Friend's Build HELP

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seafire01

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Dec 25, 2012
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My best friend has entrusted me in spending his money on a gaming pc. He plays World of Tanks heavily, BF3 heavily, and Far Cry 3 heavily. He only has been able to play BF3 and FC3 on PS3 but he says that he is not using a console any more.


Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: In about 2 weeks
Budget Range: $2300 - 2500
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Youtube, Graphic Arts (Photoshop, etc.)
Are you buying a monitor: No
Parts to Buy: ALL other than monitor, mouse and keyboard
Do you need to buy OS: No
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg and Amazon
Location: USA, specifically South Carolina
Parts Preferences: He doesn't care that much, but he's always preferred Intel and Nvidia.
Overclocking: Probably
SLI or Crossfire: Yes, now or in the future
Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080
Additional Comments: BF3, FC3, Skyrim, World of Tanks. He says that he wants all emphasis on the GPU(S)
And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: His computer is weak and he wants to upgrade.

He wants to have the same case as mine: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146073&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=
 
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you can add another gtx 680 if you want
case nzxt phantom as you wish

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3930K 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($499.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock X79 Extreme6 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($219.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($86.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($99.98 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($219.99 @ Adorama)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 680 4GB Video Card ($519.98 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom (Black/Orange) ATX Full Tower Case ($134.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional Gold 850W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($144.49 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: Corsair Vengeance K90 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Mouse: Corsair Vengeance M90 Wired Laser Mouse ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2071.36
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-12 19:37 EST-0500)
 
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^Minor Changes, the OP can't get Mirco Centre I think
as mentioned you can SLI or CF with another card if you want

For World of Tanks you really need all the single core speed you can get, sole reason I went Intel i5 3570k and still, 1 core gets loaded up, just too lazy to OC more 😛

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3930K 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($560.98 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 CPU Cooler ($80.50 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock X79 Extreme6 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($219.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($83.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($101.12 @ Amazon)
Storage: OCZ Vector Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($229.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card ($445.91 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom (Black/Orange) ATX Full Tower Case ($134.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 850W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($122.75 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: Corsair Vengeance K90 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Mouse: Corsair Vengeance M90 Wired Laser Mouse ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2095.18
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-12 20:08 EST-0500)


Reasonsings:
7970ghz is better than 680 IMO
You can get a Gold PSU if you want but IMO Silver is plenty
Vector is tied with 840 pro overall but has a higher sustained transfer


image008.png
 
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Alright here we go :bounce:

Build 1:

Highest Rated Case On Newegg

Great Deal On This Right Now, Get It!

Motherboard

CPU

CPU Cooler

RAM x2

GPU x2 This will be +60$ 3/13/13

SSD x2

Optical Drive

System Specs:

Intel Core i5 3570K
H100i Heatsink
SLI MSI 670s
Raid 0 128GB 840Pro(z77 boards retain trim support in raid 0, unlike z79; Another reason to avoid z79)
16GB Ram

Total Price: $2,063.87

And for anyone who thinks 7970s in crossfire are the way to go, they are overpriced and will lose to 680s; Nvidia cards are optimized for the gaming industry in general; On a neutral game nvidia's driver updates are faster and more stable; Nvidia also handles micro-stuttering better; Games that use Physx(Planet Side 2 for a recent example) run really badly on AMD. Graph Source

bf3%201920.png

metro%201920.png

skyrim%201920.png

I sifted through more benchmarks and it loses in every game except metro2033 at a high resolution,
metro%202560.png


Now of course my build calls for SLI 670s, not 680s/7970s, because 670s have a better price/performance than the 680s. Arguments could be made that crossfire 7970s could outperform sli 670s, and sapphire has a 380$ 7970 model. Until that's made, I recommend the build above me. Currently in this thread, it's the best build.
-Prax :sol:
 
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I beg to differ that the 7970 is not that great at CF

latest drivers
1359364625n6B3D51AnG_3_3.gif


1359364625n6B3D51AnG_4_3.gif


1359364625n6B3D51AnG_5_3.gif


regardless single screen 1080p would only require a single high end card for now


keep in mind this review is before the massive performance enhancing 12.11 drivers from AMD
also the cpu is a 3960x whihc is close to the 3930k
The 680 with Physx on high performs the same as the 7970 with PhysX high
PhysX.png


And here is CPU vs GPU handling the PhysX (the 580 has about same phsyX perf as the 660ti

pics not working so here is the full review
http://physxinfo.com/news/9425/borderlands-2-is-cpu-capable-of-handling-the-physx-effects/

 
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2k builds will have a major difference, I disagree, and the gap difference will widen every following year after these 2 hypothetical builds; 2k gets you an SLI setup, and a Raid 0 array, with a nice H100i giving you a nice, cool 4.5OC easy; A 1k build gets you a 1 card setup, 1 ssd, and a hyper-212(meaning a hot 4.5OC); 16Gb of ram is nice, as games with memory leaks can slow you down with only 8, insert star wars the old republic here, not to mention rams cheap; I agree with you on the 3930k.
 
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I appreciate the research you did and you are right, AMD has as far as benchmark fps numbers, caught up. Unfortunately it took them 8 months to get drivers that could compete with what nvidia had, 8 months AGO, proving my point as to what is the better buy. Not to mention the gaming industry favors nvidia optimizations; Better optimizations with better drivers leads to better performance when games are out, not better performance 8 months after a new game comes out; Another nice thing with nvidia is they usually have higher minimum fps rates, and less micro-stutter which are just nice cherries on the proverbial cake.
 
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^ hopefully AMD will adequately address the micro-stutter as they have said
and yes I generally agree that Nvidia has more optimizations and driver turn around time

The sheer raw power of the 7970ghz can make up for it though and AMD seems to be getting back on track now though


 
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Maybe in singleplayer campaign, a full 64man multi it can dip quite low on ultra with aa 4 and af 16. And again if the OP says budget is 2200, the budgets 2200. Toss on a good SLI build that will run for 5 years and be done with it. My brother still is running his SLI 5870 setup and will be fine for quite a few years to come. The main point is, right now as it stands, Nvidia > AMD; Better drivers, doesn't take 8 months to release drivers that can utilize their hardware; Better game optimization; Better minimum fps; And handles micro-stuttering... You guessed it, better. The world runs better on nvidia for now, enjoy it,

-Prax :sol:
 
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The 670's would be bandwidth and VRAM bottle necked though in the future, Crysis 3 @ 1080p 2xMSAA High, uses 1.7gb of vram so...

Somewhat saner build in response to feedback
I tend to go money crazy when large budgets are mentioned
Staying with Air until OP decide he want Closed Loop
The 2TB is a better choice as you can raid 5 them easier (at a lower cost)

7970 build

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($80.26 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($148.98 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($83.72 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($101.12 @ Amazon)
Storage: OCZ Vector Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($229.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($379.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom (Black/Orange) ATX Full Tower Case ($134.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 850W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($122.75 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1661.77
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-12 21:46 EST-0500)

670 build

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($80.26 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($148.98 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($83.72 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($101.12 @ Amazon)
Storage: OCZ Vector Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($229.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($363.98 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom (Black/Orange) ATX Full Tower Case ($134.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 850W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($122.75 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1645.76
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-12 21:47 EST-0500)
 
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LoL I can't wait to see the benchmarks on crysis 3 for AMD. I can tell you 6 months after launch they should catch up to the 680s. As far as bottlenecking, that'd be unlikely. The game that sucks up the most vram is skyrim with 4k res mods, and they run fine. An sli 670 benchmark its good to go.

Unfortunately this is all I can find for benchmarks, it isn't modded; I want to compare this benchmark to a modded skyrim xD.

Source
skyrim_1920_1200.gif

 
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I like your avatar, so I will have to agree with you :cry:

No but seriously, I think nvidia is trying to compete with AMD on that front offering 150$ in ingame currencies apparently? lol, they should bought some games.
 
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Except it isn't, I had a convo with someone earlier on this, and just for drivers/tons of nvidia optimizations, I will likely go with an nvidia setup in my next build.:





As far as corsair psu being bad... No... I understand what you're saying but they are fine and I would take it anyday over the xfx psu that like to die 9 months in. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID= 59% is an excellent 5star
Click to expand...
I think your advice is just wrong. Consistantly wrong it seems.

No, no and no @ 660 < 7870. 660 beats the 7870 badly, or it ties. The marketplace releases games that are nvidia optimized, and games that require nvidia technology like planetside 2 with physx play badly on AMD. Bad advice above. Get the 660, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127699.

Here are some graphs.
Beats it by 20fps
49750.png

Ties
49754.png

Beats it by 30 fps
49752.png

ties
49743.png

Beats it by 10fps
49748.png
 
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Hi, regarding your statements.

You have to understand that the cx430 right now is the V3 version which hasn't had a review. They just named it into cx430 instead of cx430v3 for some reason.

Also, the reviews you showed everyone is how many months old. It doesn't even take into consideration the new drivers as previously stated.
 
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"I don't like your benchmarks, they aren't new enough!" That's what you sound like. He was talking about the builder series with reviews on them, specifically the one I recommended in the OP of that thread's build. Which coincidantally had a 59% 5 star rating, which is quite good. I would be interesting in seeing a graph the shows 7870 outperforming the 660 in a game, I don't care about relative performance graphs@stick, but those look promising regarding my current belief that the 660 will indeed outperform the 7870 in any game I have seen. As it stands, they outperform the 7870, and have a better price on them, + a better company for future drivers which means better future performance.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600030348%20600315498%20600364399&IsNodeId=1&name=GeForce%20GTX%20660 660 Prices

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600286767%20600298540&IsNodeId=1&name=Radeon%20HD%207870%20GHz%20Edition 7870s prices
 
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Yep. The new cx430s right now are different so really.

The old cx430 was not even 80+ now it has 80+ bronze cert.

That's what I am trying to tell you. The update was huge for AMD cards.

Anyway, I don't know why we need to discuss it. I'm just gonna get an FX-6300 and 7770 in my future build lol.
 
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