[yubibotter]

Hi there @YubiBotter
My pc is getting old and I can't work efficiently on it anymore (which is by the way one cause of my absence).

I've spent the past days in researches regarding hardware, and ended up building the following (the Antec GX505 is the case): http://de.pcpartpicker.com/p/9rC7bv

Is that a good build? Do I need a better power supply, are there things which may be overpriced? Do I need extra fans?

And let's say I would order those parts, will I need addidional cables or something to properly build it together?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Generally from my experience every cable necessary for the build will be provided in their respective boxes.
Personally I would have dropped the H80i, and went with a Fractal Design R4 with a Hyper 212 Evo.
I would also opt for another motherboard as ASRock is essentially the budget board manufacturer (especially if you're overclocking which it looks like you are).

Aside from that it looks perfectly fine, XFX make great GPU coolers imo and BeQuiet are typically not great but are definitely acceptable.

Yo @YubiBotter . So I'm planning on doing a push/pull configuration on the swiftech h320, with the radiator on the inside and 3 fans pulling cold air inside and the other 3 fans on the other side pushing that pulled in cool air into the system. This is going to be on a Corsair 900D case. My question to you is, how many fans can I set up in the case with h320 being the only watercooling part? Gunna be using an ASUS Rampage V Extreme mobo. The 900D has like 3 fans space up front, 4 fans space on both side, and one fan space for exhaust. Thanks!

Out of curiosity, why do you want push/pull? Because the H320 doesn't have a high fin density, nor is it very thick. All that would do is effectively make the system louder.

I would run two front fans (ignoring the basement third fan) as intakes, this will help cool the GPU/Mobo and CPU (via radiator).
Then I would have the radiator mounted on the top with either fans pulling or pushing air (exhausting) through it, this way you're not introducing warm air into the system.
I would then run a single exhaust fan at the back.

Unfortunately the 900D was a bit of a waste if you don't have a multi GPU system loop, where radiators can be used in the basement to increase the liquid capacity and greatly help temperatures.

 

[savior]

Generally from my experience every cable necessary for the build will be provided in their respective boxes.
Personally I would have dropped the H80i, and went with a Fractal Design R4 with a Hyper 212 Evo.
I would also opt for another motherboard as ASRock is essentially the budget board manufacturer (especially if you're overclocking which it looks like you are).

Aside from that it looks perfectly fine, XFX make great GPU coolers imo and BeQuiet are typically not great but are definitely acceptable.


Out of curiosity, why do you want push/pull? Because the H320 doesn't have a high fin density, nor is it very thick. All that would do is effectively make the system louder.

I would run two front fans (ignoring the basement third fan) as intakes, this will help cool the GPU/Mobo and CPU (via radiator).
Then I would have the radiator mounted on the top with either fans pulling or pushing air (exhausting) through it, this way you're not introducing warm air into the system.
I would then run a single exhaust fan at the back.

Unfortunately the 900D was a bit of a waste if you don't have a multi GPU system loop, where radiators can be used in the basement to increase the liquid capacity and greatly help temperatures.

Regarding the R4 case, it seems to me like it doesn't easily get much air, will a Corsair 300R do aswell? Or do you have any other cases with a good airflow, because where my computer stands, it doesn't always get fresh air.
For the motherboard: any recommendations?

 

[yubibotter]

Regarding the R4 case, it seems to me like it doesn't easily get much air, will a Corsair 300R do aswell? Or do you have any other cases with a good airflow, because where my computer stands, it doesn't always get fresh air.
For the motherboard: any recommendations?

From my experience the R4 never really had cooling issues, I've recommended a large number of them in the past due to how well built they are, as well as the fact that it's covered in noise dampening foam which really helps.
Before I pick a motherboard, are you definitely overclocking?

 

[savior]

From my experience the R4 never really had cooling issues, I've recommended a large number of them in the past due to how well built they are, as well as the fact that it's covered in noise dampening foam which really helps.
Before I pick a motherboard, are you definitely overclocking?

Oh ok I will pick the R4 then, maybe R5 if that has any reasonable difference.
I don't even know how to overclock or why I should/shouldn't do that lol.

 

[yubibotter]

Oh ok I will pick the R4 then, maybe R5 if that has any reasonable difference.
I don't even know how to overclock or why I should/shouldn't do that lol.

I would recommend whatever is cheaper, the R5 has generally better compatibility but that's kinda irrelevant if you're not using really long GPU's like a 7990 or something.
I just assumed you were going to overclock because of the motherboard, CPU cooler and CPU choices. I wouldn't really recommend overclocking simply because you have to invest time in it, and to be quite honest the gains will be minimal if you don't allocate the budget on the appropriate hardware.
TLDR It's an enthusiast feature that I don't really recommend as the gains aren't all that noticeable aside from the time you lost.
http://de.pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-motherboard-h97gaming3

 

[cowfart33]

looking for 2 things,
a recommended laptop for general use gaming (ie pretty gud graphics and able to play most current gen games)
a PC home rig that i will build in a year
Ive got about 4000 GBP for the 2, though ill probably save more over the next year, say 2000 GBP flexing
so i need a recommended laptop model under the aforementioned budget leaving enough for a suggested PC rig in late 2016
for the PC im not really concerned about anything special, so feel free to go bananas on specification, as long as it runs windows and doesn't blow up its food for thought
Thx
(also i am currently in taiwan, so prices of laptops are about 15% cheaper than online retail, feel free to go wild within budget)

 

[savior]

I would recommend whatever is cheaper, the R5 has generally better compatibility but that's kinda irrelevant if you're not using really long GPU's like a 7990 or something.
I just assumed you were going to overclock because of the motherboard, CPU cooler and CPU choices. I wouldn't really recommend overclocking simply because you have to invest time in it, and to be quite honest the gains will be minimal if you don't allocate the budget on the appropriate hardware.
TLDR It's an enthusiast feature that I don't really recommend as the gains aren't all that noticeable aside from the time you lost.
http://de.pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-motherboard-h97gaming3

I see...
You previous response sounded like I would pay for the good opportunity to overclock the cpu, are there any cpus which aren't built for overclocking, but still as good as the i5 4690k?
Thank you btw, your tips are helping a lot!

 

[yubibotter]

I see...
You previous response sounded like I would pay for the good opportunity to overclock the cpu, are there any cpus which aren't built for overclocking, but still as good as the i5 4690k?
Thank you btw, your tips are helping a lot!

That was the intended effect The motherboard chipset you picked is more expensive because it includes more overclocking features, you're essentially paying for features you wouldn't use.
You could pick up an i5 4690, which is the exact same CPU but with overclocking disabled, though due to weird price fluctuations you might find the 4690k to be cheaper than the locked variant. I would recommend that you buy whichever is cheapest, on paper the i5-4690 performs marginally worse due to a slight clock bump but really it means nothing.

looking for 2 things,
a recommended laptop for general use gaming (ie pretty gud graphics and able to play most current gen games)
a PC home rig that i will build in a year
Ive got about 4000 GBP for the 2, though ill probably save more over the next year, say 2000 GBP flexing
so i need a recommended laptop model under the aforementioned budget leaving enough for a suggested PC rig in late 2016
for the PC im not really concerned about anything special, so feel free to go bananas on specification, as long as it runs windows and doesn't blow up its food for thought
Thx
(also i am currently in taiwan, so prices of laptops are about 15% cheaper than online retail, feel free to go wild within budget)

That's unfortunate, I'm afraid I specialize in systems that blow up.
Jokes aside, 4000 GBP is a very healthy sum of money for both a desktop and laptop.
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/WjDt23
http://www.amazon.co.uk/MSI-GT72-2QE-Dominator-1438-HID2/dp/B00Z2FXFPA
Not really a fan of the budget allocation on that laptop, but hey, it's a laptop Not like you can really customize them, that fad died out a while ago.

 

[philosobyte]

looking for 2 things,
a recommended laptop for general use gaming (ie pretty gud graphics and able to play most current gen games)
a PC home rig that i will build in a year
Ive got about 4000 GBP for the 2, though ill probably save more over the next year, say 2000 GBP flexing
so i need a recommended laptop model under the aforementioned budget leaving enough for a suggested PC rig in late 2016
for the PC im not really concerned about anything special, so feel free to go bananas on specification, as long as it runs windows and doesn't blow up its food for thought
Thx
(also i am currently in taiwan, so prices of laptops are about 15% cheaper than online retail, feel free to go wild within budget)

I don't know what Yubi will recommend on the laptop side of things. But seeing as the choice of a laptop is way more based on personal preference than a desktop is, I think you should invest the time to read up on some of these reviews and face-offs before your big purchase.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Notebookcheck-s-Top-10-Gaming-Notebooks.98628.0.html
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Face-Off-Dell-Alienware-15-vs-Clevo-P751ZM-vs-MSI-GE62.145652.0.html
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Face-O...enware-17-vs-MSI-GT72-Dominator.145113.0.html
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Face-Off-Aorus-X3-Plus-vs-Gigabyte-P34W-vs-Razer-Blade-14.142980.0.html

I personally would get the Alienware 15 because it has one of the best cooling systems on a laptop ever. it has a nice battery life when not gaming, and it's not as monstrously big as 17-inch laptops. But that's based on my own preferences.

 

[yubibotter]

I don't know what Yubi will recommend on the laptop side of things. But seeing as the choice of a laptop is way more based on personal preference than a desktop is, I think you should invest the time to read up on some of these reviews and face-offs before your big purchase.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Notebookcheck-s-Top-10-Gaming-Notebooks.98628.0.html
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Face-Off-Dell-Alienware-15-vs-Clevo-P751ZM-vs-MSI-GE62.145652.0.html
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Face-O...enware-17-vs-MSI-GT72-Dominator.145113.0.html
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Face-Off-Aorus-X3-Plus-vs-Gigabyte-P34W-vs-Razer-Blade-14.142980.0.html

I personally would get the Alienware 15 because it has one of the best cooling systems on a laptop ever. it has a nice battery life when not gaming, and it's not as monstrously big as 17-inch laptops. But that's based on my own preferences.

That is definitely a point to consider, though I should've stressed (albeit my preference) of an IPS panel, I for one cannot use any other panel types simply due to how accurately IPS produces colour.

Also, I don't know if I'm looking at the wrong laptop here, but the cooling on the Alienware 15 is actually a standard that's been around for a while.

 

[philosobyte]

That is definitely a point to consider, though I should've stressed (albeit my preference) of an IPS panel, I for one cannot use any other panel types simply due to how accurately IPS produces colour.

Also, I don't know if I'm looking at the wrong laptop here, but the cooling on the Alienware 15 is actually a standard that's been around for a while.

Same here, I don't know how I can ever look at a TN panel again.

"As the chart below reveals, the Alienware 15 belongs to one of the coolest gaming laptops ever." - quote from the Alienware 15 review @ http://www.notebookcheck.net/Alienware-15-Notebook-Review.136667.0.html

Also, in the face-off (http://www.notebookcheck.net/Face-Off-Dell-Alienware-15-vs-Clevo-P751ZM-vs-MSI-GE62.145652.0.html), the Alienware 15 was the only laptop that did not throttle under a prolonged stress test.

The Alienware 17 is a different story. It has pretty bad cooling compared to the 17-inch competitors

 

[yubibotter]

Same here, I don't know how I can ever look at a TN panel again.

"As the chart below reveals, the Alienware 15 belongs to one of the coolest gaming laptops ever." - quote from the Alienware 15 review @ http://www.notebookcheck.net/Alienware-15-Notebook-Review.136667.0.html

Also, in the face-off (http://www.notebookcheck.net/Face-Off-Dell-Alienware-15-vs-Clevo-P751ZM-vs-MSI-GE62.145652.0.html), the Alienware 15 was the only laptop that did not throttle under a prolonged stress test.

The Alienware 17 is a different story. It has pretty bad cooling compared to the 17-inch competitors

Ahh yeah that would explain it, the Alienware 15 is moderately thick and has pretty efficient hardware (970m) so that would definitely aid the cooling, but it's not unique unfortunately. The best I saw was a liquid cooled workstation laptop which had like 60 cores or something ridiculous, peaked at 60 degrees under full load.

 

[infinite inferno]

Out of curiosity, why do you want push/pull? Because the H320 doesn't have a high fin density, nor is it very thick. All that would do is effectively make the system louder.

I would run two front fans (ignoring the basement third fan) as intakes, this will help cool the GPU/Mobo and CPU (via radiator).
Then I would have the radiator mounted on the top with either fans pulling or pushing air (exhausting) through it, this way you're not introducing warm air into the system.
I would then run a single exhaust fan at the back.

Unfortunately the 900D was a bit of a waste if you don't have a multi GPU system loop, where radiators can be used in the basement to increase the liquid capacity and greatly help temperatures.

Ah ok. I want to create a positive pressure in the system, so i should mount the fans on top of the radiator to pull in cold air right? Or is the bottom so that it pushes the cold air? I was thinking of mounting just fans that pulled in air in both sides of the basement but i don't think the mobo has enough fan pins to handle more than say 6 air flow fans and 1 exhaust fan. Do you reccomend another case where i can mount the h320 but its not as big as the 900D?

 

[yubibotter]

Ah ok. I want to create a positive pressure in the system, so i should mount the fans on top of the radiator to pull in cold air right? Or is the bottom so that it pushes the cold air? I was thinking of mounting just fans that pulled in air in both sides of the basement but i don't think the mobo has enough fan pins to handle more than say 6 air flow fans and 1 exhaust fan. Do you reccomend another case where i can mount the h320 but its not as big as the 900D?

Coincidentally I own a 750D which is still fairly large and I also own a H320.
Another option is the Fractal Design S which can fit a 360mm radiator on the front.
http://i.imgur.com/iRJlmU2.png
^ A quick mock-up of the airflow I would choose, in theory positive/negative pressure would impact your system's dust situation but from my experience it's negligible at best.

 

[savior]

https://de.pcpartpicker.com/user/Torsm/saved/tfR9TW
That's what I've ended up with for now.
Added one additional case fan because I think it would be good to have 2 front fans (in) and one on the back (out), correct me if I'm wrong

 

[infinite inferno]

Coincidentally I own a 750D which is still fairly large and I also own a H320.
Another option is the Fractal Design S which can fit a 360mm radiator on the front.
http://i.imgur.com/iRJlmU2.png
^ A quick mock-up of the airflow I would choose, in theory positive/negative pressure would impact your system's dust situation but from my experience it's negligible at best.

You see from that picture, in the basement there is place for 4 120MM fans on both sides. If only the Asus motherboard had more pins to handle all those fans Right now im thinking the h320 is gunna pull cold air, and the three 120MM fans in the front are also gunna pull in cold air. Im planning on removing the hard drive chassis because i will be only mounting 1 SSD and will have a 5TB external storage. Good idea?

 

[yubibotter]

https://de.pcpartpicker.com/user/Torsm/saved/tfR9TW
That's what I've ended up with for now.
Added one additional case fan because I think it would be good to have 2 front fans (in) and one on the back (out), correct me if I'm wrong

Yeah I would prefer having two in the front as opposed to one, I try prioritize as much airflow to the graphics card as possible as it's typically the hottest.

You see from that picture, in the basement there is place for 4 120MM fans on both sides. If only the Asus motherboard had more pins to handle all those fans Right now im thinking the h320 is gunna pull cold air, and the three 120MM fans in the front are also gunna pull in cold air. Im planning on removing the hard drive chassis because i will be only mounting 1 SSD and will have a 5TB external storage. Good idea?

Yeah I probably wouldn't even put fans in the basement, since that's designed for mass storage or large radiators, neither of which you have.
The problem with your setup is that while they're pulling in "cold" air, you have no actual airflow to speak of because it's all pulling in apart from one fan, it would essentially choke it.
I too have removed a lot of my hard drive cages simply because I only have four storage drives, all of which will fit in one cage, perfectly fine imo.

 

[infinite inferno]

Y
Yeah I probably wouldn't even put fans in the basement, since that's designed for mass storage or large radiators, neither of which you have.
The problem with your setup is that while they're pulling in "cold" air, you have no actual airflow to speak of because it's all pulling in apart from one fan, it would essentially choke it.
I too have removed a lot of my hard drive cages simply because I only have four storage drives, all of which will fit in one cage, perfectly fine imo.

Wouldn't a Noctua Fan with a high static pressure take care of the choking problem?

 

[yubibotter]

Wouldn't a Noctua Fan with a high static pressure take care of the choking problem?

Not really, the issue is too many intakes, it's best to maintain a 1:1 ratio of intake and exhaust. That rule isn't necessarily strict however, you could for example have 2 exhausts and 3 intakes, and vice versa.

Having too many intakes will stifle airflow and choke, whereas too many exhausts will provide no cool air to enter the system, so it's better to have a 1:1 (give or take 1) of intakes and exhausts.

 

[infinite inferno]

Not really, the issue is too many intakes, it's best to maintain a 1:1 ratio of intake and exhaust. That rule isn't necessarily strict however, you could for example have 2 exhausts and 3 intakes, and vice versa.

Having too many intakes will stifle airflow and choke, whereas too many exhausts will provide no cool air to enter the system, so it's better to have a 1:1 (give or take 1) of intakes and exhausts.

Ok so I can make the h320 fans pull in cold air and use the front 2 fans and back fan as an exhaust? Btw, on which side do you positons the fans on the radiator if you want to push or pull?