New non-monster build.

[Chewy509]

My wife has been bugging me for what to get me for my birthday/fathers day/christmas present lately (my birthday is mid-August), and to be honest there's not a lot I need/want. Other than a new backup drive (as previously mentioned). She's also aware my desktop is 3.5yrs old and that I have been keeping an eye out on new hardware in case something goes wrong... So this morning, she got's the shit's with me and told me I have a budget of AU$1500 to get a new desktop as my birthday/et al. present.

What I'm thinking is:
Intel i7-4770
32GB RAM (4x 8GB) Kingston HyperX DDR3
Seagate 600D 240GB SSD
Gigabyte Z87X-D3H
Fractal Design Core 3000 Black Case
Antec 620W HCG-M PSU

reusing:
HP DVD-RW SATA drive
2TB Hitachi 720rpm HDD
nVidia Quadro FX580 (roughly equivalent to a 9500GT).

(Can't reuse my current HP case or PSU due to non-standard connectors and placements - and I doubt the PSU is Haswell compatible).

All that comes in just under $1,340.

Basically, is there something else I should be looking at instead of what I'm planning/thought of. The only requirement for the mainboard is that it has Intel LAN (no RealTek) and Intel HD Audio (100% compatible which most onboard audio is). Also what's up with the ugly/crap cases these days?

PS. This will be purchased in about 4-6 weeks... so no rush on anything...

 

[sdbardwick]

Only thing I'd add would be an aftermarket CPU HSF. The Haswell boxed ones are stunningly awful; thermal throttling at stock voltages and clocks.

 

[Mercutio]

How is that NOT a monster? SSD, top-end CPU, 32GB RAM?
Also, why the Seagate SSD? That doesn't actually seem like their area of expertise.

 

[Chewy509]

Only thing I'd add would be an aftermarket CPU HSF. The Haswell boxed ones are stunningly awful; thermal throttling at stock voltages and clocks.

Recommendations? (Assuming it must fit into the case I've listed).

 

[Chewy509]

How is that NOT a monster? SSD, top-end CPU, 32GB RAM?

LOL :rotfl: I tend to consider a monster build to be dual CPU (Xeon or Opteron), 64GB+ RegECC RAM, multiple GPUs, etc... (Sorry, Dave).

Plus, I'm reusing my old nVidia Quadro card as well...

Also, why the Seagate SSD? That doesn't actually seem like their area of expertise.

Severe dislike for all Samsung, and the Seagate has similar performance to the Samsung 840 Pro. I would consider the new SanDisk Extreme II, but it still has a price premium for being a very new product.
Any other recommendations in the same price bracket?

Anand has a review of the Sandisk with results including the Seagate and Samsung.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7006/sandisk-extreme-ii-review-480gb

 

[Stereodude]

I was going to recommend the Thermalright True Spirit 140, but it's too big for your case (per the specs of each).

 

[sdbardwick]

Does that case have front USB3 ports? If not, I would find another one...

As for HSF, the informal consensus (that is, what I've picked up from browsing the web) is that the CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Evo is the value leader @$30ish. The one I have on my i7-3820 (130WTDP) works well. I think it would fit the case; it is not over-tall for a 120mm fan equipped HSF.
For higher end HSF, I have no personal experience, but people seem to like the Noctua NH-D14 (120mm and 140mm fans) series @$90ish.

Edit: Stereodude's post reminded me that there is a 120mm version of the True Spirit out there for about $40 - also very good reputation.

 

[Chewy509]

Oh, crap, missed the lack of USB 3.0 on the front... Thanks. There is a USB version of the case, just not available here (yet).
I'll swap the case for a Fractal Design ARC R2 Mid Tower Case Black (USB3.0), considering it's only $20 more than the Design Core 3000.

 

[Chewy509]

I'll add the CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Evo to the list then...

 

[Adcadet]

I like my Hyper 212 Evo.

 

[CougTek]

I prefer the Corsair Neutron GTX to the Seagate 600D. Same controller, but IMO better firmware. More consistent performance. Better garbage collection. Proably longer lifespan too, although that is speculation based on extrapolating other parameters.

I sold mine, but I'll buy another when I'll have a chance.

 

[Mercutio]

I'll add the CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Evo to the list then...

I wouldn't. The Hyper 212 is surprisingly, annoyingly loud for a "quiet" HSF. I've tried them a couple times and regretted both. Pay the extra $10 to get something that's actually acceptable.

 

[Stereodude]

As for HSF, the informal consensus (that is, what I've picked up from browsing the web) is that the CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Evo is the value leader @$30ish. The one I have on my i7-3820 (130WTDP) works well. I think it would fit the case; it is not over-tall for a 120mm fan equipped HSF.
For higher end HSF, I have no personal experience, but people seem to like the Noctua NH-D14 (120mm and 140mm fans) series @$90ish.

Edit: Stereodude's post reminded me that there is a 120mm version of the True Spirit out there for about $40 - also very good reputation.

The True Spirit 140 bests the Hyper 212 Evo for another $10, but it's moot with that case since it won't fit. Nice comparison link The 120 seems to outperform the 212 Evo also. link

 

[sdbardwick]

True Spirit 140 might fit the new case; it is 170mm tall, and the Arc Midi R2 says it will take a 180mm cooler.
I agree that it is a better cooler than the Evo and if the price delta isn't too bad I'd go with it or the True Spirit 120.

 

[Chewy509]

Also the True Spirit is next to impossible to get here (without ordering internationally) - I can only find 1 stockist in Australia that carries the Thermalright brand.

 

[Handruin]

I wouldn't. The Hyper 212 is surprisingly, annoyingly loud for a "quiet" HSF. I've tried them a couple times and regretted both. Pay the extra $10 to get something that's actually acceptable.

Maybe yours was defective. With my ear physically against the case, I cannot hear my deployment of CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Evo inside the Fractal Define R2 case. This is with Folding@home running at 100% CPU. It may not register as the best in some of the reviews posted by SD, but I'd hardly suggest it's anything close to loud. I've deployed this in the last three systems I've built or helped people to build.

 

[Adcadet]

I replaced my Hyper212 fan with a quiet Scythe one. Maybe that defeats the purpose of a good, cheap, simple HSF.

 

[Mercutio]

I've had more than one and they were BOTH loud, which I define as being not measurably less noisy than the stock Intel fan. Since they're not cheap and kind of annoying to install, the fact that they aren't at least quiet puts them firmly in the do not recommend category.

The Zalman CNPS9500 was another surprisingly obnoxious LGA1155 cooler.

I think both my big home machines are using Noctua heat sinks right now. I know I have an NH-C14 on my gaming rig, which I quite like and have used for some time.

 

[Handruin]

Guess I got a good one that doesn't make the noises you described.

 

[Chewy509]

What about the Noctua NH-D14 CPU Cooler?
According to Noctua, it'll fit on the Gigabyte board, and the RAM is only 30mm high (the D14 requires DIMMs to be less than 44mm). The spec sheet has it's height at 160mm, 20mm below the clearance for the Fractal Design ARC R2?
The only concern in the weight? 1240g? Are there expected maximum load limits on the mounts? Is over 1KG just for the heatsink/fan is excessive?

What about the Noctua NH-L12?

 

[Stereodude]

True Spirit 140 might fit the new case; it is 170mm tall, and the Arc Midi R2 says it will take a 180mm cooler.

The case Chewy was looking at first was limited to 160mm. I didn't check the subsequent case.

Also the True Spirit is next to impossible to get here (without ordering internationally) - I can only find 1 stockist in Australia that carries the Thermalright brand.

Oh... There aren't many US retailers but I got mine for $40 shipped. There are other good options out there though.

What about the Noctua NH-D14 CPU Cooler?

Stock it's one of if not the best performing air coolers you can buy.

The only concern in the weight? 1240g? Are there expected maximum load limits on the mounts? Is over 1KG just for the heatsink/fan is excessive?

Not sure about the weight. Since it doesn't grab a plastic socket and has it's own retention system that uses holes in the PCB though heavy it should be fine assuming you're not shipping the system around.

What about the Noctua NH-L12?

I'm not familiar with it, but it doesn't seem stellar from a cooling standpoint with more of a low profile design. link #1 link #2

 

[snowhiker]

I'll add the CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Evo to the list then...

I like my Hyper 212 Evo.

I like my 212 EVO. I can barely hear anything from the HSF. I do have four, 140mm fans in my case (3 intake, 1 exhaust) + 120mm fan in my PSU (that never turns on) so maybe the sound is being masked.

I love my Samsung 840pro, but to each his own I guess.

Of course when the fan on my video card hits 60% it's louder than everything else combined. At 70% I know it's really working and at 80+% it actually starts to get loud. Just turn the speakers up a bit in the game and it's gone. LOL.

Sounds like a great build regardless. OK 4:45am and I've been at work all night. Time for bed.

 

[Mercutio]

LOL :rotfl: I tend to consider a monster build to be dual CPU (Xeon or Opteron), 64GB+ RegECC RAM, multiple GPUs, etc...

My big guy must not be a monster then. It only has 48GB of DIMMs and 84TB of disks in it.
I probably should've used a back brace when I racked it though.

Guess I got a good one that doesn't make the noises you described.

The Hyper 212 is at least decent from a cooling standpoint. I know I could've replaced the loud fans as AD indicated, but that's one of those things that I think should be right in the first place. Why pay an extra $12 - $20 to make a $30 HSF worthwhile when I could just buy a $40 fan to begin with?
Cooler Master in general has some really inconsistent products. I guess that's just the risk of buying its products.

 

[Handruin]

My big guy must not be a monster then. It only has 48GB of DIMMs and 84TB of disks in it.
I probably should've used a back brace when I racked it though.



The Hyper 212 is at least decent from a cooling standpoint. I know I could've replaced the loud fans as AD indicated, but that's one of those things that I think should be right in the first place. Why pay an extra $12 - $20 to make a $30 HSF worthwhile when I could just buy a $40 fan to begin with?
Cooler Master in general has some really inconsistent products. I guess that's just the risk of buying its products.

That's why after reading about your experience and comparing it to mine I'm surprised to read your feedback that it's loud and not much better than the stock HSF. I'm using the stock fan that came with the evo 212 and find it basically inaudible even when the CPU is under 100% load. The amount of nose variability when the RPMs change due to cooling are much better than the stock HSF that came with the Core i7. Maybe their inconsistency is why I'm satisfied and you're not...or my ears are much less sensitive.

 

[Mercutio]

My I7 rigs stay at 100% utilization for days or weeks at a time because of video encoding, but it was my experience that the Hyper 212 was subjectively just as loud as the Intel HSF at idle and under load.

The Noctua is inaudible under any condition; the only time that machine makes noise is when the video card is being used.

 

[Chewy509]

My big guy must not be a monster then. It only has 48GB of DIMMs and 84TB of disks in it.
I probably should've used a back brace when I racked it though.

Nope, not a monster... A monument build of epic technology... :tgif:
Seriously, I tend to consider it to be a monster build once you start using non-consumer grade equipment - Xeons/Opterons, Reg ECC RAM, large SAS RAID controllers, Tape drives, etc.
What I've spec'ed is largely all consumer grade and is all easily available at most computer shops/suppliers - nothing that really requires special orders or specialist suppliers.

I guess the only part to be debated for me is the cooler and when? (but the latter is more a case of getting the money together). While the NH-D12 seems ideal, I'm not convinced on the weight of it... over 1.2Kg is a lot of stress to place on the PCB... will have to keep reading reviews over the next few weeks...

Seriously, what do you need 84TB of storage for? (Or shouldn't I ask)...

 

[Mercutio]

There's quite a lot more than 84TB. That's just what's in that particular chassis.
And the correct answer is "redundancy."

 

[ddrueding]

Seriously, I tend to consider it to be a monster build once you start using non-consumer grade equipment - Xeons/Opterons, Reg ECC RAM, large SAS RAID controllers, Tape drives, etc.

In my experience, most of the non-consumer items you listed make a machine slower for most single user/single task applications.

 

[Tannin]

Also, why the Seagate SSD? That doesn't actually seem like their area of expertise.

Severe dislike for all Samsung, and the Seagate has similar performance to the Samsung 840 Pro.

But Seagate is Samsung. At least that's my understanding: when Seagate bought the Samsung hard drive division, they also agreed to buy vast amounts of Samsung flash RAM for making SSDs, and Seagate-badged SSDs are really Samsung. Or so I heard, Perhaps I have it wrong.

 

[CougTek]

The Seagate 600D uses a LAMB controller, the same one Corsair uses in their Neutron and Neutron GTX drives. Samsung branded SSD use Samsung controllers. I don't know about the flash memory used in Seagate's SSD.

 

[Chewy509]

I don't know about the flash memory used in Seagate's SSD.

Seagate has a supply deal with both Toshiba and Samsung...

However the 600 series uses Toshiba 19nm MLC NAND. (Source: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6935/seagate-600-ssd-review/2 )

As for other Seagate models, no idea if they use either Toshiba or Samsung NAND parts...