Switch 810 Build (Blueprint)

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xeks

New member
Hey all,

It's been 4+ years since I've last pieced together a whole computer and am still re-learning all the information out there about parts and configurations. I would love some feedback and comments on what I should do and/or change to improve what I already am imagining. So far I've only went as far as to buying the case I wanted which is (can you guess?) the NZXT Switch 810 (White) and an Aerocool Touch 2000 fan controller.

I'm not looking for anything fancy or catchy such as LED fans or LED strips for the internal lighting so bear with me as I type this out.

My main use of this computer will be:
Gaming: Battlefield 3, League of Legends, Borderlands 2, Counter-Strike (both Global Offensive and Source), Tera Online, World of Warcrap (possibly), and anything else that comes out in the future.
Video/Photo: Recording via Fraps and streaming via Twitch.tv. I also watch a lot of movies and TV shows. Dabble in Photoshop and other random programs available to me in my Creative Suite.

I would like to SLI two cards (or even Crossfire) and change out my H100 to a "real" liquid cooling system (CPU and GPUs) within 1-2 years of building completion.

As far as what my rig is going to look like hardware wise, I'm still not 100% decided what to buy and how to implement them in my case.

Hardware:
Case: NZXT Switch 810 (100% sure)
Processor: Intel i7-3770K (90% sure - I'm not sure I want to settle for SB or an IB i5)
Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth Z77 (100% sure)
Power Supply: Corsair AX850 (90% sure - it was between this and the AX1200 but I don't think I need the 1200 Watts for what I want to do now, and in the future)
CPU Cooler: Corsair Hydro Series H100 (100% sure)
Fan Controller: Aerocool Touch 2000 (100% sure - I already own it, so might as well use it)
Graphics Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 470 (100% sure - Going to recycle this until I can afford/want to get new cards to run in SLI)
Hard Drives: Reusing my SSD as my dedicated Windows OS drive and reusing two 500GB SATA drives until I upgrade to probably WD Caviar Blacks
RAM: Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 16GB [8x2] (0% sure - not sure what type of RAM would be best suited for OCing but I'm sure about having at least 16GB )
Case Fans: Gunna buy a few more standard 140MM NZXT case fans to fill in the rest of the fan slots (2 top, possible 1-2 bottom if I remove the last HDD cage, 1 front. I don't really want to spend $15+ on a single fan.)
Optical Drive: Cheapo DVD burner which will get upgraded to a Blu-Ray drive so I can rip my collection.
^
Am I missing any components? I think I got them all.

Now my main concern/question is with the H100 setup. I was going to have three fans on the top of the case to extract air out while having two 120MM fans attached to the H100 radiator to push air through it (the radiator is gunna be top mounted). I think that's the push/pull configuration I keep watching and reading about. Also I'd like to have my fan controller attached to the top three 140MM fans as well as the two 120MM fans on the radiator but I believe I can only have four fan connections to the control unit. So the question is would it be viable to use PWM-Y connectors for the three top "pull" fans (two y-connectors to connect 3 fans to one control) as well as the two push radiator fans and the two intake fans on the front of the case? That would leave me with one connection left for the back case fan.

I'm definitely encouraging any other setup configurations of the radiator or anything input in general. Thanks in advance and also sorry about the long winded nature of this second post. If anything was unclear please feel free to ask because I'd like to feel 100% before I start ordering all the parts. Cheers.

PS: I love your vids, TinyTim. :D
 

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What graphics cards would you be upgrading to when you get the finances?

Whatever the case - the AX850 is more than likely overkill.
You can run SLI 670s with an AX650 so you know.
 
jamesriley94 said:
What graphics cards would you be upgrading to when you get the finances?

Whatever the case - the AX850 is more than likely overkill.
You can run SLI 670s with an AX650 so you know.
Click to expand...

Currently I'm thinking of grabbing two 660 TIs and possibly overclock and/or watercool them. Not sure since I think my OC'd GTX 470 still runs all my current games fine on Ultra if not better with AA and such turned off/down.
 
660's dont get hot, watercooling them would have to be just for looks but the cards are tiny and it looks weird in big case like the 810 imho
 
Yeah - drop to an AX650 then. AX750 max - Don't go needlessly wasting money on overkill power supplies...
/looks at sig... (again today :p )

You can Y split fan controllers yes...
But fan controllers suck anyway.

You're better off ditching it and getting fan speed reducers tbh. There's no need to control your fans really - justset them up correctly in the first place and leave them be.
Plus - it ruins the look of the front of the case.

You're also probably better off getting better fans than the stock NZXT ones. Try for the Corsair AF/ SP series - and if you want to do push pull on the H100 - just use 4 120mms, not 2x120s and 2x140s
 
tinytomlogan said:
660's dont get hot, watercooling them would have to be just for looks but the cards are tiny and it looks weird in big case like the 810 imho
Click to expand...

Tom, what would you recommend graphics wise if I wanted to SLI? 660 TIs still? And I can't believe I typo'd your name. :( /embarrassed

jamesriley94 said:
Yeah - drop to an AX650 then. AX750 max - Don't go needlessly wasting money on overkill power supplies...
/looks at sig... (again today :p )

You can Y split fan controllers yes...
But fan controllers suck anyway.

You're better off ditching it and getting fan speed reducers tbh. There's no need to control your fans really - justset them up correctly in the first place and leave them be.
Plus - it ruins the look of the front of the case.

You're also probably better off getting better fans than the stock NZXT ones. Try for the Corsair AF/ SP series - and if you want to do push pull on the H100 - just use 4 120mms, not 2x120s and 2x140s
Click to expand...

The AX850 is $165 where as the AX750 is $160 so I figure with just $5 difference I can get the larger PSU and not to have to ever worry about running out of juice or whatnot.

I was thinking of getting new fans but not sure if I want to spend $15-30 per Corsair fan compared to just getting the NZXT 140MM fans for like $9. Will it make that big of a difference with the fans and also with only running 2 on top (to pull) versus having three fans to pull? The reasoning for me to have to the fan controller is to dial it all down when I'm away/sleeping and to crank it up as needed while doing more intense applications.

Any suggestions for RAM sticks in the 8x2 16 GB (I heard for OC using less RAM slots the better, otherwise I don't mind 4x4 16GB)? Brand name is not so important to me I'd just like it to work when I overclock the CPU/RAM.

Corsair Vengeance 1600 vs the Corsair Vengeance 1866 or similar.
 
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You're better off goinbg 4x4gb for RAM really. Mainly for aesthetics - but it can give some overclocking stability albeit not a great deal. But unless you're going for mad overclocks (which you probably won't be on Ivybridge - it won't matter)

The reason behind the fans is they run far quieter than stock NZXT fans, while shifting more air. So they should remain quieter while shifting more air.

Most fan controllers work by rapidly turning the fan on and off - rather than decreasing the voltage. This can actually increase the noise in some fans. Because of this - you're better off with something like the Corsair fans and running them at 7v (with the included fan speed reducer) rather than a fan controller.

Anything above 1600mhz doesn't give much improvement in games and general use. But - some programs such as rendering may make use of the increased frequency. Depending on price, get 1866 or even 2133 if the difference is only $10 for example. But it won't make a great deal of difference - so it's up to you.

As for the H100 and fan placements - you want the fans all exhausting out the top of the case. I'm a little confused with your wording for it - so if you meant that then fair enough :)
 
Thanks for the suggestions, I think I'll try out the stock fans for now and see how they go, if not I can always change them out in the future. As for the fan controller, I think it works by tweaking the fan voltage to control the RPMs? I'm not 100% sure but I think that's how it works. RAM is definitely only a ~$10 difference to get 4x4 1866 vs the 4x4 1600. Thanks for all of your help!

Would you reckon I should put one or two fans on the bottom of the case for pulling air through the vents along with having one or two fans in the front doing the same? I'm still going to use three fans on top (or two if I really want to use two Y-connectors to connect the 3 to 1) extracting air along with the one fan in the back and the two pushing through the H100 radiator. And what about putting fans on the HDD rack that can angle? Thanks again!

PS: Any thermal paste should do fine right? Including the stuff that will come with the CPU (I think it comes with some), if not I was going to grab some MX-4.

PPS: Should I have my PSU set up to exhaust fan out of the case (upside down) or can I have it just take in air from the bottom through the vent for itself?
 
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Would you guys also recommend me to just go for a "real" liquid cooling setup vs the Corsair Hydro Series H100? Was watching a few of Tim's older videos and he was saying that an intro kit (I would probably get individual parts depending on parts reviews and suggestions) would cost around ~$100 which is about what the H100 costs. Thanks again!
 
I have an H100 with two Corsair SP120's (Dual pack for $20) pushing air through. I will be picking up two more AF120's for exhaust. Ive read very good things about these fans with both the SP made for Radiators and the AF's made for exhaust. Im no expert but just passing on a little info I learned when I was in your spot trying to find fans.
 
10pmStalker said:
I have an H100 with two Corsair SP120's (Dual pack for $20) pushing air through. I will be picking up two more AF120's for exhaust. Ive read very good things about these fans with both the SP made for Radiators and the AF's made for exhaust. Im no expert but just passing on a little info I learned when I was in your spot trying to find fans.
Click to expand...

Where'd you find the dual packs at for that cheap? Link me!
 
xeks said:
Thanks, I've also found it on Newegg. Where'd you get the fan info for rads/extraction at?
Click to expand...

someone was telling me about in in another forum a few weeks ago. It also says in this link under the Specifications
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11180AC1929&vpn=CO-9050001-WW&manufacture=CORSAIR
This one talks about the Rad
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11180AC7775&vpn=CO-9050008-WW&manufacture=CORSAIR
Theres also youtube videos talking about it from some reviewers.
 
10pmStalker said:
someone was telling me about in in another forum a few weeks ago. It also says in this link under the Specifications
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11180AC1929&vpn=CO-9050001-WW&manufacture=CORSAIR
This one talks about the Rad
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11180AC7775&vpn=CO-9050008-WW&manufacture=CORSAIR
Theres also youtube videos talking about it from some reviewers.
Click to expand...

Ah yeah, I'll mess around with the stock fans and if they don't work how I want then I'll upgrade :D
 
xeks said:
Ah yeah, I'll mess around with the stock fans and if they don't work how I want then I'll upgrade :D
Click to expand...

Yeah I didnt even bother taking the stock fans out of the plastic. Way to loud from compassions I seen on youtube with the AF and SP fans
 
10pmStalker said:
Yeah I didnt even bother taking the stock fans out of the plastic. Way to loud from compassions I seen on youtube with the AF and SP fans
Click to expand...

Mine came pre-installed and with a fan controller I'm sure it'll be reasonable db vs cf with like 6+ fans going and low-medium speeds. Hehe.
 
I'm now thinking of replacing the H100 I was going to get and just go for a "real" water loop system. Was watching Tom's videos but I'm unsure about whether I want to get a complete water cooling set (the prebuilt ones, and if so, where specifically and which one) or get the parts myself so I can be picky (leaning this way). I'd like to be able to cool my cpu now and gpus in the future. Was looking at some of the sites mentioned like specialtech, dangerden, xoxide, and some others but I'm still not educated enough to make the decisions on the rad (240 prolly?), cpu block, pump, reservoir, etc. D:
 
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