Hi everyone,

I'm probably going to be building a new computer before Christmas, for playing DCS, ROF, possibly CloD and doing 3D rendering work. I have never built my own system before and I'm not very confident about my selection of components, although I have done some research over the last several weeks. Here's the list of parts I plan to buy:



Processor (link) - the i7-2600k is an easy choice for me as I do a fair bit of 3D rendering, and the 8 threads give a huge speed boost. I'm also considering overclocking since DCS in particular is very CPU-intensive.

Motherboard (link) - I like the look of the Z68 model recommended here. No objection to it in replies so far.

Graphics (link) - I don't want to use SLI until flight sims support it better. For now I can get by on a single GTX 570, and add an extra for SLI later on.

RAM (link) - 8GB Corsair Vengeance 1.5V, recommended by others in this thread.

HDD (link) - small is OK for me - I certainly don't need more than 1TB, and could probably get by on half of that.

Case (link) - A lot more expensive than the Antek Three Hundred, but probably worth it because of the extra room and the dust filter.

PSU (link) - Took everyone's advice here and am now considering the 900W, since I'm leaning towards a future SLI upgrade.

Optical Drive (link) - this one is pretty cheap. Should I pay for a more expensive one? I don't imagine I'll ever actually have to write Blu-rays, just play them.

SSD (link) - Going for 120GB for installing windows and a few games. Feedback from this thread suggests it will help texture loading in games as well as speeding up loading times and boot times.

Cooling (link) - Recommended in this thread. Don't mind a little bit of noise, and this is supposed to be the best air cooler around.



Again, I've never done this before. There may be incompatibilities above that I don't know about. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Mitch

Hi, It all looks good except for the Cooling unit. I have read on EOC forums that a System like that is not near efficient as a High end Air cooler for the same price..

I would suggest a Custom cooling kit if you wouldnt mind spending another 200-300 bucks..or just get an High End Air Cooler wich is just as good but more noisy..

Also the PSU I thought was going to be too low but it came out with OC and all your Parts to be at 450 Watts.. so you do look good there but Not much room say if you add a second Vid card..

SLI really excelles when you go Triple Screen and run the Uber High resolutions..

CPU and mobo look good. Why the 470 though. That's some old tech and the price is crazy. That should be a 580 for that price. Beside the fact that a GTX 560 Ti will match a 470. 470 uses more power and runs hotter too. Maybe you meant to say 570, but if so, that price is still crazy.

You are going to need a bigger PSU especially if you get the 470 as it's a power hog. 600W PSU is really not big enough these days. I'm just saying if you have to troubleshoot BSOD or lockups, with a bigger PSU, you take that trouble right out of the equation.

It will be unnecessary for someone else to come on here and say they are running a 600 with tri-SLI as I realize there are some really good 600W PSUs out there.


OK, I see you meant a 570. Are video cards that high there in Australia? I've been looking at a 570 here in Dallas and it's on sale for 329. A 580 goes for about 429.

Thanks, Nephilim. Noise isn't a big issue for me. Would you suggest I buy this air cooler instead (link)?

There is also this one(link), which Bib4Tuna mentioned in another thread, however there are none in stock close to my location.

Like you say, SLI with a triple screen setup would be great, but it will probably be a few years before I have the space for something like that. Until then I'll happily get by on a single screen and GPU

Ah! You caught me there Speedbump - that is indeed a typo. I meant the 570, not the 470 Editing my original post...

yeah, I can get a standard 1.25 GB GTX570 for about $345, but the 2.5GB version attracted me ... some sims (CloD especially) allegedly use a lot of Vram.

I figured that. Still, if you go back and look at people coming on the board here with problems, so many of them have a PSU that is borderline big enough. For that system, that PSU is not big enough. Get at least a 750.

Also that hard drive is a Low Power (LP) drive, 5900RPM. For a performance machine, I would want a 7200 RPM drive. I have two 1.5Gb LP 5900 RPM Seagates in my system, but I run no programs from them. Just docs, music and all my other digital packrat stuff.

Pretty much what others said: higher RPM HDD, better PSU (750W branded or preferably 850W if you intend to OC) and most important ditch that water cooling and get a proper air cooler. I recommend Thermalright Venomous X / Thermalright Silver Arrow / Noctua NH-D14 , with my vote on the NH-D14.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I've edited my original post with my new list of parts, including the 900W PSU, faster HDD, NH-D14 air cooler and cheaper GTX570 1.25GB (this discussion convinced me to forget the 2.5GB version). Now it looks like I will be going down the SLI path at some point in the future.

I'm still completely open to comments and suggestions if anyone has them - this has been very helpful to me!

I'd avoid the Antec Three Hundred with the NVIDIA card(s). I've worked with the Three Hundred and the 570, and would question if it will fit and leave enough room near the HDDs.

Take a look at the Corsair Carbide 500R. Its deep and will fit with the 570.
http://www.corsair.com/pc-cases/carbide-series-pc-case/carbide-series-500r-mid-tower-case.html

RAM - Consider XMP certifed, preferably Corsair Vengeance.

Power Supply - Perfect. That Antec PS is not just SLI "ready" but "certified". It can make a difference.

Definitely double check if you can install NH-D14 into your case (along with GPU), it is a pretty big cooler.

And a small not on the RAM, if possible get 1.5V kit. This Kingston is 1.65V and since you're getting one, get Hyper X Genesis - which is specially tailored to work with Sandy Bridge CPU's.

If you decide on Vengeance - make sure it is the low heat sink version or else you won't be able to install it under NH-D14. Low heat sink versions are also 1.5V IIRC.

1.65V is still safe, just don't go over it with SB platform. I have the Genesis and am loving it.