It's my first PC build and I'd appreciate some help!

HI! I'm not exactly new here but It's been a long while since I remembered the site name and actually had the time to get on. I just wanted to run past you guys/gals my new pc build (that's halfway finished) and maybe point me in a better direction with some of these last remaining pieces, BIOS, and Software options.

Currently the Build is:

Coolermaster Storm Scout case
Corsair 750w power supply (SLI/80 plus rated)
EVGA X58 SLIx3 Motherboard
Corsair Dominator 6Gb (3x2) Random Access Memory chips

First things first.

Do you think this is a good Power Supply so far? I wasn't sure if I could fit a good 800w supply in there because I felt the space was kinda small.

Is it bad to have relied so heavily on Corsair products? I always thought they where pretty good but I would like to know some other opinions.

Secondly, here is what I'd like to purchase to complete my RIG:

Intel i7 960 processor
Corsair Force 120 Gb SSD
EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti Superclocked

Questions:

I've read a bunch of reviews on the SSD about people complaining of the standby failure. Do you think this is a good choice of SSD despite all of the reviews? If not is there a better choice that is still as quick as this? Would you recommend a SSD of this size? or maybe 2 60s? I'm planning on running my OS on it along with some other programs. Nothing major but it almost seems better to have 2, what do you think?

Is this graphics card sufficient enough to run games on the "Highest" setting (Crysis jokes aside). Would it even fit in my case?

Game's like: Warhammer 40k DOW I & II
Battlefield Bad Company 2
Vindictus
Half Life 2
Metro 2033

So yeah... again, this is my first time building a Computer and would really like some advice/help/knowledge to help me get through this as smoothly and quickly as possible. Thank you.

 

Sorry but i got the motherboard wrong. It's an EVGA X58 FTW3. I knew it had 3 PCIe slots for SLI but I forgot it's a FTW edition. Just to kinda clear that all up.

 

Sounds like it's going to be a nice rig. To answer your questions:
Do you think this is a good Power Supply so far? I wasn't sure if I could fit a good 800w supply in there because I felt the space was kinda small.
750W is plenty of power. All ATX power supplies are the same size, so if you wanted to go for the 800W, size isn't an issue.

Is it bad to have relied so heavily on Corsair products?
No problem there. Corsair makes good products.

Do you think this is a good choice of SSD despite all of the reviews?
I read the reviews at Newegg, and they seem to be almost uniformly positive.

Would you recommend a SSD of this size? or maybe 2 60s?
No, I'd go with the single 120GB drive as you have spece'd.

Is this graphics card sufficient enough to run games on the "Highest" setting (Crysis jokes aside). Would it even fit in my case?
It's a pretty high end graphics card, so you should be fine running games at the higher resolutions.. The card will fit in your case no problem.

 

I personally just ordered a 120GB Intel SSD, as they seem to be the best based on the research I've done.

Other than that, your build looks like it's gonna be a beast.

 

Not all ATX power supplies are the same size, they vary massively. But the 750w corsair and even the 850 or 950 would fit in your case.

I'm not %100 sure, do you already have the stuff in the first list? The bit below presumes you don't. Unless you have specifically chosen this case then i would consider the cooler master CM 690II Advanced Edition, it's one of the highest rated, most recommended "budget" cases out there with plenty of space and good airflow.

The motherboard you have chosen is way over the top, unless you plan on getting 3 x gtx 580's for world record banchmarks then a much cheaper Gigabyte board would be a much better choice, such as the GA-X58A-UD3R.

Again unless you are benchmarking should swap the ram for some GEIL or lower end corsair C9 stuff as it will cost about half as much and be just as good in games.

Corsair are one of the best PC component manufacturers out there, with argubly the best customer service and warranty offers.

Wait a few weeks for the latest gen SSD's to come out (C400 from Crucial, 3 series OCZ and whatever the new intel ones are called) The best ATM is the OCZ drives, they have the best read AND write times.

 

And some of the highest return rates. I'm personally sticking with Intel for SSDs. While they may not be the best benchmarks, they're the most reliable.

 

@Abeki- thanks for the reply to all the questions I had. I more or less just wanted some input on the matter. I'm really concerned more about the fact of the BIOS settings with the SSD cause I heard you need to change it to a different mode? Or something like that...

@Mcsmc- thanks for the update about the intel drives. I was looking at them just because I read that they are really reliable but it's just they are so much slower due to the lack of the Sandforce controllers. Although those controllers seem to be the main reason all those SSD's are being returned.

@Burrell- I have in fact already bought everything in the first list and have it all put together already. I was waiting on some more cash that I could use to send out for the last bit of parts but before I do that I figured i'd enlist to you guys for some pointers and ideas. I really thank you all for everything so far. I think I'll wait for a bit to get an actual SSD till the new Intels come out. See how fast they are. Thanks guys.

So would anyone wanna kinda walk me through turning it on and installing BIOS and stuff?

 

The Intel SSDs are still plenty fast, and Sandforce, while faster, is less reliable. Hence why I'm going with the Intel controller. Honestly, while the next generation of SSDs will be faster, I'm always wary of BRAND new hardware myself, and the prices on the current SSDs make them much more buyer friendly.

You don't need to "install" the BIOS as it's installed in the motherboard already. You will simply need to make sure all hardware is properly connected/seated and then install Windows. It's relatively simple, but if you have questions, there are many of us that'd be willing to help!

 

That is an opinion unless you have stats to back it up.

I know they are different spec drives, but they are all the same.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...167028&cm_re=intel_ssd-_-20-167-028-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227590

Notice the 3 year warranty from OCZ, and the fact that no warranty info is posted for the Intel drives!

I must have recommended atleast 50 people to buy OCZ drives, never had ANY complaints, ever. I mean if you want to pay more for a slower drive then who am i to stop you, but i think you should weigh up the alternatives.

If OCZ were making dodgy drives and supplying a 3 year warranty they would have gone bust, it's just basic business sense, like how you don't see many Cosair PSU's with their 5/7 year warranty failing.

 

You're always opinionated on everything without the knowledge and experience to back it up. This is an abrasive quality that certainly doesn't help with any sort of customer relations.

Anyhow, here's a few links for you to check out in regard to your "statement" about what I said:

http://tinyurl.com/6ao83po

http://forums.storagereview.com/index.php/topic/29329-ssd-failure-rates-compared-to-hard-drives/

There's far more research that I did before coming to my conclusion... no point in hand feeding you that information, as it's best you find it out for yourself, though.

 

I never said you were wrong...

Was just saying that to the OP an opinion is not much use when making a purchase decision.

Take a chill pill mate.

Based on those figures you posted there, that means that more Corsair Power supplies are returned (per unit) than OCZ SSD's. Would that stop you buying a Corair PSU? I don't think so.

 

I would like to thank both of you for all the work you have done but I think I will end up getting a Corsair Force series anyway just to see if I encounter any issues. If I do end up having troubles with it I'll end up getting an intel just to be safe cause the thing that's causing all of these issues is the sandforce controller (at least that what it seems like to me) so I don't think even the OCZs would be better if its the same controller. Again thank you for all your help. I'll be sure to keep you all posted on what happens once I receive the drive.

 

Actually that's the thing I haven't been able to figure out -- if Intel BRAND SSDs are the only ones with Intel controllers. Most SSD manufacturers are hesitant to reveal everything they put in the SSDs (controllers AND the solidstate media itself). One of these days I'll end up emailing the manufacturers to see if they'll tell me anything (though I still doubt it).

I'm looking forward to getting my SSD, as I've waited awhile to get one.

Burrell,

Comparing power supply return rates to SSD return rates is like comparing toaster return rates to blender return rates. Apples and oranges. You may as well compare EVGA motherboards to Hitachi hard drives, or LITE-ON optical drives to Kingston RAM. Seriously? Just admit you should think/research/know before spilling whatever (mis)information you have. Don't get me wrong, I think you do know a good bit about computers, as I've seen in several of your posts on this forum... but maybe do as I do and just don't say anything unless it's something you KNOW about. There are a great deal of threads I leave alone because I do only have an opinion... but opinions are personal and don't reflect facts. I can't count how many times I've rattled a few hundred words off on a pre-post, only to think "this is actually just something I think, not something that I know for a fact", press CTRL+A, backspace, and close the tab.

 

One more quick question. What would be a good CPU fan to buy? I mean is the one included with the intel I7-960 good enough? Or should I get an aftermarket one just incase? I was looking at the corsair water cooling H-50 (I think that's what it's called) but yeah would that be good to look into?

 

This is just my experience, other will have different opinions, but I have always had good luck with the stock CPU fan and heatsink that comes with intel CPU's. Some people call them a joke, but my rig never goes above 38C even when running benchmarks. So my advice is to use the stock cooler, and only get an aftermarket one if it doesn't do the job for you.

 

Thanks and Cheers all! Ordering the SSD and CPU tonight! Graphics cards can always come later when needed. Again, thanks to everyone!

 

One thing I've read recently is the new OCZ Vertex 2 SSDs (using the 25nm die) are a lot slower that the older 32nm die models. maybe a firmware fix may help but I've read a lot of reviews of the new models saying they are slower.

Sam

 

AHHHHHHHH! I need help!

So I ordered my i7-960 and the SSD and they are both here but I'm having an issue with my i7! for some reason when I put it in and then try to close the cpu holding tray I'm meeting a lot of resistance! I really don't want to be forceful with a $320 inch by inch square...

Anyone have any solutions?

 

First, are you sure you have the cpu oriented correctly with the cut off corner matching the cut off corner in the cpu holder?
I can't adequately describe the amount of force required to lower the lever on the socket, but it does take some force.

 

It's an i7. i7's don't have that cut off but I'm absolutely positive that it's been placed correctly and I'm meeting resistance within the first 15 degrees of the mounting lever.

 

That sounds normal, just like when I mounted my i5. It took more force than I was comfortable with seating the lever, but apparently, that's what it takes.

 

well. I did some research and a lot of people said it just took a lot of force to put in so I used some good ol' elbow grease... I just hope it still works once I actually try to turn it on...

Thanks for the knowledge abekl. I was definitely uncomfortable with using that much pressure on something that expensive... just crazy what they expect you to do these days without mucking things up.

 

Yes it requires a lot of pressure, I'm sure it will work fine!

 

I was worried that The CPU would actually bend the pins out of sheer force or the CPU would be slid against the pins causing harm... I dunno it just seems like it's way too expensive to be doing something that forceful.

 

I have another question.

What would happen if I were to plug in my new Corsair Force Series 120Gb SSD into one of my SataIII connections? Would that spell certain doom or would it just be better off?

 

Okay Guys and gals I got an issue here and I have no clue what's going on... I'm seriously Hoping my computer ain't fried or something... Everytime I turn on the power everything starts like it's going to run but then it just turns off and continuously turns on and off with like 3 seconds inbetween. I'm really freaking out cause this is a ton of money that might be damaged and I never knew or I just don't know someone please help...!

 

I get the post code 7F and nothing shows up on screen... If that helps anyone...

 

http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f15/motherboard-issues-postcode-7f-133966.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/249584-30-post-code

 

Thank you! Turns out it was my graphics card! I'm borrowing a really simple pci one from a friend at the moment until I can get my 470/570

 

So I have a new question. I'm not exactly sure how to do this.

What is the simplest way to turn on TRIM?

 

Allegedly, TRIM should be auto activated in W7 (I'm assuming that's your OS and that I've translated the article reasonably accurately):-