Critique my build

[Stokkolm]

I finally talked my wife into getting a desktop computer again, she's under the impression that you don't need one nowadays. I've never water cooled the CPU, but that one seem like it's probably easier than a fan setup. Anyway, let me know what you guys think.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($339.98 @ NCIX US)

CPU Cooler: Corsair H100 92.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($109.99 @ Newegg)

Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V PREMIUM ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($439.95 @ B&H)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($189.99 @ Newegg)

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($233.04 @ Compuvest)

Hard Drive: Corsair Performance Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($163.97 @ TigerDirect)

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 680 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($538.49 @ Newegg)

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 680 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($538.49 @ Newegg)

Case: Corsair Obsidian Series 800D ATX Full Tower Case ($239.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: Corsair 1050W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($195.99 @ NCIX US)

Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($59.99 @ Newegg)

Monitor: Dell U2412M 60Hz 24.0" Monitor ($309.99 @ Amazon)

Monitor: Dell U2412M 60Hz 24.0" Monitor ($309.99 @ Amazon)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Full (32/64-bit) ($151.95 @ Adorama)

Keyboard: Logitech G19 Wired Standard Keyboard ($146.99 @ Newegg)

Other: Cyborg M.M.O. 7 Gaming Mouse

Total: $3968.79

(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)

[Teebor]

Your wife doesn't think she needs a desktop any more but you post up the specs for a gaming rig? You sure that it is for your wife? ;)

[Stokkolm]

Your wife doesn't think she needs a desktop any more but you post up the specs for a gaming rig? You sure that it is for your wife? ;)

Never said it was for her :shifty: To be clear, it's for me with her permission :pinch:

[TEX4S]

Get rid of the 680s & go with 670s - so much better bang for your buck.

[TEX4S]

Never said it was for her :shifty: To be clear, it's for me with her permission :pinch:

hehe - we understand man - no problem.

[gunny2k6]

PERSONAL i would change the SSD ... to a Corsair Force 3 ;) ...... prefer sandforce controller in SSD's ...... the performance pro has marvell chipset and while the specs are and reviews are good ... Sandforce is like 500mb write and marvell is like 400mb ;) yes so i guess not realy that noticable but like the comment on the ... 670

670's can OC higher then a 680 ;P and there cheaper ... same goes for the Force 3 compared to the Performance Pro ..... i love corsiar,western digital and asus so i like the choices... :)

[TheLegendOfMart]

The Sandforce controllers look good on paper, over 500Mb/s read/write but they are awful at uncompressible data such as videos, music and games. They also have awful random read/write speeds. Though the Marvell controllers look slower, again on paper, they have no issues with uncompressible data and are faster at random read/writes.

I'd suggest dumping the Corsair and get something like the Samsung 830 or the Crucial M4, both are cheaper.

[Wakers]

If it's for gaming you're wasting money on Processor performance that you'll never ever see. Drop down to an i5 3550K.

[Stokkolm]

It's for gaming, programming, photoshop, etc. I'm not a fan of the sandforce controllers and I have a Samsung 830 in my laptop, which is nice. I've read a lot of good things about the Performance Pro, so I was thinking about giving it a try.

[gunny2k6]

The Sandforce controllers look good on paper, over 500Mb/s read/write but they are awful at uncompressible data such as videos, music and games. They also have awful random read/write speeds. Though the Marvell controllers look slower, again on paper, they have no issues with uncompressible data and are faster at random read/writes.

I'd suggest dumping the Corsair and get something like the Samsung 830 or the Crucial M4, both are cheaper.

while thats true ... as u can see hes added a Second HDD .... 2TB !! so like me i only have windows and most used apps on the SSD and have a Western Digital Black 640gb drive that i have my music/movies/games and less used apps and documents for storage :) i am guessing he plans on doing the exact same ...

SSD is only used to boot and cache ...

so doesnt realy matter :D as the the SSD wont be storing that kind of data, well except save game data i guess as most games store under user profile now adays ....but then again in WIndows you manualy overide where your user Profile is stored and point to the HDD so still gets around that ;)

[TheLegendOfMart]

It does matter, random read/write isn't just about incompressible data.

Windows and programs comprise of lots of little data files, its these little data files that choke up SSDs if they aren't read in a sequential fashion.

A marvell based SSD even though 'on paper' its 400Mb/s compared to 550Mb/s it will still be far faster than any Sandforce based SSD out there.

Why would you intentionally buy a lemon when there is a much better drive out there for similar or less money.

[Stokkolm]

while thats true ... as u can see hes added a Second HDD .... 2TB !! so like me i only have windows and most used apps on the SSD and have a Western Digital Black 640gb drive that i have my music/movies/games and less used apps and documents for storage :) i am guessing he plans on doing the exact same ...

SSD is only used to boot and cache ...

so doesnt realy matter :D as the the SSD wont be storing that kind of data, well except save game data i guess as most games store under user profile now adays ....but then again in WIndows you manualy overide where your user Profile is stored and point to the HDD so still gets around that ;)

Yup, I'll only be running Windows and my most used games on the SSD. I could go cheaper on the storage drive as the case allows for hot-swappable hard drives, I don't think I will though, my external terabyte drive is completely full and I'm sure I'll just be collecting more and more crap to eat away at the space.

[gunny2k6]

Well as your not a fan of sandforce :p stick to the profermance pro ... Crucial M4 a friend of mine had one and it gave nothing but corrupt data over time due to a bug in the firmware thou i think they fixed it not spoken to him in months about it , althou he did try use it with a new AMD 990fx chipset + amd bulldozer ... so cant just blame Crucial on that .....

[TheLegendOfMart]

Stick with the Marvell based SSD, the Samsung and Crucial I posted are $20-40 cheaper.

You could also go with the OCZ Vertex 4, with the new 1.4 firmware it uses a controller based on the Marvell one it boosts the on paper speeds up to Sandforce performance, but OCZ has had terrible press with their Sandforce based Vertex 2's in the past blaming the end user when in fact it was the controller that was the problem, depends if you want to risk going with OCZ.

[Stokkolm]

Stick with the Marvell based SSD, the Samsung and Crucial I posted are $20-40 cheaper.

You could also go with the OCZ Vertex 4, with the new 1.4 firmware it uses a controller based on the Marvell one it boosts the on paper speeds up to Sandforce performance, but OCZ has had terrible press with their Sandforce based Vertex 2's in the past blaming the end user when in fact it was the controller that was the problem, depends if you want to risk going with OCZ.

Yeah, you might be able to tell that I prefer certain manufacturers :p The last time I built a computer it had an nForce2 controller and an AMD Athlon XP processor, so that's the main reason I'm checking with you guys before I purchase anything. My brand loyalty is mostly from that era, so if a certain brand has gone down in quality it's good to know before I make a mistake.

[TheLegendOfMart]

Haha fair enough, that machine looks epic, post some pics when its built!

[Stokkolm]

Get rid of the 680s & go with 670s - so much better bang for your buck.

I really hadn't even considered the 670's at all, but after comparing the 670 and the 680 I think I'll do that.