Sign in with
Sign up | Sign in
Your question

First time doing a water cooler build - pretty much a noob

Tags:
  • Cooling
  • Build
  • Systems
Last response: in Systems
Share
March 28, 2013 4:43:27 PM

Hello,

I'm currently looking to build a new pc, and will place my order in late April/early May. I built my first pc about 5 years ago and now I'm looking to upgrade this one and build my 2nd. I have a budget of $2500 Canadian, including taxes and shipping. I am upgrading my PC because it can't play any of the more recent games (like Arkham Asylum, for a reference point.) So, primarily it will be a gaming rig, but I would also like to be able to capture video as well. Finally, I plan on trying to overclock the CPU - I've never done that before, but I've got the budget and I think it's a relatively straight forward exercise.

The parts I have already:
Monitor - Sharp Aquos LC-32d56U
SATA 1TB Hard drive
DVD RW+ Lightscribe drive
PCI NIC card. (Maybe upgrade to PCI-e?)

Here's my rough budget:
Chip & Cooling:$500
Mobo:$400
Video Card:$500
Ram:$400
PSU:$400
Tower:$200
Extra:$100

I chose this budget just by averaging out the numbers. It might be better if I sink a bit more money into the video card.

Here's the build I'm considering:

CPU: Intel i7-3770k [http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item...] $330

I've chosen the i7-3770k over the i5-3570k because I'm looking for my build to last for 5 years, so I don't mind spending a little extra now, under the assumption that future games will be taking advantage of the extra resources.

MOBO: Asus Sabertooth Z77 [http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item...] $245

It's got great reviews and I like the dust shield.

RAM: Corsair Vengeance 32GB (4 x 8GB) [http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item...] $300

I don't really know what makes one stick of ram better than a different one. So these were the least expensive 32GB set running @ 1866. I've read that the Sabretooth Z77 only reads RAM @ 1600 native and needs some tooling with to run @ 1866. I figure 32GB will be sufficient for at least 5 years.

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 680 2GB [http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item...] $480

I think it will be easier to handle heat and space by going for one big card rather than 2 smaller cards to SLI or crossfire. Also, this way I have the option to buy a second card to SLI down the line (as the SabertoothZ77 has both SLI and Crossfire capabilities.)

CPU Cooling: Corsair Hydro H100 [http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item...] $130 (Total for cooling + CPu: $460)

I looked at air cooling, but the best ones blocked the ram slots. So liquid cooling looks like the best idea - but I've never done a liquid cooling system before, so this is my weakest area.
I chose the H100 over the H100i [http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item...] because I've read there's more problems with the H100i, and I'm looking for the easiest possible cooling solution.

PSU: Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 1200W [http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item...] $295

It's got good reviews, and it's got lots of power. According to various tests at this site [http://www.thermaltake.outervision.com/] I'm recommended about 735 W. I don't know how much of a power buffer I need for everything to run, so I figure this will hold for a 5 year period.

Tower: ThermalTake Overseer RX1 Full Tower [http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item...] $130

I chose a full tower over a mid tower because I want to make sure there's a lot of air flow and room for everything. Also, this one has minimal lights (I'd prefer no lights at all.)

Total: $1910
Assuming %30 for taxes and shipping: $2483

So this would come in well under budget and I think would satisfy all my gaming needs for the next 5 years.

I plan on ordering this in early May and will put it together over a week. I'm assuming the prime95 stress test that I've read about refers to the GIMPS program - and so I'll use that for testing.

My questions are as follows:

1) Is this an efficient way to spend my money? Am I wasting too much money in one area and not another?

2) Am I missing any important pieces? Especially with this being my first water cooled build. Do I need any accessories? Should I buy a screw set or something?

3) Will this build last 5 years? Are the pieces I chose reliable? Especially cooling?

Thanks so much for reading and I apologize in advance if the links don't show up.











More about : time water cooler build pretty noob

March 28, 2013 6:04:04 PM

doesnt sound very gaming.

get this
http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/MUpf


-rigs wont last 5 years. dont futureproof. its dumb
-if you want to spend the money for a i7, go ahead. it doesnt help much though
-dust shield traps dust and heat. plain stupid
-way too much ram. 8gb is enough. if you have the money, fine, 16gb. anything over is dumb if you are gaming
-7970s are faster and cheaper. and run cooler
-if you want your rig to even last, dont bother with cheap liquid cooling
-wattage is super overkill. a 850 or 750w psu is more than enough
-case is overkill. smaller cases cool just as well for cheaper
Related resources
March 28, 2013 6:57:04 PM

TheBigTroll said:
as for the video card, get this
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=79472&vpn=11197%2D11%2D40...

recommendations only go as far as next week. ask me again next week and the rig is completely different


Nice link to the homepage of ncix?

Quote:
doesnt sound very gaming.

get this
http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/MUpf


-rigs wont last 5 years. dont futureproof. its dumb
-if you want to spend the money for a i7, go ahead. it doesnt help much though
-dust shield traps dust and heat. plain stupid
-way too much ram. 8gb is enough. if you have the money, fine, 16gb. anything over is dumb if you are gaming
-7970s are faster and cheaper. and run cooler
-if you want your rig to even last, dont bother with cheap liquid cooling
-wattage is super overkill. a 850 or 750w psu is more than enough
-case is overkill. smaller cases cool just as well for cheaper

Going down the line:
Rigs can easily last 5 years...
If you want to spend the money an i7 is not bad games are starting to use more threads now then before.
Truth
16gb is nice to have if you run multiple programs... again any build above 2k budget should get 16
Truth
Custom loop or bust O.o again truth
truth again'
Big cases arent bad...

March 29, 2013 5:13:32 AM

bro. it works for me. its a 7970 from sapphire

-yes of course it can. but will it play properly in 5 years? its like saying a 9800 gtx will play modern games properly
-at the rate of which he is buying, id rather make him wait for haswell
-ram is dam expensive right now. a couple of months ago, i could have picked up a 16gb kit for 60 bucks.
-they arent bad but they are a waste for most
!