The start of my first build! (components)

[waggythegeek]

Comic Sans is the /s font.

Comic sans rocks.

[beach_boy98]

That was a typo.  My bad.  I don't think any of Intel's X99 processors are locked parts.  

Just ckecking

[grumpy4869]

Hello community,

So I was about to start this build when the 980 ti was released. I currently have 2 970's that I was going to sli. Now I am debating my choice. Should I

A: exchange these 970's for a 980ti and remain cost effective?

B:return the 970's and get 2 980ti's?

C: wait for asus to release thier non reference 980 ti's and get one or two of those?

My concerns are

1: power consumption. Not the power bill but tripping my breaker constantly. I have 1 15amp circuit for my office which will have three monitors, computer with specs listed previously, all in one printer, mycould Nas, and network switch all plugged into this circuit. I think I would be pushing the limits of this breaker

2: 970's came from local microcenter and would need to be exchanged there. I could sneak some more cash out of the budget without the wife noticing but she would definitely begin the interrogation process if more boxes started randomly shipping to the house

3: I prefer non reference cards because I will not be water cooling and the aesthetics are important in my "justification to the wife" arguments. I also prefer Asus for personal reasons including aesthetics. I have not been able to find any hints of when they will be releasing their non reference 980ti's-only that they will be. This is a potential problem because of the return period at microcenter.

Any thoughts?

[grumpy4869]

I also forgot option D which would be to exchange the 2 970's and get 2 strix 980's. On my way to microcenter right now. Anyone?

[Sam Z Man]

I would wait for the 980ti non reference card reviews to start coming out.

[grumpy4869]

Thanks Sam Z Man,

 

  I went to microcenter on an extended lunch break and I exchanged the 970's for two strix 980's.  It will likely be at least a couple of weeks before this system is up and running and hopefully the non reference Ti cards will start populating the market.  Now that I am $1000 into GPU's it is not much of stretch to throw in a few hundred more (which is sad in its own little way).  I have huge deadlines for work tomorrow through next Friday, finals for my masters degree on Monday and daughters birthday in that timeframe.  So I have plenty to keep my mind occupied between now and then.  The exchange also alleviated the pressure to get it done now because my exchange period was also extended.  

[Sam Z Man]

Thanks Sam Z Man,

 

  I went to microcenter on an extended lunch break and I exchanged the 970's for two strix 980's.  It will likely be at least a couple of weeks before this system is up and running and hopefully the non reference Ti cards will start populating the market.  Now that I am $1000 into GPU's it is not much of stretch to throw in a few hundred more (which is sad in its own little way).  I have huge deadlines for work tomorrow through next Friday, finals for my masters degree on Monday and daughters birthday in that timeframe.  So I have plenty to keep my mind occupied between now and then.  The exchange also alleviated the pressure to get it done now because my exchange period was also extended.

Because all you have is triple 1080p 60hz moniters the most you need is a single 980ti the dual 980's will perform for you just the same but costing 350$ more.

[skylane]

Hello community,

So I was about to start this build when the 980 ti was released. I currently have 2 970's that I was going to sli. Now I am debating my choice. Should I

A: exchange these 970's for a 980ti and remain cost effective?

B:return the 970's and get 2 980ti's?

C: wait for asus to release thier non reference 980 ti's and get one or two of those?

My concerns are

1: power consumption. Not the power bill but tripping my breaker constantly. I have 1 15amp circuit for my office which will have three monitors, computer with specs listed previously, all in one printer, mycould Nas, and network switch all plugged into this circuit. I think I would be pushing the limits of this breaker

2: 970's came from local microcenter and would need to be exchanged there. I could sneak some more cash out of the budget without the wife noticing but she would definitely begin the interrogation process if more boxes started randomly shipping to the house

3: I prefer non reference cards because I will not be water cooling and the aesthetics are important in my "justification to the wife" arguments. I also prefer Asus for personal reasons including aesthetics. I have not been able to find any hints of when they will be releasing their non reference 980ti's-only that they will be. This is a potential problem because of the return period at microcenter.

Any thoughts?

Love the build so far. I would A)tell the wife about any upgrades you need - if she's been cool thus far no need to make the whole thing blowup because of mysterious boxes showing up and B)get the non-ref 980ti's if you can return the 970s in time. I'm in the same boat. Bought 2 980's and have 2 hydrid hydro 980ti's on order. 

[grumpy4869]

Because all you have is triple 1080p 60hz moniters the most you need is a single 980ti the dual 980's will perform for you just the same but costing 350$ more.

 

I totally agree Sam Z Man,

 

  the only reason that I am still considering going with two 980Ti's is that I will likely upgrade monitors in the future.  When that day comes, I would much rather just purchase three monitors as opposed to three monitors and two new graphics cards.  I am very aware that there is no such thing a future proofing in this hobby.  But I am trying to stretch my investments a little longer.  And again, since I have already laid out $1000, it is not a huge mental or budgetary leap to come up with another ~$300 now as opposed to $1700-$2500 (new monitors and GPU's) in a couple of years.  I do, however appreciate the feedback very much! Hopefully Asus will come out with at least some details regarding their non reference 980Ti's soon and depending on price, that will make this decision much easier.  

[grumpy4869]

Love the build so far. I would A)tell the wife about any upgrades you need - if she's been cool thus far no need to make the whole thing blowup because of mysterious boxes showing up and B)get the non-ref 980ti's if you can return the 970s in time. I'm in the same boat. Bought 2 980's and have 2 hydrid hydro 980ti's on order. 

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

Regarding A) the wife has a long rope.  But the end of that rope is sudden and usually appears with little to no warning lol

Regarding B) I ended up exchanging the 970's for two 980's. That buys me another month to watch the market.  I is awesome that all of these new components are hitting the market.  But is sucks that they aren't all available right now.

[TechDookie]

Go big or go home  .  Besides, that what you guys are here to help me prevent! 

 

But it is more likely that my 2 or 5 year old will spill milk all over it  :angry:

I spilled milkshake on my MacBook Air once. Luckily it was under warranty. Thought I would share.

 

On another note, why didn't you get a better keyboard/mouse?

[Sam Z Man]

I totally agree Sam Z Man,

 

  the only reason that I am still considering going with two 980Ti's is that I will likely upgrade monitors in the future.  When that day comes, I would much rather just purchase three monitors as opposed to three monitors and two new graphics cards.  I am very aware that there is no such thing a future proofing in this hobby.  But I am trying to stretch my investments a little longer.  And again, since I have already laid out $1000, it is not a huge mental or budgetary leap to come up with another ~$300 now as opposed to $1700-$2500 (new monitors and GPU's) in a couple of years.  I do, however appreciate the feedback very much! Hopefully Asus will come out with at least some details regarding their non reference 980Ti's soon and depending on price, that will make this decision much easier.

First Asus GPU's, yea there garbage.

Second 4 GB of vram of dual 980's will struggle with triple 1080p maxed out right now let alone in the future then again 6GB is okay now but won't cut it for surround at higher resolutions if you every want to upgrade later.

Basically get a 980ti from anyone but Asus, and if you want to upgrade later it won't be able to be a surround setup of a higher resolution but you could go to something like 120hz with another 980ti, but 4K 21:9 is a okay option as well.

The 4gb of the 980's won't be able to cut it for surround 1080p in a years time. Get the 980ti because the vram buffer will keep you from needing to upgrade sooner.

[grumpy4869]

I actually really like the wireless keyboard and mouse that I use in my current setup. It is a microsoft 6000 keyboard and a logitech m705 mouse.  I know that there is such better equipment available on both of these fronts but i really like them.  I guess I could chalk that up to years of use.  Kind of like that old backpack or that tattered shirt that one refuses to get rid of. 

 

But to answer your question, I was researching if these wireless products would work to set up bios without an operating system (and hence any drivers) installed.  Some people said yes and some people said no.  I was at microcenter anyway and just picked up a wired mouse and keyboard for ~40 which was the most I was willing to pay for something that I probably won't absolutely love anyway.  

 

But if anyone know where I can find a wireless, backlit, curved, nonsplit keyboard and comfy mouse, please point me in the right direction.  

[Sam Z Man]

I don't like wireless because they always seem to lag more.

[grumpy4869]

Hello LTT!  Update on this build

 

the tower is built!  I have an Ergotech triple monitor stand being delivered tomorrow and will set up the screens on Friday.  But the computer POST's fine and windows 8.1 is installed.  I have overclocked the CPU to 4.4Ghz and the 980's are in SLI and both slightly overclocked (I'll get my exact overclock specs tonight when I get home).  Windows 8.1 is installed on the Intel 750 PCIe SSD, I cannabalized the 840 Evo from my old system which I am using to store my documents and my music, and the RAID 10 array is being used to store my pictures and my videos.  Also, I ended up with 3 Asus VN248 monitors instead of the VN247's that I listed previously.  

 

I am split on whether I want to use this as an HTPC at all now.  I have the old studio 540 looking sad and useless so I may repurpose that.  Also, I may rededicate my WD mycloud EX4 as a media server and back up to a seagate 4TB external hard drive that I have no alternative use for.  Any thoughts on this?

 

Things I am still waiting on:

 

1. another RAM light kit from Corsair

2. new IO panel from Corsair (to change power and reset buttons from Red to White)

3. Ergotech triple monitor desk stand

4. ROG SLI bridge (backordered)

5. PCIe USB 3.1 add in card

 

I'll post pictures of the build in its current state tonight.

 

Questions for you guys:

 

I used the AAFP connection on my MB for the ROG front base.  However, my case also uses AAFP for it's headphone jack.  I am anal about having things that don't work.  Will an AAFP splitter from this connection cause any problems?  Will that allow for two sets of headphones or just one at a time?

 

My Intel 750 sits REALLY close to my bottom 980 graphics cards.  It doesn't interfere with the fans at all (I have checked and rechecked) but will this cause any long term problems?  Basically, it covers one half of one fan.  I will try to get a decent pic tonight.  It has to sit either there or right underneath the top card because of the PCIE layout.  I have been monitoring temps and the bottom card runs about 3-4*C hotter than the top card during benchmarking.  But neither card ever exceeds 70*C; even after repeated benchmarking at overclock settings.  

 

I have gone through the Nvidia configuration tool and determined that I need to plug all of my monitors into the top card in order to remain in SLI.  These monitors only support HDMI, however.  So I plan to use the single HDMI connection on the top card and two display port to HDMI adapters to provide signal to the other two monitors.  Should these be active or passive adapters?

 

Thanks all for all of your support and encouragement throughout this process!  

[grumpy4869]

Updated Pics of Current State

[grumpy4869]

More pics

[grumpy4869]

So to update some things that deviated from my original plan

 

1.  for those that know their cases, you can see that the Corsair 760t comes with Red LED fans when the case is black.  I swapped out every fan with white Corsair LED fans because the red ones drowned out too much color

 

2.  the H110 GT CPU cooler ended up with a push/pull configuration because I had extra fan headers and extra fans.  But because of the CPU power plug placement on the MB, this necessitated that I break off the middle corner hub things at the bottom to make room for the plugs.  You can see this in the last picture above.  

 

3.  I wasn't going to put a bottom fan in originally but decided to after realizing that my case was actually in a negative pressure state.  Added this fan to help along with a filter mounted underneath the case

 

4. The LED light strip is uber bright.  I added this because the case was really dark at night and I wanted to get more punch.  

 

5. The cable management needs drastic improvement.  It was going pretty well until I kept adding stuff outside of my original plan.  

 

6.  I wish that the SLI indicator lights matched the rest of the system there (red and white lights, the SLI ones are orange).

 

Overall, I am pretty happy with this build.  It seems to run great so long as it is shut down properly.  File transfers a super fast, it looks great, is very quiet, and low in temperature.  I'll post some benchmarks when I get a chance and also post my screen setup when the Ergotech gets here.  

[Sam Z Man]

I have a suggestion for your GPU conflict with the 750 SSD, put your SSD in the top slot, then put your GPU's in the second and bottom slot.

[grumpy4869]

I have a suggestion for your GPU conflict with the 750 SSD, put your SSD in the top slot, then put your GPU's in the second and bottom slot.

 

Thanks Sam Z Man,

 

  I thought about that setup also.  The problem with that is the GPU is too big and would not allow me to make the connections needed at the bottom of the board.  Even with the SSD in the bottom slot, I had to put a significant amount of strain on a couple of connectors at the bottom of the board and the SSD is only half as thick as the GPU's.   I think I may be in a bot of a catch 22 position at this point.  Short of going with a 2.5" version with a hyperkit, I think that this will have to do.  

[EvilWiffles]

You aren't suppose to skip the awkward ghetto build to the fancy build. It's just not right for first timers...

[grumpy4869]

Hello all,

 

  so I completed this build and now I am looking into upgrades.  Specs for those who don't feel like reading the whole thread:

 

Asus Rampage V Extreme MB

Intel 5930k~rock solid overclock at 4.2Ghz

Asus 3.1 USB Type A Card

16GB DDR4 Corsair Dominator Ram@2133

Intel 750 400GB PCIe SSD (OS/Programs drive)

Samsung Evo 512GB SSD (Docs drive)

4-WD Red 2TB HHD~in RAID10 config (Photos/Videos and Music drive)

Corsair H110GT AIO~in push/pull configuration

2-Asus Strix 980~slight overclock in SLI

Corsair AX860 PSU

ROG Front Base

Asus BW-12B1ST Blu Ray Writer

Cooler Master Wired Keyboard and Mouse Combo

3-Asus VN248 monitors

8-120mm Corsair SP fans (never seen a temp higher than 76C on any of the four probes monitoring PC)

 

I am looking at changing out the Asus 980's for two Nvidia 1080's.  But then I would have two 980's laying around.  So I am thinking that I will get two 1080's and put those into SLI and then use one of the 980's to run PhysX and use the other 980 as the graphics card for my upcoming HTPC build.  I know that the 980 in an HTPC is total overkill, but that beats a graphics card sitting around not being used.  

 

My question is more if it would be completely unnecessary to run two 1080's with a separate card for Physx support.  Is this even possible with the 1080's cards?  I know that they limit SLI to two cards on the 1080's because of both lanes of the SLI bridge being utilized.  But I would think that given that the Physx support card does not utilize an SLI bridge, it should be possible.  I know that this is WAAAYYYY overkill for my current monitors.  But I may be upgrading my 3 current monitors to 3 4k monitors in the not so distant future.  Thoughts?

 

Sorry for the old thread resurrection.  It has been a while since I referenced specifics of my build and wanted to be accurate.