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Inspired by overclock.net (more so by gunny1966) and being in the process of building a rig myself, I decided to start a build log of a new Asus Maximus V FML/Thunder based system here in the forums. The idea is document the thought process, ask questions and possible learn some things for myself. This might serve as a good guide to someone trying to build a similar rig and may be useful to document the research as i go along. I will try to document EACH and EVERY step. I will continue to add updates and edit the posts as I build my rig along. It will be days before i conclude my build, as i try to build my system piece by piece. I hope I can encourage a good participation and leverage the expertise of the forum members. This will help me successfully complete my build and serve as guide post for others.
A note before I start, though I consider myself a tech geek, keeping up to date with all the new release, features, comparison is hard. Its also very frustrating to go around the web to stumble with unfinished or unverified builds or even with unknown / unverified sources of information.
At no point don't think I am the smartest or the most intelligent person around. I like to share the information, and hope that people do the same in return.
PLEASE don't troll or make comments that are not verified! (without explanation/examples/pictures/links) If you see ANY mistakes I've made be sure to mention them in your comment & explain it. I assure you I'm not a bot & make mistakes every day.
The purpose of this build is for gaming (FPS + Chess), some video/photo editing & basic computer use. I had earlier posted a question on the forum on the build and the question turned into a deep question "on what do you want your build to do". Easy question, but I went back and thought hard, monitored my usage and dug up the historical usage from Steam. I hope this build will serve me well for the years to come and exceed my expectations as well.
Without a long tirade, welcome to my build and thank you for those who will participate.
Kick-off
There are ton of options and its difficult to know where to start from. I stumbled across these 3 part videos from NewEgg that should help you ground on the basics.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Motherboard Handling
Parts Selection
I will color code my parts so as to make it simple on what is currently decided or still under consideration
Orange: - Under Consideration
Green: - Finalized
CPU
How do you select which CPU you go with, there are a ton of options and each one serves its own specific purpose not to mention the performance. Do the impressive specs translate into tangible / visible benefits? THere are a lot of artificial benchmarks that you will encounter, but I struggled to find on how it translate into real world examples. Fortunately people realize that and there are some benchmark that are available that are based on actual programs. I will refer to the following:
1. Best Gaming CPUs For The Money: January 2013 . They have a monthly list so search on the site for the latest one
2. All CPU Charts 2012
Candidates:
I picked the most often compared CPUs, LGA 2011, and the 3570K and 3770K. There are ton of forum posts on which ones to pick, so I decided to investigate it myself and figure out if they are worth the money.
1. Intel Core i7 3930K (Sandy Bridge-E 6 cores/3.2 GHz / Turbo 3.9 GHz / 12 MB L3)
2. Intel Core i5 3570K (Ivy Bridge 4 cores / 3.4 GHz / Turbo 3.8 GHz/ 4 MB L3)
3. Intel Core i7 3770K (Ivy Bridge 4 cores / 3.5 GHz / Turbo 3.9 GHz / 4 MB L3)
The comparision can be found on google docs
There is a signifiant bump in processing between 3570K and 3770K while not a big boost between 3770K and 3930K. I cant seem to justify the price difference (which varies depending on the motherboard that is select). Toms Hardware prefers i5-3570K. In the end I decided to go for i5-3570K. The big reason is that I am going to overclock it and the thermal thermal paste issues with 3770K was the deal breaker (Link 1, Link 2) and might not consider replacing the thermal paste myself.
Final Selection:Intel Core i5 3570K
Reference: Toms Hardware Comparison Charts
Motherboard
There are so many options to choose from. But more specifically there are few established manufacturers that are catering to the gamers/overclockers market. I had shortlisted the following motherboards:
The difference between the formula and extreme is the additional thunderbolt option on Extereme together with 5 PCIe (vs 3 PCIe) and all the OC'ing hardware that comes along with it.
Though $40 may not be much of a difference considering the options, but I dont think I will ever get to extreme overclocking....
I like the option of ThunderFX, but it has mixed reviews online.
Technical specifications for the remaining two can be found here. Refer the Motherboard sheet.
Features wise it matches evenly, depending on how you choose to look at it. It was a hard call, but things I liked about the Asus Maximus V Formula are the following options:
1. Audio
2. Ease of use, take a look at the BIOS options, they better suited for entry level or enthusiast overclockers alike.
3. Software that comes along with Mobo. ASUS ROG motherboards have given a good polish to the softwares, which i like.
Final Selection: ASUS Maximus V Formula with ThunderFX (SGD 549)
RAM
I picked up G. Skill RipJawX 1866MHz because they look great in blue and offer good overclocking capabilities. This is 1.5V kit, not the 1.65V ones.
GPU
In the overall computer build, one thing i was sure was that I wanted relatively new card that is top of the line. There are few options here, but its best to point of the Hierarchy charts posted by tom's hardware.
Current prices for the top end cards are:
1. Asus GTX TITAN 6GB GDDR5 (SGD 1599)
2. Asus GTX690 4GB DDR5 (SGD 1580)
2. Asus GTX680 DC II 2GB DDR5 OC (SGD 815 / TOP SGD 845 / 4GB: 889 )
4. Asus Matrix HD7970 3GB GDDR5 (SGD 739)
One thing that struck me from the tom's hardware review was the following quote
Based on that I thought GTX 680 would be a better choice. Not too expensive. I was seriously considering 690, but based on the forum discussions, I was convinced to opt for something lower. Hence GTX680.
I decided to go for the TOP card because its the "hand picked" version of the better of the cards as they are inherently more stable and are overclocked right out of the box. For 30$ more its absolutely worth it.
No love for AMD? one word, Drivers.
Final Selection: Asus GTX680 DC II 2GB DDR5 OC TOP (SGD 845)
I will end up buying one now and one later when sufficient funds allow for it.
Power Supply
My first step was to determine how many watts are required for my system. Google turns up a lot of results, I picked the option on Extreme Power Supply Option (Link).
Another options, if you prefer
1. Corsair Learn & Explore
2. Thermaltake, though its the same version of Extereme Power Supply Thermaltake Power Supply Calculator
While selecting a PSU, 04125.Wattage is not the crucial factor but total combined continuous power/current available on the +12V Rail(s) rated at 45°C - 50°C ambient temperature, is the most important factor.
I configured my system on current as well as future requirements. I clocked in about 865 W and adding another graphics card in SLI mode got me to 1110W.
I was looking at power supplies that also carry 80 Plus certification which requires PSU efficiency of 80% or higher. (See Ecova Plug Load Solutions). They have reports (aka certification report) that are similar to when you purchase diamond . Enough of the light note.
80 plus certification scheme is a third party initiative that classifies power supplies based upon their efficiencies. There are then four more levels of 80 Plus certification for consumer power supplies, each having a higher efficiency requirement up to 80 Plus Platinum, where a PSU must be able to maintain 92% efficiency at 50% load and 89% at 100%. The good thing about these ratings is that they are wattage independent – instead they look at how well the power supply works. This provides an easy metric to let you work out what you need.
Here is a list from Tom;s Hardware that one can refer (Link). Its a good read...Did you know Seasonic manufactures some of Corsair's PSU . Hence its not just brand or expensive is better.
1. Seasonic X Series 850W (SGD 228) 70 Amps Single +12V
2. Themaltake Toughpower 750W 80+ Gold (SGD 165)
3. Corsair AX860i Platinum (SGD 318): 71.6 Amp Single +12V Rail
4. Cooler Master Silent PRO M2 850W Modular (SGD 189) ~68 Amp Single +12V Rail
For a system using 2 GeForce GTX 680 graphics cards in 2-way SLI mode NVIDIA specifies a minimum of a 750 Watt or greater power supply that has a combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 53 Amps or greater and that has at least four 6-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors. (Reference ko888 on toms hardware)
So looks like Seasonic and Corsair are a good competition. THough the warranty is 5 years on Seasonic as compared to 7 years on Corsair.
I was initially planning on getting the Seasonic, but then i came across the Corsair Link option. It allows you to not only monitor the power supply parameters such as fan speed, voltages, currents, wattages, temperatures, and efficiency, but also allows to configure over current protection (OCP) for each video card cable individually. Furthermore, this configuration is not a simple on/off feature; it allows you to set the amount of current that will make the over current protection kick in. Each video card cable can be configured with its own individual trigger point. This will be a good feature that I can consider especially when i know I am going to overclock it.
Final Selection: Corsair AX860i Platinum (SGD 318)
Case
There isnt much of tech specs to discuss when one goes about considering cases. It all depends on the user preference. I am going for NZXT Phantom 820. I like the styling of the case with a lot of room, excellent cooling capacities (has a fan controller, lot of room for water cooling), integrated SD card reader and yes, lighting.
Final Damage
1. Intel Core i5 3570K SGD 259
2. ASUS Maximus V Formula SGD 549
3. G.Skill RipJawX 1866MHz CL9 (8GB X 2) SGD 190
4. Asus GTX680 DC II 2GB DDR5 OC TOP SGD 845
5. Corsair AX860i Platinum (SGD 318)
A note before I start, though I consider myself a tech geek, keeping up to date with all the new release, features, comparison is hard. Its also very frustrating to go around the web to stumble with unfinished or unverified builds or even with unknown / unverified sources of information.
At no point don't think I am the smartest or the most intelligent person around. I like to share the information, and hope that people do the same in return.
PLEASE don't troll or make comments that are not verified! (without explanation/examples/pictures/links) If you see ANY mistakes I've made be sure to mention them in your comment & explain it. I assure you I'm not a bot & make mistakes every day.
The purpose of this build is for gaming (FPS + Chess), some video/photo editing & basic computer use. I had earlier posted a question on the forum on the build and the question turned into a deep question "on what do you want your build to do". Easy question, but I went back and thought hard, monitored my usage and dug up the historical usage from Steam. I hope this build will serve me well for the years to come and exceed my expectations as well.
Without a long tirade, welcome to my build and thank you for those who will participate.
Kick-off
There are ton of options and its difficult to know where to start from. I stumbled across these 3 part videos from NewEgg that should help you ground on the basics.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Motherboard Handling
Parts Selection
I will color code my parts so as to make it simple on what is currently decided or still under consideration
Orange: - Under Consideration
Green: - Finalized
CPU
How do you select which CPU you go with, there are a ton of options and each one serves its own specific purpose not to mention the performance. Do the impressive specs translate into tangible / visible benefits? THere are a lot of artificial benchmarks that you will encounter, but I struggled to find on how it translate into real world examples. Fortunately people realize that and there are some benchmark that are available that are based on actual programs. I will refer to the following:
1. Best Gaming CPUs For The Money: January 2013 . They have a monthly list so search on the site for the latest one
2. All CPU Charts 2012
Candidates:
I picked the most often compared CPUs, LGA 2011, and the 3570K and 3770K. There are ton of forum posts on which ones to pick, so I decided to investigate it myself and figure out if they are worth the money.
1. Intel Core i7 3930K (Sandy Bridge-E 6 cores/3.2 GHz / Turbo 3.9 GHz / 12 MB L3)
2. Intel Core i5 3570K (Ivy Bridge 4 cores / 3.4 GHz / Turbo 3.8 GHz/ 4 MB L3)
3. Intel Core i7 3770K (Ivy Bridge 4 cores / 3.5 GHz / Turbo 3.9 GHz / 4 MB L3)
The comparision can be found on google docs
There is a signifiant bump in processing between 3570K and 3770K while not a big boost between 3770K and 3930K. I cant seem to justify the price difference (which varies depending on the motherboard that is select). Toms Hardware prefers i5-3570K. In the end I decided to go for i5-3570K. The big reason is that I am going to overclock it and the thermal thermal paste issues with 3770K was the deal breaker (Link 1, Link 2) and might not consider replacing the thermal paste myself.
Final Selection:Intel Core i5 3570K
Reference: Toms Hardware Comparison Charts
Motherboard
There are so many options to choose from. But more specifically there are few established manufacturers that are catering to the gamers/overclockers market. I had shortlisted the following motherboards:
- ASUS Maximus V Formula (~SGD 549) with ThunderFX
- ASUS Maximus V Extreme (~ SGD 589)
- ASRock Z77 OC Formula (~ SGD 409)
The difference between the formula and extreme is the additional thunderbolt option on Extereme together with 5 PCIe (vs 3 PCIe) and all the OC'ing hardware that comes along with it.
Though $40 may not be much of a difference considering the options, but I dont think I will ever get to extreme overclocking....
I like the option of ThunderFX, but it has mixed reviews online.
Technical specifications for the remaining two can be found here. Refer the Motherboard sheet.
Features wise it matches evenly, depending on how you choose to look at it. It was a hard call, but things I liked about the Asus Maximus V Formula are the following options:
1. Audio
2. Ease of use, take a look at the BIOS options, they better suited for entry level or enthusiast overclockers alike.
3. Software that comes along with Mobo. ASUS ROG motherboards have given a good polish to the softwares, which i like.
Final Selection: ASUS Maximus V Formula with ThunderFX (SGD 549)
RAM
I picked up G. Skill RipJawX 1866MHz because they look great in blue and offer good overclocking capabilities. This is 1.5V kit, not the 1.65V ones.
GPU
In the overall computer build, one thing i was sure was that I wanted relatively new card that is top of the line. There are few options here, but its best to point of the Hierarchy charts posted by tom's hardware.
Current prices for the top end cards are:
1. Asus GTX TITAN 6GB GDDR5 (SGD 1599)
2. Asus GTX690 4GB DDR5 (SGD 1580)
2. Asus GTX680 DC II 2GB DDR5 OC (SGD 815 / TOP SGD 845 / 4GB: 889 )
4. Asus Matrix HD7970 3GB GDDR5 (SGD 739)
One thing that struck me from the tom's hardware review was the following quote
You can use this hierarchy to compare the pricing between two cards, to see which one is a better deal, and also to determine if an upgrade is worthwhile. I don’t recommend upgrading your graphics card unless the replacement card is at least three tiers higher. Otherwise, the upgrade is somewhat parallel and you may not notice a worthwhile difference in performance.
Based on that I thought GTX 680 would be a better choice. Not too expensive. I was seriously considering 690, but based on the forum discussions, I was convinced to opt for something lower. Hence GTX680.
I decided to go for the TOP card because its the "hand picked" version of the better of the cards as they are inherently more stable and are overclocked right out of the box. For 30$ more its absolutely worth it.
No love for AMD? one word, Drivers.
Final Selection: Asus GTX680 DC II 2GB DDR5 OC TOP (SGD 845)
I will end up buying one now and one later when sufficient funds allow for it.
Power Supply
My first step was to determine how many watts are required for my system. Google turns up a lot of results, I picked the option on Extreme Power Supply Option (Link).
Another options, if you prefer
1. Corsair Learn & Explore
2. Thermaltake, though its the same version of Extereme Power Supply Thermaltake Power Supply Calculator
While selecting a PSU, 04125.Wattage is not the crucial factor but total combined continuous power/current available on the +12V Rail(s) rated at 45°C - 50°C ambient temperature, is the most important factor.
I configured my system on current as well as future requirements. I clocked in about 865 W and adding another graphics card in SLI mode got me to 1110W.
I was looking at power supplies that also carry 80 Plus certification which requires PSU efficiency of 80% or higher. (See Ecova Plug Load Solutions). They have reports (aka certification report) that are similar to when you purchase diamond . Enough of the light note.
80 plus certification scheme is a third party initiative that classifies power supplies based upon their efficiencies. There are then four more levels of 80 Plus certification for consumer power supplies, each having a higher efficiency requirement up to 80 Plus Platinum, where a PSU must be able to maintain 92% efficiency at 50% load and 89% at 100%. The good thing about these ratings is that they are wattage independent – instead they look at how well the power supply works. This provides an easy metric to let you work out what you need.
Here is a list from Tom;s Hardware that one can refer (Link). Its a good read...Did you know Seasonic manufactures some of Corsair's PSU . Hence its not just brand or expensive is better.
1. Seasonic X Series 850W (SGD 228) 70 Amps Single +12V
2. Themaltake Toughpower 750W 80+ Gold (SGD 165)
3. Corsair AX860i Platinum (SGD 318): 71.6 Amp Single +12V Rail
4. Cooler Master Silent PRO M2 850W Modular (SGD 189) ~68 Amp Single +12V Rail
For a system using 2 GeForce GTX 680 graphics cards in 2-way SLI mode NVIDIA specifies a minimum of a 750 Watt or greater power supply that has a combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 53 Amps or greater and that has at least four 6-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors. (Reference ko888 on toms hardware)
So looks like Seasonic and Corsair are a good competition. THough the warranty is 5 years on Seasonic as compared to 7 years on Corsair.
I was initially planning on getting the Seasonic, but then i came across the Corsair Link option. It allows you to not only monitor the power supply parameters such as fan speed, voltages, currents, wattages, temperatures, and efficiency, but also allows to configure over current protection (OCP) for each video card cable individually. Furthermore, this configuration is not a simple on/off feature; it allows you to set the amount of current that will make the over current protection kick in. Each video card cable can be configured with its own individual trigger point. This will be a good feature that I can consider especially when i know I am going to overclock it.
Final Selection: Corsair AX860i Platinum (SGD 318)
Case
There isnt much of tech specs to discuss when one goes about considering cases. It all depends on the user preference. I am going for NZXT Phantom 820. I like the styling of the case with a lot of room, excellent cooling capacities (has a fan controller, lot of room for water cooling), integrated SD card reader and yes, lighting.
Final Damage
1. Intel Core i5 3570K SGD 259
2. ASUS Maximus V Formula SGD 549
3. G.Skill RipJawX 1866MHz CL9 (8GB X 2) SGD 190
4. Asus GTX680 DC II 2GB DDR5 OC TOP SGD 845
5. Corsair AX860i Platinum (SGD 318)
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