Whats like the quietest case that can fit a big ass video card? I hate noise!
Also is the HT worth it to get the i7 over and i5?
Also, does anything use usb3? It seems like the uptake is slow >.<
The most noise anything would (or should) make in your case is the GPU fan. I didn't go out of my way to buy a "silent" case (Coolermaster 690-II Adv.) and the only noise I ever hear is when the GPU fans arc up. That 5970 is a motherfucker. BTW my particular case needs to have a drive cage removed to fit a bigger card in, so be wary of that if you were thinking about it. Having said that, the case with a near-silent CPU cooler (I have the Thermalright Macho, as good as the all in one watercoolers, quieter and far cheaper) and a Noctua fan (that I had laying around) at the rear. It's a tight fit, but minus the GPU you don't even know it's on. My NAS makes more noise!
For illustration:
(Note the distance b/w the CPU HSF and the rear case fan. Also note that I can't actually use the first RAM slot either! This is pre-5970 so the lower HDD cage is still attached.)
It doesnt just come with BF3 though, it comes with ORIGIN too burn!
>.<
Whats the best cheap 1155 mb?
Thinking of getting a cheap mb and a 2500k to tide me over for awhile
The AsRock Extreme 3 Gen 3 is cheap and does a REALLY good job. Only worthwhile stepping up the Gen 4 if you want (I think?) dual 16x PCI-E 3.0 for CFX or SLI and possibly some more USB 3.0 and SATA3 ports. But I've never found the need. Paid around $140 I think?
FWIW, that combo with some Ripjaw RAM and the 2500K nets me 4.9GHz <70C under load.
Also there isn't a major difference between brands. Most will use reference boards, Some will throw on their own cooling solution, Different warranty and crap in the box.
Yup. The only difference is in things like warranty and after-sales support.
Fake edit: Apologies if this covers old ground, had this tab open while doing other stuff at work. It should still help though