New Sandy Bridge build

[JustinHEMI]

Put together a new system today based around the sandy bridge 2600K CPU and z68 motherboard. I WAS going to build and x79, but was very underwhelmed by the cost/performance ratio, so I went with this set up. I was able to get the CPU, mobo, and memory for less than the price of the x79 CPU! (I am coming from x58, BTW.., I just wanted to mess with a sandy bridge).

 

That said, I stayed Corsair as much as possible, but Corsair doesn't make motherboards or GPU's yet. (HINT HINT) :D

 

Anyway, here are some pictures and why I chose the parts I did;

 

 

All the parts laid out on the table;

 

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y192/JustinHEMI04/P1000331.jpg

 

 

Went with an HX1050. With that big 87.5 amp single rail, more than enough power for anything I'll ever do with it (mild overclocking single GPU applications).

 

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y192/JustinHEMI04/P1000333.jpg

 

 

For my primary drive, I went with the Corsair Force 3 SSD. My other drives are some I had laying around collecting dust including a 150gb velociraptor and 640gb caviar black. I am not a storage wh*re so I don't need more than those.

 

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y192/JustinHEMI04/P1000334.jpg

 

 

Corsair H100 for cooling, of course!

 

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y192/JustinHEMI04/P1000335.jpg

 

 

EVGA GTX570 superclock. I had a 580 previously, but after doing some more research and calculations, I found that for a 5-10% performance increase in the games I play, I had to pay a 43% price increase..., in other words, not worth it. The 570 will play everything I play maxed out (COD, Fallout, Portal).

 

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y192/JustinHEMI04/P1000336.jpg

 

 

Corsair Vengeance memory. Aren't they beautiful? :P

 

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y192/JustinHEMI04/P1000337.jpg

 

 

I normally build with EVGA motherboards, but IMO, they're z68 offerings are kinds of weak, considering they don't appear to be Ivy Bridge ready. So I did some research and found that the ASRock Extreme4 Gen3 got pretty good reviews and decided to give it a rip. So far so good and it is Ivy Bridge ready if I decide to pick one of those chips up in the future.

 

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y192/JustinHEMI04/P1000339.jpg

 

 

Got the CPU and memory installed.

 

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y192/JustinHEMI04/P1000341.jpg

 

 

Motherboard, PSU and drives installed into case.

 

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y192/JustinHEMI04/P1000342.jpg

 

 

H100 installed.

 

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y192/JustinHEMI04/P1000343.jpg

 

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y192/JustinHEMI04/P1000344.jpg

 

 

Graphics and sound (Creative XFi titanium) installed.

 

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y192/JustinHEMI04/P1000345.jpg

 

 

And she's done! Just needs buttoned up for first power on.

 

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y192/JustinHEMI04/P1000346.jpg

 

 

To break up the black and add a splash of color, I found some pre-sleeved power connectors in red.

 

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y192/JustinHEMI04/P1000347.jpg

 

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y192/JustinHEMI04/P1000348.jpg

 

 

And she's alive! First boot no issues! w00t!

 

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y192/JustinHEMI04/P1000350.jpg

 

 

I do have a rats nest behind the scenes. One of these days I'll clean it up. I had to use a knee to smoosh it all enough to get the panel to close. :P

 

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y192/JustinHEMI04/P1000352.jpg

 

 

Anyway, as usual, Corsair delivers. I love my new machine and she has been running like a champ. I got the overclock up to 4.8ghz and she never got hotter than 65c during 4 hours of P95. When I go to bed, I'm going to run P95 again all through the night and all day tomorrow.

 

Thanks for looking!

 

Justin

[JustinHEMI]

Oh and I am running Corsair headsets... love them, and I will be getting a mouse and keyboard.

[BlimeyCorr]

Hi, I'm building almost identical system with ASRock z77 extreme 4, Corsair 500R case and H100 water cooler.

I was interested in how you have your airflow setup and how i go about overclocking my i5-3570k.

 

Cheers.

 

Also i noticed you only have the 2 stock fans installed in front and back. Do you find this ample for cooling.

[iamairdeano]

the cool upgrade on the 500R is the AF120 "quiet" in the front, SP120 "quiet" on the rad

and AF 140 in the rear exhaust position if you like it quiet.

if you like the windy noise, substitute the quiets for the performance editions. works great

in the 400/500R cases.

 

airdeano

[JustinHEMI]

Hi, I'm building almost identical system with ASRock z77 extreme 4, Corsair 500R case and H100 water cooler.

I was interested in how you have your airflow setup and how i go about overclocking my i5-3570k.

 

Cheers.

 

Also i noticed you only have the 2 stock fans installed in front and back. Do you find this ample for cooling.

 

Yes, stock is fine for ample cooling.

 

I have the back fan and the two radiator fans blowing OUT of the case, per Corsair's recommendation.

 

Works great.

 

 

As for OCing your CPU, there are literally dozens of guides out there. Just do a google search. OCing these chips is easy peasy.

 

 

Justin

[BlimeyCorr]

Yes, stock is fine for ample cooling.

 

I have the back fan and the two radiator fans blowing OUT of the case, per Corsair's recommendation.

 

Works great.

 

Justin

 

Just seems odd that the radiator is supposed to have cool air running across it and the top grille has dust filter, would suggest air should be pulled in through the top.

[JustinHEMI]

Just seems odd that the radiator is supposed to have cool air running across it and the top grille has dust filter, would suggest air should be pulled in through the top.

 

That dust filter is a huge restriction. I run without it.