$1500aud system (first build, would love advices)

veht

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Oct 22, 2011
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Hi there virgin builder here, would love to read some comments/suggestions on my current selection about compatibility(functionally and bottlenecks etc) and any overkill I have compared to the rest of the build/ways to save money.


Budget Range: under $1600

System Usage from Most to Least Important: 3d rendering (with possible GPU acceleration), daily 3d graphics application (viewport performance requirement), possible gaming with heavy graphics (not often). Very quick everyday usage (opening applications etc)

Parts Not Required: *Functional Tower only required in this cost

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: www.pccasegear.com (or other good southeast Australian site (close to melbourne) )

Overclocking: Yes (but not hardcore)

SLI or Crossfire: Possibly in future, not yet.

Monitor Resolution: Dual Full HD in future very Likely. (or dual 1600px)

Additional Comments: Good looking and quality parts.


_________

Current selection

-CPU Intel Core i7 2600K --$339.00
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=16416
Likely overclocked to reasonable levels depending.

-CPU COOLER CoolerMaster Hyper 212+ --$33.00
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=12544
Could be tight, too tight?.

-Mobo ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 --$189.00
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=18041
I'm not sure about the motherboard in every way (don't know much on the details), I would like the extra 6.0gbs SATA's and a usb3.0 internal connection for front slots. I would like a black PCB though ( :pt1cable: ).

-GPU Radeon HD6950 2GB --$299.00
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=16295
Looks like the best value for money at this range.
Unlock if possible (doesn't really matter). 2gb for storing huge amounts of geometry for any gpu acceleration and dual screen later.
Not sure what edition I will get of this yet, if the linked one is actually the dirt3 edition pictured I think it would be ok. I wrote a message to check if it's the regular single fan Sapphire.

-PSU FSP Aurum Series 650W Modular --$122.00
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=18460

-RAM Corsair XMS3 16GB --$129.00
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=18372
Memory is cheap enough, might as well get a load and not worry about it.

-SSD OCZ Agility 3 60GB SSD --$119.00
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=17344
Install OS and applications on this, games and documents on HDD

-HDD Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB --$75.00
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=12711
Probably get other at some point but this is enough for now

-DISC DRIVE Pioneer DVR-219L DVDRW OEM --$29.00
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=16397

-CASE Fractal Design Define R3 Titanium USB 3.0 --$149.00
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=15122
Looks good and seems reasonable from reviews

-OS Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit --$95.00
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=17003


=$1578.00

I hope I picked the quality, good priced and fully compatible gear. Very keen to hear what anyone thinks, thanks alot!
Also I wonder if I would need any extra cables to connect everything?
 
Solution


The parts are all high quality and compatible. They seemed to be well priced items relative to other items at PCcasegear.

You could get a cheaper PSU, but you would be sacrificing on efficiency. Another potential problem with the FSP Aurum 650 is that the 12cm fan is capable of spinning at 2250RPM, which won't be quiet. Hopefully it won't ever need to spin that fast, and that if it does so the R3 will block most of the sound.
If you want one that is more likely to be quiet throughout it's power range then one of these would be suitable:
Antec Truepower New TPN-650W 80Plus Bronze Modular $125
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=15_535&products_id=13459

What do you mean by "Could be tight, too tight?" It will fit in the case, it won't interfere with RAM slots, so there shouldn't be any problems.

I believe Centre com and umart have stores in/around Melbourne. I checked quickly, but they don't seem to beat PCCasegear on prices.
 

veht

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Oct 22, 2011
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I hear your comment about the Aurum being noisy. Originally I was looking at the beasty Seasonic X-660 80Plus Gold 660W, which is ofcourse very expensive.
In addition to your good suggestion (probably will take it), there is also Seasonic M12II 620W Power Supply $135.00
And CoolerMaster Silent Pro M700 $129.00

My concern with the fit of the cooler was that there is only 6.5mm to the cooler height limit (whether this is the exact distance to the actual case wall I'm not sure), I thought perhaps if the side of the case was pressed on (if it was picked/moved around without thinking) it may depress that amount and have force where it shouldn't.
I am not sure about the rigidity levels of a modern pc case (only ever handled a 6-7 year old hp :D).
 

ukee1593

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Crossfired cards are only really worth it if you are gaming on the computer. Other graphic design applications don't usually use Crossfire or SLI.

For the case, I'd suggest that you take a look at the Lian Li range of computer cases for your price range.

This Lian Li PC-A05FN if you really need something compact. It'll still fit a standard size ATX motherboard and big GPUs though. $139.00 --- http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=25_30_394&products_id=17738

This one for a full sized has excellent air flow. Also I think some Lian Lis are now shipping with USB 3.0 Header plugs $179.00 --- http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=25_30_394&products_id=17138

Other option is THIS one (which I own personally) from Umart Melbourne http://umart.com.au/newindex2.phtml?bid=7

The Lian Li cases are excellent in terms of build quality and really make the job of cable management easy. Also their aluminium construction makes them extremely light compared to the steel alternatives.

For a GPU, I suggest that you consider a GTX 560 Ti or GTX 570. The NVidia cards this generation are more GPU compute oriented and may offer better support for your applications via CUDA. Check your applications to see whether they would benefit from an NVidia card. The other option is to wait until next year for the AMD 7900 series which are supposed to offer very good GPU compute performance.
 

Those are good power supplies and likely to be very quiet, especially the M700 with a top advertised speed of 1100RPM and a larger 13.5cm fan to boot.

Xbitlabs measured the top speed of the M12II Bronze 620 as 2200RPM. But most people seem to think that Seasonic power supplies are quite quiet; probably depends on the fan curve.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cases/display/seasonic-psu-roundup_3.html

The problem with these two is that they don't have enough connectors for a second 6950. Whereas the TPN-650 does.
Here are some reviews for the 750W version which talk about noise:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/Antec_TruePower_New_TP-750
http://www.kitguru.net/components/power-supplies/zardon/antec-truepower-750w-new-series-review/4
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3985/three-550w-psus-for-different-prices/13
All members of the TPN series use the same fan so anything said about one of them should be applicable to all.

I don't know anything about the fan in the HCG-750, apart from this: "13.5cm, Dual ball bearing, ADDA ADN512UB-A90".

I don't think it's necessary to use a 750W PSU with a system with two 6950s, because of the numbers shown in these reviews:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/crossfire-sli-3-way-scaling,2865-11.html
Radeon HD 6950 2-way XFire
Active Idle: 116W, Furmark: 432W

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4061/amds-radeon-hd-6970-radeon-hd-6950/24
6950 Crossfire Power Consumption:
Idle = 169W Load - Crysis = 470 Load - Furmark = 509W
Yes 750W will give you more headroom, but I ask whether it is necessary. I guess it is a case of balancing your power needs with required/desired features.

Flimsy side panels. I don't think that the R3 would have flimsy side panels, certainly not enough to depress by 6cm. The case I have atm (Thermaltake V9) has fairly flimsy side panels and when I press mine in it doesn't get anywhere near 6cm.

I recently received the Lian Li PC-9FB and it does indeed have the internal USB 3 connector.

I meant to answer your 'cables' question in my first post, no I don't believe you will have to buy any cables to make the build work as motherboards usually come with at least two SATA cables and high end motherboards like the Asrock Z68 Extreme4 come with four.
One question mark I have is over the Hyper 212 Plus. I think in the US it comes with thermal paste, but on CM's website it always says the bundle varies by region. So if I was you I'd either check with the seller or buy a tube of thermal paste.
Zip ties can help with cable management as well, both inside and outside your case, if you don't already have some I'd buy some.

Something you might have to keep an eye out for is the GPU clearance. The R3 can take cards up to 29cm. Most 6950s will be shorter than that, but if I was you I'd double check. Usually the easiest way is to go to the manufacturers product page for the particular card you are looking at.
 
Solution

veht

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Oct 22, 2011
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6.5mm, cooler 158.5mm tip of heatpipe to case "limit" 165mm. I think it would be ok, just not carry it with any weight on the side to be safe.

I will enquire about the paste, I am kind of suprised that the cpu does not come with some in first place (I guess though something similar is built onto the stock cooler or something).

Thanks all for the infos!