Greetings from Cali

[Cali Cota]

Just wanted to introduce myself as the newest member on PCmech. I just finished building my latest fully custom build for my gaming pleasure and wanted to join up and give my assistance where I can, and of course seek guidance when my brain is in meltdown mode.

Newest build... primarilly for Diablo 3 and NBA 2k13

Intel i5 3570 quad core cpu
Gigabyte GA-H77M-D3H Mobo
8gb Corsair Vengeance DDR3 ram
Coolmax CXI-600B 600watt power supply
Thermal Master TC-101b case
NVIDIA GeForce 550ti 1GB Video card
3 whisper quiet blue LED fans (2 side, 1 rear)

I am able to run both games at completely max specs without a single hicup.
Running Windows 7 ultimate.

I am pretty proud of myself that this entire build, with a logitech wireless keyboard/mouse and a 19" flat panel monitor (that I desperately want to upgrade to a fully HDMI 22-24") ran me less than $600.

This is my first complete build since Windows ME... so I am also surprised it passed my spark/flame test upon initial power up!

Let me know what you guys think, and of course any of you Diablo players on here, let me know and let's run!

[Jbc223456]

Welcome to PCMech forums!

You're new build looks good. I've been dying to upgrade my system as well, but I doubt I'd see much of a boost in performance.

[jdeb]

Welcome

Not a fan of Coolmax PSU's.

[glc]

Coolmax PSU's are smoke and sparks waiting to happen. False economy there, sorry to say.

[Cali Cota]

I've heard of the Coolmax higher wattage PSU's being completely worthless... I haven't had a problem with their 600w's in the past... but we'll see. I had a corsair 550w and it would make a whining with Diablo. Sent it back and ... same problem. I personally have had nothing but problems with the Corsair's even though they are so much more popular. I'll let you know if I run into any problems with the CoolMax. I have a 500w CoolerMaster PSU sitting around if I need to switch.

[glc]

Which model Corsair? They have good models and not so good models.

[Cali Cota]

was an HX 650 if I remember right. Went through two of them from Newegg and heard literally this whining/chirping noise when playing, and to be honest I believe I was hearing it when simply idling outside of the game (however it may have been my mind still hearing the noise). Did some research after selling the PSU and found it to be a common problem. I will definitely let you guys know if the CoolMax causes any problems but as of now with some lengthy gaming sessions under it's belt, not a sound and it's running beautifully.

[glc]

The HX series is supposed to be very good - made by Seasonic. I have an original HX 520 in both my main machine and my son-in-law's machine and have had no issues whatsoever.

Not trying to beat this to death, but research shows that Coolmax PSU's are all made by ATNG, which is not one of the better OEM's.

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by Cali Cota was an HX 650 if I remember right. Went through two of them from Newegg and heard literally this whining/chirping noise when playing, and to be honest I believe I was hearing it when simply idling outside of the game (however it may have been my mind still hearing the noise). Did some research after selling the PSU and found it to be a common problem. I will definitely let you guys know if the CoolMax causes any problems but as of now with some lengthy gaming sessions under it's belt, not a sound and it's running beautifully.

I have ran into that with that model, recently as a matter of fact. I did not sell it but was in for repair (actually in for that sound). It was annoying as all get out. The warranty replacement they sent did not do that so I am chalking it up to a bad run. Corsair was aware of the issue. Typically, they are excellent PSU's.

[David M]

Your not supposed to clothespin playing cards into the fan.

[Cali Cota]

I will chaulk it up to a bad batch... but when 2/2 end up driving me nuts... time to move on to something that seems to work like it should, without the annoying sounds.