Future Build (Caprica 6)

[Snyper]

Hi guys!

This is my first post on the TechTips forums so bear with me.

I am planning on building a rig in Australia based around Water cooling, Silence, a Titan, and the NZXT Phantom 820. So without further preamble here is a list of components i am looking at.

Case: NZXT Phantom 820 (white)

PSU: Seasoninc XP-1000w platinum

SSD: Samsung 840 Pro

HD: 2 TB WD Black

SC: Asus Xonar Essence STX

Headphones: Audio Technica Ad700's

Mic: UNDECIDED

CPU: UNDECIDED

MB: UNDECIDED

RAM: TBA (most likely something in the Dominator Platinum's family)

Graphics Card: EVGA GTX Titan

Cooling loop:

XSPC AX 360 Rad (white)

XSPC D5 Vario pump

XSPC 1/2" tubing

XSPC Titan full cover Water block with EVGA backplate

Bitspower Z-Multi 250 Res

Bitspower g1/4 deep blood red compression fittings

Ok so with that list over with; onto some discussion of parts. I want to wait until the Haswell cpu's and chipsets are released but i really want to build this thing asap (thoughts?). With the Mic i am undecided whether i should just go for a USB Blue Yeti or go with an XLR Mic and put a pre-amp on it. In reference to the compression fittings i will either go with those or the "premium white" versions as i want the overall color theme for this rig to be Red and White.

Can anyone identify what PSU Linus was absolutely amazed at with the soldering on? I have been going through his back catalogue and cant seem to find the one where he raves about the soldering on the modular interface.

I would also like some opinions on the water loop and whether i should put in another radiator and then what fans to use on it. I know the titan wont put a lot of heat into the loop but if i can get another 10C cooler by adding another radiator then i would like to do that.

Snyper.

I plan to play Planetside 2, Arma 3, LoL, and BSG online. I might do a bit of video editing but nothing that i would consider heavy. I am currently gaming on a laptop and am sick to death of having to compromise with low frame rates.

Is there anything else i haven't thought of?

(Edit: yes i will be sleeving the power supply cables with a Modsmart cable sleeving pack.)

[nishank93]

First things first, if performance benefits is what you're after by waiting for Haswell, don't bother because there isn't much to it (for now). If you just want the latest platform, then I don't see the harm. Also, you really don't need a Titan for those games, unless you will be using multiple monitors.

If you're going to make extend the loop anyway, I would recommend starting from the ground up and ditching the H220 altogether. Don't get me wrong, the H220 is fantastic, but a standalone pump definitely has more power than the one on the H220, especially if you decide on adding more radiators. Also, a 360 radiator cooling both the CPU and GPU would be a better option if you want to overclock; plus the cooler the Titan, the more GPU boost 2.0 will push it ;) For fans, Noctuas for sure, otherwise Corsair SP120s.

I have a friend who is happy with the Blue Yeti, so go for it!

[Glenwing]

The Antec High Current Pro platinum PSU was the unit Linus liked the soldering on.

[Guest]

Seeing as you're going straight into watercooling rather than expanding on a CPU loop, I'd probably look at skipping the H220 and going straight into a custom loop. XSPC have a set that includes a raystorm block, 360 rad and a res/pump combo all for $209 from PCCG which on its own will sufficiently cool a single GPU and CPU. Though that kit comes with barb fittings and clear tubing so it may just be more effective to purchase the components individually.

With selecting a motherboard and CPU, how much do you want to be spending on them? I daresay if your color scheme is red and you're going for gaming, the Asus RoG boards will probably be worth looking at along with a 3570K or 3770K.

For the mic, I generally recommend going straight with a USB mic such as the Snowball. There are quite a number of happy users out there. Using pro level gear can get a little more technical but if you want to go that way, don't let me stop you. Another option would be the Modmic that Linus did an unboxing of recently. It's the magnetic mic that will attach to your headphones.

[Snyper]

Oh dam i forgot to mention the monitor. i plan on buying a 27inch LED Monitor Series 9 (S27B970D) it's got a 2560 x 1440 display on it. if anyone knows of something similar that is cheaper that'd be awesome!

and the reason i was going for the h220 was the more powerful pump or am i mixing up the products?

and thanks for the psu recommendation that is the one i was looking for!

[Guest]

Oh dam i forgot to mention the monitor. i plan on buying a 27inch LED Monitor Series 9 (S27B970D) it's got a 2560 x 1440 display on it. if anyone knows of something similar that is cheaper that'd be awesome!

and the reason i was going for the h220 was the more powerful pump or am i mixing up the products?

and thanks for the psu recommendation that is the one i was looking for!

The H220 has a 6w pump. To put that into perspective, a H100i/general AIO solution has about a 1w pump, the Swiftech MCP655 has a 24 watt pump and the XSPC D5 Vario has a 37w pump.

[Snyper]

Oh dam i forgot to mention the monitor. i plan on buying a 27inch LED Monitor Series 9 (S27B970D) it's got a 2560 x 1440 display on it. if anyone knows of something similar that is cheaper that'd be awesome!

and the reason i was going for the h220 was the more powerful pump or am i mixing up the products?

and thanks for the psu recommendation that is the one i was looking for!

First off, Thanks! next i am wondering if a higher wattage pump will increase flow rate and whether or not that will make a difference to temperature. (ie, is there a point of diminishing returns?)

[Guest]

Oh dam i forgot to mention the monitor. i plan on buying a 27inch LED Monitor Series 9 (S27B970D) it's got a 2560 x 1440 display on it. if anyone knows of something similar that is cheaper that'd be awesome!

and the reason i was going for the h220 was the more powerful pump or am i mixing up the products?

and thanks for the psu recommendation that is the one i was looking for!

The difference from memory is around about 1 degree, if that so I wouldn't bother. You more look at a higher power pump when you have a bigger loop.

[Snyper]

First things first, if performance benefits is what you're after by waiting for Haswell, don't bother because there isn't much to it (for now). If you just want the latest platform, then I don't see the harm. Also, you really don't need a Titan for those games, unless you will be using multiple monitors.

If you're going to make extend the loop anyway, I would recommend starting from the ground up and ditching the H220 altogether. Don't get me wrong, the H220 is fantastic, but a standalone pump definitely has more power than the one on the H220, especially if you decide on adding more radiators. Also, a 360 radiator cooling both the CPU and GPU would be a better option if you want to overclock; plus the cooler the Titan, the more GPU boost 2.0 will push it ;) For fans, Noctuas for sure, otherwise Corsair SP120s.

I have a friend who is happy with the Blue Yeti, so go for it!

i plan on going for a 27inch with a large resolution monitor. i want to go for a haswell chip simply because i think is kind of a waste if i build it then a month from now there is a product update. I will also be ditching the h220 in favor or a custom loop.

[Snyper]

Seeing as you're going straight into watercooling rather than expanding on a CPU loop, I'd probably look at skipping the H220 and going straight into a custom loop. XSPC have a set that includes a raystorm block, 360 rad and a res/pump combo all for $209 from PCCG which on its own will sufficiently cool a single GPU and CPU. Though that kit comes with barb fittings and clear tubing so it may just be more effective to purchase the components individually.

With selecting a motherboard and CPU, how much do you want to be spending on them? I daresay if your color scheme is red and you're going for gaming, the Asus RoG boards will probably be worth looking at along with a 3570K or 3770K.

For the mic, I generally recommend going straight with a USB mic such as the Snowball. There are quite a number of happy users out there. Using pro level gear can get a little more technical but if you want to go that way, don't let me stop you. Another option would be the Modmic that Linus did an unboxing of recently. It's the magnetic mic that will attach to your headphones.

Ok at this point i think the h220 is out and i will be going with apogee HD if i can get one other than that its the raystorm block in chrome. with that in mind do you think it would be a good idea to create a full loop straight away or test the titan without the waterblock on it first. I really think testing everything to make sure it runs before i start pulling it apart is a good idea. (just thinking about it now i might get an air cooler just to test with) before i commit to a radiator i have to do some checking on how the AX series from xspc will fit into a phantom before i make a decision.

I don't want to go STUPID crazy on the mobo and cpu so i wont be getting a 3970k but 2011 socket is not out of the question. I will actually be selling a boat i own to pay for this rig so there isn't really a top end to what i can buy (trying not to sound like a douche here :s). i really like the ROG boards but i am still contemplating whether it is better to wait for the haswell refresh to come out as i think it would be a shame to build a great computer just before a product update.

The reasoning behind getting an analogue mic is that i want to use the soundcard to its maximum value ( i have got it there so why not use it). but if there reeally isn't going to be any performance difference to using a USB mic then i dont think there is any point in messing with analogue mics.

p.s. thanks for the input.

[Snyper]

The Antec High Current Pro platinum PSU was the unit Linus liked the soldering on.

thanks!

[Snyper]

Oh dam i forgot to mention the monitor. i plan on buying a 27inch LED Monitor Series 9 (S27B970D) it's got a 2560 x 1440 display on it. if anyone knows of something similar that is cheaper that'd be awesome!

and the reason i was going for the h220 was the more powerful pump or am i mixing up the products?

and thanks for the psu recommendation that is the one i was looking for!

Thanks!

[Guest]

Seeing as you're going straight into watercooling rather than expanding on a CPU loop, I'd probably look at skipping the H220 and going straight into a custom loop. XSPC have a set that includes a raystorm block, 360 rad and a res/pump combo all for $209 from PCCG which on its own will sufficiently cool a single GPU and CPU. Though that kit comes with barb fittings and clear tubing so it may just be more effective to purchase the components individually.

With selecting a motherboard and CPU, how much do you want to be spending on them? I daresay if your color scheme is red and you're going for gaming, the Asus RoG boards will probably be worth looking at along with a 3570K or 3770K.

For the mic, I generally recommend going straight with a USB mic such as the Snowball. There are quite a number of happy users out there. Using pro level gear can get a little more technical but if you want to go that way, don't let me stop you. Another option would be the Modmic that Linus did an unboxing of recently. It's the magnetic mic that will attach to your headphones.

With the mic, to make maximal use of it you're looking at about a $200+ microphone which for Skype and YouTube is completely pointless due to compression.

[Snyper]

Seeing as you're going straight into watercooling rather than expanding on a CPU loop, I'd probably look at skipping the H220 and going straight into a custom loop. XSPC have a set that includes a raystorm block, 360 rad and a res/pump combo all for $209 from PCCG which on its own will sufficiently cool a single GPU and CPU. Though that kit comes with barb fittings and clear tubing so it may just be more effective to purchase the components individually.

With selecting a motherboard and CPU, how much do you want to be spending on them? I daresay if your color scheme is red and you're going for gaming, the Asus RoG boards will probably be worth looking at along with a 3570K or 3770K.

For the mic, I generally recommend going straight with a USB mic such as the Snowball. There are quite a number of happy users out there. Using pro level gear can get a little more technical but if you want to go that way, don't let me stop you. Another option would be the Modmic that Linus did an unboxing of recently. It's the magnetic mic that will attach to your headphones.

ah i didn't think about that... ok blue yeti it is