Critique my new build... Opinions please!

[Knufire]

You can set the frequency of the RAM and such. Basically that's the rated/stock speed of the RAM. The 1.5V stick is better as it is guaranteed to hit 1600MHz at 1.5V, so it might hit 1700-1750 at 1.65V. 1.65V was the max on the X58 platform, I've heard Sandy Bridge doesn't like more then 1.55V but people run 1.65V fine.

 

[Convicted1]

Thats pretty much exactly what I was thinking...

I want to look for the highest stock speed at the lowest stock voltage to find the best memory...

Correct?

Just to make sure I understand...

The 1866mhz @ 1.5V Sticks will clock higher in the end than say a 1866mhz @ 1.65V Stick... Since the 1.65v stick is already running a higher voltage to make the same 1866mhz.

So to word it differently... Highest STOCK Clock Speed at Lowest STOCK Voltage = Best Clock Speeds when multipliers and voltage are increased.

Just trying to make sure I understand exactly whats going on with the memory tech.

 

[Knufire]

Yupp. But there's CAS Latency. For example, say a stick is rated at DDR3-1600 9-9-9-24 @1.5V. At 1.65V, you might be able to run it and DDR3-1600 7-8-7-24 or DDR3-1750 9-9-9-24.

Likewise, you can increase the latency to raise clock speed without changing voltage. DDR3-1333 7-7-7-21 might run DDR3-1450 9-9-9-24 at the same voltage.

High stock clock, low stock latency, low stock voltage. That's what you want.

 

[Convicted1]

Alright... After taking that information and a bit more reading around the net...

Just to make sure I understand correctly...

Adding voltage may allow you to drop timing numbers and keep the same overall frequency while staying stable...

Going up in timing will increase frequency...

So.. Say I use that Dominator GT 1866 at 1.5v w/ recommended timing of 9-10-9-27.

Question 1) Are the timing numbers provided by the manufacturer the lowest the memory will run at?

Scenario... Just to verify I have things figured out.

The Dominator GT's above...

Bump the voltage to 1.55 volts... Will allow me to drop the timing numbers... and increase frequency?

Basically what I'm asking... Is does bumping the voltage allow you to have your cake and eat it too? Lower Latency AND higher clock frequencies? Or is it one or the other?

I'm sure I've got something messed up here in my thinking... Once again... I appreciate the help in getting my noob brain wrapped around all these concepts.

-David

 

[Knufire]

Answer to all of that is if you're lucky. Raising frequency and lowering latency are basically both forms of overclocking. How far something overclocks is whether you got lucky and got a golden stick or not.

It's the same as overclocking a CPU, except there's two frequencies. The higher/lower those are, the harder/easier it is to remain stable. Adding voltage can help stability.

 

[Convicted1]

Well... Just an update for anybody who is interested.

Changed a few things once again, and the biggest change was to go back to the Matrix cards... I've been reading up on them a bunch and I really wanted to try them... I'm hoping they will be popular enough that EK will at some point make a full cover block for them.

Here's what I decided on for the final purchase... and everything has now been ordered and should arrive to me by the weekend! I'm going to try to make myself wait till EVERYTHING arrives so I can stack all the boxes and get a picture of this stuff all in one shot waiting to be assembled.

LOL... I'm having a hard time sleeping... I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve!

Anyway... Onto the list of goodies!

-MOBO - Asus Maximus Extreme Z
-CPU - Intel 2600K
-RAM - Corsair Dominator GT 1866 @ 1.5V
-Primary Drive - OCZ Vertex 3 Max-IOPS Edition 120 GB SSD
-Storage Drive - Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB
-GPU's - 2X Asus Matrix GTX580's
-Displays - 3X Planar SA2311W 23" 120hz
-Optical Drives - Asus Blu-Ray Burner, ASUS DVDR Burner
-PSU - Silverstone ST1500 1500W 80 Plus Silver
-Input Devices - Logitech G19 Keyboard, Logitech MX Laser Mouse, Logitech G13 Gameboard, Microsoft XBox 360 Stye Gamepad
-Case - CoolerMaster HAF-X w/ Full Side Window
-CPU Cooling - Corsair H100 w/ 4 Cooljag Everflow 9 Blade PWM Fans that will be in Push/Pull config.
-Operating System - Windows 7 Pro

Other Items -

-Thermaltake BlacX Duet Hard Drive Docking Station and Nippon Labs Multi HDD to USB Adapter cable for transfering files from old system to new system storage drive.
-Pantone Huey Pro for monitor calibration
-Turtle Beach X5 Gaming Headset
-NVidia 3D Vision Kit
-5x Polk Audio RM7 Satellite Speakers to replace the stock ones on my Z5500.
-Gefen Digital Audio (TOSLINK) Splitter so I can provide source to my Z5500 as well as the X5's without having to disconnect and reconnect optical cables all the time.
-ModSmart Kobra Professional System Sleeving Kit (Black)
-Lamptron Modding Tool kit for Sleeving
-ModSmart Kobra 8" 24 Pin Single Sleeved Extension (Black)
-ModSmart Kobra 16" 8 Pin Single Sleeved Extension (Black) x4
-LogiSys Dual 12" Red Cold Cathode Kit

AND OF COURSE.... I pre-ordered BF3!

Please let me know what you think! I've got about 5700 in all this stuff, and I'd love to hear if you all think I've made wise choices!

If enough people are interested I'll even do a build log thread!

 

[Knufire]

Again...complete waste unless you're actually going to bench.

And EK isn't making full cover blocks for them, they're making them for the DirectCu II version, so you're stuck to a universal block and sinking the rest of the card.

A lot of just plain overkill on that build...

 

[Convicted1]

Well... Like I stated I earlier... I do intend to see what I can do with this gear O/C wise (without going sub zero.. I don't have enough knowledge yet to be messing with that)... Thus the Dom GT's. And it was also one of the reasons I chose to go with the Matrix cards... I figured they'd be better OCers than the EVGA cards I had selected. However... I didn't realise that EK was going to support the DCII or I'd have gone with them instead. What I REALLY wanted was that new EVGA Classy card that I've seen pics of... But it's not going to be available for awhile supposedly.

Still might just exchange them now that I do know that the DCII is supported...

Most of all... I'm building this thing to run anything I can throw at it for the next few years application and game wise, and to do some crunching for SETI.

So yeah.... It may be overkill, but I had the cash laying here, and wanted to build something cool, so I did.

 

[Knufire]

I mean, the GT's are for benchers, where RAM speeds matter. RAM won't ever bottleneck a Sandy Bridge CPU, since OCing them both is independent. But for certain benchmarks, RAM at 2000MHz and over results in significantly better scores then 1600MHz.

 

[SeeThruHead]

if you can, goto a store that has 120hz monitors on display, there's ups and downs for ips vs 120hz. 120hz is required for 3d vision when you plan on getting it later since you're getting a gtx580. Also you will be able to get away with using a 60Gb SSD if you're sure you're going to use it the OS only. If you're a Steam gamer check this
http://www.stefanjones.ca/steam/

I agree 100% on the 120hz monitor.

Also that is an awesome tool for steam. I remember doing the junctions manually before i decided to say screw it and install steam to my raid volume.

 

[Convicted1]

Well... Most of the gear has arrived!!

Still waiting on a few things like my last monitor, the polk speakers, and my WD Black Drive... But otherwise it's all here!

My schoolwork for the week is already complete. I'm caught up on my employment work....

Time to sit down and build!!

Here's a couple pics of most of the stuff sitting on the bench waiting to be ravaged...

 

[Convicted1]

One thing I still need to figure out is a UPS solution for this beast... I hadn't even thought about that untill I was working on one of my papers last night and a storm rolled through and took out the power about 5 times in 30 minutes...

Anybody got a suggestion on that?

 

[Ibfjord]

I would say go with a 2600K and one hard drive should be fine. I don't think a SSD for your OS will help a whole lot.

 

[Convicted1]

I would say go with a 2600K and one hard drive should be fine. I don't think a SSD for your OS will help a whole lot.

Well actually as you can see by the pictures above.. I already purchased everything...

But thanks for the input anyway! LOL

-David

 

[Knufire]

Thank you for being one of the few to come back and post pictures of your stuff/build log. We here at OCF like our harware p0rn.

 

[Ibfjord]

Well actually as you can see by the pictures above.. I already purchased everything...

But thanks for the input anyway! LOL

-David

I looked over them once and missed that tiny box sitting in the front. Haha, 1500W is crazy! The only 1500W power supply on newegg is $345.

 

[Convicted1]

Thank you for being one of the few to come back and post pictures of your stuff/build log. We here at OCF like our harware p0rn.

Yeah... I had noticed that it seems to happen quite a bit that people ask for advice and then never come back.

I was serious when I said I wanted to "get back into it"... I plan to be here awhile!

I'm planning to do a full build log as I go actually...

I just spent today doing the last little bit of research I needed before I start putting this beast together. I'm hoping that I've got everything I need to do this the right way...

I plan to start out tomorrow morning or maybe even this evening still by prepping the HAF-X... I need to cut the CPU cooler back plate mounting hole a little bigger evidently to account for the 1155 socket... And then I'm sleeving all the switch wires, fan wires, etc.. Should be able to do all but the USB 3.0 wiring then it's on to Removing the stock top fan, and working out a way to run the Top Panel USB 3.0 cables out the back so I can actually use them.

Then fitting the H100...

After that it should be pretty much a downhill battle.

Like I said.. I just hope I anticipated all the possible problems and don't have to wait for more parts in the mail. Mid-Missouri isn't exactly crawling with computer stores with high end or specialty parts.

Glad to see at least somebody is looking forward to it though!

I looked over them once and missed that tiny box sitting in the front. Haha, 1500W is crazy! The only 1500W power supply on newegg is $345.

LOL.. Yeah... I was originally going to go with a much cheaper solution on the PSU, but after researching the buyers guide here and the associated links, I decided this monster was the one I wanted. Shouldn't be outgrowing it anytime soon I'd hope!

 

[Convicted1]

Well... I got a little bit accomplished last night before a storm took the lights out... Just now calmed down enough to get back on the computer!

Mounted the MOBO so I could see where I needed to cut the HAF-X, then removed it and did the surgery and reinstalled. Got the case fan wiring all sheathed up, and started on the wiring for the front panel stuff... But didn't get too far in that.

Already found one thing I forgot to order, and thats black connectors for all the fans... These white ones are really clashing with my Black and Red theme thats goin' on.

Here's some pics of the modification on the case... I even went to the trouble of painting the cuts back to black cause I couldn't stand the silver of the metal showing.

Here's a pic of some of the sheathing I've gotten done...

More here in a couple hours after I get some sleep.

 

[jacque808]

I used to be a huge OCZ fan, but after seeing the performance of the Vertex 3's i was extremely unimpressed. My workstation has dual Vertex2 120GBs in raid 0 getting roughly 500MB\sec on the read. The new machine we just got for our DBA is a similar setup with 2x Vertex 3 120GBs and he is only getting ~340 MB\sec read

 

[Convicted1]

This will be my first build / ownership using an SSD, so I'm kind of curious about how it really stacks up performance wise.

Even at 340 / sec thats outperforming any platter drive.

I know I won't be real happy though if thats all this thing can muster... We'll see though once it's all together.