Support NeoGAF

[Detox]

I'm building my new pc at the moment for the first time ever. I need some quick help my power supply has 1 x 12v 4 pin but my motherboard says 2 x 12v 4 pin. Have I messed up and bought the wrong power supply?

My psu http://www.scan.co.uk/products/700w...dual-12v-rails-atx12v-22-sata-pci-e-ready-psu

My MB http://www.scan.co.uk/products/giga...-pci-e-20-(x16)-ddr3-1333-sata-6gb-s-raid-atx

 

[Wrekt]

God that case is fugly! lol

Tell me about it. He was trying to save money and didn't want to go over $50 for a case. I tried to get him to go for a HAF 912 but he emphatically wanted blue neons throughout the entire build. We were browsing cases on Newegg and he screamed "that's the one" as soon as we saw it. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

 

[Corky]

Tell me about it. He was trying to save money and didn't want to go over $50 for a case. I tried to get him to go for a HAF 912 but he emphatically wanted blue neons throughout the entire build. We were browsing cases on Newegg and he screamed "that's the one" as soon as we saw it. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

nonetheless, you've done a great job with the build. Very clean and such, kudos

 

[AnkitT]

My recent build using some components from my old rig.

coolermaster haf-922(surprisingly way lighter than my old coolermaster mystique)
Gigabyte ud2h motherboard
AMD 1090xt be
ati 6950 2gb
g-skill ripjaws 4gb ram(1333)

Sorry for the bad cable management, but the cables were too short to keep it clean.

 

[LegoDad]

Just want to say, when everyone is upgrading their PCs, you should look into a DOCSIS 3.0 modem, even with your same speeds, your downloads are about 3x faster.

 

[StriKeVillain]

Alright, think I'm about to pull the trigger on this:

Opinions, thoughts, advice?

 

[Glassboy]

Hello! What's been the consensus on the $1500 build that Tested did in their video? As a first time computer builder I would probably watch the video as I build it. Any help is very appreciated. Cheers!

 

[InertiaXr]

Opinions, thoughts, advice?

What resolution are you using? Might be prudent to get a 1GB gtx 460 instead if your at 1680x1050 or above.

 

[StriKeVillain]

What resolution are you using? Might be prudent to get a 1GB gtx 460 instead if your at 1680x1050 or above.

1920x1080px. I probably won't be gaming at that res though.

Would a 6850 be a better buy than a GTX 460 though? Was taking a look at this card: here.

 

[Quicksilver4648]

Hello! What's been the consensus on the $1500 build that Tested did in their video? As a first time computer builder I would probably watch the video as I build it. Any help is very appreciated. Cheers!

While I am by far not a professional when it comes to building a computer, I would have to say the video is a bit outdated. Not in building techniques, but in hardware. For being a $1500 setup I think you could drop it down to $1000 (or less) today, especially if you don't plan on overclocking or buy two SSDs like they did.

Obviously the exact step-by-step instructions are going to be slightly different depending on which motherboard, case, and etc. you choose but overall that video is very helpful. One thing to point out is that if you decided to use the newer Asus Sandy Bridge motherboards then the whole BIOS setup would be very different. Asus uses a thing called an uEFI that allows you to use a mouse as well as a keyboard to setup and it looks much different than the BIOS in that Test.com video.

 

[Utako]

Hi GAF. I want to join the master race.

Could thread-goers take a look at my current list and make suggestions (esp. for the "???" fields, which are the least known to me)?

[B]Motherboard[/B]
Asus Rampage III Black Edition

[B]CPU[/B]
Intel Core i7-990X

[B]RAM[/B]
12GB PC3-12800 DDR3-1600

[B]Graphics[/B]
(2x) EVGA GeForce GTX 580 Superclocked 1536 MB GDDR5

[B]SSD[/B]
256GB Crucial RealSSD C300

[B]Cooling[/B]
???

[B]Case[/B]
???

[B]Power[/B]
???

Which brands should I consider for the other categories? My appreciation in advance for any help or insight.

 

[Corky]

Cooling
???

Case
???

Power
???[/CODE]

Which brands should I consider for the other categories? My appreciation in advance for any help or insight.

Get some "real" watercooling.
Maybe the Haf X for case?
a 1200w corsair psu

edit ; also if you don't plan on doing anything other than gaming you might want to reconsider an i5/i7 SB instead of a 990X , http://hothardware.com/Reviews/Intel-Core-i7990X-Extreme-Edition-Crazy-Fast-Got-Faster/?page=9

 

[InertiaXr]

1920x1080px. I probably won't be gaming at that res though.

Would a 6850 be a better buy than a GTX 460 though? Was taking a look at this card: here.

Stock they are mostly the same, but I think the 460 1GB is a better buy especially if you get a MSI Cyclone which will overclock by 20-25% without any issues, and Nvidia drivers instead of ATI. I don't have much experience with a 6850 so get another opinion but I'm sure it can overclock quite well as well.

 

[MacAttack]

Can anyone recommend a reputable 560 OC'ing guide?

I found a decent one specific to the msi twin frozr, do you have this card? I will try and find it and post later. The card comes OC'd @ 880mhz and I was able to run furmark without any artifacts @ 970mhz with no voltage adjustments. However Dirt 2 had some weird shading flashing issues and when I backed it down to around 925mhz it seemed to go away. Im not sure it was worth the effort so I havent gone back and tried to get it back higher.

Also, how do I force AA in games such as SCII?

Have you tried Nvidea Inspector? link

 

[momolicious]

1920x1080px. I probably won't be gaming at that res though.

Would a 6850 be a better buy than a GTX 460 though? Was taking a look at this card: here.

If your monitor is 1080p native, wont it look slightly washed up gaming in any other resolution?

 

[TheExodu5]

1920x1080px. I probably won't be gaming at that res though.

Would a 6850 be a better buy than a GTX 460 though? Was taking a look at this card: here.

They're pretty equivalent.

If you go the 6850 route, I'd go with this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121419&Tpk=asus 6850

No lifetime warranty, but you get a much better, and much quieter cooler.

 

[Utako]

Thanks for the feedback Corky!

Get some "real" watercooling.

Is that difficult to install, and could you drop a link to a reputable brand?

Maybe the Haf X for case?

WOW, that's quite a case; jam-packed with nice features!

a 1200w corsair psu

I had no idea on this, thanks.

edit ; also if you don't plan on doing anything other than gaming you might want to reconsider an i5/i7 SB instead of a 990X , http://hothardware.com/Reviews/Intel-Core-i7990X-Extreme-Edition-Crazy-Fast-Got-Faster/?page=9

This is actually also going to play the roles of HTPC, and home office workstation. Plus, I really like the Rampage III BE, so I'm bound to the 990X it seems.

 

[Draft]

If your monitor is 1080p native, wont it look slightly washed up gaming in any other resolution?

Yes, games will look like shit at ever resolution but 1080p.

 

[StriKeVillain]

If your monitor is 1080p native, wont it look slightly washed up gaming in any other resolution?

If I scale down I don't use full screen though. I have a laptop right now at 1920x1200 and that's what I do. Makes it easier for me to multi-task.

 

[Shambles]

1200W for 2x GTX 580's is massive overkill. You only need an 850W unit.

 

[LabouredSubterfuge]

Thanks for the feedback Corky!

Is that difficult to install, and could you drop a link to a reputable brand?

WOW, that's quite a case; jam-packed with nice features!

I had no idea on this, thanks.


This is actually also going to play the roles of HTPC, and home office workstation. Plus, I really like the Rampage III BE, so I'm bound to the 990X it seems.

Jesus fuck Utako, that thing's ridiculous.

 

[TheExodu5]

Is that difficult to install, and could you drop a link to a reputable brand?

Yes, watercooling is difficult to install. You need multiple components: pumps, reservoirs, liquid, tubes, fittings, radiators, waterblocks.

A good watercooling setup for a six-core and 2x GTX 580 would cost around $500.

 

[Corky]

1200W for 2x GTX 580's is massive overkill. You only need an 850W unit.

yes I misread it as tri-sli, but not massive overkill.. far from it .

 

[n0n44m]

Hi GAF. I want to join the master race.

Could thread-goers take a look at my current list and make suggestions (esp. for the "???" fields, which are the least known to me)?

[B]-Cooling[/B]
Noctua D14/C14

[B]-Case[/B]
Towers I Like:
Corsair 800D/Coolermaster HAF-X/Coolermaster ATCS-840/Fractal XL/Silverstone RV-02/Silverstone TJ-07
Midtowers I like:
Coolermaster CM690 II/Fractal R3

[B]-Power[/B]
Antec 1200 HCP/Corsair AX1200

Which brands should I consider for the other categories? My appreciation in advance for any help or insight.

Money doesn't seem to be an issue for you so I picked some expensive stuff many cases out there, I just named some I like the looks of myself

I wouldn't recommend anyone to bother with watercooling until their 10th build lol
save yourself the headaches and just stick to aircooling

1200W for 2x GTX 580's is massive overkill. You only need an 850W unit.

Corsair AX850 or equivalent would work yeah but for the extra €~80 I would say go for it (less stress on the PSU and so on)

personally I'd love to see an AX1000 unit (HX1000 has an outdated design) but all the manufacturers seem focussed on either 850 or 1200 range PSUs

 

[TheExodu5]

Hi GAF. I want to join the master race.

Could thread-goers take a look at my current list and make suggestions (esp. for the "???" fields, which are the least known to me)?

[B]Motherboard[/B]
Asus Rampage III Black Edition

[B]CPU[/B]
Intel Core i7-990X

[B]RAM[/B]
12GB PC3-12800 DDR3-1600

[B]Graphics[/B]
(2x) EVGA GeForce GTX 580 Superclocked 1536 MB GDDR5

[B]SSD[/B]
256GB Crucial RealSSD C300

[B]Cooling[/B]
???

[B]Case[/B]
???

[B]Power[/B]
???

Which brands should I consider for the other categories? My appreciation in advance for any help or insight.

Are you knowingly spending this much money? You can spend a hell of a lot less money and get something pretty equivalent.

 

[n0n44m]

yes I misread it as tri-sli, but not massive overkill.. far from it .

819 from the wall at 85% efficiency = ~700 watt PSU

so a quality 850 PSU is fine
(overclocking with overvolt on CPU+GPUs will significantly increase that figure though)

 

[Corky]

819 from the wall at 85% efficiency = ~700 watt PSU

so a quality 850 PSU is fine
(overclocking with overvolt on CPU+GPUs will significantly increase that figure though)

Which someone witha rampage extreme III and watercooling most likely will.

 

[TheExodu5]

819 from the wall at 85% efficiency = ~700 watt PSU

so a quality 850 PSU is fine
(overclocking with overvolt on CPU+GPUs will significantly increase that figure though)

You sure these numbers are from the wall?

Anyways, he's spending about $3000 on components already. Might as well bump up the PSU by an additional $100.

I'd recommend the Corsair AX1200.

Which someone witha rampage extreme III and watercooling most likely will.

I would not even consider watercooling for a first time builder. It's a complicated setup, and is a lot of work to build and maintain. Air cooling is pretty damned good nowadays.

 

[n0n44m]

You sure these numbers are from the wall?

Anyways, he's spending about $3000 on components already. Might as well bump up the PSU by an additional $100.

I'd recommend the Corsair AX1200.

how else would you get those numbers? All the PSU tests use artificial loads so they can demand exactly how efficient the PSU is (wall versus actual output), but in these sort of video-card tests I doubt they hook up all sorts of equipment between the PSU and components to determine power draw

and yes if you spend this much don't skimp on the PSU

 

[BrettWeir]

Time to have some fun. Thank God for Frys new "Anywhere price matching" policy. Saved me an hour drive to Microcenter.

 

[Corky]

I would not even consider watercooling for a first time builder. It's a complicated setup, and is a lot of work to build and maintain. Air cooling is pretty damned good nowadays.

You are right, and also I agree with what you said earlier.
Now he did mention it was his workstation aswell ( and I have no idea what kind of work he's talking about ), but he will be able to get similar results for much much much much less. Dare I say 50% less? 2000$ instead of 3000$.

Drop the 1366(?), 990x, get a 1155 and an i5/i7 and maybe wait a couple of days to see the pricing on the 590 gtx etc etc

 

[Utako]

1200W for 2x GTX 580's is massive overkill. You only need an 850W unit.

Awesome, I was feeling a little guilty for potentially using so much electricity. Thanks for the save man.

Yes, watercooling is difficult to install. You need multiple components: pumps, reservoirs, liquid, tubes, fittings, radiators, waterblocks.

A good watercooling setup for a six-core and 2x GTX 580 would cost around $500.

That all sounds horrible, but it would mean I could go for a silent or very low-noise system, right?

Jesus fuck Utako, that thing's ridiculous.

I'm overcompensating for something... ... my childhood.

 

[TheExodu5]

You are right, and also I agree with what you said earlier.
Now he did mention it was his workstation aswell ( and I have no idea what kind of work he's talking about ), but he will be able to get similar results for much much much much less. Dare I say 50% less? 2000$ instead of 3000$.

Drop the 1366(?), 990x, get a 1155 and an i5/i7 and maybe wait a couple of days to see the pricing on the 590 gtx etc etc

I know he really liked the all black Rampage III, so I'll go ahead and say that the Gigabyte UD4 and up are nearly all black (save for blue or gold trim, depending on the model).

My build is nearly all black, save the cabling. I didn't bother getting black sata cables and black fan connectors...I was done at that point.

Awesome, I was feeling a little guilty for potentially using so much electricity. Thanks for the save man.

That all sounds horrible, but it would mean I could go for a silent or very low-noise system, right?

I'm overcompensating for something... ... my childhood.

A 1200W unit won't use more electricity than an 850W unit. It'll only use as much as is required of it.

If you're spending this much money on a build, just bump up the PSU and give yourself more headroom. That CPU can end up taking a lot more juice when overclocked.

 

[mclaren777]

Nevermind.

 

[knitoe]

If you got the money, get the best PSU you can. Just becuase you only need X wattage doesn't mean you should get one that is rated to run a little bit above that. You don't want to run a PSU 24/7 at close to it's max efficiency and they do degrade overtime. Thus, don't go cheap on PSU if you can afford it. On $3000, go 1000W or 1200W.

 

[·feist·]

Thanks for the feedback Corky!

Is that difficult to install, and could you drop a link to a reputable brand?

WOW, that's quite a case; jam-packed with nice features!

I had no idea on this, thanks.


This is actually also going to play the roles of HTPC, and home office workstation. Plus, I really like the Rampage III BE, so I'm bound to the 990X it seems.

You should know that the upcoming LGA 2011 socket 6-core will be faster than the 990x, for much less money, and the 8-core (should be roughly in the same price range as a 990x) will easily outperform it in the workloads that one would even be buying a 990x for in the first place.

Paying $1,000 just for the luxury of using a $400+ board, really isn't advisable. Particularly when that same outlay will get you much better performance later this year.

If you must build now, an i7 2600K, plus Gigabyte UD7/Asus ROG will get you similar performance and aesthetics. Otherwise, LGA 2011 is what you want.


For cases, do you have any preferences?

 

[Utako]

Are you knowingly spending this much money? You can spend a hell of a lot less money and get something pretty equivalent.

My budget is high, yes. Here are my practical needs for various components:

* SSD and RAM: Run Win7 and OS X (via VMware) constantly in tandem for work, supporting beefy multimedia authoring apps.

* 990X: Play PCSX2 and Dolphin at 1080p and 30+fps for most games

* Dual Fermi: Face-melting master race graphics — something that a life of consoles, shitty computers, and laptops has never known.

A 1200W unit won't use more electricity than an 850W unit. It'll only use as much as is required of it.

Ah, I was wondering about this... very good to know, thank you. Sticking with the 1200W.

 

[iNvid02]

you can thank me later

 

[Shambles]

An 850W gives you that headroom already. Heck if you want to got bat-shit crazy and water cool to be able to overvolt the snot of your machine a 1000W PSU will still be more than enough. Also your efficiency usually goes down the further away from 80ish% load. Assuming the class of the PSUs are the same a 1200W unit will pull more from the wall under the same load as an 850W unit. Albeit it's not going to be a whole lot and certainly not what you were probably thinking that an 850W unit always pulls 850W. A 2x GTX 580 setup will consume around 700-720W under full synthetic load. A 1200W unit is simply throwing money down the toilet.

Power consumption under Furmark. Computer at stock voltages and clocks with an i7 970.

 

[Weenerz]

An 850W gives you that headroom already. Heck if you want to got bat-shit crazy and water cool to be able to overvolt the snot of your machine a 1000W PSU will still be more than enough. Also your efficiency usually goes down the further away from 80ish% load. Assuming the class of the PSUs are the same a 1200W unit will pull more from the wall under the same load as an 850W unit. Albeit it's not going to be a whole lot and certainly not what you were probably thinking that an 850W unit always pulls 850W. A 2x GTX 580 setup will consume around 700-720W under full synthetic load. A 1200W unit is simply throwing money down the toilet.

Power consumption under Furmark. Computer at stock voltages and clocks.

Dumb question, but does that mean 700-720w just for the video cards, or the entire system?

 

[Utako]

You should know that the upcoming LGA 2011 socket 6-core will be faster than the 990x, for much less money, and the 8-core (should be roughly in the same price range as a 990x) will easily outperform it in the workloads that one would even be buying a 990x for in the first place.

Paying $1,000 just for the luxury of using a $400+ board, really isn't advisable. Particularly when that same outlay will get you much better performance later this year.

If you must build now, an i7 2600K, plus Gigabyte UD7/Asus ROG will get you similar performance and aesthetics. Otherwise, LGA 2011 is what you want.

That's extremely educational! I'd really like to get this up and running before summer, is that the kind of timeframe expected on this?

For cases, do you have any preferences?

I don't relate to the "badass" look of most enthusiast cases, but really dig the features some have that promise to make my life easier.

 

[Utako]

Money doesn't seem to be an issue for you so I picked some expensive stuff many cases out there, I just named some I like the looks of myself

I wouldn't recommend anyone to bother with watercooling until their 10th build lol
save yourself the headaches and just stick to aircooling


Corsair AX850 or equivalent would work yeah but for the extra €~80 I would say go for it (less stress on the PSU and so on)

personally I'd love to see an AX1000 unit (HX1000 has an outdated design) but all the manufacturers seem focussed on either 850 or 1200 range PSUs

I'm going with the AX1200 PSU, thanks for the advice.

Would a midtower work for these components? If so, smaller is better!

Dumb question, but does that mean 700-720w just for the video cards, or the entire system?

I have the same dumb question. This is interesting info.

 

[n0n44m]

I'm going with the AX1200 PSU, thanks for the advice.

Would a midtower work for these components? If so, smaller is better!

yeah just grab a midtower from Coolermaster/Lian-Li/Silverstone/etc for $90 to $250

just make sure it has some extra airflow around the GPUs, because hot air there will mean the fans on the cards go nuts and the noise will soon be unbearable lol

I've got the CM690 II myself, with the window+side fan it's a solid case but there are many others as well

---

700w from the wall during gaming with 580SLI seems accurate for most systems
but don't forget that say a 990x is much more power hungry than a SandyBridge CPU, especially when overclocked (more cores, different less efficient architecture, more overclocking voltage)

 

[TheExodu5]

I'm going with the AX1200 PSU, thanks for the advice.

Would a midtower work for these components? If so, smaller is better!

In that case, let me recommend this case to you!

Corsair 650D

yeah just grab a midtower from Coolermaster/Lian-Li/Silverstone/etc for $90 to $250

just make sure it has some extra airflow around the GPUs, because hot air there will mean the fans on the cards go nuts and the noise will soon be unbearable lol

To be honest, I'm not sure side cooling is the way to go anymore, even for hot GPUs. While it will bring your GPU temps down, it leaves the side open and increases outside noise substantially. If he were to get something like an Accelero Xtreme Plus on his GPUs, then the extra airflow would help to remove the ambient heat, but the stock coolers dump all of that hot air out of the back, so the airflow isn't as big of a deal.

If the Lian-Li PC-V1020 was black inside, I'd recommend it, but it's not.

 

[n0n44m]

My 690 II is pretty open/meshed so it doesn't make a difference for me 5V fans help as well

but in general I'd say that there can also be quite some heat on the back of the cards, so blowing some cool air in between is always beneficial imho ... but every decent case allows for tie-wrapping a fan strategically somewhere =]

 

[Nitemare1]

I pulled the trigger this week on a Vesta i7 5200 SLI from ncix. Its the first PC Ive bought in a long time and I'm starting to get extremely excited. I took out the SSD and added more ram. Ill probably get another 580 down the road to do the SLI thing. (and probably another power supply, though most are telling me the 750 will handle it. seems pretty close to the borderline though.)
Here's my build.

Intel Core i7 960 Quad Core Processor LGA1366 3.2GHZ Bloomfield 8MB LGA1366 4.8GT/S Retail Box
Corsair Cooling Hydro Series H50 High Performance CPU Cooler System LGA1155 LGA1366 LGA1156 AM2 AM3
ASUS Sabertooth X58 LGA1366 DDR3 CrossFireX SLI 3PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 PCI USB 3.0 Motherboard
Corsair Vengeance 12GB 3X4GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 XMP Triple Channel Core i7 Memory
GeForce GTX 580 772MHZ 1536MB 4GHZ GDDR5 PCI-E Dual DVI-I Mini HDMI
Antec Twelve Hundred 1200 Full Tower Gamer Case ATX 12 Drive Bay No PS Top USB2.0 1394 Audio eSATA
Corsair TX750 V2 750W ATX 12V Single Rail 60A 24PIN ATX Power Supply Active PFC 80PLUS Bronze
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64BIT DVD OEM
Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA3 6GB/S 7200RPM 64MB Cache 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM
LG GH22NS50 Black 22X SATA DVD Writer OEM


I opted for the prebuilt . I hadn't put a machine together in a long time and honestly putting the processor in freaks me out even though I've done it before. But it's a different story when it's my own money.

I can't say enough how good the service has been up to this point. They emailed me to ask if they could ship the videocard separate so it wouldn't get damaged from having it installed in the case (a weight issue I guess). and when my processor was going to be backordered for a couple of days they got in contact and were very helpful in getting the delay cut down to a single day. (maybe that was just luck but they kept me in the loop about what was going on every step of the way).
Now I just have to wait for it to arrive.

so F'ing excited.

 

[·feist·]

Nitemare1: Congrats.

TheExodu5: I know you love your HAF, but if you or any other Canada GAF members are in the market for the 650D, you can buy it for a lot less than it costs in other countries.

Corsair Obsidian Series 650D - $157.50
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11180AC4329&vpn=CC650DW&manufacture=CORSAIR

My budget is high, yes. Here are my practical needs for various components:

* SSD and RAM: Run Win7 and OS X (via VMware) constantly in tandem for work, supporting beefy multimedia authoring apps.

* 990X: Play PCSX2 and Dolphin at 1080p and 30+fps for most games

* Dual Fermi: Face-melting master race graphics — something that a life of consoles, shitty computers, and laptops has never known.

Ah, I was wondering about this... very good to know, thank you. Sticking with the 1200W.

For that, you want the highest IPC, and/or clock speed per core you can get. The 2500K/2600K excel in those areas. Dolphin, PCSX2, and other emulators use about 2 cores or less.

That's extremely educational! I'd really like to get this up and running before summer, is that the kind of timeframe expected on this?

I don't relate to the "badass" look of most enthusiast cases, but really dig the features some have that promise to make my life easier.

Very unlikely. Probably October at the earliest, with November/December being more realistic. Maybe AMD's new CPUs can force Intel's hand slightly...

A lot of good case suggestions have already been made, so without getting into anything that you would need to import, I'll mention these options that balance looks, quality and performance:

SilverStone FT02
http://www.silverstonetek.com/products/p_contents.php?pno=FT02

SilverStone RV02-Evo (the RV03 is probably too "gamer" for your tastes)
http://www.silverstonetek.com/raven/products/index.php?model=RV02-E&area=


Since a 990x isn't an issue for you, something like this may be worth considering:

Lian Li PC-X500FX
http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/produc...ex=562&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=62&g=f
http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/produc...562&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=62&g=spec
http://www.chiphell.com/portal-view-aid-647.html

Officially, it's a mid-tower. Slightly taller than your average mid, though it has a smaller footprint. Great airflow, even better if you upgrade the fans.

These are all focused on air-cooling, and are some of the best at that. I wouldn't recommend a full water-cooling loop for a first timer with the type of components that you're considering. You'd have to be willing to invest the time and money into it. May also need hands on help from a more experienced user.


SSD: Newer units like the Crucial M4/Micron C400, and OCZ Vertex 3 (or other SandForce 2000 models)

Cooling: Thermalright Silver Arrow (for the 990x, otherwise it's overkill for an 1155 CPU)
http://www.thermalright.com/new_a_page/product_page/cpu/silver_arrow/product_cpu_silver_arrow.html

 

[Shambles]

Dumb question, but does that mean 700-720w just for the video cards, or the entire system?

I thought you would notice it soon after posting. The top says Total system power. That's the wattage you're pulling from the wall if that is unclear.

 

[Manp]

that case will give me nightmares

 

[Chris R]

Yes, watercooling is difficult to install. You need multiple components: pumps, reservoirs, liquid, tubes, fittings, radiators, waterblocks.

A good watercooling setup for a six-core and 2x GTX 580 would cost around $500.

Watercooling isn't THAT hard to setup. Not really worth the hassle I'd say though. I do have like $300 worth of stuff just sitting around that I might bring back into my system at some point, but really, I enjoy not needing to have a full tower pc to fit both of my radiators

Though I guess if I cleaned them out good and made sure they didn't leak, all I'd need to use them again would be nice CPU and GPU blocks.
edit: forgot that I'd need to get 4 new 92mm fans too to cool the radiators bah nevermind, probably too much effort to get back up and running