Help me build a PC.

Vantastic

Solid State Member
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14
It all began when i realized i had just over 300gb left on my hd. I looked up ebay and somehow came across an article on 3tb hd. One thing led to another (i still don't have a new hd) and i found myself looking for pc cases.

I won't be comitting to anything for a few months atleast but i thought it would be a good idea to create a thread and hopefully get some help from you guys. As i've learnt, research is 90 per of the work.

So, what do i want? The best. Basically money isn't an issue but i'm not rich, i earn an avarage wage but i live with my parents so i'm easy that way.

I own a Samsumng P2270HD tv/monitor and i'm happy with that. As mentioned in my other thread, i'll probably be going for the Bose Companion 3 2.1 speakers.

For the case I'm set on the Corsair 650D (Obsidian Series® 650D Mid-Tower Case - Obsidian Series - Cases)

I love the look and i don't want to go any taller the taller cases i've seen won't fit under my table.

I'm also set on the second gen i7 extreme edition (Intel® Core™ i7 Extreme Processor)

I've been looking at the Asus Rampage 3 Extreme but the problem i have with it is the one usb port. I know i can get an internal usb expansion from amazon (Amazon.com: NZXT IU01 Internal USB Expansion (Black): Electronics) so that's an option.

I've looked at the ASRock 990 FXProfessional and i like that it has 2 3.0 usb ports for the back panel and another 2 3.0 for the front. But is it compatible with the i7?

What is one of the best mobo's i can get? Am i off to a good start here?
 
Dude where do you live and why are you linking us with the products home page from the manufacturer. lol, go to newegg if you're in the states, because, to be honest, that's where you should order from when you do get started with it.
So, in terms of motherboards. There's plenty out there for any kind of build. Now if you want pure functionality and something that will last you a very long time, I would go with the Asus Sabertooth X58. I own the AMD version of this and I'm very impressed and satisfied. Now if you're looking for more performance and gaming and overclocking and could care less about how long it will work and what not...go with the Gigabyte G1.Sniper. If you were interested in upgrading your case to the full tower spec of the Obsidian series, then get the G1.Assassin which has more phase power and PCI-e slots.
If you're gaming, you'd need a good set of video cards. This will be, if you do it right, the most expensive single area of the computer. You'll want to do two high end cards from either NVidia or ATI. Seeing as the new GTX500 series is awesome and outperforms and has the best card on the market, go with them. Specifically, Hydro Copper 2...which means you have to do a liquid cooling system. Most of the time you can buy a premade set and just install it as you see fit. Plus anyone here would jump at the chance to teach you their way of setting up that system.
Memory, get as much of it as your mobo will allow and get it at least at 1600mhz. 4GB sticks @ 1600mhz is soo affordable now it's dumb not to spend an extra five bucks and get the additional speed. If you wanna go all out, go with these:DOMINATOR!
Outside of that...get a SSD to run windows on, it'll be faster that way. My favorite on the market...HyperX

Oh by the way, the Obsidian series was meant for custom water cooling jobs. So if it's in price range, go for it!!!
 
Dude where do you live and why are you linking us with the products home page from the manufacturer. lol, go to newegg if you're in the states, because, to be honest, that's where you should order from when you do get started with it.
So, in terms of motherboards. There's plenty out there for any kind of build. Now if you want pure functionality and something that will last you a very long time, I would go with the Asus Sabertooth X58. I own the AMD version of this and I'm very impressed and satisfied. Now if you're looking for more performance and gaming and overclocking and could care less about how long it will work and what not...go with the Gigabyte G1.Sniper. If you were interested in upgrading your case to the full tower spec of the Obsidian series, then get the G1.Assassin which has more phase power and PCI-e slots.
If you're gaming, you'd need a good set of video cards. This will be, if you do it right, the most expensive single area of the computer. You'll want to do two high end cards from either NVidia or ATI. Seeing as the new GTX500 series is awesome and outperforms and has the best card on the market, go with them. Specifically, Hydro Copper 2...which means you have to do a liquid cooling system. Most of the time you can buy a premade set and just install it as you see fit. Plus anyone here would jump at the chance to teach you their way of setting up that system.
Memory, get as much of it as your mobo will allow and get it at least at 1600mhz. 4GB sticks @ 1600mhz is soo affordable now it's dumb not to spend an extra five bucks and get the additional speed. If you wanna go all out, go with these:DOMINATOR!
Outside of that...get a SSD to run windows on, it'll be faster that way. My favorite on the market...HyperX

Oh by the way, the Obsidian series was meant for custom water cooling jobs. So if it's in price range, go for it!!!

Ok, ok. First off all. Perth, Australia.

I thought the links were a good idea for people who weren't aware of the specs. For example in my second post, if one is not familiar with the products they may still be able to make an educated guess on which could be better. You know.

Thanks for the info on the mobo's. What i got out of that is 1. the Z68 E7 is better for me because of the spcecs, i.e 3.0 usb ports in front panel, etc. 2. That your card has an AMD version which leads me to speculate that other/most mobos have AMD/i7 versions 3. That it is somehow advisable to upgrade the tower to its full specs. 4. what exactly does it mean to upgrage it to its spcecs?/What is phase power and why is it better to have G1 Assassin ( i don't understand the PCI slots)?

I will def be gaming, may aswell.

Don't know a thing about a liquid cooling system or which to buy for the tower.

I know a little on SSD and i get what you mean buy running windows on it.

Shit. I'm such a noob. But doing research is becoming a habit.

Oh and you might want to pugrade your specs at the bottom of the page.
 
I have upgraded the specs down there. Just yesterday actually. lol, that's all very accurate.

Perth! I love it down there.

Good idea on the links in that case

If you wanna go with ASRock, power to you. I never have been a real fan of theirs. I'm a huge Asus guy. For me to even suggest a Gigabyte board is odd for me...although I'm kind of a closet fan for them. No, most companies don't do AMD and i7 versions of the same board. It took Asus a few years to do it with the Sabertooth and it's only similar by name a basic features. The chipset and everything else is different. Asus also has their ROG series boards on both platforms but again different to the core...some features stay the same. Like Gigabyte doesn't make an Assassin or Sniper on AMD...at all. Which saddens me because I like AMD more then intel for gaming. In any case...if you get a full tower, you'll be able to fit larger boards no problem. That's why I said upgrade it.

The PCIe slots are where your video cards will go. It's very integral part of the board. The beauty of the Assassin is you can run two video cards in two slots at full power (x16/x16). The problem with the Z68 is it runs at full and half power on two cards (x16/x8). Higher end boards are worth the cost, trust me. Good intel boards that will support ridiculousness are over 300 dollars and even that's cheap. The classified SR-2 is over 500 (dual cpu).

Phase power is important in getting enough electrical power and stable power to the cpu and components (memory, fans, video cards, etc). It's a lot of geeky mumbo jumbo that even I still don't entirely understand, but in gaming...more is better...as a rule.

We will help you with the liquid cooling when it gets there...first, let's pick out every last bit of what's needed for this build. Parts to choose

Case
Video Card(s)
CPU
Mobo
RAM Memory
Power Supply

If it was me...and you're not me...but if it was me, with the things you really want in it. Here's what I would go with. And it would be glorious:

Case: Corsair Obsidian 800
Mobo: Gigabyte Assassin OR Asus Rampage III Black Edition
CPU: i7 Extreme 990X
Video Card: EVGA Hydro Copper 2 (2 of them if you can afford it. It's not absolutely necessary to get this high of a card, less expensive ones in SLI or Crossfire will be good too, but this is best of the best)
RAM: 6 x 4GB Corsair Vengeance @ 1600mhz
PSU: Corsair Pro Gold AX1200

Everything else is icing on the cake. Fill in what you want and I'll see what matches and is compatible
 
On the specs of the Asus Rampage 3 Black Edition it says that there are two 3.0 usb ports at mid port. What does that mean. Can i hook them up to the front?

Is it necessary to go for the Corsair 800 instead of the 650? I prefer the 650 because it will fit under my desk nicely. Otherwise i will have to unscrew the left raised-floor section and it won't look as nice.
 
Always better to work with more room. Not necessary, but I have a full tower and it's a blessing.

The Rampage Black has a USB 3.0 connector on the board...you can connect 2 usb 3.0 ports to the front. And they have two in the back. Do you have need for it in the front though? Still not a whole lot of components at USB 3.0, a few mem sticks and actually theyre affordable now...go for it.
 
A friend of mine would slap me for even saying this, but why the 990x? The platform is dying, and if you really want the best of the best, grabbing an i7 based on Sandy Bridge (2600k for example) is going to give you 90-100% of the performance in lightly threaded tasks that the 990x does, and if you truly want to maximize the performance, wait until LGA2011 hits later this year from Intel, and own something truly revolutionary, since as you said, money is no object.
 
Always better to work with more room. Not necessary, but I have a full tower and it's a blessing.

The Rampage Black has a USB 3.0 connector on the board...you can connect 2 usb 3.0 ports to the front. And they have two in the back. Do you have need for it in the front though? Still not a whole lot of components at USB 3.0, a few mem sticks and actually theyre affordable now...go for it.

Actually, i do have room for the 800. I had it confused with a nother case.

Don't need the 3.0 usb now but since it will be the norm soon i may aswell.

A friend of mine would slap me for even saying this, but why the 990x? The platform is dying, and if you really want the best of the best, grabbing an i7 based on Sandy Bridge (2600k for example) is going to give you 90-100% of the performance in lightly threaded tasks that the 990x does, and if you truly want to maximize the performance, wait until LGA2011 hits later this year from Intel, and own something truly revolutionary, since as you said, money is no object.

I havn't heard of the LGA2011 but i'll look it up. Since it's so revolutionary i may aswell go for it.
 
LGA2011 is supposed to be out Q4 of this year, so ideally, parts will really become widespread early 2012. But if you can save up and get yourself in a good spot, and you're sure you're ok with going with first gen hardware, most folks probably won't be able to afford the new stuff when it comes out. ;)
 
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