Speaking of Watercooling

[Artemis]

My current PC has alzheimers, I'm not sure whether the problems stem from a past due O/S install or whether it was effected by some brown-outs we had, although some of the glitches seem more hardware than software based. I don't upgrade my own PC systems very often, I find something strong and reliable and tend to stick with it for a while ( I have also learned the lesson of paying the price of being an early adopter ). It is however time for an upgrade although the CPU is still doing what I need: Core2Quad 9650 @3.0Ghz it is the motherboard which is like Elvis leaving the building so the plan is an upgrade.

I have decided to base the upgrade on a new LGA 2011 CPU but was surprised first that they are not supplied with a heatsink/fan and second that watercooling is recommended with these processors.

Never having dealt with watercooling directly I didn't know a great deal about it, but I was interested in the closed loop CPU cooling systems rather than building a complete watercooling system like Cabalo or Detale have built in their PC's. After alot of research into the various alternatives the Antec Kuhler H20 920 became my leading contender because it is a controllable device, it has a USB header which mounts to the motherboard once the software is loaded you have profile control over the fan speed.

So my shopping list is:

Intel Intel i7 3820 Quad CPU @ 3.6 Ghz

Asus P9X79 PRO Intel X79 LGA 2011 Motherboard ATX 8x DDR3 Quad Channel CrossFireX SLI USB3 SATA3 BLUETOOTH

G.Skill Ripjaws Z 16GB (4X4) DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Ultra Performance Desktop Memory 240-Pin DDR3

ANTEC KUHLER H20 920 Liquid Cooling System

OCZ Agility3 120GB SATA3 2.5" Solid State HDD (SSD) (Max Write up to 500MB/s), SandForce 2281 Controller


I have a CoolerMaster CM690II Case, ACBel 700w PSU (will change that very soon), various SATA drives, SATA DVD writer and an EVGA 560GTX graphics card, so from this partial build I can upgrade as I need later on.

Although I have done quite a bit of research any questions/suggestions would be appreciated, and of course the build will be featured in the post your pc pics thread.

[mjmacky]

Before I say, "spend the extra 500 (units of money)" just to sarcastically spite you, for what tasks do you purpose this hypothetical machine?

[Chewie]

I have a Agility 3 120 and love it. Performance in tests don't mark it among the best SSDs though - IIRC, and without going off to dig out those tests, it's much slower handling compressed files. I wouldn't know the difference though, as I don't benchmark everything I do on a computer.

Have you got an SSD already? Not wishing to teach Granny to suck eggs here, but change Windows settings so all temp files and the pagefile are stored on a HDD as they are constantly being created & deleted which will reduce the lifespan on those little Nandos chicken memory chip things at the heart. I do that with my user folders, too, just in case the system gets attacked by bad karma.
There are tutorials for moving almost everything (appdata folders etc.) to another drive but I didn't bother.
I have suites with large programs (orifice, phoatie shopping etc.) installed on the SSD to make 'em snappy to start up but install other stuff to a HDD to keep planty of space on the SSD for wear levelling.

Of course, If you know about this already and don't need this shit, just call me a patronising arsehole.

[Snee]

My current PC has alzheimers, I'm not sure whether the problems stem from a past due O/S install or whether it was effected by some brown-outs we had, although some of the glitches seem more hardware than software based. I don't upgrade my own PC systems very often, I find something strong and reliable and tend to stick with it for a while ( I have also learned the lesson of paying the price of being an early adopter ). It is however time for an upgrade although the CPU is still doing what I need: Core2Quad 9650 @3.0Ghz it is the motherboard which is like Elvis leaving the building so the plan is an upgrade.

I have decided to base the upgrade on a new LGA 2011 CPU but was surprised first that they are not supplied with a heatsink/fan and second that watercooling is recommended with these processors.

Never having dealt with watercooling directly I didn't know a great deal about it, but I was interested in the closed loop CPU cooling systems rather than building a complete watercooling system like Cabalo or Detale have built in their PC's. After alot of research into the various alternatives the Antec Kuhler H20 920 became my leading contender because it is a controllable device, it has a USB header which mounts to the motherboard once the software is loaded you have profile control over the fan speed.

So my shopping list is:

Intel Intel i7 3820 Quad CPU @ 3.6 Ghz

Asus P9X79 PRO Intel X79 LGA 2011 Motherboard ATX 8x DDR3 Quad Channel CrossFireX SLI USB3 SATA3 BLUETOOTH

G.Skill Ripjaws Z 16GB (4X4) DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Ultra Performance Desktop Memory 240-Pin DDR3

ANTEC KUHLER H20 920 Liquid Cooling System

OCZ Agility3 120GB SATA3 2.5" Solid State HDD (SSD) (Max Write up to 500MB/s), SandForce 2281 Controller


I have a CoolerMaster CM690II Case, ACBel 700w PSU (will change that very soon), various SATA drives, SATA DVD writer and an EVGA 560GTX graphics card, so from this partial build I can upgrade as I need later on.

Although I have done quite a bit of research any questions/suggestions would be appreciated, and of course the build will be featured in the post your pc pics thread.

Why not get a revodrive while you're at it?

Also, I'm sure that mobo is fine, but if I was sorting put a new computer now, I'd get the latest (Asus) Rampage or (EVGA) Classified. I realise there are budgetary constraints, tho.

I'm sure you don't actually need it, but dude, those are awesome. And my Rampage II Extreme has been fantastic.

Are you planning on running win 7 home premium on it? Else I'd pick up another 16 gigs of Ram at once. In my experience it's usually best to get all the RAM you're gonna use for a specific mobo and be done with it (until you decide you want to double up and switch out all of it, anyhow). Better chances of memtest not failing than if you put in two different batches.

[Artemis]

My current PC has alzheimers, I'm not sure whether the problems stem from a past due O/S install or whether it was effected by some brown-outs we had, although some of the glitches seem more hardware than software based. I don't upgrade my own PC systems very often, I find something strong and reliable and tend to stick with it for a while ( I have also learned the lesson of paying the price of being an early adopter ). It is however time for an upgrade although the CPU is still doing what I need: Core2Quad 9650 @3.0Ghz it is the motherboard which is like Elvis leaving the building so the plan is an upgrade.

I have decided to base the upgrade on a new LGA 2011 CPU but was surprised first that they are not supplied with a heatsink/fan and second that watercooling is recommended with these processors.

Never having dealt with watercooling directly I didn't know a great deal about it, but I was interested in the closed loop CPU cooling systems rather than building a complete watercooling system like Cabalo or Detale have built in their PC's. After alot of research into the various alternatives the Antec Kuhler H20 920 became my leading contender because it is a controllable device, it has a USB header which mounts to the motherboard once the software is loaded you have profile control over the fan speed.

So my shopping list is:

Intel Intel i7 3820 Quad CPU @ 3.6 Ghz

Asus P9X79 PRO Intel X79 LGA 2011 Motherboard ATX 8x DDR3 Quad Channel CrossFireX SLI USB3 SATA3 BLUETOOTH

G.Skill Ripjaws Z 16GB (4X4) DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Ultra Performance Desktop Memory 240-Pin DDR3

ANTEC KUHLER H20 920 Liquid Cooling System

OCZ Agility3 120GB SATA3 2.5" Solid State HDD (SSD) (Max Write up to 500MB/s), SandForce 2281 Controller


I have a CoolerMaster CM690II Case, ACBel 700w PSU (will change that very soon), various SATA drives, SATA DVD writer and an EVGA 560GTX graphics card, so from this partial build I can upgrade as I need later on.

Although I have done quite a bit of research any questions/suggestions would be appreciated, and of course the build will be featured in the post your pc pics thread.

Why not get a revodrive while you're at it?

Also, I'm sure that mobo is fine, but if I was sorting put a new computer now, I'd get the latest (Asus) Rampage or (EVGA) Classified. I realise there are budgetary constraints, tho.

I'm sure you don't actually need it, but dude, those are awesome. And my Rampage II Extreme has been fantastic.

Are you planning on running win 7 home premium on it? Else I'd pick up another 16 gigs of Ram at once. In my experience it's usually best to get all the RAM you're gonna use for a specific mobo and be done with it (until you decide you want to double up and switch out all of it, anyhow). Better chances of memtest not failing than if you put in two different batches.

I looked seriously at the EVGA contenders as well as ASUS Motherboards, bang for my buck came down to the Gigabyte GA-X79-UD5 or the ASUS motherboard that I chose, largely because it has a better BIOS. I did start out with a set budget, I stretched it more than once so this is where I am right now. Good point though about the 32GB RAM because my intention was to upgrade to 32GB later on.
As to the Revodrive I had considered it but X79 is designed with Intel's SSD caching with this enabled, the SSD becomes a highspeed cache for commonly used files accessed from the SATA drives, this speeds up drive speed times by 3 overall and is 2 times faster than a revo drive.

I have a Agility 3 120 and love it. Performance in tests don't mark it among the best SSDs though - IIRC, and without going off to dig out those tests, it's much slower handling compressed files. I wouldn't know the difference though, as I don't benchmark everything I do on a computer.

Have you got an SSD already? Not wishing to teach Granny to suck eggs here, but change Windows settings so all temp files and the pagefile are stored on a HDD as they are constantly being created & deleted which will reduce the lifespan on those little Nandos chicken memory chip things at the heart. I do that with my user folders, too, just in case the system gets attacked by bad karma.
There are tutorials for moving almost everything (appdata folders etc.) to another drive but I didn't bother.
I have suites with large programs (orifice, phoatie shopping etc.) installed on the SSD to make 'em snappy to start up but install other stuff to a HDD to keep planty of space on the SSD for wear levelling.

Of course, If you know about this already and don't need this shit, just call me a patronising arsehole.

As I explained to Snee I plan to take advantage of Intel's SSD Caching which is similar to how a Revo or hybrid drive works. This caches the most commonly used files for access via the SSD, but makes access to files dynamic based on usage. Well, we'll see, the theory is good, if the practice sucks, I can convert the drive to a standard setup, but I like the concept.

[Snee]

As to the Revodrive I had considered it but X79 is designed with Intel's SSD caching with this enabled, the SSD becomes a highspeed cache for commonly used files accessed from the SATA drives, this speeds up drive speed times by 3 overall and is 2 times faster than a revo drive.

I meant you should get both

[Artemis]

As to the Revodrive I had considered it but X79 is designed with Intel's SSD caching with this enabled, the SSD becomes a highspeed cache for commonly used files accessed from the SATA drives, this speeds up drive speed times by 3 overall and is 2 times faster than a revo drive.

I meant you should get both

I will if my lottery tickets win this weekend, fingers crossed.


Seriously, I figured this was the best bang for my buck, and something I can easily add to i.e. upgrade the graphics card etc later on. This board is designed for PCIe-3 so it gives me upgradability there as well and there are 4 SATA3 ports onboard. Also the 3820 CPU is the baseline CPU in the LGA 2011 range if I wish later on I can upgrade to one of the Hexcore processors, it was really the board that was the important component in the build in terms of getting the features right.

Before I say, "spend the extra 500 (units of money)" just to sarcastically spite you, for what tasks do you purpose this hypothetical machine?

The cost of these components is actually similar or slightly more than a similarly spec'ed 2600k i7 based machine while giving a great deal more expandability (8x DDR3 slots 4X SATA3 4X SATA2 slots PCIe-3 and the upgrade path to a Hexcore processor ) so apart from the extra expense of the watercooling system it seems a logical expenditure to me in that I am future proofing myself as much as I can in within a rapidly changing technology framework.
Having been a system builder in the past I still retain a 15% discount with a local supplier which is also handy.

[mjmacky]

I am future proofing myself as much as I can in within a rapidly changing technology framework.

Yeah but I hope it's not just to play Mahjong, watch youtube vids and browse the web. I meant what do you actually do that seems to call for anything beyond a dual core?

[Artemis]

I am future proofing myself as much as I can in within a rapidly changing technology framework.

Yeah but I hope it's not just to play Mahjong, watch youtube vids and browse the web. I meant what do you actually do that seems to call for anything beyond a dual core?

Mainly the Mahjong actually

[Artemis]

Actually Snee here is a chart comparison of the feature set for all of the Asus X79 based boards to give a comparison of the features if you are interested: