Needing help on new build

[Darth Rache]

Hi im fairly new to the building scene but i have decided to upgrade my current rig, and this is what i have come up with. Please let me know what y'all think and anything you would do differently. Here is the like to the PC Part Picker list http://pcpartpicker.com/user/ztaft/saved/3klM. Thanks guys.

 

[gervap]

First 2 questions....Are you on a specific budget ? If yes, how much ? THen what is your build for, Gaming or not ?

 

[Beezy]

why are you Xfiring? you will be much better off with an HD 7870 2GB ddr5 model they are about 199.99 ...xfire doesnt always work like you expect it to, sometimes it performs worse

 

[Beezy]

plus your motherboard is basic model, very entry level. Xfiring with a cheaper motherboard like that will only giv you 100% (first GPU) and the second will in THEORY max at 25% of card one (PCIe lane one is x16, while the other card will only get x4, 25% of the bandwith the first card is getting. With that said, unless you want to sink more into a motherboard that does pcie 16x and 8x, or 8x and 8x (idk if there is 16x and 8x, or even better 16x and 16x, but if this even exists its probably hundreds of dollars). so for the price, one HD 7870 will work better, and wont work the power supply so hard like two GPU's would. 500w is eh

 

[Darth Rache]

plus your motherboard is basic model, very entry level. Xfiring with a cheaper motherboard like that will only giv you 100% (first GPU) and the second will in THEORY max at 25% of card one (PCIe lane one is x16, while the other card will only get x4, 25% of the bandwith the first card is getting. With that said, unless you want to sink more into a motherboard that does pcie 16x and 8x, or 8x and 8x (idk if there is 16x and 8x, or even better 16x and 16x, but if this even exists its probably hundreds of dollars). so for the price, one HD 7870 will work better, and wont work the power supply so hard like two GPU's would. 500w is eh

So you think it would be best to sell my two 7770s and get one 7870, or keep them and upgrade the MOBO and PSU? What would you recomend for a Motherboard?

 

[Darth Rache]

First 2 questions....Are you on a specific budget ? If yes, how much ? THen what is your build for, Gaming or not ?

Yes 1000 and a gaming / media build

 

[Darth Rache]

plus your motherboard is basic model, very entry level. Xfiring with a cheaper motherboard like that will only giv you 100% (first GPU) and the second will in THEORY max at 25% of card one (PCIe lane one is x16, while the other card will only get x4, 25% of the bandwith the first card is getting. With that said, unless you want to sink more into a motherboard that does pcie 16x and 8x, or 8x and 8x (idk if there is 16x and 8x, or even better 16x and 16x, but if this even exists its probably hundreds of dollars). so for the price, one HD 7870 will work better, and wont work the power supply so hard like two GPU's would. 500w is eh

Would this be a better option?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130637

 

[gervap]

I agree with Beezy, use 1 good video card rather than a Xfiring. I would tend to steer you into a GTX 770. You get 40+ FPS on all your recent games. As for the PSU, I'd try to get my hands on a Corsair or EVGA 600W.

 

[Beezy]

if you can get a good deal out of the 7770's sell them and get an HD 7870 or the GTX 770 mentioned above, they will perform similarly, the 770 is better and consumes less power tho, so this would be something to consider with the power supply you have. otherwise, if you already have both GPUs it might be *cheaper* to just get a motherboard that will utilize the second GPU better, usually 110-130$ board will have the features for xfiring properly. but if you do want to Xfire you have to make sure A) the power supply can handle Xfire and the 2 GPU's (will say "xfire ready" otherwise you may not get enough amps on the 12v rail(s)). in a perfect world you would have a single GTX 770 running alone in the PCIe x16 lane since its worry free, no risk with the power supply.

 

[Beezy]

with the PSU you have now, you get 40 amps on the 12v rail..a GTX 770 needs 42 amps. the HD 7870 Ghz on the other hand only needs 28 amps on the 12v rail, which your PSU can handle. The HD 7770 needs only 12 amps on the, so 2 of those should only need 24 amps, and i would say that is OK but we wont know until you actually try. it may power up and work fine or it may be a problem since you have a single 12v rail (new PSU's have two 12v rails) but i think you will either be ok with the 7770's (performance hit) or the HD 7870, and this way you wont need a new PSU. But if you wanted to overclock that FX 6300, and also overclock the GPU's you *may* wanna think twice with that power supply. what have you purchased and what havnt you?

 

[Darth Rache]

with the PSU you have now, you get 40 amps on the 12v rail..a GTX 770 needs 42 amps. the HD 7870 Ghz on the other hand only needs 28 amps on the 12v rail, which your PSU can handle. The HD 7770 needs only 12 amps on the, so 2 of those should only need 24 amps, and i would say that is OK but we wont know until you actually try. it may power up and work fine or it may be a problem since you have a single 12v rail (new PSU's have two 12v rails) but i think you will either be ok with the 7770's (performance hit) or the HD 7870, and this way you wont need a new PSU. But if you wanted to overclock that FX 6300, and also overclock the GPU's you *may* wanna think twice with that power supply. what have you purchased and what havnt you?

I have got everything already, but i haven't opened anything yet i wanted to ask before i assembled anything. So i could return it for a refund and just take the hit on the restocking fee. I also have a 600W ThermalTake power supply with 2 12V rails too at the house that i could use. What would you do if you were in my situation?

 

[Beezy]

everything is sealed? that hurts...i would want to at least TRY the two 7770's. Return the 500w if you already have a thermaltake 600w (sealed? or used) . If you get good performance out of the 7770's with the monitor and resolution you play at dont stress it. But granted you cant open the 7700's and test them out i would return the two and sink that money into the very best single GPU you can afford, in your case i think the HD 7870 matches the rest of the build well and is really a great card (same GPU power as a PS4) and you could then use the 500w you bought with it. (i dont like the idea of a used PSU in a new build, so if the thermaltake is new use it, if its used id avoid it). The motherboard is a great deal actually, if you only use one GPU though. its weak for Xfire. But that motherboard has good looking VRM heatsinks (so you can overclock your 6300 a bit) and its 970 chipset, most boards in that price range are 760 chipset which performs poorly with the FX series CPU.

Summary: Get a 7870 Ghz 2GB DDR5 -EVGA, ASUS DCII, PowerColor, all good brands. in fact i just found this, looks like a winner.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131546

if you can and want to spend more, do tell and i will find you the best GPU for the money

 

[Beezy]

i see you added a GTX 760, great choice and leaves more room for overclocking since it only draw 14 amps on the 12v rail while the HD 7870 draws twice as much power.

 

[Darth Rache]

The Thermal take is in my current setup with the sli GTX 260s, and yea i got the RMA for the two 7770's and just purchased a MSI GTX 760 i have always had good luck with nvida based cards not sure why i decided to go with something else and also got a corsair 750M to take care of the PSU issues, ill just keep the 500W for the Home theater build i was planning.

 

[Darth Rache]

And thanks alot Beezy for your continued help and support, ill remember to take anything to the forum from now on before i make a purchase.