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One of our favorite activities is the inevitability of a new PC build when a new SSD form factor is introduced. It’s the reason to dig in and try to build a system that’s unique and, if the enjoyment we had with this MPCIe Test Bench is any indication of success, we have succeeded in our goal. InWin, Corsair, Crucial, HighPoint, Intel, and be quiet all played their part in supporting this build and to each, we give two thumbs up and say thank you.
SYSTEM COMPONENTS
Component selection for our Test Benches is a healthy mixture of purchase and relationships, many of which have been established for some time. Our choice of components is very narrow, in that, we choose only what we believe to be among the best available and links are provided to each that will assist in hardware pricing and availability, should the reader be interested in purchase.
| PC CHASSIS: | InWin D-Frame Open Air Chassis |
| MOTHERBOARD: | ASUS Maximus VI Z87 MotherBoard |
| CPU: |
Intel Core i7-4770K CPU |
| CPU COOLER: | Corsair H100i CPU Cooler |
| POWER SUPPLY: | be quiet Dark Power Pro 10 1000W PSU |
| SYSTEM COOLING: | be quiet Silent Wings 2 PC Fans |
| GRAPHICS CARD: |
MSI Radeon HD 7870 Hawk Gfx Card |
| MEMORY: | Crucial Ballistix Tactical Tracer 1600Mhz Memory |
| KEYBOARD: | Corsair Vengeance K95 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard |
| MOUSE: | Corsair Vengeance M95 MMO/RTS Laser Mouse |
| ROUTER: | NetGear R6300 AC1750 Dual Band Gigabit WiFi Router |
| . |
Our choice of chassis was a bit unexpected and a big thumbs up goes to InWin for suggesting and sending this chassis along. Having a price tag of about the $400 mark, it is somewhat niche, however, it enables the builder to shape his or her own system. Very few components are restricted to set positioning and a quick look at pictures above and below will show the Corsair H100i radiator moved from where it originally sat to the right side of the D-Frame chassis.
be quiet is relatively new to North America but very well established with a large fan base in Europe. Our choice for the Dark Power Pro 10 PSU was initially influenced by our history with their Silent Wing Fans, however, this PSU also offers an overclocking key for single or multi rail use, as well as complete cable management.
This You Tube video gives a quick look at the system in action and provides further thought with respect to our component choices:
Four things:
1: Terrifically useful site.
2: Thank you for posting this. I discovered that a 2X water cooler can fit in the D-frame chassis. I’m using the Asus Crosshair V mobo with the AMD FX-9590 5 Gigahertz CPU.
I’ve ordered the NZXT Kraken 61 cooler, which is 20 mm wider than the Corsair. Hope it fits.
I have 2 Toshiba 850 Pro SSDs on order. Might stuff in a Velociraptor for backup.
3: I’m a software developer, so interested in CPU/Memory/Disk speed rather than graphics.
I’m more than willing to test various components, especially if they are provided or subsidized. Perfectly capable of executing/writing reviews. I do live in Australia – don’t know whether that is a positive or negative.
4: I was about to pull the trigger for the PlexStore M6e drive (256 Mb) as the boot drive, but since I read your m.2 overview, perhaps you can suggest something different…
Dave
Cairns North, Queensland Australia.
Thanks for the comps and I am going to believe you meant that you have two ‘Samsung’ 850 pro SSDs on order…not Toshiba. When considering your predicament, I would wonder what your motherboard (or adapter) can accomodate, a X2 or x4 M.2 SSD. If I had the choice, I would go for the Samsung XP941 M.2 PCIe X4 SSD… RAMCity sells them up your way…or rather down your way.
Pass the word on to other regarding our site if you get a chance and thanks…
I looked at the XP941, but it doesn’t appear to boot under Windows. Thinking to run the development system (Delphi RAD) on the XP941, and boot off one of the “Samibas”. I think it’s wise to invest in M.2 drives, as they can be reconfigured as things change – the SATA SSD & spinning rust drives get moved down the chain & Girl Friday ends up with them.
When the ROG site opens up again, will be happy to spruik up SSDR.
What are you using for a mobo? The XP941 boots off of newer boards, such as the ASRock Extreme6, 990FX and newest OC Formula…as well as other manufacturer boards I am sure.
I’m using the Asus Crosshair V Formula-Z – We use AMD because we don’t want to see an Intel monopoly. The board does not have m.2. Next build, perhaps. In the meantime, PCIe adapters seem to be the way to go.