New build $1600

[manofchalk]

Seems like a good build. Only suggestion is a better PSU brand, nothing wrong with OCZ, there are just better out there. Silverstone, Corsair and Seasonic are the shining examples.

That CPU heatsink will go with a Z77 motherboard. All Z77 are 1155 sockets and it is 1155 compatible. Only problem with it may be the RAM, here's the exact same RAM you picked but in Low Profile to make sure they don t conflict. The heat spreaders are largely for show anyway.
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-Profile-1600mhz-PC3-12800/dp/B0058J1QYC/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1339068655&sr=1-1

As for the 670 vs 7950, I can see your problem. All the ones with decent coolers on them are $80 more than stock cooled.
If you want to overclock and the peace of mind of not running too hot, I'd go for the 7950, still plenty of grunt to play any game.

Though you could get a GTX670 now and a bit later install something like this. Though you might be better off just getting a non reference card rather than tampering with a stock cooled and probably voiding whatever warranty you have on it.
http://www.amazon.com/Arctic-Cooling-Accelero-Xtreme-Cooler/dp/tech-data/B0052TIRQI/ref=de_a_smtd

 

[darkol]

Hey there,

------------
Budget Range: $1600 USD

System Usage: Graphic Design/Rendering / Gaming

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Amazon.com

Country: Middle East / Qatar

Overclocking: Massively

SLI or Crossfire: In the future

------------

My futuristic build (which I'm satisfied with for the most part):

Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 (RC-912-KKN1)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003ZM7YTA/

Motherboard: Gigabyte Intel Z77 GA-Z77-D3H
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007R21K9E/

Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 612 PWM
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005WCN3KK/

PSU: OCZ ZT Series 750W Fully-Modular 80PLUS Bronze
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005SCYFRE/

CPU: Inter Core i7 3770k 3.5 BX80637I73770K
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007SZ0EOW/

GPU: (DEBATABLE) Gigabyte AMD Radeon HD 7950 3GB
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007581QHG/

RAM: Corsair Vengeance Blue 16 GB DDR3
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004RFBIUU/

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200 1 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb/s NCQ 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive ST1000DM003
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005T3GRNW/

My major concern is that the CM Hyper 612 might not fit with the Z77 motherboard, keep in mind I will be installing 4 ram slots so I assume there won't be enough space for air flow. If anybody have used this build or have an idea how it fits your input is appreciated.

Also, I'm still undecided on whether to get a 7950 or 670GTX, I can drop an extra $20 for the 670, but the problem is that I can't find any card with decent fans in Amazon, and I can't buy elsewhere due to shipment and whatnot, thus I'm afraid it won't perform as good as a well cooled 7950.

 

[darkol]

I suppose I could switch with a Corsair PSU even though I did a research and I couldn't find any significant difference between the two.

And I think the low profile will solve the fitting issue, silly me, I never thought about that.

The custom GPU cooling is a bad idea though. I thought about it, and in all honesty, it's not worth the trouble. Not only it voids the warranty of the card, it's costy and complicated to install (from what I read) and with the total cost I'm better off with a properly cooled non-reference card.

I'm not in a hurry anyway, I could wait a bit for some better deals to come up, and in the meanwhile, I might actually get a 670 from Newegg. They have the Gigabyte tri fan thingy which I believe is the best in terms of cooling (well they actually don't, but I'm camping there til they do!) However buying from Newegg means I will have to deal with some sketchy ship forwarding service which is inconvenient and quite costy, around $50 just for shipping.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125423


I guess I'll be sticking with this build for now, thanks for the advice!


Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 (RC-912-KKN1)

Motherboard: Gigabyte Intel Z77 GA-Z77-D3H

Cooling System: Cooler Master Hyper 612 PWM

PSU: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2

CPU: Inter Core i7 3770k 3.5 BX80637I73770K

GPU: Gigabyte AMD Radeon HD 7950 3GB

RAM: Corsair Vengeance Blue 16 GB DDR3 Low Profile

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200 1 TB 7200RPM ST1000DM003

That's $1,283 on Amazon, excluding shipping costs, $1,542 including everything.

(I might update the thread if I ever get to build this anytime soon)

 

[darkol]

Bumpity bump.

Something came to me, I just realized the fan/heatsink has 4 pins while the motherboard only has 3, from what I understand the 4th pin is for control, so I assume I cannot control my fans by any means but voltage change, or can I still manage it somehow? From what I read this will cause the fan to run with full power all the time and honestly that doesn't sound right. Any ideas, or should I find something else instead?

 

[manofchalk]

This website may help
http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/sb/cs-012074.htm

The motherboard's CPU headers should be 4pin, don't know why it'd be three. Sure your looking at the right header? I can see a 4pin connector on this image of the board, at the top just right of the socket (if it was the right way up)
http://www.auspcmarket.com.au/assets/1000x842m/products/3f49a3095c3ce881fcf1910d6addc1aa-2.jpg

I know its possible to control fan speed from the motherboard through 3 pin connectors, so I assume they can under-volt fans.

 

[darkol]

Oh wow, I was looking thoroughly into a manual but now I realized it was not the right one - it's all good now!

 

[Why_Me]

Low profile RAM or your never going to fit that CM cpu heat sink.

http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-Profile-1600mhz-PC3-12800/dp/B0058J1QII/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1339155978&sr=1-6 $97.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Corsair 16 GB Vengeance Low Profile 1600mhz PC3-12800 240-pin Dual Channel DDR3 Memory Kit 16 Dual Channel Kit - CML16GX3M4A1600C9

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-Dual-Link-Graphics-02G-P4-2670-KR/dp/B007Z3HZIA/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1339156146&sr=1-1 $398.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
EVGA GeForce GTX670 2048MB GDDR5 256bit, 2x Dual-Link DVI, HDMI, DP, 4-Way SLI Ready Graphics Card (02G-P4-2670-KR)

 

[darkol]

The 670 looks tempting, but as I mentioned, I will be overclocking so I need a GPU with proper cooling. I might be wrong and this card doesn't overheat as much as I imagine it would when overclocked, but I find fan cooling more proper for this purpose.

The thing that bothers me the most is the weather where I live, it gets up to freaking 50°C at some point.. that makes cooling essential for me even if I'm not OC'ing.

Although I have seen some people who tried both the tri fan cooling and the FTW, and apparently the FTW was able to pull higher clocks ( according to this: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/354974-33-asus-directcu-evga-gigabyte-windforce#t2661490 )

 

[Why_Me]

The 670 looks tempting, but as I mentioned, I will be overclocking so I need a GPU with proper cooling. I might be wrong and this card doesn't overheat as much as I imagine it would when overclocked, but I find fan cooling more proper for this purpose.

The thing that bothers me the most is the weather where I live, it gets up to freaking 50°C at some point.. that makes cooling essential for me even if I'm not OC'ing.

Although I have seen some people who tried both the tri fan cooling and the FTW, and apparently the FTW was able to pull higher clocks ( according to this: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/354974-33-asus-directcu-evga-gigabyte-windforce#t2661490 )

Normally the non reference cooling cards like that Gigabyte card vent the heat into the case. The upside is though they run cooler. If you have a case with good cooling/airflow than non reference cooled cards are a plus. Here's an idea to look over. This 780 runs right on par with the 6950 and does it for cheaper. With the money saved I would look at a more up to date case with front 3.0 USB ports and dust filters.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/HD_7870_Direct_Cu_II/ <----- review w/benchmarks

http://www.amazon.com/HD7870-DC2-2GD5-DisplayPort-Utilities-PCI-Express-Graphics/dp/B007JLFVNO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339186448&sr=8-1 $349.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
ASUS HD7870-DC2-2GD5 Radeon 2GB DDR5 VGA/DVI/HDMI/DisplayPort GPU Tweak Utilities PCI-Express 3.0 Graphics Card HD7870-DC2-2GD5

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006I2H0YS/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER $75.84 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Corsair Carbide Series 300R Mid-Tower Gaming Case - CC-9011014-WW

http://www.corsair.com/carbide-series-300r-compact-pc-gaming-case.html <----- another look at that case

And some fans to add to it... you can add 140mm or 120mm case fans to that case.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/other?redirect=true&rh=n%3A172282%2Cn%3A%21493964%2Cn%3A541966%2Cn%3A193870011%2Ck%3ACase%2BFan&bbn=193870011&keywords=Case%2BFan&pickerToList=brandtextbin&ie=UTF8&qid=1339187229&rd=1 <------ case fans

or this 4 pack.

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-120mm-Silent-Value/dp/B000O8I474/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1339187398&sr=1-2 $13.00 Free Standard Shipping (3-5 days)
Cooler Master 120mm Silent Case Fan 4-in-1 Value Pack - (R4-S2S-124K-GP)