$2500 - $3000 gaming PC build

[mjmjpfaff]

Hmm I've been looking for articles that show results from both sides of the fence (and also anything showing benchmarks/testing with big resolutions like 5760x1080). So far I dug this up:
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/08/23/gtx_480_sli_pcie_bandwidth_perf_x16x16_vs_x8x8/1

Granted these are only GTX 480's, but they show results in 5760x1200 which is nice. From that article I'd gather that there IS a hit in performance but not too bad. I wonder, though, that if newer titles would show an even bigger gap in framerate. Also, I'm sure these 480's don't each have 3GB's of GDDR5 on them like the cards I'm eyeballing have. I'm wondering if even MORE vram would starve the limited bandwidth further.

not only do they have more vram but they are much more powerful.

 

[mjmjpfaff]

I also ran across this, but nothing in this one seemed TOO concrete. Nothing was tested in 5760 x 1080 either...

http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=222246&page=1

ya at higher resolutions it makes a bigger difference for sure.

 

[lamsid]

Wowsers. Tomorrow I'll have to start looking at that ASRock board you linked earlier. I think I definitely want to stick with an SLI board that can do x16/x16.

 

[mjmjpfaff]

an x79 system will be cheaper!!!

sandy bridge extreme has much more bandwith making higher end gpu setups like your's more attractive on an x79 platform.

i7 3820 (285$)+ Asrock X79 Extreme3 (215$)= 500$ (x16/x16)

i5 2500k (220$)+ Asrock Z68 Extreme7 (270$)= 490$ (x16/x16)

both cpu's can be overclocked past 4.5ghz. you need a very long cf/sli bridge for the extreme7 to run 2 cards at x16. a normal sli/cf bridge is needed with the x79 solution. with the purchase of the long sli/cf bridge it will more than likely make the Z68 option more expensive.

did you not see this? I posted it up above.

 

[mjmjpfaff]

the only thing is the 3820 is coming out early february.

 

[lamsid]

did you not see this? I posted it up above.

Yup, I did. I'm going to check it all out now. Thanks!

 

[lamsid]

I'm liking what I see with the ASRock Extreme7 Gen3. No idea what memory to go for though as of yet. Tomorrow I will dig around and see if the Corsair Vengeance stuff still looks like the way to go.

 

[mjmjpfaff]

I'm liking what I see with the ASRock Extreme7 Gen3. No idea what memory to go for though as of yet. Tomorrow I will dig around and see if the Corsair Vengeance stuff still looks like the way to go.

ya corsair makes good memory. remember with the Z68 option you need a long sli/cf bridge to run both at x16. the cards need to go into pcie1 and pcie4. there is a pretty large gap in between them.

 

[Tavo_Nova]

CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX1200 (CMPSU-1200AX) 1200W ATX12V v2.31 / EPS12V v2.92 SLI Certified 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
for 279.99$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139014&Tpk=AX1200

go for that, a 1200W is good since you seem to got the bread, i see a possible upgrade for you ^_^ oh and i like the ASRock Extreme7 Gen3, i use one my self and it's good

 

[lamsid]

ya corsair makes good memory. remember with the Z68 option you need a long sli/cf bridge to run both at x16. the cards need to go into pcie1 and pcie4. there is a pretty large gap in between them.

I did looked into that after you mentioned it... it looks like the SLI bridge that comes with the motherboard is tripple-spaced, so all should be good.

I looked into memory too. From what I gather so far, outrageous speeds and ridiculous memory overclocks aren't needed in order to OC the i7-2600k. I think I'm either going to stick with the original memory at the top of this thread or maybe this:

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM (out of stock at the moment).

The most popular combo for 2x4GB DIMMs with this CPU seems to be some flavor of DDR3 1600 with cas 8 latency. Why, I haven't got a clue since this will be my first overclock, hah.

oh and i like the ASRock Extreme7 Gen3, i use one my self and it's good

Good to hear!