My first gaming build plan ^^ opinions and improvements needed

[Splenyi]

Something the size of an SSD is under $7, which is cheaper than using the crappy and expensive shipping our national businesses use.

Shipping between America and Australia has always been fairly cheap, and we can take advantage of it even more because our dollar is stronger :twisted:

EDIT: If you guys were going to get a 7970, which one would you get? I'm stuck between the Gigabyte and Sapphire coolers. I know that ASUS is probably the best, but I'll only go for them if I find a great deal on. Same with the other Sapphire Vapor-X card, and probably same with MSI cards.

I can get a Gigabyte 7970 Windforce card for $410, all costs included. I know looks don't matter, but when I'm spending $400 on a single part, doesn't it make sense that I want something that looks somewhat tasteful? The gigabyte isn't exactly the best looking, but it sleek compared to some of Sapphire's.

 

[mfenn]

I'd get whichever costs less, they are both good coolers. Also through the PowerColor PCS dual-fan in the mix as well.

 

[Splenyi]

I can't find Powercolor's custom cooled 7970 cards anywhere in Australia, so it looks like it's between Sapphire and Gigabyte.

I'm going to buy the mobo and processor last, so that I can put it off long enough for Haswell (might as well, I don't think I'll be able to finish this build the way I want it before then anyway). So next I though I would get some of the less expensive parts out of the way, while I wait for a special on graphics cards.

Thought I would get my case fans, so I was wondering if you guys think I need a rear exhaust fan while I have a top mounted H100i in exhaust. Will the rear fan take away some the cool air from the top fans? And seems as the C70 supports a bottom mounted intake near the PSU, do you guys think I should install one of them too?

EDIT: I also just bought a handful of Y split PWM cables off ebay. I got 4 of them pretty cheap, and it's better for me to have too much than not enough, I figured anyway. So doesn't matter how many fans I put into this case, I'll be able to cram them onto the mobo without a fan controller. Once I get the fan controller (any recommendations?), I'll use the Y splitters to control pairs of fans in single channels, which SleepingForest suggested

 

[mfenn]

I'd like to again stress that stretching a build over months is not a good idea. The stuff you bought when you started the thread is already not returnable. Good luck doing a manufacturer's RMA with a part bought in a different region as well. I'd get whatever you can right now to make the best of a bad situation.

Stick with the stock fan layout at first and see how it does. Adding fans isn't always better, it can very easily lead to more noise without any cooling improvement.

 

[Splenyi]

Returning items? I suppose I would have to pay for it to be shipped back.

EDIT: Is DisplayPort better than HDMI?

EDIT: Just realised that the fans in my case are 3pin, and I'm wondering if the 4pin splitters I bought will still work with these fans? I wont need to pull out the extra pin, or cover it up or anything? And will it still work even if I have a 3pin extension cable on the other end?

 

[Sleepingforest]

Displayport is basically identical to HDMI, but allows for daisy-chaining. Pick whatever works best for your scenario (or grab some extra cables).

Four pin is basically identical to 3-pin, but gives the option of using PWM (another, non-voltage method of fan speed control). However, it is not necessary to have a fourth pin to use the connector.

 

[aarontpx]

Possibly. But as I said, RAM speeds and latnecy tends to not matter much past 1600MHz CL9-9-9-24.

^^

 

[mfenn]

EDIT: Just realised that the fans in my case are 3pin, and I'm wondering if the 4pin splitters I bought will still work with these fans? I wont need to pull out the extra pin, or cover it up or anything? And will it still work even if I have a 3pin extension cable on the other end?

What kind of 4-pin? Small 4-pin (similar to a 3-pin but with one more pin) or a big 4-pin Molex?

 

[Splenyi]

PWM fan 4 pin, not a molex. Sorry, should have said that

EDIT: Not that I want to do this, just wondering if it's possible, because I read somewhere that someone was doing it. Is it possible to have a primary AMD graphics card, and then a secondary Nvidia one solely for Advanced PhysX processing?

 

[mfenn]

Yes, your 4-pin PWM splitters will still work. You (obviously) won't get PWM, but the other wires will be fine. The 3-pin plug should fit to one side of the 4-pin PWM socket.

As for PhysX with a primary AMD GPU, no you can't do that officially, but it is possible with some old hacked Nvidia drivers.

 

[Splenyi]

Ah ok, thanks mfenn.

Would you guys pay $520 for a custom cooled 680?

 

[Sleepingforest]

No. I would pay $400 for a dual fan 7970 though (or $430 or so for a 680). Honestly, the custom cooling won't make things much better.

 

[Splenyi]

The price of that 680 is $480 now, still not worth it though I suppose. It's a reference design Galaxy.

I'll be buying more stuff this Friday. Either going to buy the OS, fan controller, and other tiny bits and pieces (leaving just the gpu, mobo and cpu to get), or I'm going to buy the graphics card (or hopefully both, depending on my money). Probably getting the graphics card, so I can get that Never Settle package, keep me busy playing games for a while.

Also, apparently Haswell will have the VRM integrated. I suppose this is a good thing.

EDIT: Apparently the overclocking features on a lot of AMDs cards, especially the voltage control, has been locked. Any word on this? I know ASUS's Direct CU II cards have this problem, when people can't change the voltage at all (I have seen one guy using the Matrix BIOS to get past this though). Do Gigabyte's, or Sapphire's have this problem?

 

[Sleepingforest]

The HIS IceQ X2 and MSI 7970 OC (not Lightning!) should be voltage unlocked.

 

[Splenyi]

Ok thanks, I'll email pccasegear.com and see if they can get either of them in, because they don't have either at the moment.

EDIT: Do you mean this MSI card? http://www.msi.com/product/vga/R7970-TF-3GD5-OC-BE.html

And for the HIS card, does it matter if I get the Turbo or regular IceQ X2?

 

[Sleepingforest]

Okay, good luck!

 

[Splenyi]

A few questions I have for HDD.

Do WD models these days use 1TB platters or 500GB platters? So, will a 2TB model have 4 platters, or 2. Curious question for what to expect the acoustic and power consumption performances to be like.

Also, I am planning on getting a backup drive further down the road, once I have got everything else I wanted for my system, and I wanted to get something geared entirely for reliability. How does a WB RE4 1TB sound (500GB model would be plenty for my 250GB SSD, but it's only another $20 for double the space, unless it's got another platter, then I'll get 500GB.)? I think I would prefer internal over external backup.

 

[Sleepingforest]

The platter count varies. You have to pay close attention to the model numbers--I don't know exactly right now.

 

[Splenyi]

Done a bit of research, and all WD's models have 500GB platters, but the Green drives have larger ones in some of the models, for power saving I suppose.

No reply from pccasegear yet either. I did email them about the Corsair Link Kit, because I think it would be really neat to have. They have it listed for double the price which Corsair have theirs listed at, which is very off putting.

 

[Sleepingforest]

I'd keep any single drive to 2 platters or less, preferably just 1 platter.

For example, Seagate, upon some research, has all of it's 625 Gfc/in^2 (probably the 1TB/platter drives) have a model number of "STX000DM00N" where the X represents the storage capacity in TB (the N seems to have no particular meaning). The relevant table is at the bottom of the page.

 

[Splenyi]

Yes I was hoping to get 1 platter drives, and thanks for the information.

 

[Sleepingforest]

The only problem with sticking to 1 platter drives is that you'll be limited to 1TB HDDs, as no company has released platters with a higher density. You may need to compromise if you want bulk storage for less money, or you'll have to deal with multiple drives (either on their own or in RAID).

Also, after a little more reasearch, it seems that the WD10EZEX model is WD's one platter 1TB HDD.

 

[mfenn]

I'd keep any single drive to 2 platters or less, preferably just 1 platter.

For example, Seagate, upon some research, has all of it's 625 Gfc/in^2 (probably the 1TB/platter drives) have a model number of "STX000DM00N" where the X represents the storage capacity in TB (the N seems to have no particular meaning). The relevant table is at the bottom of the page.

Correct, all of the Seagate drives with the new model numbering scheme have 1TB platters.

 

[Splenyi]

There seems to be a lot of suspicion that Nvidia will launch their 700 series cards at Computex. Any thoughts on this?

 

[Sleepingforest]

They'll be overpriced when they launch, because everything is overpriced when it launches. Plus, there will be driver issues and maybe even hardware issues. Finally, since AMD isn't launching a new series, I don't expect the GTX 7xx series to provide a significant increase in power.