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[BUILD] 2-3k Watercooled Build, What Do I Do From Here? Last Suggestions?

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Honey Badger

New Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2014

Hello, this is my first post on overclockers! I've always wanted to build a PC but was in fear of messing up while assembling. After spending 1.5k on a laptop that can only play games on low settings, I've decided to face my fear and build a watercooled PC. I have a current build list that someone helped me put together, but I believe it's going to need some editing.. I want to be able to play CPU/GPU intensive games on ultra (in 4k maybe?) like DayZ, Arma 3, Battlefield, and Crysis along with CAD programming because I'm in college for CIS. My maximum is USD 3k without peripherals, but the cheaper the better. Simply put, the build I put together has much to desire and I was hoping someone here on overclockers could give it a nice facelift along with what I will need to have the watercooling loops/setup like the PC provided in the link below.

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/64982-corsair-900d/
I know this build is over a year old, but it has really caught my eye. I would like to try and use the Corsair 900D case due to the ease of expansion in the future and being able to have plenty of working room, along with those fittings and dual res' shown in the build above. Any feedback is much appreciated! Thanks!
 
This is the build I was looking at, but changes most probably need to be made, if you could help that'd be great! Thanks!
PS, I don't have an SSD because I didn't know what size I should go with, 512gb? I wouldn't need more than 2 TB of HDD, I'm a pretty neat person when it comes to my files.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($324.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-GAMING 7 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team Vulcan 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($83.65 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($51.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($51.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card ($548.85 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 900D ATX Full Tower Case ($259.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Keyboard: Corsair K95 RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard ($189.99 @ Amazon)
Mouse: Corsair Vengeance M95 Wired Laser Mouse (Purchased For $0.00)
Headphones: Audio-Technica ATH-M50 Headphones (Purchased For $0.00)
Total: $1876.42
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-20 10:00 EST-0500
 
3K budget...let's see...

5820K
X99 based motherboard
4x4GB DDR4 2400MHz
2x GTX 980's or 2x R9 290x's for 4K gaming
EVGA Supernova G2 850W PSU
900D

Are you planning on cooling both cards and the CPU with this? Have you checked out the water cooling sticky threads we have here?


EDIT: Thanks for the PM on your build...

I would still go 5820K and X99 platform as I believe the CAD stuff can benefit from it. As I mentioned above, you will need two high end vidoe cards to play the latest games on ultra at 4k resolutions.
 
Last edited:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($369.99 @ Amazon)
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5g Thermal Paste ($6.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X99-UD4 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($198.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 4GB STRIX Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($549.95 @ Directron)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 4GB STRIX Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($549.95 @ Directron)
Case: Corsair 900D ATX Full Tower Case ($259.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($108.99 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: Corsair K95 RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard ($189.99 @ Amazon)
Mouse: Corsair Vengeance M95 Wired Laser Mouse ($0.00)
Headphones: Audio-Technica ATH-M50 Headphones (Purchased For $0.00)
Total: $2234.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-20 22:42 EST-0500

I am shooting for 4k gaming in high/ultra, watercooled, overclocked. I am also shooting for cooling the gpu's on a separate loop than the cpu. I keep my files very clean, so I don't need a ton of HDD but would like to put my installed games on an SSD. I am still looking for a complete build under USD 3,000. Hopefully after I get some memory suggestions, I have enough left for watercooling. Thanks for your help so far EarthDog! All advice is appreciated.
 
I don't see any quad channel ddr4 ram in that list. Brand is mostly not relevent... as mentioned above, grab 4x4gb ddr4 2400mhz.
 
OKAY! I think I got it!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($369.98 @ NCIX US)
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5g Thermal Paste ($3.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X99-UD4 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($198.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($294.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($149.97 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital VelociRaptor 150GB 3.5" 10000RPM Internal Hard Drive ($62.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 4GB STRIX Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($549.95 @ Directron)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 4GB STRIX Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($549.95 @ Directron)
Case: Corsair 900D ATX Full Tower Case ($259.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Corsair K95 RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard ($189.99 @ Amazon)
Mouse: Corsair Vengeance M95 Wired Laser Mouse (Purchased For $0.00)
Headphones: Audio-Technica ATH-M50 Headphones (Purchased For $0.00)
Total: $2739.78
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-21 11:41 EST-0500

I am unsure about the HDD because it's a 3.5" and I don't know if I need a 2.5" or 3.5". There is a large price gap between the two. My only questions left are..

http://s856.photobucket.com/user/BTKLucky/media/IMG_1680_zps41a54f09.jpg.html
What fittings are used in this build? Any idea what fluid is used? Since there are two reservoirs I assume there are two radiators and pumps. I see the top rad, is there one in the bottom section of the case possibly? Thanks!
 
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