For about 3 months now I've been trying to put together a rig using the PC Builder the Alternate website offers. The purpose of the rig is heavy gaming with games such as Metro2033 running smoothly at high single-screen settings. I've been tweaking it here and there until I have the money to actually buy it. Now that time is finally here and I'm finalising my build, whoo! What I have so far is the following: - ASUS P8P67 Deluxe motherboard - Intel i7-2600k CPU - Noctua NH-D14 CPU cooler - 2x MSI GTX 580 Twin Frozr II/OC in SLi - G.Skill 8 gig DDR3-1333 RAM - Corsair 128 gig SSD - 2 TB harddisk - Samsung Blu-ray Combo - 1.000 watt PSU - CoolerMaster ATCS 840 system case with 2 additional optional fans installed, one on the bottom for intake and 1 in the external dedicated air duct. According to Alternate this system works fine, until I install a soundcard (I had the ASUS Xonar Essence STX in mind). 2 of the PCIe slots will be used by the GPUs, and the third slot would be occupied by the soundcard. At that point Alternate warns that the system will suffer from a lack of ventilation and would be prone to overheathing. First of all, I find it hard to believe that the soundcard, of all components, is the one triggering the warning. Second, I wonder if the Alternate website takes into account the enhanced non-stock cooling on the GPUs, the dedicated external air duct drawing heat away directly from PCIe devices, and the cooling both the massive CPU cooler and the case's enhanced air flow provide. So my question is: all things considered, can I safely go ahead with this soundcard despite the Alternate website going bananas, or (worst-case scenario) is the system in its entirety unstable and unreliable? Since I'm no expert on PC building and this is the first rig I've built in years that has such high-end equipment in it I'd very much appreciate any and all feedback on the subject. I've done quite a bit of research on the separate components, but people with hands-on experience know more than I do. Also, the question is not if this is hardware one actually nééds, but if it wórks, and if not, what sort of changes would improve the overall build. Thanks in advance ^^
Nice build! I don't see a problem with having the Sound Card installed! I doubt that site takes into account, any modifications you will make or additional cooling accessories you will add. Graphics cards are designed to run at very high temps, usually more than 70C.
From the benchmarks I've seen a GTX 580 Twin Frozr will run roughly 10 degrees cooler than the stock cooler, but whatever heat it produces is then blown into the case. I guess that might be a small problem, but honestly, seeing as how there's cool air coming in via 2 fans and hot air being blown out by 4 fans, I don't really anticipate that heat to stick around, build up and melt down the internals. But then, as I said, I'm no expert xD
