I need an expert opinion on my system

[predatorofpie]

Hi guys! This is my first post. I made this account to ask for help for my up-and-coming custom PC. This is also my first Custom PC.

Firstly, the requirements for my system are high end gaming, 3D production (Cinema4D) and running as a light server (for MC). I also may not immediately OC my CPU or GPU, but when I do, I definitely will be asking for help. The only other thing I have to add is I will probably add custom lighting to my PC and add another 7970 GPU in XFire after a year or so. Also a HDD may be added (probably a decent SSD for my OS) after a few months).

This is the setup I have opted for:
■Case: NZXT Phantom Full Tower Red
■CPU: i7 2700k
■GPU: Gigabyte AMD Radeon HD 7970 Overclocked Edition - 3GB 384-bit DDR5 RAM
■MOBO: ASUS P8Z68-V PRO GEN3 - ATX
■RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x 4GB) DDR3 KIT (1600MHz)
■HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 1.5TB
■SDC: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium FATAL1TY Pro
■PSU: Corsair Professional Series HX-1050 1050W Power Supply
■Cooling: Corsair Cooling Hydro Series H80 High-performance CPU Cooler
■OS: Windows 7 Premium 64-bit

I am omitting some parts, such as a DVD drive, home office and other components. But the necessary are listed. All i need is an opinion on my PC and any input would be welcomed.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post.

***EDIT: I live in Australia and are purchasing from mwave. Refer to my response from maxinexus for more details.
****EDIT: I have now gone for the Z68 Fatal1ty Pro Gen 3 board, a Noctua NH-D14 and the LP Corsair ram to accomodate the Noctua.

 

[vrumor]

Nice build. Everything looks good. However you can save yourself a bit by getting any other version of the 7970. You can OC it to 1125/1575 without touching the voltage. Ive done it myself. Bout the only thing you are missing is the SSD which I see you are adding later. Save yourself some cash on a diff 7970 and a smaller PSU, still need a good quality one, but that PSU is way overkill. Good luck.

 

[hunter315]

I'd swap the PSU for the Silverstone Strider Gold 1kW, or even drop down to a good 850 W unit like the Seasonic X-860. The HX 1050 is a good unit but not a great unit, its a slight improvement over its predecessor the HX1000 but there are significantly better units out there. Both are more efficient than the Corsair, fully modular, and cheaper.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256068
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151111&Tpk=x-860


You can save quite a bit by picking up a 2600k instead, especially if you have a microcenter nearby.

 

[geekapproved]

850w is more than enough, all these are excellent choices.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207017

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371053

 

[maxinexus]

The difference between 2700K and 2600K is 100Mhz. Which in real life means nothing. You will never notice the difference and both have same overclocking capabilities. For example you will most likely hit ceiling at around 4.2 with 26 and 27 as well get 26K so that should save you $40.

Not sure when you want to buy but when it comes to video card I would wait till nvidia shows what it has up its sleeve. Anyway I would rather got with sapphire 7950 OC. That card had the best cooling solution out there that is both effective and quiet. Just look up some benchmarks. The money you save so far is $180 if you choose these options. So you need to find another $300 somewhere to get 2nd 7950.
I you really want play games at highest details and/or in 3D you will need 60+FPS so you definitively need CF for 7970 or 7950

Your motherboard is nice ( when it comes to gadgets) but I did not have very good experience with it when it comes to stability. I would suggest this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131806

the best part is that it has X-Fi2 sound chip build in so you don't need to get sound card. So this alone would save you $145...so we still need to find $155 for you second 7950

HDD...hmmm I would rather get SSD now and HDD later. A 128GB SSD is great. It has enough room for OS and handfull of modern games. So unless you download like crazy maniac you can go by without needing HDD. Anyway you can always get HDD just for storage so green drive is more than sufficient. 2TB WD green costs 129.99 now so you don't have to break an arm and leg for a black edition WD. Also you can probably salvage some of your old drives as a storage.

Your PSU is great I would not go lower if you plan to CF and overclock

Really nice set up
Good luck

 

[predatorofpie]

Forgot to mention I live in Australia.

The only reason I was going to get the 2700k was that when I do OC eventually, I do prefer the higher chance that the chip is from a good bin. Also, I know about nVidia Kepler, but the reason I chose 7970 is because when Kepler is dropped, AMD has no option but to drop the prices of the 7000 series. They also plan to release their 8000 series at the end of this year, so more price cuts. This puts XFire within my limits.

I originally had a SSD and a HDD, but I had to remove the SSD to cut costs below 3000. When I get enough money (eventually) I'll probably buy one and load the OS onto it, whilst ghosting the majority of my important files to my external.

As a final note, I should say I am purchasing from mwave. They have a variety of parts but not every type. They are also the cheapest option for me, as amazon rarely ships computer parts to Australia, and ebay can be overpriced in shipping from the US. Their warehouse is also near me. To those in America, they'll look like a rip (especially considering the AUD/USD ratio), but they're cheap over here.

Overall, I like the setup and I value your input, but the fault is mine for not adding I live in Australia.

I'll still consider what you said, as I could just get a SSD and use my external as a second drive.

Thanks!

 

[predatorofpie]

Nice build. Everything looks good. However you can save yourself a bit by getting any other version of the 7970. You can OC it to 1125/1575 without touching the voltage. Ive done it myself. Bout the only thing you are missing is the SSD which I see you are adding later. Save yourself some cash on a diff 7970 and a smaller PSU, still need a good quality one, but that PSU is way overkill. Good luck.

I'm choosing the gigabyte 7970 as it can clock slightly higher then other 7970's. I read heaps of benchmarks and reviews though, and it is a tough choice, but it is a personal choice and I prefer gigabyte and the look of the GPU.

I used a PSU calculator to work out my requirements, because I added all the after-market stuff into the calculator and I came up with 1004w.

Thanks for the information though

 

[vrumor]

Not sure if you can go higher than 1125/1575 unless Afterburner is lying to me. Well your system wont require anymore than mine does, and probably less than mine and im running an 880w power supply and its plenty.

 

[geekapproved]

I used a PSU calculator to work out my requirements, because I added all the after-market stuff into the calculator and I came up with 1004w.

You obviously did something wrong, your system will draw around 650-700w, 850w is plenty even with overclocking you still have quite a bit of headroom.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-7970-crossfire-review/7

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_JIOwM2Rpc

 

[predatorofpie]

I used a PSU calculator to work out my requirements, because I added all the after-market stuff into the calculator and I came up with 1004w.

You obviously did something wrong, your system will draw around 650-700w, 850w is plenty even with overclocking you still have quite a bit of headroom.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-7970-crossfire-review/7

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_JIOwM2Rpc

Okay, so I re-did it and I came up with about 850w. The problem I had was I had entered a higher vCore then was necessary and I had entered a 6990 as my GPU, because the calculator doesn't include the 7000 series, so two of these in XFire definitely chew a lot of power. I switched it to the more comparable GTX 580's, though these still chew more power! Thanks for making me re-check. I'm still considering just leaving it at 1050w though because odds are I'm gonna upgrade my MOBO and CPU in 2 years or so, so I still want that headroom, as I plan on this computer lasting 5 years.

Thanks for the info though, I do appreciate it and it has made me consider going smaller and then upgrading.

 

[geekapproved]

850w is still wrong, not even close. Did you see the links I posted above, the dude recorded 650w with a 4+ghz i7 hexacore.

Cpu wattage goes down or stays the same, so you don't need headroom for that. Ivy Bridge is only 77w.

 

[morgoth780]

850w is still wrong, not even close. Did you see the links I posted above, the dude recorded 650w with a 4+ghz i7 hexacore.

Cpu wattage goes down or stays the same, so you don't need headroom for that. Ivy Bridge is only 77w.

and shouldn't the 7970 pull less power than a 580 cause its 28 nm?

 

[geekapproved]

Yeah about 40w less than GTX580.