Build Thread

[Keyrock]

Once I get the PSU and the other components I can experiment with different fan setups.  My motivation behind getting that case was that it was cheap and that it came with 3 fans and 6 slots for fans, giving me a lot of flexibility out of the box.  I'll try the default setup first to see how it works.  Maybe there is a method to their madness?  I've had good success with a negative pressure setup in the past. 

Edited May 16, 2014 by Keyrock

[Bartimaeus]

  For example, I scooped up this case when it was on sale.

 

I wish so many cases weren't rounded like that one is. I like meshes, I like black, and I like perfect right angles. As I'll be needing a new case fairly soon if I want to be able to run both of my desktops, does anyone know any other cases similar to the Antec Three Hundred (what I currently have - e: actually, I have the original Three Hundred, which I think looks slightly better, but has less features, but it's close enough) or Corsair Carbide 300R (that I currently am considering to be my best choice) that I should keep my eye on for a decent price? Preferably without any LED fans, but it doesn't matter that much.

Edited May 16, 2014 by Bartimaeus

[Keyrock]

Anyone have suggestions for a PSU?  600W is the bare minimum I need to power a 780Ti, but it wouldn't hurt to account for the possibility of doing SLI, which, I think the bare minimum to power 2x780Ti is 800W, but I'd feel better with 900W.  Modular would be a plus, I also prefer a single 12v rail, as opposed to multiple.  I'm not looking to spend a fortune here either.  I'd very much not to stray above $100 much (or at all, preferably).

[Sarex]

Seasonic platinum edition has great reviews. I own their 660w gold edition.

[Bartimaeus]

800W seems about correct to me for a SLI of two 780 TIs - maybe 750W with a Gold or Platinum, but...no need to push it.

 

I generally follow this list (combined with that realhardtechx page...Humanoid posted earlier to make sure you're getting what you think you're getting) when buying PSUs. It's not perfect, (and it's not complete), but it seems to generally be a good guide. From my time following http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales/, it seems kind of rare that good deals for higher wattage PSUs are done, (whereas there are deals for the 400-600W range posted at least every few days, it seems). Best of luck.

Edited May 16, 2014 by Bartimaeus

[Gorgon]

I'm not ashamed to say I bought a case after seeing sexy Joanne on neweggTV show it to me. 

 

The I/O panel looks nice on that one.

This is my board.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvNnv7nh2Es

 

 

The people at MSI aren't subtle

[Humanoid]

$100 is a tough budget for a build like this. Filtering Newegg's list I don't see a single under-$100 model than I'd buy, though this is taking your SLI requirement into account. At a bit over there's the Seasonic M12II 850W which ought to go okay, it's a bit of an older model though and not the most efficient. A little more past that is the newer Antec High Current Gamer M, but specwise it's pretty much the same and while it's a Seasonic OEM, I'd probably not bother. Both appear to be fully modular.

 

Fake edit: Oh I see the Antec has a $30 MIR up to the 26th, so it'd go down to $90 effectively. Probably your cheapest bet then.

 

Real edit: There's also an XFX Core 850W which is again almost the same, $95 after MIR, but not modular. All three options being made in the same factory, all bronze certified, would suggest they're near-identical electrically, but not necessarily acoustically. Oh, there's a Gold Antec TP-750C for $80 after MIR, probably would be sufficient though borderline for SLI, bit on the edge if you overclock. (Rough maths, OCed 780Ti maybe 300W each, OCed CPU maybe 150W)

Edited May 17, 2014 by Humanoid

[ManifestedISO]

My GPU is MSI, I love the looks of it. Like a titanium shroud over dual fans, pretty cool. But at least Joanne speaks English, since she's probably from Glendale or something, unlike the lotus blossom up there. Still, can't help but think the world needs more women handling their own input/output devices.

 

Did Keyrock pick a monitor yet, that's the component I'd most like to see. I was eyeballing a Dell for awhile but never went through with it. 

[Bartimaeus]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371059

 

Wouldn't be enough for SLI, Keyrock, but it's a fairly cheap, high quality semi-modular Seasonic unit for a single card setup, if you're interested. 

 

Edit: I lied. $25 MIR expired yesterday.  Still being advertised, though...darnit, reddit!

Edited May 17, 2014 by Bartimaeus

[Sarex]

I'd say it's a mistake to cheap out on the psu. It's kind of the foundation of your pc and it's a component that will last the longest in your pc.

Edited May 17, 2014 by Sarex

[Bartimaeus]

I'd say it's a mistake to cheap out on the psu. It's kind of the foundation of your pc and it's a component that will last the longest in your pc.

 

Indeed. The one I linked to is fairly high quality, though - Seasonic design and all. Price does not necessarily relate to "cheapness", especially in the 400-600w range. I think it's rather insane to pay $150-$200 for a higher efficiency model, (like the Seasonic Platinum Edition you mentioned earlier), when their levels of reliability are not *that* far apart. Though it does also depend on how much you push the PSU - if you're pushing it hard, you would want to go as high quality as possible...except at that point, unless you're considering electricity bills, you should probably just get a slightly lower quality PSU at a little higher wattage for half the price.

 

(P.S. Not sure why the text of my link is to a newegg page, but then goes to reddit. I must've screwed up somewhere, haha - not that it really matters, since the topic was already removed from the subreddit a little bit after I posted my previous message for already being expired.)

 

Funny anecdote: my mother has been using this piece of garbage for roughly the past 4, 5 years. It's a joke of a PSU that I wouldn't use to power a toaster, much less my desktop, but she's been using it with no problems - probably related to the fact that her components don't push it very hard. I gave her an old OCZ ModXStream of mine so that she doesn't end up blowing up her computer.   

Edited May 17, 2014 by Bartimaeus

[Keyrock]

I'm thinking about this PSU.  Thoughts?

[ManifestedISO]

Weird, I just got a promo code email for that one, for $129--probably why you're thinking about it. Modular gold, man, get it. If you didn't get that code, you can have this one.  

[Keyrock]

Weird, I just got a promo code email for that one, for $129--probably why you're thinking about it. Modular gold, man, get it. If you didn't get that code, you can have this one.  

I did, but it won't apply right now for whatever reason.  It tells me that it won't work for my email address, even though they sent the code to my email address.  I'll give it a few hours then try again, no hurry.  Hopefully I can get it to work.  That PUS seems to have everything I want:  Plenty of power, fully modular, gold certified.  Plus, it's Corsair, I trust Corsair.

Edited May 17, 2014 by Keyrock

[Guest Slinky]

The 80 plus certificate doesn't tell everything, a quick googling tells RM series use C®apXon capasitors instead of good quality ones. And CapXons are known to be quite literary crap.

 

I wouldn't personally buy one.

[ManifestedISO]

I trust Corsair, too. The newegg specs say Japanese caps, ya buzz kill. 

[Guest Slinky]

Why you might not want to buy a Corsair RM PSU

 

 

 

So lets move on, First thing i want to talk about is the choice capacitors on the RM. Where the Seasonic G has 100% high end japanese capacitors from the likes of Nippon Chemi-Con and Enesol the RM series only has a few on the primary side, But almost every capacitor on the secondary side is Taiwanese Teapo´s and Chinese CapXon´s

 

 

 

Corsair isn't as good brand as one might think, CX series are full of crapxons too.

 

Edit: Now I found a review which says it uses Ltec capasitors which aren't the greatest but not as bad as CapXon's, so I don't know which there are going to be. Do you feel lucky?

Edited May 17, 2014 by Slinky

[Keyrock]

The RM750 and 850 don't use capXons.  They are made by Chicony, as opposed to CWT (who make the lower power units) and use mostly Ltec capacitors.  Not the greatest, but a step up from capXon.

 

Edit:  How about this one?

Edited May 17, 2014 by Keyrock

[ManifestedISO]

Poorly-written bias in a forum post convinces me of nothing. Gold-certified five-year warranty, does. 

[Guest Slinky]

Like I said, that certificate doesn't make you feel all warm and fuzzy if it breaks after 2 years, even if it works nicely those two years. But it does look like that 850W model is fine, especially for that price.

 

Edit: That Seasonic should be excellent choice.

Edited May 17, 2014 by Slinky

[Sarex]

I would personally go for this one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151087

 

A little less power, but I know this series is solid. (the 850w is 30$ more)

[Keyrock]

I zigged when everyone expected me to zag and wound up getting this instead.  There's a 15% off promo on it (which ends today), bringing the price down to $144.49.  It's a little more expensive than the Corsair or the other Seasonic, but the X Series from Seasonic is pretty renown for its excellent quality and I'd rather pay 20 or 30 bucks more and be able to sleep well at night knowing I have a top-notch power supply powering my 1440p monster machine.

Edited May 17, 2014 by Keyrock

[Guest Slinky]

Excellent choice, your possible SLI machine will be grateful for sure.

[Sarex]

I zigged when everyone expected me to zag and wound up getting this instead.  There's a 15% off promo on it (which ends today), bringing the price down to $144.49.  It's a little more expensive than the Corsair or the other Seasonic, but the X Series from Seasonic is pretty renown for its excellent quality and I'd rather pay 20 or 30 bucks more and be able to sleep well at night knowing I have a top-notch power supply powering my 1440p monster machine.

 

It's also quiet as heck, especially if the fan has it's own hole in the case, which most cases have today.

[Keyrock]

I still think that Corsair would have been okay, but I couldn't pass that X Series up.  I'm not very knowledgeable on PSUs, hence why I asked for advice, but I do know that the SeaSonic X Series is well known for excellent quality.  I just expected an X Series 850 watter to be in the $200 ballpark, which would have been kinda out of my price range.  When I saw the $145 pricetag, which is still a little more than I wanted to pay, but within my acceptable boundaries, I couldn't pass it up.

Edited May 17, 2014 by Keyrock