Building sweet rig for a friend (August 2012)

Hardware GPU
#1

--- UPDATE 8.8.2012 ---

The rig is complete... for now. GTX 670 and H100 coming in September!

Specs:

Intel Core i5-3570K

Gigabyte GA-Z77-MX D3H

2x 4GB DDR3 Corsair Vengeance 1600 MHz CL9

Intel 520-series SSD 120GB

WD Caviar Black 1TB (WD1002FAEX) + misc (older) HDDs

(old) Zotac GTX 260

SeaSonic X-660

Fractal Arc Mini

 

I've redirected the airflow so there are two intake 120mm fans in the front, and one 140mm exhaust on the sidepanel. The Corair H100 will be mounted on the top as intake as well - making positive air pressure.

Enjoy the pics!

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Feedback pl0x?

CHEERS!

 

--- Don't know where else to post this ---

So my friend finally decided to get himself a new PC next month (August) and asked for my help.
Budget is 6000 DKK (~$1000) and I wanted to keep the physical size small, since we do LAN parties everynow and then. He is going from a Q6700/GTX260 setup to following I've found:


CPU: Intel Core i5-2500 (non-K)

GPU: Geforce GTX 560 (non-Ti) OR Radeon HD 6870

M/B: ASUS P8P67-M PRO (Micro ATX)

RAM: Corsair Vengeance (Blue) 2x 4 GB DDR3 @ 1833 MHz, CL9, 1.5V

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB WD10EZRX

PSU: SeaSonic X-560W (Q for quality)

CAB: Fractal Design Arc Mini

Stock Intel heatsink, and he will get my optical drive. Motherboard supports native SLI and CFX, so future upgrade is possible, even with the 560W powersupply.

Price: ~ 5858 - 5908 DKK.

So what do you think? Anything I should be aware of or make any changes? I will post pics next month when the build is done!
 
- RuffeDK

#2

Sounds nice but with the price of heatsinks being so cheap why skimp? A good heatsink and fans are very important to the longevity of the hardware, Look forward to the pics.

#3

^ This. Are you positive he doesn't want to overclock in the future? It seems like everyone and their dog is an overclocker nowadays based on how simple it has become, other than that it looks good.

#4

I'm sure he is not going to overclock. He is going from a 2.8 GHz 1st Gen Core 2 Quad with 800MHz DDR2, to a 3.7 GHz (TB2.0) 2nd Gen Core i5 and 1833MHz DDR3, the performance boost is going blow his mind haha. And it's a non-K processor so overclocking is next to impossible.

I agree on a better heatsink tho. But I'm sure the stock cooler will do the job since the case has a decent airflow. Hmm, reminds me... I do have a NorthQ 3580 Siberian Tiger somewhere around which I do not use. But there is no LGA1156/1155 bracket for this model, so I'll need to mod it with tie wraps or something.

#5

u can always buy an adapter for it

#6

that system looks pretty weak for $1000, and green drives are slow and fail, so don't go with them

#7

Go with a WB black caviar HDD.

If you want a little more sleeker case and save $20 then go with the Bitfenix Prodigy it comes in black or white and can fit a dual rad. You might also want to get a Corsair h40 because those stock finds are loud and the last thing you want is to hear your friends case more than your game. Also maybe upgrade that CPU to a 2500k so if he ever wants to overclock he can.

 

 

#8

I forgot to mention that the average Danish prices on hardware are approx +25-30% more expensive than what you Americans pay for yours :)

Thank you HalfSammich, I will look into the Bitfenix Shinobi and Survivor Core. There's no more than ~150 DKK ($25) to save, but it's something. I'm not looking for a Corsair H-series solution for cooling. I feel much more comfortable with Noctuas heatsinks. As for the Intel K-series, if I can save the ~$25 on the case, a 2500K might be possible, but then there will be no budget for aftermarket cooling, so again - overclocking next to impossible.

Not going for a Caviar Black. Prices are too damn high on those things.

#9

Judging by the review, I am not going for a Bitfenix case. Design is nice and all, but I never thought cooling performance could be that bad.

#10

If you want that 6870, try this.... (assuming he isnt using multi monitors)

 



http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=869185

 

#11

Bump for update!

#12

I see you danes suffer from sam thing as us Norwegians.. So expensive hardware ._.