Hey guys,
I will be posting my first ever watercooling build here soon. This is actually my first real build, as I've only built one PC in the past (that has held me for over 3 generations of upgrades, and was air cooled). So I'm pretty new at all this. I have done pretty extensive research, and I have somewhat decided on my components and case.
The one thing I can't figure out though, is how I should buy the case. I really like the Merlin SM8 from Caselabs, but it has so many options and things you can do with it, I have no idea where to start.
Any help from the community will be greatly appreciated. I know this case and certain components I have are overkill, but I like the option to add in stuff in the future, so that's why some of the things are the way they are.
I'm not sure whether I should get a pedestal, or the fan filters, etc... for the case. Also if you get the pedestal, it looks you would still have cutouts on the bottom of the case for fans, which really wouldn't be necessary if you had the pedestal I would think. But I'm probably thinking about it all wrong. Here are the parts I have somewhat decided upon.
I will put '*own it' by the stuff I already have
Caselabs Merlin SM8
Intel 3930k
Seasonic X-1250 *own it
Rampage 4 extreme (not crazy about this board, but no better options that i can see, I have trust issues with Asus)
GTX 670 superclocked 4GB X 2 in SLI with backplate
Samsung 30nm 2x4GB X 2 (16GB) Ram. (I am aware the mobo uses quad channel) (I am also considering going 32GB, but maybe later. Even if I don't need it, would it be a bad idea?)
Samsung 830 128GBx2 in Raid0
Extra storage will be 128GB corsair forceGT and 2x 128GB OCZ vertex drives that I have lying around -*own it
Monitors are currently Benq XL2420T and Dell U2311H. I usually only game on one monitor, but I'm getting the 4gig cards just in case I want to do something diff down the road. - *own it
Samsung Blu-ray read/write drive
Indigo Extreme Thermal solution
D5 Vario pump (x2?) Haven't done the math to figure out what kind of head I will need yet XSPC 5.25" bay reservoir
Either Tygon black or dynaclear sp? (can't remember what this one is called) 1/2" x 3/4" tubing
Monsoon Compression fittings
XSPC Raystorm CPU block
XSPC GTX 670 full GPU block X2
Alphacool or black ice radiators (not sure on sizing or amount yet, since I'm not sure on case design yet)
Cougar 140mm fans if I go the 140mm route
Or Skythe Gentle Typhoon if I go 120mm
Anyone who can look at the Caselabs website and see the options available on the SM8, could probably tell me my best options. I also would like the case to be somewhat dust resistant, meaning I would like to have dust filters in areas where the air is being drawn in. I know they sell the silverstone filters on the caselabs store website.
I'm also curious about sound solutions, as most of the current soundcards seem rather disappointing, I am curious about external solutions. Although I do want to keep gaming performance, so that is definitely a consideration when looking.
I will be posting my first ever watercooling build here soon. This is actually my first real build, as I've only built one PC in the past (that has held me for over 3 generations of upgrades, and was air cooled). So I'm pretty new at all this. I have done pretty extensive research, and I have somewhat decided on my components and case.
The one thing I can't figure out though, is how I should buy the case. I really like the Merlin SM8 from Caselabs, but it has so many options and things you can do with it, I have no idea where to start.
Any help from the community will be greatly appreciated. I know this case and certain components I have are overkill, but I like the option to add in stuff in the future, so that's why some of the things are the way they are.
I'm not sure whether I should get a pedestal, or the fan filters, etc... for the case. Also if you get the pedestal, it looks you would still have cutouts on the bottom of the case for fans, which really wouldn't be necessary if you had the pedestal I would think. But I'm probably thinking about it all wrong. Here are the parts I have somewhat decided upon.
I will put '*own it' by the stuff I already have
Caselabs Merlin SM8
Intel 3930k
Seasonic X-1250 *own it
Rampage 4 extreme (not crazy about this board, but no better options that i can see, I have trust issues with Asus)
GTX 670 superclocked 4GB X 2 in SLI with backplate
Samsung 30nm 2x4GB X 2 (16GB) Ram. (I am aware the mobo uses quad channel) (I am also considering going 32GB, but maybe later. Even if I don't need it, would it be a bad idea?)
Samsung 830 128GBx2 in Raid0
Extra storage will be 128GB corsair forceGT and 2x 128GB OCZ vertex drives that I have lying around -*own it
Monitors are currently Benq XL2420T and Dell U2311H. I usually only game on one monitor, but I'm getting the 4gig cards just in case I want to do something diff down the road. - *own it
Samsung Blu-ray read/write drive
Indigo Extreme Thermal solution
D5 Vario pump (x2?) Haven't done the math to figure out what kind of head I will need yet XSPC 5.25" bay reservoir
Either Tygon black or dynaclear sp? (can't remember what this one is called) 1/2" x 3/4" tubing
Monsoon Compression fittings
XSPC Raystorm CPU block
XSPC GTX 670 full GPU block X2
Alphacool or black ice radiators (not sure on sizing or amount yet, since I'm not sure on case design yet)
Cougar 140mm fans if I go the 140mm route
Or Skythe Gentle Typhoon if I go 120mm
Anyone who can look at the Caselabs website and see the options available on the SM8, could probably tell me my best options. I also would like the case to be somewhat dust resistant, meaning I would like to have dust filters in areas where the air is being drawn in. I know they sell the silverstone filters on the caselabs store website.
I'm also curious about sound solutions, as most of the current soundcards seem rather disappointing, I am curious about external solutions. Although I do want to keep gaming performance, so that is definitely a consideration when looking.
