Need help with new gaming and allround PC

[lehtv]

What do you mean when you say its in push or pull configuration? Are you referring to which side of the radiator it's placed (but with the fan facing the same direction)?

Yes, that's what I'm referring to. If the fan draws air through the heatsink, it's 'pull', if it pushes air through the heatsink, it's 'push'.

I just saw that Corsair recommends that the H90 is installed as intake, which makes sense, but isn't that a little strange to have an intake in the rear?

Yes, that way you get optimal performance from the heatsink. If it draws air through the back, it's drawing in cool air which means it'll perform better. But the downside is it's pushing warm air into the case, and you have to have a way of exhausting it. Personally I'd just install it to push air out of the rear and deal with the performance disadvantage, it just makes things easier.

Then I'd have no exhaust at all unless I installed fans in the top of the case (or the H90). I saw a test (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/water2.0-extreme-kraken-x40-hydro-h90-elc120,3434-13.html) where there is a quite significant difference in cooling performance between intake and exhaust on the H90.

I bet the intake slot for the cooler isn't filtered to keep dust out...

I also just saw a new Coolermaster case, Silencio 652 (http://www.coolermaster.com/product/Detail/case/mid-tower-silent-series/silencio652.html) - this looks really nice I think - and it's cheap, but I can't really find much information about it - do you have any knowledge about this case?

Typically Silencios are basically budget versions of better quiet cases: fewer features, more plastic, worse cooling performance.

That Silencio 652 seems to be the highest end case in the Silencio series, and it shows. It looks like it's the only silent-marketed case that supports 180mm fans, and in four different slots no less. It even comes with one. The one disadvantage it has compared to R4 though is that in its stock fan configuration, it's going to be louder: there's no integrated fan controller.

It looks nice but I'd wait for reviews before buying it. I hope Anandtech reviews it.

 

[T0bias]

Yes, that's what I'm referring to. If the fan draws air through the heatsink, it's 'pull', if it pushes air through the heatsink, it's 'push'.



Yes, that way you get optimal performance from the heatsink. If it draws air through the back, it's drawing in cool air which means it'll perform better. But the downside is it's pushing warm air into the case, and you have to have a way of exhausting it. Personally I'd just install it to push air out of the rear and deal with the performance disadvantage, it just makes things easier.



I bet the intake slot for the cooler isn't filtered to keep dust out...



Typically Silencios are basically budget versions of better quiet cases: fewer features, more plastic, worse cooling performance.

That Silencio 652 seems to be the highest end case in the Silencio series, and it shows. It looks like it's the only silent-marketed case that supports 180mm fans, and in four different slots no less. It even comes with one. The one disadvantage it has compared to R4 though is that in its stock fan configuration, it's going to be louder: there's no integrated fan controller.

It looks nice but I'd wait for reviews before buying it. I hope Anandtech reviews it.

Sorry for my late reply, been a busy week

If I went with intake on a slot where there is no filter I would of course get that as extra - I have previously gotten a filter for my P280 from Demcifilter (I think thats their name), and it works well

It's a shame that there is so little info about the Silencio 652 case, but I will skip it for now.

I am actually going to be ordering my stuff now, but I got a little in doubt about which brand for the graphics card (I think I go with the 780) - I have mainly been looking at the Asus DirectCU II and MSI TwinFrozr, but also Gigabyte Windforce - especially the Asus seems to be recommended a lot. Are there anything I should be aware of or can I just go with the one I think looks best since they are almost identically priced? To begin with I probably wont do any OC, but a nice silent cooler that keeps the card at good temps would be nice

It doesn't have to be something Komplett got, so all options are open.

 

[lehtv]

Any of Asus/Gigabyte/MSI is great, get whichever is the cheapest or pleases your eye the most.

 

[T0bias]

Any of Asus/Gigabyte/MSI is great, get whichever is the cheapest or pleases your eye the most.

Cool thanks So no real difference in their noiselevels either?
Also EVGA with their ASX cooler has gotten some nice reviews, but I guess that one is not much different?

 

[lehtv]

The ACX cooler is not bad either, but typically EVGA's coolers aren't quite up to par with the other three.

Here's a comparison based on Techpowerup's reviews (remember, this is just a sample size of 1 and they all have a bit different factory clocks):

EVGA 780 ACX SuperClocked
Gigabyte 780 Windforce OC
MSI 780 Twin Frozr Gaming
Asus 780 DCII OC

Load noise and temperature:

EVGA: 36 dB, 74 °C
Gigabyte: 38 dB, 72 °C
MSI: 30 dB, 73 °C
Asus (new BIOS): 30 dB, temperature not shown but should be similar to the others.

So based on this, grab either MSI or Asus.

 

[T0bias]

I think I'll go with the Asus - it also happens to be the one that looks best imo - got a nice backplate

However, I just saw that the Samsung 840 EVO only has 3 years warranty as opposed to Intel's 5 year on the 530 (240 GB), and they are so close in price that I will disregard that as a factor - but I see that Intel use the Sandforce controller which seems to be getting quite mixed feedback?

I was originally thinking to go with Intel because of their reputation for reliability, but I'm not so sure.. the 840 Pro got 5 years warranty, but that's a notch more expensive.

I don't think too much of the performance differences, as I think any of them are going to be really fast for daily use - but the reliability is much more important to me.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

I think I'll go with the Asus - it also happens to be the one that looks best imo - got a nice backplate

You wont regret that. MSI Twin Frozr and ASUS DCII are some of the best, if not the best, and quietest coolers currently on the market. Excluding water of course.

I haven't regretted for one second spending slightly more and getting a DCII-card.

However, I just saw that the Samsung 840 EVO only has 3 years warranty as opposed to Intel's 5 year on the 530 (240 GB), and they are so close in price that I will disregard that as a factor - but I see that Intel use the Sandforce controller which seems to be getting quite mixed feedback?

The reliability problems with Sandforce controllers only applies to non-Intel drives. Both the 840 EVO and 530 are good choices.

By the way. However much warranty there is on a drive, its useless if the drive dies with your data on it. Always have a backup solution for your important data.

 

[lehtv]

Also, warranty does not equal reliability. Intel is probably offering 5 year warranty as a service you pay for, it does not make their drive more reliable than Samsung's drive.

 

[mfenn]

The reliability problems with Sandforce controllers only applies to non-Intel drives.

That's what Intel fooled everybody into thinking when they started using Sandforce. They bragged about how they wrote a custom firmware and were thus immune to the same bugs as other Sandforce drives. Eventually it came to light that they don't have a custom firmware at all and in fact didn't even have the source code. They just had a special agreement with Sandforce that any bugs fixes found as part of Intel's validation procedure would be exclusive to Intel drives. Tricky tricky.

Not saying that the 840 EVO is somehow magically immune to controller bugs, but I don't think that the Intel drive is any more reliable overall.

 

[lehtv]

That's what Intel fooled everybody into thinking when they started using Sandforce. They bragged about how they wrote a custom firmware and were thus immune to the same bugs as other Sandforce drives. Eventually it came to light that they don't have a custom firmware at all and in fact didn't even have the source code. They just had a special agreement with Sandforce that any bugs fixes found as part of Intel's validation procedure would be exclusive to Intel drives. Tricky tricky.

Ewww D:

 

[Insert_Nickname]

That's what Intel fooled everybody into thinking when they started using Sandforce. They bragged about how they wrote a custom firmware and were thus immune to the same bugs as other Sandforce drives. Eventually it came to light that they don't have a custom firmware at all and in fact didn't even have the source code. They just had a special agreement with Sandforce that any bugs fixes found as part of Intel's validation procedure would be exclusive to Intel drives. Tricky tricky.

Isn't the end result the same? They did solve the BSOD issue. Far as I heard Intel drives also get the highest quality NAND available from their fabs.

Though I fully agree about being tricked like that...

Not saying that the 840 EVO is somehow magically immune to controller bugs, but I don't think that the Intel drive is any more reliable overall.

I'd say reliability is properly the same for both with a consumer workload. The way I look at it is that a(ny) drive WILL fail at some point. Its better to plan for an eventuality, then hoping for the best.

I have seen a WD Black die within a month, and the cheapest c*** Maxtor drive last 10+ years. You just don't know...

 

[T0bias]

I actually have 3 Samsung 830 drives, which I still use – I have had no problems of any kind with them, and it does seem like a lot of people regard them as very reliable.

Are there any significant changes between the 830 and the 840 EVO / Pro? From what I could find it seems like the 840 Pro is more similar to the 830 because of the MLC memory.

I also see that the Pro version has been out for quite a while as opposed to the newer Intel 530 and the EVO version – would that be a reason to go with the Pro, or is the EVO too similar to the Pro for that to be an argument? I mean, since the 840 Pro is more than 1 year old, I guess it should be possible to say something about its reliability? I’d definitely prefer getting an SSD that I don’t need to update firmware on or stuff like that

Have there been any significant problems with the 840 Pro since its release?

Even though issues may have been corrected in the Sandforce Intel drives – I am thinking that it may be a bad decision to go with the Intel SSD because there have been many issues with that controller? It also seems like some people are having problems with the SSD not being detected after a restart (https://communities.intel.com/thread/44258?start=120&tstart=0).

Regarding backup, I do have that sorted, I am more worried about the hassle and wasted time in case the ssd dies and I have to replace it and reinstall stuff

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Are there any significant changes between the 830 and the 840 EVO / Pro? From what I could find it seems like the 840 Pro is more similar to the 830 because of the MLC memory.

If you don't mind doing a bit of reading, Anandtechs review of the 840 EVO should tell you all you need to know.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7173/...iew-120gb-250gb-500gb-750gb-1tb-models-tested

I also see that the Pro version has been out for quite a while as opposed to the newer Intel 530 and the EVO version – would that be a reason to go with the Pro, or is the EVO too similar to the Pro for that to be an argument? I mean, since the 840 Pro is more than 1 year old, I guess it should be possible to say something about its reliability? I’d definitely prefer getting an SSD that I don’t need to update firmware on or stuff like that

Have there been any significant problems with the 840 Pro since its release?

The 530/525/520 all use the same SF2200 controller, the difference is what NAND each uses. The 840 PRO/840/840 EVO all use the MEX controller (830 the previous MDX), the difference being again being what type of NAND each uses. The 840 EVO does use TLC NAND however, but unless you're writing 50GB daily it shouldn't be an issue. I also don't think you'd notice any difference outside benchmarks between all of them.

For standard desktop use, its properly a wash which one you choose. I'd take the one you can find cheapest.