System build 2013 Prologue

In 2010 I detailed the process of putting together my first self-built, high end computer. This year, I'm going to be building another and applying the knowledge I gained from the previous build to make a more refined build. I'm going to be working a bit more on optimizing airflow and clean cable management in a larger case this time around. In addition, I'll be branching out a bit and experimenting with a few technologies that I've never played with before, namely a RAID 5 array and possibly a closed loop liquid cooler. I'll get to those later, but first let me expand a little on some other aspects of this build.

My budget is $2000 even this time around, which is an increase from last time by about $500. I'm starting this right at the edge of the release of two promising technologies, namely the Haswell Intel architecture and Nvidia's GTX 700 series video cards. I'll be waiting to see what each brings to the table- in the case of the GTX 700 series cards it's merely a matter of which one to pick, be it a 780, a 770, or possibly two 760 Ti's in SLI. On the other hand, I may eschew Haswell in favor of the "end of cycle" pricing on the Sandy/Ivy Bridge processors, though this of course depends on how much of a price/performance ratio the new architecture brings. It certainly looks impressive so far, but I'll withhold my judgement until the reviews are in.

I spent significantly more on a case this time around, to the tune of about double what I paid for the last one. Of course, in all fairness it is not a micro ATX case, but the Corsair 650D I purchased was initially not my first choice. The temperatures and noise levels it offered were middling compared to other offerings, and there were certainly cooler or quieter cases to be had for less money. That said, when I got to see a display model, I was impressed by the features it offered. The easily removable filters for the underside and the front are quite handy, the latched side panels are sturdy but easy to get apart, and overall it just has a very nice build quality to it. Looking at other cases, I just didn't see the same level of polish. It doesn't hurt that aesthetically, I find it very appealing as well. My only complaints after handling it were a trifecta of small issues; I could care less about the tool-less drive bays, the top vents frustratingly have no filter, and the fan situation is not optimized for a good "positive pressure" setup to keep dust away. None of those problems were enough to sway me away from it, and the fact that there was a $20 mail in rebate certainly eased the concern about cost.

On to the RAID array. After reading a little about RAID 5 and the fact that it can withstand the failure of a hard drive without a loss of data, I thought it would be a neat idea to try, now that I've realized my assessment that "I'd only ever really need ~1TB of storage" turned out to be a woeful underestimation. Having had good experiences with Western Digital, I chose 3 of their 1TB "Red" drives to set up in a RAID 5. They are inteded for NAS, but they also work well in a RAID array, being able to ramp their RPM up or down to simultaneously save power and keep up with demand. When not under load, they only spin at 5400, but hit them with a demanding data operation, they will spin up to the normal 7200 to accommodate. Seems like a really neat feature, and I can't wait to see how they perform in my RAID. Of course, I'll also be using SSDs to supplement my storage for gaming and/or OS applications.

Finally, I feel like it might finally be time to take the step over to water cooling and try a closed loop cooler. The technology has matured greatly since I last considered using one, and I feel much more willing to try one over a big air heat sink. Of course, air is still a bit more cost effective, and it is hard to beat some of the "big guns" in the air cooling arena even with a CLC. On the other hand, the CLC does allow for a "cleaner" airflow path and less clutter inside the case, when done right.

I'll have more to write as I acquire more components and information.