Final reviewing of my first wc build

[ItzMar]

Hi all,

I have been planning on building my own water cooled PC for quite some time now. A while ago I put off a custom loop for the favour of a h100.
Since then I have witnessed the beauty of some users of this forums builds and i need to build my own. But now im looking for a new build and am not going to skimp out this time!

Below is a list of parts that i have chosen based on my budget and liking.

If anybody notices something I'm missing or wont work well together please chime in! Id appreciate all criticism and advise possible!

Parts List:

Case
NZXT Switch 810 Matte Black Special Edition £149.77

Motherboard
EVGA 151-IB-E699-KR Intel Z77 £268.52

CPU
Intel Core i5 3570K £177.80

GPU
2GB EVGA GTX 670 FTW x3 £1000ish
OR
2GB ASUS GTX 670 Direct CU II x3 (if anyone can persuade me to a different branded GPU that offers higher clocks or a higher bin ratio then ill happily change)

Memory
2x4GB Corsair DDR3 Vengeance Racing Red
1866mhz, CAS 9-10-9-27 £43.37 (offers low timings and they match my colour scheme )
+
2x4GB Corsair DDR3 Vengeance Jet Black
1866mhz, CAS 9-10-9-27 £43.37

Storage
Already own some SSD's and fast HDD's + and have plenty of NAS storage.

PSU
Corsair Professional Series Gold AX1200 £214.99
+
Corsair Sleeved Modular Cable Kit - Red £62.99


Water Cooling parts list:

Radiators
Alphacool NexXxoS UT60 Full Copper 360mm £69.00
+
Alphacool NexXxoS UT60 Full Copper 240mm £53.04 (offers a drain port)

CPU block
XSPC Raystorm £50.00 (spraying red)

GPU block
any that looks good and fits, preferably see-thru for liquid aesthetic x3 £300ish

Reservoir & Pump
KOOLANCE RP-452X2 REV 2 £110 with pumps!
(i love the look of this combo. Im planning on running a dual loop config with red pastel in one loop and ice white in the other. This bay offers a very cool look with the use of two colours. If anyone knows of a cheaper unit then please let me know!!)

Tubing

Masterkleer, 1/2" ID - 3/4" OD Hose, Clear £15

Mods and accessories
Corsair AF and SP fans
Monsoon black compression fittings
Mayhem's Light Red Pastel
Ice White Pastel
Mayhem's Red Dye
Red or white led's to replace raystorms blues. Red leds to "leak" out of top vents and maybe running along the bottom outside of the case but very dim.
White LED strip inside to make the red and white "pop" (taking advise from Tiny Tom)


All in all im looking to spend around £2500 which hopefully will include all bells and whistles!

 

[MadMarc]

Why do you want to use 3 way SLI, if it's because you run 3 screens then I'd suggest the 4gb 670s.

EK does a GPU with a transparent top

 

[ItzMar]

Thanks for the quick reply:lol:

Whoops, forgot to mention monitor set-up. I have 3 BenQ XL2420T's in surround @ 5760 x 1080.

I can appreciate the benefits of 4GB cards but as far as iv'e read, the 4GB cards havnt leaped ahead in performance compared to 2GB cards even at massive resolution or texture size. Please correct me if im wrong.

 

[andrewmchugh]

Massive overkill on the PSU, hell 850 would be more than enough for 3xGTX670 with a pump. But I guess its gunna be a night mare to find a quality PSU with all the 6pins.

 

[PEXON]

Overkill PSU, 3 GPU is stupid and a waste of money, 2GB is plenty at 1080. Case is a rip-off IMO, 150 for plastic lol

 

[seumasbeathan]

As previously said, Psu is overkill, gpu is stupid and I wouldnt go for that motherboard.
Heres a suggstion, go for an MSI Z77A GD65, an AX650w and 1x GTX 670 4gb, On 3 displays there is no way a 2gb card could handle it, remember 3 2gb cards does not mean 6gb, 3 gpu's is stupid, just stick to 1

 

[CPMFW]

+1 for the 4gb 670...
waiting for updates

 

[ItzMar]

Thanks for the comments guys.

I chose the Z77 board from EVGA due to the ability of 16x,16x,8x pcie3.0 speeds. I can see the comments coming explaining that current gen cards don't maximise the bandwidth but it would be more future proof for me when i come to upgrade. Of the limited amount of reviews I've seen out there they all rate the board fairly well, with the exception of the semi-uefi bios, in looks that is, not performance. Can I ask why you recommend against using this board?

Case wise if someone can show me another case that can comfortable fit the rad's then chime in!
Looks wise I like the case, materials wise I agree there are better quality products.

I've seen it as a common mistake for newbies to buy a PSU that is overkill for there build so I understand where the comments are coming from. In my past i have had problems with 2 PSUs failing both being different brands than what I've picked above. The corsair brand have a great reputation so ill be sticking with them but be going for something with a lower wattage.

Taking the comments on the GPU setup into consideration I will most likely be going with 2x 4GB 670's , hopefully FTW's if they ever get released!

Running games between High-Max @ 5760*1080 is my main goal.

 

[MadMarc]

imo the only future proof thing in a pc is the case, maybe the psu. By the time the 670 won't be enough you may also want to upgrade the cpu and mb, get a MSI gd55 or gd65 this way you've alread safed the money to buy your next mb in 2 years or so

 

[ruthless_villain]

Case is a rip-off IMO, 150 for plastic lol

this.