# New gaming computer - need some input!



## Andynor91 (Oct 26, 2011)

Hey there!

*Budget:* 2000$ +/- 200$ (keep in mind that I'm living in Hungary and the prices of electronics here are quite high because of high VAT)

As most of the people out there, I'm setting together a computer for BF3 and newer games. I would really appreciate if you guys could tell me if all the components fit together or if I should change something. Hopefully this setup will manage BF3 at high settings with 1680x1050 or 1900x1200 resolution.

*So far I've got:*
Motherboard: ASUS P8Z68-V Pro*(Intel s1155)
CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40GHz BOX
CPU Cooler:  SCYTHE Ninja 3
GPU: 2x XFX ATI Radeon HD6950 2GB crossfire
PSU: Corsair 850W CMPSU-850TXV2EU SLI (maybe change this?)
RAM: CORSAIR DDR-3 16Gb/1600 KIT Vengeance
HDD: Seagate 2TB Barracuda SATA 3 6Gbps
CASE: Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced

Other:
DVD-RW SAMSUNG 22x SH-S222*(SATA) (don't need blue ray)
3x SCYTHE Kaze Slip Stream 140mm
1x Case fan 80mm


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## Sir B. Fannybottom (Oct 26, 2011)

Looks good enough, I might for for a 1000 Watt psu thought, and I would go with the 2700k it's only a few bucks more, enough to justify the extra 100mhz... That is if you're getting it new. What kind of CPU cooling are you gunna use?


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## cheesy999 (Oct 26, 2011)

Kevinheraiz said:


> Looks good enough, I might for for a 1000 Watt psu thought, and I would go with the 2700k it's only a few bucks more, enough to justify the extra 100mhz... That is if you're getting it new. What kind of CPU cooling are you gunna use?



depends on how things are like where he lives, in the UK there's a £30-35 difference between the two, which isn't worth 100mhz in any situation


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## Sir B. Fannybottom (Oct 26, 2011)

cheesy999 said:


> depends on how things are like where he lives, in the UK there's a £30-35 difference between the two, which isn't worth 100mhz in any situation



Woah, lol noo that's not even close to worth it. I was just saying if it's  like $10 might as well go for it...


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## MustangGT2142 (Oct 26, 2011)

If you are going to use the pc only for gaming, save some money and get i5 2500k. There is very little difference in games between i5 2500k and i7 2600k.


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## Shihab (Oct 26, 2011)

Cool rig. Wouldn't need that much ram for a pure gaming rig though. Settle for 6GB for RAM. And if you're not in a dire need for disk space, get a 1TB one, and get a 120GB SSD (doesn't have to be a super speedy one) for system and most played games. Or, up those 6950s to a 6970s (or get unlockable 6950s, if you find any). 
+1 for the 1000w PSU. Though I think the TX can easily handle the load. Might pose a prob if you plan an upgrade though.
Edit: If you're not planning on doing any CPU overclocking, I suggest you nix the cooler. Unless you live in a desert. In which case it would be better to get a water cooling kit.


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## Andynor91 (Oct 26, 2011)

Kevinheraiz said:


> Looks good enough, I might for for a 1000 Watt psu thought, and I would go with the 2700k it's only a few bucks more, enough to justify the extra 100mhz... That is if you're getting it new. What kind of CPU cooling are you gunna use?



Was thinking about SCYTHE Ninja 3 as the CPU cooler. I would go for the 2700k, but I live in Hungary and there's unfortunately not that many options here when it comes to electronics  There's only 2 real options then when it comes to the power supply. Either the 1200W Gigabyte
Odin Pro GE-D1 MK20A which is priced at 285$, or one called the SuperFlower 1000WSF1000P14HE which is priced at 180$. The one I have listed in my original setup is priced at 150$. What do you think?

Edit: Here's a link to the page with the different SSD's I can choose from; http://www.hardverker.hu/catalog.php?category_id=322575&s=Alkatr%E9szek
Any specific recommendations? Btw, 10000HUF is about 45$.


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## thebluebumblebee (Oct 26, 2011)

Shihabyooo said:


> Cool rig. Wouldn't need that much ram for a pure gaming rig though. Settle for 6GB for RAM.



Would you please explain this?  On a dual channel system?


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## phanbuey (Oct 26, 2011)

The corsair PSU is more than fine... ive run massively OC'ed and overvolted SLI GTX260's on the TX750 for 1.5 years (PSU is now 3 years old) - along with a 4 hard drives, a watercooling system with 6 fans.  Thats the PSU I still have in my rig.  

There is no way that setup will pull anywhere near 850W, not to mention, that PSU is quality and can put out more than 850W anyways.  Plus that is a single rail PSU - way better for stable power delivery.  Unless you are gonna go quadfire or tri sli 580s (which is almost never worth it) I would not waste money on a 1000W.

Things I would change if you can find them around:
Get 8GB of 2133Mhz ram - Ram bandwith is good for CFX - get a 2x4GB kit if possible for a move to 16GB later.
Get a 2500K instead of 2600K and spend savings on upgrading to 6970s (preferably with after-market coolers for some OC love).

Otherwise that is a pretty killer system.


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## Andynor91 (Oct 26, 2011)

phanbuey said:


> The corsair PSU is more than fine... ive run massively OC'ed and overvolted SLI GTX260's on the TX750 for 1.5 years (PSU is now 3 years old) - along with a 4 hard drives, a watercooling system with 6 fans.  Thats the PSU I still have in my rig.
> 
> There is no way that setup will pull anywhere near 850W, not to mention, that PSU is quality and can put out more than 850W anyways.  Plus that is a single rail PSU - way better for stable power delivery.  Unless you are gonna go quadfire or tri sli 580s (which is almost never worth it) I would not waste money on a 1000W.
> 
> ...



So I can OC the system without any problems in regards to the PSU? If so, I guess I'll stick with the 850W PSU then, will save me quite some hassle. Regarding the ram, the only 2133Mhz ram I can find in the shop I'm buying from is Kingston 
DDR-3 4Gb /2133 KIT HyperX or CORSAIR DDR-3 4Gb/2133 KIT Dominator GT. These are all 2x2gb's though, so that's no good. 

The listing with ram: http://www.hardverker.hu/catalog.php?category_id=2&s=Alkatr%E9szek
The listing with SSD: http://www.hardverker.hu/catalog.php?category_id=322575&s=Alkatr%E9szek

Got any SSD suggestion or other ram suggestion? You're a big help!


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## Fishymachine (Oct 26, 2011)

6(or 12 actually) GB of RAM is bad for LGA1155, but I do agree, even with today's prices 16 is a bit overkill for gaming


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## Andynor91 (Oct 27, 2011)

Also, is it worth it to invest in a motherboard that's PCIe 3,0 compatible? I want this PC to last me at least a couple of years and having the possibility of upgrading later on when needed.


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## theeldest (Oct 27, 2011)

On the memory: It's cheap and projected to get not-cheap. I'd stick with 16GBs (hey, I *did* do 16GB).

If this is actually primarily for gaming dropping to the i5-2500k saves $100 to spend on something else. Try to fit an SSD in the system. If that's right at your budget get the Intel 311 20GB SSD and use the Z68 caching. It works pretty well (I'm using it on my system).

If you can add about $100 more to that you can get the Crucial m4 or OCZ Agility/Vertex 3 120GB. The faster drives definitely add that zip and pep that makes a $2k system feel like a beast of a machine.


PCIe 3.0 is nice but it's not really a limiting factor. The main cards that would suffer from the lack of bandwidth would be the dual-gpu cards on the 8x PCIe 2.0 slots.

If you're sticking with single GPU cards then you shouldn't see an impact to performance for the next 3-4 years with single GPU cards in crossfire.


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## theeldest (Oct 27, 2011)

Shihabyooo said:


> Settle for 6GB for RAM.



Just to clarify, you recommend 6GB for this dual channel platform and you run 4GB in your tri-channel platform?


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## phanbuey (Oct 27, 2011)

Andynor91 said:


> So I can OC the system without any problems in regards to the PSU? If so, I guess I'll stick with the 850W PSU then, will save me quite some hassle. Regarding the ram, the only 2133Mhz ram I can find in the shop I'm buying from is Kingston
> DDR-3 4Gb /2133 KIT HyperX or CORSAIR DDR-3 4Gb/2133 KIT Dominator GT. These are all 2x2gb's though, so that's no good.
> 
> The listing with ram: http://www.hardverker.hu/catalog.php?category_id=2&s=Alkatr%E9szek
> ...



Yes, you can go crazy all day long OCing that system with that PSU with no problems...  Mine is rated 100W less and I cant even begin to tell you what ive done to it:  http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1426542  (if you look carefully you can see it there, crying in the corner)

i dont run SSD bc i have too many games (400GB Steam folder)  so I unfortunately I am no help here.  

As far as ram...
http://www.hardverker.hu/catalog.php?product_id=335841


If you decide to OC, since you have CFX, turning off C-states when you OC will give you a bit of a frame rate boost as well (2-4%).


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## theeldest (Oct 27, 2011)

phanbuey said:


> You can go crazy all day long OCing that system with that PSU with no problems...  Mine is rated 100W less and I cant even begin to tell you what ive done to it (poor PSU)  here is a link for some reference:  http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1426542  (if you look carefully you can see it there, crying in the corner)
> 
> i dont run SSD bc i have too many games (400GB Steam folder)  so I unfortunately cannot help here.
> 
> ...



There's a trend of people who've had CPU problems when running 1.65v on the memory. Granted, this is really only anecdotal but you can probably find some 1866 memory at 1.5v (or lower) at a pretty darn good price.


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## phanbuey (Oct 27, 2011)

theeldest said:


> There's a trend of people who've had CPU problems when running 1.65v on the memory. Granted, this is really only anecdotal but you can probably find some 1866 memory at 1.5v (or lower) at a pretty darn good price.



in that case:
http://www.hardverker.hu/catalog.php?product_id=335841

are the best... 1st post modded.  Now that you mention it, i remember i've seen a few threads about it...

those timings will still give some headroom and speed... at 1.4-1.5v those sticks have a good chance of 2000 with cl9 - since they are cl7 1600 at 1.35


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## Shihab (Oct 27, 2011)

thebluebumblebee said:


> Would you please explain this?  On a dual channel system?


 A mistake on my part. I keep forgetting that there are no 3GB RAM sticks >_>




theeldest said:


> Just to clarify, you recommend 6GB for this dual channel platform and you run 4GB in your tri-channel platform?



 Me running only 4gigs is irrelevant. Many reasons lead to that, first of all a single 2GB DDR3 ram that's not even a decent brand costs ~50 USD around here. :shadedshu
 Still, I stand corrected, 6GB is a wrong choice. Settle for 4Gigs or up to 8.


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## Andynor91 (Oct 27, 2011)

theeldest said:


> On the memory: It's cheap and projected to get not-cheap. I'd stick with 16GBs (hey, I *did* do 16GB).
> 
> If this is actually primarily for gaming dropping to the i5-2500k saves $100 to spend on something else. Try to fit an SSD in the system. If that's right at your budget get the Intel 311 20GB SSD and use the Z68 caching. It works pretty well (I'm using it on my system).
> 
> ...



I'll skip the PCIe 3.0 then.

They don't have the Agility/Vertex 3 120gb in stock, only the agility/vertex 2. I found some quite cheap 60gb ssd's though, the OCZ 60Gb Vertex 2 or the Corsair 60Gb Force F60; their both nearly identical in price. Any preferences over the two?




phanbuey said:


> in that case:
> http://www.hardverker.hu/catalog.php?product_id=335841
> 
> are the best... 1st post modded.  Now that you mention it, i remember i've seen a few threads about it...
> ...



Says that the one you posted to takes up 4 slots as it's 4x2gb, so that might be sad if I wanna upgrade to 16gb later on. Also, the ones you linked to are a bit more expensive (not noticably at all tho, 10$) so is it really not worth it to invest in the 16gb instead? Any ideas?


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## entropy13 (Oct 27, 2011)

If you're going to buy an SSD might as well get one with SATA III/SATA 6.0 Gbps. Those you've mentioned that you found are SATA II/3.0 Gbps. 

Also, why go with 2 GPUs? In most cases one of them is more than enough.


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## Andynor91 (Oct 27, 2011)

entropy13 said:


> If you're going to buy an SSD might as well get one with SATA III/SATA 6.0 Gbps. Those you've mentioned that you found are SATA II/3.0 Gbps.
> 
> Also, why go with 2 GPUs? In most cases one of them is more than enough.



Is the OCZ 60GB Vertex 3 sufficient in terms of performance? It's SATA III as far as I can tell. Im going with 2 GPUs since I simply want to run everything at the best graphics with a resolution of 1920x1200. Hopefully 2 of them will do the trick.

Oh, and I'm currently looking to change my HP W2207H 22" monitor for a 24". It will be used for watching tv shows, movies with HD quality and quite a lot of gaming. The base for my W2207 seems way to big as it's about 11,5 inches in length and my desk isn't sufficiently long enough to give me enough comfortable disk space, though it's wide. So if the base of the monitor could be somewhat compact it would benefit me a lot when it comes to my disk space. Budget is about 200$. Any suggestions? 

Really nice of you all to help me out here! 

Edit: I've come across a series of Asus monitors that looks quite interesting. Only problem is that there's 3 different of them with not that much price difference.
ASUS 23" monitor ML238H
ASUS 23" monitor ML239H
ASUS 24" monitorML249H
If anyone knows, which of these three are the best?


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## theeldest (Oct 27, 2011)

Andynor91 said:


> I'll skip the PCIe 3.0 then.
> 
> They don't have the Agility/Vertex 3 120gb in stock, only the agility/vertex 2. I found some quite cheap 60gb ssd's though, the OCZ 60Gb Vertex 2 or the Corsair 60Gb Force F60; their both nearly identical in price. Any preferences over the two?



If I recall correctly, the Force and Vertex 2 use the same sandforce controller and are very similar drives. Either would be pretty good.

If you're only doing 60GB I think I'd recommend *not* installing the OS on it but just using it for specific applications. It'll really help control how much storage you have available on the SSD. This may be contrary to what most other members here would suggest but I had enough problems with capacity when I installed the OS on my 120GB. Steam takes up quite a bit as do my other games/apps.




Andynor91 said:


> Says that the one you posted to takes up 4 slots as it's 4x2gb, so that might be sad if I wanna upgrade to 16gb later on. Also, the ones you linked to are a bit more expensive (not noticably at all tho, 10$) so is it really not worth it to invest in the 16gb instead? Any ideas?



Definitely do 2x4GB if you stick with only 8GB. (strange that we're saying 'only' with 8GBs. 8GBs is a ton).

I did do 16GB in my current system mostly because it was really cheap to do so. You don't need it and you probably won't have programs that take advantage of it for the next 2-3 years.

But it won't hurt performance and it's easier to get a matched 16GB kit than to try and get two 8GB kits to work together perfectly.


Additionally, speed is more important than timings with memory on SandyBridge. With 4GB modules you're looking at CAS of 9 at 1600MHz or 1866MHz. There is a very small increase in performance to go from 1866MHz to 2133MHz.

The difference between 1866 and 2133 is quite a bit bigger than the difference between CAS7 and CAS9 or 10.

This will be a pretty fantastic kit if you want 16GBs: http://www.hardverker.hu/catalog.php?product_id=340448

Not sure how that currency converts to your budget, though.


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## brandonwh64 (Oct 27, 2011)

Looks like a solid build except too much ram. honestly, 2x2gb would work fine.


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## theeldest (Oct 27, 2011)

Andynor91 said:


> Is the OCZ 60GB Vertex 3 sufficient in terms of performance? It's SATA III as far as I can tell. Im going with 2 GPUs since I simply want to run everything at the best graphics with a resolution of 1920x1200. Hopefully 2 of them will do the trick.



At 60GBs you're actually better off with the Vertex 2. The Vertex/Agility 3 series uses chips made on a smaller manufacturing process. This means that the SSD can use fewer chips at the same capacity.

This has the unfortunate effect of reducing the number of chips the 60GB drives can simultaneously access giving it reduced performance over the prior generation.

If you go 120GB or more, go current gen. Around 60GB past gen will often out perform.


On this page you can compare the Vertex 3 120GB with the Force F40: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/195?vs=350&i=82.83.85.86.68.69.70.71.72.73.74.75

The Vertex gives better total sequential throughput but the Force F40 gives better random small file performance on reads. So good level load times on a cheap drive.

http://www.hardverker.hu/catalog.php?product_id=354646

The F60 is a bit bigger/fuller/faster than the F40. So That's a good drive for game installs.


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## theeldest (Oct 27, 2011)

brandonwh64 said:


> Looks like a solid build except too much ram. honestly, 2x2gb would work fine.



I really don't understand suggestions like this. If you're going to spends lots of money on something why would you suggest the bare minimum? Why not look to the future? And it's cheap right now. Dirt. Cheap.

Literally, I had to buy dirt for plants last week and spent just as much on dirt as on 16GBs of memory.


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## JrRacinFan (Oct 27, 2011)

theeldest said:


> why would you suggest the bare minimum?



Overclocking on 4GB dimms are a little tougher to obtain stability, even on Sandy Bridge systems. If shooting for 8GB, 4x2GB would work out better and in some cases be cheaper. Now if overclocking was not planned from the get-go then I would say get a 2x4GB kit the fastest you can afford.

@Andy

With a budget of 2G you should wait it out for Sandy Bridge E/X79 or look at the 2600K.


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## brandonwh64 (Oct 27, 2011)

DDR3 is almost coming to a end soon. DDR4 will be out and takes over just like DDR3 did so why invest in DDR3 now? I could imagine saying what you say when DDR3 JUST CAME OUT but not at this stage of the game


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## JrRacinFan (Oct 27, 2011)

@Brandon
-EIn my speculations, DDr4 will require a revision of X79/Sandy Bridge-E at first release and require new cpu's. No offense but what you're mentioning right now is moot.


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## Andynor91 (Oct 27, 2011)

When does the X79 come out? I can probably hold out a month without a new computer. Also, I heard something about the 7xxx series coming out soon so I'm really now considering to wait all together now. This always happens when buying a new rig; to wait or not to wait, meeeh


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## JrRacinFan (Oct 27, 2011)

Heard mid->end of next month. Unsure on 7k's.


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## Andynor91 (Oct 27, 2011)

JrRacinFan said:


> Heard mid->end of next month. Unsure on 7k's.



Hmm.. What would you do? I really just want to have a computer that can last me for at least 3 years. That is, that it manages to run games on high settings through the 3 years. Would also be a big plus if it was future proof so if e.g 3 year years from now I can just change my GPU and I'll be set for the newest games at the highest settings again. I know its not possible to look into the future, but any thoughts are very much appreciated.

*The build is currently:*
1db Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40GHz BOX
2db XFX ATi Radeon HD6950 2Gb*(HD-695X-CNFC)
1db G.Skill DDR-3 16Gb /1600 KIT
1db Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced (RC-692-KNN2)
1db CPU COOLER SCYTHE Ninja 3
1db ASUS P8Z68-V Pro*(Intel s1155)
1db Corsair 850W CMPSU-850TXV2EU SLI
1db Seagate 2.0Tb SATA-III 64Mb HDD*(ST2000DL003)
1db DVD-RW SAMSUNG 22x SH-S222*(SATA,fekete)
3db SCYTHE Kaze Slip Stream 14cm 1200rpm
1db Case Fan 8cm
1db System Cooling Scythe Kama Flow 12cm 1400rpm
1db OCZ 120Gb Agility 3*(AGT3-25SAT3-120G)


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## CJCerny (Oct 27, 2011)

Personally, I would not get those go with the Crossfire'd video cards. There are still lots of little irritating problems with Crossfire'd video cards. I would get the fastest single GPU video card you can afford, like a GTX580. If it is still not fast enough, you can SLI a second one.


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## brandonwh64 (Oct 27, 2011)

JrRacinFan said:


> @Brandon
> -EIn my speculations, DDr4 will require a revision of X79/Sandy Bridge-E at first release and require new cpu's. No offense but what you're mentioning right now is moot.



I suspect they come atleast by middle of next year. I mean by all means he can blow his money on 16GB of ram JUST to game on. Even my 6GB dont get used EVER. When in BF3 I use around 3GB


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## phanbuey (Oct 27, 2011)

brandonwh64 said:


> I suspect they come atleast by middle of next year. I mean by all means he can blow his money on 16GB of ram JUST to game on. Even my 6GB dont get used EVER. When in BF3 I use around 3GB



Thats why I recc'd the 8 with faster speed.  More ram is never bad tho, so ... w/e


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## stargazer7 (Oct 27, 2011)

as you see, you dont have a use for Sandy-e.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i7-3960x-x79-performance,3026-15.html

its made for multi threading. for a fact, you dont even need that 2600k. get the 2500k and use that money towards something else. theres absolutely no reason to get these things for games. all you need is a strong 4 cored chip, that is what the 2500k is. 2500k *is* the cpu of choice. it not only gives the best bang for buck, but is also a very powerful chip



CJCerny said:


> Personally, I would not get those go with the Crossfire'd video cards. There are still lots of little irritating problems with Crossfire'd video cards. I would get the fastest single GPU video card you can afford, like a GTX580. If it is still not fast enough, you can SLI a second one.



ya, but only because those are CNFC non ref garbage. if they were reference cards, i would have been all over it. the reference 6970 is a state of art design from an engineering standpoint. solid, strong pcb digital volterra PWM etc, nice looks etc... or else get a 580.


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## brandonwh64 (Oct 27, 2011)

phanbuey said:


> Thats why I recc'd the 8 with faster speed.  More ram is never bad tho, so ... w/e



I just dont see the point of anything over 8GB for gaming and other light things. Unless hes doing full autocad/catia/vercut then there is NO use for 16GB.

A good set of 2x4gb cas7 1.5V 1600mhz sticks would be the ideal spot for him if he wants 8GB


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## theeldest (Oct 27, 2011)

Andynor91 said:


> Hmm.. What would you do? I really just want to have a computer that can last me for at least 3 years. That is, that it manages to run games on high settings through the 3 years. Would also be a big plus if it was future proof so if e.g 3 year years from now I can just change my GPU and I'll be set for the newest games at the highest settings again. I know its not possible to look into the future, but any thoughts are very much appreciated.
> 
> *The build is currently:*
> 1db Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40GHz BOX
> ...




That looks FANTASTIC!

Very solid build (I'm obviously biased as it's very similar to mine  )

Realistically the 16GB over 8GB and 2600k over 2500k are overkill but that's kinda what TPU is all about, right? And if it fits in your budget you're not lacking anywhere else where the savings on those components would have a bigger impact on gaming.


Regarding the video cards:
nVidia is generally better for a single display, and ATI/AMD is better at super high resolutions (aka, Eyefinity).

If you don't plan on doing Eyefinity, go with nVidia (560TI or 570 in SLI. or 580 single). If you think you'll use Eyefinity (or nVidia Surround) you'll get more bang for your dollar with the crossfired 6950s.


Regarding the future:
You should be able to drop new cards into this system 3 years down the road and not have a serious CPU or PCIe lane limitation. (any PCIe limitation would be on the order of 5% and an x79 platform would be considerably more than a 5% increase in cost for a very small increase in current or future gaming performance).

This (p)review is pretty informative: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i7-3960x-x79-performance,3026-12.html

The short story is very little to no performance increase _*in gaming*_ if you go with x79.


Your setup looks great. You've made some great choices. Now go buy!



(oh, and to whomever mentioned DDR4: As soon as DDR4 starts gaining prominence the prices of DDR3 will climb. Might as well get it now?)


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## Shihab (Oct 27, 2011)

Andynor91 said:


> When does the X79 come out? I can probably hold out a month without a new computer. Also, I heard something about the 7xxx series coming out soon so I'm really now considering to wait all together now. This always happens when buying a new rig; to wait or not to wait, meeeh



For a gamer ? SB-E doesn't seem to add much to the table for gamers. According to THW's review, there is no difference between the top SB-E and the 2600k in gaming. And considering that the SB-E and SB are targeted at two different markets, I doubt the release of the E will push down the prices of the 2600k. 
As for the 7k 




CJCerny said:


> Personally, I would not get those go with the Crossfire'd video cards. There are still lots of little irritating problems with Crossfire'd video cards. I would get the fastest single GPU video card you can afford, like a GTX580. If it is still not fast enough, you can SLI a second one.


^
+1. 
Though I've to admit, CF has gone through many improvements recently. Still, a single card's always a safer choice.


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## brandonwh64 (Oct 27, 2011)

theeldest said:


> (oh, and to whomever mentioned DDR4: As soon as DDR4 starts gaining prominence the prices of DDR3 will climb. Might as well get it now?)



I have to agree with you on this. If you plan on using a DDR3 machine way after DDR4 is released then get it while its hot cause it will be a ripple effect of DDR2's demise.


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## theeldest (Oct 27, 2011)

Oh, and about choosing memory based on performance for gaming: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4503/sandy-bridge-memory-scaling-choosing-the-best-ddr3/6

The short story is the difference between the fastest and slowest (at tight and loose timings) is less than 1 FPS.


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## Irony (Oct 27, 2011)

Your rig looks good to me. (I think everyone is telling you to get cheaper stuff so that your rig doesn't totally eclipse their very exestence.) 

I would get 8 gigs of DDR3, its pretty cheap right now and sufficient. 1866 would be good. 

After you build it, you'll have a pretty much world class rig and everyone on TPU will envy you.


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## stargazer7 (Oct 27, 2011)

theeldest said:


> Realistically the 16GB over 8GB and 2600k over 2500k are overkill but that's kinda what TPU is all about, right? And if it fits in your budget you're not lacking anywhere else where the savings on those components would have a bigger impact on gaming.



no it's not. excuse me but this is a dumbass way of thinking. this site is for educating what people can get out of the most for their money, not to throw it away. 8 gb is MORE than enough. so is the 2500k.

www.overclock.net/intel-general/1126054-2500k-vs-2600k.html

get those two and use the leftover money towards some expensive shampoo like Calvin klein or a bottle of slippery gel...


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## Andynor91 (Oct 27, 2011)

Some changes to the config:

2x MSI N570GTX 1.28 GB DDR5 Video Card TWIN II FROZR
Seems like 2 GTX 570's in SLI really shines according to http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/sapphire_hd6990/12.htm (further down on the site at 1920x1200). I'll only be using 1 screen at 1920x1200 so I guess this is better then?

1x 2500k
From different posts and comparison articles it seems like when it comes to the pure gaming experience, it's so much better to take the 2500k since there's not significant difference between the 2500k and 2600k. However, is the 2500k as nice to overclock as the 2600k?

Only problem now is the RAM. Was looking at this http://www.pcx.hu/termek/kingston-hyperx-3x2gb-ddr3-2000mhz-khx2000c9ad3t1k3-6gx-memoria-55903 and it seems to have gotten pretty good reviews. Only thing I'm afraid of is that it won't fit inside my case the cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced. If anyone want find some other RAM that is good here http://www.pcx.hu//?action=termekLista&kategoria_id=10145&keres=&gyartoSelect=&rendezesSelect=2 it would be nice as well. Different options are always great.


----------



## JrRacinFan (Oct 27, 2011)

Skip the tri channel kit, look for a dual channel. Essentially you would have 2x2 in dual and 1x2 in single channel with those sticks.

EDIT:

Although those sticks are inexpensive and pretty fast. Decent buy, tbh.


----------



## stargazer7 (Oct 27, 2011)

Andynor91 said:


> 2x MSI N570GTX 1.28 GB DDR5 Video Card TWIN II FROZR
> Seems like 2 GTX 570's in SLI really shines according to http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/sapphire_hd6990/12.htm (further down on the site at 1920x1200). I'll only be using 1 screen at 1920x1200 so I guess this is better then?
> 
> 1x 2500k
> From different posts and comparison articles it seems like when it comes to the pure http://www.pcx.hu/termek/kingston-hyperx-3x2gb-ddr3-2000mhz-khx2000c9ad3t1k3-6gx-memoria-55903gaming experience, it's so much better to take the 2500k since there's not significant difference between the 2500k and 2600k. However, is the 2500k as nice to overclock as the 2600k?



yes, it oc's similarly. and is the way to go for games. 

as for those cards, reference 570s are limited by 4 phase vrm's failures. those are reference boards with custom coolers. look for non reference 570s.


----------



## Andynor91 (Oct 27, 2011)

JrRacinFan said:


> Skip the tri channel kit, look for a dual channel. Essentially you would have 2x2 in dual and 1x2 in single channel with those sticks.
> 
> EDIT:
> 
> Although those sticks are inexpensive and pretty fast. Decent buy, tbh.



So you think I should for go for them?
I can't really seem to find any good dual channel kits in this list http://www.pcx.hu//?action=termekLista&kategoria_id=10145&keres=&gyartoSelect=&rendezesSelect=2 so I'm leaning a bit towards those I mentioned.


----------



## Andynor91 (Oct 27, 2011)

stargazer7 said:


> yes, it oc's similarly. and is the way to go for games.
> 
> as for those cards, reference 570s are limited by 4 phase vrm's failures. those are reference boards with custom coolers. look for non reference 570s.



Does the 4 phase vrm's failures take a real hit to the performance? Which are the brands that make non reference 570's?


----------



## phanbuey (Oct 27, 2011)

Andynor91 said:


> Does the 4 phase vrm's failures take a real hit to the performance? Which are the brands that make non reference 570's?



I have blown up a ref 570 with really light use, I can attest to this - they overclock like ass if you dont want to break them.  Go for the 6950's/6970's or straight for the 580(s).  a 580 will OC like a monster.

MSI and GIGABYTE brands with custom coolers are non-reference.  You can also get the EVGA HD series, although they are a bit meh.


----------



## Damn_Smooth (Oct 27, 2011)

Andynor91 said:


> Hmm.. What would you do? I really just want to have a computer that can last me for at least 3 years. That is, that it manages to run games on high settings through the 3 years. Would also be a big plus if it was future proof so if e.g 3 year years from now I can just change my GPU and I'll be set for the newest games at the highest settings again. I know its not possible to look into the future, but any thoughts are very much appreciated.
> 
> *The build is currently:*
> 1db Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40GHz BOX
> ...



If you want the most futureproof you can get, I would wait for SB-e

From Sweclockers






As you can see even the 975 beats the 2500k quite handily and comes quite close to the 2600k. In a game that can utilize the threads SB-e will dominate, and it can handle today's lesser games just as well as SB.


----------



## stargazer7 (Oct 27, 2011)

the Nehalem doesnt beat Sandy. thats just straight out nonsense. 

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/288?vs=99

about SB-e... its not future proofing. its being worked on for workstations and such, not gaming. BF3 is a different situation because its core-heavy. now go ahead and compare a bunch of benches on that link rather than looking at one redundant score. if you want to wait, i'd wait for Ivy. but keep in mind that it'll be a somewhat long wait. sandy is the way to go and will be.


----------



## Andynor91 (Oct 27, 2011)

phanbuey said:


> I have blown up a ref 570 with really light use, I can attest to this - they overclock like ass if you dont want to break them.  Go for the 6950's/6970's or straight for the 580(s).  a 580 will OC like a monster.
> 
> MSI and GIGABYTE brands with custom coolers are non-reference.  You can also get the EVGA HD series, although they are a bit meh.



I'm reading up on so many reviews now, but what would you go for if your goal was the best fps in bf3 at 1920x1200 res?


----------



## Damn_Smooth (Oct 27, 2011)

The future is core heavy. If you don't realize that, there's something wrong. Now begone troll. I don't hit women and I don't argue with kids. I broke that rule once for you today, it's not happening again.


----------



## stargazer7 (Oct 27, 2011)

^ you don't buy parts for "future". you buy them for "present". you're an idiot. like i said, run along.

-

http://www.pcx.hu/termek/msi-gtx470-1-28gb-n470gtx-m2d12-videokartya-55388

two for SLI then OC them as far as they go. they'll eat up anything in that range. a 470 can deliver 480 level of performance at lower thermals once oc'ed over 800 core


----------



## Damn_Smooth (Oct 27, 2011)

stargazer7 said:


> ^ you don't buy parts for "future". you buy them for "present". you're an idiot. like i said, move along.
> 
> -
> 
> ...



Again, your lack of reading comprehension shines bright. The OP specifically said that he wants to future proof. Learn to read junior.


----------



## stargazer7 (Oct 27, 2011)

Damn_Smooth said:


> Again, your lack of reading comprehension shines bright. The OP specifically said that he wants to future proof. Learn to read junior.



you aren't changing anything here. games barely started to get multi threaded with most of them still getting released on old Unreal 3 engine and so on you have little to nothing to gain over a quad core. you'll be throwing away your money. if you can't currently see this, i shouldnt even bother. experience tought me its a waste of time to discuss with people like you.


----------



## Damn_Smooth (Oct 27, 2011)

stargazer7 said:


> you aren't changing anything here. games barely started to get multi threaded with most of them still getting released on old Unreal 3 engine and so on you have little to nothing to gain over a quad core. you'll be throwing away your money. if you can't currently see this, i shouldnt even bother. experience tought me its a waste of time to discuss with people like you.



It is a waste of time, go away. The OP asked a question and I answered it for him correctly. This has nothing to do with your lack of maturity and foresight.

I'm not crapping up another thread with you. This conversation is over.


----------



## phanbuey (Oct 27, 2011)

Best FPS, hands down, would be a 2600K OC'ed (since that engine actually is, in some instances CPU limited) and a pair of OC'd 580's.  If you got that kind of cash, and you really want your setup to last a while without touching it again, 580's and 2600K.

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/3784/msi_geforce_gtx_580_1536_mb_in_sli_overclocked/index.html

Otherwise a pair of OC'ed 6970's/6950's  and a 2500K will serve you 80% as well as the other setup but you witll save a few $$. 470 is good bang/buck but they can get damn loud during gaming.  Like sitting next to a hairdryer.

If money is not a question, go for the best. 

If ditching the 2600K for a 2500K means you get more cash to spend on videocards, then do that.  The single most important component is the videocards, everything else can get cut with minimum benefits.

So in order of videogame awesomeness and price:

A: Balls to the wall - 2600K, 8GBs of fast ram, 580's in sli. $$$$$

B: Videogame monster - 2500K OC'ed, 8GB of the cheapest 1600Mhz low voltage ram you can find, cheap SLI mobo, and 580's in sli. $$$

C: Performance/$ - 2500K OC'ed, 8GB of okish ram, and 6950's (unlockable) in CFX. $


----------



## stargazer7 (Oct 27, 2011)

no, it's not. you're wrong and are changing subject to immaturity to claim your rightfulness. read the THG link, SB-e is a waste for games period. you provided him bad info that included a single test with no backing. the 2500k IS the best chip of choice acknowledged by many for its good balance. and will keep on to be.

-------------------

470s arent that loud at all. at %70 somewhat hearable in a case. there're far worse out there. 470s are standable.


----------



## Damn_Smooth (Oct 27, 2011)

stargazer7 said:


> no, it's not. you're wrong and are changing subject to immaturity to claim your rightfulness. read the THG link, SB-e is a waste for games period. you provided him bad info that included a single test with no backing. the 2500k IS the best chip of choice acknowledged by many for its good balance. and will keep on to be. idiot.



Battlefield 3 is the start. If you don't have the mental capacity to see that you should quit commenting. Your lack of maturity and intelligence is not a change of subject. It's a distraction to me having a reasonable conversation with those who are capable of doing so. Now let the grown ups talk and go live in your fantasy land where Battlefield 3 will be the first and last game to utilize multiple threads.


----------



## Andynor91 (Oct 27, 2011)

I sat together a list of the cheapest versions for the available cards below and converted it to $ to see if someone can give some input. It's in random order.


2x EVGA GTX 560 1GB GDDR5 Ti/Zotac ZT-50304 GTX560 Ti 1GB DDR5 OC -  624$ http://www.pcx.hu/termek/zotac-gtx560-1gb-ddr5-zt-50304-10m-ti-oc-videokartya-77424
http://www.pcx.hu/termek/evga-gtx-560-ti-1gb-gddr5-01g-p3-1561-kr-videokartya-72042

2x VTX3D 2GBD5-6950 2GB DDR5 2DH - 700$
http://www.pcx.hu/termek/vtx3d-6950-2gb-ddr5-2gbd5-2dh-videokartya-74835

2x MSI N570GTX 1.28 GB DDR5 Video Card TWIN II FROZR  - 824$
http://www.pcx.hu/termek/msi-n570gtx-1-28-gb-ddr5-twin-frozr-ii-videokartya-77650

1x Leadtek GTX580 1536MB GDDR5  - 592$
http://www.pcx.hu/termek/leadtek-gtx580-1536mb-ddr5-videokartya-71447

1x Sapphire HD6990 4GB GDDR5 -918$
http://www.pcx.hu/termek/sapphire-hd6990-4gb-gddr5-21193-00-40g-videokartya-73140

1x Asus GTX590 3GB DDR5 ENGTX590 - 947$
http://www.pcx.hu/termek/asus-gtx590-3gb-ddr5-engtx590-3dis-3gd5-videokartya-73184

So the most bang for buck when it comes to BF3 at 1900x1200 resolution? I mean, I'm willing to dish out 900$~ if it's actually worth it.


----------



## phanbuey (Oct 27, 2011)

stargazer7 said:


> no, it's not. you're wrong and are changing subject to immaturity to claim your rightfulness. read the THG link, SB-e is a waste for games period. you provided him bad info that included a single test with no backing. the 2500k IS the best chip of choice acknowledged by many for its good balance. and will keep on to be.
> 
> -------------------
> 
> 470s arent that loud at all. at %70 somewhat hearable in a case. there're far worse out there. 470s are standable.



Keep in mind that he will OC, probably overvolt and they will be in SLI - so those fans will be at 90% on a regular basis, since those cards hit 90C in a regular vented case just by their lonesome at stock settings.  They will be bearable, but they will definitely not be happy and you will know about it .  but its personal preference in the end.


----------



## phanbuey (Oct 27, 2011)

Andynor91 said:


> I sat together a list of the cheapest versions for the available cards below and converted it to $ to see if someone can give some input. It's in random order.
> 
> 
> 2x EVGA GTX 560 1GB GDDR5 Ti/Zotac ZT-50304 GTX560 Ti 1GB DDR5 OC -  624$ http://www.pcx.hu/termek/zotac-gtx560-1gb-ddr5-zt-50304-10m-ti-oc-videokartya-77424
> ...



How much do you save by going from 2600K to 2500K?


----------



## Andynor91 (Oct 27, 2011)

phanbuey said:


> How much do you save by going from 2600K to 2500K?



I save about 120$


----------



## phanbuey (Oct 27, 2011)

Andynor91 said:


> I save about 120$



Those are custom 570's so i would pick them - 570 SLI and 2600K is my vote.  Best performance if staying away from 580's.


----------



## stargazer7 (Oct 27, 2011)

^ Twin-Frozr 2s are ref cards with custom coolers. the TF3 PE is the one with upgraded VRM.



Damn_Smooth said:


> Battlefield 3 is the start. If you don't have the mental capacity to see that you should quit commenting. Your lack of maturity and intelligence is not a change of subject. It's a distraction to me having a reasonable conversation with those who are capable of doing so. Now let the grown ups talk and go live in your fantasy land where Battlefield 3 will be the first and last game to utilize multiple threads.



wrong. bc2 was, the Frostbite engine is extremely cpu dependant. its an exception to modern games. it doesnt even run smooth on a dual core. i dont care lack of what you think i have, but it IS a change of subject. why dont you help the op? you're just ignorant. i've discussed with so many like you it's not worth getting pissed off. 6 core chips as of these years ARE NOT worth it over quads. the 2500k is the best p/p cpu. FULL STOP. do i need to make it bigger?

Andy, i'd go with a pair of EVGA reference 560 Ti's. they'll beat a 580 and wouldnt make much noise

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/312?vs=305


----------



## phanbuey (Oct 27, 2011)

http://www.pcx.hu/termek/gigabyte-gtx570-gv-n570oc-13i-v2-0-videokartya-90377

^^ what about 2 of those?

Off topic:  but this is a steal:

http://www.pcx.hu/termek/leadtek-gtx480-1-536gb-videokartya-56945

They perform close to 570's but with a bit more ram... loud and hot, but cheap and fast


----------



## Damn_Smooth (Oct 27, 2011)

stargazer7 said:


> wrong. bc2 was, the Frostbite engine is extremely cpu dependant. its an exception to modern games. it doesnt even run smooth on a dual core. i dont care lack of what you think i have, but it IS a change of subject. why dont you help the op? you're just ignorant. i've discussed with so many like you it's not worth getting pissed off. 6 core chips as of these years ARE NOT worth it over quads. the 2500k is the best p/p cpu. FULL STOP. do i need to make it bigger?
> 
> Andy, i'd go with a pair of EVGA reference 560 Ti's. they'll beat a 580 and wouldnt make much noise
> 
> http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/312?vs=305



I was helping the OP until you intruded. Bad Company didn't scale anywhere near as well as BF3 and neither did the other games that were testing the waters, such as Dirt 2 and 3, Crysis 2 etc... What Battlefield three has proven is that their attempts are paying off. It's not an exception to a rule, it is a new rule. SB-e will handle every game just as well as SB and multithreaded games will see a quite noticeable difference. That is future proofing. "Buy SB now because the games that will correctly utilize multithreading aren't out yet" is not futureproofing. Get it?.


----------



## stargazer7 (Oct 27, 2011)

you're so informed i think you should just shut up already. this has been a going on trend and its obvious games wont catch up instantly. by the time they do, he'll be about to upgrade so your logic makes no sense

-

lol. i dont think he wants much of a 480 anymore. those cards had too high leakage. a number of cards offer the same performance at a much lower profile nowadays. Gigy's would do. they had some failures with WindForce3x non-ref boards (blue) but they should be strong anyways. even if it comes doa, you can have them replaced back.


----------



## phanbuey (Oct 27, 2011)

stargazer7 said:


> lol. i dont think he wants much of a 480 anymore. those cards had too high leakage. a number of cards offer the same performance at a much lower profile nowadays. Gigy's would do. they had some failures with WindForce3x non-ref boards (blue) but they should be strong anyways. even if it comes doa, you can have them replaced back.



nobody wants the 480 ... but they are cheaper than even the 6950's.  if you talk straight $/frame, nothing can touch it.

Look: http://www.pcx.hu/termek/msi-gtx480-1536mb-gddr5-twin-frozr-ii-videokartya-72335


----------



## stargazer7 (Oct 27, 2011)

thats a really nice card. its considerable. i always liked those TF 480s... still a little too high profile gpus though.


----------



## Andynor91 (Oct 27, 2011)

Does 2 of http://www.pcx.hu/termek/gigabyte-gtx570-gv-n570oc-13i-v2-0-videokartya-90377 justify the price bump compared to 2 of http://www.pcx.hu/termek/msi-n570gtx-1-28-gb-ddr5-twin-frozr-ii-videokartya-77650 though?


----------



## phanbuey (Oct 27, 2011)

Andynor91 said:


> Does 2 of http://www.pcx.hu/termek/gigabyte-gtx570-gv-n570oc-13i-v2-0-videokartya-90377 justify the price bump compared to 2 of http://www.pcx.hu/termek/msi-n570gtx-1-28-gb-ddr5-twin-frozr-ii-videokartya-77650 though?



No, you are paying extra for peace of mind and *a little* overclockability.  The cheaper ones have weak VRM's and can die on you if you push them.

Check it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErV6Adcz4Yo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pZB4FMp-2w&feature=relmfu << 480's win big in metro.  More ram


----------



## stargazer7 (Oct 27, 2011)

those are built on kinda a beefy PCB. i would likely prefer them over reference 570 despite their lower QC. they're indeed better cards


----------



## Damn_Smooth (Oct 27, 2011)

stargazer7 said:


> you're so informed i think you should just shut up already. this has been a going on trend and its obvious games wont catch up instantly. by the time they do, he'll be about to upgrade so your logic makes no sense



Who are you to tell anybody to shut up? Go back to the forums you crawled out of. Oh wait, you were probably banned for spreading your ignorance over there.

I'm sorry that you can't handle the truth that SB-e is more future proof than SB, but those are your own issues to deal with.
-


----------



## stargazer7 (Oct 27, 2011)

Damn_Smooth said:


> Who are you to tell anybody to shut up? Go back to the forums you crawled out of. Oh wait, you were probably banned for spreading your ignorance over there.
> 
> I'm sorry that you can't handle the truth that SB-e is more future proof than SB, but those are your own issues to deal with.
> -



no, i wasnt. SB-e isnt more future proof or anything. thats just your wrong thinking into buying more cores helps today. did you even read the preview? its obvious that the E platform is catered more with servers in mind. in some ways such as TDP, its WORSE than Sandy. pulls more power running hotter to begin with. costs more and is worse in some ways functionality wise. but you're in no position to see this.


----------



## Andynor91 (Oct 27, 2011)

Anyone know if the Xigmatek Aegir CPXT CPU cooler is fitted for 1155 socket? seems to be somewhat conflicting info on the web.
Edit:Found it http://www.xigmatek.com/product.php?productid=99&type=application it fits


----------



## Damn_Smooth (Oct 27, 2011)

stargazer7 said:


> no, i wasnt. SB-e isnt more future proof or anything. thats just your wrong thinking into buying more cores helps today. did you even read the preview? its obvious that the E platform is catered more with servers in mind. in some ways such as TDP, its WORSE than Sandy. pulls more power running hotter to begin with. costs more and is worse in some ways functionality wise. but you're in no position to see this.



Yes you're right, your crystal ball is way more functional than mine. I can't easily pull up links that say SB-e overclocks just as high as SB on air, and games will definitely come to a standstill. Thank you for showing me the error of my ways. Have fun.


----------



## stargazer7 (Oct 27, 2011)

what does it matter? reread this page.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i7-3960x-x79-performance,3026-15.html

from those who clearly happen to understand a whole lot more than your assupmtions happen to.


----------



## Andynor91 (Oct 28, 2011)

Which one of these 2 PSU's they're identical in price: 
http://www.pcx.hu/termek/corsair-1050w-cmpsu-1050hxeu-tapegyseg-90359
http://www.pcx.hu/termek/gigabyte-odin-pro-1200w-fekete-tap-14393


----------



## Damn_Smooth (Oct 28, 2011)

stargazer7 said:


> what does it matter? reread this page.
> 
> http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i7-3960x-x79-performance,3026-15.html
> 
> from those who clearly happen to understand a whole lot more than your assupmtions happen to.



I read that when it was new. There aren't a ton of different links out there that could dispute a reputable site like Tom's. You already won and you still can't quit going. You have issues.


----------



## stargazer7 (Oct 28, 2011)

Andynor91 said:


> Which one of these 2 PSU's they're identical in price:
> http://www.pcx.hu/termek/corsair-1050w-cmpsu-1050hxeu-tapegyseg-90359
> http://www.pcx.hu/termek/gigabyte-odin-pro-1200w-fekete-tap-14393



from those two, the Odin is better. but they're both overkill and based on old designs. this one's all you need for 570 SLI. 

http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-570-sli-review/13

http://www.pcx.hu/termek/thermaltake-800w-tough-power-st-w0296red-tap-57611


----------



## Andynor91 (Oct 28, 2011)

Alrighty. Now the only part missing is really the RAM. So far I've only found these looking good: http://www.pcx.hu/termek/kingston-hyperx-3x2gb-ddr3-2000mhz-khx2000c9ad3t1k3-6gx-memoria-55903

To browse the ram selections: http://www.pcx.hu//?action=termekLista&kategoria_id=10145&keres=&gyartoSelect=&rendezesSelect=2


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## stargazer7 (Oct 28, 2011)

i found some of the best, pretty rare ram there...

2 kits of these for a total of 8 gb

http://www.pcx.hu/termek/a-data-4gb-1866mhz-plus-series-v2-0-kit-ax3u1866pb2g8-dp2-memoria-67194

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums...R3-2200-CL8-v2.0-take-a-walk-to-DDR3-2680-CL8

they use the discontinued Elpida Hyper chips that can do 8-8 at 2000 against 9-9 of Kingstons. some of the best memory you can buy, especially for the price.


----------



## theeldest (Oct 28, 2011)

Andynor91 said:


> Alrighty. Now the only part missing is really the RAM. So far I've only found these looking good: http://www.pcx.hu/termek/kingston-hyperx-3x2gb-ddr3-2000mhz-khx2000c9ad3t1k3-6gx-memoria-55903
> 
> To browse the ram selections: http://www.pcx.hu//?action=termekLista&kategoria_id=10145&keres=&gyartoSelect=&rendezesSelect=2




Which direction did you decide on the GPUs? I just wanted to second the recommendation for SLI'd 570s for the resolution you're running at.

Can you swing this card in your budget?:http://www.pcx.hu/termek/msi-n570gtx-1-28gb-gddr5-twin-frozr-iii-power-edition-oc-videokartya-79133


Regarding that memory: looking at a tri-channel kit really isn't making the most use of what you're spending.

Looking at that site here's a pretty good option:
http://www.pcx.hu/termek/corsair-2x4gb-ddr3-cmx8gx3m2a2000c9-xms3-memoria-79484


As far as overclocking the 2500k vs 2600k:
Due to binning you can generally get a bit higher clock on the i7 than the i5. So 4.2Ghz - 4.8Ghz on the i5 and 4.5Ghz - 5.2Ghz on the i7

It's not a big difference and at these clocks you don't see the same performance gains as the initial overclock (diminishing returns as you increase GHz).


----------



## phanbuey (Oct 28, 2011)

*Memory - Intel recommend 1.50v plus/minus 5% which means 1.60v is the ideal safe maximum, but we have found in our testing all 1.65v memory is fine. We have also found most new 1.65v like Corsair XMS3 will run at its rated timings with just 1.50-1.55v which is well within Intel specifications. So people upgrading to Sandybridge you can still use your old DDR3, but we do recommend you run it at 1.60v or less. We are shipping most of our bundles which feature Corsair XMS at 1.50v-1.55v at rated timings. We've also discussed with Asus and MSI regarding voltages for memory and they also confirm in their testing 1.65v caused no issues with reliability.
*

http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?p=21199063

Ive seen that high voltage is usually not a good idea for SB...  So even if you get the adata chips, you better hope that those are the same IC's or your stuck with some crap ram.  Ram doesn't even matter that much anyways - get whatever as long as its 1600Mhz.  The performance difference is barely noticeable, if at all.

Just for shits, price this system out and see if you are on budget:

2500K Cpu,
Cheapest SLI capable mobo you can find (pref - gigabyte brand for quick dirty OC)
580 SLI
Corsair TX 750
2x500 GB WD blacks for raid 0
DVD burner
Budget case that can fit 580's
cheapest 8gb ram kit you can find 1333mhz even - really whatever here.
Cooler Master Hyper 212 cpu cooler.

see if that system is in your budget, because if it is, it would smoke what you currently got in games - esp once you got those 580's up to 900Mhz core.  Its better balanced for gaming.


----------



## Andynor91 (Oct 28, 2011)

theeldest said:


> Which direction did you decide on the GPUs? I just wanted to second the recommendation for SLI'd 570s for the resolution you're running at.
> 
> Can you swing this card in your budget?:http://www.pcx.hu/termek/msi-n570gtx-1-28gb-gddr5-twin-frozr-iii-power-edition-oc-videokartya-79133
> 
> ...



Ended up with the 2600K. Switching the ones currently in the config with the MSI N570GTX Twin FROZR 1.28 GB GDDR5 III Power Edition / OC you linked to will add about 145$ so that's pushing it quite a bit :/

So far I've got:
Intel Core i7-2600K processzor
2x MSI N570GTX 1,28 GB DDR5 TWIN FROZR II 
Asus P8Z68-V PRO 
Corsair 2x4GB DDR3 CMX8GX3M2A2000C9 XMS3
Corsair 850TX V2 850W
Seagate 2TB 64MB SATA3 ST2000DL003 
Xigmatek CPXT-025 Aegir SD128264 CPU Cooler
2x Zalman ZM-F1 Plus 80mm fan
2x Sharkoon 120mm Silent Eagle 2000 fan
2x Enermax Silence 140mm fan
Samsung SH-S222AB/BEBE fekete OEM DVD
OCZ 60GB Agility 3 (almost double the price for 120GB so I'll settle with 60GB as OS install and careful storage management of games)
Cooler Master RC-692-KKN2 690 II 

Total: 2400$ including shipping

Actually wen't quite a bit over my budget. 1) Every component fits together? 2) Any finishing touches?


----------



## phanbuey (Oct 28, 2011)

the ssd is a waste of money...


----------



## stargazer7 (Oct 28, 2011)

phanbuey said:


> *Memory - Intel recommend 1.50v plus/minus 5% which means 1.60v is the ideal safe maximum, but we have found in our testing all 1.65v memory is fine. We have also found most new 1.65v like Corsair XMS3 will run at its rated timings with just 1.50-1.55v which is well within Intel specifications. So people upgrading to Sandybridge you can still use your old DDR3, but we do recommend you run it at 1.60v or less. We are shipping most of our bundles which feature Corsair XMS at 1.50v-1.55v at rated timings. We've also discussed with Asus and MSI regarding voltages for memory and they also confirm in their testing 1.65v caused no issues with reliability.
> *
> 
> http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?p=21199063
> ...



that's total nonsense... nothing wrong with 1.65v. not one thing at all. it's no different than running a 1.35v CPU at 1.45v. well below safe specs. Ben from Patriot suggests it himself.

as for the A-Data's, yep, Hyper MHN-E. better than anything you can buy on the market. overbudget though they cost twice as much and like you said, ram performance doesnt matter... just for satisfactory. those had a good price for what they're, so i thought they wouldnt hurt.

OP, really pick up non ref 570s. you dont want your vrms dead.


----------



## phanbuey (Oct 28, 2011)

stargazer7 said:


> that's total nonsense... nothing wrong with 1.65v. not one thing at all. it's no different than running a 1.35v CPU at 1.45v. well below safe specs. Ben from Patriot suggests it himself.
> 
> as for the A-Data's, yep, Hyper MHN-E. better than anything you can buy on the market. overbudget though they cost twice as much and like you said, ram performance doesnt matter... just for satisfactory. those had a good price for what they're, so i thought they wouldnt hurt.
> 
> OP, really pick up non ref 570s. you dont want your vrms dead.



2500K Cpu,
 Cheapest SLI capable mobo you can find (pref - gigabyte brand for quick dirty OC)
 580 SLI  OC to 850-900Mhz 
 Corsair TX 750
 2x500 GB WD blacks for raid 0
 DVD burner
 Budget case that can fit 580's
 cheapest 8gb ram kit you can find 1333mhz even - really whatever here.
 Cooler Master Hyper 212 cpu cooler.

That is my system req, honestly, i would like ur opinion, bc i think it would be close in cost but 20% faster in games, with 1TB of fast disk storage.  At the end of the day, games will only get more graphically intense, and this system would be a more enjoyable gaming machine.


----------



## stargazer7 (Oct 28, 2011)

he can do that too. really depends entirely on each component he wants.

but OP, please put back the 2500k in it's place like most other people. it's what you should go for. the 2600k is not much use for games


----------



## Andynor91 (Oct 28, 2011)

phanbuey said:


> *Memory - Intel recommend 1.50v plus/minus 5% which means 1.60v is the ideal safe maximum, but we have found in our testing all 1.65v memory is fine. We have also found most new 1.65v like Corsair XMS3 will run at its rated timings with just 1.50-1.55v which is well within Intel specifications. So people upgrading to Sandybridge you can still use your old DDR3, but we do recommend you run it at 1.60v or less. We are shipping most of our bundles which feature Corsair XMS at 1.50v-1.55v at rated timings. We've also discussed with Asus and MSI regarding voltages for memory and they also confirm in their testing 1.65v caused no issues with reliability.
> *
> 
> http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?p=21199063
> ...



With those components you mentioned there I land at 2017$ incl. shipping without the additional 80mm/120mm/140mm fans. With the fans It's a total of 2085$.

The cheapest 580 gfx card I picked 2 of: http://www.pcx.hu/?action=termekOldal&azonosito=71447
And the 8gb ram: http://www.pcx.hu/?action=termekOldal&azonosito=73577
lastly, the case: http://www.pcx.hu/?action=termekOldal&azonosito=48676


----------



## phanbuey (Oct 28, 2011)

stargazer7 said:


> he can do that too. really depends entirely on each component he wants.



That's a non-answer.  

Each component doesnt matter, at the end of the day its in a case, and its a system - it works together.  Andynor -if you want to game, go for the faster gaming machine.  Otherwise you can spend the next month picking component by component to only waste a bunch of $$ on stuff you will not notice.

With those components you mentioned there I land at 2017$ incl. shipping without the additional 80mm/120mm/140mm fans. With the fans It's a total of 2085$.

 The cheapest 580 gfx card I picked 2 of: http://www.pcx.hu/?action=termekOldal&azonosito=71447
 And the 8gb ram: http://www.pcx.hu/?action=termekOldal&azonosito=73577
 lastly, the case: http://www.pcx.hu/?action=termekOldal&azonosito=48676

u got your answer - that is a $2000 machine that will wipe the floor with the $2400 at any game, any resolution. http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/01/11/amd_69706950_cfx_nvidia_580570_sli_review/


----------



## stargazer7 (Oct 28, 2011)

phanbuey said:


> That's a non-answer.
> 
> Each component doesnt matter, at the end of the day its in a case, and its a system - it works together.  Andynor -if you want to game, go for the faster gaming machine.  Otherwise you can spend the next month picking component by component to only waste a bunch of $$ on stuff you will not notice.



how is it a "non answer"? if he wants better cooled cards, he can get that machine. or yours for purely performance. each component does matter. it's subjective. 580s are already cool running cards, but you have two options. a little more power or a Twin-Frozr with a load of fans. it's up to him to decide on. that's not something i can comment on.


----------



## phanbuey (Oct 28, 2011)

stargazer7 said:


> how is it a "non answer"? if he wants better cooled cards, he can get that machine. or yours for purely performance. each component does matter. it's subjective. 580s are already cool running cards, but you have two options. a little more power or a Twin-Frozr with a load of fans. it's up to him to decide on. that's not something i can comment on.



Its a non-answer because the OP is asking for your opinion on a better gaming machine and you are not willing to comment because you dont know if the OP wants more fans on his card or not?  Not trying to be a d*ck, just not understanding.

The question implied: if it was you, which system would YOU buy?


----------



## stargazer7 (Oct 28, 2011)

well... thats going to be hard. 570 SLI packs a lot of power. 580s do improve, and run cool, but those are TF3 cards. also, his tower cools better... i dont know really. its a toss up


----------



## phanbuey (Oct 28, 2011)

stargazer7 said:


> well... thats going to be hard. 570 SLI packs a lot of power. 580s do improve *(and OC better, and can be overvolted w/o issue)*, and run cool, but those are TF3 cards. also, his tower cools better... i dont know really. its a toss up



Also you save $400 - so you can even go 2600K on the cheaper system and STILL be under budget. No question 580 SLI> 570SLI.

OP, look at your own OverclockersClub review where you decided to switch to the 570's.  Now look at the Overclocked 580SLI graph.  And dont forget to look in your wallet .

K im out  - good luck.


----------



## Andynor91 (Oct 28, 2011)

Forgot to add a hdd, so it's a total of 2129$; still a good price though.

Edit: Actually, as I said earlier, switching the GTX 570 TF2's with GTX 570 TF3's will add about 145$ making the system a total of 2545$ instead of 2400$ if I had the TF2's.


----------



## Andynor91 (Oct 28, 2011)

So this is the final build (!?) - 2480$ inc shipping with all fans:

Motherboard: Asus P8Z68-V PRO 
CPU: 1x Intel Core i5-2500K
GPU: 2x Leadtek GTX580 1536MB
PSU: 1x Corsair 750W CMPSU-750TX
RAM: 1x Corsair 2x4GB DDR3 1866MHz Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A1866C9 
HDD: 2x Western Digital 500GB SATAIII 7200RPM 32MB WD5002AALX 
Case: 1x Cooler Master RC-692-KKN2 690 II
DVD-ROM Read/write: 1x Samsung SH-S222AB
CPU Cooler: 1x Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus

FANS: 
2x Enermax Silence 140m
2x Sharkoon Silent Eagle 2000 120mm fan
2x Zalman ZM-F1 Plus 80mm fan


Edit: Christ, I'm way too sleepy now. Been on this since I nearly woke up; forgot to add the motherboard as well to the configuration. So the above config adds up to a total of 2480$ or 2400$ without the fans (CPU cooler is not subtracted). Oh well, I'm going to bed! My head is totally messed up, hopefully some constructive feedback will be here tomorrow when I come back 

Edit 2: If the 8gb RAM set above at 1866Mhz is switched out with the 8gb set Kingston HyperX 8GB (2x4GB) 1600MHz DDR3 memory  the setup above goes down to 2375$ without the fans or 2455$ with fans.

Compare it with my previous build - 2400$ inc shipping with all fans:

Intel Core i7-2600K processor
2x MSI N570GTX 1,28 GB DDR5 TWIN FROZR II 
Asus P8Z68-V PRO 
Corsair 2x4GB DDR3 CMX8GX3M2A2000C9 XMS3
Corsair 850TX V2 850W
Seagate 2TB 64MB SATA3 ST2000DL003 
Xigmatek CPXT-025 Aegir SD128264 CPU Cooler
2x Zalman ZM-F1 Plus 80mm fan
2x Sharkoon 120mm Silent Eagle 2000 fan
2x Enermax Silence 140mm fan
Samsung SH-S222AB/BEBE fekete OEM DVD
OCZ 60GB Agility 3 
Cooler Master RC-692-KKN2 690 II

Now I'm out ;p


----------



## Irony (Oct 28, 2011)

Still looks good to me. Buy it, Buy it, Buy it, Buy it...


@Damn_Smooth: Go play your newly aquired BF3. If you feel like arguing, start a new thread inviting anyone who would enjoy arguing about anything that can be imagined. I might come.


----------



## Damn_Smooth (Oct 28, 2011)

Irony said:


> Still looks good to me. Buy it, Buy it, Buy it, Buy it...
> 
> 
> @Damn_Smooth: Go play your newly aquired BF3. If you feel like arguing, start a new thread inviting anyone who would enjoy arguing about anything that can be imagined. I might come.



I haven't got BF3 yet or I probably wouldn't be here. What exactly do you feel like arguing about?


----------



## theeldest (Oct 28, 2011)

Andynor91 said:


> Case: 1x Cooler Master RC-692-KKN2 690 II
> FANS:
> 2x Enermax Silence 140m
> 2x Sharkoon Silent Eagle 2000 120mm fan
> ...



Not sure about your feelings on that specific case but it might help to get one that has good cooling as a standard feature.

http://www.pcx.hu/termek/cooler-master-rc-932-kkn5-haf-932-fekete-szamitogep-haz-78985

I just put the HAF 932 Advanced together for a friend's build and I like that case quite a bit. The 3x 240mm fans are quite silent (quieter than my noctuas in my Antec P183 actually) and move lots of air.

It is big, though. But quite good looking. Might be an option?

With the 932 Advanced you wouldn't need the fans.


----------



## theeldest (Oct 28, 2011)

Andynor91 said:


> So this is the final build (!?) - 2480$ inc shipping with all fans:
> Build recommended by phanbuey
> 
> Edit: Christ, I'm way too sleepy now. Been on this since I nearly woke up; forgot to add the motherboard as well to the configuration. So the above config adds up to a total of 2480$ or 2400$ without the fans (CPU cooler is not subtracted). Oh well, I'm going to bed! My head is totally messed up, hopefully some constructive feedback will be here tomorrow when I come back
> ...




phanbuey had some pretty good advice. Given the price comparison his recommendation will absolutely smoke the original specs in gaming.


----------



## Irony (Oct 28, 2011)

Damn_Smooth said:


> I haven't got BF3 yet or I probably wouldn't be here. What exactly do you feel like arguing about?





How about whether or not we should ignore the poor fellow who started this thread asking for advice and got 20 comments arguing about immaturity. I like that one. 


@the guy who started this thread: I would get a HAF case form CM. they have unprecedented ariflow.


----------



## stargazer7 (Oct 28, 2011)

Andynor91 said:


> So this is the final build (!?) - 2480$ inc shipping with all fans:
> 
> PSU: 1x Corsair 750W CMPSU-750TX



dont get the old TX...



Neuromancer said:


> and 750W corsair used PSU is not worth buying IMHO
> 
> Its good, but I can trip mine with a sandy bridge CPU and single 580. So does not really live up to its 750W rating.



replace it with v2, the new one


----------



## phanbuey (Oct 28, 2011)

stargazer7 said:


> dont get the old TX...
> 
> 
> 
> replace it with v2, the new one



http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Corsair-TX750W-Power-Supply-Review/505/8

That PSU is fine lol.  A PSU is like an escalator - its best when it just works and you dont notice it.

Especially this part...:

We were not only impressed by the fact that a power supply *labeled as a 750 W product could deliver 900 W* but also because it could maintain an efficiency over 80% under this circumstance. But, as we mentioned, we were not happy with the electric noise level.


----------



## stargazer7 (Oct 28, 2011)

the old TX is weak by todays standarts. its a PSH. same thing as the toughpower 750. it starts to get high ripple above 750, and some samples dont even push their rated power. they're a bad choice. the v2 is a relabeled seasonic M12. its much better than your suggestion


----------



## JrRacinFan (Oct 28, 2011)

stargazer7 said:


> it starts to get high ripple above 750



The proposed build in Andy's recent post will be lucky to reach 600W Peak.


----------



## stargazer7 (Oct 28, 2011)

JrRacinFan said:


> The proposed build in Andy's recent post will be lucky to reach 600W Peak.



it doesnt matter. its still a weak psu. for the same price, he can get a Chieftec, which is a DSG or PSH2. 

"*we were not happy with the electric noise level*"


----------



## phanbuey (Oct 28, 2011)

stargazer7 said:


> the old TX is weak by todays standarts. its a PSH. same thing as the toughpower 750. it starts to get high ripple above 750, some samples dont even push that power. they're a bad choice. *the v2 is a seasonic M12.* its much better than your suggestion



On topic: Who cares?  If he can get better for the same price, then all the more power to him. Its all about the $$.

My suggestion would work - which is what the goal was.  *As long as the price stays the same get a better model* - I just dont want you suggesting overpriced gtx570's again because they have nice fans 

Off topic:  your facts seem wrong.



Spoiler



What changed?

 The platforms have switched on the TX850, TX750, and TX650. Probably the most significant change is on the *TX650, which went from being a Seasonic S12-based unit to a CWT PSH II unit,* and received an upgrade from a 120mm fan to a 140mm fan. *This is the most noticeable of the changes. The 750 and 850 have also been upgraded from the older PSH units to the PSH II.*



 Why did you do that?

 Honestly, one of the major reasons for the change was because you guys are buying tons of TX series PSUs and we wanted to make sure we had inventory to meet that demand. The old platform was not as efficient to manufacture, and while it’s still rock solid, we felt that updating it a bit couldn’t hurt and wouldn’t offend anybody.



 How do the new parts perform?

 The PSH II offers a few benefits over the older platforms, one of which is increased efficiency. While the older platforms were standard 80Plus efficiency, the new platforms are borderline 80Plus Bronze. Also, they have slightly tighter ripple/noise, and voltage regulation. The audible noise levels should be about the same, as should the overall build quality and lifetime of the products. They are still rated at 50C and come with Corsair’s 5 year warranty.


----------



## JrRacinFan (Oct 28, 2011)

JrRacinFan said:


> The proposed build in Andy's recent post will be lucky to reach 600W Peak.





stargazer7 said:


> it doesnt matter. its still a weak psu. for the same price, he can get a Chieftec, which is a DSG or PSH2.
> 
> "*we were not happy with the electric noise level*"





phanbuey said:


> On topic: Who cares?



Exactly my point. And you are saying it won't *push past the specs it is rated for!?*


----------



## stargazer7 (Oct 28, 2011)

the tx850v2 is not made by CWT. its a seasonic unit.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Corsair/TX750_V2/4.html

they made a lot of psh's and are still trying to clear stock. those units were only good back in 2006. not only PSH2 is improved, but DSG is superior. this is a PSH







and this one's a DSG






my facts arent wrong, you dont know what you're on about. also didnt suggest him reference 570s. i suggested 570 pe's with TF3 along with a better case. so it would have made a difference, but not because of cooling. because 570 SLI is more than enough for games


----------



## phanbuey (Oct 28, 2011)

So your argument is:  He should pay more for cards with custom coolers because 570SLI is, in your opinion, more than enough for games? 

Here is my suggestion - you know your stuff... no doubt.

Get him the best bang for his buck, and stop f(*(*ing around.  There is no reason for this thread to be 112 Posts


----------



## stargazer7 (Oct 28, 2011)

its common logic, not my opinion. its a personal choice. he can either get beefed up cards (tf3 is non ref) with better cooling, or reference boards with more performance. i can't answer it


----------



## Andynor91 (Oct 29, 2011)

I did some research on the leadtek 580gtx and seems like quite a bit of people have problems with the cooler and that it cools really bad. It's also ridiculously lower priced compared to the other 580gtx brands so it makes me question the quality a bit. I'm a bit worried if I get a faulty card or a lower quality card.

I found this 6990 for 838$: VTX3D VX6990 4GBD5-M4D 4GB GDDR5 PCIE (any good in regards to brand, reference/non reference etc)? The 2x 580gtx will be 1165$, which means a 327$ price difference. I'd also not have to worry about the crossfire problems ati has, right?

Or the ASUS ENGTX590/3DIS/3GD5 PCIE that I found for 955$. price difference between gtx 590 and gtx 580's is then 210$. 


I found this benchmark of bad company 2 that ran on 1920x1200 (resolution I'll be running at) that says an overclocked 6990 will only be 15 fps slower than 2x 580gtx; so is it really worth the 327$ price bump? Seems to me that the 6990 is crazy much bang for buck. The config will then be at 2025$.
The config with the gtx 590 will be 2143$. This is much closer to my budget as well.


Motherboard: Asus P8Z68-V PRO 
CPU: 1x Intel Core i5-2500K
GPU: 1x VTX3D VX6990 4GBD5-M4D 4GB GDDR5 PCIE 
PSU: 1x Corsair 750W TX V2
RAM: 1x KINGSTON 8192MB HyperX DDR3 1600MHz 
HDD: 2x Western Digital 500GB SATAIII 7200RPM 32MB WD5002AALX 
Case: 1x COOLERMASTER RC-932-KKN5
DVD-ROM Read/write: 1x Samsung SH-S222AB
CPU Cooler: 1x Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus

benchmark: http://benchmarkreviews.com/images/...illes/Battlefield-Bad-Company-2_Benchmark.jpg

Edit: would be nice if the system ran somewhat silent as well, though it's not really a big must if the 6990 is much bang for buck.


----------



## Irony (Oct 29, 2011)

Andynor91 said:


> I found this 6990 for 838$:



Is that for one?


I would Crossfire 2 single GPU 6950s or 6970s if you can afford em.


----------



## stargazer7 (Oct 29, 2011)

the Leadtek is a reference card, its no different than any other 580. reference cards are all exact same. only difference is in the sticker... Leadtek is also a premium nvidia brand. you can get em, but if you dont want, then you can up to TF3 PEs for better looks or cooling etc. best off, i'd try to find a pair of reference 6970's. sorry, i cant browse the Hungarian site











you dont want a dual GPU card.... its going to be worse in thermals, reliability and so


----------



## Andynor91 (Oct 29, 2011)

Cheapest version of possible combos (not surea bout which ones are references/non-reference):

2x SAPPHIRE 11188-09-20G HD6950 *1GB* GDDR5 PCIE - 615$   (total config  1777$)
2x VTX3D VX6950 *2GB*D5-2DH PCIE  - 643$   (total config 1805$)
2x VTX3D VX6970 2GBD5-2DH PCIE -  844$   (total config 2024$)
2x MSI N570GTX Twin Frozr II 1280MB GDDR5 PCIE   (total config 1959$)
2x LEADTEK GTX580 1536MB GDDR5 PCIE  - 1165$    (total config 2327$)

So, best bang for buck?


----------



## stargazer7 (Oct 29, 2011)

aww... those AMD's are all cheap non ref. it'd have been great if you had a reference 6900 in there. those scale better, have digital PWMs... from those, Leadteks are your best bet. TF2s are reference 570 so weak vrm.


----------



## Andynor91 (Oct 29, 2011)

stargazer7 said:


> aww... those AMD's are all cheap non ref. it'd have been great if you had a reference 6900 in there. those scale better, have digital PWMs... from those, Leadteks are your best bet. TF2s are reference 570 so weak vrm.




Got the list with the 6950 and 6970 cards below.
At the right where it stands TERMÉK LISTA RENDEZÉSE: you'll have to choose Ár szerint csökkenő to get the prices from highest to lowest. The price is to the furthest right of the card name in the listings. Appreciate you helping me out here 

Which one of these is the cheapest reference 6970? http://konyv.ipon.hu/?searchthis=6970&where=shop

And which one of these is the cheapest 6950? http://konyv.ipon.hu/?searchthis=6950&where=shop


----------



## stargazer7 (Oct 29, 2011)

these two are the only reference. luckily, you got a 6970 and a 50!

http://konyv.ipon.hu/webshop/product/_asus_eah6970_2di2s_2gd5_pcie/168730

http://konyv.ipon.hu/webshop/product/_msi_r6950_2pm2d2gd5_2gb_gddr5_pcie/170060

the 6970 is my card of choice. i've both a 6970 and a 580. the 6970 pulls less power, was cheaper and goes on. nvidia has better drivers specifically with SLI but amd scales higher. as a single card, 580 is stronger however amd makes up for difference from scaling. its built better. its a better card than the 580 on hardware really. but if you cant afford, you can get 6950s aswell. they're the same as 6970s. just with disabled shaders so a little worse performance. chances are they'll unlock to 6970s. but thats a risk.


----------



## Andynor91 (Oct 29, 2011)

Irony said:


> Is that for one?
> 
> 
> I would Crossfire 2 single GPU 6950s or 6970s if you can afford em.



It's for one, yeah (hungary is taxed to hell compared to the US)


----------



## Andynor91 (Oct 29, 2011)

Updated list:

2x MSI R6950-2PM2D2GD5 2GB GDDR5 PCIE  - 754$   (total config 1917$)
2x ASUS EAH6970/2DI2S/2GD5 PCIE -  916$   (total config 2075$)
2x MSI N570GTX Twin Frozr II 1280MB GDDR5 PCIE   (total config 1959$)
2x LEADTEK GTX580 1536MB GDDR5 PCIE  - 1165$    (total config 2327$)

So 2 of those asus 6970's are the most bang for buck? 

Build:
CPU: 1x Intel Core i5-2500K
GPU: x ?
PSU: 1x Corsair 750W TX V2
RAM: 1x Corsair KINGSTON 8192MB HyperX DDR3 1600MHz 
HDD: 2x Western Digital 500GB SATAIII 7200RPM 32MB WD5002AALX 
Case: 1x COOLERMASTER RC-932-KKN5
DVD-ROM Read/write: 1x Samsung SH-S222AB
CPU Cooler: 1x Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus


----------



## stargazer7 (Oct 29, 2011)

no, they arent "the" most bang for buck. but they come with more rops means unlocked performance along. you can unlock 6950s with a little risk and they're better price&performance.


----------



## Andynor91 (Oct 29, 2011)

stargazer7 said:


> no, they arent "the" most bang for buck. but they come with more rops means unlocked performance along. you can unlock 6950s with a little risk and they're better price&performance.



A little being? I'm not sure if I'd like to risk my cards, hehe.


----------



## stargazer7 (Oct 29, 2011)

heh well if it doesnt unlock, you'll brick your card. you can flash it back to recover. if it does, theres a high change it'll work all along. but there still is a change of screw up. after you unlock, card may give up after some few years if you prefer to keep em for long. your call chief.


----------



## Andynor91 (Oct 29, 2011)

stargazer7 said:


> heh well if it doesnt unlock, you'll brick your card. you can flash it back to recover. if it does, theres a high change it'll work all along. but there still is a change of screw up. after you unlock, card may give up after some few years if you prefer to keep em for long. your call chief.



Guess I'll be on the safe side instead then and go with the 6970's.

Build:
Motherboard: Asus P8Z68-V PRO 
CPU: 1x Intel Core i5-2500K
GPU: 2x ASUS EAH6970/2DI2S/2GD5 PCIE
PSU: 1x Corsair 750W TX V2
RAM: 1x Corsair KINGSTON 8192MB HyperX DDR3 1600MHz 
HDD: 2x Western Digital 500GB SATAIII 7200RPM 32MB WD5002AALX 
Case: 1x COOLERMASTER RC-932-KKN5
DVD-ROM Read/write: 1x Samsung SH-S222AB
CPU Cooler: 1x Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus

Total config: 2075$

Really close to hitting the buy button now, so if there are any last recommendations/inputs throw them out there!  I personally think the price is good in regards to the performance I'll be getting.


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## stargazer7 (Oct 29, 2011)

if you want it %100 safe, yeah. if not, the risk of bricking card AFTER unlock is low. up to you. anyway which board are you getting? make sure you get p67. h67 is limited by vrm. it wont oc&may crap out


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## Irony (Oct 29, 2011)

It looks pretty happy to me. I wanna see some OC results in a couple months

Buy it, and obliterate everything from Germany to Arkansas.


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## Andynor91 (Oct 29, 2011)

stargazer7 said:


> if you want it %100 safe, yeah. if not, the risk of bricking card AFTER unlock is low. up to you. anyway which board are you getting? make sure you get p67. h67 is limited by vrm. it wont oc&may crap out



Updated the post with the motherboard. Seems like I'm pretty much ready to go. 

Thanks for all the help you guys!


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## JrRacinFan (Oct 29, 2011)

Just asking out of curiosity: Why not the Extreme 3(or 4) Gen3?


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## Andynor91 (Oct 29, 2011)

JrRacinFan said:


> Just asking out of curiosity: Why not the Extreme 3(or 4) Gen3?



Any of these you mean?
http://www.ipon.hu/?searchthis=Extreme+IV&where=shop
http://www.ipon.hu/?searchthis=Extreme+3&where=shop
http://www.ipon.hu/?searchthis=Extreme+4&where=shop

Seems like most of them are about double the price of the motherboard I listed in the config, except some in the last listing there.


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## JrRacinFan (Oct 29, 2011)

Was talking about the Asrock Z68 lineup. Sorry I should have been more specific.


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## Andynor91 (Oct 29, 2011)

JrRacinFan said:


> Was talking about the Asrock Z68 lineup. Sorry I should have been more specific.



Ah, then I see. Either one of these two then:
http://www.ipon.hu/webshop/product/_asrock_z68_extreme4_gen3/185256
http://www.ipon.hu/webshop/product/_asrock_z68_extreme3_gen3/185255

asrock z68 extreme4 gen3 is actually the same price as the Asus P8Z68-V PRO which I listed in the config. The ASROCK Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 is about 63$ cheaper than the asrock z68 extreme4 gen3 or the Asus P8Z68-V PRO.

Better to go for the Asrock z68 extreme4 gen3 instead then?

Edit: seems like the asrock z68 extreme4 gen3 also has PCIe 3.0 which is a neat bonus I guess.


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## Irony (Oct 29, 2011)

Asrock seems to get good reviews. I'm planning on getting an Asrock Fatal1ty


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## JrRacinFan (Oct 29, 2011)

Andy
Difference between the 2 is minimal. Extreme 4 has 2 more sata ports connected to a Marvell controller and includes a USB 3 bracket for use with the onboard header.


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## Andynor91 (Oct 29, 2011)

Final build (2075$):

Motherboard: ASROCK Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 
CPU: 1x Intel Core i5-2500K
GPU: 2x ASUS EAH6970/2DI2S/2GD5 PCIE
PSU: 1x Corsair 750W TX V2
RAM: 1x KINGSTON 8192MB HyperX DDR3 1600MHz 
HDD: 2x Western Digital 500GB SATAIII 7200RPM 32MB WD5002AALX 
Case: 1x COOLERMASTER RC-932-KKN5
DVD-ROM Read/write: 1x Samsung SH-S222AB
CPU Cooler: 1x Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus

Only thing I'm unsure about is the ram. It's 1.65v so would be nice with something a bit lower. 
8gb would be the best and about the 15000HUF +/- mark; the list is here http://ipon.hu/webshop/group/8192mb/921/


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## Irony (Oct 29, 2011)

The pricing on that site confuses me...thats beside the point. 

What about Corsair Vengeance? I think its the same money...


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## Andynor91 (Oct 29, 2011)

Irony said:


> The pricing on that site confuses me...thats beside the point.
> 
> What about Corsair Vengeance? I think its the same money...



Which one of these two then?:
http://ipon.hu/webshop/product/_cor...ddr3_1600mhz_cl9_kit_cmz8gx3m2a1600c9r/186911
http://ipon.hu/webshop/product/_cor..._ddr3_1600mhz_cl9_kit_cmz8gx3m2a1600c9/173133

What's the difference between them? they have pretty much the same price.


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## JrRacinFan (Oct 29, 2011)

The difference is a quite obvious one.


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## Andynor91 (Oct 29, 2011)

JrRacinFan said:


> The difference is a quite obvious one.



lol, they take extra $$$ for the red color? : p


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## Irony (Oct 29, 2011)

Thats the only difference I can see. The blue ones are optimized for low voltage with intel systems, I think. I'm not sure if there are any on your site though.


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## Andynor91 (Oct 29, 2011)

I see. Can't seem to find the blue ones so I'll settle for the black ones then.

Now, final build hopefully:

Motherboard: ASROCK Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 
CPU: 1x Intel Core i5-2500K
GPU: 2x ASUS EAH6970/2DI2S/2GD5 PCIE
PSU: 1x Corsair 750W TX V2
RAM: 1x CORSAIR 8192MB Vengeance DDR3 1600MHz CL9 KIT
HDD: 2x Western Digital 500GB SATAIII 7200RPM 32MB WD5002AALX 
Case: 1x COOLERMASTER RC-932-KKN5
DVD-ROM Read/write: 1x Samsung SH-S222AB
CPU Cooler: 1x Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus

Everything fits together so no problems there? Also, the front of the HAF 932 case has 4x usb 2.0 slots it seems. Is there any difference between the USB 3.0 slots and 2.0 slots? just wondering if everything will match before I hit the purchase button.


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## Irony (Oct 29, 2011)

That looks good. 

I don't know if you said earlier or not; are you going to overclock? (not to suggest a change in components, just wondering)


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## Andynor91 (Oct 29, 2011)

Irony said:


> That looks good.
> 
> I don't know if you said earlier or not; are you going to overclock? (not to suggest a change in components, just wondering)



I'll probably just overclock when the system tears a bit down with performance on games, that's probably a while til though (?)

Edit: Which 23/24" monitor do you recommend  in the 50000HUF (235$) price range for primarily gaming? 
http://ipon.hu/webshop/group/23_24/1068/2

Was thinking about this one: 
http://ipon.hu/webshop/product/_asus_ml238h/174699


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## Irony (Oct 29, 2011)

Probably a good while.


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## JrRacinFan (Oct 29, 2011)

That monitor is pretty nice Andy. I like it.


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## Andynor91 (Oct 30, 2011)

There! Purchased it 

*Total config price without monitor: 2105$*

Motherboard: ASROCK Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 
CPU: 1x Intel Core i5-2500K
GPU: 2x ASUS EAH6970/2DI2S/2GD5 PCIE
PSU: 1x Corsair 850W TX V2 (opted for 850w over 750w since it only cost me 15$ more)
RAM: 1x CORSAIR 8192MB Vengeance DDR3 1600MHz CL9 KIT
HDD: 2x Western Digital 500GB SATAIII 7200RPM 32MB WD5002AALX 
Case: 1x COOLERMASTER RC-932-KKN5
DVD-ROM Read/write: 1x Samsung SH-S222AB
CPU Cooler: 1x Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
Monitor: 1x ASUS ML238H

*With monitor: 2350$*

Thank you all for helping me out, it was very much appreciated!


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## nt300 (Oct 30, 2011)

thebluebumblebee said:


> Would you please explain this?  On a dual channel system?


Nonesense. Stick with 16GB od DDR3 Ram, it costs next to nothing and should help with Gaming performance and overall everyday PC use.


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## Andynor91 (Oct 30, 2011)

Hopefully the 8gb I ordered will be sufficient for at least 3 years


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## stargazer7 (Oct 30, 2011)

nt300 said:


> Nonesense. Stick with 16GB od DDR3 Ram, it costs next to nothing and should help with Gaming performance and overall everyday PC use.



no it wont. it only increase the load on imc. he wont even exceed 4gb for his usage. you dont even need 8gb right now for anything regular. so stop overexaggerating the guy's needs. 8gb will be enough in the following years.


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## Super XP (Oct 30, 2011)

I would have to agree 8GB should be more than enough for several years to come, but personally I wouldn't mind a nice 16GB setup myself. It all depends on what you plan on using your system for. 8GB should be more than enough for gaming. If you plan on doing some heavy video editing or something of that nature, then 16GB hands down.

Though I would have to disagree on 16GB increasing load for the MIC. I don't think so, these parts are made to handle a dump load more memory IMO.


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## stargazer7 (Oct 30, 2011)

yea but the OP isnt looking for it. 

imc can handle memory, but it'll make it harder to stabilize your oc


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## Andynor91 (Oct 30, 2011)

The price difference between 2x ASUS EAH6970/2DI2S/2GD5 PCIE and 2x MSI R6950-2PM2D2GD5 2GB GDDR5 PCIE is 162$. Seems like you don't get that much performance increase between 2x 6970 and 2x 6950, so is 162$ worth it for the extra fps?


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## Damn_Smooth (Oct 30, 2011)

Andynor91 said:


> The price difference between 2x ASUS EAH6970/2DI2S/2GD5 PCIE and 2x MSI R6950-2PM2D2GD5 2GB GDDR5 PCIE is 162$. Seems like you don't get that much performance increase between 2x 6970 and 2x 6950, so is 162$ worth it for the extra fps?



If your 6950s unlock, then you have 6970s. I personally don't think the price difference is worth it, but some people do. I guess it only matters if you feel it is worth it, because you will be doing some awesome gaming with 2 of either of those cards.


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## Andynor91 (Oct 30, 2011)

Damn_Smooth said:


> If your 6950s unlock, then you have 6970s. I personally don't think the price difference is worth it, but some people do. I guess it only matters if you feel it is worth it, because you will be doing some awesome gaming with 2 of either of those cards.



I see. What's the performance gain you get from going cf 6950's to cf 6970's around? I probably won't unlock them since I'm way too scared, and if I do, it'll probably be when the cards are getting a bit rusty.


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## stargazer7 (Oct 30, 2011)

i do. like said above, if you want the best price&performance, 6950s. a little more performance, 6970s. $70 more per card isnt bad imo. take a look, its worth it in some cases

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/298?vs=299


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## Andynor91 (Oct 30, 2011)

stargazer7 said:


> i do. like said above, if you want the best price&performance, 6950s. a little more performance, 6970s. $70 more per card isnt bad imo. take a look, its worth it in some cases
> 
> http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/298?vs=299



Uah, now I'm getting more confused here.
Just found this benchmark of BF3: http://h4.abload.de/img/battlefield-3-beta-gpu5p0n.png
It says that 2x 570 outperformes 2x 6970 by about 10 fps which is quite a big boost (maybe because of AMD drivers I guess, but this will hopefully be somewhat improved upon later I would assume) 
Also, I can get 570's for the same price as 6970's. 

Here's the listing with the 570's: http://konyv.ipon.hu/?searchthis=570+gtx&where=shop
Which one would you get? I'm thinking the MSI N570GTX Twin Frozr III Power Edition/OC 1280MB looks good as its the same price as the asus 6970.
What do you think? After all, I'll be playing primarily bf3 for quite some time 

I won't be using multiple monitors or running any resolution above 1920x1200.


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## Irony (Oct 30, 2011)

8 Gigs will be sufficient. 




Andynor91 said:


> The price difference between 2x ASUS EAH6970/2DI2S/2GD5 PCIE and 2x MSI R6950-2PM2D2GD5 2GB GDDR5 PCIE is 162$. Seems like you don't get that much performance increase between 2x 6970 and 2x 6950, so is 162$ worth it for the extra fps?



Didn't you already buy the 6970s?



Andynor91 said:


> There! Purchased it
> 
> *Total config price without monitor: 2105$*
> 
> ...



Congrats on your investment, hope to see you round the forums some time.


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## Andynor91 (Oct 30, 2011)

Irony said:


> 8 Gigs will be sufficient.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Thanks! Yeah, but I can still change the order since it's sunday.


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## stargazer7 (Oct 30, 2011)

like i said, 6970s are much better cards. more reliable vrm, more memory. and they scale better too. performance doesnt always translate to 'better'.


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## Irony (Oct 30, 2011)

Those are great cards, you should be able to play anything maxxed out.


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