Advice wanted on potential high end build

[PadForce]

Hi all, just looking for some input into the following rig. I am thinking about treating myself to something high end with the condition that it lasts me for at least 3 years. I will be using it mainly for gaming. Dont store that much media or anything. I like the idea of a 6 core processor but am not really techy enough to know whether it is worth the dosh over a 4 core i7. Ditto with the graphics cards, I have chosen two 6950s over a 580 just because of what I have seen on some 3dmark 2011 comparisons. I like the idea of picking up a few extra monitors down the line too.

Atm this comes out at £1,750. Not looking to go over £2k.

Cheers,

PadForce

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Six Core Processor i7-3930K (3.2GHz) 12MB Cache

Motherboard
ASUS® P9X79: INTEL® SOCKET LG2011

Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPERX GENESIS QUAD-DDR3 1600MHz X.M.P(4 x 4GB KIT))

Graphics card:
2x AMD 6950 2gb

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB SEAGATE Barracuda SATA 6Gb/s HDD, 32MB Cache (7200rpm)

Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX850 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£99)

Processor Cooling
INTEL CERTIFIED LIQUID CPU COOLER FOR SOCKET LG2011

Eyefinity / GeForce 3D Vision
Active Display Port to DVI Adapter (EYEFINITY 3 MONITOR SETUPS) (£19)

 

[Music Guy123]

This is what I would recommend, it will be much better for gaming due to the better gpus. Here is the spec:

Case
COOLERMASTER HAF-X FULL TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2700k Quad Core (3.50GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3: PCI-E 3.0 READY, SLI, CROSSFIREX
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
3GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
2nd Graphics Card
3GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX850 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£99)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE INTEL CPU COOLER (£19)
Fan Controller
NZXT Sentry 2 Fan Controller with upto 5 Fitted Case Fans
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,974.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-sandy-bridge-pc/

 

[Music Guy123]

On the spec above, you can put up to 4 monitors on the cards for gaming. The 6 core is overkill and not necessary unless you really do stress a cpu! Also, my hdd is both larger and faster!

 

[NMEBowen]

personally id think this was a safer bet for a gamer but depending on when your buying your rig things can change very fast as hdd prices are all over the place and new tech is always coming with pc`s

Case
COOLERMASTER CM690 MKII ADVANCED CASE

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2600k Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics

Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z68-V/GEN3: PCI-E 3.0 READY, SLI, CROSSFIREX

Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)

Graphics Card
3GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready

2nd Graphics Card
3GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
12x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£42)

Power Supply
CORSAIR 1050W PRO SERIES™ HX1050-80 PLUS® SILVER MODULAR (£159)

Processor Cooling
TITAN FENRIR EVO EXTREME HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£39)

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)

this comes in at £1,908 with no peripherals but can handle 3 screen nvidia surround gaming and will handle anything to come out for atleast 3 years or as your only gaming the following amd setup would also be fine,

Case
COOLERMASTER CM690 MKII ADVANCED CASE

Processor (CPU)
AMD PHENOM II X4 QUAD CORE 980 (3.70GHz/8MB CACHE/AM3)

Motherboard
ASUS® M5A99X EVO:USB 3.0, SATA 6.0Gb/s, Quad CrossFireX™/SLI™

Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)

Graphics Card
3GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready

2nd Graphics Card
3GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
12x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£42)

Power Supply
CORSAIR 1050W PRO SERIES™ HX1050-80 PLUS® SILVER MODULAR (£159)

Processor Cooling
TITAN FENRIR EVO EXTREME HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£39)

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)

this comes in at £1,772 both are almost identical gaming wise and the amd can always have a bulldozer chip added when windows 8 comes out dramatically increasing power.

 

[PadForce]

Hi, thanks for replying.

Can you explain the benefits of having more ram on the cards rather than on the ram? ie 8gb + 3gb + 3gb vs 16gb + 1.5gb + 1.5gb? or even 8gb + 1.5gb + 1.5gb?

Also, with the cooling modules I thought liquid cooling was supposed to make you components last longer, is the copper cooling better?

Thanks,

PadForce

 

[Music Guy123]

The space on the gpus is good for bigger screens and more screens. It is also necessary for running multiple games. liquid cooling is good but not as reliable, the cooler I put on is a very good cooler for its price. Also, you might as well get the 2TB caviar black as it is the same price as the 1TB. The 1050w psu is probably overkill for what you need. Other than that, I think my spec is pretty similar to NMEBowen's apart from the slight cpu difference and the blu-ray difference.

 

[NMEBowen]

there seems to be a bug because theres no way a 850w psu will run 2x gtx 580`s, 1050w is a minimum id say as far as the vram goes the more the better for resolution if you wish to run 3 screens id say you need atleast 3gb, liquid cooling isnt that special anymore for cpu`s your alot safer going with air cooling unless you run a custom wc loop that will cool your gpu`s also. i wasnt sure as list price for a 2tb cavier black is double the price of a 1tb and your better off going as cheep as possible in the current climate as prices should hopefully drop soon.

 

[tom_gr7]

On the spec above, you can put up to 4 monitors on the cards for gaming.

two 580's will only support 3 monitors mate.

for 4 monitors you will want to go for amd 6970's or 6950's.

edit - liquid cooling is very good for overclocked system or very high end rigs, but there is a slight risk of leakages, A very slight risk, i've heard of only two guys on the forums that have had problems, so whoever said its unreliable I completely disagree with. There are benefits to it, allows better airflow through the case, as the coolers are alot smaller than huge air coolers like the titan.

What budget do you have?

personally i'd go for bowen's intel spec.

 

[PadForce]

Thanks for chipping in Tom.

I dont really have a budget but I do want any extra expenditure to actually have meaning in terms of the gaming experience. For example I dont feel like paying an extra £400 for a second GTX 580 if one 580 will max any game anyway. I would however consider it more worth it if I was to add a couple of screens and end up with a 3 screen system.

Also, two 6950s cost roughly the same as a 580 and struggle to see really why I would want to pay twice that for two 580s.. especially if Nvida are releasing a new card in Jan which would immediately make them obscolete..

ta

 

[tom_gr7]

Personally i'd go for one 580 at 3gb, with a 1000w psu, the 580 will smash any game out there. mine does (some people say 850w is enough for two 580's, )

Then if you want to add another and go for up to three screens, all you have to do is get another 580 3gb, and your good to go for nvidia surround,

On the other hand, you could go down the AMD multi screen route. maybe two 6970's would give you the ability to have atleast 4 monitors, (maybe more) AMD is cheaper, BUt i cant tell you which will give you better performance, as honestly i dont know. But i'm sure you wouldn't be disappointed if you went down the amd/ati route. two 6970 needs a 1000w psu.

 

[Music Guy123]

Thanks for pointing out my error on the 3 monitors not 4 I was just counting the number of outputs available! If you want three screens get dual 580s if you want more then it will have to be 6970s. A 580 is a better card but 6970s are reknown for having better multiple monitor support. If you are currently using one screen and are thinking about more in the not so near future, get a 3gb 580 and a 1050w psu. That way when you get more monitors you can add another card and the psu will be able to cope fine.