Corsair 800d Build

This is my first post on Overclockers.com, so I hope I put this in the right category I have done a whole bunch of research on parts and cases and what not, but I still thought it might be a good idea to see what you professionals think Alright, here goes:

Corsair 800d
Asus Maximus IV Extreme mobo
Intel core i7 2600k
Corsair Vengeance 1600mhz 8gb ram
EVGA Nvidia 580GTX gpu
Corsair AX1200 psu
Corsair Force GT 60gb ssd boot drive
WD Caviar Black 1tb media drive
Windows 7 64bit system builder
Asus VS248H-P 24in LED Monitor

Cooling:

Koolance RP-452X2 rev 1.3 res
Primoflex 1/2 ID 3/4 OD White Tubing
Bitspower Matte Black 1/2 ID 3/4 OD 1/4 G Compression Fittings
Black Ice GTX480 rad
Scythe Gentle Typhoons in pull for case and rad
Scythe Kaze Master Ace Fan controller
Koolance PMP-450 Pump
Koolance CPU-370 waterblock
Bitspower Mesh Aluminum radguard
Distilled Water + Nuke PHN for the coolant

I was going to mod the top of the case to accomodate a 480mil rad, I've seen a few people do it on the 800d. I was also wondering about the power requirements for the corsair ax1200. I have a 15 amp breaker, but I'm not sure if I will need to upgrade it to 20 or even 30 amps to accomodate 1200 watts max load (I realize that with the setup I have listed here, it will not exceed or even come close to 1200w, but just so I can add a few more gtx580s or something). Any thoughts/comments on what I'm planning to build would be appreciated. Thanks!

Re the 1200W: Keep in mind that 1 Amp @ 12V is not 1 Amp @ 115V is not 1 Amp @ 220V. Either that or I was literally not paying any attention whatsoever in highschool. Which is possible.
That's a great setup. It's pricey, mind you, considering the performance. I dare say that none of those parts actually need to be water cooled. If you're into water cooling and just want a computer that looks cooler than everybody else's, do it. Otherwise, though, the 2000 series chips will hit 5Ghz + on air, if that chip happens to want to do it. The gains for using water are nil vs a top tier air cooler. The GTX 580 (and even 2 GTX 580s via the Mars 2 ) have been covered with absolutely excellent air cooling right out of the box. You can get a GTX 580 Matrix from Asus that'll stay under 60c at well over 1.1V and 1000Mhz with the fans cranked up.

I'm not trying to dissuade you from your build, which looks great. I just want to play devil's advocate and point out that you could get much better performance for the money, air cooled, and still be perfectly fine. For example, 2 or 3 580s, a 240GB fast SSD, then a 40GB as a cache on a 2TB drive on a Z series board.

Obviously if you already have your W/C parts, disregard all that and enjoy the build!. I would go to the Maximus 4 Z though. Similar price. You don't lose any particular capabilities but you gain SSD caching as well as the ability to use integrated graphics. You don't sound like a person looking to save juice though .

BTW depending on your preferences, you might want to look at some other boards-

The P67/Z67 UD7 boards from Gigabyte come in a bit cheaper and give you the same features, more or less. Their onboard audio sounds much better. The ASUS boards have Intel LAN, which is slightly higher performance than the LAN on the Gigabyte boards. Gigabyte's Sniper G1 board, however, uses a high quality (real) XFi chip (the Xfi on the ASUS boards is software over top of a bleh Realtek chip), as well as a top tier E2100 network controller with on-board RAM, for the best quality LAN of any of these boards, and by FAR the best sound, using true audio capacitors on a shielded section of the PCB. The G1 board has limited expansion slots. If you wanted more than 2 580s it'd be an issue. Otherwise, awesome board that I wish had been out when I was shopping and worth looking at. Keep in mind also that the HDMI audio out on the GTX500 series is excellent, if you want digital audio to a device.

Nice build. Just make sure when you get your other 580's you get a couple more monitors. Performance is already off the charts with one 580 and 1920x1080.

EarthDog said:

Nice build. Just make sure when you get your other 580's you get a couple more monitors. Performance is already off the charts with one 580 and 1920x1080.

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Yup. Definitely other things to buy first like a big, fast SSD and good speakers or headphones and a quality mouse etc. Still, a few things don't quite cut the cheese on a single 1.5GB 580, like ARMA 2, Red Orchestra 2, Metro 2033, Rise Of Flight (runs out of VRAM at max settings on 1.5GB)

Thanks for the replies I dont have any of the wc parts yet, so it is all just hypothetical. I did read though that the 800d is not especially good for air cooling, but that it is geared toward water cooling. All I want for a mobo is one that supports lga 1155, supports Nvidia SLI, has decent onboard sound, 4 or more sata 3 controllers, and is reliable. I dont know if that is too much to ask, but if there is a better/more cost effective board than the max 4, I would be interested. As for water cooling, I think it would look sick to have that over a large heatsink, but it is all aesthetics (since you can achieve the same performance with wc and air on the 2600k). One other question I had was would it be worth getting the 3 gb edition of the gtx 580 (like the Gainward Phantom) for the extra vram? or would 2 gtx 580 1.5gb vram be faster and cheaper?

Theocnoob said:

Re the 1200W: Keep in mind that 1 Amp @ 12V is not 1 Amp @ 115V is not 1 Amp @ 220V.

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W=VI, or watts equals volts times current (amps). That 15A breaker on your line is at 120V (assuming you're in the US), so you'd need to draw 15*120 or 1800W from the wall in order to trip it. However, a PSU isn't 100% efficient. PSUs are rated on output, so the 1200AX would output 1200W of power. It's 80+ Gold Certified (87% efficient at 100% load), so it would draw roughly 1380W from the wall, or 11.5A. That's assuming you can 100% load that PSU, which, simply, you're not.

I'd ditch WCing except for the GPUs, lower the motherboard a bit, and get some nice periphals. A sound card/amp and a nice headset, dual 6970s and Eyefinity, and such. However, if you want to WC and learn for the experience, go ahead.

Higher resolution = more VRAM. Also, 3D=more VRAM. If you want to do either (requires multiple GPUs with NVIDIA), I'd go with the 3GB version. However, if you don't want to do 3D, dual 2GB 6970s would perform better anyway.

3 screens OR 3D, 1.5-2GB is enough. For 3D on 3 screens, I'd want 3D. 3D is like running two screens, effectively.

Do you have a budget for the tower without the WC parts?

Knufire said:

W=VI, or watts equals volts times current (amps). That 15A breaker on your line is at 120V (assuming you're in the US), so you'd need to draw 15*120 or 1800W from the wall in order to trip it. However, a PSU isn't 100% efficient. PSUs are rated on output, so the 1200AX would output 1200W of power. It's 80+ Gold Certified (87% efficient at 100% load), so it would draw roughly 1380W from the wall, or 11.5A. That's assuming you can 100% load that PSU, which, simply, you're not.

I'd ditch WCing except for the GPUs, lower the motherboard a bit, and get some nice periphals. A sound card/amp and a nice headset, dual 6970s and Eyefinity, and such. However, if you want to WC and learn for the experience, go ahead.

Higher resolution = more VRAM. Also, 3D=more VRAM. If you want to do either (requires multiple GPUs with NVIDIA), I'd go with the 3GB version. However, if you don't want to do 3D, dual 2GB 6970s would perform better anyway.

3 screens OR 3D, 1.5-2GB is enough. For 3D on 3 screens, I'd want 3D. 3D is like running two screens, effectively.

Do you have a budget for the tower without the WC parts?

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For the tower without the wc parts, probably $2,200. I probably won't be doing 3D, at least not yet, but I would like to do 3 monitors (the other two monitors are not included in the $2200 figure). I would like to do wc for the cleaner, more professional look (imo), but I might reconsider some of the parts. Just a general question, but between EVGA and Asus, which company makes better cards?

Ducktape said:

Just a general question, but between EVGA and Asus, which company makes better cards?

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ASUS, but their high-end cards are triple-slot.

Both are TOP quality in terms of customer service though.

You need a copy of Windows? And $2200 includes one monitor, right?

IMO, with the H80, you can get the clean look for $90. Obviously, it won't perform as well as full out water. The real problem with the AIO liquid coolers was that you had to pay a premium for them, air heatsinks would beat them at performance for significantly less money. The H80, however, finally has come to the price/performance point where it's a viable option.

Are you opposed to cutting your case? The only other company that makes that style cases with windows is Lian-Li, but they're ungodly expensive. A cheaper Lian-Li or Fractal Design would give you the same look, but you'd have to add the window yourself.

So for a 3gb GTX580, Asus would be better? I have seen many good reviews for the EVGA cards, but I have never read any on the Asus 580. I think that the EVGA card might make more sense to get, because when wc'ed it would only take up one slot, thus allowing me freedom to add a soundcard or something. I did, however, notice that the Asus GTX580 has 4 graphic outputs, as opposed to the EVGA's 3. Thanks for the quick reply

If you don't want 3D, why go with a GTX580?

ASUS is better in terms of overclocking. The DirectCuII and Matrix cards are binned, so you have a higher chance of getting a higher overclock. If you're WCing, you could go with the EVGA Hydro cards, but most people just get a normal waterblock. If you want full cover, you need a reference card or the ASUS DirectCuII, as there is a full cover block specifically for that card.

All into consideration, with a build of this caliber, I'd say dual 6970, even if you need to spend a bit more, is a MUCH better option.

Again, do you need a copy of Windows? And are you set on WCing, or you could go H80 on the CPU and air on the GPU and have a cleaner look.

I did read though that the 800d is not especially good for air cooling, but that it is geared toward water cooling

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Water is cooled by the same air so......

It has a lot of area to mount a rad naturally, thats for sure. And while the airflow isnt top notch, it kept my components only a couple C off my Antec 1200.

So....Nvidia or AMD?

At this price range? NVIDIA if you want 3D, AMD if you want triple-screen. Dual 6970s will give you similar performance for a lot less money then dual 580s.

I'll do a list, assuming you want to use the H80 and air cool the GPUs. If you really want to watercool, just WC everything, and switch the cards to a reference model 6970.

Knufire said:

At this price range? NVIDIA if you want 3D, AMD if you don't. Dual 6970s will give you similar performance for a lot less money then dual 580s.

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All right, I think that clears things up. I think I will stick with Nvidia, just for the expandability. Where is the best place to get parts from? I hear a lot of people go with Newegg, but their return policies are somewhat limited. Amazon, however, not only has the parts I want for less $$, but they have a much more generous return policy.

Edited that line, might want to take a look at it. I really strongly recommend against 580s, the price/performance is just horrible.

If you take your time and hunt for combo deals, Newegg should come out to the same, if not cheaper prices. And they're customer support is amazing. Remember that when buying from Amazon, you're not always actually buying from Amazon.

OK, so two 5970s will perform about equally to the two 580s, but also cost less. I'll consider it. As for water cooling, I was eventually going to watercool the GPU's too. And yes, I will need a copy of windows. I was looking at the system builder package because it is much cheaper (and I dont need microsoft's support).

My suggestion is the following, and again, water cooling isn't necessary for any of these parts. They don't really volt/clock high enough to warrant it. You can still do it, but it is very little performance gain.

Gigabyte G1 Sniper
2 6970s
240GB OCZ Agility SSD
1 TB WD Black hard drive
40GB Cheapo SSD of some sort for cache
8GB 1600Mhz DDR3
Bluray drive
2600 (or 2700)K

This comes out to $2060 shipped, leaves you the rest for a case. 120GB SSD over the 60GB, high quality screen, and will murder the single 580 you had before in terms of performance.

Thanks for the picture. I didn't realize that Newegg offered that many combo deals. I will definitely check out the Gb G1 Sniper and the dual 6970s over the 580. I noticed that you had an LG ips led monitor on there......while the color will be significantly better than the Asus's TN panel (from the monitor I stated at the top), won't the response time suffer? And I was looking for a monitor with a thin bezel to benefit 3 screens, the LG's bezel looks to be 3/8 to 1/2 of an inch thick. Thanks again for taking the time to put that together, Knufire

Something else to look at in water cooling priced right.
http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/corsair_hydro_series_h100/5.htm