scratch. So.. The title say it all! Help me put together a monster PC!

Before we start:

Timing- There is anything major(new video card, CPU..) to be released anytime soon? I wanna make sure that my investment will last as much as possible.

Resolution- No matter what I will play at 1980x1020(1080p) with my Sony 3D tv. No surround unfortunately

- Cost is no object- but doesn't mean that I like to flush my $$ down the toilet for a 3% improvement..

Ok, now let's have fun;-)

Case: I need help with the best gaming case money can buy. I will need space to fit a couple radiator for cooling the CPU and the graphic cards. It needs to have a lot of airflow because I will OC every component that can be OC'ed. Oh and It needs to look stunning! Any Suggestions?

Power supply: Corsair 1200W Gold. Anything better?

Cooling: Definetly liquid cooling. Is there is solution for both CPU and graphic(SLI)?

CPU: 3960X or 3930K. There is any real world difference between the two?

Graphic: X 2 Evga classy Liquid cooled 680 GTX( once they come out). Or wait for the real 680, gk110?

Ram: 16GB Corsair dominator GT or Ripjaws Z Series @ 2133

Motherboard: Evga X 79 Classified. Again massive OC in mind... Suggestions?

Storage: Intel 520 ssd 240GB x2 in a raid 0 configuration

Here my list.. Feel free to make any comment/suggestion.

Thanks in advance;-)

[Sman]

Get a 1000w PSU 1200 is overkill get the 3930K cuz there is no difference unless ur gonna run quad sli and get like 4 hard drives also I would suggest dominator GT memory

[tangrisser]

CPU: 3960X or 3930K
Other than the slight difference in stock clock speed and extra L3 3MB cache, they are fairly similar. While it's not worth the massive price difference, 3960X is top of the class CPU if that's what you are seeking

Motherboard: eVGA X79 Classified
Honestly I haven't done enough research to know which X79 chipset based motherboard but I'm not a big fan of eVGA motherboards. Asus or Gigabyte motherboard if I had to choose.

RAM: Dominator or Ripjaw
If you have a particular colour scheme you would like to go with, match the RAM heatsink's colour. One of the things you have to consider is that while RAM's high clock and tighter timing will possibly help achieve better overall overclocking numbers but IRL, the performance you gain by overclocking RAM is within margin of error so not really worth it.

Hard Drive/SSD:
Intel 520 is a great choice especially when their price is extremely competitive. If you set up a RAID 0, note that it will take longer during UEFI/BIOS boot because it has to accommodate the RAID config during boot.

Video Card:
It's more or less personal preference but I don't recommend getting the pre-installed water block video cards. What if you decide you no longer want to use watercooling? Do you just resell the card or do you get a heatsink? You have options but it's still better to get the regular version and replace heatsink for water block if needed.

Power Supply:
Corsair AX1200W is excellent power supply. For the sake of giving you choice, consider Seasonic and Enermax. Seasonic is the OEM manufacturer for Corsair and Enermax's high end power supply is good quality.

Case:
This is really difficult because everyone has different taste. Lian-Li/Lancool, Silverstone comes to mind when I think of high end cases. Personally I <3 Silverstone FT02B
Silverstone Fortress FT02B ATX Black Aluminum Unibody Case 4X5.25 5X3.5INT No PS - Silverstone Technology - FT02B but I'm too cheap so I have the Corsair 600T (got it for less than 1/3 of retail price!)

Cooling:
My personal preference is air cooling since I OC lightly and I have H50 which is 'water cooled.'

Lastly if you are purchasing computer now then determine what is best in today's market. Yes, you can wait for new parts to come out as you mentioned 'wait for gk110?' Well, yes and no. If you plan to pull trigger when the GK110 based video cards are coming out then yes but if you plan to pull trigger right now then just get whatever you feel is the best in the market. Waiting for new hardware becomes silly because there will always be better products in 3 - 4 months.

[Brian J]

@ tangrisser

Thanks for helpful reply man

@ Sman

Yeah I know it's an overkill but I wanna keep it for a very long time

Anyone else care to chime in?

[LoTech]

I would check out this review for cpu. Might save you some money in the long run. Also the MB should be able to upgrade to the ivy bridge chips when they come out. Good luck with the build.

AnandTech - Intel Core i7 3820 Review: $285 Quad-Core Sandy Bridge E

hope this helps

[Brian J]

Thanks man, the review is very helpful.

[bigbui]

your computer IS AMAZING. That's really top of the line stuff. XD

[great_big_abyss]

Originally Posted by Brian J

Hi everyone,

First post here;-) I'm not some rich kid or something, but I have good job and I enjoy playing the latest pc games as well build my own pc from scratch. So.. The title say it all! Help me put together a monster PC!

Before we start:

Timing- There is anything major(new video card, CPU..) to be released anytime soon? I wanna make sure that my investment will last as much as possible.

Resolution- No matter what I will play at 1980x1020(1080p) with my Sony 3D tv. No surround unfortunately

- Cost is no object- but doesn't mean that I like to flush my $$ down the toilet for a 3% improvement..

Ok, now let's have fun;-)

Case: I need help with the best gaming case money can buy. I will need space to fit a couple radiator for cooling the CPU and the graphic cards. It needs to have a lot of airflow because I will OC every component that can be OC'ed. Oh and It needs to look stunning! Any Suggestions?

Power supply: Corsair 1200W Gold. Anything better?

Cooling: Definetly liquid cooling. Is there is solution for both CPU and graphic(SLI)?

CPU: 3960X or 3930K. There is any real world difference between the two?

Graphic: X 2 Evga classy Liquid cooled 680 GTX( once they come out). Or wait for the real 680, gk110?

Ram: 16GB Corsair dominator GT or Ripjaws Z Series @ 2133

Motherboard: Evga X 79 Classified. Again massive OC in mind... Suggestions?

Storage: Intel 520 ssd 240GB x2 in a raid 0 configuration

Here my list.. Feel free to make any comment/suggestion.

Thanks in advance;-)

the 3960X performs a few percent better than the 3930K, for about $500 more. Save your money and get the 3930K. It's 99% of the 3960 for 60% or the price.

Consider this motherboard. It may be a little more expensive than your EVGA Classy board, but I truly think ASUS builds a better quality product, especially when it comes to boards.

[dandelioneater]

You wont really need a 1000W or 1200W PSU for a 3930 and the gtx 680. A 750W gold unit will be fine. Of course of you think you might add a second 680 down the road, then by all means 1000W would be the one to get. -edit: just saw that you are getting 2 gtx 680's

I wouldn't bother with the raid 0 for the 2 ssd's as you lose TRIM capability and the drives will slow down over time. Raid 0'd ssd's is only worthwhile if you have 4 or more drives and a raid card IMO. It would be best to get the largest single capacity drive you can afford. Keep in mind that Steam can be installed on a different drive as well as origin game installs if you are worried about filling up a single OS drive..

[PerryC]

From your first post, it sounds like you are talking a full custom water cooling loop or two with the gpus included. DazMode, The Best Canadian PC Watercooling and Modding Store! is the place you want to go for your watercooling stuff. I personally have not bought anything from him yet, but there are enough people here who have to vouch for him. I have never heard anything bad about Dazmode.


edit-- I personally think it would be better to get a pair of regular 680s and buy separate full cover water blocks for them. That's me though