New Computer Build - Advice and Help

[Hawaii_Boy_808]

So my old computer is starting to show its age (also just want to upgrade). Will be upgrading from a Intel Q9550, Maximus II Formula, and CF ATI 4850. Been doing some shopping around but still a bit confused.

1. System will be used for games (max settings), multimedia (home theater system, and media server), and other thing (P2P, etc.).
2. Have some money collecting dust so around $2,000 to $2,500.
3. Parts we be bought in the US and shipping in the 48 continental states.
4. Don't really want to buy out of states.
5. I am generally not a fanboy but kinda in a love/hate battle with nVidia.
6. The only thing that I want to use is my NZXT Phantom case (Newegg Edition) and my recently bought XFX 7970 GHz Edition.
7. I will be overclocking my system to moderate levels.
8. I will be using standard 1080P resolution until a good 120 Hz monitor comes around.
9. My build date is about 2 to 3 weeks. I will be working on it during night time and some weekends.
X. OS, and total system encryption.

So with that i was looking at getting a Intel 3770K for the proc and a Maximus V Formula. I will be adding another AMD 7970 card later on.

I do plan on water cooling the entire system. The only shitty thing about that is i have no ideal what the hell i am doing. I do know is that i cant use a full coverage block with my card as XFX did some changes on the PCB and made it non reference. So i need a good CPU, and VGA water block, VGA memory heat sinks, pump, radiators, fans, and reservoir (bay type perfer).

Also need some advice for a power supply as i was hoping for 850 watt will sufficient.

Some other things i will be getting is at least 2 2TB HDD (will be adding 2 more down the line), 4 120mm and 3 200mm fans, and 2 SSD (one will be for OS and programs and the other for video games). So need advice for HDD and fans. I know Western Digital has been out performing Seagate. Also a good Blue-Ray Drive/burner (just cause).

I will be also doing some modding to my case so that i don't need to disconnect the cables for the fans on the side, got some good ideals here but need to test it first. I may mod my video card heat sink as i void the dam warranty if i install a water block.

I also will be post pictures as i go along building the system.

 

[Sleepingforest]

I'd say "Welcome to ATGH," but it looks like you've been around for a while and just posted. So: welcome lurker!

Going straight to the build, a 750W PSU is enough for two 7970s (800W to be safe on the GHz editions), but it's basically wasted power (graphics card power, I mean) at 60Hz and 1080p, unless you were planning on doing some crazy SSAA levels in every game, and even then, microstutter might ruin the experience for you. I'd also recommend against getting the 3770K unless you plan on doing CAD work or photo/video editing. The Maximus V Formula also offers very little to justify it's price. Is there any specific feature you are looking for on that board? If there isn't and you absolutely want a premium motherboard, at least get the P8Z77 WS, which allows for x16/x16 PCIe 3.0.

Secondly, I'd recommend one huge SSD for all programs and games, as SSDs offer better performance and longevity as their size increases. On the hard drive side, there is basically no difference between Seagate, Hitachi, and Western Digital UNLESS you are putting them in an NAS. Thus, you should just buy at the best GB/$ ratio.

For water cooling, the options available to you will vary significantly based on the amount of modding you are willing to do and the exact case you got (the full sized Phantom?), since those are the primary factors in deciding what radiator size is available to you. If you did get a full-sized Phantom, there should be room in the top for a single 360mm radiator (a tri-120mm), which means you should go with something like XSPC RX360 for $90. You'll also need fans to power it; the quality Scythe Gentle Typhoons are about $16 a pop while something like these PWM controlled NoiseBlockers are considerable more, around $30 apiece. A CPU block, like the Koolance CPU-380I is about $75, and GPU blocks are roughly $100 (you need a special model for that XFX, right?). a good pump like the MCP35X is $100, and a 5.25" bay is around $35. Compression fittings are around $6 a pop at least (so, figuring 2 each for the reservoir, pump, CPU block, GPU block, and radiator means a minimum $60 total). Then you'd have to get some tubing as well (make sure the ID matches the ID of the fittings!) So the water cooling is $500 at least before taxes and shipping. That leaves $1500-2000 for your build:

PCPartPicker part list (If you're worried, I've directly linked to each part and edited out the referral part of each link; this link is more for me)

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77 WS ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($339.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Wintec Value 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($50.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($132.57*2 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($336.47 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card ($449.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 850W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($120.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Pioneer BDC-207DBK Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($135.98 @ Amazon)
Total: $1941.53 before shipping, taxes, and discounts

That gets you 6TB of storage and 500GB of SSD space straight up, as well as a second 7970 GHz.

 

[Hawaii_Boy_808]

Thanks for the info Sleepingforest. I will be going with a Intel 3570K for CPU. The only reason I went for a MVF is because it came with a bulit in WiFi, this is because i was planing on using the computer as a AP for my laptop when accessing files. I was thinking of going with a P8Z77-V Deluxe but the MVF was only $10 more and i like the black/red better than black/blue. I was reading several years ago that when doing a 16x/16x verses 8x/8x for dual VGA there was only a marginal improvements unless the new PCIe 3.0 makes a big difference now.

As for the SSD i was going with 2 because i am still paranoid about SSD short falls although TRIM is suppose to take care of it. I was thinking of going with 2TB drives, again paranoid about HHD crashes.

As for the memory i was looking to go with DDR3-1600 - DDR3-2100 range unless its overkill with those speeds.

I thought as much for water cooling was going to cost me that much. I do have the full size Phantom case. I going to have to check to see how i can get a tri 120mm rad to fit on top since it was made for 200mm fans. I did find one dual 200mm rad but only one brand. I was also thinking of adding a 2 120mm rad in back internal and external. It may be overkill but was just thinking of it since i have no experience with water cooling.

I do plan on doing some major modding.

 

[Sleepingforest]

You can get an orange/red and black motherboard which supports x8/x8 PCIe 3.0 for $150 and a WiFi PCI card for only $20 or so.

RAM doesn't really impact Intel CPU performance, so you'll be fine at 1600 MHz. Having multiple SSDs actually makes TRIM issues worse, not better. (SSDs by default do not truely erase data until you need more write space. TRIM forces this erase during idle periods, which speeds things up as the drive fills up. If you have one big drive, you have more room before TRIM needs to happen at all.) The only way to really be protected from data loss is external backups anyway.

As for watercooling--you'll be trying to cool roughly 650W of power (250W for each graphics card, and another 150W for an overclocked CPU. Thick radiators cool about 120W for every 120mm fan at quiet (800RPM or so) speeds. A thick 360mm coupled with a thick 240mm should do it okay.

 

[Cerb]

Better yet, get a wireless router, which will get you an AP, and put anything connected to it behind a basic firewall.

 

[mfenn]

As for the SSD i was going with 2 because i am still paranoid about SSD short falls although TRIM is suppose to take care of it. I was thinking of going with 2TB drives, again paranoid about HHD crashes.

All drives will fail. Period. End of discussion.

Trying to avoid failures is pointless and will only serve to give you heart palpitations. What you should do instead is to make sure that a drive failure is no big deal. That means making good backups and storing them somewhere safe.

Better yet, get a wireless router, which will get you an AP, and put anything connected to it behind a basic firewall.

Agree. Trying to use any random integrated Wi-Fi solution as an AP in Windows is an exercise in madness.