Need help for a futureproof gaming pc.

[krsuma]

hi there guys.

I live in the UK and Im planning to get a futureproof gaming pc that runs over everything in full detail that i throw at in 27inch screen resolution. Im sick and tired of my old pc that cant even run any games now recently and Ive saved up a lot of money for my dream rig.

however i need some recommendation...I hope my noobishness doesnt infuriate others here lol.

1) is GTX 580 3gb x2 (SLI) an overkill for me? I heard its better than GTX 590, just being a bit more expensive. I read over the web that 2 580's is just a pointless waste of cash if only you intend to run games on one screen without 3d. However I really want quality and something that I can be assured of in the future, so that I wont have to worry about the performance in the near future. Should I just get 1 GTX 580 3gb first, then buy another one and SLI it? For reference, I play Starcraft 2 and intend to play BC3, Diablo 3, MW3 and so on.

2) if getting GTX 580 in SLI config, is watercooling neccesary? ppl said that as long as the case is well ventilated, 580s in SLI wont have heat issues. Can I OC the 580s when I get it watercooled in the future? is it really neccesary?

Thanks for reading this noob question guys. I really want something that is reasonable and neccesary so that I can save money but have something rock solid futureproof for the next 2 years as well.

This is the current stuffs I am looking at. Im not even sure what to get so please help me thank you guy so much.

CASE: Corsair Obsidian Series 800D Full Tower Gaming Case [+28]
FREEBIES: None
Lights & Illumination: Ultra Violet Reactive Kit (2xUV Lights, 2xSATA2 HDD Cables, 1 xUV Gelid 120mm High Performance Nanoflux Bearing Fan with rubber mounts, Blue Colour) [+28]
Extra Case Fan Upgrade: Max. 3 x 120mm Silent Case Cooling Fans in selected case key areas for ultra silent operation [+23] (1,200 RPM AKASA Silent Fans with Sleeve Ball Bearing 17 dBA and LED light to match the Fans already in the case)
Cyberpower Noise Reduction Technology: Cyberpower Anti-Vibration Fan Mounts -- reducing the noise generated from Fans [+9]
CPU: Intel® Core™ i7 2600K Quad Core 3.4GHz 8MB cache LGA1155 + HD Graphics ***Overclockable XXX***
FREEBIES: None
Overclocking Service: XXX Overclocking (CPU Extreme overclock: guaranteed min. 20%, max. 30%.)
Cooling Fan: Cyberpower Advanced WaterCooling Large Kit (Including 360m Radiator, 750res Pump/Reservoir, Rosa CPU Block, High CFM Fans, Tubing, and Coolant) ***Overclockable XXX*** (White Tubing - Large [+9])
Coolant for Cyberpower Advance WaterCooling Kits: High-Performance Non Conductive Coolant powered by Thermochill [+9] (UV Neon Green Colour)
MOTHERBOARD: [CrossFireX/SLI] Asus P8Z68-V Pro Intel Z68 Chipset DDR3 ATX Mainboard w/ BT GO! LucidLogix Virtu and Intel Smart Response Technology & 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, USB3.0, 4x SATA-III RAID, 3 Gen2 PCIe, 2 PCIe X1 & 2 PCI ***Overclockable XXX***
Intel Smart Response Technology for Z68: None
Internal USB/SATA Expansion Module: NONE
MEMORY: 8GB (2x4GB) PC12800 DDR3/1600mhz Dual Channel Memory (Kingston HyperX w/Heat Spreader ***Overclockable XXX***)
VIDEO CARD: Liquid Cooling Nvidia GTX 580 1.5GB GDDR5 VRAM [-179] (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)
FREEBIES: None
DONGLES: NONE
VIDEO CARD 2: Liquid Cooling Nvidia GTX 580 1.5GB GDDR5 VRAM [+435] (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)
Video Card 3: None, or On-Board Integrated Graphics
Dedicated PhysX Card: None
Power Supply Upgrade: 1000 Watts Power Supplies (Cyberpower 1000watt Gaming Power Supply SLI/CrossFire Ready)
Hard Drive: 64 GB Crucial M4 Series SATA III Gaming MLC Solid State Disk (Single Hard Drive)
Data Hard Drive: 1TB SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 7200RPM Hard Drive (Single Hard Drive) (Single Hard Drive)
Hard Drive Cooler: None
Optical Drive: 24X Double Layer Dual Format DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE. [-18] (BLACK COLOR)
Optical Drive 2: NONE
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
3D Vision Glasses: NONE
LCD Monitor: NONE
2nd Monitor: NONE
3rd Monitor: NONE
SPEAKERS: NONE
Headset: None
GAMING GEAR: None
Network: ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT -- As standard on all PCs
MODEM: NONE
Keyboard: NONE
Mouse: NONE
Mouse Pad: None
Extra Thermal Display: NONE
Wireless 802.11B/G Network Card: NONE
External Wireless Network Adapter: NONE
Wireless 802.11B/G/N Access Point: NONE
Bluetooth: None
Flash Media Reader/Writer: None
Video Camera: None
Cables: None
Power Surge Protection: None
IEEE 1394 Card: NONE
USB Port: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports
USB and External Drive: NONE
Floppy: NONE
Ultra Care Option: CoolerMaster Thermal Fusion 400 Extreme Performance CPU - Thermal Compound Optimized for Thermal Dissipation [+9]
Professional Wiring for All WIRING Inside The System Chasis - Minimize Cable Exposure, Maximize Airflow in Your System [+19]
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® 7 Home Premium (64-bit Edition)
Media Center Remote & TV Tuner: None
Software: None
FREEBIES: None
Games: None
Fast Track Service: NONE
WARRANTY SERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3 Year Labour, 1 Year Parts, 1 Month Collect and Return plus Life-Time Technical Support
HOME INSTALLATION SERVICE: NONE

 

[jmsellars1]

Personally i think even one GTX 580 would be overkill on a single monitor, especially the 3GB one. (Not that you would have that, 2 x 1.5GB cards = 1.5GB of graphics memory, it doesnt mean 3GB.) One monitor at 1920x1200 is not going to utilise 3GB anyway. Also i hear bad things about Cymberpower's general build quality and their water cooling. You would most likely have a better built system doing it yourself because you could put more care and attention than some company would. lastly they are charging you for silly things like wiring it properly. Lastly that overclocking is a bit pricey, you could gain a 20% overclock quite easily yourself.

I dread to think what that is going to cost but i would do this instead (if you don't mind building it yourself.):

i5-2500k - £144.95 (Just as good as the i7-2600k in games and a lot cheaper.)
8GB Corsair Vengeace Black LP 1600Mhz 1.5v - £46.88
Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3P - £131.99
2 x Gainward GeForce GTX 570 PHANTOM Ed. - £275.94 each (Over £100 cheaper than the GTX 580 and theres no way the GTX 580 is £100 better.)
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB - £40.20
Crucial M4 64GB - £82.92
Corsair TX-850M - £105.36
Fractal Design Define R3 - £69.41
Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro Dual Fan - £52.99
LG DVD Burner - £14.22

£1257.08 After Shipping

EDIT: Prices from www.aria.co.uk

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1080/pg15/inno3d-nvidia-geforce-gtx-570-review-gtx-570-vs-gtx-580-and-gtx-480.html

Heres a link for GTX 570 vs 580. Only gives a bit of insight so look around but like said, theres not a £100 difference.

EDIT2: I will change the build to reflect your resolution.

 

[krsuma]

oh wow. thanks a lot for your honest answer.
I am certainly going to consider building a pc myself.

do you think GTX 570 is enough to run games in kickass quiality in 2560x1400 resolution?

can i actually consider sli config if then?

will i have cooling issue with sli configs unless its well vented?

thank you so much for your help.

 

[jmsellars1]

Oh sorry i assumed you were playing at 1920x1200. At 2560x1440 you are going to want 2 of those GTX 570's, a GTX 580 or 2 x HD 6950 2GB.

EDIT: Of those choices i think the 570's would perform best. Should hopefully still be very quiet when youre not gaming.

 

[krsuma]

thanks al lot jmsellers. I just noticed that you have edited the components list. I really do appreciate it!

 

[jmsellars1]

No problem, so how much was that Cyberpower build out of interest?

EDIT: Gah, had a typo 😛

 

[krsuma]

it was 2400 quids. I feel mind-fucked by them right now knowing that i can get it half the price with myself building it. -_-

 

[jmsellars1]

Yeah theres no reason to spend over about £1500 on a PC to be honest. No matter how good you build it, it is always going to be out of date in 5 years or so. Means theres not a lot of point in going mega overkill, 2 GTX 570's should be great even at 2560x1440. I just realised though, 2 x HD 6970 would be just as good an option if not better. I would go for a quiet one if you want to maintain the quiet PC though.

 

[jmsellars1]

Looking at some benchmarks on these setups though, even some of these awesome SLI setup will dip to ~10FPS sometimes on more demanding games maxed out at 2560x1440.

I realise that this may contradict my earlier posts but if you want something that is just going to steamroll anything maybe go for a Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD7, 1050W Corsair HX and 3 GTX 570's. I'd change the case for a HAF X too.

That wouldn't be as good value because it would cost around £1600 but would give a bit of a boost in performance which you may notice in more demanding games.

 

[jmsellars1]

ASUS Maximus IV Extreme-Z is probably a better tri SLI board.

 

[krsuma]

oh cool
thanks a lot man I didn't expect this amount of work you have done for me.
really appreciate it ^^

 

[jmsellars1]

No problem at all, let me know if you have any more questions. Be sure to let me know what you buy too

 

[krsuma]

Hey I saw a great spec similar to what you've recommended for the components.

Intel Core i5-2500K (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor
2x EVGA GeForce GTX 580 1536MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
8GB Mushkin Blackline #996995 (2x4GB) DDR3 1600MHz 9-9-9-24
OCZ Solid 3 120GB 2.5" SATA-III Solid State Hard Drive
1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000524AS 3.5" SATA III Hard Drive
MSI P67A-G45 Intel P67 (REV B3) Socket 1155 DDR3 PCI-Express Motherboard
850W Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro P9 Modular ATX2.3 Power Supply
NZXT Phantom Black Enthusiast Full Tower Chassis
Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro Dual Fan CPU Cooler
Samsung Blu-Ray SH-B123L/RSBP 12x BD-ROM / 16x DVD Writer Drive
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

total: 1416 pounds ~1600ish inc. tax

I was thinking maybe to change the cooling fan to corsair liquid cooling compound (for over clocking the CPU).

I think I can change the HDD to samsung spinpoint HDDs and maybe the mobo to ASUS Maximus as well.

 

[krsuma]

can you please tell me what do you think of this? thanks i appreciate it

 

[jmsellars1]

- Looks ok but the 3 570's would be a lot better for not much more.
- Crucial M4 is more reliable than that drive and shouldn't be much slower.
- Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB is faster than that drive and the same price.
- That cooler is just as good as Corsair water cooling.

 

[jmsellars1]

If you want to go for the more expensive, 'roll through any game' kind of build i think this would be better:

Prices from www.aria.co.uk (Some stuff is out of stock, maybe try another site)

i5-2500k
8GB Corsair Vengeance LP (Mushkin Blackline is fine if it fits under your cooler)
MSI Big Bang Marshal Intel P67
3 x EVGA GTX 570 (Much better than 2 x GTX 580)
Crucial M4 128GB (Still fast and much more reliable than a Solid 3)
1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB (Faster than the Seagate for the same price)
Noctua NH-D14 (Probably better than the Dark Rock but a bit ugly 😛)
1050W Corsair HX Series (Need this kind of power for Tri SLI)
NZXT Phantom (Your choice, this is a good case)
LG Blu Ray Burner

Costs about £1730 but gives much better gaming performance, a more reliable SSD and an awesome motherboard. You could also bring it down to £1650 not buying the cooler because that mobo comes with a free Coolermaster V6. EDIT: It's a V6GT

 

[jmsellars1]

Haha i was thinking about getting a 2560x1440 monitor but now that i know the kind of beast you need to run games on one i may have to reconsider xD

 

[krsuma]

thanks dude you rock!

haha yeah Ive been considering to buy a pc long time ago and i guess it paid off to save for this moment

 

[Jawilli5]

There is no such thing as future proofing in the gaming world. Just get the best products you can at the price you can afford and hope that next years products are cheaper and run faster

 

[Guest]

I GOT THIS PC FROM CYBERPOWER FOR 790 POUND
3 120mm fans in case

CoolerMaster Elite 310 Mid Tower Gaming Case with see-thru side panel

12" COLD CATHODE NEON LIGHT BLUE

AMD Phenom™ II X6 1100T Six-Core (CPU OVER CLOCKED TO 3.7MHz MYSELF)

Asetek 510LC / Xtremegear Liquid Cooling system w/ 120mm Radiator

ASUS M4A87TD EVO AMD 870 Chipset DDR3 Socket AM3 ATX w/ 7.1 Audio, GbLAN, IEEE1394a, USB3.0, SATA-III, RAID, 2 Gen2 PCIe, 1 PCIe X1, & 3 PCI

4GB Kingston Hyper X Blu Series w/Heat Spreader 1600MHZ

ATI Radeon HD 6870 PCI-E 16X 1GB DDR5 Video Card, Eyefinity 4 capable PowerColor core 950MHz mem 1200MHz (OVERCLOCKED MYSELF)

CyberPower 950w power supply

1TB SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 7200RPM Hard Drive (Single Hard Drive

24X Double Layer Dual Format DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE

Microsoft® Windows® 7 Home Premium 64bit

THEY DONE GOOD JOB ON WIRING FOR CASE THAT I PICKED

TO SEE A VIDEO OF PC GO TO YOUTUBE AND TYPE IN (FASTSMOKEY1000)THANKS