Originally posted by Khrymson

Originally posted by lokiboard
Nice build.....Suggestion....since I see no sound card

 

Hehe...see images in the OP again, and post 15 above^  

 

I do have a discrete Sound Card  ~  the Creative X-Fi Extreme Gamer 7.1 w/ Creative 7.1 surround speakers!

 

Updating OP...

Yep sorry, I need to upgrade my glasses......    ;-)

Originally posted by Quizzical

Part of the point of having a huge number of fan mounts is so that you can get the airflow exactly where you need it.  

If you or anyone is wondering what the intake/exhaust are for the fans:

• The 9x 120mm on the left side are intake for everything.
• The 1x 120mm on the right side is an intake directly on the rear of the CPU.
• The 2x front 140mm are intake for the SSD and HDDs.
• The 2x mid-front interior 140mm are exhaust for a push/pull system across the SSD/HDDs.
• The rear 140mm is an exhaust.
• The top two and bottom 230mm are all set as exhaust.

If anything, the absurd amount of fans are doing well.  In my old case that only had about 8 fans with a single 120mm on the side, my GPU temp at 37% fan speed was around 34c, and when I had a TV Show running or streaming a YouTube video it would jump to around 47-49c. 

The reference GTX 680 does not have the vapor chamber cooling like the reference GTX 580 that I had prior.  It makes a huge difference, but anyway, getting to my cooling point.

In my new case though, with the GTX 680 still at 37% fan speed, which is what I generally keep it at during idle, web browsing & TV Show watching times, the GPU's temp is holding steady at about 30c, but here is the nifty part ~ when I load up a TV Show or stream a video, its temp is remaining quite low at around 34c.  Thats a substantial 13-15c cooler...

I like it~!  

I plan to upgrade my EVGA GTX 680 2GB Reference Model to the EVGA GTX 680 FTW 4GB model as soon as it releases sometime this month.   And while I don't really need the 4GB of memory seeing as I only game at 1920*1080 on a single monitor, I do want the vapor chamber cooling tech, and the FTW model is the only one that has it.  Though I'm sure the Classified model will have it too, but thats several months away and I really don't need that card.

Originally posted by Khrymson

If anything, the absurd amount of fans are doing well.  In my old case that only had about 8 fans with a single 120mm on the side, my GPU temp at 37% fan speed was around 34c, and when I had a TV Show running or streaming a YouTube video it would jump to around 47-49c. 

The reference GTX 680 does not have the vapor chamber cooling like the reference GTX 580 that I had prior.  It makes a huge difference, but anyway, getting to my cooling point.

 

In my new case though, with the GTX 680 still at 37% fan speed, which is what I generally keep it at during idle, web browsing & TV Show watching times, the GPU's temp is holding steady at about 30c, but here is the nifty part ~ when I load up a TV Show or stream a video, its temp is remaining quite low at around 34c.  Thats a substantial 13-15c cooler...

 

I like it~!  

 

I plan to upgrade my EVGA GTX 680 2GB Reference Model to the EVGA GTX 680 FTW 4GB model as soon as it releases sometime this month.   And while I don't really need the 4GB of memory seeing as I only game at 1920*1080 on a single monitor, I do want the vapor chamber cooling tech, and the FTW model is the only one that has it.  Though I'm sure the Classified model will have it too, but thats several months away and I really don't need that card.

That's not a difference between cases.  Case fans aren't sub-ambient cooling.  That's a difference between video cards.  Fermi was a power hog and Kepler isn't.

Originally posted by Quizzical

That's not a difference between cases.  Case fans aren't sub-ambient cooling.  That's a difference between video cards.  Fermi was a power hog and Kepler isn't.

Those temps are a comparison of my GTX 680 from my old case to the new case and I'm seeing a 13-15c difference when watching/streaming media files.  I had the 680 in my old case for the past month before switching it to this new build.    Brought up the 580 because of the Vapor chamber cooling tech.

Nice build.

A bit overkill lol, but gratz on the new computer. I would probably show it off too.

That is a monster case. If you are gonna go that far out why not go ahead and sli the 680 you have instead of buying a different model? or maybe I misunderstood what you meant. With what equates to a jet engine on the side blowing in I  think cooling would not be a problem.

About 5-6+ years ago I was more interested in SLi, and wanted to build such a system.  And even though nowadays with the tech working better for more games, after reading about all the issues one has to deal with in running SLi, and there not being a significant need for such, I just don't see a need for it.  Sure if you have an older, or rather lower tiered GPU like the 560, or 460 and don't want to spend $500+ on a single highest end GPU, but want a similar experience then I can understand SLi in that situation, but going SLi with 680s is an absurd overkill.  {not that I'm already at that point or anything}

There are no games that give a single GTX 680 a challenge, and I doubt there will be for another year or two.  Even Epic's Samaritan Demo that required 3x GTX 580s last year to run it smooth is now being run on a single GTX 680 just fine.

I was never really big into OCing either, but I have started to do so with my GPUs of late, especially with it being easier than ever with the new EVGA Precision X.  Its become a necessary evil for me to get the most out of my GPUs, even if the games I'm playing are already getting 80+ fps.  I suppose instead of going for extreme CPU OCing and SLi like some do, I prefer to get high end FPS for no explainable reason...its a part of my enthusiasts blood...heh

Anyway, I'm primarily wanting the GTX 680 FTW for the vapor chamber cooling because I like keeping my temps as low as possible, but its also noted that the FTW has been beefed up with a 8 Phase PWM Design that if I'm reading correctly helps with power distribution and smoother/higher OCing ability.

Originally posted by Khrymson

 

About 5-6+ years ago I was more interested in SLi, and wanted to build such a system.  And even though nowadays with the tech working better for more games, after reading about all the issues one has to deal with in running SLi, and there not being a significant need for such, I just don't see a need for it.  Sure if you have an older, or rather lower tiered GPU like the 560, or 460 and don't want to spend $500+ on a single highest end GPU, but want a similar experience then I can understand SLi in that situation, but going SLi with 680s is an absurd overkill.  {not that I'm already at that point or anything}

There are no games that give a single GTX 680 a challenge, and I doubt there will be for another year or two.  Even Epic's Samaritan Demo that required 3x GTX 580s last year to run it smooth is now being run on a single GTX 680 just fine.

 

I was never really big into OCing either, but I have started to do so with my GPUs of late, especially with it being easier than ever with the new EVGA Precision X.  Its become a necessary evil for me to get the most out of my GPUs, even if the games I'm playing are already getting 80+ fps.  I suppose instead of going for extreme CPU OCing and SLi like some do, I prefer to get high end FPS for no explainable reason...its a part of my enthusiasts blood...heh

Anyway, I'm primarily wanting the GTX 680 FTW for the vapor chamber cooling because I like keeping my temps as low as possible, but its also noted that the FTW has been beefed up with a 8 Phase PWM Design that if I'm reading correctly helps with power distribution and smoother/higher OCing ability.

 

 

 

 

With what you just built brother the parts in red have no meaning lol =) There wasnt a good need for an airplane propellor mounted in the side of the case either o.O =) If it hovers a few feet off the floor dont be suprised, or if you see a small house pet sucked up and stuck on the side of the case unable to pull itself free just kindly help it out.

Just giving you a hard time man =) lol

Originally posted by jdnewell

Just giving you a hard time man =) lol

All in good fun...

The things we enthusiasts do to make our gaming better...lol

Oh and thankfully I don't have any midget dogs like some other family members do with their Chihuahuas, that would probably get stuck to the side of my case.  My two Labs are about 80+ lbs each...

Originally posted by Khrymson

Originally posted by Quizzical

That's not a difference between cases.  Case fans aren't sub-ambient cooling.  That's a difference between video cards.  Fermi was a power hog and Kepler isn't.

Those temps are a comparison of my GTX 680 from my old case to the new case and I'm seeing a 13-15c difference when watching/streaming media files.  I had the 680 in my old case for the past month before switching it to this new build.    Brought up the 580 because of the Vapor chamber cooling tech.

Yikes.  What was your old case?  It shouldn't have had to clear that much heat from the system with an external exhaust video card.

Originally posted by Quizzical

Originally posted by Khrymson

Originally posted by Quizzical

That's not a difference between cases.  Case fans aren't sub-ambient cooling.  That's a difference between video cards.  Fermi was a power hog and Kepler isn't.

Those temps are a comparison of my GTX 680 from my old case to the new case and I'm seeing a 13-15c difference when watching/streaming media files.  I had the 680 in my old case for the past month before switching it to this new build.    Brought up the 580 because of the Vapor chamber cooling tech.

Yikes.  What was your old case?  It shouldn't have had to clear that much heat from the system with an external exhaust video card.

Antec 1200.  Some of the fans were not doing so well anymore, but I did replace them while semi-gutting it for this new build.  {I plan to sell the old build or reuse it sometime soon.}  Another theory I have is that the Antec 750w PSU in my old build ran 24/7 shooting heat straight up onto my GPU, where as my new Corsair PSU's fan doesn't spin at all unless its under 170w plus load.

Course the 1x 120mm fan in my old case, vs the 9x 120mm fans blasting cold air everywhere is probably the major factor in the lower temps.

Decided to fire up 3D Mark 11 and check what my new PC could do:

This first image is my OC'd 680 while in my old PC.

And with my new PC ~ a substantial difference!  {detailed info here}

Wow, nice build OP. :)

Upgraded my PC again a few weeks ago.

Had the Reference EVGA GTX 680 2GB GPU, and now I have the EVGA GTX 680 FTW 4GB GPU.   Decided to get this GPU primarily for the Vapor Chamber Cooling, but also for the higher VRAM.  Not that many games need it right now while only using a single monitor of 1920*1080 resolution, but there are a few games that are already eating over 2GB of VRAM ~ Skyrim being one of them when heavily modded with the best texture packs, Max Payne 3 as well, and also for a bit of future proofing as I'm sure many other games in the not so distant future will want more.  Especially so if you've become a graphics whore as I have and want settings at maximum w/ ridiculous levels of AA, AO and Tesselation all-the-while retaining 60+ FPS.

My score in 3D Mark 11 rose a good bit again too.  My previous score was P10545 and my new score is P11146.  I also decided to OC my CPU from 3.5 GHz to 4.4 GHz.  Temps are more than decent with the Ivy Bridge at that setting, averaging in the mid 70s on a max load.

And I still dunno if I'm satisfied as I'm considering upgrading one more time too the EVGA GTX 680 Classified 4GB Model that is supposedly due for release sometime in the next 2 weeks.

Oh yeah, and I also sold my old PC after rebuilding it.  Got $1050 out of it, thus this PC has only cost me a total of $752.50

Have fun with cache thrashing caused by hyperthreading.

WOW, that is quite the machine.  Im sure that it will completely conquer FFXIV 2.0's graphics.

Originally posted by Chrisbox

WOW, that is quite the machine.  Im sure that it will completely conquer FFXIV 2.0's graphics.

Should, I can run FFXIV in its current state at a solid 60FPS at max settings.  The new engine is supposedly not going to require such beefy specs, thus allowing more users with lesser PCs access. 

Alrighty then, finally~finally completed this build.

A few weeks back I did end up getting a 680 Classified GPU, but I wasn't satisfied with the poor 55% max fan speed and overall performance it offered on air.  It really is designed to be run on water, so I sold/traded it and aquired 2 newer GTX 680 FTW 4GB GPUs that OC'd better than my original.

I'm running an SLi system now.  Always wanted too, but never had the money to, and honestly I wasn't too impressed with it in the past from all the negativity and dificulty I read about others having with it.  In recent years though SLi is more mainstream and well supported now thus I decided to go for it:

And my new 3D mark score:

GW2 is gonna be my bitch!