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"I need a New PC!" 2013 Part 1. Haswell, Crysis 3, and secret fairy sauce. Read da OP

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M

Momentary

Banned
From what I've been reading over xbitlabs, nvidia will not allow suppliers to tamper with the Titan's design.

So if I buy this card in March I don't have to worry about some other new "trim" of it to be released three months later? I'm guessing supply is going to be so limited for the Titan that I should go ahead and order 2 right off the bat and wait for Haswell to hit in the summer.

I'm also thinking about going the non-optical, non-card reader, internal tube reservoir route for the 900D or Cosmos II to have a minimalistic, clean, classy look to the tower. Only thing that concerns me is having a tacky fan controller plastered on the 900D.

Also, from what I've seen, there's more room for radiators in the 900D compared to the Cosmos II. It doesn't have room for these radiators. I would love to have these in my build to add to the theme of what I have in mind for the guts of the tower.

I can't wait to get off this deployment.
 
K

knitoe

Member
LiquidMetal14 said:
I sent a PM but prior to reading this. I will have to raise it but am open to having it as an in-take.
Click to expand...
Just put something flat, something simple as a piece of cardboard from a box, underneath the case. The case being on flat or carpet no issue.

Edit: Also, same response to your PM. Just wanted everyone else to see how simple it's to overcome the "carpet" problem.
 
C

cartoon_soldier

Member
So, I am really bad at DIY stuff, so looking to order from Ava Direct (got my current PC from there too):

INTEL Core™ i5-3570K Quad-Core 3.4 - 3.8GHz TB, HD Graphics 4000, LGA1155, 6MB L3 Cache, 22nm, 77W, EM64T EIST VT-x XD, Retail
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO CPU Cooler, Socket 2011/1155/1156/1366/775/FM1/AM3/AM2, Copper/Aluminum
COOLER MASTER ThermalFusion 400 Thermal Compound, Electrically Non-Conductive
ASUS P8Z77-V LK, LGA1155, Intel® Z77, DDR3-2400 (O.C.) 32GB /4, PCIe x16 SLI CF /1+1*, SATA 3Gb/s RAID 5 /4, 6Gb/s /2, DP + HDMI + DVI + VGA, USB 3.0 /6, HDA, GbLAN, ATX, Retail
G SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) Ripjaws PC3-10600 DDR3 1333MHz CL7 (7-7-7-21) 1.5V SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC
ASUS GTX670-DC2-2GD5, GeForce® GTX 670 915MHz, 2GB GDDR5 6008MHz, PCIe x16 SLI, 2x DVI + HDMI + DP, Retail
WESTERN DIGITAL 1TB WD Caviar® Blue™ (WD10EZEX), SATA 6 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 64MB cache, OEM
RAID No RAID, Independent HDD Drives
ASUS DRW-24B1ST Black 24x DVD±R/RW Dual-Layer Burner, SATA, OEM
COOLER MASTER CM 690 II Advanced USB 3.0 Black Mid-Tower Case, ATX, No PSU, Steel/Plastic
CUSTOM WIRING Standard Wiring with Precision Cable Routing and Tie-Down
THERMALTAKE Toughpower™ Grand 850W Power Supply w/ Modular Cables, 80 PLUS® Gold, 24-pin ATX12V V2.3 2x EPS12V V2.92, 6x 8/6-pin PCIe, SLI/CrossFireX Certified
NONE No Operating System (Choose OS or subject to Limited Support)
WARRANTY Silver Warranty Package (3 Year Limited Parts, 3 Year Labor Warranty)
SERVICE Standard Shipping (UPS or Fedex)
Click to expand...

How does that look?

I will be putting in my current SSD into this one.
 
K

kennah

Member
scogoth said:
I got time whats the story?
Click to expand...
Bought a used video card. It died. Took a few months of back and forth about RMA because of our busy schedules and Christmas and such Finally he said 'Dude, I feel bad that this is taking so long, i'm going to send you something better'. That better arrives Monday and I don't know what is in the box! Surprises and such. The guy is a pretty trustworthy Gaffer so I'm not worried. Really I like the intrigue. Will post a full report Monday :)
 
LiquidMetal14

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
This post mostly details the CORSAIR 500R, in case some were looking into it. Thumbs up all the way. I can't believe it's only 89USD right now.

10-15ish low res screen shots incoming. I flipped the PSU upside down, will have to buy one of them fancy desk chair plastic things that poke carpets to put the case over it so it can breath easier. I took plenty of pics of the 500R to show the bulges and such on each side as well as drive bays and tool less design to mount your SSD or HDD. I can answer some questions in case some are considering the case.

The Velcro straps and 5 ties that come with the PSU
2013-01-26-16072672j14.jpg


2 sticky pads plus 3 ties that come with Corsair 500R
2013-01-26-16080621jsc.jpg


Side panel screws which don't come off so you never will lose these.
2013-01-26-162245q0jyi.jpg


Side panel interior 200mm LED fan
2013-01-26-162308i7j4o.jpg


Tool-less drive bay (standard these days so nothing specia :p)
2013-01-26-16232468kdx.jpg


Rear of the case so you can see there is more than enough grommets for water tubing or anything else you need. Plenty of PCI slots.
2013-01-26-162457i9k1x.jpg


Right side panel view to give you the idea on how easy it makes it for you to cable manage on the read of the MB.
2013-01-26-16252872jon.jpg


Trinkets and stuff that comes with the 500R. Plenty of screws. The big cable is your USB 3.0 to 2.0 incase your MB doesn't have USB 3.0.
2013-01-26-160811qakpd.jpg


PSU remounted the recommended way (you better be right!!!)
2013-01-26-162024jzktg.jpg


Another view of the right side panel but from the rear. A little close show just how much space you really have.
2013-01-26-162101fbj60.jpg


Right side backside of the chasis minus the side panel.
2013-01-26-162135m5k82.jpg


And last on the case, the right side panel interior to show you how much wiggle you you have for wires and managing them.
2013-01-26-162144u4kys.jpg


Top view with 2 of the SP120 Performance Edition fans. They fix perfect and the cast has rubber mounts for every screw hole to reduce rattle.
2013-01-26-162237bekzw.jpg


The SP120 PE fans I described earlier.
2013-01-26-160849ahjwl.jpg


The big pile of mess thus far. Don't worry, it will be cleaned up :p
2013-01-26-1609139gj7w.jpg


Slight 28k warning but these are very small sized pics so excuse me for the slideshow :)

EDIT - A couple other things of note. The case does come with 2 120mm from panel LED fans and a rear upper exhaust. 4 fans in total and plenty of room for 2 top mounted and 1 bottom intake if you should chose to do so.
 
S

Saty

Member
cartoon_soldier said:
So, I am really bad at DIY stuff, so looking to order from Ava Direct (got my current PC from there too):



How does that look?

I will be putting in my current SSD into this one.
Click to expand...

You might wanna check if you have enough clearance between the Evo 212 and the Ripjaws. There could be an issue of one interferes with the other.
 
Dave_6

Dave_6

Member
kharma45 said:
holygrail.jpeg
Click to expand...

Haha I definitely knew this was one component I was sure about.

mkenyon said:
That's what the OP is for!

Not kidding that it's probably hundreds of hours of refinement in order to maximize performance and reliability and minimize cost. IMO, best guide on the internet.
Click to expand...

Oh I know! I've even printed it out so I can check off things or write other stuff on it. Your knowledge of this stuff blows my mind!

My biggest issue is I keep changing my mind on which case I want and also on a GPU. I was planning on using the Prodigy but after seeing a great build video I'm now wanting to use the FT-03 Mini. Such a gorgeous SFF case that can hold high-end parts and it would look great sitting in my living room, plus it looks lightweight which means I can move it room to room easily if I chose.

sorijealut said:
As someone that just built my first PC, choosing parts was the most fun part for me! I love looking at cases and reading reviews lol. So enjoy!
Click to expand...

Oh I've been enjoying browsing this thread along with Newegg, PC Partpicker and Youtube, watching and looking at builds and parts.
 
Koroviev

Koroviev

Member
Currently at Frys swapping out the 840 for the 840 Pro. $200 is too good to pass up and they swapped it for me without question or a restocking fee.

Trying to think of anything else that I should grab while I'm here. I'm looking at the Hyper 212 evo since I have the 3570K at home.

So, two questions:

Should I pick it up now even if I'm not overclocking (don't have the motherboard for it atm)?

And does it come with thermal paste?
 
N

NoRéN

Member
Koroviev said:
Currently at Frys swapping out the 840 for the 840 Pro. $200 is too good to pass up and they swapped it for me without question or a restocking fee.

Trying to think of anything else that I should grab while I'm here. I'm looking at the Hyper 212 evo since I have the 3570K at home.

So, two questions:

Should I pick it up now even if I'm not overclocking (don't have the motherboard for it atm)?

And does it come with thermal paste?
Click to expand...
Yes
Yes
 
I

Infinite Justice

Member
Koroviev said:
Currently at Frys swapping out the 840 for the 840 Pro. $200 is too good to pass up and they swapped it for me without question or a restocking fee.

Trying to think of anything else that I should grab while I'm here. I'm looking at the Hyper 212 evo since I have the 3570K at home.

So, two questions:

Should I pick it up now even if I'm not overclocking (don't have the motherboard for it atm)?

And does it come with thermal paste?
Click to expand...

yes and yes.

honestly i would install that and leave the stock cooler that comes with the CPU for a "just in case".
 
N

Noaloha

Member
Slightly off-topic but forgive me. x

MKenyon, thanks for linking to Kudos's ZFZ LAN stream last night / this morning -- I've had it running in the background for most of today (outside of trying out Fallen Enchantress for the majority of this evening). I'd never seen APB before and knew bugger all about the game; it looks fun! I sadly somehow missed the Planetside 2 play (if there was any?). And, as much as I've played Tribes:A a shitload, I've never actually got around to sitting down and watching good players play. Oh my.

Which brings me to my point: So. Is Kudos a fucking superhuman freak of nature or is that level of accuracy -- both long distance hitscan and obscenely shot-led trajectory-based -- par for the course at high-level T:A?

EDIT: FOR ZFZ's benefit, the stream is http://www.twitch.tv/kudochop/new
 
ss_lemonade

ss_lemonade

Member
Koroviev said:
Currently at Frys swapping out the 840 for the 840 Pro. $200 is too good to pass up and they swapped it for me without question or a restocking fee.

Trying to think of anything else that I should grab while I'm here. I'm looking at the Hyper 212 evo since I have the 3570K at home.

So, two questions:

Should I pick it up now even if I'm not overclocking (don't have the motherboard for it atm)?

And does it come with thermal paste?
Click to expand...
Go for it! Doesn't cost much and IMO it always gives me some peace of mind having a better cooler than stock for my cpu.
 
N

n0n44m

Member
Rayge said:
From what I've been reading over xbitlabs, nvidia will not allow suppliers to tamper with the Titan's design.

So if I buy this card in March I don't have to worry about some other new "trim" of it to be released three months later? I'm guessing supply is going to be so limited for the Titan that I should go ahead and order 2 right off the bat and wait for Haswell to hit in the summer.

I'm also thinking about going the non-optical, non-card reader, internal tube reservoir route for the 900D or Cosmos II to have a minimalistic, clean, classy look to the tower. Only thing that concerns me is having a tacky fan controller plastered on the 900D.

Also, from what I've seen, there's more room for radiators in the 900D compared to the Cosmos II. It doesn't have room for these radiators. I would love to have these in my build to add to the theme of what I have in mind for the guts of the tower.

I can't wait to get off this deployment.
Click to expand...

I love Aqua-Computer but their radiators aren't that special performance/value wise. Nice design though. And if you're gonna spend the $$$ anyway just get the best looking fan controller in business ;)

900D looks like a great case though, going by the youtube interview with the designer I agreed with him on a lot of points regarding (watercooling) functionality despite not being the biggest fan of Corsair case aesthetics
 
Koroviev

Koroviev

Member
Any preferred brand for case fans? I have an Enermax Ostrog case that came with a rear fan pre-installed and it seems to work well, but I'm not sure if I'd be better off replacing it with a different fan.

And thanks for the responses. Will be picking up the Hyper 212 before I leave ;)
 
M

mkenyon

Banned
Rayge said:
From what I've been reading over xbitlabs, nvidia will not allow suppliers to tamper with the Titan's design.

So if I buy this card in March I don't have to worry about some other new "trim" of it to be released three months later? I'm guessing supply is going to be so limited for the Titan that I should go ahead and order 2 right off the bat and wait for Haswell to hit in the summer.

I'm also thinking about going the non-optical, non-card reader, internal tube reservoir route for the 900D or Cosmos II to have a minimalistic, clean, classy look to the tower. Only thing that concerns me is having a tacky fan controller plastered on the 900D.

Also, from what I've seen, there's more room for radiators in the 900D compared to the Cosmos II. It doesn't have room for these radiators. I would love to have these in my build to add to the theme of what I have in mind for the guts of the tower.

I can't wait to get off this deployment.
Click to expand...
Yeah, you don't have to worry about new ones coming out. It'll be just like the GTX690. Waterblocks should be out about a month after release probably.

Don't bother with a fan controller, just get some really good 1200RPM fans. They're quiet as hell and you never need to fuss with them. SP120s, Noiseblocker eLoops, Arctic F12s, etc..
Toodles said:
Slightly off-topic but forgive me. x

MKenyon, thanks for linking to Kudos's ZFZ LAN stream last night / this morning -- I've had it running in the background for most of today (outside of trying out Fallen Enchantress for the majority of this evening). I'd never seen APB before and knew bugger all about the game; it looks fun! I sadly somehow missed the Planetside 2 play (if there was any?). And, as much as I've played Tribes:A a shitload, I've never actually got around to sitting down and watching good players play. Oh my.

Which brings me to my point: So. Is Kudos a fucking superhuman freak of nature or is that level of accuracy -- both long distance hitscan and obscenely shot-led trajectory-based -- par for the course at high-level T:A?

EDIT: FOR ZFZ's benefit, the stream is http://www.twitch.tv/kudochop/new
Click to expand...
Yeah, Kudos is a superhuman. He is a professional gamer, so he plays like 12 hours a day probably. He's always had the talent, for as long as I've known him (back to high school days).

There's going to be some Warsow in about 30 minutes. If you thought T:A was fun to watch, wait till you see this insanity.

Also, I'm the guy behind him.
Koroviev said:
Any preferred brand for case fans? I have an Enermax Ostrog case that came with a rear fan pre-installed and it seems to work well, but I'm not sure if I'd be better off replacing it with a different fan.

And thanks for the responses. Will be picking up the Hyper 212 before I leave ;)
Click to expand...
How much are you looking to spend?
 
K

kennah

Member
mkenyon said:
What else would one do while not playing games?

Maybe I should do a sneak peak of your prize. Just waiting on a motherboard right now.
Click to expand...

I've been a little on the edge of my seat. And driving my wife nuts with the "I WONDER WHAT IT IS". But either way haha.

EDIT: WTF!?
 
N

Noaloha

Member
scogoth said:
How do I watch it on the twitch.tv app on iPad I can't seem to find it
Click to expand...

I dunno how the app works but, assuming it doesn't filter out 720p60 streams, you should be able to just search 'kudochop' as a channel name. If that doesn't work... :big-eyes: and :shrug:

mkenyon said:
Yeah, Kudos is a superhuman. He is a professional gamer, so he plays like 12 hours a day probably. He's always had the talent, for as long as I've known him (back to high school days).

There's going to be some Warsow in about 30 minutes. If you thought T:A was fun to watch, wait till you see this insanity.

Also, I'm the guy behind him.
Click to expand...

Yep, I figured he was a freak. :] After a few occasions of him hitting all six revolver rounds dead on a target jetting laterally and erratically half a kilometer away and him hitting spindiscs at targets twice that distance, I was thinking "damn, he's pretty consistent with these lucky shots." An hour later, I'd seen him repeating it dozen of times and "lucky" had been replaced with "obviously-alien-space-creature-from-the-fucking-future".

Funnily enough, when I started watching earlier today (woulda been late last night for the room, the session after APB) he seemed even more consistent. I think he mentioned he had plenty of drinks in his system at that point.


Does the guy run with a single DPI setting on his mouse, or is he switching between high and low depending on whether he's orienting / aiming?

Looking forward to the Warsow. My experience of the game was an hour of horrible PC irritation in which I had terrible mouse + key-rebinding issues. I intend to go back to it for a fairer attempt once my 7970 comes back from RMA.
 
K

kennah

Member
I'm going to do some comparative benches for the AMD 12.x vs 13.1 on a 6850. Not an incredible card by any means, but should let some of us with mid/low end systems learn how it will benefit us. Going to run 3dmark and Heaven and subjective tests on stuff I play frequently (Diablo, Borderlands 2). Any other suggestions?
 
M

Mr Swine

Banned
Had My Sound Blaster Z for a couple of days now. It's a fantastic sound card if you game with headphones. It's a big step up from my supremeFXIII that's built in to the mobo. The 5.1 surround for headphones is fantastic! Drivers are really good this time so kudos to creative :)
 
C

Cousteau

Member
Whelp, spent 2 hrs in Microcenter today and couldnt make up my mind what the hell to buy/build. Too many options is a killer sometimes.I got so far down the decision black hole that I found myself looking at fucking cables for 25 minutes.CABLES.
 
M

mkenyon

Banned
kennah said:
I'm going to do some comparative benches for the AMD 12.x vs 13.1 on a 6850. Not an incredible card by any means, but should let some of us with mid/low end systems learn how it will benefit us. Going to run 3dmark and Heaven and subjective tests on stuff I play frequently (Diablo, Borderlands 2). Any other suggestions?
Click to expand...
Just make sure you run fraps and click the time frame checkbox as well. I'll help you out on how to figure out all of the data as well. But, you won't want anything more significant than 2-3 minutes. Much more, and you're looking at 30K+ plots of data.
 
S

sorijealut

Member
Cousteau said:
Whelp, spent 2 hrs in Microcenter today and couldnt make up my mind what the hell to buy/build. Too many options is a killer sometimes.I got so far down the decision black hole that I found myself looking at fucking cables for 25 minutes.CABLES.
Click to expand...

lol. What did you go there for?

Personally, I only bought my CPU + Mobo there earlier this month.
Those two are just unbeatable.

Most other things are cheaper online.
 
T

Tattooth

Member
I'm thinking of changing my case for a small form factor mini itx case. I have a Fractal Design R3, and while it is a great case, it's just a little too large next to my TV. I am thinking of getting the Fractal Node 304.

The specs I have at the moment:
CPU: i5 2500k
RAM: 8GB G Skill - I might swap these for the green Samsung RAM if the heatsinks are too large for a smaller case.
GPU: HIS 7950 IceQ Turbo - I thought this card would be too big for a small case, but apparently it will fit in the Node 304.
PSU is fine.

I have a EVO 212 CPU cooler which I might swap out for the CM Geminii.

If I switch to Mini ITX, are there any disadvantages, I figure that I wouldn't be able to upgrade as often, but are there any glaring issues with it? Would it be able to work with all those part fine?

Does any one have a Node 304? Is the case quiet? The R3 has foam on most of the inside which seems to help with noise, but as far as I know the Node doesn't.

Sorry for all the questions, but I just want to make sure this is viable.
 
M

Mononoke

Banned
I had a question. I recently got a 2nd GTX 680 (2gb) to SLI. When playing something like Devil Mary Cry, it shows GPU 1 fluctuating between 96-99% usage and GPU 2 at 63-70% usage. Yet, when it shows the memory being used between both cards - they are 50% split each. So right now they are both using 740mb each.

Is this normal? Should both cards be running at the same usage %, or is it okay to have one higher than the other. Or does it just differ from game to game.

EDIT: Must just depend on the game. Far Cry 3 runs 68% even on each GPU. Ran flawlessly. I just installed the 2nd GPU so was worried. But everything is gravy.
 
LiquidMetal14

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
My tax return was accepted!

Now I just have to wait until as soon as the 6th or as late as the 21st of Feb to order the big parts. I can almost taste this build. I just want it to be done and post so I can live happily ever after.
 
K

kennah

Member
That's awesome. My work always waits until the last possible day to give me my paperwork but it'll be a nice return when it comes. We might buy a house lol
 
LiquidMetal14

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
It's really a little bit of anxiety just because you want all the parts to work in harmony and not have to RMA anything.
 
B

bryan12112

Member
Great thread, by the way. Maybe the greatest. Thanks for all the information.


Koroviev said:
Please don't buy a pre-built PC. Please? :(

Building a PC really isn't very difficult at all. Can you work a screwdriver and match connectors? Congratulations, you can build a PC! If you were to need any help during the process, I'm sure most people here would be more than happy to provide guidance, myself included. Just don't pay double or more for comparatively crap parts. Don't! :mad:
Click to expand...

Yeah, I know. I'm mostly concerned about static electricity, and I'm slightly concerned about placing the motherboard into the case very carefully. I was watching the Newegg Youtube videos explaining how to build a PC and then I started picturing myself messing something up, or sending an electric shock right into the motherboard and being out $150. Pre-built PCs are appealing in some ways. But yes, I am probably making a bigger deal out of this than I should. I just have to buy one of those anti-static wristbands and take my time putting everything together, and I should be all right. And then hope that something doesn't mess up later on...
 
A

Alucrid

Banned
How out of date is my current graphics card? It's a Gigabyte GTX 460 (Fermi) 1 GB 256-bit GDDR5. Think that it might run next gen games alright?
 
S

scogoth

Member
Alucrid said:
How out of date is my current graphics card? It's a Gigabyte GTX 460 (Fermi) 1 GB 256-bit GDDR5. Think that it might run next gen games alright?
Click to expand...

That GPU is a legend, unbelievable how long it stayed relevant. It will run next gen games(most likely) just don't expect cranking up the settings. Wait till games are out then you will know if its good enough or not.
 
Koroviev

Koroviev

Member
bryan12112 said:
Great thread, by the way. Maybe the greatest. Thanks for all the information.




Yeah, I know. I'm mostly concerned about static electricity, and I'm slightly concerned about placing the motherboard into the case very carefully. I was watching the Newegg Your utube videos explaining how to build a PC and then I started picturing myself messing something up, or sending an electric shock right into the motherboard and being out $150. Pre-built PCs are appealing in some ways. But yes, I am probably making a bigger deal out of this than I should. I just have to buy one of those anti-static wristbands and take my time putting everything together, and I should be all right. And then hope that something doesn't mess up later on...
Click to expand...

I just rebuilt my PC today in order to install the Hyper 212 Evo CPU cooler. While installing that part amounted to rocket surgery, everything else was very straight forward... And I didn't use an anti-static wristband. Never do... Just keep the PC plugged in and turned off and touch the case. Frankly, you're more likely to receive a part that is DOA than you are to subject something to electrostatic shock. Relax.

electricpirate said:
Damn, missed that Amazon 170 for an M4 deal. Got home after picking up CPU and MOBO and mean to order and it was back to 200.
Click to expand...

Newegg has the 840 Pro for $200. Went to Frys and had them price match.
 
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