OK Decided on new build, what do y'all think?

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DaddyRabbit
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Re: OK Decided on new build, what do y'all think?

Post by DaddyRabbit »

Overall I am VERY happy with the build (I'll try to get pics of everything installed). Haven't experienced any real issues with the Asrock board, and the H100 cools like a mofo while being quite quiet. Had an issue with the initial RAM buy from the Egg (solved VERY quickly I must add!).

The coolest things though:

I struggled to get a stable overclock to 3.6ghz out of my i7 920 on the Gigabyte X58. To OC to 4.6 on the Asrock took going into the UEFI and setting the optimized OC to 4.6 and saving! The k series with the unlocked multi makes for an easy OC and didn't cost me a grand! The 4.8 setting isn't working though, need to get into the guts of voltages and such if I want to go 4.8 +

Bulldozer, Schmuldozer this little rig is rockin' now! :supz:
Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3
Core i7 2600k
Corsair H100 Liquid Cooler
8gig (2x4) G.Skill Ripjaws DDR3-1600
Powercolor HD5870 PCS+
OCZ Agility 2 240G SSD (boot, programs, games)
WD Caviar Black 1TB (Data)
CM UCP RS700-AAAAA3 700W 80+ Silver PSU
CM Storm Sniper
Gateway FHD2400
Win 7 Pro 64bit
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DaddyRabbit
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Re: OK Decided on new build, what do y'all think?

Post by DaddyRabbit »

Major_A wrote:That's a bunch of accessories. What do you think of the motherboard? I might go ASRock my next build. Seems like you get a lot more features than say an ASUS or Gigabyte for cheaper.
The one I liked the most was the front 3.5" USB 3 adapter and the rear PCI panel included if you wanted more rear ports. After several mobo buys I have more SLI bridges laying around (I'm an ATI guy) than I know what to do with!

As for the board; I like it. The upgrade from my X58 went smooth as butter, no re-installs just moved the drives and went thru 3 reboots for driver installs. The board has been rock solid at a 4.6ghz OC for a couple of weeks.

That said (As a Gigabyte fan) from what I am hearing tech support isn't all that good. I haven't had to use it but there are complaints. There also seems to be an issue with both the Extreme4 and Extreme4 Gen3 with BSODs when using the integrated graphics under "normal" use that nobody can seem to figure out. I have toyed with the iGPU to take advantage of transcoding video and had no issues.

I like the board but don't have much experience with Asrock yet so can't give a 100% recommendation but, I have been pleasantly surprised with this one.
Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3
Core i7 2600k
Corsair H100 Liquid Cooler
8gig (2x4) G.Skill Ripjaws DDR3-1600
Powercolor HD5870 PCS+
OCZ Agility 2 240G SSD (boot, programs, games)
WD Caviar Black 1TB (Data)
CM UCP RS700-AAAAA3 700W 80+ Silver PSU
CM Storm Sniper
Gateway FHD2400
Win 7 Pro 64bit
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Major_A
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Re: OK Decided on new build, what do y'all think?

Post by Major_A »

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DaddyRabbit
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Re: OK Decided on new build, what do y'all think?

Post by DaddyRabbit »

Major_A wrote:Just ran across this and you might be interested/affected.
http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99361
http://www.techpowerup.com/152991/Some- ... ssues.html
Thanks for the heads up! I am not affected but I did hear about some potential firmware issues, glad mine isn't in this batch. BTW the cooler, while not full on custom built water cooling pretty much KICKS!
Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3
Core i7 2600k
Corsair H100 Liquid Cooler
8gig (2x4) G.Skill Ripjaws DDR3-1600
Powercolor HD5870 PCS+
OCZ Agility 2 240G SSD (boot, programs, games)
WD Caviar Black 1TB (Data)
CM UCP RS700-AAAAA3 700W 80+ Silver PSU
CM Storm Sniper
Gateway FHD2400
Win 7 Pro 64bit
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