Running a system build by you guys :)

[kasell]

Hey all !

I wanted to get your thoughts / opinions etc on the following system build:

Asus DRW-24D3ST SATA 24X DVD-RW Black Retail Nero12
Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit OEM
Samsung 512GB SSD 840BW Pro SATA3 2.5
Corsair Cooling Hydro Series H100i Liquid CPU Cooler
Western Digital RED WD30EFRX RED NAS- 3TB/INTELLIPOWER/DDR2/3.5
Western Digital RED WD30EFRX RED NAS- 3TB/INTELLIPOWER/DDR2/3.5
Intel Core i7 4770K LGA1150 CPU 3.5Ghz 8Mb Cache Haswell
ASUS MAXIMUS-VI-HERO/Z87
Corsair 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 2133MHz Dimm, Unbuffered,11-11-11-27, Vengeance Pro
Thermaltake VN10031W2N-B Level 10 GT LCS
Seasonic 1000W 80Plus Platinum Full Modular
Asus Xonar Essence STX PCIE soundcard
Asus VG248QE 24",144MHz,2ms DVI-D/HDMI/SPK,3D 144Mhz

I haven't picked a graphics card yet but I'm thinking one of the gtx 780 eVGA's for around the 600-800 mark. Any recommendations ?

This build is to do a variety of things, gaming, storage, movies, multiple processing and to a certain extent future-proofing. The total for what's mentioned above is $3500 (AUD) not inc the card. My budget was around the 4k mark so I think the marks been met. Looking forward to your thoughts!

Cheers,
Scott

 

[manofchalk]

- Pull an optical from an old rig if you have one.
- You dont need Windows Ultimate, really doubt you need features like automatic file encyption, networked control and on-the-fly language switching. Home Premium 64bit will be fine.
- For the price of a H100i in Australia you can get a low end custom water kit.
- SSD is overkill, doubt you would need 512GB. A 256GB 840 EVO seems more reasonable to me.
- Get Seagate Barracuda drives, they are more desktop performance oriented while those WD Red drives are intended for rack-mount derver usage running RAID.
- Mobo is pretty overkill, could lower that down.
- Spending cash on faster RAM is pointless, only in very hardware sets will faster RAM make any difference. Your standard 1600Mhz CL9 kit is fine.
- That Thermaltake case is expensive and poorly designed, and the included custom water-cooling equipment isnt something you want. Thermaltake's other foray into custom water, the BigWater, has been nicknamed the BilgeWater by enthusiasts for a reason. That and your doubling up on CPU cooling by getting this particular SKU.
- Unless you have a very expensive audio setup, chances are you will get no benefit from that sound card over a cheaper one.

With all the cash you can save from carrying out the above, you could have two cards in SLI and water-cool (properly) the whole lot of it.

 

[kasell]

Cheers manofchalk! Your right - some of the stuff I mentioned was overkill so I've adjusted my spec down. I won't get another video card just yet but did you have any video card evga recommendations and case recommendations? I'm guessing you mean water cooling a case properly with a kit and not apart of a case eg. thermaltake cases with water cooling? Problem is I'm not much of a water cooling guru and it would be nice to have given the environment here is usually quite hot and humid. Help

Cheers

 

[manofchalk]

I tend not to recommend EVGA cards, much prefer the custom cooling solutions other companies like MSI, Gigabyte and ASUS tend to put on their cards. Though if your water-cooling, Classified Editions are good as they are pretty highly binned.
Case recommendations, the NZXT Switch 810 and the Phanteks Enthoo Primo are pretty damn good cases.

Yea, by properly I meant a full on custom loop that you put together yourself, not a CLC like the H100i or the Bilgewater included with that case.
I can help with water-cooling if you decide to go down that road.