Part PC Specialist Components, Part Corsair Home Brew, All Hero

[Banjoe]

Hey Guys

So I posted in ''Check this spec'' a few weeks back linked here (https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/foru...Gaming-desktop-I7-GTX1080TI-16Gb-Any-thoughts) I ended up ordering this spec.

After taking into account the advise of The_Scotster (https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/member.php?46581-The_Scotster ) I idled away the time waiting for it to arrive by looking into further upgrades.

After receiving the box I ordered a Corsair Carbide Air 740 case, a H100iV2 and 2 sets of Corsair HD120 RGB fans and proceeded to transfer the Build i had ordered into the new case. I was worried about the heat generated by the massive GPU and CPU combination. A custom loop was out of the question cost wise so airflow was key to keeping the box cool.

Final Specs

Case
CORSAIR CARBIDE AIR 740 Airflow Case
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-7700k (3.6GHz) 8MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z270E GAMING: LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GB, Wi-Fi - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2133MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
11GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1080 TI - DVI, HDMI, 3x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Hard Disk
240GB Samsung 850 EVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
2TB Toshiba Sata 6GB/s 7200
Power Supply
Corsair TX650M — 650 Watt 80 Plus® Gold Certified PSU
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100i V2 AIO CPu Cooler
Other Cooling
6x Corsair HD120 RGB Fans+ Controller
Other
1x Thermaltake Commander FP Fanhub






All connected and running now. The Thermal concerns I had over the build are now addressed. The fans run quietly when I'm not pushing it but when the CPU/GPU load is ramped up the fans kick in and handle the heat.
Running Furmark (for GPU stress) and Aida64 (CPU/FPU tests) simultaneously resulted in GPU temp of 74'C with CPU at 64'C and Case temp at 54'C. Ambient temp was at 24'C

The Fan HUB i ordered cost me £15 and handles the PWN settings of all of the Fans bar the AIO fans and runs off the PWM signal from the CPU MB header meaning all fans keep pace with processor load. That's where the control drops off though. I'll need a Corsair Commander Pro to gain full control of all fans but the TT Commander FP is a decent stop gap till i can afford/ Justify the £60 spend on the Corsair Commander . Corsair Link software handles the cooling profile and required no setup whatsoever which was nifty.

The HD 120 fans are gorgeous and with so many colours and modes I can highly recommend. I'll be adding the Corsair Lighting Node Pro Controller later too (once again I need to convince myself to spend another £60 on this) this will give me full control of all LED's on the fans and add 4 LED strips which I will use to light the top and left side of the case.

The case was amazing to build in. Lots of room and great cable routing options in the back compartment meaning no cable clutter in the front. The only gripes I have are 1. a lack of Fan filters for the base of the case. The front Panel and left side air intake both have magentic air filters and 2. Lack of Cable Tie loop points in the back. There is plenty of room for cable clutter but the OCD nerd in me goes crazy with that stuff plus it's a nightmare for dust build up. All panels are fully removable for ease of building and access.

If you have any questions on the build, feel free to shout

 

[Oussebon]

Looks nice Though I'm not sure of the merits of ordering a Spec-03 and a CM212x only to replace them with an Air 740 and H100i when PCS sell them both anyway

 

[Scott]

As above.... you're mad

In hindsight if I hadn't got so caught up in the case/cooling I would have recommended faster RAM and an M2 SSD but regardless.... that's a mighty system you have.

Could you get everything running in performance mode and do a couple of Firestrike runs (Normal, Ultra, Extreme)? Be curious to see how the temps are during the runs also.

Enjoy it

 

[Banjoe]

Meh, I've already found a home for the case and cooler, at a tidy profit so I'm not worried. And yes I could have ordered the parts stock from PCS but the I was keen to build it myself. Only reason I use PCS is for the finance really.

I looked at the M2's and faster memory but couldn't really justify the cost to the performance gain.

I'll run 3D mark at the weekend and post some screenshots. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[SlimCini]

Meh, I've already found a home for the case and cooler, at a tidy profit so I'm not worried. And yes I could have ordered the parts stock from PCS but the I was keen to build it myself. Only reason I use PCS is for the finance really.

I looked at the M2's and faster memory but couldn't really justify the cost to the performance gain.

I'll run 3D mark at the weekend and post some screenshots. Thanks for the feedback.

Someone paid you more for a used part than it costs new???

 

[Oussebon]

Someone paid you more for a used part than it costs new???

PCS's prices are just THAT LOW! #paymecommission

If the OP was indeed able to recover their costs and enjoyed the home-brew aspect of the alterations, then it seems they got their money's worth. Certainly not what I'd recommend for most people buying a PC built for them, but as Petyr Baelish says, all desires are valid to a man with a full purse. I do like pics 1 and 3 in particular I must say.

 

[SpyderTracks]

It's a nice case, is it a glass or plastic window?

Picture 3 makes me shake a little unk:

 

[Banjoe]

It's a nice case, is it a glass or plastic window?

It's plastic unfortunately with a little bit of a smokey finish.

 

[SpyderTracks]

It's plastic unfortunately with a little bit of a smokey finish.

Very nice, would be better as glass but still nice.

 

[Banjoe]

Could you get everything running in performance mode and do a couple of Firestrike runs (Normal, Ultra, Extreme)? Be curious to see how the temps are during the runs also.

Enjoy it

So I got her up n running on extreme and the result were pretty positive. Running in performance mode on the AIO cooler I got these results. HW monitor was keeping track of the temps and matched the readings on Corsair Link





The hottest the CPU got was 64'C on the combined test, the average temp was around 40'C
GPU topped off at 80'c and stayed there which is fine for this card.

 

[Oussebon]

How were the GPU's boost clocks while plateaued at 80?

 

[Scott]

CPU has some headroom for a nice OC. Results look pretty good. What's the noise like when everything is on full chat?

Could you run the the standard Firestrike?