As others have posted, 900 watts is way too much. You could save yourself some money and go with www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx . 550 is plenty. And Visiontek? Try XFX(Double Lifetime Warranty) or HIS(reliability and good customer support). Here www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx . $104 for that case AND free shipping. Don't jump all over the place when ordering parts. It's a pain in the ass. And forget Tigerdirect even existed. Go NewEgg. Trust me. Your stuff arrives in 3 business days and shipping is cheap. Plus their customer support is top notch. And you'll find the best prices there a majority of the time.
So is overclocking bad or good? How does that work? And how far can I overclock my PC?
Around 3.4GHz is more than enough. Personally I don't let mine get past 3GHz because I just don't need it. Generally OC'ing is more of a competitive thing. So unless you're trying to show off your skills and machine, I would rather you keep it at anywhere from 2.8GHz to 3GHz. You don't really need more than that. Especially with that CPU. Enjoy and good luck.
And for the record, VisionTek is at the very least in the top 3 video card manufacturers. Not only are their products solid, but they have a Lifetime warranty and excellent customer support. Personally, I only buy VisionTek or XFX.
CPU: Intel Core i7 Processor i7-920 2.66GHz 8MB LGA1366 CPU
Video Card: Sapphire ATI Radeon HD5850
Power Supply: Corsair 650W
Memory: Corsair DDR3 6G
Case: AZZA Solano 1000 CSAZ-1000 Full Tower Case
Additional stuff:
Windows 7 64-bit
Logitech X-540 5.1 Speakers
Any recommendations on CPU Heatsink Fan? The built-in CPU fan isn't doing it. The temp is 95C at high. I need to cool it down a bit. I Overclocked to 3.2ghz.
Well, you could consider not overclocking it. There really shouldn't be any reason to at this point unless you just want bragging rights. Most games will make use of the GPU more than the CPU.
AmazingAveryAge of Conan AdvocateMemberUncommonPosts: 7,188
CPU: Intel Core i7 Processor i7-920 2.66GHz 8MB LGA1366 CPU
Video Card: Sapphire ATI Radeon HD5850
Power Supply: Corsair 650W
Memory: Corsair DDR3 6G
Case: AZZA Solano 1000 CSAZ-1000 Full Tower Case
Additional stuff:
Windows 7 64-bit Logitech X-540 5.1 Speakers
Any recommendations on CPU Heatsink Fan? The built-in CPU fan isn't doing it. The temp is 95C at high. I need to cool it down a bit. I Overclocked to 3.2ghz.
I have an i7 930 at 4.2ghz at the moment with a corsair h50 cooler. It was pretty easy to install and brought temps down to 26C idle and haven't seen more than 67C at load for a while now. I will say the ambient temp is pretty cool where PC is though.
If my cooler choice was based on cost then I would of picked probably a Coolermaster Hyper 212 or maybe a Thermalright Ultra 120 if i saw one on sale.
I have the H50 in my system now. I suggest using 2 fans on the radiator. 1 in front blowing air into it and one on opposite side blowing air off of it. Keeps my Phenom 2 955 (3.2 OC to 3.5) at 40-50c. I have never seen it go over 51c.
Also managed to get it at Frys on sale for about $30 so worked out really well for me.
Are you planning to ever go into CrossfireX? If you are you might want to double check your motherboard and make sure both pci x16 slots run at 16 and 16. Not 8/8 16/8 or 16/4. Otherwise, ignore this post.
Thanks for the info, but I don't think I'm going into CrossfireX... unless I change my mind later in the future. But atm, I'm quite satisfy with it. So with your previous post, what did you mean by having 2 fans? doesn't it just have one fan that comes with it? I don't know much so I was just a bit confuse.
AmazingAveryAge of Conan AdvocateMemberUncommonPosts: 7,188
Originally posted by Akenix
That was the one I was looking at earlier on newegg, the CORSAIR Cooling Hydro Series H50. So do you recommend it?
With the Corsair Case I have they recommend having the fan suck the air into the case (pull effect) so it is cooling over the radiator.
Some people don't like this but it works for me fine. Some like a Push > Pull effect where there are 2 fans either side of the radiator pulling through it and pushing it away. Either into the case or out.
So either like I have but if I put another fan on the outside going IN>IN >> that way or <OUT<OUT that way. Neat thing about it is that you can mount it anyway like on top of case, upside down etc. Like I have those 3 red fans blowing the air out at the top I could move it up there if I wanted, or just stick it outside the case at the back.
I got lucky with the price of mine too, the case I got usually is $300 I picked up both for that amount with free shipping. By itself in Canada here looking at about $70-$80 CAD.
It comes with fan and rubber surrounding and it is pretty silent. The fan you have on the radiator you connect to the CPU fan header on the motherboard and then the pump connector to another fan header. So on my set up in the pic, the CPU header is the one just by the top of the memory and the pump just by a header under the red "E" on the northbridge heatsink.
Best to check out the mobo you will use and where the fan headers are to get a good idea before purchasing. It is an all in one unit comes with it's own thermal paste applied and doesn't need time to 'cure' and never needs to be refilled or messed with. I love it!
If it is almost purely for gaming, I would not spend that much.
1. Downgrade the processor and motherboard a lot. You will do just fine with AMD Phenom II or lesser Intel (like i5).
2. Add either Crossfire or SLi, or go with 5970
3. Add SSD drive to handle your OS and a bigger one, if you want also to run your MMOs from it.
The biggest upgrades for gaming is a better video card and SSD drive at the moment. It is pointless to pay that much for motherboard and high-end Intel processor, as they will not help as much as top of the line video card/SLi/CF.
Cpu is not to be looked lightly on, especially with cf/sli you are always cpu bound. For example 5970 is cpu bottlenecked on any current cpu, overclocked or not.
Your budget is just on edge for ssd, good ones cost quite much. Only good ones are intel and indilinx based ssds.
Your budget is just on edge for ssd, good ones cost quite much. Only good ones are intel and indilinx based ssds.
You get good SSD drives from other manufacturers as well. You do not necessarily have to go with the highest end for it to be effective, Tom's Hardware has some good test results for comparison:
Also, in comparison about the bottleneck issue with CPU (estimates with similar sets):
i7 920 @ 4ghz with 5970 yields 140 frames per second in a game
x4 965 @ 4ghz with 5970 yields 135 frames per second in the same game and same settings.
That is extra £100 plus more expensive motherboard for 5 frames per second.
Getting i5 750 (£150) and ATI Radeon HD 5770 CF (2 x £130, probably a lot cheaper in the US) would be my choice at the moment. Here are the latest test results:
Your budget is just on edge for ssd, good ones cost quite much. Only good ones are intel and indilinx based ssds.
You get good SSD drives from other manufacturers as well. You do not necessarily have to go with the highest end for it to be effective, Tom's Hardware has some good test results for comparison:
Also, in comparison about the bottleneck issue with CPU (estimates with similar sets):
i7 920 @ 4ghz with 5970 yields 140 frames per second in a game
x4 965 @ 4ghz with 5970 yields 135 frames per second in the same game and same settings.
That is extra £100 plus more expensive motherboard for 5 frames per second.
Getting i5 750 (£150) and ATI Radeon HD 5770 CF (2 x £130, probably a lot cheaper in the US) would be my choice at the moment. Here are the latest test results:
Intel and indilinx based are just the best choices when considering overall support. New firmwares and real trim support. Without these the performance of ssd will wear down A LOT. The stuttering jmicron controllers are the worst.
The difference with cpu is game dependent, some games show much more difference, especially with multiple cards.
Getting sli/cf right from a start is a bad move, single is always better solution in terms of heat, power usage and it's much more trouble free. Not to mention the infamous microlag which every multiple card system has.
Not everyone here is using their CPU for just Gaming. I myself have the i7 920, evga 1366 SLI LE 6gb ram, gtx 260 and 4 tb HDD. The i7 series does wonders in multi media, photo editing and much more. Also the i7 will overclock where as AMD has always performed terrible. an i7 on air with a good cooler can clock to 5ghz. Its really all your own choice. Personally i dont like ASUS only because i have had terrible RMA experiences but they do make some nice products. I have done multiple RMA's with Visiontek and have had no problem, only thing i dislike is the $15 check you have to also give them.
SSD is nice but only get it as a boot device, right now prices for SSD are way over priced still. So far your build is sick. pretty similar to mine but your 5850 beats my gtx 260 hands down.
Now get to gaming, thats why we build them isnt it
Your budget is just on edge for ssd, good ones cost quite much. Only good ones are intel and indilinx based ssds.
You get good SSD drives from other manufacturers as well. You do not necessarily have to go with the highest end for it to be effective, Tom's Hardware has some good test results for comparison:
Also, in comparison about the bottleneck issue with CPU (estimates with similar sets):
i7 920 @ 4ghz with 5970 yields 140 frames per second in a game
x4 965 @ 4ghz with 5970 yields 135 frames per second in the same game and same settings.
That is extra £100 plus more expensive motherboard for 5 frames per second.
Getting i5 750 (£150) and ATI Radeon HD 5770 CF (2 x £130, probably a lot cheaper in the US) would be my choice at the moment. Here are the latest test results:
Intel and indilinx based are just the best choices when considering overall support. New firmwares and real trim support. Without these the performance of ssd will wear down A LOT. The stuttering jmicron controllers are the worst.
The difference with cpu is game dependent, some games show much more difference, especially with multiple cards.
Getting sli/cf right from a start is a bad move, single is always better solution in terms of heat, power usage and it's much more trouble free. Not to mention the infamous microlag which every multiple card system has.
Also with CF or SLI they are really made for computers using HIGH RESOLUTION. So anything above id say 1920 X 1080.. So unless your running a super high res screen such as 2560 X 1600, it wont matter. Most CF and SLI preform better at a higher res with all the eye candy.
Comments
You need to do lots and lots of research before you start overclocking.
If you do it wrong, you'll fry your machine.
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As others have posted, 900 watts is way too much. You could save yourself some money and go with www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx . 550 is plenty. And Visiontek? Try XFX(Double Lifetime Warranty) or HIS(reliability and good customer support). Here www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx . $104 for that case AND free shipping. Don't jump all over the place when ordering parts. It's a pain in the ass. And forget Tigerdirect even existed. Go NewEgg. Trust me. Your stuff arrives in 3 business days and shipping is cheap. Plus their customer support is top notch. And you'll find the best prices there a majority of the time.
Getting too old for this $&17!
Around 3.4GHz is more than enough. Personally I don't let mine get past 3GHz because I just don't need it. Generally OC'ing is more of a competitive thing. So unless you're trying to show off your skills and machine, I would rather you keep it at anywhere from 2.8GHz to 3GHz. You don't really need more than that. Especially with that CPU. Enjoy and good luck.
Getting too old for this $&17!
Looks like a solid build!
How did your build go?
And for the record, VisionTek is at the very least in the top 3 video card manufacturers. Not only are their products solid, but they have a Lifetime warranty and excellent customer support. Personally, I only buy VisionTek or XFX.
Completed my build:
Motherboard: Asus P6TSE LGA1366/ Intel X58/ DDR3/ CrossFireX/ A&GbE/ ATX Motherboard
CPU: Intel Core i7 Processor i7-920 2.66GHz 8MB LGA1366 CPU
Video Card: Sapphire ATI Radeon HD5850
Power Supply: Corsair 650W
Memory: Corsair DDR3 6G
Case: AZZA Solano 1000 CSAZ-1000 Full Tower Case
Additional stuff:
Windows 7 64-bit
Logitech X-540 5.1 Speakers
Any recommendations on CPU Heatsink Fan? The built-in CPU fan isn't doing it. The temp is 95C at high. I need to cool it down a bit. I Overclocked to 3.2ghz.
Well, you could consider not overclocking it. There really shouldn't be any reason to at this point unless you just want bragging rights. Most games will make use of the GPU more than the CPU.
I have an i7 930 at 4.2ghz at the moment with a corsair h50 cooler. It was pretty easy to install and brought temps down to 26C idle and haven't seen more than 67C at load for a while now. I will say the ambient temp is pretty cool where PC is though.
If my cooler choice was based on cost then I would of picked probably a Coolermaster Hyper 212 or maybe a Thermalright Ultra 120 if i saw one on sale.
That was the one I was looking at earlier on newegg, the CORSAIR Cooling Hydro Series H50. So do you recommend it?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181010
I have the H50 in my system now. I suggest using 2 fans on the radiator. 1 in front blowing air into it and one on opposite side blowing air off of it. Keeps my Phenom 2 955 (3.2 OC to 3.5) at 40-50c. I have never seen it go over 51c.
Also managed to get it at Frys on sale for about $30 so worked out really well for me.
Are you planning to ever go into CrossfireX? If you are you might want to double check your motherboard and make sure both pci x16 slots run at 16 and 16. Not 8/8 16/8 or 16/4. Otherwise, ignore this post.
Thanks for the info, but I don't think I'm going into CrossfireX... unless I change my mind later in the future. But atm, I'm quite satisfy with it. So with your previous post, what did you mean by having 2 fans? doesn't it just have one fan that comes with it? I don't know much so I was just a bit confuse.
With the Corsair Case I have they recommend having the fan suck the air into the case (pull effect) so it is cooling over the radiator.
Some people don't like this but it works for me fine. Some like a Push > Pull effect where there are 2 fans either side of the radiator pulling through it and pushing it away. Either into the case or out.
So either like I have but if I put another fan on the outside going IN>IN >> that way or <OUT<OUT that way. Neat thing about it is that you can mount it anyway like on top of case, upside down etc. Like I have those 3 red fans blowing the air out at the top I could move it up there if I wanted, or just stick it outside the case at the back.
I got lucky with the price of mine too, the case I got usually is $300 I picked up both for that amount with free shipping. By itself in Canada here looking at about $70-$80 CAD.
It comes with fan and rubber surrounding and it is pretty silent. The fan you have on the radiator you connect to the CPU fan header on the motherboard and then the pump connector to another fan header. So on my set up in the pic, the CPU header is the one just by the top of the memory and the pump just by a header under the red "E" on the northbridge heatsink.
Best to check out the mobo you will use and where the fan headers are to get a good idea before purchasing. It is an all in one unit comes with it's own thermal paste applied and doesn't need time to 'cure' and never needs to be refilled or messed with. I love it!
Wow bro, thats pretty amazing. Thanks for the pix too! I might try that. And it doesn't look that big like other cpu heatsink fans. Thanks!
Top end air coolers are both quieter and have better performance compared to low end water cooling. So you should really forget that.
If it is almost purely for gaming, I would not spend that much.
1. Downgrade the processor and motherboard a lot. You will do just fine with AMD Phenom II or lesser Intel (like i5).
2. Add either Crossfire or SLi, or go with 5970
3. Add SSD drive to handle your OS and a bigger one, if you want also to run your MMOs from it.
The biggest upgrades for gaming is a better video card and SSD drive at the moment. It is pointless to pay that much for motherboard and high-end Intel processor, as they will not help as much as top of the line video card/SLi/CF.
Video card benchmark latest - Tom's Hardware
"The person who experiences greatness must have a feeling for the myth he is in."
Cpu is not to be looked lightly on, especially with cf/sli you are always cpu bound. For example 5970 is cpu bottlenecked on any current cpu, overclocked or not.
Your budget is just on edge for ssd, good ones cost quite much. Only good ones are intel and indilinx based ssds.
You get good SSD drives from other manufacturers as well. You do not necessarily have to go with the highest end for it to be effective, Tom's Hardware has some good test results for comparison:
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-flash-ssd-charts/benchmarks-1,48.html
Also, in comparison about the bottleneck issue with CPU (estimates with similar sets):
i7 920 @ 4ghz with 5970 yields 140 frames per second in a game
x4 965 @ 4ghz with 5970 yields 135 frames per second in the same game and same settings.
That is extra £100 plus more expensive motherboard for 5 frames per second.
Getting i5 750 (£150) and ATI Radeon HD 5770 CF (2 x £130, probably a lot cheaper in the US) would be my choice at the moment. Here are the latest test results:
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-cards-charts-2009-high-quality-update-3/Sum-of-FPS-Benchmarks-1920x1200,1702.html
"The person who experiences greatness must have a feeling for the myth he is in."
You get good SSD drives from other manufacturers as well. You do not necessarily have to go with the highest end for it to be effective, Tom's Hardware has some good test results for comparison:
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-flash-ssd-charts/benchmarks-1,48.html
Also, in comparison about the bottleneck issue with CPU (estimates with similar sets):
i7 920 @ 4ghz with 5970 yields 140 frames per second in a game
x4 965 @ 4ghz with 5970 yields 135 frames per second in the same game and same settings.
That is extra £100 plus more expensive motherboard for 5 frames per second.
Getting i5 750 (£150) and ATI Radeon HD 5770 CF (2 x £130, probably a lot cheaper in the US) would be my choice at the moment. Here are the latest test results:
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-cards-charts-2009-high-quality-update-3/Sum-of-FPS-Benchmarks-1920x1200,1702.html
Intel and indilinx based are just the best choices when considering overall support. New firmwares and real trim support. Without these the performance of ssd will wear down A LOT. The stuttering jmicron controllers are the worst.
The difference with cpu is game dependent, some games show much more difference, especially with multiple cards.
Getting sli/cf right from a start is a bad move, single is always better solution in terms of heat, power usage and it's much more trouble free. Not to mention the infamous microlag which every multiple card system has.
Not everyone here is using their CPU for just Gaming. I myself have the i7 920, evga 1366 SLI LE 6gb ram, gtx 260 and 4 tb HDD. The i7 series does wonders in multi media, photo editing and much more. Also the i7 will overclock where as AMD has always performed terrible. an i7 on air with a good cooler can clock to 5ghz. Its really all your own choice. Personally i dont like ASUS only because i have had terrible RMA experiences but they do make some nice products. I have done multiple RMA's with Visiontek and have had no problem, only thing i dislike is the $15 check you have to also give them.
SSD is nice but only get it as a boot device, right now prices for SSD are way over priced still. So far your build is sick. pretty similar to mine but your 5850 beats my gtx 260 hands down.
Now get to gaming, thats why we build them isnt it
You get good SSD drives from other manufacturers as well. You do not necessarily have to go with the highest end for it to be effective, Tom's Hardware has some good test results for comparison:
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-flash-ssd-charts/benchmarks-1,48.html
Also, in comparison about the bottleneck issue with CPU (estimates with similar sets):
i7 920 @ 4ghz with 5970 yields 140 frames per second in a game
x4 965 @ 4ghz with 5970 yields 135 frames per second in the same game and same settings.
That is extra £100 plus more expensive motherboard for 5 frames per second.
Getting i5 750 (£150) and ATI Radeon HD 5770 CF (2 x £130, probably a lot cheaper in the US) would be my choice at the moment. Here are the latest test results:
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-cards-charts-2009-high-quality-update-3/Sum-of-FPS-Benchmarks-1920x1200,1702.html
Intel and indilinx based are just the best choices when considering overall support. New firmwares and real trim support. Without these the performance of ssd will wear down A LOT. The stuttering jmicron controllers are the worst.
The difference with cpu is game dependent, some games show much more difference, especially with multiple cards.
Getting sli/cf right from a start is a bad move, single is always better solution in terms of heat, power usage and it's much more trouble free. Not to mention the infamous microlag which every multiple card system has.
Also with CF or SLI they are really made for computers using HIGH RESOLUTION. So anything above id say 1920 X 1080.. So unless your running a super high res screen such as 2560 X 1600, it wont matter. Most CF and SLI preform better at a higher res with all the eye candy.