are there any better parts?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
redxmoonx

redxmoonx

Distinguished
Jul 27, 2014
172
0
18,680
i been building a new rig and already have some parts bought,
this is what i have so far.

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (Purchased For $201.99)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H90 94.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($88.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team Zeus Red 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (Purchased For $69.99)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (Purchased For $108.86)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $64.44)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($334.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased For $69.99)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (Purchased For $81.65)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($90.26 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Corsair SP140 49.5 CFM 140mm Fans ($28.99 @ Amazon)
Speakers: Logitech LS11 3W 2ch Speakers ($19.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1210.13

my question is, for what haven't bought, are there any cheaper brands with equal performance? do i actually need liquid cooling?
 
Solution
JackNaylorPE


I'm not against liquid cooling..... just CLCs (Closed Loop Coolers)

I recommended a air cooler (Phanteks) in your price range ($60) in the post before yours.

The swiftech H220-X is an excellent all in one water cooler and it stomps everything else out there. The Cryorig R1 and Noctua DH-15 air coolers beat every CLC on the market

http://www.swiftech.com/

b4.jpg


http://www.hitechlegion.com/reviews/cooling/liquid/40870-swiftech-h220-x-open-loop-240mm-cpu-cooler-review?showall=&start=3

Sort by date Sort by votes
that evga GPu is good as i own one but many like the msi gamer card better.

cooling is needed if you are going to overclock. i prefer big air to water cooling as it is just as good and usually quiter.

this ram is cheaper and better

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231550&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

 
Upvote 0 Downvote



i already got the ram on special with the i5 and what air cooler do you recommend? i might overclock... but not right away, i want to test the pc first
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I'd swap the GFX card for a Gigabyte or MSI. EVGA has weak componentry, doesn't turn off fans when not needed and still has misaligned coolers in the channel.

http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/evga-geforce-gtx-970-acx-has-misaligned-gpu-vs-heatpipes.html

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2014/09/19/nvidia-geforce-gtx-970-review/14

I'd lose the H90; there is not a single 120/140mm CLC cooler that outperforms comparably priced air coolers

If you must use an all-in-one liquid cooler, the ones to look at are the Swiftech models

The Phanteks 140mm fans outperform the Corsairs and are $10
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835709023
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Upvote 0 Downvote


Never overclock the PC without testing everything first.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


im confused... i thought the cpu cooler and the case fans was 2 different things
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


he already has listed that his choice is the EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card . the acx 2.0 has fixed the misalignment issue

also the recent bios update which is shipping with all of the GPU's keeps the fans off til 65C so that is fixed also.

my evga acx 2.0 sc gtx 970 is overclocked to 1540 core and 8000 on the memory so they are not that bad (I run them 24/7 at 1505/7950)

I do agree that many users like the msi gaming version better and MSI has been a great RMA company for me also.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
They are:

1. I recommended a different GFX card.

2. I recommended a different CPU cooler. I can't recommend CLC's. Excellent mid range air cooler for $60 os the Phanteks, you'll have to check mounting height tho and see if fits in case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=PH-TC14-PE&N=-1&isNodeId=1

3. I recommended a different case fan.

-Instead of Case Fan: Corsair SP140 49.5 CFM 140mm Fans ($28.99 @ Amazon)

-I recommended Phanteks PH-F140SP_BK 140mm 82.1 CFM, 19 dB(A) Case Fan ($9.99 @ newegg)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


He also already said that he switched his choice to the MSI. And while EVGA **may** have fixed the misalignment issue, the point made was those misaligned cards from early runs are still sitting on store shelves. If they did indeed fix it, it certainly flies in the face of their press release on the matter which says they did it on purpose:

The way the EVGA GTX 970 ACX heat sink was designed is based on the GTX 970 wattage plus an additional 40% cooling headroom on top of it. There are 3 heat pipes on the heatsink – 2 x 8mm major heat pipes to distribute the majority of the heat from the GPU to the heatsink, and a 3rd 6mm heatpipe is used as a supplement to the design to reduce another 2-3 degrees Celsius. Also we would like to mention that the cooler passed NVIDIA Greenlight specifications.

Due to the GPU small die size, we intended for the GPU to contact two major heat pipes with direct touch to make the best heat dissipation without any other material in between.

We all know the Maxwell GPU is an extremely power efficient GPU, our SC cooler was overbuilt for it and allowed us to provide cards with boost clocks at over 1300MHz. EVGA also has an “FTW” version for those users who want even higher clocks.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2014/09/19/nvidia-geforce-gtx-970-review/3

One thing the ACX2 cooler does lack is a semi-passive mode. Even when idle, the fans will be spinning, which is not the case with the ASUS or MSI models. Both fans are also controlled by the same 4-pin header so there's no independent control.
Click to expand...

EVGA SC series has consistently had the weakest componentry going back to the 5xx series. If you read the review, you will see the stark differences in componentry between the two.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2014/09/19/nvidia-geforce-gtx-970-review/3

EVGA sticks with the reference power input design, equipping the GTX 970 SC ACX2 with dual 6-pin power connectors.

Examining the PCB reveals a 4+2 phase power design – four phases near the rear I/O for the GPU, and two in the bottom right corner for the memory. This is a slight upgrade from the 4+1 stock specification but unlike MSI and ASUS, EVGA does not use any specially crafted components.

The GPU MOSFETs are directly cooled by the main heatsink, which has a thermal strip on to draw heat up into the fin stack. On the other side of the GPU is a metal contact plate that partirally cools two of the four memory chips on this side, leaving the other two exposed. It also cools the MOSFETs of the power phases serving the memory, but no thermal pads are used, so heat transfer is likely to be limited.
Click to expand...


By comparison ..... let's look at the MSI

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2014/09/19/nvidia-geforce-gtx-970-review/4

The Twin Frozr V cooling solution is the latest in the series. The GPU is cooled by a massive nickel-plated copper baseplate, to which the four heat pipes (two 8mm, two 6mm, also nickel-plated) are soldered to. This design ensure heat is transferred through all the pipes effectively, unlike in the EVGA solution where one of the pipes barely connects with the GPU.

Like the ASUS card, the GTX 970 Gaming 4G features a semi-passive mode, which it calls Zero Frozr. It's something MSI first brought to the market in 2008 (it's keen to clarify that it hasn't copied the ASUS Strix cards here). The temperature cut-off points are similar to the ASUS card – between 60 and 65°C, the fans will spin up; once the GPU drops to about 50°C, they're no longer needed. This carries benefits for noise production, efficiency and fan lifespan.

Another feature is called Hybrid Frozr, and this refers to the ability to control both fans independently. Enabling this functionality is a six-pin fan header on the PCB. In automatic mode, one fan is controlled by the GPU temperature while the other is controlled by temeprature measurement ICs dotted around the PCB. .....

The power delivery is the best of any here; it's a 6+2 design. Further, MSI uses its own improved components for both the GPU and the memory power phases. The components are referred to as Military Class 4 since they meet MIL-STD-810G regulations. Specifically, we find Hi-c CAP and Solid CAP type capacitors and Super Ferrite Chokes, which are designed to provide higher stability, lifespan and efficiency

A miniature heatsink takes care of cooling the main GPU MOSFETs near the rear I/O, while a metal contact plate equipped with thermal pads is used to cool three of the four front PCB memory chips as well as the remaining power circuitry including the memory MOSFETs and the VR controllers.
Click to expand...

The sticker on the cards doesn't make them better, the components used in the build do which is why the MSI routinely clocks from 1550 - 1590+. HardOCP hit 1592 with their sample.... HiTechLegion hit 1567 .... Other than Gigabyte, I haven't seen anyone hitting those numbers.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


I'm not against liquid cooling..... just CLCs (Closed Loop Coolers)

I recommended a air cooler (Phanteks) in your price range ($60) in the post before yours.

The swiftech H220-X is an excellent all in one water cooler and it stomps everything else out there. The Cryorig R1 and Noctua DH-15 air coolers beat every CLC on the market

http://www.swiftech.com/

b4.jpg


http://www.hitechlegion.com/reviews/cooling/liquid/40870-swiftech-h220-x-open-loop-240mm-cpu-cooler-review?showall=&start=3

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution


relax man i was the first to respond to this thread and I said to get msi GPU and I also rec'd the the same phantek cooler earlier in this post. I already said the MSI is a better choice i just said that the evga is not bad. getting a 1550/8000 is a good overclock. the voltage controllers are great and all but these cards do not push much voltage so it is not as important.

the only reason i brought up the acx 2.0 and bios update was to let you know.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
The points was that regardless of whether they did or did not fix the problem..... (their press release says they designed it that way on purpose so why would they fix it ?) ..... the defective cards are still in the channel. That being the case, I can't recommend it as you could still wind up with one.

I was aware that (6 years after the competition .... 1st week of October as I recall) they introduced the 0% fan speed at idle option but there is still a significant difference, the EVGA card responds only to GPU temps, the MSI fans respond independently the 2nd fan responding to thermal sensors on the PCB that the EVGA does not have. Voltage control is not important only in the sense of how much voltage can be applied (nVidia sets limits on what manufacturers can do here), but also in how fast and accurately it responds to changes in need. This is where the quality of the componentry matters.

The other point, and this has been true now for four generations, is that the SC series in all flavors is essentially a reference card with a nice cooler. Only when the buying public buys their PC products based upon how well they are built (selected components ..... capacitors, chokes, thermal pads, voltage control, etc.) and how well they perform, as opposed to brand loyalty, will we see an overall improvement. EVGA added the 0% fan thing as the result of public pressure ... every reviewer was pointing out who had it and who didn't. While high quality componentry does show an improvement in benchmark performance, what's more important is the longevity and stability under widely varying loads and less than ideal programming (i.e., BF4). New cards are used in our CAD and high end gaming boxes and when they are replaced, the cards get offered to a local kid or family who's trying to take a hand me down office PC and get a little fun outta it. I put a 6 year old GTS 250 in a PC 2 weeks ago that a someone found by the curb on trash day..... took it apart, cleaned it, added one of the GFX cards laying around

If your paying the exact same price which car ya want ..... the "stock" model or the one with the sports package and other "extras". To use another analogy I'm not saying that the SC is an "Ugly Betty"..... it's no worse than average ...... but the Gigabyte and MSI are competing for Prom Queen.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
no arguments on anything you say really.

my brand preference is MSI anyway (3x 7950's twin frzr) the eVGA was the only available unit when i purchased (going to edge up to the ftw anyway $20)

i would never rec the sc model to anybody as the first thing i said to OP was get the MSI

I have not read any reports of the acx 2.0 not being the correct cooler (btw the acx 1.0 will not do 0% fan control as it is not capable)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom