2013 build idea.. suggestions/contribution?

[Markyboybatey]

Heya folks..

Over the past week or so I've been trying to build or put together my 2013 rig that I'm going to be building as of next year (That's if the world doesn't end ^_^)

It's going to be a watercooled build this time, and I've been doing an extensive amount of research, and this the best I can come up with, although, I'm not sure on a few things ie, some parts of watercooling and if I should get the 2550k rather than the 2500k, so any input would be brilliant, I'm going for an entire new build, new mouse, mat, keyboard and monitor/s.

The things I'm really certain about I won't post, so I can/we can focus on the main parts.

P.S. My budget is around £2500-ish

Thanks.

Case: NZXT 810
Motherboard: Gigabyte G1 Sniper 2 Z68
CPU: Intel i5 2550k 3.4GHz 1155
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (8GBx2) 1866 CAS 10
PSU: Corsair AX850 Fully Modular
GPU: EVGA 2GB GTX 670
Fans: x11 Corsair AF120 Silent Edition
Monitor/s: Acer 21.5" (One or two of these?, If only one shall I get a 24"?)
Cables: Corsair's Indivually Black sleeve cables AX850 Edition
Lighting: 12" White Cathode Tubes
SSD: 120GB Vertex 4 (Boot-up and Major games i.e BF3)
HDD: 1TB Seagate 7200RPM
GPU Watercooling plate: XSPC GTX 670
External DVD RW: Samsung 8x

Watercooled comps;

CPU Bracket: XSPC 1/4" Thread 1155 Socket
Bay Res: XSPC 1/4" Thread Dual Bay Res
360 Rad (Roof): XSPC 1/4" Thread Radiator
http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop...s-360mm-Triple-Radiator--EX360-pid-14706.html
240 Rad (Front): XSPC 1/4" Thread Radiator
http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop...ies-240mm-Dual-Radiator--EX240-pid-14705.html

(Now, I remember Tom's review of the 810, and the RAD needed to be 60mm, but I'm not sure if the roof one is above or below 60mm, I think it says 35.5mm but can someone clarify my stupidity, thanks)

Barbs: 1/4 Compression fitting for a 3/8(10mm) tube
http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop...8-ID-10mm-Tubing--Black-Nickel-pid-15718.html

Tubing/hose: XSPC 3/8(10mm) tube, clear
http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop...10-16mm-High-Flex-Tubing--Clear-pid-6743.html

(I know that the barbs match up with everything else i.e the cpu bracket, rad and res but again just for clarification, are they right for the hose?)

Fluid: UV Green 1L

This rig is going to be for gaming, and this I hope will last me a good few years, that's the why the necessity for the price tag, I'm stuck on a colour scheme too, now, I've had; Black & Blue, Red & White and I was thinking Black & Green for this rig, but I'd like your input on this .

Any contribution and feedback is most welcome.

Thanks

 

[Excalabur50]

For starters don't buy the ocz ssd they are prone to failures buy a Kingston or Sandisk or something as to the seagate I wouldnt recommend them anymore either try a western digital instead, the 850 is a bit overkill now too so look at the AX750 instead, the sniper board is nice and the cpu you have chosen will work well also, as to the water cooling i cant help with that as i have never done it but don,t worry you will get great help here and the case is a great choice too. Also the 670 you have chosen is good as well.

 

[Markyboybatey]

For starters don't buy the ocz ssd they are prone to failures buy a Kingston or Sandisk or something as to the seagate I wouldnt recommend them anymore either try a western digital instead, the 850 is a bit overkill now too so look at the AX750 instead, the sniper board is nice and the cpu you have chosen will work well also, as to the water cooling i cant help with that as i have never done it but don,t worry you will get great help here and the case is a great choice too. Also the 670 you have chosen is good as well.

I'll definitely take that into consideration, thanks for the input :lol:

 

[Josh Weston]

Why are you going Z68 instead of Z77?
Also, why so many AF fans? If these are going to be used on the rads, you'll want the SP variants?
For an SSD, look at something like a Crucial M4 or a Samsung 830. They're the two most reliable drives whilst being two of the best performing drives in real life scenarios.
Instead of going for a cold cathode lighting system, why not go for something like Bitfenix Alchemy LED strips? No need to store a fire extinguisher by your beloved PC.

The monitors are really up to you, as it's very much a personal preference. There are many users on this site, me not being one of them, who have a multi-monitor setup, and they say that they couldn't go back to using one monitor.

As for the rads in the roof - you can fit a thin rad above the case in the small vented section, but it's not normally advised. Generally, you'd have your fans up in that section with the rad hanging down below. Getting a 60mm rad in there's easy, but going push/pull is extremely limited by the heatsinks on your motherboard. What you can however do, is put an 80mm rad in there instead. If you were feeling crazy enough, that is

As this is a gaming build, why do you need 16GB of RAM? I'd understand it a little more if it were an aesthetics thing, but you're still only installing two DIMMs? 8GB is plenty for gaming.

As Excalabur's said, the PSU is far more than you need, but that's not actually a bad thing, to be honest. If you want to save money, you could get away with an AX650 watt quite easily.

The GPU - I take it you're going for EVGA's FTW edition, which uses the GTX680's PCB? If so, then you can a full cover GTX680 waterblock, which, in my opinion, far, far better.

 

[Markyboybatey]

Why are you going Z68 instead of Z77?
Also, why so many AF fans? If these are going to be used on the rads, you'll want the SP variants?
For an SSD, look at something like a Crucial M4 or a Samsung 830. They're the two most reliable drives whilst being two of the best performing drives in real life scenarios.
Instead of going for a cold cathode lighting system, why not go for something like Bitfenix Alchemy LED strips? No need to store a fire extinguisher by your beloved PC.

The monitors are really up to you, as it's very much a personal preference. There are many users on this site, me not being one of them, who have a multi-monitor setup, and they say that they couldn't go back to using one monitor.

As for the rads in the roof - you can fit a thin rad above the case in the small vented section, but it's not normally advised. Generally, you'd have your fans up in that section with the rad hanging down below. Getting a 60mm rad in there's easy, but going push/pull is extremely limited by the heatsinks on your motherboard. What you can however do, is put an 80mm rad in there instead. If you were feeling crazy enough, that is

As this is a gaming build, why do you need 16GB of RAM? I'd understand it a little more if it were an aesthetics thing, but you're still only installing two DIMMs? 8GB is plenty for gaming.

As Excalabur's said, the PSU is far more than you need, but that's not actually a bad thing, to be honest. If you want to save money, you could get away with an AX650 watt quite easily.

The GPU - I take it you're going for EVGA's FTW edition, which uses the GTX680's PCB? If so, then you can a full cover GTX680 waterblock, which, in my opinion, far, far better.

The reason I chose the Z68 was because of the board mainly, I fell in love with it straight away and since then I haven't look at any other boards because I was so in love with the Sniper2.

My choice of AF fans was mainly because I've always been pretty anal about air flow, and never really thought you'd need a variation, I guess that's just my inexperience with Watercooling, as for push-pull on the top, I was going to really try and squeeze them in and if Tom reads this, he's probably going to rant at me because he said it'll be hard for push-pull in the top of the 810

The 16GB is definitely aesthetics, I wanted to put both black RAM in the black slots of the board, showing off the green element of the RAM slots, it's ochestrated .

I'll definitely stick with the 750 although will the braided cables fit with the 750 as the ones I've selected state they are for the AX850 edition?

I was going to with the 670 FTW edition, and taking your word on it, a 680 plate would be far more beneficial, I'm assuming ??

 

[Josh Weston]

You couldn't put a 670 plate on the ftw edition - different PCB requirements

Have you considered the Sniper 2's older brother, the Sniper 3?

And well, what I meant by the aesthetic nature of RAM, is that sometimes having all the DIMM slots filled can look good. Especially with fancy RAM, such as Corsair's Dominator Platinum.
However, if you're only going to be using two slots, 8GB is all you need. 16GB is only really effective if you do video editing/complex photo editing etc.

Look at the Corsair SP120 QEs - they're perfect for rads, although you may wish to get the coloured rings dyed/painted green, to match with your theme here.

 

[Markyboybatey]

You couldn't put a 670 plate on the ftw edition - different PCB requirements

Have you considered the Sniper 2's older brother, the Sniper 3?

And well, what I meant by the aesthetic nature of RAM, is that sometimes having all the DIMM slots filled can look good. Especially with fancy RAM, such as Corsair's Dominator Platinum.
However, if you're only going to be using two slots, 8GB is all you need. 16GB is only really effective if you do video editing/complex photo editing etc.

Look at the Corsair SP120 QEs - they're perfect for rads, although you may wish to get the coloured rings dyed/painted green, to match with your theme here.

Touché haha.. Duhhh....

I will look at the Sniper3 and give you feedback although, I don't want to pay a lot more than want I'm currently planning on spending on a mobo.

I know the Dominator is like N3rd p0rn and I'd love to have a set in the rig I'm planning, so having mentioned it, I will consider it .

SP120's for the Rads and a possible AF140 to exhaust heat out the back of the case?

Can you suggest any online stores that sell decent green paint as I'm not much of a D.I.Y person (only computer building ha) but that is a good suggestion and I wouldn't of thought about that myself, I was just going to take the rings of and leave them a plain black

 

[Josh Weston]

Sounds good to me (in relation to the AF140 for exhaust).

As for the paint, I, like you, am really not much of a D.I.Y. person. I can paint walls and I can assemble flatpack furniture - that's my lot.
Hopefully other users shall be able to point you in the right direction when it comes to what paint to buy and where from, as I really wouldn't have a clue.

 

[Markyboybatey]

Sounds good to me (in relation to the AF140 for exhaust).

As for the paint, I, like you, am really not much of a D.I.Y. person. I can paint walls and I can assemble flatpack furniture - that's my lot.
Hopefully other users shall be able to point you in the right direction when it comes to what paint to buy and where from, as I really wouldn't have a clue.

I will have to abide my time until someone comes up with a suggestion.

I have just looked at the sniper3 and with it being the old brother of the sniper2 board, I'm slightly confused as to why it's cheaper than the sniper 2, it has more or less the same features, the same onboard sound, it doesn't have an NPU like the sniper2 but with the sniper3, you get a network card the opportunity to Quad SLI (x16, x16, x8 and x8) and some other various features and it's cheaper :huh:.

I don't suppose you can tell me why, or the possible benefits other than it being a Z77 chipset rather than a Z68?

Sniper2 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gigabyte-GA...CSA0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349174199&sr=8-1

Sniper3 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007VAL6...de=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=B007VAL61Y

Also, I had a look at dominator, 8GB 1866MHz, CAS 9 for £85 or Vengeance 16GB 1866MHz, CAS 10 for £75. I need advice guys.

 

[Josh Weston]

The Sniper 2 is last generation - it's getting less popular, and less are being made, if any. Z77 gives you native USB3, Lucid MVP, a better memory controller (with Ivy Bridge Chips) and more bandwidth, too. Seems a no-brainer to me
As for a dedicated NPU/network card - is it really needed? The internet speed you see in my sig I obtained from using the onboard options on my motherboard.

 

[Markyboybatey]

The Sniper 2 is last generation - it's getting less popular, and less are being made, if any. Z77 gives you native USB3, Lucid MVP, a better memory controller (with Ivy Bridge Chips) and more bandwidth, too. Seems a no-brainer to me
As for a dedicated NPU/network card - is it really needed? The internet speed you see in my sig I obtained from using the onboard options on my motherboard.

I see, I guess it is a no brainer. What do you think about the Dominator and the Vengeance comparison?

 

[Josh Weston]

Over 1600MHz there's really not much difference when it comes to performance. The price, however, does increase. The average 2133MHz 8GB kit is only around £10 more expensive than a 1600MHz kit, so it may be an option.
RAM is an aesthetic piece, however, and the Dominator Platinums are some of the most attractive around. They are extortionately priced, though.

 

[PEXON]

Too much tack and too much price man! Get an 8GB kit of 2133 of the original Dominator (looks amazing) or some Mushkin Ridgeback

 

[Markyboybatey]

Over 1600MHz there's really not much difference when it comes to performance. The price, however, does increase. The average 2133MHz 8GB kit is only around £10 more expensive than a 1600MHz kit, so it may be an option.
RAM is an aesthetic piece, however, and the Dominator Platinums are some of the most attractive around. They are extortionately priced, though.

I think I may just get 8GB Dominator for the extra £10, and it looks like x3 as nice than the vengeance.

Too much tack and too much price man! Get an 8GB kit of 2133 of the original Dominator (looks amazing) or some Mushkin Ridgeback

I actually did have a look a look at this and I think I found 2666 and it was like £135, in my eyes that's bluddy expensive for RAM lol.

 

[Josh Weston]

Remember that when it comes to looks, it's all a matter of personal preference. I like the look of the Platinum RAM, PEXON doesn't - neither of us are right or wrong
Go with whatever you like the look of most.

 

[PEXON]

Yea man deffo, I'd go for 8GB of nice ram over 16GB or cheap ram. I mean, I got mine to 1866 on stock volts and timings so, but I never use 16GB of ram, I'd change to 8GB or 2133+ anyday.

 

[PEXON]

dat ram

 

[Josh Weston]

True, it looks nice, but it won't fit in with a green theme.

 

[PEXON]

They do green too, only on certain models, IRC not the GT's though...

 

[Markyboybatey]

Thanks for your input on the RAM and what not, although I still need advice on the watercooled parts haha, because I'm still unsure if it's all correct.