OK, It is TIME, once again

[boglwe]

OK, My budget is 2000. I would like to water cool ONLY the processor. I have the Cooler master Haf (love it and will keep it unless there is something better now). I also have EVGA 295 Co-op and would like to get another to SLI this time. I run 2 37inch Sharps at 1080p. Here is a list of things I need

Processor Intel, I would prefer a 500 range that is best at OC.
ONE super fast hard drive for boot and some files. Currently have 1 raptor and about 2tb of other drives.
Memory I prefer 4 gigs, but if you think 8 or 16 is the way to go now, then ok.
Motherboard 300 dollar range
Water Cooling for Processor
PSU Whatever you think I need to power this beast.

It has been about 1 year since my last build and I have completely lost track of things. I have already started my research, but I know you folks ALWAYS know more then me. This will be my starting point. It is also OK to think 3 months down the road, this is when I will probably be building.

Peace
Bogs

 

[philosofool]

Originally posted by: boglwe
OK, My budget is 2000. I would like to water cool ONLY the processor. I have the Cooler master Haf (love it and will keep it unless there is something better now). I also have EVGA 295 Co-op and would like to get another to SLI this time. I run 2 37inch Sharps at 1080p. Here is a list of things I need

Processor Intel, I would prefer a 500 range that is best at OC.
ONE super fast hard drive for boot and some files. Currently have 1 raptor and about 2tb of other drives.
Memory I prefer 4 gigs, but if you think 8 or 16 is the way to go now, then ok.
Motherboard 300 dollar range
Water Cooling for Processor
PSU Whatever you think I need to power this beast.

Hard drive Nope. You want a Solid State Drive. Right now, it's going to be an Intel 25-M, 80GB or 120GB, depending on your final build budget and the size you need for your OS/Program files. The large media files can live on another drive. Nothing with a plater compete performance-wise. But SSD capacities are currently limited an expensive. I think the 80GB from Intel is supposed to be $220 right now.
Processor Intel Core i7--but you may want to wait until we have more data on their SLI performance to pick the 900 vs. 800 series. The PCIe controller of the LGA 1156 models (800 series i7s) is actually on die and limited to 16 total lanes, so 2x8 for SLI; whether that's an issue for SLI remains a little bit to be seen, but early reports seem to indicated that those lanes can get saturated by the data and better SLI performance will come from a 900 series on an X58 board rather than an 800 series on a P55 board. This is still within your budget range.
Memory Well, following what I said above, you will probably actually want 6GB, not 4. The reason is that x58 boards and the 900 series i7s use triple channel memory, which is just like dual channel memory except that you use three DIMMs instead of two and it gives you that many more oodles of memory bandwidth.
Water Cooling for Processor: I won't comment because these are out of my areas of expertise.
PSU Two GTX 295s? Can't say I know what sort of power demands that will make, so I will let someone else handle this. However, with a new generation of cards around the corner, you may get more performance and longevity (DX11 support) by going to next gen cards. I would wait and see.

 

[Beanie46]

Watercooling......cpu only loop:


Block: Watercool HK 3.0 or Koolance 350. Both are excellent blocks for the i7 cpu, but the HK flows much better than the Koolance. But in a cpu-only loop, fairly irrelevant.

Radiator: XSPC RX 360 probably best bang-for-buck if looking for silence. Ultimate bang-for-buck would be Swiftech MCR-320, but will require a little faster speed fans due to the higher fin density.

Tubing: Current "favorite" is Primochill LRT. Excellent tubing, doesn't cloud much if at all, but is not inexpensive....roughly $2/ft. Cheap alternative is Masterkleer.

Pump: Two worth considering, the DDC 3.2 or the D5, both made by Laing, sold under various names from Swiftech, Danger Den, others. DDC is smaller, slightly higher head pressure, has more aftermarket top replacement options to increase performance than the D5. Either one is a worthy pump.

Barbs vs. compression fittings: Personal choice. Top barbs are the Danger Den Fat Boy/Bitspower (Danger Dens are rebadged Bitspower)


Where to buy:

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/ Sidewinders is excellent, good prices, great CS.

http://www.petrastechshop.com/ Petra's is another excellent source, great CS.

http://www.jab-tech.com/ Jab-Tech is a third excellent source with great prices and CS.

http://www.performance-pcs.com...ex.php?main_page=index Performance PC's is a nice place, more selection than anywhere outside FrozenCPU below. Higher prices than anywhere else, though, except for FrozenCPUs, again.

http://www.frozencpu.com/ FrozenCPU has almost everything you'd need, but again, highest prices online for stuff, besides Performance PCs.

Also look into Newegg.....not the largest selection, but does carry Swiftech products at some of the lowest prices for their line.

The above is just a bunch of suggestions......ask around, Aigo for one can really steer you in good directions. Xtremesystems.org is another forum with a very active watercooling sub-forum.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

That's excellent h20 advice as Beanie46 stated above. My next CPU block will be the HK 3.0 I just wish they had a universal socket bracket.

I think you may want to go with a 1366 board. I just seen a i7 965 going for 500$ in the FS thread.

As stated above, that's all good advice cept, G2 on the Intel SSD drive.

EDIT: for good clean low ripple/noise suppression power, the PCP&C 910 Silencer is outstanding - reviewed on JonnyGuru here. Just look at those or lack of ripples - amazing! Another good choice is the Enermax Evo 1250, reviewed here. Good numbers once again, and don't fret, 40mv at 102A - that's amazing at that level!

 

[boglwe]

Amazing so far, but does all this mean you sending me in a direction that is not P55?

 

[boglwe]

Amazing so far, but does all this mean you sending me in a direction that is not P55?

 

[Beanie46]

Originally posted by: boglwe
Amazing so far, but does all this mean you sending me in a direction that is not P55?

Yes, because of this:

Originally posted by: boglwe
I also have EVGA 295 Co-op and would like to get another to SLI this time.

The P55 chipset motherboards, relegated to an x8, x8 arrangement for their video card PCI-e slots when in SLI/Crossfire, have shown to be come "congested" when really pushed, which your planned 295 SLI plans will do.

The much better choice, and this is one of the main reasons to do this, is to go i7 920/950 on one of the X58 motherboards. Those chipset-based motherboards have full X16, X16 PCI-e lanes when in SLI/Crossfire.

 

[boglwe]

Thanks, makes since.any evga board you recommend for the chip

 

[Beanie46]

From what I've read about EVGA boards, they're all pretty good choices.

But there is ONE that overclockers lust over to the exclusion of all others......but it's pricey, naturally......

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813188048


Moving down, you have price points for their boards at $300, $255, and $240....all worthy choices, guess choice would depend on features needed.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...yCodeValue=717%3A45358


Just peruse the above linked list. Starts cheapest to most expensive. Pick by features needed, unless you need the trophy OC'er board, the Classified.

 

[boglwe]

Yay Beanie, Thank you. Thanks everyone. That is some good stuff. Starting to make my wishlist now. But, I am sure it is going to change in the next few months. But, now I have a base to start my research. I am concerned a bit about memory. Who is on top now. I had Ballistix tracers. Not the best, but so much fun in the case. I now have dominators which are dead stable. What frequency am I looking for, 2000? is that to much? And will this build require 1000 watts?

And maybe I should return my video card and put the 8800 back in until I build.