[Overhaul] Motherboard, Case, & CPU Cooler Questions

Incurafy

Honorable
Jul 26, 2012
4
0
10,510
Hi there! :hello:

I'm about to overhaul the PC I built back in 2009/10 and I need some advice on the motherboard, case, and CPU cooler that I have chosen for my build to go with the components that I've already selected in my price range. Excluding a copy of Windows 7, my budget is $700 (very tight, can't spare any more than that) so I'll be using my current GPU and PSU with plans to upgrade the graphics card in the future (though it will be a while) and the PSU if absolutely necessary.

All prices are in AUD and are based on the pricing found on Umart.com.au.

Items I already own:

GPU: Gigabyte nVidia GeForce GTX 260 Super Overclocked (factory OC)
PSU: Corsair HX-650 ATX Power Supply, 120mm fan
RAM (NEW): Corsair Vengeance CMZ16GX3M4X1600C9 16GB (4x4GB) 1600MHz DDR3 CL9 Performance with XMP 1.3
https://www.umart.com.au/newindex2.phtml?bid=6

Items I've decided on:

CPU:
Intel Core i5 2500K Processor LGA1155 3.3GHz
https://www.umart.com.au/newindex2.phtml?bid=6
Cost: $230

HDD:
Seagate SATA3 2TB 7200RPM Barracuda 64mb Cache
https://www.umart.com.au/newindex2.phtml?bid=6
Cost: $117

Items I'm still contemplating:

Motherboard:
Asrock Z77-EXTREME4-M Z77/4 x DDR3/2 x PCI-E3.0/4 x SATA3/4 x USB3.0/HDMI/D-Sub/DVI-D/7.1CH/GBLAN/RA
https://www.umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&id2=177&bid=6&sid=89540
Cost: $126

Case:
CoolerMaster RC-922XM-KKN2 HAF Black USB3.0 (PREFERRED)
https://www.umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&id2=1391&bid=6&sid=93772
Cost: $150

OR?

Antec Nine Hundred Two v3.0 (ALTERNATIVE)
https://www.umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&id2=207&bid=6&sid=71307
Cost: $131

Cooler: I'm seriously open to suggestions here; I've never bought a CPU cooler before and I don't even know how to tell if this will even fit.
Thermaltake ISGC-400 Multi Socket CPU Cooler
https://www.umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&id2=185&bid=6&sid=90960
Cost: $61

Will the cooler fit properly in one of the above cases without obstructing airflow?

Total cost:
With Antec case: $665 - $35 of budget remaining.
With CoolerMaster HAF case: $684 - $16 of budget remaining.

The reason that I bought so much RAM is that I frequently use various rendering and editing programs and the RAM has become a necessity. I will be overclocking the CPU to 4.0ghz+ so the after market cooler is also necessary. Furthermore, I'm a gamer so I'm frequently playing high graphics games (including the upcoming Guild Wars 2 which I want to be able to run on high settings in all major cities/war zones). Finally, I've already got a monitor, mouse, keyboard, and headset, so none of these things need to be taken into account.

If anyone has any better suggestions then feel free to let me know. However, please don't suggest an SSD drive or new graphics card because they're simply out of the question.

Thanks for the help. :)

-Inc.
 

Nw333

Honorable
Jun 24, 2012
1,026
0
11,310
Get a 212 Plus from CoolerMaster, really efficient and cheap for a good cooler. ($20-30)
Its all on personal preference on the case there, which design you like more, but never forget the features! :)
 
id first get i5 3580k instead of the i5 2500k. ivy bridge is faster. sells for 239 at mwave.com.au

mind if you check out the haf xm case. its a dollar cheaper at pc case gear

for the cooler, get a antec h20 620. buying corsair ram made you spend 2x as much money on the cpu cooler since 95% of cpu coolers dont have enough clearance for the memory. ifyou bought low profile ram, you could have gotten a hyper 212 for 36 dollars at pc case gear.

otherwise its good
 

Incurafy

Honorable
Jul 26, 2012
4
0
10,510
Thanks for the replies, I'm going to attempt to find a cooler that won't be too big for the ram... if I can't, then I'll have to buy a water cooler.

Anyone have any ideas on coolers that are small enough to fit with high profile RAM but still do a very good job of cooling?
 
The 212 EVO should fit if you have the fan pulling air through the heatsink instead of pushing (so fan on other side of mobo to the RAM). You just wont be able to set up a push/pull system through it unless you get a slim fan.

Any decent non-HTPC case should easily fit the biggest of heatsinks. Those cases will be good.
 

Incurafy

Honorable
Jul 26, 2012
4
0
10,510


Thanks for the help... can you elaborate on what you mean by the fan placement, specifically? Should there be a YouTube video or thread on it somewhere that you're aware of?

-Inc.
 

cranked

Distinguished
Apr 28, 2012
520
2
19,065
What he is saying is you can attach the fan to either side of the Hyper 212 EVO. On one side, it will be pulling are through the heatink and the other side it will be pushing air through. On the push side, it will hit the RAM, so it has to go on the pull side.
 

Incurafy

Honorable
Jul 26, 2012
4
0
10,510


I didn't know that you could place the fan on either side, very helpful, thank you!

I think that I'm going to go with the Hyper 212 EVO now, as well as the HAF case. Thank you very much to everyone who posted, much appreciated.

-Inc.