Cliff, on the video card domain, i admit that i personnaly think my next video card will be an ATI one, i like what they are doing right now, they seems on to something. In fact i think that ATI will save AMD in the upcoming years while they try to invent someting new that will maybe (i hope so) throw us away
I'll read more on what you said tho, i didnt know GPU could be use to process video encoding, it is done without activating anyting ? i mean, it's "built-in" ? The GPU process the load first and if it cant process it all the CPU does ? If yes, that's huge, and cool too
Kind of ironic you say that since ATI has been bleeding money since it joined up with AMD despite the huge success of RV770 (HD 4850/4870). Hopefully they can finally start making some money with what looks like a huge delay on Nvidia's part to DX11.
On the CPU cooling front I'd recommend the Xigmatek HDT-S1283. If you check reviews it's shown to be right up there with the TRUE and NH-U12P and is available for much cheaper.
What is the maximum resolution on your monitor? Before we start recommending GPU's it's critical to know if you're going to be able to make use of them.
I know availability is pretty good in Canada but a lot of parts are recommended over others because of the deals you get on them which depends on where you buy them from.
Video encoding on the GPU requires specific programs which are coded to run on the GPU, but no matter which card you pick, we can point you in the direction of the appropriate program.
As for PSUs, I would stick to: OCZ, Corsair, PC Power & Cooling, and certain Antec models.
I'll echo the comments on the DFI boards. Great if its not your first build, high quality, great bios options, easy to overclock. My only criticism might be its website, which is slow and sometimes a little difficult to navigate, but for what you get on the board its a decent trade off. Robert actually turned me on to DFI boards, my current machine has one and I have done a customer builds with them since, a solid choice.
GooD - I have one hard and fast rule when buying a power supply, 80plus independent certification. Antec makes quality PSU's but I would stick with 80plus certified product only. Antec, Coolermaster, Silverstone, OCZ, corasir, PC power and cooling, all make great supply's. If money is no object, this is an area that you don't want to scrimp too much on. Plan on spending around $100 or so for a really decent PSU. Less can be spent to get quality for a dual core and single card set up, but if your thinking about going full monty with a quad core cpu and potentialy a pair of graphics cards, plan on starting about 650 to 700 watts 80 plus. This OCZ model looks to be priced reasonably for a 700 watt model.
The new PSU from OCZ realy looks nice. It begin to shows the income of buying PC P&C
But , 1000W , wtf :P I don't think except if you're going with 3 video card you will ever need that much power, even 850 is overkill no ? lol
Okay, since we talk about i'll thow another question :
Everytime i read Modular, i wonder what it realy means, does it only means that the wire can be disconnected from the base of the PSU ? Does it comes with big withdraw or problems i should know ? I never bought one because i never realy knew what it was lol
Decent modular PSU's won't have any real drawbacks. It just means that some or all of the power cables can be disconnected. It helps with cable management.
I just read your sig; if you're not keeping your old one all together you could definitely use your old PSU on your current build until you put in multiple high-end GPU's.
Obsidian suggested the Xigmatek HDT-1283, but other heatsinks like the Prolimatech Megahalems and the Thermolab BARAM offer 4-6*C better performance, and both are still less than the TRUE-120 in price.
The new PSU from OCZ realy looks nice. It begin to shows the income of buying PC P&C
But , 1000W , wtf :P I don't think except if you're going with 3 video card you will ever need that much power, even 850 is overkill no ? lol
Okay, since we talk about i'll thow another question :
Everytime i read Modular, i wonder what it realy means, does it only means that the wire can be disconnected from the base of the PSU ? Does it comes with big withdraw or problems i should know ? I never bought one because i never realy knew what it was lol
Modular only means that it allows you to disconect some things you don't use. Personally, I am 100% molex free in my case (good riddance wonky old stubborn four pin connectors), I just plug the fans to the board and everything else uses SATA power connectors so I get to just chuck the molex cables aside. It helps with wire management and air flow. I recommend going modular myself.
Obsidian suggested the Xigmatek HDT-1283, but other heatsinks like the Prolimatech Megahalems and the Thermolab BARAM offer 4-6*C better performance, and both are still less than the TRUE-120 in price.
The Thermolab BARAM looks nice but god, that Megahalems seems like complete overkill to me. If he's worried about RAM clearance he shouldn't even be considering that beast.
As long as you don't buy DIMMs with hugenormous (and irrelevant) heatsinks sprouting out of them, HSF clearance isn't an issue on any of today's performance sinks.
I just want to say I have a Coolermaster hyper N520, and it performs well, but lord have mercy what a complete freaking nightmare to uninstall and reinstall, I recently had to remove it and it more or less meant me dismantling the whole system. Whatever big heatsink you consider make sure it has a mechanism in intels case the screws, or in AMD's the retention clip so you can just pull that sucker back off without an hour of work at the back of the board. I'm actually considering scraping my Hyper N520 to go with a Scythe Zipang 2 which will not outperform the monster coolers you guys are talking about, but for me a 100 megahertz sacrifice in overclock and temps that are marginaly higher (maybe 5 C or so) is going to be worth it to me to have something light, fairly quiet and something that I can pull off when I want to re apply thermal compound or just play with a new CPU. I'm just saying, when you pick your platform, whatever you consider also factor in how easy is will be to install, that has as much value as a couple extra degrees of cooling, at least it does for me.
The fan on my HDT-S1283 is touching the heatsink on one of my DIMMs when I have it in the left-most slot. It's not a real problem for me but I could see it being one with a slightly larger cooler and/or if you're using four DIMMs. The heatsinks on my RAM are a bit tall and wide but I wouldn't say they're "hugenormous" and my HDT-S1283 isn't that large either. http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=g.skill+pi+black&x=0&y=0
Also, I completely disagree with Cliff. I can't stand Intel's screw mechanism and love back-plates. Once you dismantle your system a couple times you can do it pretty fast and is definitely worth it IMO. If your case has a motherboard tray it's not even an issue.
The Corsair XMS3 Dominator seems to have a high heatsink on the top.
But from reviews and forums it seems like the best buy atm.
Im gonna first try to decide wich board i take, than one trick i have is find reviews of it and look at the heatsink they chosed for the review :P That way i know it should fit or it gives me an idea of will my RAM fit :P
I disagree with the claim that the dominator is the best buy. Many companies are producing quality DDR3 modules which offer the same performance as Corsair without paying the Corsair tax.
Corsair hasn't been alone at the top of performance mountain in years. Mushkin, Crucial, OCZ, G.SKILL, Kingston and Super*Talent all make excellent modules that are cheaper, overclock just as well, and don't have a dumb towering cooling system that makes it impossible to use a good HSF.
OCZ, Ryder is on the forums and in IRC all the time. Any problems with their products or with PCP&C you talk to him and he gets it taken care of, plus they are great products.
The fan on my HDT-S1283 is touching the heatsink on one of my DIMMs when I have it in the left-most slot. It's not a real problem for me but I could see it being one with a slightly larger cooler and/or if you're using four DIMMs. The heatsinks on my RAM are a bit tall and wide but I wouldn't say they're "hugenormous" and my HDT-S1283 isn't that large either. http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=g.skill+pi+black&x=0&y=0
Also, I completely disagree with Cliff. I can't stand Intel's screw mechanism and love back-plates. Once you dismantle your system a couple times you can do it pretty fast and is definitely worth it IMO. If your case has a motherboard tray it's not even an issue.
My current RAM is OCZ, would have no problem buying another one, i'll look for triple channel 6 GB set from them. I think OCZ comes with no top heatsink at all, so then having a cpu heatsink that cover them would help.
Having Ryder around here is a plus too when you think of it
For the back-plates issue, since i will only change my components once in like 2 years if available upgrade are worth it, even if its a pain in the ass to do i won't care that much cuz it will be a one time :P Once my computer is overclock as i want i won't open it too much except for cleaning.
It's pretty easy to tell if DIMMs have tall heatsinks just by looking at a picture. I don't think they're necessary now since RAM isn't a big bottleneck in overclocking the i7's.
Obsidian you're right overclock RAM seems to give less boost than before, now you overclock it just to follow your CPU Overlock it seems. You don't want, or need, to push them more than that.
For OCZ RAM, wich sub-brand is best ? Gold or Platinum, Platinum seems better. Price difference is minor. Just so im wondering :P
Timing seems to be less important now with DDR3, and sometimes the tighter the timings are, the more the probability that you'll have problem.
I had a lot of problems with my last kit of Mumskin RedLine , RMA once and still got some problems with the other kit (but gut it to work), since then i wont get into overvoltage and trying to buy a kit with tight timings that will fail on me again lol.
Comments
On the CPU cooling front I'd recommend the Xigmatek HDT-S1283. If you check reviews it's shown to be right up there with the TRUE and NH-U12P and is available for much cheaper.
What is the maximum resolution on your monitor? Before we start recommending GPU's it's critical to know if you're going to be able to make use of them.
I know availability is pretty good in Canada but a lot of parts are recommended over others because of the deals you get on them which depends on where you buy them from.
As for PSUs, I would stick to: OCZ, Corsair, PC Power & Cooling, and certain Antec models.
OCZ just launched an <i>especially</i> good line of PSUs: http://icrontic.com/news/ocz-launches-80-gold-certified-z-series-psus -- these things are serious quality.
GooD - I have one hard and fast rule when buying a power supply, 80plus independent certification. Antec makes quality PSU's but I would stick with 80plus certified product only. Antec, Coolermaster, Silverstone, OCZ, corasir, PC power and cooling, all make great supply's. If money is no object, this is an area that you don't want to scrimp too much on. Plan on spending around $100 or so for a really decent PSU. Less can be spent to get quality for a dual core and single card set up, but if your thinking about going full monty with a quad core cpu and potentialy a pair of graphics cards, plan on starting about 650 to 700 watts 80 plus. This OCZ model looks to be priced reasonably for a 700 watt model.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341018
But , 1000W , wtf :P I don't think except if you're going with 3 video card you will ever need that much power, even 850 is overkill no ? lol
Okay, since we talk about i'll thow another question :
Everytime i read Modular, i wonder what it realy means, does it only means that the wire can be disconnected from the base of the PSU ? Does it comes with big withdraw or problems i should know ? I never bought one because i never realy knew what it was
I just read your sig; if you're not keeping your old one all together you could definitely use your old PSU on your current build until you put in multiple high-end GPU's.
Obsidian suggested the Xigmatek HDT-1283, but other heatsinks like the Prolimatech Megahalems and the Thermolab BARAM offer 4-6*C better performance, and both are still less than the TRUE-120 in price.
Modular only means that it allows you to disconect some things you don't use. Personally, I am 100% molex free in my case (good riddance wonky old stubborn four pin connectors), I just plug the fans to the board and everything else uses SATA power connectors so I get to just chuck the molex cables aside. It helps with wire management and air flow. I recommend going modular myself.
Edit : Seems rather hard to find in canada store tho :P
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=g.skill+pi+black&x=0&y=0
Also, I completely disagree with Cliff. I can't stand Intel's screw mechanism and love back-plates. Once you dismantle your system a couple times you can do it pretty fast and is definitely worth it IMO. If your case has a motherboard tray it's not even an issue.
But from reviews and forums it seems like the best buy atm.
Im gonna first try to decide wich board i take, than one trick i have is find reviews of it and look at the heatsink they chosed for the review :P That way i know it should fit or it gives me an idea of will my RAM fit :P
Corsair hasn't been alone at the top of performance mountain in years. Mushkin, Crucial, OCZ, G.SKILL, Kingston and Super*Talent all make excellent modules that are cheaper, overclock just as well, and don't have a dumb towering cooling system that makes it impossible to use a good HSF.
IMO, AMD spring retention clip FTW!
Having Ryder around here is a plus too when you think of it
For the back-plates issue, since i will only change my components once in like 2 years if available upgrade are worth it, even if its a pain in the ass to do i won't care that much cuz it will be a one time :P Once my computer is overclock as i want i won't open it too much except for cleaning.
Reaper, Flex lines have tall sinks.
Obsidian you're right overclock RAM seems to give less boost than before, now you overclock it just to follow your CPU Overlock it seems. You don't want, or need, to push them more than that.
Timing seems to be less important now with DDR3, and sometimes the tighter the timings are, the more the probability that you'll have problem.
I had a lot of problems with my last kit of Mumskin RedLine , RMA once and still got some problems with the other kit (but gut it to work), since then i wont get into overvoltage and trying to buy a kit with tight timings that will fail on me again lol.
Anyway, just asking and thinking out-loud
Gold and Plat may have same IC's, but the Plat will be 7-7-7 at 1600, the Gold 8-8-8 at 1600 for example.
Kooky cooling :shakehead