The Furious Angels
FA Discussion => Off Topic => Topic started by: Ash on December 06, 2011, 10:13:17 pm
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As some of you know I've been debating for about six months now on whether to buy a new PC or to build one outright. After listening to the advice of others and taking in all the information I decided to build it myself. I had looked at all the major specialized PC makers including ibuypower.com and almost purchased something a couple of times but I held out and waited. I knew I wanted the new Sandy Bridge-E CPU and I wanted something that would handle gaming over three monitors. I also wanted to make damn sure that this new machine would be as future proof as a computer could be because I don't plan on making this type of purchase again for at least 5-7 years.
I scoured each and every custom PC site for the right build at the right price but never was satisfied, I think I even spec'd out this exact build from Maingear.com and the total came close to $4,000. OUCH!
Anyway I bit the bullet and started buying components back in October and took advantage of the recent Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals and so the last piece arrived this evening.
The picture below is just the first of several to come. I've decided to document the build process in case anyone is interested and because this will be my first computer build in over a decade so there's sure to be issues.
I will eventually be adding a water cooling system for the 2 video cards if I see that it is necessary. I will also be installing a OCZ RevoDrive at some point to use for certain applications and games.
(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/thumbnail.jpg)
Here is a link to the full-size photo
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/newPC.jpg
Here is the parts list for the the picture above:
1)Case: SilverStone FT02 (Motherboard rotated 90 degrees to allow for natural vertical heat dissipation)
2)Motherboard: Asus Rampage IV Extreme LGA2011
3)CPU: Intel I7-3930K LGA2011
4)GPU: PowerColor Radeon HD 6970 (Qty. = 2)
5)RAM: Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1866 Mhz (Qty. = 32GB)
6)PSU: Corsair Gold Series AX1200
7)CPU Cooler: Corsair H80
8)HDD: Corsair Force GT SATA3 120GB SSD
9)NIC: VisionTek Killer 2100 Gaming Network Card (I'll admit this was a frivolous purchase but it was on sale)
Sorry for the long read, hope you stick around for the final product.
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I thought I was hot shit with my build until I browsed through your list! This certainly looks like it will shape up to be a stellar rig.
At some point, would you mind listing (or just PM'ing me) individualized prices for the parts you purchased? Also, which monitors do you plan on going with? Have you considered 120Hz displays (3D capable)?
Please do document the process, I'm quite eager to see how it goes, as well as the end result. Congratulations!
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Wow, that's a lot of RAM. I'm jealous.
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And you guys laughed at me when I got 12 gigs!
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If you don't mind, I'm using you as an example for comparison so my wife stops bugging me because I spent splurged and spent $600 when I built my computer instead of $500.
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looks good old chap. looks amazing actually.
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Almost looks nicer set out in the pic than it would be in the case!!
I'm sure it's been mentioned in previous threads, but you need a specific driver to display on 3 monitors.
Most drivers only allow for2 displays (even though you may have more than 2 physical outputs on the card).
My machine here has 5 outputs in total(!), but only two can work at any one time.
I was very sad about that.
I can't recall which cards/drivers allow this... also my data may be out of date.
Please feel free to correct my info!
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Just curious... but what exactly do you plan to do with that rig?
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Just curious... but what exactly do you plan to do with that rig?
Watch porn.
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duh.
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I'd really like to give you some advice on the water cooling. Just don't bother. It looks awesome without a doubt and the epeen factor is incredible. BUT. It is an enormous pain in the ass when you want to troubleshoot and upgrade, very expensive and not worth it. This has been the opinion of literally every single friend of mine who's had a liquid cooling rig.
One thing that really bummed me out about running crossfire or triple monitor was that I couldn't do both at the same time. If I wanted the extra horse power of crossfire, I had to step down to only 2 monitors. Not sure if this is still the case but it was not very long ago. Big bummer.
And yeah, LOL @ that network card. In my research they seem to just be snake oil.
One last piece of advice. I wouldn't overclock until you need the extra power. Make that bad boy last as long as possible. :)
A lot of it seems like overkill (RAM) but it should future proof you for a good while. I love getting or building new gaming rigs dude. Half the fun is planning and designing. Can't wait to hear how it runs and performs.
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And you guys laughed at me when I got 12 gigs!
And don't think I didn't think of that when buying the 32GB's.
Just curious... but what exactly do you plan to do with that rig?
Well besides the porn I'll be using it for gaming, graphic and web design work and for setting up virtual test environments for work. It will definitely be well used.
...Also, which monitors do you plan on going with? Have you considered 120Hz displays (3D capable)...
I have 3 19" monitors (non-widescreen) with my center screen being a Sony and the other 2 are Dell UltraSharp's. My overall resolution will be 3840 x 1024.
...One last piece of advice. I wouldn't overclock until you need the extra power. Make that bad boy last as long as possible...
That's pretty much what I had planned on doing a couple years down the road so I could get that "Hey, it's like a new computer" feeling again without the extra expense.
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You need a specific driver to display on 3 monitors.
Most drivers only allow for2 displays (even though you may have more than 2 physical outputs on the card).
I was able to hook up 3 monitors to my system and they all worked. Maybe I already had the drivers, but I didn't have to do anything for it besides buy the extra cable.
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I was going to build mine as well but my parents said they would rather me buy a prebuilt one for the warranties tech support and all that jazz. My set up is this for what I'm getting for Christmas
Case 1 x CoolerMaster HAF 922 Gaming Case-Black
Case Lighting None-
iBUYPOWER Labs - Noise Reduction None-
iBUYPOWER Labs - Internal Expansion None-
Processor 1 x Intel® Core™ i7 980 Processor (6x 3.33GHz/12MB L3 Cache)-
iBUYPOWER PowerDrive None-
Processor Cooling 1 x Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink-
Memory 1 x 6 GB [2 GB X3] DDR3-1600-Corsair XMS3 Dominator w/DHX technology
Video Card 1 x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 - 1.2GB-Single Card
Video Card Brand 1 x Major Brand Powered by AMD or NVIDIA-
Free Stuff 1 x [Free Game Voucher] - Batman Arkham City-Free with Purchase of NVIDIA GeForce 5 Series Video Card
Motherboard 1 x ASUS Sabertooth X58-
Motherboard USB / SATA Interface 1 x Motherboard default USB / SATA Interface-
Power Supply 1 x 850 Watt -- Corsair CMPSU-850TXV2-
Primary Hard Drive 1 x 60 GB ADATA S511 SSD-Single Drive
Data Hard Drive 1 x 1 TB HARD DRIVE -- 32M Cache, 7200 RPM, 6.0Gb/s-Single Drive
Optical Drive 1 x [12X Blu-Ray] LG BLU-RAY Reader, DVD±R/±RW Burner Combo Drive-Black
2nd Optical Drive None-
Flash Media Reader / Writer None-
Meter Display None-
USB Expansion None-
Sound Card 1 x 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard-
Network Card 1 x Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100)-
Operating System 1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium + Office Starter 2010 (Includes basic versions of Word and Excel)-64-Bit
Keyboard 1 x iBUYPOWER USB Keyboard-
Mouse 1 x iBUYPOWER Internet Mouse-
Monitor None-
2nd Monitor None-
Speaker System None-
Video Camera None-
Advanced Build Options 1 x iBUYPOWER Specialized Advanced Packaging System-Protect your investment during transportation!
Advanced Build Options 1 x Tuniq TX-2 High Performance Thermal Compound-The best interface between your CPU and the heatsinks
Advanced Build Options 1 x Professional wiring for all cables inside the system tower-Basic Pro Wiring
Advanced Build Options 1 x Professional wiring for all cables inside the system tower-Achieve exceptional airflow in your chassis
Case Engraving Service None-
Warranty 1 x 3 Year Standard Warranty Service-
Rush Service 1 x Rush Service Fee (not shipping fee)-No Rush Service
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You need a specific driver to display on 3 monitors.
Most drivers only allow for2 displays (even though you may have more than 2 physical outputs on the card).
I was able to hook up 3 monitors to my system and they all worked. Maybe I already had the drivers, but I didn't have to do anything for it besides buy the extra cable.
Nice! Ha, now that I think of it I think it might only be if you try to mix onboard and add-in card outputs. D'oh
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Have you considered 120Hz displays (3D capable)?
about 2 years ago, i got a Viewsonic 120Hz monitor ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824116452 ) because i thought that double the refresh rate would = more epic gaming and better response times for shooters and stuff.
boy was i disappointed. they never had that 5ms response time on the specs originally.
I'd recommend against it in retrospect and go with a 1ms response time monitor. the 120Hz just puts more "stress" on your video card as it has to push out the extra juice for 2x the refresh rate, which doesn't matter unless you're getting a full 120+ fps at a minimum. I feel like 120Hz causes more flicker issues in some games and since they're not in wide use, games don't get tested properly at 120Hz.
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Okay so I've got the computer put together and it's running like Roger Bannister (Google it). I've embedded thumbnail pics of the whole build process and links to the larger pics like I did in my first post.
Overall it was a pretty easy build, I did have to retrace my steps a couple of times because one piece wouldn't install because some other piece was blocking it but other than that it was pretty smooth sailing. I did make sure I read all the manuals cover-to-cover of each piece of hardware before installing it so that probably helped.
The system is 100% set to default settings, nothing has been tweaked or overclocked except the video cards which came overclocked from the manufacturer. I'll be posting some benchmark numbers as soon as I find a good program to do so, if anyone knows of any let me know. I'm gonna try and hold out on doing any adjustments until I need it but after reading through the motherboard manual and seeing all that it can do I doubt I'll be able to last that long.
Enjoy and thanks for reading.
(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/thumbnail02.jpg)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/NewPC02.jpg
(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/thumbnail03.jpg)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/NewPC03.jpg
(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/thumbnail04.jpg)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/NewPC04.jpg
(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/thumbnail05.jpg)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/NewPC05.jpg
((That's right, the PSU came in its own velvet bag))
(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/thumbnail06.jpg)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/NewPC06.jpg
(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/thumbnail07.jpg)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/NewPC07.jpg
(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/thumbnail08.jpg)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/NewPC08.jpg
(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/thumbnail09.jpg)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/NewPC09.jpg
(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/thumbnail10.jpg)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/NewPC10.jpg
(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/thumbnail11.jpg)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/NewPC11.jpg
(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/thumbnail12.jpg)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/NewPC12.jpg
(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/thumbnail13.jpg)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/NewPC13.jpg
(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/thumbnail14.jpg)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/NewPC14.jpg
(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/thumbnail15.jpg)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/NewPC15.jpg
I decided to reverse the flow of the fans for the CPU watercooler so that it pushed air out as opposed to bring cooler air in because the PC case had more than enough fans forcing air into the case.
(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/thumbnail16.jpg)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/NewPC16.jpg
(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/thumbnail17.jpg)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/NewPC17.jpg
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Here are a couple pictures of the finished product.
(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/thumbnail18.jpg)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/NewPC18.jpg
(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/thumbnail19.jpg)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/Shinzui501/New%20PC/NewPC19.jpg
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I have the same Bamboo tab. Love it.
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Nice rig and setup, brother!
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sexy, color me jealous.
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Nice Rig!!
Ash have you done any benchmarking or plan on benchmarking?
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I definitely want to do some benchmarking, do you know of any decent software to use?
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Futuremark 3DMark/PCMark is a pretty set standard.
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there are tons of benchmarking software.
Passmark for CPU Benchmarking
For graphics people generally use 3DMark06 or 3DMark11 or both
For monitoring you want Real temp, (which will be handy to see how well your new cooler is doing in comparison to other systems) CPU id (CPU info handy for OC Multipliers)
I'm curious to see your benchmarks because i just built a beast of a PC and in certain areas you have went above what i am running. I am a nut about this stuff lol.
My specs...
Corei7 2600K Sandy Bridge OCed to 4.7 at 26cIdle Under 50c full load
16Gb 2133 Ram
120GB hyper ex SSD
2x 1TB Seagate 10rpm 32cache
Asus Raptur Motherboard
Gigabyte Odin 1000w powersupply 4x12v rails 42amp per rail
2x 560Ti GPUs
i use a 32"widescreen Asus Monitor with a 22"Dell just for TS and browsing
I used to do Multiple Monitors then with the lowering prices i prefer one large monitor with a small one for side objects.
Custom Liquid cooling 3/4" OD tubing 1/2" ID tubing
CPU and GPUs cooled. 6x120mm fans in Push Pull Config for Radiator
XPS reservoir, with a Klipto 12v Pump.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v315/marimon/IMG_1968.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v315/marimon/afterpushpullconfig.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v315/marimon/IMG_1928.jpg)
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We measuring epeen?
(http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/45001_10150238755575103_652045102_14545438_5870853_n.jpg)
Yours would cream mine on benchmarking.
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Sexy none the less ;))
You need a larger Case though! Killing your space for larger Radiator and Reservoir. SuperATX is the shit ;p
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Just ran PCMark7 and my score was:
5126 PCMarks
How does that compare to others?
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That's extremely well.... ;)
Would really like to see your 3D Mark scores one day if you get a chance. 3Dmark 06 is what i generally use. You can rip it off just about any torrent site. If you dont get a chance no biggy. Enjoy the new system!
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Just something I noticed off the bat: turn off your virtual memory allocation for that SSD. You won't need it with that much physical ram, and you'll be cramming for space on it pretty easily. I use my SSD for system applications and core programs that can take advantage of the speed (Photoshop, Premiere, etc.). I use a 1TB SATA3 (6BG/s) internal for games and a 2TB USB3 external for media and such.
Also, I don't know what issues everyone's been having with Crossfire+Eyefinity, because it's worked beautifully for me thus far with my 6970's. Even borrowed two monitors from a friend to try out 5-monitor Eyefinity for DX:HR and it was a glorious, glorious thing.
I've got to pitch in with likwid on the cooling though. It's nice, but ultimately un-needed unless you're doing some serious overclocking later on down the line, in which case you'll be set. Given the current plateau of graphics tech, you'll be set for at least the next four years or more. :)
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Just something I noticed off the bat: turn off your virtual memory allocation for that SSD...
Way ahead of you, that was one of the first changes I made, my page file was 33GB. I didn't remove it completely I just made it 2GB. I also turned off Hibernation which freed up another 15GB.
Hmm....five monitors....
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Also, this may just be a Sapphire thing, but make sure you're using both available bridge connectors, as that'll overcome the 8x secondary PCIE2 bottleneck. Unless you've got some kind of unicorn-powered motherboard that does that already. :P
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Also, this may just be a Sapphire thing, but make sure you're using both available bridge connectors, as that'll overcome the 8x secondary PCIE2 bottleneck. Unless you've got some kind of unicorn-powered motherboard that does that already. :P
I had seen that there were two bridge connections on each card but didn't know which one to use or if I had to use both. I'll have to get another bridge cable and test it out. Thanks.
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Dismiss that, just looked up your motherboard and you're plugged into two PCIE3 ports, so no bottleneck. :P
With PCIE2 most boards were limited by only having one 16x slot, and those that had two or more were again limited by the second slot only being able to run at 8x speeds during crossfire. Using both bridges overcame that by improving communication speed between cards.
I haven't done any research on PCIE3 so whether or not a bridge connector will/won't help/hurt you is completely outside my realm of expertise.