Please Critique this build

[DarkRogue]

Hello,

No doubt some of you regulars have seen me posting all over the place here asking for information and suggestions, and I'm eternally grateful for all the help.
I believe I have finally assembled a good set of parts that will also run cool, efficient and quiet, and still be powerful enough to run games decently.

I just want some opinions on my plan, and see if I missed anything critical.
Link to my Newegg wishlist is here, check that for links to the parts.

What I have so far:
Case: Antec P182
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3P
CPU: Intel E8400 ** Will OC to 3.6GHz (400x9)
Video Card: eVGA GeForce 8800GT (Standard - will OC slightly)
RAM: Corsair 2x2GB XMS2 PC6400 DDR2 800 (CAS 5 - Won't be OCing this)
PSU: Seasonic S12II 380W (It's not listed because I bought it already)
System Drive: Western Digital Raptor 150GB
Data Drives: 2x Western Digital 500GB WD5000AAKS (No RAID)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-S203B (Pretty much do-it-all non-HD drive)
CPU Cooling: Scythe Ninja Plus Rev 2 SCNJ-1100P w/ Undervolted stock Slipstream(?) fan
VGA Cooling: Arctic Cooling Accelero S1 Rev B w/ Undervolted Turbo Module
Case Cooling: Full speed Nexus 120mm Exhaust + Optional undervolted Scythe S-FLEX SFF21E if needed
TIM: Arctic Silver Ceramique because I have a ton lying around. (Would've bought Tuniq TX-2 but eh..)
All that totals to around $1400 give or take.

As for speakers, I'll be purchasing a set of Acoustic Energy Aego M's from AudioAdvisor.

I'm looking for this PC to at least last as long as my current PC, which passed its 5th birthday 2 months ago.

Please be gentle lol

 

[jkresh]

good for the most part but I think the psu is an issue (seasonic is a good brand, but with an overclocked penryn, an 8800 4gigs of ram, 3 hard drives and everything else I think 380 is going to be seriously pushed). While it may work, if you are ever at full cpu/gpu load you are going to be seriously pushing that hard drive (a 450-500watt seasonic or corsair would have been better for that kind of system).

 

[chinaman1472]

I'd opt out of the Raptor HDD. The performance difference is only noticeable when you're benchmarking really.

 

[Roguestar]

I agree with jkresh; 380W is enough for most but you might just be stretching it too far with that build, if you overclock.

 

[MarcVenice]

Drop the raptor, get this instead: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822152100

It's 5 times bigger, equally fast in load times, and a LOT less noisy, which is what you want, right ? The samsung spinpoint 500gb are also a quieter and cooler running then the WD's you picked. Get 4 of those casefans, to replace the antec tricools, and to fit one in the upper HD bay. Build looks good

 

[DarkRogue]

Thanks guys, looking positive so far, so I didn't screw up too much lol.

I agree with the PSU feeling small but I've had multiple assurances that it was enough. For the most part, people seem to like recommending oversized PSU's, which is not necessarily a bad thing but I am on a budget so I have to keep my needs in focus. While not strictly a gaming monster, since it's going to be my main PC for the next couple years, it needs to be able to handle anything I throw at it, whether it's gaming, audio/visual work, encoding, etc at least decently.
But I'm straying off topic. Regarding the 380W, the E8400 is reported to only suck up around 30W at full load at stock speeds. With a minor bump in speed, I'd say we can put a theoretical maximum consumption of 50W (unless someone with 400x9 can report their consumption?) The 8800GT eats about 100W, but given even a worst-case scenario of 150W (doubtful as I'll only push the core clock to maybe 650) that's 200W total. There is no way the rest of the system will draw anywhere close to 180W to begin taxing the PSU, and if it does, I'll upgrade to a 430W or something. Anything higher really is only needed for SLI/Crossfire rigs, but higher capacity PSU's are heavily marketed. If i'm wrong please correct me with actual consumption figures, I'm open to reviews, but I'll be grabbing a Kill-A-Watt meter as well just to see how much power I draw.

MarcVenice, I've always used WesternDigital drives, and although I know Samsung is good, I've preferred WD over everything else. It's not set in stone though, do you have links to any reviews about that drive vs the Raptors? I'm only using it as my system drive so I'm counting on it for quick boots and fast program/game load times (currently use a Raptor 74GB and love it.) I don't mind that noise too much, the fans persistent whine is worse.

As far as buying 4 case fans, that's out of the question as far as SPCR goes lol. I was originally going to buy 3 case fans, a CPU fan and a VGA fan, and that was met with harsh criticism about being too loud. This is as good a compromise as I could get, everyone wanted me to run it off a single exhaust fan and run the rest of the system passively, which is actually doable with the parts I've chosen. The Ninja works well passively, as does the Accelero, but I like to be safe so I'm strapping undervolted fans to them.

 

[MarcVenice]

I'd at least keep the fan in the PSU compartment, the antec tricools on low are inaudible ya know ? Me, I'm running a p182 with an intake fan in the middle HD compartment, an exhaust fan pulling air from the CPU HSF, and one fan in the PSU compartment. I removed the 'upper' fan. No time to go find HD reviews, but here is an interesting read for you: http://episteme.arstechnica.co...9309975/m/989001928831

As for your power consumption estimates, the 380w PSU will run your rig for sure, but 180w is a bit on the low side, I'm sure you'll be seeing peeks of 250w or so, and perhaps 180-200w on average when you're gaming. Don't know, a bigger PSU will run cooler and quieter and last longer, a few more bucks would have bought you some 'save' headroom, and if you ever get a more powerhungry videocard and such, you'll still need a new PSU. Had you bought a 500w PSU right now, it might have even lasted you till your rig after this one.

 

[DarkRogue]

I am purchasing an extra (listed as Optional above) Scythe S-Flex fan to put anywhere if I really need it. I'm removing the top fan and adding some foam in its place as per SPCR suggestion to reduce noise. If the bottom really needs additional airflow, I'll stick the Scythe in there.

As far as the PSU goes, 200-250W peak is fine for my PSU, even with that I still have about a 130-180W headroom before my PSU hits 100% load. Leaving it around 60%-ish also means it's operating at its most efficient point, I believe it's around 87% efficiency? The numbers look reasonable and I see no reason to upgrade, but it'll sort itself out naturally when I get the parts. I doubt I'd be upgrading again anytime soon so that's not a huge problem, and when I do upgrade again, advances in technology will mean things run more efficiently and much cooler. This rig is already probably going to use less power and run cooler than my current Athlon XP 2600+ with a Radeon 9800 Pro.

 

[accguy9009]

I just bought this power supply and it is silent


http://www.buy.com/prod/ocz-50...loc/101/206526699.html

 

[DarkRogue]

Sounds good, but I'm not replacing my PSU just yet lol.
I already bought the PSU a while ago to replace a dying PSU on my current rig, and I'm going to salvage it for my next rig because it's only a few months old.
It also hits its maximum efficiency of around 84% (Just re-read the SPCR article to make sure) at around 200W, which is my system's ballpark figure under load.

 

[imported_wired247]

sounds a little scary to me to trust such a small psu, even if it is a reputable brand.

how many amps does it have on each 12V rail?

 

[DarkRogue]

Originally posted by: wired247
how many amps does it have on each 12V rail?

I believe it is 17A, if the numbers on the unit are correct.

Edit:
There's a pic of the info here near the bottom if you want to verify.

 

[Peelback79]

I'm not saying it won't hold, but pushing your psu to the limits will produce heat. And when it comes to wattage a little wiggle room goes a long way. I have an 850 which is enough to power my rig and my toaster oven, but I got a sweet deal on it and let's face it, who doesn't like toast?

In short, you're spending 1400 clams on this baby, give yourself one less thing to worry about and spend the money for something like this

PC&P 430 watt.
EDIT: It's a 470 watt...
Drop one of the hard drives if you have to and but it later. It's around $83.50 shipped. PC&P is one of the higher recommendations when it comes to PSUs. I mean, scrimp and save on your keyboard, mouse, peripherals, but don't underpower your system.

If you're not going oc your memory G.Skillz DDR2 800 (2x2) is looks like its about $40 bucks cheaper than the Corsairs you got. Been working for great me @ stock.

Just my opinions.

 

[MarcVenice]

Why suggest that one ? Why not just a antec earthwatts 500w for 55$ ? or a corsair 450/550vx for 65-75$ ? Thing is though, the 380w PSU will hold up, and if it does go out, it won't be with a bang, so he can always buy a new one when it does give the puff of magic smoke.

 

[DarkRogue]

Actually, my friends strongly disagree, and believe it or not, 380 was actually a compromise.
The most I'd be willing to go to for a single card rig is 430w. If you add up all the power requirements at their worst case scenarios, for the most part 400W is ample power to cover that. Of course, they're of the opinion you should only pay for what you need plus a bit of headroom - who in their right mind needs 1000 watts of power for a single video card? That's practically a mini power substation in your room.

Now, I didn't say I did not share everyone's sense of skepticism when he said 380W would be enough, but the numbers make sense, and if it turns out it will not work, I will purchase a good 430W PSU because I firmly believe that is sufficient to power any decent single card system nowadays. However, it seems everyone is going way overboard with recommendations on power requirements, and so-called "PSU-calculators" show this. I tried one, inputting my current system specs and apparently, they tell me I can't run my system off my 380W PSU (by the order of being short about 100W), but my being online and typing this right now begs to differ.

In a way though, I guess if the only real fault is the PSU, I think I did a fairly good job of picking out all the other components lol. PSU is vastly easier to replace than, say, a motherboard.