Looking for final suggestions before I buy everything

[Knufire]

That's a fairly good point. Ivy bridge does enjoy high clocks though because of the cache size. So that is why I was looking into those

I've still yet to see any testing or evidence of that.

 

[KGTR312]

hey guys,
I just wanted a few suggestions before I go and make this investment cause it is huge. I am watercooling it and that is what the Other parts are

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 OC Formula EATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($235.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Low Voltage Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($45.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Low Voltage Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($45.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($159.98 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($134.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 680 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($499.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 680 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($499.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Switch 810 (Gun Metal) ATX Full Tower Case ($169.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 850W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($149.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($55.98 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: Asus VS228H-P 21.5" Monitor ($134.00 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: Asus VS228H-P 21.5" Monitor ($134.00 @ NCIX US)
Other: EK Supremacy Universal CPU Liquid Cooling Block - Nickel (EK-Supremacy - Nickel) ($76.99)
Other: NZXT FN-140RB 140mm Case cooler ($13.99)
Other: ArctiClean 60ml Kit (includes 30ml ArctiClean 1 and 30ml ArctiClean 2) ($6.60)
Other: Swiftech MCP35X 12V DC Pump ($84.95)
Other: Zalman Video Ram Heatsinks (8) ($15.00)
Other: Bitspower Water Tank Z-Multi 150 - POM ($35.99)
Other: XSPC EX420 Triple 140mm Low Profile Split Fin Radiator ($74.99)
Other: IandH Silver KillCoils - Antimicrobial .999 Fine Silver Tubing / Reservoir Strip ($6.99)
Other: XSPC Laing DDC-1T/1TPlus MCP-350/355 Acrylic Replacement Top w/ LED Port ($19.99)
Other: NZXT FN-140RB 140mm Case cooler (x4) ($52.76)
Other: LOGISYS Computer CLK6UV2 6" UV Cold Cathode Dual Lamps For Case Mod ($6.99)
Other: 8" Dual Cold Cathode Kit - Yellow ($6.99)
Other: EK VGA Supremacy Universal High Performance VGA Cooling Block - Nickel (EK-VGA Supremacy - Nickel) ($52.99)
Other: EK VGA Supremacy Universal High Performance VGA Cooling Block - Nickel (EK-VGA Supremacy - Nickel) ($52.99)
Other: PrimoFlex Pro LRT UV Red Tubing -3/8in. ID X 1/2in. OD (10 Ft) ($20.00)
Other: XSPC G1/4" to 3/8" ID, 5/8" OD Compression Fitting (Chrome) (x12) ($48.00)
Total: $3163.07
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-29 10:51 EST-0500)

Dude GA-Z77X-UP7 is one hell of a MB. I personally love it.

 

[Knufire]

I try to avoid recommending products I have, removes personal bias.

The UP7 is definitely a solid board...but frankly you're not OCing high enough to use it to it's potential.

 

[stringcheese166]

I would like to oc it a fair amount but the fact that at higher than 5 ghz it seems people have higher failure rates so I want to avoid that while still have great speeds and the like I love to test my system once INA while but not enough to spend and insane amount like an ROG V

Also I have heard gigabyte has voltage regulation problems. I have seen first hand running my 1090t and 1.5 has boosted up to 1.6v fairly dangerous

 

[Knufire]

The only major way motherboards affect overclocking with Sandy and Ivy Bridge is power delivery to the CPU...as long as the motherboard is providing enough power how far you can OC is basically on your cooling and how good of an OCer your chip is.

Anything up to say 4.2-4.3GHz should be fine on a 4+1 phase system which is the bare minimum. Midrange boards like the ASRock Extreme4 and Gigabyte UD3H have double that (8+4) which should be fine to 5GHz. More expensive boards have an increasing number of phases, reason being that the voltages they use with more extreme forms of cooling end up jacking up power usage a LOT.

Part of the midrange motherboards being fine is that the CPUs don't draw as much power as they used to either, my 1st generation i7 is a 130W CPU while Sandy is 95W and Ivy is 77W.

 

[stringcheese166]

Is there any way I could get over 5 safely on an extreme 4? Also do I need a water block on the northbridge
Or will the three 140s near it be enough to keep it cool enough or do I need to get one with a water block or purchase it

 

[Knufire]

It's more likely than not fine. It's more of how many volts you're putting through your CPU.

They were just general guidelines, I've seen people do 5GHz+ on the Extreme4. Most CPUs can't do it though.

WCing anything other than the CPU and GPU is unnecessary. If you're really worried about the VRM temp, a small 40mm fan on the heatsink is sufficient.

 

[stringcheese166]

What about the north bridge? Will the north bridge overheat? I will have 2 140s pulling above on the radiator and a 140 pulling to the back of the case near the CPU. Most of the air will be drawn to that area of the case

 

[Knufire]

Northbridge? I've never heard of the NB even getting remotely hot on Z77.

 

[Operant]

I got 5.2GHz with a 3770k on my extreme 4 for so for your purposes it will be fine. I would not recommend going near that though as I had to use a crazy amount of vcore and it was nowhere close to stable. You shouldn't expect 5GHz+ for a daily overclock. That's just the way these chips work.

 

[stringcheese166]

Sorry. I have an amd 1090t and 890fxa and the north bridge on those gets serious heat on it. If I remember correctly its because the memory scheduler is there instead of on the processor
I planned on staying around 4.6 on the 3770