First build advice needed. GTX680 4GB rig

T

tokinit

New member
Looking to build a gaming rig good enough to max out Skyrim with silly ENB settings and loads of mods, 1080p res. Hence the 4GB GPU.

MSI Z77 MPower ATX
Intel Core i5-3570K
GTX 680 4GB POV/TGT GeForce Ultra Charged
Corsair Vengeance C70 mid tower
Corsair Vengeance Jet Black Low Profile 8GB 1600
Corsair's Professional Series Gold HX850
Corsair 60GB Force Series GT SSD
Corsair 240GB Force Series GT SSD
XSPC Raystorm 750 RS240 WaterCooling Kit 750

Watercooling for CPU only, reviews suggest their isn't much difference between water and air cooling the GPU.
Is the power size too big? I want to OC both CPU & GPU
Thoughts on GPU?
Any compatibility issues?
Is the case suitable?
Anything I've missed?
With a DVD Drive, fans, wireless keyboard, etc. I reckon £1600.
What do you think?
 
A lot of that is a solid build, but I'd go with something like this:

i5 3570k
H100i / Noctua NH-D14 / Phanteks PH-TC14PE
MSI Z77 MPower ATX
Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB
Corsair 750/ Seasonic x750/ Rosewill Hive 700
Intel 120GB / Samsung 830/840 128GB
Caviar Black/Blue 1TB / Seagate Barracuda 1TB
Sapphire 7950

Something like that anyway, the reason why the 7950 is in there is because it's on par with the 670 due to the recent drivers, and is as good as the 680 when OC'd.
 
Would go for an AX750 over a HX850. Firstly, you won't need all that wattage, secondly the AX series are completely modular, so no extra cables you don't need and they're all black, as opposed to multicoloured.

Also, take a look at the EX240 watercooling kit (specialtech) - is a better rad than the RS, but the same thickness.
 
I did consider the Radeon cards, but from what I've read they don't seem to produce the same 'in game effects' as Nvidea GPU's. Is that correct?

I take it their isn't much benefit running games off a SSD rather than a conventional hard drive?
Do the faster write rates of some SSD's not mean a faster OS?

The fully modular power supply sounds good.

I'll have to take a look at the Geil memory.

Thanks
 
tokinit said:
I did consider the Radeon cards, but from what I've read they don't seem to produce the same 'in game effects' as Nvidea GPU's. Is that correct?

I take it their isn't much benefit running games off a SSD rather than a conventional hard drive?
Do the faster write rates of some SSD's not mean a faster OS?

The fully modular power supply sounds good.

I'll have to take a look at the Geil memory.

Thanks
Click to expand...

If by 'in game effects' you mean PhysX, no they don't, however PhysX is more marketing than that it actually helps. Basically, it just renders some more small particals in things like explosions, crashes and bullet impacts. There are only few games that actually make use of this. The only 2 I can name are Batham Arkham Asylum and Mafia II. It's nice to have but does not help a great deal. I guess you can find the complete list and some comparisons (PhysX on and off) by Googling :)

I'd go with a 670 if I were you, an overclocked 670 (like the EVGA FTW Edition and the Asus DirectCU II Top cards) are just as fast as a reference 680, but they're 80-100 quid cheaper. They also come in 4Gb variants, but if you're only using a single 1080p monitor, 2GB is plenty.

Running games off an SSD does not actually help much, I guess it just gets you faster start-ups, loading times and it'd take less time to save.

I agree that 750 Watt is plenty, but if you want to have the headroom you can go with an AX850 (not HX), this is basically the same fully modular 80+ Gold PSU as the AX750, just with a tad more wattage.
 
Thanks for the usefull comments, decided to respec slightly, spend a touch more and go SLI with the 670 4GB's.

MSI Z77 MPower ATX
Intel Core i5-3570K
XSPC Rasa 750 RX240 WaterCooling Kit
2 x 4GB EVGA GTX 670 FTW + Backplate
Corsair Vengeance C70 High Airflow Gunmetal Black Mid Tower
Corsair Vengeance LP Arctic White 2x4GB DDR3 1600 MHz
Corsair's Professional Series Gold AX850
120GB Intel 330
240GB Intel 330

I would say its a more reliable build from the first one, with better gaming performance for modded Skyrim. Should be able to its rear end now. Comes in at around £1750.

Thanks for the help
 
Um the RX rad is 63 mm thick looks like the C70 case only fits 40 mm rads tops, any thoughts on other suitable cases?
 
Mhyles said:
A lot of that is a solid build, but I'd go with something like this:

i5 3570k
H100i / Noctua NH-D14 / Phanteks PH-TC14PE
MSI Z77 MPower ATX
Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB
Corsair 750/ Seasonic x750/ Rosewill Hive 700
Intel 120GB / Samsung 830/840 128GB
Caviar Black/Blue 1TB / Seagate Barracuda 1TB
Sapphire 7950

Something like that anyway, the reason why the 7950 is in there is because it's on par with the 670 due to the recent drivers, and is as good as the 680 when OC'd.
Click to expand...

Man speakith the truth.
My watercooled & oc'd 7950 wipes the floor with a 680
An oc'd 7870 would even suffice for Skyrim.
 
tokinit said:
Thanks for the usefull comments, decided to respec slightly, spend a touch more and go SLI with the 670 4GB's.

MSI Z77 MPower ATX
Intel Core i5-3570K
XSPC Rasa 750 RX240 WaterCooling Kit
2 x 4GB EVGA GTX 670 FTW + Backplate
Corsair Vengeance C70 High Airflow Gunmetal Black Mid Tower
Corsair Vengeance LP Arctic White 2x4GB DDR3 1600 MHz
Corsair's Professional Series Gold AX850
120GB Intel 330
240GB Intel 330

I would say its a more reliable build from the first one, with better gaming performance for modded Skyrim. Should be able to its rear end now. Comes in at around £1750.

Thanks for the help
Click to expand...

looking good mate nice hardware
 
As said before, you could go for an EX 240. The RX will have clearance issues. Oh, and I've seen Raystorm EX 240 kits, which would probably look nicer. Other than that, it sounds excellent!
 
I was considering a full size case for the RX240, but I think I'll stick with a Midi and go with the Raystorm EX240 might even try the D5, pump and reservoir look good enough to be used again on bigger builds.
I've gone off the C70 after watching the review again. I'm hedging towards the NZXT Phantom 410 Enthusiast after reading the NZXT build project. Looks easier to work with and a bit funkier too, but I'm still thinking on that, would still like a side window.
I've considered AMD quite a few times, guess I just feel more comfortable with Nvidea though.
 
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