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[mkenyon]

Bay reservoirs are always a compromise IMHO, both in terms of decoupling and easily filling the loop. They're very useful for saving space but I would actively avoid them if you design your own case

I'd actually incorporate a fillport on the top and a bleed port on the bottom, so you can quickly fill and empty the loop with any kind of reservoir.

( or if you really really really want a nice looking reservoir ... incorporate one in the chassis like this OH MAN SO AWESOME build. No clue about the practical aspects though hehe )

also



didn't you switch the frametime labels ? I assume frames that take over 33.3ms also take longer than 11.1 ms

HOLY SHIT I KNOW RIGHT!? I came across this today and have been brainstorming about how we can change our case to incorporate a few ideas from it.

Hah, good catch on the frame times. Yes, they are reversed. I even have one of those finished up with a watermark about to go live.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

The main problem I see on a build like that is the upgrading and diagnostics of it all. If I were to have a build like that I would want to sell it as a whole but that's just me. Looks great even if a bit bright for my taste.

 

[mkenyon]

Yeah, I'm not huge on the large amount of color, but more of some of the design concept.

Just the idea of a reservoir being part of a panel is genius from the aspect of being super easy to fill as well as the aesthetics of it.

Case modders freak out at weird stuff. We're a weird group.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

While your around I have a pretty mundane but important question.

This PC is already sold. I plan on taking parts out and cleaning then prior to shipping. I'm curious about setting the MB and everything on a makeshift workbench so I have all the components out but functioning prior to shipping. I would like to save myself a little time and just be able to have it resting on something. Can I set the MB on its standoffs on top of some cardboard or what would be deemed ok?

 

[mkenyon]

You can just put it on a wood desk.

I keep large anti static bags around to put things in closets, but those cost a bit of money.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

You can just put it on a wood desk.

I keep large anti static bags around to put things in closets, but those cost a bit of money.

I actually have been gathering some non static bags that hold meat trays that I got from the grocery store and those thick bags they put fish in. They are like enormous ziplock bags. I also have been saving the shipping materials from my Newegg stuff but my main concern is how I'm going to wrap all my components. I suppose I could use the stuff that will come with my new MB/CPU when that time comes but I would be curious if what I have would work fine.

 

[mkenyon]

What I've done in the past is send the case with the PSU (sans cables), motherboard, CPU, and RAM in it.

I then send a separate box with the video card, HDDs, PSU, and cables.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

What I've done in the past is send the case with the PSU (sans cables), motherboard, CPU, and RAM in it.

I then send a separate box with the video card, HDDs, PSU, and cables.

Damn, unfortunately I will not be selling this case as I advised the buyer to buy one as this one I am using is about the worst hand me down case you have ever seen. It's the Pinto of cases. It has a side panel with a window and a little 40mm fan but no other case fans. I suspect ambient temps on my new build will kill the ones in this build so for that reason alone, I couldn't sell him this build with the case included. I did sell it for 500 shipped so that has covered me a lot on all the parts I've got so far.

I am now actively looking for a 300 or less good LED/LCD or IPS monitor. I've settled on this AOC one here.

The LCD alt is slightly cheaper. I am leaning with the IPS monitor but I would take some advice.

 

[mkenyon]

ASUS VG23AH, definitely.

 

[PedroPanache]

So, I've picked up a GTX 670 card for dirt cheap, and could either sell it for a quick profit or go SLI. The downside to that is I'd have to upgrade my motherboard and probably pick up a better PSU. I'm looking at £150-70 to get it up and running, but is it really worth it? I could sell it, but on the other hand, would it stand me in good stead in the future to have 2 670's? I play pretty much exclusively on a HDTV at a max res. of 1080p, not to mention I use 3D quite a bit. The only game I've played in 3D which couldn't cut it was Binary Domain, the framerate dropped from 60fps to 15-25fps whenever enemies where on screen.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

ASUS VG23AH, definitely.

Is there a 27" derivative?

I see the 27" LCD and IPS both go for 350. Slightly out of my range but with a sale in a week or two, I will seriously consider that 27".

 

[mkenyon]

Trust me, you don't want a 27" 1080p monitor. They look really jaggy and weird.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Trust me, you don't want a 27" 1080p monitor. They look really jaggy and weird.

Hell of a price and 3D ready? Now if only it had speakers but I can't see that quite yet. I haven't read enough. I really want 27" screen though but I would take the advice you've given and aim for this one as it's also much cheaper than my initial 300USD selection.

I suspect a good 1440p res would be more suitable for a 27".

Side question - does that come with glasses for 3D? Nvm, I see the glasses now.

 

[vazel]

How the hell is Asus selling a 23'' IPS for that cheap. And with 3D to boot. I'd be suspicious of its PQ. It's most likely e-IPS(6-bit).

 

[mkenyon]

There's a reason why it makes the OP.

Check out the OP for additional links on optimizing it.

 

[Rand0m TAG]

Any tips on a video card? Or would it be best to wait for a new batch?
I'm not in a rush

 

[rudieboy77]

I want to play MMO's RTS's on high settings and want a FPS between a constant 30 to 40. But no lower than 30 unless it just dips every once and a while. I will be using a 42" LCD @ 1080p and no higher. Will a HD 7850 do this or could I even get a 650 ti to do this?

 

[Koroviev]

I have a friend who is building a PC for media work. She needs to be able to run Autodesk Maya, After Effects, and Unity efficiently. And of course, she will also be using it for gaming. She has a max budget of $2600. She already has a 3TB HDD set aside for use. Here's what she would like to get, minus the case:

pcpartpicker.com/p/Ayt0

Anything she should change? I'm pushing for an SSD, but I'm not sure if that would be a nightmare to manage with those specific programs.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

I have a friend who is building a PC for media work. She needs to be able to run Autodesk Maya, After Effects, and Unity efficiently. And of course, she will also be using it for gaming. She has a max budget of $2600. She already has a 3TB HDD set aside for use. Here's what she would like to get, minus the case:

pcpartpicker.com/p/Ayt0

Anything she should change? I'm pushing for an SSD, but I'm not sure if that would be a nightmare to manage with those specific programs.

Just my opinion but I would lower that GPU to a single 680 and get an x79 MB plus 3930k. It will come out cheaper than the build you have. If you really want to talk performance and her budget is 2600, you can SLI the 680's and get full PCIe 3.0 x16 bandwidth on both lanes the cards occupy. That would be a monster rig by any stretch.

 

[n0n44m]

isn't X79 still limited to PCI-E 2.0 with Nvidia 680s ?

edit: make that X79 with SB-E ... not that there are any other X79 compatible CPUs for the time being

 

[LiquidMetal14]

isn't X79 still limited to PCI-E 2.0 with Nvidia 680s ?

SB-E CPU's support up to 40 PCI 3.0 lanes. The most ever by these consumer level CPU's. More than SB/Ivy bridge. It's more future proof for those interested in future upgrading. That's my opinion but I'm also lined up to build a 3930k based PC so I may be biased.

The 3930k, 3960/70x, and 3820 are all x79 platform based CPU's.

 

[Koroviev]

Just my opinion but I would lower that GPU to a single 680 and get an x79 MB plus 3930k. It will come out cheaper than the build you have. If you really want to talk performance and her budget is 2600, you can SLI the 680's and get full PCIe 3.0 x16 bandwidth on both lanes the cards occupy. That would be a monster rig by any stretch.

She is partial to this idea! What's your opinion on the SSD situation? I'm thinking she should have at least a 128GB drive for the OS and some games.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

If you want to pinch pennies, lower the 680's to 2 670's which can give you better than 690 performance even with a modest 5% OC. If you do go with any of these GPU's, get a DIRECTCU II based or MSI Lightning 680 with my personal vote going towards the latter. A Lightning 670 goes for around 400 while the 680 goes 500.

The 670 with Twin Frozr IV cooling

Lightning 680

SSD - The Samsung 840 Pro is always a good recommendation on here. I use the Vertex 4 128GB with a Samsung F3 1TB data drive. I have nothing but positive things to say on the Vertex 4 so I can fully endorse that. As can just about anyone with any type of decent SSD. They are amazing.

 

[Koroviev]

If you want to pinch pennies, lower the 680's to 2 670's which can give you better than 690 performance even with a modest 5% OC. If you do go with any of these GPU's, get a DIRECTCU II based or MSI Lightning 680 with my personal vote going towards the latter. A Lightning 670 goes for around 400 while the 680 goes 500.

The 670 with Twin Frozr IV cooling

Lighting 680

SSD - The Samsung 840 Pro is always a good recommendation on here. I use the Vertex 4 128GB with a Samsung F3 1TB data drive. I have nothing but positive things to say on the Vertex 4 so I can fully endorse that. As can just about anyone with any type of decent SSD. They are amazing.

Yep! I have a 256gb 840 Pro. PC didn't feel complete without it

 

[n0n44m]

SB-E CPU's support up to 40 PCI 3.0 lanes. The most ever by these consumer level CPU's. More than SB/Ivy bridge.

yet it aint a native solution, which is why Nvidia hasn't certified it. Ivy Bridge doesn't have this issue

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1700629 for more info

not that it matters a lot ofcourse, x16 2.0 still has plenty of bandwith

I have a friend who is building a PC for media work. She needs to be able to run Autodesk Maya, After Effects, and Unity efficiently. And of course, she will also be using it for gaming. She has a max budget of $2600. She already has a 3TB HDD set aside for use. Here's what she would like to get, minus the case:

pcpartpicker.com/p/Ayt0

Anything she should change? I'm pushing for an SSD, but I'm not sure if that would be a nightmare to manage with those specific programs.

media work ? $2600 ? you'll want

1. Fast CPU with lots of cores
2. BIG SSD disk, and adequately fast HDD(s) for storage/temporary files
3. LOTS of memory (which should be cheap anyway)
4. Only spend a lot on GPU(s) if your media programs use CUDA or other graphic acceleration technologies

3930K at a safe 4.4 GHz overclock seems like a no-brainer ; that's 6 cores with huge processing power. Get a nice Asus P9X79 board and six 4GB memory sticks.

I'd get a 512 GB SSD at least for OS + programs. As for your temporary files (aka WorkInProgress); you might want to store those on either the same SSD, a second SSD, a RAID-0 SSD/HDD setup or a regular HDD. That depends on how large the files will be and how important throughput speed is

I assume you will be storing the actual data (aka non-temporary files) on a NAS or some other secure location, with regular backups. At least on a second/third, dedicated drive (the 3TB HDD thats been set aside for example), but preferably something external as well.

Depending on the GPU acceleration (such as when encoding) you might want an Nvidia (CUDA) or AMD card ; I have no knowledge about how good the scaling is and whether more GPUs (SLI/Xfire) = more performance ...

here's my quick list to give you an idea http://pcpartpicker.com/p/AyWw. Just needs more storage or more graphical power depending on their needs ...

 

[LiquidMetal14]

That's the first time I read something like that. Pretty interesting as reading that thread, it seems like the AMD GPU's have no issue. Will have to do some reading on that.

 

[Metal Gear?!]

It'll run on most stuff, just not well.

Says it won't run at all without real DirectX 11 features. There are people who downloaded the beta and just can't run it.

http://answers.ea.com/t5/Crysis-3/Can-you-please-add-Direct-X-10-support-for-Crysis-3/td-p/267244

 

[Nakazato]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G45 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($26.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital RE2-GP 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.53 @ Compuvest)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 6850 1GB Video Card ($147.55 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 220 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Apevia 450W ATX12V Power Supply ($23.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $415.02
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-30 21:19 EST-0500)


how dose this look rounded out with a i3 2100 (already have thanks to a friend)


Planning to Add Haswell or Current Gen i5 later in the year with 4 more gigs of ram. Just really need the opinion

 

[Koroviev]

That's the first time I read something like that. Pretty interesting as reading that thread, it seems like the AMD GPU's have no issue. Will have to do some reading on that.

Would she be better off with water cooling, or should she stick with the Evo?

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Would she be better off with water cooling, or should she stick with the Evo?

I would recommend the H100i and if you want to go a little extra, 2 pairs of SP120 fans. That's the setup I'm going for and have it partially put together right now in my Corsair 500R.

 

[n0n44m]

Would she be better off with water cooling, or should she stick with the Evo?

most socket 2011 6-core people on GAF seem to have H100(i)'s ... so that's a good choice I guess

just make sure the case is compatible

 

[Koroviev]

most socket 2011 6-core people on GAF seem to have H100(i)'s ... so that's a good choice I guess

just make sure the case is compatible

Suggestions? What about the CM HAF 912?

 

[Dreams-Visions]

Wanted to say thank you to whoever it was that recommended the ModMic solution to my headset dilemma. Attached to my D7000 headphones perfectly, and everyone is quite satisfied with the voice quality.

Would recommend to anyone who has a good pair of headphones and just wants a headset mic that they can use with them. This setup laughs are at that shitty Gamecom Commander it replaces.

http://www.modmic.com/

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Regarding the PCIe 3.0 spec on x79.

The SB-E has 40 primary PCIe lanes, 32 lanes of PCIe 3.0 are dedicated to the GPU(s), all LGA 2011 CPUs & MOBO's are capable of PCIe 3.0, some BIOS upgrades have addressed PCIe 3.0 issues, but the X79 Chipset is a controller for 6 SATA ports (2xSATA3 & 4xSATA2) and USB 2.0 14 ports using an additional separate 8 lanes of PCIe 2.0. Ditto the Z77 has the same 8 lanes of PCIe 2.0. Meaning, the IB (Ivy Bridge) is the second set of CPU's from Intel to run PCIe 3.0 to the GPU(s). All LGA 1155 including the IB have half the number of PCIe lanes to the GPU in comparison to LGA 2011; SB/LGA 1155 16 lanes of PCIe 2.0, IB/LGA 1155 16 lanes of PCIe 3.0 vs SB-E/IB-E/LGA 2011 32 lanes of PCIe 3.0 to the GPUs then split in various ways.

You are confusing a Chipset with GPU lanes. Before with LGA 1156 e.g. P55 and LGA 1366 e.g. X58 the GPU(s) ran through the Chipset, but since Sandy Bridge LGA 1155 and Sandy Bridge Extreme LGA 2011 all GPU lanes are a direct path to the CPU to reduce 'latency.'

Therefore, the SB-E running e.g. GTX 600 series or HD 7000 series GPU(s) is PCIe 3.0 clean *IF the drivers allow it. The problem is with nVidia, the SB-E & AMD HD 7000 series runs PCIe 3.0 just fine. Yes, I've seen this -> http://www.geforce.com/hardware/de [...] ifications
*GeForce GTX 680 supports PCI Express 3.0. The Intel X79/SNB-E PCI Express 2.0 platform is only currently supported up to 5GT/s (PCIE 2.0) bus speeds even though some motherboard manufacturers have enabled higher 8GT/s speeds.

BTW - Registry fix (hack) to force the GTX 680 to run in PCIe 3.0 mode; see - http://tinyurl.com/7awc9lv (RMPcieLinkSpeed, DWORD = 0004, etc. IMO - It's a bad act by nVidia...to Disable, if this is an issue on some LGA 2011 then the driver installer 'should' detect and notify the end user to rectify vs all LGA 2011 suffer from the few LGA 2011 with a BIOS issue.

Problem this might be ditto with the IB, since there's no difference in the PCIe 3.0 spec on either the SB-E or IB. The HD 7000 series does run in PCIe 3.0 mode on LGA 2011.

On my end, I'm going to be doing some reading as I will be getting the Sabertooth x79.

 

[n0n44m]

Suggestions? What about the CM HAF 912?

Fractal R4 is pretty much the best case out there IMHO (classy, silent), and it seems to fit the H100

edit: hmm maybe not entirely, holes don't line up completely

I assume most Corsair cases will support it without issues take a look at the ones in the OP, then google their name + "h100 compatible"

 

[TheThunder]

Quoting myself from the Steam thread hoping someone here can help.

Not sure if this the appropriate thread for it but here goes:

So I've been playing Bioshock for the last couple of days and everything was all good and well, until today when I tried to launch the game it immediately crashed without even going into the game "bioshock.exe has stopped working" I tried validating the local files twice but nothing was wrong there according to steam, tried to launch the game from the steam installation folder and still the same problem.

I deleted the local game content and re-downladed/installed and the problem still exist. I can't think of anything else to do.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Fractal R4 is pretty much the best case out there IMHO (classy, silent), and it seems to fit the H100

edit: hmm maybe not entirely, holes don't line up completely

I assume most Corsair cases will support it without issues take a look at the ones in the OP, then google their name + "h100 compatible"

Here's the perfect page that I referred to for the h80i and 100i

Incredibly useful layouts and examples for many different cases. The 500R is there. There is one there for the R4 as well but it seems to have to be front mounted which may be an issue with drive cages.

Regarding the PCIe 3.0 bit in our earlier exchange, it does seem to be fixed depending on MB manufacturer and specific boards. And the exe that nvidia recommends works for some but not for others. It seems like the Sabertooth I'm getting has been updated several times to improve PCIe 3.0 functionality specifically so I'm going to advise going with certain boards with the x79 in mind. I can't say which ones but the Sabertooth seems to be ok.

 

[Gibbo]

gents i think im ready to uprage my pc to the next level. these are my current specs. any suggestions on what i should upgrade? my budget is about 600 bucks.

Intel Core i5-3450
Gigabyte Z77-D3H
Cosair Vengence DDR3 1600MhZ 8gb Kit
1TB HDD
Sapphire HD7870
FSP 600W PSU

 

[n0n44m]

Quoting myself from the Steam thread hoping someone here can help.

delete your .ini files or whatever it is that stores your preferences/settings ; that way the game should boot up with default settings which might help

else move your savegames someplace else and reinstall the game from scratch?

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

One of these days I'll build one of these PCs. I'd spend around $900 probably.

I'd need someone to actually help me put it all together, unless it's pretty straight forward.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

One last note on the PCIe 3.0 discussion. If there's issues with some boards now supporting proper 3.0 with nvidia then Ivy Bridge E should correct that as I read in several discussions and articles. I'm not really worried since the bandwidth of even 2.0 spec would require 3 or way SLI to be hindered but it does seem like many boards have been patched to run 3.0.

The bottom line is even gen 2 PCIe is still not fully maxed unless you go multicard. There isn't much around right now to even take full advantage of gen 3.0 so that is good news that should put some folks worries to rest.

 

[Koroviev]

One of these days I'll build one of these PCs. I'd spend around $900 probably.

I'd need someone to actually help me put it all together, unless it's pretty straight forward.

It's pretty straightforward. And there is this thread and YouTube. No excuses!

 

[Irobot82]

Here's the perfect page that I referred to for the h80i and 100i

Incredibly useful layouts and examples for many different cases. The 500R is there. There is one there for the R4 as well but it seems to have to be front mounted which may be an issue with drive cages.

The R4, couldn't the radiator been flipped around to give more room? Also was that two fans stacked on the back of it? I wonder if I can do a front fit with my Thermaltake Water 2.0 Performer.

 

[Poker360]

Ended up editing a few things per gaffer suggestions here.

I'm thinking this is the lowest cost i will be getting unless anyone else has suggestions? Main use is gaming, would like to be able to play most games on high - max settings (games like dead space 3, diablo 3, starcraft 3, possibly crysis 3, and eventually maybe pc games i've missed over there years.. )



PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($33.21 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($148.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Samsung 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($46.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.98 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($129.99 @ Adorama)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($383.98 @ Newegg)
Case: BitFenix Shinobi Window ATX Mid Tower Case ($84.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 750W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Full (32/64-bit) ($162.24 @ Amazon)
Total: $1400.31
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-30 21:53 EST-0500)

Some people have noted the power supply is overkill, but i would like the ability to easily upgrade if necessary... not sure if it's still overkill or not.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

The R4, couldn't the radiator been flipped around to give more room? Also was that two fans stacked on the back of it? I wonder if I can do a front fit with my Thermaltake Water 2.0 Performer.

My advice is if you wanted to put the rad in the interior while running exposed fans on the outside (in case your case doesn't have fan support on top) and then you should be able to run push/pull if your case doesn't properly support it. Once you get the h100i, play around with it and see. The very worst case scenario is drilling some holes to fit screw holes and mod a spot for it in there and even that can look surprisingly nice if done right. Good luck.

 

[timnich]

Quoting myself from the Steam thread hoping someone here can help.

I had this problem, i followed the steps from the last post here and it fixed it. Hope it helps!

 

[Irobot82]

My advice is if you wanted to put the rad in the interior while running exposed fans on the outside (in case your case doesn't have fan support on top) and then you should be able to run push/pull if your case doesn't properly support it. Once you get the h100i, play around with it and see. The very worst case scenario is drilling some holes to fit screw holes and mod a spot for it in there and even that can look surprisingly nice if done right. Good luck.

My PC is already put together. I have the Radiator inside the case blowing out the back. I was just thinking it might get better effect to suck IN cold air instead of blow out air that has warmed up traveling through the case.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Sucking in air from the outside would be my advice as that's what I'm using and have exhaustively researched when it comes to closed loop solutions. I'm just going the extra mile and bought 2 pairs of SP120 fans but even the stock solution or the rad with 2 SP120's would be fine. If you can foot it, grad the 120mm Noctua's but they are more expensive. I can get 2 SP120's for the price of 1 Noctua.

 

[sorijealut]

Were there some kind of benchmarks regarding what kind of system is favored for Dota 2?

 

[Irobot82]

Sucking in air from the outside would be my advice as that's what I'm using and have exhaustively researched when it comes to closed loop solutions. I'm just going the extra mile and bought 2 pairs of SP120 fans but even the stock solution or the rad with 2 SP120's would be fine. If you can foot it, grad the 120mm Noctua's but they are more expensive. I can get 2 SP120's for the price of 1 Noctua.

That sounds great, do you have any pics of your PC innards? I'd love to see what it looks like.