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x99 Water-cooling Build – Help and Advice

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  • Water Cooling
  • Build
  • Components
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September 26, 2014 2:25:13 PM

Pointlessly expensive Water-cooling Build – Help and Advice

Hello All,

I am planning on a new water-cooling build and I’d some input / ideas / constructive criticism from you guys here who have technology geeks / geniuses / gamers / awesome people!
This computer will be strictly used for gaming purposes at 3x1080p with an upgrade to 3x1440p in the near future!

This is not my first water cooled build, so I’m not completely new to this. But, this will be the first build I want to do with Acrylic / Plexiglas tubing.

I have a pretty good budget, but I have to say the budget will be limited to bang for the buck / my usage / purpose of the build. I do not intend to simply throw away money to impress the online community and friends.

I am also aware that technology keeps getting updated, but I am looking to build something that will still perform well 3 years from now.



Processor
Z97 i7-4970K or x99 i7-5820K


Now that the x99 platform is released, is the 5820k a performance boost enough for me to invest in the platform, especially that DDR4 Ram and the Motherboard is more expensive too?

Is the lower clock speeds on the 5820k going to be better?

I would love a 5930k, though I don’t think I need it that much at 500$

It kind of sucks that the 5820k does not support x16/x16. It will support x8/x8/x8, which is the same as the 4970k.

AMD equivalent?

Motherboard
ASUS Maximus VII Formula –Z97 – It looks awesome and it’s got a water-cooling loop!
Asus x99 Deluxe or the EVGA x99 FTW or the EVGA x99 Classified

The Asus z97 is about 350$ now. The Asus x99 Deluxe and the EVGA x99 Classified are 399$ and the EVGA x99 FTW is 299$. Is the extra 100$ worth investing in the EVGA x99 Classified or the Asus x99 Deluxe?
Does anyone have a different suggestion on the motherboard? Are there any that are a better bang for the buck while still maintaining OC functions and good features? MSI Mpower? Gigabyte G1? ASRock?

Also, how important is Motherboard Cooling? How much does it affect OC and performance?

How much benefit does the aftermarket water block benefit me if I decide to go with a non-water block cooled Motherboard?

Does anyone have any recommendations from experience on what boards have been great for overclocking?

If anyone suggests an AMD equivalent, what boards would you suggest?

RAM
Again, DDR4 vs DDR3

Is I was going the x99 way, I would definitely need a DDR4, and these are about a 100$ more for a 2x8GB.

Also, I know DDR4 currently has higher CAS latency, but higher speeds as well. How much is this going to be a factor?

How much benefit will water-cooling the RAM do?

Graphics cards
Now that NVIDIA has launched the GTX 980 and the GTX970s, the GTX 700 series is dropping in price pretty radically.

The GTX900 series cards definitely have more technology and features and lower power consumption and temperatures!

The 970s are 350$ and the 980s are 550$. GTX780Tis are about 450$.

I am definitely doing a SLI configuration, so here’s the question…
Does dropping 1100$ in a 2Way 980 make more sense or 1050 in a 3 way SLI? Which would perform better?
Or does it make sense to get 2 way 980s and add one later on if I need to boost performance ?

Should I even be thinking about the 700series?


PSU

With the newer cards drawing a lot less power, would an 850W work for a 2 way SLI? Or a 1000W for a 3 Way SLI?


Water-cooling

CPU: I’m going the Swiftech route, anything better?

GPU: I’d like a full cover water block. Also, correct me if I’m wrong: The Stock back plates aren’t going to fit the GPU water blocks.

Any suggestions on the Pumps, reservoirs, GPU water blocks, fans, tubing manufacturers, fittings?

Can I do copper/metal tubing? I’ve read that distilled water will damage the tubing. If this is true, don’t they affect the solid copper water blocks?


Other
Finally, is a good sound card worth it? I do not like headphones, so I will have a 7.1 surround setup

Does anyone have anything else to add about the build?

So, if I do an x99 build, it will cost me about 250$ more in components. Is this price bump worth it ?
Also, if I get the 5820k, would it support more than 32gb of RAM if I decide to add in the future ?
I guess this covers most topics I have questions about.

My case: Cooler Master HAF Stacker
Storage: 256GB SSD; 2x2TB HDD
Optical Drive: LG Blu Ray burner
OS: Windows 7 x64 Pro


ALL suggestions welcome!!

More about : x99 water cooling build advice

September 28, 2014 12:48:20 AM

Processor
You dont need an X99 rig for gaming, plain and simple.

Mobo
I tend to err toward the more $150 options. If it can support SLI/Crossfire and not burst into flames supporting a decent overclock then its perfectly fine for most rigs IMO.
Mobo water-cooling is fairly pointless. If your actually having problems with the VRM, jury rig a fan to point at the CPU socket, dont need anything better than that.

RAM
DDR3 vs 4 is entirely up to what platform you pick, so performance is a null factor anyway, not that there is any real difference this early into DDR4.
Water-cooling RAM also makes no difference, beefy cooling for RAM is only a leftover from back in the DDR2 days when they actually put out heat, and were part of the CPU overclocking process.

GPU
Wouldnt bother with 3-way SLI, the performance scaling beyond two cards drops pretty hard. Get 980's or 780Ti's, their pretty close to each other in performance.

PSU
I was recommending 750W for dual cards two years ago...

Water-cooling
Eh, a lot of this is preference. If you know what your doing then its hard to go wrong, and the performance difference between brands/blocks isnt massive.
Solid tubing is a fair bit of work but completely doable if you have the tools. Havent heard anything about distilled water affecting them.

Other
This is going to depend on your setup. A sound card is probably going to be worthwhile, but how good is going to depend on the setup.
October 6, 2014 7:58:55 PM

just to answer a couple of your questions.

The 5820k x99 build option would support at least 64gb of ram currently and potentially more if they start making sticks with more than 8gb on them and the motherboard makes update their bios to support it.

as an example.. I currently have the x99 deluxe with 32gb of ram in four of the eight slots. so I have 8gb x 4 slots 32gb. The x99 deluxe has 8 total slots so I have 4 free to add later...


If you overclock the 5820k you will get similar performance of the 5930k as far as speed in ghz. It's more of a silicone lottery issue. If don't overclock then obviously the base clock is higher for the 5930k. So in summary if you overclock the only reason to get the 5930k would be for the pci-e lanes.

as stated above, if you are only going to game, then go with the z97 platform.

But really why buy a computer if you are only going to game? aren't there ps4's and xbox iterations out there? the best part about a computer is that it is multifunctional. I cringe every time I hear someone mention a specific use for a pc. It seems to happen a lot these days.
October 7, 2014 10:01:08 PM

Just like chodamoyer says, build a computer for multiple things...

I'll give you 2 examples 1 is X97 and the other X99, both of these systems are REALLY REALLY good, but there is a $$$ dif of $1,300.00 and the difference is power, power, power and you really only need more power if you plan on dealing in heavy media...

But it's your choice, as my system cost was $4,800.00. I do allot of media and gaming... Oh and the 2nd pc has no monitor, just like my build.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9t7zXL
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9t7zXL/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.99 @ NCIX US)

CPU Cooler: Swiftech H220 55.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($100.00 @ NCIX US) <-- One of the best coolers on the market and for $50 more you can do allot with this and not go wrong.

Motherboard: Asus SABERTOOTH Z97 MARK 1 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($238.99 @ Newegg) <-- Newest Sabertooth, I use Sabertooth boards and will be switching to the new x99's when they come out, but for the money and tweak ability you can't beat this.

Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($159.99 @ Newegg) <-- Due to budget I stuck with 16gb and switched to Corsair, both Asus and Corsair have been working together for years and the match of 1866 with this board is and should be used. I myself use Dominator RAM, but these sticks are very good. Plus you can drop in another 16gb when you want more calculation power.

Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($119.00 @ Amazon) <-- Only use fot the OS, drivers and computer monitoring software

Storage: Sandisk Extreme Pro 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($179.99 @ Newegg) <-- All programs stored here, you do not want to save data here.

Both SSD's are picked because they are the newest and come with 10yr warranties

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($68.98 @ OutletPC) <-- All saved data to this drive, I prefer 10k drives but that would add another $60-80 to the budget.

Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 290X 4GB DirectCU II Video Card ($542.98 @ SuperBiiz) <-- This is a beast of a card for the money, processing power per $ it can't be beat.

Case: Corsair 450D ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.99 @ Newegg) <-- A little bit more air control for this case.

Power Supply: Corsair RM 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($129.99 @ Amazon) <-- Very good PSU

Monitor: Asus PB278Q 27.0" Monitor ($469.99 @ Amazon) <-- Ok here is where I differ big time, as if you are looking to do real video editing and animation, you want to have your money in a good monitor. This is what is pushing this system higher. This monitor can be used as the reference baseline for very good Adobe work to be completed.

Total: $2429.89

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-31 11:01 EDT-0400

That is my idea for a great working Media Machine, with the ability to run just about anything out there. Now if you are thinking of getting into Maya, 3DMax, Softimage, or other tasking types of animation programs, I would highly think of getting another 16gb of RAM.


Now this is a basic powerhouse media/Gaming. There are ways to make it much stronger, but you are looking at another $1,000.00.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ht9rwP
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ht9rwP/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-5930K 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($578.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Swiftech H320 55.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($151.82 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus RAMPAGE V EXTREME EATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($494.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($599.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($195.11 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($195.11 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital VelociRaptor 1TB 3.5" 10000RPM Internal Hard Drive ($213.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 4GB Video Card ($565.91 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Cosmos II (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($259.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair 860W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG WH16NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional (32/64-bit) ($170.99 @ Adorama)

Total: $3751.85

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-08 00:51 EDT-0400

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