Homebuilt-systems

[brigus]

I would like some tweaking advice on the following, system is going to be used for Gaming 99% of the time. (using 16 gigs of ram for some VM's)

Intel Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz 6MB 4-Core S1155 Processor
Asus Maximus V Gene Z77 S1155 mATX Mainboard
Corsair Hydro H100 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4) PC3-12800 DDR3 Memory Kit
Hitachi Deskstar 3TB 7200RPM 64MB 3.5" SATA3 HDD
Corsair Force GS 240GB 2.5" SATA3 Solid State Drive
LG BH12LS38 12X Blu-Ray Burner, Black
Two eVGA GF GTX670 2GB GDDR5 PCI-E Video Card
Asus PCE-N53 Dual-Band N600 PCI-E Wireless Adapter
Antec P280 Performance One Mid-Tower Case, Black - NO PSU
Corsair Pro Gold 750 Watt Power Supply

Thanks in advance!

 

[Maxx_Power]

I would like some tweaking advice on the following, system is going to be used for Gaming 99% of the time. (using 16 gigs of ram for some VM's)

Intel Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz 6MB 4-Core S1155 Processor
Asus Maximus V Gene Z77 S1155 mATX Mainboard
Corsair Hydro H100 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4) PC3-12800 DDR3 Memory Kit
Hitachi Deskstar 3TB 7200RPM 64MB 3.5" SATA3 HDD
Corsair Force GS 240GB 2.5" SATA3 Solid State Drive
LG BH12LS38 12X Blu-Ray Burner, Black
Two eVGA GF GTX670 2GB GDDR5 PCI-E Video Card
Asus PCE-N53 Dual-Band N600 PCI-E Wireless Adapter
Antec P280 Performance One Mid-Tower Case, Black - NO PSU
Corsair Pro Gold 750 Watt Power Supply

Thanks in advance!

Looks very good to me. I'm curious why the micro-atx sized motherboard in a full sized case ? If you get a full sized ATX board, the 2 eVGA 670's will actually have more room to breathe (can lower temperatures by 10 degrees or more).

 

[brigus]

Good point, what would you recommend. (Thank you for the prompt response on this by the way!)

 

[Maxx_Power]

Good point, what would you recommend. (Thank you for the prompt response on this by the way!)

Well, seems like you are spending a good amount of money as it is. If you have the money, the Asus Maximus V Formula (full sized Z77) is a good board.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131830

Or the MSI Z77 GD65 (HardOCP's favourite and Tom's Awarded):

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130643&Tpk=MSI%20Z77%20GD65

That MSI board can usually be had for quite a bit cheaper if you shop around.

 

[Maxx_Power]

Or the ASUS Sabertooth Z77, priced between the MSI and the Maximus V:

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131821&Tpk=sabretooth%20z77

But with 5 YEARS of warranty instead of 3. You might also love the looks.

 

[brigus]

In the description of the board they say this "Expansion Slots 2 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16 or dual x8) *2
1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (x4 mode, black) *3
3 x PCIe 2.0 x1 "

Does that mean that the 2 PCIe slots run at x16 or when you have 2 video cards one will run at x16 and the other will run at x8 or ??

 

[Maxx_Power]

In the description of the board they say this "Expansion Slots 2 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16 or dual x8) *2
1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (x4 mode, black) *3
3 x PCIe 2.0 x1 "

Does that mean that the 2 PCIe slots run at x16 or when you have 2 video cards one will run at x16 and the other will run at x8 or ??

All Z77 boards have PCI-E Gen 3 Slots and Switches (lane switches), so you are getting either ONE 16x Gen 3 lane, or TWO 8x Gen 3 lanes if you do multi-GPU. These lanes originate in the CPU's PCI-E controller, you get 16 lanes no matter what board. The rest of the lanes are provided by the southbridge and aren't really meant for GPU use.

Gen 3 lanes are capable of twice the bandwidth compared to Gen 2 lanes (which are again, twice the bandwidth compared to Gen 1). So you can think of it as TWO 16x Gen 2 lanes (like on older Z68, P67 boards earlier).

Either way, you have LOTS of bandwidth.

 

[brigus]

Thank you sir!

 

[brigus]

My friend is buying this system... he has the cash apparently. Any thing that could be tweaked on this system? He is going to be gaming mostly.

Intel Core i7 3930K 3.2GHz 12MB 6-Core S2011 Processor
Asus Rampage IV Extreme X79 S2011 ATX Mainboard
Corsair Hydro H100 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4) PC3-12800 DDR3 Memory Kit
Hitachi Deskstar 3TB 7200RPM 64MB 3.5" SATA3 HDD
Corsair Force GS 240GB 2.5" SATA3 Solid State Drive
Asus BW-12B1ST 12X SATA Blu-Ray Burner
2 eVGA GF GTX680 FTW 4GB GDRR5 PCI-E Video Card
Asus PCE-N53 Dual-Band N600 PCI-E Wireless Adapter
Antec P280 Performance One Mid-Tower Case, Black - NO PSU
Corsair Pro Gold 850 Watt Power Supply

 

[brigus]

Thanks again for all of your replies, I appreciate the assistance.

 

[Maxx_Power]

My friend is buying this system... he has the cash apparently. Any thing that could be tweaked on this system? He is going to be gaming mostly.

Intel Core i7 3930K 3.2GHz 12MB 6-Core S2011 Processor
Asus Rampage IV Extreme X79 S2011 ATX Mainboard
Corsair Hydro H100 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4) PC3-12800 DDR3 Memory Kit
Hitachi Deskstar 3TB 7200RPM 64MB 3.5" SATA3 HDD
Corsair Force GS 240GB 2.5" SATA3 Solid State Drive
Asus BW-12B1ST 12X SATA Blu-Ray Burner
2 eVGA GF GTX680 FTW 4GB GDRR5 PCI-E Video Card
Asus PCE-N53 Dual-Band N600 PCI-E Wireless Adapter
Antec P280 Performance One Mid-Tower Case, Black - NO PSU
Corsair Pro Gold 850 Watt Power Supply

That is very similar to yours. It is also very good (for the money, it had better be). I'd swap that Hitachi Deskstar with a Western Digital Black Series (5 year warranty, gobs of cache, optimized for performance). That's it, rest of things look fantastic.

 

[pacioli]

My friend is buying this system... he has the cash apparently. Any thing that could be tweaked on this system? He is going to be gaming mostly.

Intel Core i7 3930K 3.2GHz 12MB 6-Core S2011 Processor
Asus Rampage IV Extreme X79 S2011 ATX Mainboard
2 eVGA GF GTX680 FTW 4GB GDRR5 PCI-E Video Card

There is a lot of extra expense here for a tiny bit of performance increase.
Your friend is paying about $700 for the last 3-5 fps performance increase.
Going with Ivy Bridge or even Sandy Bridge and a pair of GTX 670 would provide a slight decrease in the performance and a drastic decrease in the price from what you have listed...

 

[brigus]

I believe this should be my final configuration given the input you have all replied with. (Thank you everyone)

Intel Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz 6MB 4-Core S1155 Processor
Asus Maximus V Formula Z77 S1155 ATX Mainboard
Corsair Hydro H100 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4) PC3-12800 DDR3 Memory Kit
WD Black 2TB 7200RPM 64MB 3.5" SATA3 HDD
Corsair Force GS 240GB 2.5" SATA3 Solid State Drive
LG BH12LS38 12X Blu-Ray Burner, Black
eVGA GF GTX680 FTW 4GB GDRR5 PCI-E Video Card
Asus PCE-N53 Dual-Band N600 PCI-E Wireless Adapter
Antec P280 Performance One Mid-Tower Case, Black - NO PSU
Corsair Pro Gold 750 Watt Power Supply

 

[Maxx_Power]

I believe this should be my final configuration given the input you have all replied with. (Thank you everyone)

Intel Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz 6MB 4-Core S1155 Processor
Asus Maximus V Formula Z77 S1155 ATX Mainboard
Corsair Hydro H100 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4) PC3-12800 DDR3 Memory Kit
WD Black 2TB 7200RPM 64MB 3.5" SATA3 HDD
Corsair Force GS 240GB 2.5" SATA3 Solid State Drive
LG BH12LS38 12X Blu-Ray Burner, Black
eVGA GF GTX680 FTW 4GB GDRR5 PCI-E Video Card
Asus PCE-N53 Dual-Band N600 PCI-E Wireless Adapter
Antec P280 Performance One Mid-Tower Case, Black - NO PSU
Corsair Pro Gold 750 Watt Power Supply

Looks good, like a purring beast. Enjoy!

 

[brigus]

I have actually made a bump in the CPU to the i7 2600k (I can get it for the same price as the i5 3570K!!).


Intel Core i7 2600K 3.4GHz 8MB 4-Core S1155 Processor
Asus Maximus V Formula Z77 S1155 ATX Mainboard
Corsair Hydro H100 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4) PC3-12800 DDR3 Memory Kit
WD Black 2TB 7200RPM 64MB 3.5" SATA3 HDD
Corsair Force GS 240GB 2.5" SATA3 Solid State Drive
LG BH12LS38 12X Blu-Ray Burner, Black
eVGA GF GTX680 FTW 4GB GDRR5 PCI-E Video Card
Antec P280 Performance One Mid-Tower Case, Black - NO PSU
Corsair Pro Gold 750 Watt Power Supply

Thanks again everyone, fast, helpful replies, appreciated immensely!

 

[Maxx_Power]

I have actually made a bump in the CPU to the i7 2600k (I can get it for the same price as the i5 3570K!!).


Intel Core i7 2600K 3.4GHz 8MB 4-Core S1155 Processor
Asus Maximus V Formula Z77 S1155 ATX Mainboard
Corsair Hydro H100 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4) PC3-12800 DDR3 Memory Kit
WD Black 2TB 7200RPM 64MB 3.5" SATA3 HDD
Corsair Force GS 240GB 2.5" SATA3 Solid State Drive
LG BH12LS38 12X Blu-Ray Burner, Black
eVGA GF GTX680 FTW 4GB GDRR5 PCI-E Video Card
Antec P280 Performance One Mid-Tower Case, Black - NO PSU
Corsair Pro Gold 750 Watt Power Supply

Thanks again everyone, fast, helpful replies, appreciated immensely!

That's good too. For the same price as a 3570k, you are getting 2 MB more cache and Hyper Threading. The 2MB cache will come in handy in CPU intensive games like StarCraft 2. Hyper Threading will make your computer a beast in encoding, image manipulation, and that sort of workstation tasks.