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Norcal's $1000 PC Build. Please Do Enter - Page 5

post #61 of 92
2/3/12 at 8:00am
23" dell ultrasharp $229

http://slickdeals.net/f/3898780-Dell-Business-has-UltraSharp-U2312HM-23-1920x1080-IPS-for-229-Tax?p=47408057#post47408057
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post #62 of 92
2/3/12 at 8:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by furo View Post

That's why I went with the Zalman pictured below, no grooves to worry about:
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
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Here's what my pc looked like during the final stages of my build, prior to my rearranging some wires for better airflow:
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
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The cooler master is less than half the price (regularly on sale from a variety of retailers) with better performance. I'll deal with spreading the TIM once for a long period of stellar performance.

^otc, that's a good deal.
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post #63 of 92
2/3/12 at 9:07am
Quote:
Originally Posted by whiteslashasian View Post

The cooler master is less than half the price (regularly on sale from a variety of retailers) with better performance. I'll deal with spreading the TIM once for a long period of stellar performance.
^otc, that's a good deal.

Yeah, I thought so...although I will wait for a good deal on the 24" 16:10 version because I abhor 16:9 monitors and I would rather direct my buying power towards displays with more resolution than my damn TV (even if only slightly).

303
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post #64 of 92
2/3/12 at 10:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by otc View Post

Yeah, I thought so...although I will wait for a good deal on the 24" 16:10 version because I abhor 16:9 monitors and I would rather direct my buying power towards displays with more resolution than my damn TV (even if only slightly).
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Hehehe, what that xkcd cartoon fails to take into account is viewing distance.

I hate 16:9 as well. Hence my use of the older Dell IPS panels.
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post #65 of 92
2/4/12 at 3:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by NorCal View Post

I will likely get hooked up by a friend at Microsoft for Win 7 but I obviously need games now. Are the torrented games generally reliable? Anyone want to share/sell/trade any?

Maybe OK, but you have to be very careful about viruses, trojans and other malware. I think Steam is the best bet for decent games these days. http://store.steampowered.com/
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post #66 of 92
2/4/12 at 9:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by whiteslashasian View Post

The cooler master is less than half the price (regularly on sale from a variety of retailers) with better performance. I'll deal with spreading the TIM once for a long period of stellar performance.
^otc, that's a good deal.

The cooler master does not have better performance at all. In fact, I took the Zalman on advice from a fellow at work who swapped his Cooler Master for the same Zalman that I got - he's been building PCs for 15 years
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post #67 of 92
2/4/12 at 10:06am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeDT View Post

Maybe OK, but you have to be very careful about viruses, trojans and other malware. I think Steam is the best bet for decent games these days. http://store.steampowered.com/

cool, thanks for the link.
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post #68 of 92
2/4/12 at 10:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by NorCal View Post

cool, thanks for the link.

Steam gets pretty crazy when it has sales
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post #69 of 92
2/7/12 at 9:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by furo View Post

The cooler master does not have better performance at all. In fact, I took the Zalman on advice from a fellow at work who swapped his Cooler Master for the same Zalman that I got - he's been building PCs for 15 years

All the benchmarks I've seen have the 212 Plus at exactly the same, if not a very small degree off the CNPS9900, looks like you have the CNPS9700 up there which is not quite as hot a performer. Not to mention all that copper on the Zalman weighs a fuck ton and might distort your mobo and cause the copper in the PCB or solder joints to disconnect (happens with the ultra heavy coolers). The 212 Plus is regularly found for almost 1/3 the cost of the 9900 and matches the performance with less strain on your motherboard. No brainer.

I've been building PC's for the last 13 years. Oops, your work friend wins rolleyes.gif

The Zalman works fine, but remember that Norcal is on a budget here. Sure he could spend $100 on a Prolimatech Megahalems and some Noctua fans, but that's a bit of an overkill, especially for a relatively cool chip like the 2500k that he will not be pushing to 4.5ghz+

For the record, I'm not a zalman hater, I was very happy with the all copper 7700 I had back in college, but technology has moved on. No need for a MASSIVE hunk of copper when heatpipes work far more efficiently when directly in contact with the heat spreader on the CPU.
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post #70 of 92
2/7/12 at 9:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by whiteslashasian View Post

All the benchmarks I've seen have the 212 Plus at exactly the same, if not a very small degree off the CNPS9900, looks like you have the CNPS9700 up there which is not quite as hot a performer. Not to mention all that copper on the Zalman weighs a fuck ton and might distort your mobo and cause the copper in the PCB or solder joints to disconnect (happens with the ultra heavy coolers). The 212 Plus is regularly found for almost 1/3 the cost of the 9900 and matches the performance with less strain on your motherboard. No brainer.
I've been building PC's for the last 13 years. Oops, your work friend wins rolleyes.gif
The Zalman works fine, but remember that Norcal is on a budget here. Sure he could spend $100 on a Prolimatech Megahalems and some Noctua fans, but that's a bit of an overkill, especially for a relatively cool chip like the 2500k that he will not be pushing to 4.5ghz+
For the record, I'm not a zalman hater, I was very happy with the all copper 7700 I had back in college, but technology has moved on. No need for a MASSIVE hunk of copper when heatpipes work far more efficiently when directly in contact with the heat spreader on the CPU.

lol, "MASSIVE"?

The copper Zalman weighs next to nothing. The mobo can handle that np. It looks heavier than it is btw.

I run the CNPS9500 and it cost me a whopping $42

As far as performance goes, I personally run a cpu temp monitor app at all times and haven't run into the slightest problems. I can't say I've tried the coolermaster on the exact build I have, but I do trust the advice of the IT guy at work who pretty much gave me the proper specs I needed and told me to spec the Zalman over the CM. The whole build was on a $1000 budget just like the OP, and you can see all my specs in the pic I posted above.

Of course, I didn't need a monitor with my build...
Edited by furo - 2/7/12 at 10:03am
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post #71 of 92
2/7/12 at 10:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by whiteslashasian 
Not to mention all that copper on the Zalman weighs a fuck ton and might distort your mobo and cause the copper in the PCB or solder joints to disconnect (happens with the ultra heavy coolers).

I lol'd when I saw this:

Zalman CNPS9500 = 530g total weight

Cooler Master Hyper 212 = 626g total weight

uhoh.gif
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post #72 of 92
2/7/12 at 10:14am
You never gave the model, I was going off the assumption it was a 9700, which is *edit 764g

The 212 will outperform the 9500, hands down. Not sure where your IT friend is getting his information.

*edit* 9700 is 764g, 9900 is actually less, which is surprising at 730g.
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post #73 of 92
2/7/12 at 10:20am
Hmmmm somehow the edit isn't working. 9700 is 764g, surprisingly to me the 9900 is 730g.

Cooler Master does make more than just one cooler...you know...

ITT: Nerds fight over dumb shit. Nothing new on SF.
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post #74 of 92
2/7/12 at 10:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by whiteslashasian View Post

The 212 will outperform the 9500, hands down. Not sure where your IT friend is getting his information.


No, it really won't

You have nothing to back this claim. The "IT friend" is going off of personal experience, where he swapped a CM for the same exact Zalman that I bought due to performance and overheating issues.

It's funny you're here knocking the Zalman product, which uses pure copper throughout, whereas your champion uses aluminum as its primary heatsink.

The "no-brainer" as you put it would clearly rest with the better conductor and extractor of heat, which of course is copper.
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post #75 of 92
2/7/12 at 10:48am
I also find this rather funny:
Quote:
Originally Posted by whiteslashasian 
The cooler master is less than half the price

Actually, the Zalman retails for $40 and the CM Hyper 212 EVO (the exact model the OP claims to have) retails for $35

Searching sale prices currently online, I found the Zalman at $34 and the CM at $24
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