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Started by Divinedeath | | 8 answers
Please help with 7 yr old upgrade/new comp build; (mainly gaming/streaming)
I am upgrading from my last build in 2007 (AMD 955 BE processor).

CPU: 5930k already purchased from microcenter. I have never spent that much on a processor and its probably overkill but i wanted some futureproofing, and I play a lot of World of Warcraft and read that it benefits from more cores.

Case: I have an Antec 1200 from around 7 yrs ago (not the V3 so it lacks USB 3 ports on front panel), and the filters are difficult to clean (have to remove 24 screws to clean which is a real nuisance). I love the looks of this full tower case with blue LED fans and it has nearly 2000 fantastic reviews on newegg, but I think it might be time to upgrade. It will not fit EATX MOBO's. It also has no slots for my Samsung 840 pro 256 gB SSD. It may be fine if i air cool the CPU with a Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($89.99) or CRYORIG R1 Ultimate 76.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($89.99). However I was hoping to liquid cool with the new SWIFTECH H240X for $149.99, and per swiftech it would not work with my old case. So I would really like some help choosing the best FULL TOWER case on the market today that has a clear side panel. I have read and watched a lot of reviews for Corsair 900D, Phantecs Enthoo Primo and Luxe, Antec 1900, NZXT Phantom 840, Cosmos II, and even caselabs. Unfortunately the Tomshardware 3 part review series looking for the most elite case has found no standout winner yet though they have not reviewed the primo or Luxe from Phantecs. Please help me choose a fantastic full tower case for under $300 that will support EATX and water cooling as well as having air filters that are easily removable and great cable management with a clear side panel. Also please recommend if I should replace case fans with Noctuas( I see a decent # of people buying noctua PWM case fans).

MOBO: ? I was thinking ASUS Deluxe x99 but have seen a lot of mixed reviews on amazon and newegg. It was on sale yesterday at newegg for $341 but the price is now $359 at newegg and amazon. There is the ASUS Rampage V extreme, but I'm not sure I can justify spending $500 on a MOBO with a lot of features I will never use, and it is an EATX so I would be required to change my case. I do like the WIFI ac and bluetooth and will plan to 2 way SLI at 16/16, but will probably never 3 way SLI since adding a 3rd card doesnt really help with any measurable performance gains. Are any of MSI, Gigabyte, or Asrock x99's in the same league as ASUS Deluxe or RVE?

Graphics: 780TI EVGA Dual Classified; already purchased; will probably SLI if the next slew of Maxwells handily beat my current graphics card.

Power Supply: currently using Corsair TX850W (from 7 yrs ago) however another thread suggesting upgrading to a 1000w PSU if i planned to overclock the CPU/GPU/RAM; so I'm upgrading to the EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 P2 1000W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply.

RAM: ? I could use help with DDR4 recommendations. Since the prices are so high I probably will only start with 16gB. I really dont have any idea what brand, speed or timings I should focus on. I know Kingston, Corsair, and GSkill are all pretty good.

Hard Drives: ? I have a Samsung 840 pro 256gB SSD that I bought over a year ago and havent had a chance to use. I dont think I will buy a 2nd and use in RAID configuration. But I could use a recommendation for a couple good/reliable 2TB + storage drives. I'm using a 750GB Western Digital 7200rpm drive from my 7 yr old build and would like to be able to backup, as well as transfer/store some of my favorite programs from my DISH DVR.


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a c 621 à CPUs
October 12, 2014 11:10:51 PM

Think 2 should do, at least for starters,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0AJ...

I'd grab them and see how it goes, have seen many get way too much disk and it just sits. Not sure how much you game or what games, might try simply putting some on a regular platter drive (which should suffice) then maybe try one on your SSD, the original load of the game, splah screen, etc will be faster but the game itself won't really run faster to speak of
October 12, 2014 7:18:42 PM

Tradesman1 said:
I think I'd go the Deluxe, put it into the CM HAF X case, for DRAM the GSkill RipJaws X in 2400/15 (F4-2400C15Q-16GRK), drives I'd go WD Blacks, though since these would be data drives the Blues would be perfectly fine and cost a little less....If thinking SLI, grab the 2nd card quick, as looks like they will be discontinued.....Good pick on the PSU - look at the EGG, it's at $200 right now and comes w/ a $25 rebate card ;) 


Thanks. I had already pulled the trigger on the Enthoo Luxe case (since it will fit my swiftech h240x in push/pull on top), 5930k CPU, EVGA 1000 P2 power supply, Samsung EVO pro 256GB SSD.

Per your suggestions, I just ordered the ASUS x99 Deluxe MOBO, GSkill RipJaws 4 in 2400/15 (F4-2400C15Q-16GRB blue).

By your suggestion for my hard drives, you said to go with Western Digital Blacks. Can you be more specific and link the actual ones. Was hoping for two 2TB drives (maybe more depending on what you think). I wanted one hard drive for backup and one for movies/dish DVR content. Should i get a 3rd hard drive (10k Velociraptor?) that will be the primary drive for gaming or do you think i can fit windows and games such as World of Warcraft on that Samsung Evo Pro 256GB hard drive. I have no clue what the difference is now with hard drives, regarding sata 3, sata 6, esata, M.2, usb 3.0, or hybrid drives, or which are the faster ones that I should have in this build. So specific help here would be greatly appreciated.
a c 621 à CPUs
October 12, 2014 1:05:57 PM

I think I'd go the Deluxe, put it into the CM HAF X case, for DRAM the GSkill RipJaws X in 2400/15 (F4-2400C15Q-16GRK), drives I'd go WD Blacks, though since these would be data drives the Blues would be perfectly fine and cost a little less....If thinking SLI, grab the 2nd card quick, as looks like they will be discontinued.....Good pick on the PSU - look at the EGG, it's at $200 right now and comes w/ a $25 rebate card ;) 
a b à CPUs
October 9, 2014 9:44:10 AM

Divinedeath said:
Aww the x99 ASUS Deluxe was on sale yesterday for like $341. As of tonight it is $357.29 at amazon. I'm just concerned with a lot of bad reviews (mostly dud boards that were received on newegg reviews), which is why i was considering getting the more expensive ASUS Rampage V instead or switch to another vendor. The ASUS x99 A is misrepresented on the specifications and on the pictures, as it clearly appears there is 2PCIE3X16, 2PCIE2X16 looking at the top and bottoms surfaces of the boards, and 2 old slots, however they state there are 3PCIE3X16 and 1PCIE2X16. I dont see any of the x99 MOBOS on newegg with a good number of 5 star reviews except for the ASUS RVE.

As far as the RAM since its quad channel how many slots of the 8 do i need to fill, and how many GB per slot? I've heard its better to get 4 4GB as opposed to 2 8GB, but i have no idea actually. If i only got 8GB total that would be 4X2GB.

I just got a good deal from NCIS on my EVGA P2 1000 power supply ($169.99 after rebate as of 10/9/14).


I haven't researched nor read any information on the speed of quad channel vs. dual channel yet. I do know that when the, I think 1366, boards came out there were some issues with tri-channel, but that got sorted out; I just haven't seen any info. on the quad channel. THErefore, it would, for your usage, be perfectly fine to simply set it up as dual-channel and run two 4GB DIMMS. The caveat to this is if the board won't allow dual channel ie. run one channel or four channels. The mobo manual should tell you about the configurations available, and that should be available from whichever manufacture you decide to buy from - download it first and read it, then decide if that affects your purchase decision. And please remember: I suggested the lesser RAM to save money; If that isn't an issue, then go for the 16GB, it can't hurt.
October 8, 2014 10:22:24 PM

Aww the x99 ASUS Deluxe was on sale yesterday for like $341. As of tonight it is $357.29 at amazon. I'm just concerned with a lot of bad reviews (mostly dud boards that were received on newegg reviews), which is why i was considering getting the more expensive ASUS Rampage V instead or switch to another vendor. The ASUS x99 A is misrepresented on the specifications and on the pictures, as it clearly appears there is 2PCIE3X16, 2PCIE2X16 looking at the top and bottoms surfaces of the boards, and 2 old slots, however they state there are 3PCIE3X16 and 1PCIE2X16. I dont see any of the x99 MOBOS on newegg with a good number of 5 star reviews except for the ASUS RVE.

As far as the RAM since its quad channel how many slots of the 8 do i need to fill, and how many GB per slot? I've heard its better to get 4 4GB as opposed to 2 8GB, but i have no idea actually. If i only got 8GB total that would be 4X2GB.

I just got a good deal from NCIS on my EVGA P2 1000 power supply ($169.99 after rebate as of 10/9/14).
a b à CPUs
October 8, 2014 7:43:18 PM

Divinedeath said:
nostall said:
It looks like you have done your homework and the build is looking good. I am going to respond to the 'case' inquiry first. Then I have to go to work and won't be back on here until tomorrow; might have a new thought or two by then.
Have you looked at the Cooler Master full-tower cases? The pictures on places like Newegg and Tiger Direct do NOT, IMHO, give the true picture of the size (and thus capacity) of the CM Cosmos. Not a light case by anymeans, and about enough room in this new version for a small aircraft carrier. I had an original Cosmos and it was huuuggge! but they had airflow problems. I saw one at Fry's some months ago and it literally stood head-and-shoulders above the rest of the cases on display. I just looked at the Cosmos SE on Newegg and my old Cosmos 1000 and the newer one does NOT support extended ATX, that's why the line out; Going with ATX, consider it.
The CM HAF 932 and HAF X are also big; a friend built his PC with the 932. These support EATX.
The filters on these are easy to get to and clean, no screws, bolts, etc. involved.
Though not on Tom's list (at least I didn't see it) is the Rosewill THOR and THRONE. Another one to take a look at especially if you like the aesthetics of the NZXT.
Gotta go.


Have you had a chance to make any further recommendations ? Eager to order parts and build this bad boy :) 


I am back, barely. What a week and it ain't over.
I just looked at Newegg and the ASUS Delux X99 is now $396.99. Now I love ASUS, but I agree with you, that's a lot of money for a lot of features and will you ever use them all?. Gigabyte makes good boards, certainly competitive with ASUS, and ther Gaming G1 is only $344.99. ASRock, an off-shoot of ASUS, make good products for the most part, and their Fatal1ty X99X Killer is only $284.99. Hard choice. A deal maker here would have been a 5 year warranty, but all those I mentioned are only 3 year.
Re. RAM: I would think about getting only 8GB; You will save some money, and unless you are into CAD and Video production and editing and photo editing, you would be better off saving that money and putting it toward your case or mobo. It will take awhile, but the price of DDR4 will drop, and that is the time to add another 8GB. I am running 16GB on my machine, and do Not do any of the photo or video stuff; it is office work, emails etc. and lot's of gaming I don't know what was running at the time in addition to my game (Metro 2033) and a download in the background, but have never seen more then 50% of my RAM in use. Running Crysis2 3 days ago the system was using only 23%.

Good choice for a new power supply.

And on that note, I think you have spec'ed. out an excellent build.
October 8, 2014 5:54:06 PM

nostall said:
It looks like you have done your homework and the build is looking good. I am going to respond to the 'case' inquiry first. Then I have to go to work and won't be back on here until tomorrow; might have a new thought or two by then.
Have you looked at the Cooler Master full-tower cases? The pictures on places like Newegg and Tiger Direct do NOT, IMHO, give the true picture of the size (and thus capacity) of the CM Cosmos. Not a light case by anymeans, and about enough room in this new version for a small aircraft carrier. I had an original Cosmos and it was huuuggge! but they had airflow problems. I saw one at Fry's some months ago and it literally stood head-and-shoulders above the rest of the cases on display. I just looked at the Cosmos SE on Newegg and my old Cosmos 1000 and the newer one does NOT support extended ATX, that's why the line out; Going with ATX, consider it.
The CM HAF 932 and HAF X are also big; a friend built his PC with the 932. These support EATX.
The filters on these are easy to get to and clean, no screws, bolts, etc. involved.
Though not on Tom's list (at least I didn't see it) is the Rosewill THOR and THRONE. Another one to take a look at especially if you like the aesthetics of the NZXT.
Gotta go.


Have you had a chance to make any further recommendations ? Eager to order parts and build this bad boy :) 
a b à CPUs
October 7, 2014 3:03:23 PM

It looks like you have done your homework and the build is looking good. I am going to respond to the 'case' inquiry first. Then I have to go to work and won't be back on here until tomorrow; might have a new thought or two by then.
Have you looked at the Cooler Master full-tower cases? The pictures on places like Newegg and Tiger Direct do NOT, IMHO, give the true picture of the size (and thus capacity) of the CM Cosmos. Not a light case by anymeans, and about enough room in this new version for a small aircraft carrier. I had an original Cosmos and it was huuuggge! but they had airflow problems. I saw one at Fry's some months ago and it literally stood head-and-shoulders above the rest of the cases on display. I just looked at the Cosmos SE on Newegg and my old Cosmos 1000 and the newer one does NOT support extended ATX, that's why the line out; Going with ATX, consider it.
The CM HAF 932 and HAF X are also big; a friend built his PC with the 932. These support EATX.
The filters on these are easy to get to and clean, no screws, bolts, etc. involved.
Though not on Tom's list (at least I didn't see it) is the Rosewill THOR and THRONE. Another one to take a look at especially if you like the aesthetics of the NZXT.
Gotta go.

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