$5000+ Build: Comments?

[zlojack]

Yeah...2 4870 X2's should be driving a 30" monitor!

[kiikkuja]

If the PSU blows it could take something with it. As Tonucci and others said
it can lead to a disaster.

[Power5]

Wait, you are the CTO????

I know nearly nothing compared to most on this site. I can tell you that you would not want to OC a office rig too much if you want it to be reliable and 24/7 stable. Without huge OC, WC is pointless. Cant wait to see pictures of this thing though.

[Captain Zero]

Wait, you are the CTO????

Scary, isn't it?

I'll keep a close eye on the PSU. Thanks for the advice, everyone. Can't wait for the gear to arrive. Some parts should arrive tomorrow, the rest (GPU, RAM, SSD) won't arrive until the first week of September.

[xMrBunglex]

Wait, you are the CTO????

I know nearly nothing compared to most on this site. I can tell you that you would not want to OC a office rig too much if you want it to be reliable and 24/7 stable. Without huge OC, WC is pointless. Cant wait to see pictures of this thing though.

overclocked rigs are very reliable if you do it right. you can even enable Speed Step on an overclocked rig as long as it isn't pushed to its limit. i've had C1E enabled on my computer for the past six months and it's totally stable. it idles at 2.6 GHz and loads at 4.0.

[Power5]

overclocked rigs are very reliable if you do it right. you can even enable Speed Step on an overclocked rig as long as it isn't pushed to its limit. i've had C1E enabled on my computer for the past six months and it's totally stable. it idles at 2.6 GHz and loads at 4.0.

I would not want my Main work crunching rig to be anything less than 100% stable. A crash during a huge animation rendering would be lots of lost work. I would rather spend the extra money on stock clocked components that are fast instead of OCing to the same level. On my personal rig its a different story, but they are for very different jobs. I wish our CTO and IT department would buy us cool rigs like yours, but I can assure you that getting to be a 4 billion dollar company isnt done by spending twice as much as needed on a computer.

[xMrBunglex]

maybe you just aren't a good overclocker. my computer doesn't crash. ever. i haven't rebooted it in two weeks and i thrash my rig all the time.

[Tonucci]

HardOCP reviewed the Kingwin ABT-1220MA1S Mach 1 Power Supply:

http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/articl...50aHVzaWFzdA==

It did very well. If their 1k unit is based on the same build then it should be good too.

Seeing how unproven it was, I was skeptical. Not much tho, since it handled anand's full load testing.

Nice surprise

I still dont think its the best deal for the money, but i must reckon this superflower platform.

[Captain Zero]

Here's part one of the shipment. Still missing RAM, only one 4870x2, BluRay burner and Dell monitor. Long weekend coming up!

[crazyea]

kb looks a bit out of place there.......

[Flarexi]

kb looks a bit out of place there.......

So true

[Chruschef]

Absolutely right.

I read the same thing - which is why I swapped it out with this:

ASUS Rampage Extreme LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Great choice of motherboard, it'll perform like a beast, the fusion water cooling is only a gimmick though. That water block is crap, and the water attachments to fit different tubing make it look even stupider, if it was me I'd just attach the extra air cooling attachments.
Another word on this board, when you receive it take the entire fusion cooling system and replace the thermal grease with your favorite thermal paste. They don't place enough, and they use crappy thermal paste; which is a shame because it's an expensive RoG, its like the bentley of mobo's, but they still crap out on us!

Your system looks like a beast! Especially with the Cosmos S case, it's a beastly case straight up. Best of luck.

[Captain Zero]

Great choice of motherboard, it'll perform like a beast, the fusion water cooling is only a gimmick though. That water block is crap, and the water attachments to fit different tubing make it look even stupider, if it was me I'd just attach the extra air cooling attachments.
Another word on this board, when you receive it take the entire fusion cooling system and replace the thermal grease with your favorite thermal paste. They don't place enough, and they use crappy thermal paste; which is a shame because it's an expensive RoG, its like the bentley of mobo's, but they still crap out on us!

Your system looks like a beast! Especially with the Cosmos S case, it's a beastly case straight up. Best of luck.

Thanks for the advice, I'd looked it over and wouldn't have picked up on those points. So pull the copper off and lay down some real thermal. Check. I'll WC the QX9650 and air the rest, sound good?

[Chruschef]

Sounds pretty pro to me, I'd also bookmark this page http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...highlight=3oh6 , the official rampage extreme forum.. Any problems can probably be answered in there.

[Rise]

I have the dell 2408WFP. It's a great display, you will not be disappointed by how vista looks on it... i can't help you with how it performs though

[Captain Zero]

The build is in process.

There just isn't enough time to get it all done. Family, job, family, sleep...

Finally. I'm getting to put this beast together. It's been *torture* having all this gear laying around and not being able to play with it. It's all out in the workshop and I'm going to start on it this weekend with a build log.

Having had a chance to review it all, I was especially interested in looking over the WC kit from Swiftech. I can see now, why all the suggestions came in to build 'custom'. But, that's the price you pay for not having done any WC before - I needed to see it, now I have, I know what I will do differently.

In the Cosmos S, I can go with a 3x res, not the 2x the kit came with. The CPU block is, meh.. I will likely pick up a GTX or research another option. And the res is really weak, don't care for it at all and will likely build my own when I do my Nehalem build. WC is hairy the first time, but I'm tackling the loops tonight - beginning with a nice isopropyl bath for the gear. I'm also going to reverse the flow of the case fans because; a- hot air rises, silly place for a rad to be. b- I'm in-taking from the top with my rad internal, drawing cooler air in from the dop and blowing it out the bottom and side. The 3x 120's will push 240+ CFM's (give or take) and the rest will draw out roughly that much - exluding the 120 on the HD's which is intake.

As with all CM cases I've tried, I'm impressed with the Cosmos S. There's *piles* of little details to get lost in, lots of helpful additions and little things that inexperienced builders like myself would encounter - they have already addressed.

NewEgg has been a complete pleasure to work with, as usual. One of the HD4870x2's was bad and it's been RMA'd. I was last told they were out of stock (again) but I expect it soon.

There are a ton of little parts I've had to pick up, fans I've played with, a seriously powerful Dremel, lots of clips, sleeving, UV crap, etc etc.. but I think it's all there now. *Yeah right*

This is a lot of fun and I'm excited to finally tackle this beast over the weekend. Look forward to updates - and benches.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

The build is in process.

WC before - I needed to see it, now I have, I know what I will do differently.


In the Cosmos S, I can go with a 3x res, not the 2x the kit came with. The CPU block is, meh.. I will likely pick up a GTX or research another option. And the res is really weak, don't care for it at all and will likely build my own when I do my Nehalem build. WC is hairy the first time, but I'm tackling the loops tonight - beginning with a nice isopropyl bath for the gear.

A - If you had just listened to us we could have told you the exact best parts to buy individually, dont be so ingrained to seeing it for yourself, youll save some money

B- you don't want an apogee gtx, you want a GTZ or a Fuzion v2

C - Do not do this, its not good for the blocks. if you must clean them clean them with ketchup, put the kethcup on the block, leave for 1-2 minutes, wipe off. do NOT leave the ketchup on for more than 2 minutes.

all the rest sounds good, good luck with it all

[pcaddict]

Why didnt you buy skulltrail?

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

Why didnt you buy skulltrail?

... cuz skulltrail is junk for performance and a total failure of an original concept

[pcaddict]

I think its awesome board, and I like it very much.

[zanzabar]

I think its awesome board, and I like it very much.

ur not gaming on it, i bet that u have it for a render box or doing workstation crunching. thats far different from gaming were its all about memory and IO bandwidth

[pcaddict]

I thought Captain_Zero is building workstation..

[Vinas]

more money than sense?

+1
I'd start by ditching the GB board and grabbing an x38, either DFI or Asus in that order. Also the dominator RAM isn't needed, get something cheaper like G.Skill or maybe Crucial. Don't buy the extreme CPU since you're going to OC (or why buy a swiftech kit) buy the Q9550 instead. You'll need a quality PSU -- try the PPC 860 model (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817703013) for about the same price as that no-name PSU.

Purchase dual 4870's or two 4870x2 and CF them.

Finally DO NOT BUY the samsung SSD, instead if you must have SSD buy the OCZ Core SSD drives for a fraction of the price @ nearly same performance point.

This is now almost twice the rig at same or lower price point.

EDIT: nevermind, I see this is in progress and you've changed to better parts. Best of luck.

[zanzabar]

I thought Captain_Zero is building workstation..

i thought gaming since he didnt opt for the ECC ram

[Captain Zero]

We don't call it "gaming" at the office, it's "Crysis Management".

Anyway, here's the buildlog.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/FORUMS/...d.php?t=201512