Jafo

reply 132

Pockets are now a little lighter...but...

Here's the specs of stuff on the way....

 

Thermaltake Level 10 Limited Edition Case

Corsair AX12001 1200watt PSU

ASUS Rampage Extreme X99 MoBo

i7 5960 3.0 Socket 2011

Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4 4x8 32Gig Ram [still room to double up]

ASUS GTX980 GPU

Corsair 240Gig Neutron SSD x 2

WD Caviar Green 3TB HD. [already have a couple of 2TBs to add]

 

Should have a little get-up-and-go ...

 

I expect it'll have a bit more zing than my current i7-920.  I'll chuck Win 7 on it for now...until 10's released [cleverly bypassing 8]....

I hate you ..........Just kidding, of course. Those are some astounding specs/parts. Do post some pics as you put it together.  Better wear your track gear when you fire that mutha up. It's going to be FAST!

Cheers and beers.

I had a look at that mobo as well... it still has very decent specs, also.  I wouldn't have that issue, however, not with my Level 10 case.  It can accommodate the eATX boards with plenty of room to spare all 'round.... hence I would most likely go with the Rampage board when the time comes.  I figure that if I'm going to upgrade I may as well go the whole hog and get the best CPU, mobo and RAM to make it really worthwhile.  Actually, I already have a Asus Rampage board in my 8 core AMD rig, came with a few extras, like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and front USB3 pane,l and I am very happy with it

I also read up a bit more on DDR4 and will definitely go with it when I look to upgrade.  Not only does it have faster clock speeds, etc, it uses much less power than DDR3 into the bargain.  Thing is, being new tech, it is going to be pricey until it becomes more mainstream and demand drives prices down, so for now various tech commenters are advising to hold off until mid-2015 or later if possible.  By then the prices of the CPU [and what a beast it is, too] and mobo will also have dropped, so it's probably just as well I can't afford to do much about it before then... cos I do like paying less for whatever whenever I can.

That cooler looks very much like the Thermaltake I have in my AMD rig, and that's a big lump of a thing... hope you compared specs of it and the case to be sure it fits. While most Thermaltake full towers provide ample room for such things, space in that particular one is limited due to its design.  'Tis a beautiful case, though, and a black version may one day become home to what currently resides in my present Level 10... because the Rampage mobo/i7 5960X would obviously be housed in it.

I would likely look into liquid cooling as I have been happy with the Corsair H60 cooling my i7 4770K, though for the i7 5960X I'd probably go with a H110 or some such equivelant.  Having used a large and cumbersome air cooler and a more compact liquid cooling system, I do prefer the latter because they're space saving and easier to fit/install.

It was Yrag that put me onto Noctua fans....when I was looking to repair my V8 cooler that died.

They aren't into 'bling'....just good performance....and yes, it'll fit....max height for the case is 160mm.

Thermaltake 'should' have designed the 10 around the eATX .... would have made a lot of sense....though I suspect it's simply a fan placement issue....rethink the inlet fan placement and the bigger board might even fit.  I'll be able to have a close look at that when the stuff turns up.

Meanwhile I'm investigating the steps to 'migrate' a lot of paid-for proggies to the new machine...like Kaspersky....TrueImage, etc., though I'm sure the biggest pain in the bum will be FSX....the thing that prompted the upgrade in the first place.  Reinstalling would be a pain [though maybe more sensible as it'd allow me to 'refine' my excesses that sees it at 200gig].

Now for the hard part.....waiting....

That's good it'll fit okay.  As I recall, when looking into the black version earlier in the year, my Thermaltake cooler was about 3mm too tall, which is what prompted me to look into liquid cooling.  As it turned out, that version [my 1st choice] was unavailable/hard to get at the time and my supplier suggested I went with the one I now have to save being held up with the build.  It is a great case, just the same, and I've been more than happy with it, for its huge interior and cooling options... very sexy design.

I believe that 'your' version of the Level 10 was the original design and may have been created before the eATX boards, which are relatively new in comparison.  In any event, the Deluxe board is well appointed and will perform admirably.

Yes, migrating to a new machine can be a major PITA when you do a clean install and have to load all your programs, etc.  I've done it more than once and it is time consuming 'work'... thus taking away from the enjoyment of 'playing' with your new machine.  I didn't have that task last time, however, and you need not, either, if you have Acronis Ultimate with the 'Dissimilar Hardware' component to simply clone your OS and installed programs over to the new machine.  That's what I did last time and it saved hours of setting up.  I don't know about your FSX setup, though, given how big it is.  That's something you'd have to assess at the time.

Tell me about it!  Been through that more than once, and when one or two unavailable/not in stock items hold up the entire order it gives you the screaming abdabs.  That's when you take the 'calming down' meds... so you're not out in the street accosting every delivery driver who enters: "Where's my fechin' order?"

Nah, not really, but there you are, fingers itching to open those packages, and the waiting seems like forever. 

Hehe, maybe a medicinal scotch or 6 would help.

This is the 'Titanium Edition' that's the reprised style of the original 2009 ver....released in 2014 so it 'could' have been adjusted for eATX while they were at it - since they did rejig it to suit 2011 boards.

Last build I did was a bit compromised as I sourced it all from the one place...so from the outset it wasn't ideal.  This time the bits are coming from 2 places [so far] but if I go for a M.2 'drive' I may have to source a third...cos neither place has them [yet].

My first [bought not given] machine was a P100 with [I think] 16meg of ram and a 1 gig HD ....cost $2100+ back then. [the 90's]

This one is 'only' triple the price [and if you factor in inflation....probably cheaper]...

I see what you're saying, and they probably should have rejigged the Titanium Edition to accommodate eATX boards to allow system builders the choice, and maybe they will in the future to increase potential sales, but it is what it is for now, largely based on the original, and one will have to consider the components going into it when purchasing one.  Obviously some mobos and CPU coolers are not going to fit, though I wouldn't have that issue should I be able to get an original black [and somewhat less expensive] version further down the track.

Somebody on the forums wrote about PCIE SDD drives being faster and more reliable, and I did investigate when building my rig, but the cost was way too prohibitive if I wanted a top-end CPU, mobo and RAM... like in the vicinity of $1200 and more.  I see, though, they have come down in price some... last I looked a 256gb PCIE SSD would set you back about $650ish.  Would that be big enough for your FSX with mods and expansions still to come?  Anyway, I thought you might like to read this article about the Toshiba 512gb M2 drive ... it's quite interesting/informative.

From what I've read the original was slightly smaller...in that the mobo area didn't have the extra 'bump' for the cooler...only had 2 hotswap, not 6 and wasn't designed for the 2011 edition boards at all.

The one in the op was the down-priced one that compromised on tight compartments by making it a little more like a standard case...even the PSU went to the bottom...so some of its 'form' was redundant echo of the original layout.  What the cheaper one had was more adaptability/capacity re water cooling etc...

The M.2 'drives' interface has something like 32Gig/s throughput.... gets past the SATA 3 limit with ease... and a 512 is around $550 ...so in the midst of excess it's not noticed...

The Board has the capacity/option...so I may yet go for dropping both the OS and the major games on one...

The case I first looked and and ordered [seen in post #128] had 6 hot swap bays and could accommodate standard ATX boards... it also had the 'bump' to accommodate 3rd party coolers, it's just that my Thermaltake cooler didn't quite fit.  According to my supplier it was about 3mm out, hence the Corsair liquid cooling I ended up with in the current case.

Hmmm, for that price I'd happily go the whole hog and grab one.  I mean, it'd be necessary for a high-end upgrade... wouldn't it!

Wow, it must have been a while since I checked on prices.  The cheapest 256gb was $649.95 at the time... and now you're saying a 512 is a 100 bucks less?  Like it's hard to believe they've dropped that much inside 12 months... not that I'm complaining or anything

The 2009 original had 6 bays...but only 1 and 2 were hot-swap...the other 4 had to have sata connectors, etc added direct to the drives.

Unless I've got it all crossed up it wasn't till the 'gamer' ver as in the Op [and the Snow one] that had extended to all the bays...and fitted the eATX.

I've already dl'd the manual...and have both...for the 2009 'black' and the 2014 'Limited Edition Titanium'....and there are differences...

First I notice is the old one has a 150mm limit for the CPU cooler...and the new has a 160... I expect as part of the revision for the 2011 boards.

And from the Man-well....

Note) Group 1 and 2 are designed for easy swappable purpose; for the slots from Group 3 to 6, it is necessary to

remove the side panel and install additional connectors separately for power supply and data transfer.

Not having all 6 as hot-swap was a bit 'cheap' considering the box is probably the most expensive listed....and certainly would have been in 2009.

So from the  man-well it's clear the first ver was a bit too much kewl and not enough good sense ...

https://www.ramcity.com.au/buy/samsung-xp941-256gb-m.2-pcie-x4-80mm-ssd/MZHPU256HCGL-00000 

That's the 256 ...but I had a link somewhere to the same animal in 512 [in Oz] for under 600 ....dunno where...shall keep looking...

To be honest, I'm not too sure what year the one I looked at was from, I just saw it on the web page and ordered it according to the specs I read.  I just looked and they no longer have it listed, so I can't check on the hot swap details, but I do recall my supplier calling me about the cooler not fitting and opting for the other Level 10.  Anyway, I would research to see if the 2009 version would accommodate my mobo and take it from there... hopefully it'd fit cos I really, really like that case.

Jafo

reply 150

https://www.ramcity.com.au/buy/samsung-xp941-256gb-m.2-pcie-x4-80mm-ssd/MZHPU256HCGL-00000 

That's the 256 ...but I had a link somewhere to the same animal in 512 [in Oz] for under 600 ....dunno where...shall keep looking...

Wow, they really have come down in price since I last checked, I guess a couple of months ago... though I guess prices will vary some between various traders.  Still want a 512gb one, though, and maybe they'll be even less come mid-2015.

I think the $500-odd for the 512 was USD...it's $610.99 at Ram City.... but since that'll handle both the OS and my FSX I went with one of those.

FSX suffers from drive access times and CPU speed...so I think I now have that well and truly covered...

I should have the Box sometime today.  When I get it I'll measure whether it can be adapted for eATX without too much messing with a CIG spanner...

Still, [you may as well say] $611 isn't too bad for a 512gb PCIE SSD.  Not that long ago you were paying that and more for a 256gb.  It would add to the cost of my upgrade, but I'm figuring that if I go with that and the CPU, mobo and RAM, I'm likely to not ever need upgrade again, given it's pretty much as high-end as you can get these days.  Sure, something better and faster will come out in a few years, but unless it's something uberly spectacular, this gear would be more than enough to sate my PC needs 'til the cows come home.   Now all I gotta do is set up house again.... then start saving/economising like buggery to have the necessary funds.

I'll be interested to know how that works out - not that I'm planning to house an eATX board in one - but it may have a bearing on whether I end up getting a black version for my current Intel setup.... if one is gettable, that is..

Now I have to go take some pain meds... got injured trying to stop somebody smashing up a laptop at 5.00am this morning and ended up with a badly bruised right arm and 7 stitches in my elbow.... and now it's smarting some.

Okay, so I dunno if I'm too late with this, and I normally don't shop at or browse the Kogan online store, but I just [moments ago] saw a a Crucial 480gb M2 drive for $275.00 at Kogan.  It's only 22gb smaller and considerably less expensive than the one you were looking at... for that price you could even get 2 and still come out better off than going with the $611 one... with a shitload more storage space into the bargain.

Hope this helps save yer a few bob.

Now I'm going back to feeling sorry for myself... not really, but my elbow and lower right arm's throbbing like a SOB. 

Time for a shandy or six with near eff all lemonade.

Looks a bit 'confused'...calling itself 'sata 6gb' and 'M.2' .... they're 2 different animals.

Either way, the 512 is ordered and in the mail already...should have it by Friday at the latest...

So far what's been delivered are the 2 SSDs, the CPU and the GPU.... still hanging out for the rest...

So they are, 2 different animals, and the specs provided seem confused, but the drive pictured is definitely a PCIE SSD 6gb... not a SATA 6gb.

Oh well, your 512gb is in its way, so it's irrelevant to you [unless you want/need another], but I've bookmarked the page and will investigate when the time draws near to purchasing components.

Yeah, 'hanging out' is the term... hanging out the front window every 20 minutes and hanging on every delivery van to stop at your place... and when it doesn't, you go back to trying to be busy until the next scheduled hanging out the window arrives and you repeat the process over and over 'til 5.00pm.

Orright, maybe it's not that bad, but I know what you're going through... having read up on all those beautiful specs and positively itching to assemble them into a nice, new working machine to play with. 

Hmmm, that last bit is like rubbing salt into the wound, isn't it?

Well it doesn't look like I'll be able to get a Level 10 VL30001N1Z case anyplace anytime soon.  Just out of curiosity I searched dozens of sites Australia wide for one and every time the result came back "Currently Unavailable"  Apparently, while Thermaltake still manufactures them, dealers, suppliers - whatever you want to call them - just aren't making them available to traders/retailers... and thus the public.  So unless there's one hiding away in some obscure puter shop someplace, and it calls out to me over the internet or via SMS to go purchase it, me thinks I may have to settle for something else.... and there is this... a Coolermaster Cosmos II

I've not tried Coolermaster cases before, but I do like this one and would happily house my upgrade in one... and I've started saving already... put tuppence halfpenny in a tin.

One of my 'wanderings' found a closed/finished auction on ebay of a Level 10 for something like 2 and a half grand.... dunno if that's indicative of 'scarcity'...

The Limited Edition ones are ostensibly only 500 world-wide [40 to AU-NZ] and are numbered.  I found one in 'the second place I looked', but wasn't looking for the earlier vers... dunno if they might be able to be sourced down here...

http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html/_W0QQ_sopZ12?_nkw=thermaltake%20level%2010&_fromfsb=0&_trksid=m270.l1313&clk_rvr_id=749732945615&adpos=1o1&treatment_id=3&crlp=59322362164_2421866&MT_ID=79&device=c&keyword=thermaltake+level+10&geo_id=32586&crdt=0 

Eek ....huge link....

Of my many wanderings thus far, so glad I didn't have to walk it, I've not had a single hit on anything remotely like the Level 10 I'd like.  Dozens of sites have them listed but none have any in stock, and seemingly can't get them, either.  I may have to resign myself to the fact I'm not going to get one.. unless I find a second-hand one somewhere, like at one of those weekend markets where techno geeks buy, swap, sell PC parts.

However, I do not want to be planning an upgrade on an if, a maybe or a wing and a prayer, so the Coolermaster Cosmo II case could very well be the go.. unless something changes with my preferred Level 10.  Anyway, I priced the key items, CPU, mobo, RAM, PCIE SSD and aforementioned case.  At current prices they would cost me $3090, but given the expected price drops over the next 6 - 8 months, I can reasonably expect to pay somewhat less come August, September 2015, which is when I guesstimate I'd be able to afford it.

Second delivery of 5 total [don't ask] arrived.  Now I have the CPU mounted to the X99 MoBo...and the brackets for the Noctua cooler [it's a big lump of a thing].

Quite impressed with the 'bits' so far....