Official "System Builders" Thread

[Wesley]

The Silverstone 600w isn't gonna be enough to power it right

It can power the rig just fine, but you'll be limited in the amount of overclocking you may want to do. If you do any synthetic benchmarks while completely stressing out all components at the same time, your power draw will be around 450-500W depending on your clock speeds, with overvolting pushing things up a bit more. If you aren't going to overclock then the Silverstone is fine. But since you chose a K-series chip, I imaging you'll try to get your money's worth out of it.

[Sylar_dl]

It can power the rig just fine, but you'll be limited in the amount of overclocking you may want to do. If you do any synthetic benchmarks while completely stressing out all components at the same time, your power draw will be around 450-500W depending on your clock speeds, with overvolting pushing things up a bit more. If you aren't going to overclock then the Silverstone is fine. But since you chose a K-series chip, I imaging vl try to get your money's worth out of it.

The most i will do with the k series chip is turbo boost it to i think its 3.9ghz. Like i said budget blown I would rather by the smallest possible psu now and then if i get another gpu down the line i will buy a bigger psu to go with it. By the way I am gonna get the thermal take spacecraft as its mid range and i don't believe in spending a couple thousand on a case, if i could i would make a wooden box and put a whole bunch of fans in it or something like that.

[Toxxyc]

Like i said budget blown I would rather by the smallest possible psu now and then if i get another gpu down the line i will buy a bigger psu to go with it.

That's a stupid idea. Trust me, it's a stupid idea. For the price of another GPU + PSU you can then sell the existing GPU, take that money with the new GPU+PSU money and buy a new card that'll rock your socks off, but you'll still be lacking power. Buy a big PSU now, and save in the long run.

[Sylar_dl]

That's a stupid idea. Trust me, it's a stupid idea. For the price of another GPU + PSU you can then sell the existing GPU, take that money with the new GPU+PSU money and buy a new card that'll rock your socks off, but you'll still be lacking power. Buy a big PSU now, and save in the long run.

I will try a big one but if i don't have the cash i don't have the cash otherwise Silverstone psu here i come, i will get the psu last in the hope that more money will find its way to me

[Wesley]

The most i will do with the k series chip is turbo boost it to i think its 3.9ghz. Like i said budget blown I would rather by the smallest possible psu now and then if i get another gpu down the line i will buy a bigger psu to go with it. By the way I am gonna get the thermal take spacecraft as its mid range and i don't believe in spending a couple thousand on a case, if i could i would make a wooden box and put a whole bunch of fans in it or something like that.

Have you already ordered all of this stuff? If your budget is blown, chuck out the i7-3770K and go for the i5-3570K rather. That chops R1000 off your total and gives you enough money for a decent PSU. Trust me, if you want to skimp - by all means that's your prerogative - you will regret having to splash out extra further down the line. Its nonsensical in my opinion because a good PSU lasts you ages - with newer components sucking up less and less power, a 800W PSU for a high-end build could easily last more than three years. I'd much rather you go for the 800W I recommended than because then you don't have to change anything else when adding in another GPU.

As for the chassis, the Spacefraft is okay, I guess you could do worse. I'd recommend you look at these choices as well:

Antec One S3 @ R478
Antec One @ R518
Zalman Z9 @ R506

Personal favourite is the Antec One and all three have better build quality and features (USB 3.0 for the Antecs) as opposed to the Spacecraft.

[Sylar_dl]

Have you already ordered all of this stuff? If your budget is blown, chuck out the i7-3770K and go for the i5-3570K rather. That chops R1000 off your total and gives you enough money for a decent PSU. Trust me, if you want to skimp - by all means that's your prerogative - you will regret having to splash out extra further down the line. Its nonsensical in my opinion because a good PSU lasts you ages - with newer components sucking up less and less power, a 800W PSU for a high-end build could easily last more than three years. I'd much rather you go for the 800W I recommended than because then you don't have to change anything else when adding in another GPU.

As for the chassis, the Spacefraft is okay, I guess you could do worse. I'd recommend you look at these choices as well:

Antec One S3 @ R478
Antec One @ R518
Zalman Z9 @ R506

Personal favourite is the Antec One and all three have better build quality and features (USB 3.0 for the Antecs) as opposed to the Spacecraft.

Stuff isnt ordered just yet but do u think i should get the 3770 without the k cause it is also cheaper but can be turbo boosted to 3.9

I cant find the zalman case on a product webpage with alot of pics and reviews and stats etc

[.exe]

When it comes to components, two things I never, ever skimp on is a good PSU and a good mobo. Those two always take top priority for me.

[Wesley]

Stuff isnt ordered just yet but do u think i should get the 3770 without the k cause it is also cheaper but can be turbo boosted to 3.9

You can, but I know it won't save you that much money on your budget. The i5-3570K performs exactly the same in games, is cheaper and overclocks better in most cases.

[Sylar_dl]

You can, but I know it won't save you that much money on your budget. The i5-3570K performs exactly the same in games, is cheaper and overclocks better in most cases.

Ohk, will look at that, is there any other 800w psu that you think i should look at
I cant seem to find the zalmans homepage

[Wesley]

Ohk, will look at that, is there any other 800w psu that you think i should look at
I cant seem to find the zalmans homepage

http://www.zalman.com/

And there's not a lot of 800W PSUs that will perform to the same level as the Corsair GS800, either in terms of efficiency, performance or warranty in the same price range. Granted, it isn't modular, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem if you have a decent chassis. If you'd like a modular PSU with similar performance in the same price range, look no further than Cooler Master's Silent Pro M2 720W @ R1253

Guru3D review
TechpowerUp! review
Hardware Secrets review (guys are 'effing mad, pulling nearly 1000W from this thing!)

[RayRay]

Just finished my new rig upgrade without too much trouble; only issues were that I had to install a fresh copy of Windows due to the Windows Repair loop I experienced right after the hardware change.

My rig is as follows:

800W V12XT PSU
MSI H77MA-G43 Mobo
AMD R7770 1Gig
Core i5 Intel
500Gig SATA drive

Busy updating Sleeping Dogs right now, can't wait to test out my new rig with this game.

Thanks for the initial help a month back, got some good guidance that lead to my current rig :)

[Sylar_dl]

http://www.zalman.com/

And there's not a lot of 800W PSUs that will perform to the same level as the Corsair GS800, either in terms of efficiency, performance or warranty in the same price range. Granted, it isn't modular, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem if you have a decent chassis. If you'd like a modular PSU with similar performance in the same price range, look no further than Cooler Master's Silent Pro M2 720W @ R1253

Guru3D review
TechpowerUp! review
Hardware Secrets review (guys are 'effing mad, pulling nearly 1000W from this thing!)

Does the one at rebel tech also have the temp display and fan controller or is the one on the website a newer model

[Bluesrock]

Hi Guys
Back again for some advice for a friend.

Trying to build him a new pc. So far this is my idea at around his budget (R6300):

Note: hard/disc drives and peripheral to be recycled from old pc

CPU: intel-core-i5-3450@R1860
MOBO: biostar-tp67b-lga155-atx-revision-b3-motherboard-retail @ 1140
PSU: corsair-cx500-eps12v-atx-12v-v2-3-500w-12v-408w@R664
RAM: g-skill-f3-10666cl9d-8gbxl-2x4gb-ddr3-1333-ripjaws-x @ R458
GPU: msi-geforce-gtx560-1gb-256bit-gddr5 @R1886
Case: coolermaster-rc-361-kkn1-elite-361-atx @R341

Will only use wootware as suppliers as I have had personal experience with them and don't want to recommend companies I am not familiar with. The PC's most stressful task will be gaming.

Any suggestions welcome. Also if anyone could give me an idea of how long this rig will remain relevant w.r.t. gaming that would be great.

Thanks in advance guys

[Sylar_dl]

Hi Guys
Back again for some advice for a friend.

Trying to build him a new pc. So far this is my idea at around his budget (R6300):

Note: hard/disc drives and peripheral to be recycled from old pc

CPU: intel-core-i5-3450@R1860
MOBO: biostar-tp67b-lga155-atx-revision-b3-motherboard-retail @ 1140
PSU: corsair-cx500-eps12v-atx-12v-v2-3-500w-12v-408w@R664
RAM: g-skill-f3-10666cl9d-8gbxl-2x4gb-ddr3-1333-ripjaws-x @ R458
GPU: msi-geforce-gtx560-1gb-256bit-gddr5 @R1886
Case: coolermaster-rc-361-kkn1-elite-361-atx @R341

Will only use wootware as suppliers as I have had personal experience with them and don't want to recommend companies I am not familiar with. The PC's most stressful task will be gaming.

Any suggestions welcome. Also if anyone could give me an idea of how long this rig will remain relevant w.r.t. gaming that would be great.

Thanks in advance guys

Hmm, i don't have much experience with nvidia cards but from everything else good u can expect a good 3 years of gaming, if the card good then probably on max graphics, the specs for new games like far cry 3 are still at a minimum of a dual core, maybe another 4gb chip will help with shared memory as the card only has 1gb

[Spydr]

hey guys, i'm building a new pc that's really only going to be used for streaming to my ps3 via ps3 media server, surfing the net, using MS Office and programs like matlab...budget is 5K and unfortunately with the rand doing the way it is i need to get the pc soon or i'll have to increase my budget. This is what i have so far, hoping the components are reliable and good enough for this system. I appreciate any feedback...

MOBO : http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php...oducts_id=5762

CPU : http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php...oducts_id=6690

RAM : http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php...oducts_id=7169 getting 2 * 4GB

PSU : http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php...oducts_id=1792

HDD : http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php...oducts_id=1281

CASE : http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php...oducts_id=5426

[Wesley]

Does the one at rebel tech also have the temp display and fan controller or is the one on the website a newer model

Sorry for the late reply, but I think its the one with the temp LCD, yeah.

Hi Guys
Back again for some advice for a friend.

Trying to build him a new pc. So far this is my idea at around his budget (R6300):

Note: hard/disc drives and peripheral to be recycled from old pc

[snip]

Will only use wootware as suppliers as I have had personal experience with them and don't want to recommend companies I am not familiar with. The PC's most stressful task will be gaming.

Any suggestions welcome. Also if anyone could give me an idea of how long this rig will remain relevant w.r.t. gaming that would be great.

Thanks in advance guys

I'm going to have the first of this month's System Builder's guides up tomorrow and I'll use that to give you an idea of what your friend can do. The GTX560 is old hat now, though. There are much better GPUs and boards he can use with for that budget.

hey guys, i'm building a new pc that's really only going to be used for streaming to my ps3 via ps3 media server, surfing the net, using MS Office and programs like matlab...budget is 5K and unfortunately with the rand doing the way it is i need to get the pc soon or i'll have to increase my budget. This is what i have so far, hoping the components are reliable and good enough for this system. I appreciate any feedback...

[snip]

That's a pretty good setup right there, good for the stuff you'd want to do. It does sound like an APU would be a consideration for you as well, if you need some graphical horsepower for things like Photo editing or video conversion, even some light gaming:

AMD A8-3870K @ R1305
MSI A75MA-P35 @ R705
TEAM Elite DDR3-1600 8GB @ R394
OCZ Agility 3 120GB @ R964
Western Digital Caviar Green @ R732
LG GH24NS90 @ R169
Cooler Master Elite 311 @ R320
Cooler Master GX 400W @ R507

Total: R5096

Once socket FM2 and AMD's new APU family, Trinity, hits local availability in about a month we'll have a better pool of products to choose from and I'd then definitely recommend an APU for your use-case.

[Spydr]

@wesley thanks for the info bro...appreciate all your efforts to help guys like me out with building the best bang for buck system...after much deliberation (and with the rand dollar exchange rate jumping all over the place you have to deliberate raher quickly) i chose to go with the intel build, just figure i'll need that processing power the i5 ivy bridge offers versus waht amd has to offer...although i must admit i found myself leaning towards that amd build based on the inclusion of the ssd. However, if i'm honest with myself i probably won't use the pc enough (or it's full potential) to take notice of the ssd. Budget creep started to set in as i started loking at prettier cases and the zalman z9 plus started to stand out, but then my total order price went up by R250 (pesky exchange rate again) and so i decide to just order the system before it just got too expensive and i dont' think i would really need the 3 extra fans the z9 offered. Now i await the arrival of my build. Exciting times!

[Bluesrock]

Thanks wesley looking forward to the suggestions

[Wesley]

Thanks wesley looking forward to the suggestions

Looks like it'll be up tomorrow now :-P But you can blame Microsoft and Windows 8 for that. Only takes a day to iron out any kinks though, now its flying like a squirrel on a grease patch.

[Bluesrock]

haha no problem wesley