KarachiDevil's Ultimate Build

Hi everyone!

As you may or may not know, the Islamic month of Ramadan has started and it is leaving me with precious little time for my blog. I am making every effort to post regularly during this month so thank you for your patience.

Today I will be talking about my dream build. What I could build if I had all the money in the world. So without further ado, let's get on with it.

CASE:


COOLERMASTER Cosmos II (www.coolermaster.com)

Motherboards : Micro ATX, ATX, E-ATX, XL-ATX
5.25" Drive Bays : 3
3.5" Drive Bays : 13 (Two from X-dock, 11 2.5"                        converted from the 3.5" bays)
Expansion Slots : 11
Dimensions : 13.5" x 27.7" x 26.1"
Price : US$ 349.99

This amazing case can take everything you throw at it and is great for both air cooling (10 fans!) & liquid cooling. A must have.


CPU:

Intel Core i7-3960X (www.intel.com)

Core Clock : 3.3 GHz
Turbo : 3.9 GHZ
6-Core, 12-Thread
L3 Cache : 15MB
L2 Cache : 6 x 256KB
Price : US$ 1029.99

When you dream, dream big, and it doesn't get any bigger then this outrageous extreme edition cpu from Intel.








MOTHERBOARD:


ASUS Rampage IV Extreme (www.asus.com)

Max Memory : 64GB
PCI-E 3.0 x16 : 5, 1 PCI-E x1
SATA Connectors : 4 SATA II, 6 SATA III
Dimensions : 12" x 10.7"
Price : US$ 429.99

When choosing the baddest CPU around, you would be remiss if you did not get the baddest motherboard around as well. Too many things to list here so check it out at the asus website.












VIDEO CARD:


EVGA GeForce GTX 690 Signature (www.evga.com)

Interface : PCI-E 3.0 x16
Core Clock : 915 MHz
Boost Clock : 1019 MHz
CUDA Cores : 3072
Memory : 4GB 512-bit GDDR5
Ports : 1x Mini DisplayPort 3 x DVI
Power Connection : 2 x 8-Pin
Dimensions : 11" x 4.38"
Price : US$ 1049.99

The 690 is actually a dual GPU card. The fastest card ever built. EVGA also has a liquid cooled version which will require a connection to a custom liquid cooling system. The ultimate GPU for the ultimate build.



SOUND CARD:


CREATIVE Sound Blaster Recon3D Fatal1ty Professional (www.soundblaster.com/)

Priced at US$ 149.99, in my opinion the best gaming sound card you can get. Crystal clear sound which will help you detect other players before they even know you are there. Go for it!













RAM:


CORSAIR Vengeance (www.corsair.com)

Capacity : 4 x 4GB + 4 x 4GB (32GB)
Speed : 1866
Voltage : 1.5V
Timing : 9-10-9-27
CAS Latency : 9
Price : US$ 119.99 + 119.99

Why two different? Well one is Red and one is Black and if I am making a dream build, The motherboard also has red and black slots for the RAM so..... ^_^ Dream Big!

POWER SUPPLY:


CORSAIR Professional Series GOLD AX850 (www.corsair.com)

Max Power : 850W
Active PFC
PCI-E Connectors : 4 x 6+2-Pin
SATA Connectors : 12
Fully Modular
80+ Gold Certified
Price : US$ 189.99

While I am building my ultimate build, I am still loathe to put in a bigger PSU than needed. I don't know why but I always cringe at putting in a big PSU.




LIQUID COOLING:


CORSAIR H100 Extreme (www.corsair.com/)

Featuring a full 240mm radiator and two 120mm fans, this beast will cool that crazy 6-core and keep quite nice and happy. I would do a custom liquid cooling but there would be too many parts to list. So for now this will have to do.
Price : US$ 109.99





HARD DRIVES:


CORSAIR Force Series GS SSD (www.corsair.com/)

Capacity : 180GB
Interface : SATA III
Max Seq. Read : 555MB/s
Max Seq. Write : 525MB/s
Price : US$ 164.99

Corsairs newest line of SSDs, the GS Series boasts very fast performance and more stability then previous iterations.







Western Digital Caviar Black (www.wdc.com)

Capacity : 1.0TB
Interface : SATA III
RPM : 7200
Cache : 64MB
Price : US$ 109.99

A very fast, very stable hard drive choice, the caviar black series is my personal favorite when it comes to hard drives.








OPTICAL DRIVE:


ASUS BW-12B1ST (www.asus.com)

BD-R Write Speed : 12X
BD-R DL : 4X
DVD+R/-R WS : 16X
Price : US$ 89.99

One of the best Blu-Ray Burners out there, the Asus option is fast, quiet and super stable.











TOTAL:


US$ 3914.88

FINAL THOUGHTS:


Could this be even more extreme? Certainly, but this was a sample ultimate build and as you can see the cost is already close to four grand. However if you want to make a affordable LGA 2011 build, you can and I will show an example build for that as well

CASE: NZXT Phantom Full Tower                                                                       US$ 119.99

CPU: Intel Core i7-3820 Quad-Core                                                                    US$ 299.99

MB: ASRock X79 Extreme4 LGA 2011                                                               US$ 224.99

GPU: SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 7970 OC                                                              US$ 459.00

RAM: CORSAIR XMS3 4 x 4GB DDR3 1333                                                    US$ 89.99

PSU: CORSAIR TX750 750W 80+ Bronze                                                         US$ 109.99

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo                                                         US$ 30.99

SSD: SAMSUNG 830 Series 64GB                                                                     US$ 89.99

HDD: TOSHIBA 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s                      US$ 69.99

TOTAL:                                                                                                                US$ 1494.92

The options are endless and you can keep making it cheaper and cheaper.

I will also be posting the blog name suggestions as well for polling. Please be on the lookout for that.

Until then,
Kiyoshi Out!
Psst... Hey... Spread the word! +1, Subscribe,Tweet ^_^ Thank you for reading. 

KarachiDevil's Core-i7 Gaming Build

Hi folks!

Today I will be posting a build I have helped a friend make. He had a healthy budget for this one so I decided to suggest him the best parts his hard earned money can buy. Also on a side note I have decided on splitting my builds in to two distinct categories : The Kiyoshi Builds and the KarachiDevil builds. The Kiyoshi Builds will be more budget friendly, lower on power and meant more for varied tasks whereas the KarachiDevil builds will be the gaming builds. This way it will be easier to go directly to the build you have in mind. With that I will be renaming the Audiophile build as the Kiyoshi Audiophile build and the first Kiyoshi build as a KarachiDevil build.

In case you were wondering what KarachiDevil stands for, it is my gaming id on almost all the games I play. Okay, on wards with the build.

CASE:


CORSAIR Graphite Series 600T (http://www.corsair.com)

Supported Motherboards : Micro ATX / ATX
5.25" Drive Bays : 4
3.5" Drive Bays : 6 (built-in compatibility for SSDs)
Expansion Slots : 8
Dimensions : 23.30in x 10.40in x 20.00in
Price : US$ 159.99

The mesh side panel can accommodate up to four 120mm fans. It also has a USB 3.0 connector on the front panel ad a four-channel fan controller. Plus it look absolutely gorgeous. Also comes in white (which is my favorite.)









CPU:


Intel Core i7-3770K (http://www.intel.com)

Core Clock : 3.5GHz
Max Turbo : 3.9GHz
4-Core, 8-Threads
L3 Cache : 8MB
L2 Cache : 4 x 256KB
Price : US$ 349.99

The Third Generation Core Series draws less power than its predecessor but on the downside it may run hotter than before. Nothing a good cooler can't fix though.




MOTHERBOARD:


ASRock Z77 Extreme4 (http://www.asrock.com/)

Memory Supported :Max 32GB
PCI E 3.0 x16 : 2 ,PCI E x1 : 2 ,PCI : 2
SATA Connectors : 4xSATA 3Gb/s, 4xSATA 6Gb/s
Dimensions : 12in x 8.6in
Price : US$ 134.99

The smaller brother of the Extreme6 featured before. Good, solid option to go for.




VIDEO CARD:


EVGA GeForce GTX 670 FTW (http://www.evga.com)

Interface : PCI E 3.0 x16
Core Clock : 1006 MHz
Boost Clock : 1084 MHz
CUDA Cores : 1344
Memory : 2GB 256-bit GDDR5
Ports : 1 HDMI, 1 DisplayPort, 2 DVI
Power Connectors : 2 x 6 Pin
Dimensions : 10in x 4.38in
Price : US$ 419.99

A solid choice for the NVIDIA enthusiast (which he is.)







SOUND CARD:


CREATIVE Sound Blaster Recon3D (http://www.creative.com)

Channels : 5.1
Sample Rate : 96KHz
SNR : 102dB
Interface : PCI Express x1
Price : US$ 99.99

I had to convince him to include the card, but once he heard the sound, all is good. Get a sound card if you can. You just will not believe the difference it makes over on-board audio.









RAM:


CORSAIR Dominator Platinum (http://www.corsair.com)

Capacity : 2 x 4GB
Speed : 1866
Voltage : 1.5V
Timing : 9-10-9-27
CAS Latency: 9
Price : US$ 84.99

With improved cooling and slick design, we were sold on this as soon as the picture was seen. Comes with an integrated light bar which can be swapped for different colors which are due to come out soon.





POWER SUPPLY:


CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX750 (http://www.corsair.com)

Max Power : 750W
Active PFC
PCI - E Connectors : 4 x 6+2-Pin
SATA Connectors : 12
Fully Modular
80+ Gold Certified
Price : US$ 169.99

I was for the TX750 that I bought but he wanted 80+ Gold so this is the one we chose. Super quite, super efficient and fully modular for a clutter free case.




LIQUID COOLING:


CORSAIR H80 Liquid CPU Cooler (http://www.corsair.com)

Radiator Dimensions : 120 x 152 x 38 mm
Fan Dimensions : 120 x 120 x 25 mm x2 fans
RPMs : 1300 (LN), 2000 (Balanced), 2500 (HP)
Air Flow : 46-92 CFM
Fan Noise : 22-39 dB
Price : US$ 104.99

Didn't have room in the budget for a custom liquid cooling option so we went for this and fans on the mesh to cool the video card. You can replace the fans with some other ones if the sound is too loud for you.




HARD DRIVES:


CORSAIR Force Series GT SSD (http://www.corsair.com)

Capactiy : 120GB
Interface : SATA III
Max. Seq. Read : Up to 555MB/s
Max. Seq. Write : Up to 515MB/s
Price : US$ 129.99

A great SSD for gaming with good reliability and awesome speeds. Install your OS on this and watch it fly! Install it for quick boots and quick loads of your favorite applications/games.






Based up on my recommendation, he had previously bought a WD Caviar Black 1TB Drive so we did not buy a storage drive. but if you want here are a few good ones you can consider.
Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache US$ 119.99 (Great for games & fast access.)
HGST Deskstar 7K3000 2TB 7200RPM 64 MB Cache US$ 134.99
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM 32MB Cache US$ 99.99 (All three are SATA III)

TOTAL:


US$ 1654.91

The total may seem a bit excessive to some but what you could do is swap out some of the parts. For example you could get a cheaper case, go for air cooling, get a bronze or silver rated power supply and got a smaller SSD or skip it all together. This kind of build will ensure great performance, future proofing as the case can hold more things and with some good cooling, very low operating temperatures.

Well that is it for this post. Be on the lookout for the competition which will start soon.

Till then,
Kiyoshi Out!
Psst... Hey... Spread the word! +1, Subscribe,Tweet ^_^ Thank you for reading. 

KarachiDevil's Core-i5 Build

Hi Folks!

So today was my day off and after I slept for the majority of the morning, I am now awake and refreshed and wanted to post a build that I thought would be good for any games that are out right now and you should be able to play them at max settings. I will also list the prices for everything and the totals. I will be posting more builds in the near future as well as some other exciting posts that you should stay tuned for!

Today's build will be a Intel-Nvidia build. This should ensure some serious performance and room for a lot of overclocking.

CASE:


NZXT Phantom 410

The Mid-Tower brother of the Phantom, it has an adjustable interior pivot fan slot for directional air flow.

Dimensions : 20.94in x 8.46in x 20.31in.
Price : US$ 99.99










CPU:


Intel Core i5-3570K

The replacement for the phenomenal i5-2500K, it draws less power than it's predecessor and has a little bit more headroom for performance.

Stock Clock : 3.4 Ghz
Price : US$ 239.99











MOTHERBOARD:


ASRock Z77 Extreme6

Features 2 PCI-E 3.0 x16 slots and 4 SATA III Connectors, the Extreme 6 is a very good Z77 board.

Dimensions : 12.0in x 9.6in
Price : US$ 174.99









VIDEO CARD:


EVGA GeForce GTX 560-Ti 448 Ultra Classified

The 448 Cores version of a very good card, EVGAs version is going be a very good and a very stable card to buy.

Dimensions : 10.5in x 4.68in
Core Clock : 810Mhz
Memory : 320-bit 1280MB GDDR5
3-Way SLI Capable
Price : US$ 299.99










SOUND CARD:


CREATIVE Sound Blaster Recon3D

One of my favorite gaming centered sound card, the Recon 3D has a Quad-Core Audio Processor for gaming audio and crystal-clear voice communications. It is engineered for low-power consumption.

Connector: PCI-E x1 Slot
Price : US$ 99.99















RAM:


G.SKILL Sniper Series

One of my favorite RAM. It is Intel XMP Ready.

Speed : DDR3 1866
Capacity 8GB (2 x 4GB)
Timing : 9-10-9-28
Voltage : 1.5V
Price : US$ 59.99






POWER SUPPLY:


CORSAIR TX750M

The Modular Version of my PSU, It is a great Power Supply with very quiet operation and long life. Modular helps keeps air flow open and uninterrupted.

PCI-E Connector : 4 x 6+2-Pin
SATA Connector : 8
Dimensions : 5.9in x 3.4in x 6.3in
Price : US$ 119.99








CPU COOLER:


AIR COOLING:


COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO

The next iteration of the incredibly popular and efficient Hyper 212, The EVO has four direct contact heat pipes.

Dimensions : 120mm fan, Heatsink 120mm x 80mm x 159mm
Price : $33.99









LIQUID COOLING:


CORSAIR H80 Liquid CPU Cooler

The newer i5 gives an incredible amount of heat and as such, a liquid cooler might be better for your build if you want do extreme overclocking or want your cpu to operate at very low temperatures. It includes a double-thick radiator and two 120mm fans.

Radiator Dimensions : 230mm x 152mm x 38mm
Price : US$ 104.99








HARD DRIVE:


Western Digital 1TB

THE WDC Black Edition is designed for high performance and such would be a perfect fit for your gaming computer.

Speed :  7200RPM
Interface : SATA III (6.0Gb/s)
Cache : 64MB
Price: US$ 119.99
















MONITOR:


ACER G235H Abd

A Great monitor to go with your build, it is a perfect fit with your 560Ti 448.

Max Resolution : 1920 x 1080
Response Time : 5ms
Features VESA Wall Mounting : 100mm x 100mm
Price : US$ 139.99









TOTALS:


Total with Air Cooling : US$ 1148.92 (No Monitor)
Total with Liquid Cooling : US$ 1219.92 (No Monitor)

That is one of the builds in my mind that would give you stellar performance all across the board. Of course when making your build, you can substitute parts as you desire, however this will give you a good reference to base your build upon.

That is all for now folks, as always please +1, subscribe, spread the word if you like what you read and any comments are always welcome.

Kiyoshi out.

Sound Cards

Hi folks!

Today I will be covering the audio card. I am wrapping up all the components that go inside your computer and the only things that are left are hard drives and peripherals (Mouse & Keyboard). There are of course other accessories you can include like headsets, speakers, fan controllers, lcd displays but those are not necessary for your basic build to be complete so I will talk about them in other posts as I encounter them myself. Remember I myself don't earn a lot of money so budget sometimes stops me from getting the stuff of my dreams ^_^. Also if you guys want me to talk about something in particular, please feel free to ask and I will post my opinions and suggestions about them.

So why would you need an Audio Card? Audio Cards are very good at giving you that depth of experience to truly enjoy your games, movies and musics. Motherboards all come with on board sound options but since they are on the board, you end up sacrificing some power and capabilities to put them on board. Detaching it from the board gives you more power and more capabilities.

Two of my favorite companies in this are Asus and Creative. My opinion is that if you want a sound card more for gaming, go for Creative and if you are interested in music more, go for the Asus ones.

ASUS (http://usa.asus.com/Multimedia/#Audio_Cards)

ASUS Xonar Essence STX

One of the best audiophile cards you can find out there. It comes with a built in headphone amp to deliver amazing sound to your headphones. Will give you better sound no matter what headphones you are using. Comes with 6.3 mm headphone jacks for high-end headphones (Adapter for 3.5mm connectors also included) Selling for $189.99. It uses the PCI-E x1 slot on your motherboard.








Other cards to consider from ASUS
ASUS Xonar DX 7.1 PCI-E x1
Price $89.99
Good for gaming if you are on a budget.

ASUS Xonar DGX 5.2 PCI-E x1
Price $39.99
Good for gaming if you are on tighter budget

ASUS Xonar DG 5.1 PCI
Price $29.99
If you have a PCI slot only and extremely small budget, consider this. Good for gaming.


CREATIVE (www.creative.com)
One of my favorite brands and always a very tempting option for me. Check them out, you will not be disappointed.

Creative Sound Blaster Recon3D Fatal1ty Professional

The next generation of Sound Blaster cards, this card is great for gaming and online voice communication. It features a Sound Core3D Quad-Core Audio Processor that will give you enhanced gaming audio and crystal clear voice. It has a dedicated headphone amp to power studio quality headphones and headsets. Selling for $149.99. Requires a PCI-E x1 slot.






For $50 more, you can get a Recon3D Professional card with a Sound Blaster I/O Drive to give you front facing Headphone and Microphone inputs as well as volume and THX TruStudio Pro Controls. Check out these links here and here to find out more about it.











Other cards to consider
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD PCI-E x1
Price $146.99
Has Audiophile components to provide great music and gaming audio.

Creative Sound Blaster Recon3D PCI-E x1
Price $99.99
A Recon3D card for those on a smaller budget. Good for Gaming

Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE 7.1 PCI
Price $29.99
Extreme budget option requiring a PCI slot.

Hey answer something for me. Have you noticed the Fatal1ty thing? Creative has a Fatal1ty named sound card and ASRock has a Fatal1ty named Motherboard. Coincidence? Well no Fatal1ty is actually the gamer name for Jonathon Wendel who is described as the world's most famous PC gamer. Check out his website www.fatal1ty.com to learn more about the product lines that carry his name.

That's it for this post. I will talk about hard drives in general in the next post and then talk about my various dream build ideas and then on to the exciting world of peripherals where, hopefully some exciting and unique things will be presented to you ^_^

Until then,
Kiyoshi Out