Spec'ing up a new PC build, and may be able to swing a GTX680 financially, even though it may be overkill. The specific GTX680 I am looking at (MSI brand) is 11.02" long according to Newegg. So need to figure out which "quiet" case can fit a video card this long.

Here are the cases I have been thinking about:

Antec P183 V3
Antec P280
Corsair Obsidian 550D
Fractal Design Define R4

Not sure if all of these would fit a GTX680 and if all are considered "quiet" cases? Are there any other cases I am missing? I don't want to go bigger than a mid-tower case. I will have a regular ATX size motherboard.

Here are the key components I "think" I am going with:

- Intel 3770K CPU
- ASUS P8Z77V Pro or Pro Thunderbolt motherboard
- 16GB of RAM
- 128GB SSD for OS/Programs
- WD Caviar Black 2TB data drive

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Do you really need the GTX 680 and it's $450 price tag? If you tell us your likely apps/games and screen resolution, we can help with an optimal build.

Sure, no problem. I am sure it is overkill, but it would be good to know my case can fit the card if I decide to get silly.



This will be my home PC that my wife and I use on a daily basis. The main functions this PC will perform are:

- E-mail
- Internet surfing
- MS Office document creation/editing (Excel, Word, Publisher)
- Photoshop CS6 working with Canon 7D and 40D RAW Files (personal use, not a pro photog)
- Light video editing of 720p video clips from Sony HX5V compact camera and 1080p clips from Canon 7D
- Ripping Blu-ray movies I own, and transcoding them for viewing on an iPad or Android phone
- Infrequent gaming - I don't game at all right now, but Far Cry 3 looks sweet...
- I have a 1920 x 1080 resolution monitor (it's a 32" 1080p LCD TV - we sit 3 feet or so away from it and don't really notice any pixelation in images or text) and I don't anticipate this changing anytime soon

Here are the specific parts I was planning on acquiring:

- Intel 3770K CPU
- Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO or Noctua NH-D14 CPU cooler - I may do some modest overclocking
- ASUS P8Z77-V Pro or Pro/Thunderbolt motherboard - the Fan XPert fan control looks sweet
- 16GB (2 x 8GB) of Crucial Ballistix Tactical DDR3 1600 RAM - CAS 8
- Corsair HX750 80 Plus Gold 750W power supply
- Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB SSD for OS and apps
- WD Caviar Black 2TB drive for data (with a second in an external enclosure for backup)
- LITE-ON Black SATA Blu-Ray Burner - Model IHBS112-04 OEM
- Icy Dock Blizzard USB3.0 and eSATA external enclosure for data backup drive - model MB080US3-1SB
- Lexar external USB3.0 memory card reader (CF and SD cards from cameras/video cameras)
- Windows 7 Pro 64-bit

The three items I have been debating about are:

- CPU cooler - I want something that is quiet and that can handle a modest overclock on a 3770K
- Case - I am using a P182 with my current build, so I have some familiarity with Antec. But not opposed to other brands/models.
- Video Card - it seems that the 1080p gaming would be the most taxing, and I'd like to be able to play a game like Far Cry 3 on near-best quality settings. Based on the tests that Tom's Hardware just published for this game, it seems like a GTX660Ti may not be enough muscle, and a GTX670 may not either. Or maybe I am just reading that article wrong?

Anyway, that is about all the stuff I have in my brain right now as respects this PC build project. I welcome criticism, critique, commentary, etc. as it will be a good learning exercise.

Thanks in advance.

Here's a couple more Far Cry 3 benchmarks at Techspot and Guru3D. MSAA is what really pounds down the fps for this game. If you can live without the top end quality, you could probably get away with a GTX 660Ti and have smooth gameplay at 1080p. But, if you want to go Ultra, then more GPU is needed. That said, here's the max GPU lengths as stated by the case mfgrs:
183 V3 15.5"
p280 13"
550d 12.6"
R4 11.6"

Take a gander at the Puget Sound build in the P183 - there's a 77W IVB and a GTX 670. It's what you can aspire to for sound/temps Any of the four cases would work, I'd lean toward the 183V3 over the 280, and the R4 and 550D are also nice. Which fits best in your room/has the features you like?

The i7 will be useful for the imaging/video work. It'll be overkill for gaming and the rest. Take a look at Anand's CPU Bench to see if it's worth the extra $100 over the i5-3570K...and how much faster either would be vs your current system.

The WD Black will be noisy. If it's just for data storage, get the WD Green.

PSU: Running Prime95 and Furmark, your system will draw ~320W from the PSU and maybe 270W while gaming...unless you plan to overvolt as part of the overclocking. If you aren't, then a 550W class PSU will do fine. Kingwin LZP-550 Platinum, Seasonic X-560 Gold come to mind.


RAM: LEDs on your RAM? Really?