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Compatibility check and case recommendations

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Power supply Expert

Heya folks...

I'm a gamer and my current system isn't cutting the mustard any more.

Current specs:
AMD Athlon II X4 620 w/ stock cooler
Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P
G.Skill 4GB DDR3-1333 8-8-8-21
BFG GTS 250 1GB
Seagate 160GB 7200.12 SATA II
Samsung SH-S223C DVD writer
Rosewill basic case
Cooler Master 460W

I'm going to be spending my tax refund money right when it hits my bank account. Should be around the end of this month or the beginning of next month.

Intel Core i5-2500K
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus (dual fans in push-pull)
Gelid GC-Extreme thermal compound
Asus P8P67 mainboard
G.Skill Ripjaws X 8GB (2x 4GB) DDR3-1600
Palit GTX 570 Sonic Platinum 1280MB
Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB SATA III
Samsung SH-223C DVD writer
SeaSonic X-Series SS-560KM 560W

Looking for compatibility confirmation (especially the CPU cooler vs RAM clearance).

Also, I need some advice on a case to house all of this stuff. Normally I just grab something cheap (the Rosewill for my current system was $29) but I don't want to do that this time. I need excellent airflow, compatibility with the Hyper 212 Plus cooler (keeping the side case fan if the case has one) and GTX 570 video card, and ruggedness (if there's something flimsy inside the case, I usually find a way to break it). Price range would be $90-$150.

Candidates:
Cooler Master HAF 922
Cooler Master Storm Scout
Cooler Master Storm Sniper
Lancool Dragon Lord Dark Ice PC-K62
NZXT Tempest Evo
Thermaltake Element G

If you know of another case that would fit my criteria, suggestions are welcome. Or if one of my candidates won't work, let me know.

Thanks in advance.

More about : compatibility check case recommendations

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Power supply Expert

I like the Cooler Masters. I own a Scout, and as far as a side fan, with that cooler only 1 120mm fan can be put into the lower window mount. The HAF 922 has nearly 1 full inch more width, so that wouldn't be an issue. The Sniper also has the extra width.
As far as the newer long GPUs go, the Scout is limited to 10.5 inches.

$90 - $150? Hm. Well, my recommendation would be the Thermaltake Armor A60.. simply because it has exceptional airflow. That's what I am using and my chassis temp usually stays at about 20 - 25.

Don't own it, but I'm planning on the Azza Hurrican case for my new build. Has USB 3.0 port to go with your P8P67 (HAF 932 has only USB 2.0 I believe), has 8 fans (with filters), side fans don't invade the space inside the case, fast easy hard drive install / removal out the front so you don't have to take the side off just to swap a HD, and is big enough to accommodate any GPU. Has gotten great reviews, and can be had for around $100 - $110, a lot less than the HAF 932.

EDIT: Just noticed the HAF 922 mid-tower is on your list, not the HAF 932 full tower. If you're not considering a full tower the Azza Hurrican may be bigger than you're looking for. Thing is a behemoth.
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Got some suggestions:

1. The amazon cm hyper 212+ already comes with dual fans
2. shin etsu g751 is a better compound
3. the asrock extreme4 is about the same price and has the same feature set as the asus p8p67 pro asrock is part of asus
4. stick with old RAM as long as it can run at 1.65v stable, buying 8gb isn't going to improve much
5. I'm guessing HDD and ODD are carried over? also I would recommend a 650w psu to be on the safe side when running a gtx 570 overclocked and a i5 2500K overclocked the 650tx is a good choice
6. The 922 wins in this category for it's outstanding performance in both cooling and cable management, I own this case myself and have been very pleased

Any questions, or if you need links please post

Best solution

Power supply Master

-HAF-922 ($100) w/ XFX Black Edition 850 ($110) for mid tower
-DF-85 ($140) w/ CP-850 ($120) for full tower ...built 3 of these

Since December I have built boxes with 922, 932, 1200 (not the version 3 tho) and DF-85 is by far my favorite to work with for ease of access, cable routing, ruggedness....looks I am not decided upon.....the toolless features of the HAF's I found to be a bit flimsy and hard to lock in place on occasion. All have great cooling, air inlet filters is something I value highly and the ability to remove-clean-replace them in DF-85 in 4 seconds is great.....also love the hot swap exterior 2.5" bay as well as the slide in / slide out HD and SSD internal bays (no cables to plug / unplug when installing / removing storage. It would be hard to be really disappointed though with any of those cases.

And I picked an 850 watter so ya can add a 2nd 570 n Xmas 2011 or 2012 and greatly extend the life of ya system

-Get the Asus P8P67 Pro combo bundle w/ the i502500k. Asrock is the "budget" line of Asustek

http://www.motherboardpoint.com/asrock-versus-asus-t141...

-The 212 was a great cooler in its day but it's no longer on any relevant top 25 list (LGA 775 tests don't count in my book for 1155/1156 sockets). The ScytheMugen 2 is $40 and outperforms it substantially.

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_conten...

And as was said above, Shin Etsu is "da bomb" ....sold by newegg under Masscool brand

-I've returned too many Gskill's to be a fan ... now that the big boys are as cheap as Gskill, no longer have a reason to go that wayI'd opt for one of these.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Where performance needs dictate, I use two of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

I returned my 1st Mushkin stick earlier this week.....maybe 2 or 3 corsairs ever ... about 1/4th of my Gskills

-Skip the SATA III 640 and get a SATA II 1 TB, WD Black, Seagate 7200.12 or Spinpoint F3 ...pick based upon
....the performance charts here on THG show ya that the model you have chosen works best in your most used applications
....that one is cheapest on day you buy
It will take at least 3 HD's in RAID before you can be concerned about SATA III

For Case HAF 922 is cheaper and has similar features is it really worth that much more for the case, no

For mobo, review: http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1098/pg11/asrock-...
Quote:
Value, that is the real star though as this board retails for £115/$150 which makes it an essential purchase for those looking to build a high performance, future proof system on a limited budget.
This is a good value but the quality is also decent:
Quote:
Starting the conclusion with the P67 Extreme4 we have a board where we continue to see the evolution of ASRock from their budget and midrange roots to a strong player in the motherboard market. This latest model has a good level of build quality, using Japanese capacitors and mature components such as Marvells 912x SATA 6GB/s controller.
AsRock is getting to be enthusiast now not just budget
If you want more sources I will try to find them.

For Cooler: The hyper 212+ will cool fine if going for a 4.2-4.4ghz overclock SB runs cool

For RAM: You talk from personal experience Jack and I ain't gonna argue with this

Power supply Expert

Thanks for the input guys. My budget for this rig seems like it's going to be a bit higher than I initially thought, so I'm making a few changes.

Intel Core i5-2500K processor
Sticking with the 2500 because I don't really do anything that takes advantage of Hyperthreading.
Prolimatech Megahalems Rev.B cooler w/ two SilverStone FM123 fans
Going to be overclocking, so might as well go all out. Plus, the white fans match the mainboard's theme.
Gelid GC-Extreme thermal compound
The Shin Etsu was only 0.5º better, and this comes in a bigger tube.
ASRock P67 Pro3 mainboard
Don't need SLI/CF, and 8+2 power phases should be enough. Didn't need Digi+VRM before ... why do I need it now?
G.Skill Ripjaws X 12GB DDR3-1600 CL9 memory (one 8GB kit and one 4GB kit)
More RAM than I've ever had, and faster too. It's in the mainboard's memory support list, and will fit under the cooler.
Palit GTX 570 Sonic 1280MB video card
I want a 580 but that's not happening. This is the closest I'm going to get. Plus it has a cool-looking heatsink.
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB SATA hard drive
Biggest hard drive I've ever had, and looks to be the fastest too.
Samsung SH-223C SATA DVD burner
Old standby, hasn't let me down. Don't need Blu-ray yet.
SeaSonic X-Series SS-560KM 560W power supply
More than enough to tackle the highest power peaks and biggest overclocks for this machine.
Cooler Master HAF 912 case w/ six Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F fans
I figured why pay for someone else's idea of a well-ventilated case when I could just take a good basic case and stick some quality fans everywhere. The fans that come with the case will probably end up in my original system (which is to be given away to a family member).

I would still appreciate any info on clearance issues with the new choice of case and cooler, particularly regarding the top 120mm fan mounts.

Edit: Finalized the parts list.
Power supply Master

Don't overlook the CM 690II cases they are built well and feature filtered intake fans and tons of cooling options.
If you want the gamer look you can always add a windowed side panel at a later date.
Btw i have the Basic version with a 212+ and side panel fan installed.
Also using Ripjaws no problem.

Do you plan on getting a controller for the fans that is a lot of noise there?

With the Palit just want to make sure you know that it has only a 2 year warranty if you're going to be done with this card that quick and you don't resell to people who keep their cards fine but EVGA would be a better choice if you do. Buy the regular version and overclock yourself, unless you really need the higher binning.
Power supply Expert

Thanks guys. Found a review of the ASRock mainboard that showed the CPU socket was far enough down that the Megahalems cooler couldn't interfere with the top case fans. Other clearance and compatibility issues have also been resolved.
Power supply Expert

Got my income tax refund earlier today, so I pulled the trigger on the order for the new build. Got the extra 4GB of RAM because of the 15% off all memory sale at NewEgg.

Now to start dealing with the excitement as I wait for the boxes to arrive...
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