Project haf

ScottALot

Active Member
Wow, motherboard choices went from few to VERY many! I say "company" quality because some people have opinions on companies so "company" quality can sound like a good or bad thing for them. So depending on your experience, you can recommend or degrade a mobo.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186171&Tpk=foxconn flamingblade Foxconn FlamingBlade
Value, red/black theme, Foxconn quality 185$

I found one of these used: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188048&cm_re=e760-_-13-188-048-_-Product
Bad@$$, red/black theme, EVGA quality, waterblock available, eATX 275$

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131666&Tpk=rampage iii formula
Bad@$$, red/black theme, ASUS quality, waterblocks soon?, cool features for a good value 300$

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188065&Tpk=ftw3
Black theme matches my CPU block, I think there are waterblocks for the board..., EVGA quality, more than adequate cooling obviously!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...039&cm_re=evga_sli_x58-_-13-188-039-_-Product
I've seen plenty of these used that I could buy for ~200-250$ and they seem to have great value and EVGA quality

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188068&cm_re=sli3-_-13-188-068-_-Product
This is a new board, I haven't heard much about it, is this more of a low-budget board?
 

bomberboysk

Active Member
Wow, motherboard choices went from few to VERY many! I say "company" quality because some people have opinions on companies so "company" quality can sound like a good or bad thing for them. So depending on your experience, you can recommend or degrade a mobo.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186171&Tpk=foxconn flamingblade Foxconn FlamingBlade
Value, red/black theme, Foxconn quality 185$

I found one of these used: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188048&cm_re=e760-_-13-188-048-_-Product
Bad@$$, red/black theme, EVGA quality, waterblock available, eATX 275$

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131666&Tpk=rampage iii formula
Bad@$$, red/black theme, ASUS quality, waterblocks soon?, cool features for a good value 300$

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188065&Tpk=ftw3
Black theme matches my CPU block, I think there are waterblocks for the board..., EVGA quality, more than adequate cooling obviously!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...039&cm_re=evga_sli_x58-_-13-188-039-_-Product
I've seen plenty of these used that I could buy for ~200-250$ and they seem to have great value and EVGA quality

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188068&cm_re=sli3-_-13-188-068-_-Product
This is a new board, I haven't heard much about it, is this more of a low-budget board?
SLI3 is EVGA's new replacement for the LE, its excellent value for money.

However, if you arent interested in SATA 6.0Gb/s or USB 3.0, the X58 SLI can be had for $99 from B stock, you only get a 90 day warranty and no accesories but the IO shield however.(Although, the other "accessories" are just the cables and such, can use a generic $5-6 50mm fan on the chipset).
http://www.evga.com/products/prodlist.asp?switch=20
 

JakeMFBacon

New Member
SLI3 is EVGA's new replacement for the LE, its excellent value for money.

However, if you arent interested in SATA 6.0Gb/s or USB 3.0, the X58 SLI can be had for $99 from B stock, you only get a 90 day warranty and no accesories but the IO shield however.(Although, the other "accessories" are just the cables and such, can use a generic $5-6 50mm fan on the chipset).
http://www.evga.com/products/prodlist.asp?switch=20

Would that board work for the i7950? It's way cheaper than the gigabyte x58 I was going to buy. Does Sata 6.0gb/s or usb 3.0 even come into play now? If not when is it going to be used?
 

bomberboysk

Active Member
Would that board work for the i7950? It's way cheaper than the gigabyte x58 I was going to buy. Does Sata 6.0gb/s or usb 3.0 even come into play now? If not when is it going to be used?

if its not being used,its not necessary.

And yes, the 950 is going to be supported on any pretty much any 1366 board.
 

ScottALot

Active Member
SLI3 is EVGA's new replacement for the LE, its excellent value for money.

However, if you arent interested in SATA 6.0Gb/s or USB 3.0, the X58 SLI can be had for $99 from B stock, you only get a 90 day warranty and no accesories but the IO shield however.(Although, the other "accessories" are just the cables and such, can use a generic $5-6 50mm fan on the chipset).
http://www.evga.com/products/prodlist.asp?switch=20

Oh, okay... I'm not so interested in the LE or SLI3 then. I have a major gripe with the vanilla X58's color scheme. I know it's so darn cheap that it's easy to get past, but when you're water-cooling, it's nice to have a really solid theme like my red/black theme.
 

JakeMFBacon

New Member
if its not being used,its not necessary.

And yes, the 950 is going to be supported on any pretty much any 1366 board.

hmm well I mean what actually uses it?
Also it not coming with the cables does all the parts already come with their own so that doesn't matter?

It's 80$ cheaper than the gigabyte x58 @ new egg right now. Would you go for the evga or the gigabyte for 80 more?
 

ScottALot

Active Member
USB 3.0 and SATA6GB/S are future-proofing features that have a possibility of being facilitated during the life of the motherboard. It doesn't cost much at all over other boards, so I say "why not?"
 

ScottALot

Active Member
I need opinions on RAM... here are some I found

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007611%20600006050%20600006076&IsNodeId=1&page=3&bop=And&CompareItemList=147|20-145-224^20-145-224-TS%2C20-226-028^20-226-028-TS%2C20-231-306^20-231-306-TS%2C20-226-124^20-226-124-TS%2C20-226-121^20-226-121-TS

My build is red/black so if you have any suggestions, make sure they fit the theme. The Dominators that are in there are the limit of going outside the color scheme. However, those SuperTalent Chromes are fine because they can match the nickel... I'm not sure about SuperTalent though.
 

ScottALot

Active Member
Problem is I haven't heard the best things about Crucial's RAM... maybe I'm hearing it from the wrong people.
 

bomberboysk

Active Member
It's okay. I don't personally care for it though. I prefer G. Skill, OCZ, or PNY.

I wouldn't touch OCZ DDR3 even if i was given it, they use really poor grade IC's in them(other than the original blade, which used elpida hyper IC's, and were pretty good).

I'd stick with mushkin, GeIL, G.Skill, Corsair, Super Talent, or some of the A-data stuff. Kingston/Wintec/PNY have some alright products if you are careful, some of their products have good IC's in them, while some lines have really crap IC's in them.
 

ScottALot

Active Member
Narrowed down to: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=40000147%20600006050%20600006076%20600052011%20600006127&IsNodeId=1&Description=mushkin%20redline&bop=And&CompareItemList=147|20-226-125^20-226-125-TS%2C20-226-121^20-226-121-TS%2C20-226-030^20-226-030-TS%2C20-226-028^20-226-028-TS

Also, can you control lights through programs like SpeedFan if you plug them into the motherboard? And I've heard there's a program that's more reliable/better than SpeedFan, but I can't recall the name... I'd like to get it.
 
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ScottALot

Active Member
My theme of red/black seems to relate to EXTREME. Both in performance and price o_O

I've been doing some thinking. I want to keep the watercooling red themed, but what do you guys think about this for hardware?

MOBO: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=40000280&IsNodeId=1&Description=x58%20motherboard&page=2&bop=And&CompareItemList=280|13-131-358R^13-131-358-03%23%2C13-130-289R^13-130-289-TS

RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...0231335&cm_re=6gb_ddr3-_-20-231-335-_-Product

And either one of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127518 (I'd get a second one later)
or two of these right away: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=50001402%2040000048&IsNodeId=1&Description=gts%20450&bop=And&CompareItemList=48|14-130-577^14-130-577-TS%2C14-130-573^14-130-573-02%23%2C14-130-572^14-130-572-TS

Tell me your thoughts! I kinda figured this would work out real well because my fan controller has blue and red LEDs (red for high speed, blue for low) and it sets off a really nice theme.

EDIT: Compare links like to break themselves /shrug... they're all better now.

EDIT: Apparently they're still broken. Well, MSi Big Bang XPower is one of the mobos, GTX 460 Hawk or GTS 450 FTW SLI, RAM: G.SKill 6GB DDR3 1600 Pi.
 
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ScottALot

Active Member
Good Newwwws everyone! Flamingblade is back in stock! But I haven't lost the concept of the red/blue...
What do you guys think?
MSi Big Bang XPower
Rampage II Xtreme (used)
E760 Classified (used)
FoxConn Flamingblade

If I get the MSi, then I will get the G.Skill Pi, if I get any red themed, I'll either get Redlines, Ridgebacks, Blackline, Tridents, Ripjaws, or Redline Ridgebacks (I don't know how $ they will be)

EDIT: Maybe P6T, P6T Deluxe, P6T V2, P6T6, one of those workstation style mobos... those look nice.

EDIT 2: FTW3 sounds like a good board, too, forgot to put that up. Ranks with the freakin' Rampage Extreme.

EDIT 3: Hooooly crap! Found a FoxConn BloodRage on the [H] for 150$ :D now to get the moneys.
 
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ScottALot

Active Member
Wow... that was almost no help at all, thanks linkin :p Specific mobos would be helpful.

Do you have any preferences between the mobos? Say as many as you want...
 
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