Need Some Inputs/Suggestions for my Monster Rig

[Mondrayish]

Hi Overclockers. So after months of saving up, I've decided that my dream machine isn't that far from reality. After much contemplation, I have decided to put together the following parts.

Asus Rampage IV Extreme w/ 3930K
Swiftech Apogee HD (May go with the Apogee Drive II once it has LGA2011)
3x EVGA GTX680 Hydro Copper (Been waiting for months for this to restock)
G.Skill Ripjaw Z 32gb (4x8gb) PC12800 1600Mhz
Seasonic x-1250 (Maybe EVGA's 1500w PSU if it launches before the Hydro Copper is available)
Vertex 4 128gb
Vertex 4 512gb
2x Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB

I know I could just buy the Swiftech water block and slap it on to any reference GTX680. But to be honest... I'm just not comfortable taking apart a graphics card yet.

For the case, I have no idea yet. At first it was Cosmos II, then sold that cause I saw how little water cooling options there was in it. Then looked at TJ11 but saw the price... Decided with that price, I could probably go for one of the custom cases.

So now, I'm leaning towards MM's U2-UFO. I know there's CL's Magnum line and there's LD. I'm staying away from those because the looks don't suit my taste. I'm staying away from huge rectangular industrial server looking towers. I like the cube design of the U2-UFO, especially Maximum PC's Dream Machine. Looks like something out of Half-Life.

Anyone can suggest an alternative case or reasons why I shouldn't get the U2-UFO to house this system?

 

[Knufire]

Are you concerned with price/performance at all or dead certain on going all out (e.g. RIVE is a waste if you're not a bencher, 32GB is a waste almost undoubtly, way overkill PSU, 512GB SSD, etc.)

IMO, if you've saved that much, don't dump it all into the tower. Waste if you don't have some quality screens/keyboard/mouse/audio along with it.

Total Budget (not including WC gear)? Open to little bit lesser components but good periphs, or already have those?

 

[wingman99]

What OS are you getting or you have?

 

[yume]

First thing that I do not understand is the disk space... Are you doing a lot of video processing? Animation? 6Tb plus almost 1 from the ssd ... I mean I am doing CG (not professionally though) and gaming now and than and I still can't fill 1Tb even though I have **** loads of tutorials (each of them from 2 gigs to 5-6 gigs).
As Knufire said, why that PSU? I mean, yea, I can see the GPU config. you're going with.. but still.. I would guess a quality 850 will be more than enough... than again, I am a noob so maybe I'm saying something wrong... I went for 600 thinking about SLIing my GPU sometime in the future (and I'm runing an i7 which will be oced to 4.5k).
Can you tell us something about your CPU choice? And how far will you go with the OC? And. as Knufire said, a budget would be nice, if you have a limit that is

 

[Mondrayish]

Uh oh... lol

I already have the RIVE and 3930K sitting under my desk right now. Just waiting on all the other components. This project started because I originally wanted a rig that could play any of today's games at the highest settings possible. I'm fully aware that just 1 GTX680 + any of the Core i5 or i7 Ivy Bridge with an air cooling setup is plenty enough horsepower to run today's games. But somewhere, somehow down the line, I started growing an interest in water cooling, performance, and benchmarks.

I'm leaving peripherals alone for now. I already got what I want. I know they're not the best but it works for me. Currently using Razer Naga Epic mouse and Razer Anansi Keyboard.

Wanted to get a triple monitor setup, but I shelved that idea for now. I can't find a nice triple monitor stand which supports 27" screens that appeals to me. The only triple monitor stand that I like right now is the XFX triple monitor stand and unfortunately, it only supports up to 24" screens and I have my eyes on the 27" Asus VG278H.

PSU, wanted it to be modular and as future proof as possible.

Memory, I agree that 32gb may be too much. 8gb is more than plenty if it's just for gaming. I actually wanted to go with the G.Skill Ripjaw Z 64gb PC19200 kit and make full use of RIVE's ability to support up to 64gb of 2400MHz DIMM. I didn't want to leave empty DIMM slots But I thought okay maybe $900 USD for a RAM kit where performance is very marginal probably isn't worth it. I'll settle for 32gb @ 1600MHz

Audio, I was looking at the Xonar Phoebus. But there isn't enough documentation on it to make a sound decision. I know there's a lot of praise on the Xonar Essence STX but also hear that it's better suited to music. Speakers, I'm currently using a pretty outdated 7.1 setup. Outdated, but brand new Creative T7700 with an Audigy 2 zs an Audio. Plan to just reuse that until something better comes along. Besides, no one produces 7.1 speakers anymore.

So primarily, this rig really is for gaming until I learn more about overlocking and benching. Secondly, it's a tool for me to get into the whole overclocking and benchmarking business.

My budget is around 5k - 6k USD for the PC alone.

 

[Mondrayish]

What OS are you getting or you have?

Gonna be getting Win 7 Ultimate to get pass the 16gb phys ram limitation.

 

[Mondrayish]

First thing that I do not understand is the disk space... Are you doing a lot of video processing? Animation? 6Tb plus almost 1 from the ssd ... I mean I am doing CG (not professionally though) and gaming now and than and I still can't fill 1Tb even though I have **** loads of tutorials (each of them from 2 gigs to 5-6 gigs).
As Knufire said, why that PSU? I mean, yea, I can see the GPU config. you're going with.. but still.. I would guess a quality 850 will be more than enough... than again, I am a noob so maybe I'm saying something wrong... I went for 600 thinking about SLIing my GPU sometime in the future (and I'm runing an i7 which will be oced to 4.5k).
Can you tell us something about your CPU choice? And how far will you go with the OC? And. as Knufire said, a budget would be nice, if you have a limit that is

No I don't do video processing. Not yet at least. The massive storage is to satiate my hunger for 320kbp and lossless audio. I also have a ton of Blu-Ray movies. So with these two combined, it's super easy to fill up my storage space. My current computer has 500gb. I have an external 250gb, 500gb, and 1TB hard disk. All full! Not to mention I plan to record videos as well with Dxtory.

The 128gb SSD is meant just for system files and essential programs like AVG/Avast, TuneUp, etc.

512gb SSD is meant for games. Ya okay... Maybe this isn't necessary. I can just get a smaller SSD for this and just install and uninstall for games that I'm actively playing.

 

[Knufire]

First of all, the RIVE is built for this:


A single 680 can play every game at max settings (except for Metro 2033) on a single monitor...don't waste your money.

If a card is suited for music, then it's plenty for gaming. The STX is one of the best cards on the market for playback.

Benchmarking-wise, I'd say go with the ASUS DirectCuII version. EK will release a full-cover block for it sooner or later.

If you really want to get into benchmarking, less quantity RAM at higher speed. Get a high speed 16GB kit. High speed memory makes a large difference in benching.

1000W is future proofed enough. Components are getting more efficient over time (i.e. drawing less power).

Storage-wise, I'd say grab a 256GB SSD for OS+programs, and make a nice RAID 5 array for everything else.

In my opinion, it boils down to this, you're benchmarking or your not. If you are, then you need to go all out on everything to get the highest scores, but you also have to be prepared to do a lot of seemingly crazy stuff (WC is a start, but you'll eventually get into dry ice and liquid nitrogen). If you're just planning on gaming...and you still knowingly buying these parts, then you're doing it for bragging rights/just wanting to have the shiny "best" stuff, which in my opinion is a plain waste of money.

 

[Horrerblade]

At max I would say 2 680s really a third one would be a waste of money I can take one for free if you want lol but realistically speaking I would drop down to 2 and get the sound card knu mentioned get the 2 3 tb drives and raid 0 them then on ssd side you could get ine 128 GB and 2 vilocoraptor drives raid 0 the 2 drives and load all your programs on to there also 16 GB or high speed ram will be better for benching

 

[Knufire]

RAID 0 doubles your chance of data failure, and the Velociraptors aren't the most stable drives. RAID5 offers redundancy but gives more space than other RAID arrays (4 1TB drives in RAID1 is 2TB, but 3TB in RAID5).

 

[Horrerblade]

I thought that the vilocoraptors where industrial drives?

 

[wingman99]

On my GTX 570 i play metro 2033 on max with minimum FPS of 30-70 no problem, smooth as butter,1920X1080P

 

[Mondrayish]

Thanks for the replies guys. Glad we're having this conversation before and not after I've already bought all the stuff lol.

Hey Knu, I can't see the picture. What is RIVE built for?

For graphics, you guys are probably right. I just recently built a PC for my friend who's using a Palit GTX680 Jetstream so I've had a chance to experience the 680s. But I haven't had the chance to try it on more graphic intensive games like Crysis 2, BF3, Skyrim, etc. So far everything's pretty buttery smooth at 1920x1080 (need to find out the FPS on the different games). But what if it's 3 screens? I plan to go 5760x1080 eventually. I would want my FPS in the 80-120 range.

Asus 680 DirectCuII, looks great on paper. But I hate the fact that it takes up 3 slots. Maybe if I can get my hands on a Mars III...

For sound, I remember reading somewhere that STX doesn't really optimize in-game sound. But for music/movie playback, sound is pristine. But then I wonder, if I get a sound card that's meant for music/movie playback, why don't I just go for something that's used by music producers? Something like M-Audio's Audiophile 2496?

For memory, I just never want to experience any sort of sluggishness after using multiple applications and having to restart to clear the memory cache ever again. That's why I chose quantity over speed.

About power, that is true about new tech drawing less power. But what if I wanted to overclock or add new components later on (GPU, fans, etc.)?

For storage, the 256gb option makes sense for programs and OS. For the HDD, isn't RAID 1 better for the storage of movies and music? RAID 5 requires 3 hard disks, so how much actual capacity will I have?

And what about for games? The rationale for the 512gb SSD was to store my games so I never have to ever see another loading screen again. Someone actually suggested creating a RAM disk but that seems a little impractical.

Haven't even talked about case and water cooling kits lol. But I'm leaned towards Swiftech's MCR-QP's radiators. Size depending on the case I get. How do you guys feel about the U2-UFO?

 

[Knufire]

The picture is a RIVE+ 3960X with a LN2 pot on it.

With a build this expensive, you'll be probably go custom water cooling for silence, which will make the DCII a dual slot.

There's no need to "plan" for the future with this budget, if you don't go ridiculously overkill on some stuff, you can get this build to do anything you possibly want with $6K.

You need 3 disks or more for RAID 5 but you get more effective space per drive than RAID 1.

My wattage estimates included overclocking and upgrade headroom.

You're over estimating RAM usage. I'll be surprised if you break 8GB, you'll NEVER break 12GB. In all likelihood, you'll never break 5-6GB.

MM cases are excellent for giant LC builds.

Audio card wise, there's a difference between playback and production. ASUS/Creative is playback, M-Audio is for production.

Here's the easier way. Just state all the things you want out of this build, everything, and I'll just put together a recommendation.

 

[Mondrayish]

You're talking about this?

http://specialtech.co.uk/spshop/cus...-Graphics-Cards--Copper-Acetal-pid-16015.html

When is the release date?

I enjoy reading about PC hardware and ways of optimizing performance. This is my test rig so to speak. With this rig, I'm taking a stab at water cooling, overclocking, and whatever other tweaks or ways I can mod it. Presumably, this rig will also blow my current PC and my friend's high end PCs out of the water. If it doesn't, then there's no point for this build because my current PC is already decent. But I'm not going for decent. I'm going for outstanding/superb/phenomenal. Hence the budget.

I think if it weren't for the outlandish price of cars where I live, I would probably have been more interested in tweaking performance in cars. PC modding is the more affordable hobby where I live.

So it boils down to two points.
1. A gaming rig to impress but not overdone
2. A rig that I can use as a way to learn more about PC building and hardware/software tweaking

 

[Knufire]

I personally don't agree with that mentality at all, if it's not practical, it's a waste. But each to his own.

If you're willing to return the motherboard:

CPU: 3930K
Motherboard: ASRock Extreme6
RAM: 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3-1600 CL9, G.Skill Ripjaws Z is a good choice.
PSU: Corsair 1050HX
GPU: 2 ASUS DCII GTX670 (Why the 670? It's considerably less performance than the 680, but it's about a 5% drop in performance. Also, this version and a few others actually use the GTX680 PCB, so a GTX680 reference waterblock should fit it. 2 to start with, everything's made to have the option to add a 3rd later on)
SSD: 256GB Corsair Force GT Boot+programs+most played games drive
HDD: 3x2TB RAID 5 Array (4TB of space, everything else)
Case: MM is probably fine

What to do with the rest of the money: Get three really nice monitors NOW. Then if you find surround performance lacking, you can easily throw in a 3rd GPU. After the monitors, rest of the money is for the liquid cooling loop, which will probably take the rest of it.

 

[Mondrayish]

Can't return the motherboard. I bought it quite a while ago.

The 670s do seem to make more sense. But I'm not so sure on the Asus 680 dc ii. Hearing some thing about a red screen of death at stock speed. And there's still yet to be waterblocks made for the dcii. Can't just slap on any ol' 680 waterblock onto it.

 

[Mondrayish]

Any other suggestions for a $6k budget?

I'd like to get more than one opinion before I finalize my purchase decisions.

 

[wingman99]

I would purchase 3x Western Digital Caviar Black WDBAAZ0020HNC-NRSN 2TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
There much faster than the Green.

Your getting the fastest pc with the slowest storage, what's up with that wait time.

 

[Horrerblade]

KnuFire's is golden