New PC build ~1700

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snackies

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Hi, after a while running an old pc with a 4870 / i7 proc I decided it was time for an upgrade.
Anyway I've been browsing newegg as well as this site for components / build ideas, and heres my basic outline for what I was planning (followed by some questions)

(purpose built for gaming pretty much)
1. I7 2600K sandybridge ($315)
2. Asus P8V68v-pro mobo ($200)
3. EVGA superclocked 570 fermi ($339)
4. 8gb memory kit (involved with one of my questions)
The rest of the parts arn't really relevant to the questions, I'm getting a corsair h80 watercooling kit for the proc, and nice case + 700 watt PSU.

Anyway here are my questions,
First, I see a lot of builds running multiple GPU's, and I was wondering why that was, I know last time I built it was generally acknowledged that 1 $300 card was better than 2 $150 cards, so should I look at getting 2x lesser cards?

Also, I noticed in the "high end intel builds" voting thread, that all of the builds were running intel 2500k procs, what is the difference, just outdated? (basically is the 2600k just as good / better)

Also, for the mobo, it says its a dual channel memory kit, I'm assuming if I want to after the initial build I can throw in 2x 4gb for another 8gb of ram so it has 16gb total, or would there be some sort of problem that would occur with that?

Anyway, I especially appreciate advice on the GPU, because I was under the impression that its better to get 1 really good card than 2 lower end cards.

EDIT: I plan on playing games at 1920 x 1080 resolution. Buying parts from newegg

Also, I was going to ask if its worth it to go for higher end corsair ram, or if its essentially just as good to get G.Skill ram, In general since GSkill ram seems cheaper, should I just go for the cheaper ram? or stick with patriot / corsair which will run like $30 higher.

EDIT 2:
I've changed the graphics to the 2x 6950's as suggested, also changed the HDD to the suggested one, as well as the ram, and CPU (Deciding to go with the 2500k and save the ~$100,
For cooling, i'm just going to stick with newegg on parts, and I'm probably just going to go for the H-60 as it is only $70, and as far as I can tell from reviews (on toms hardware and other sites) its a great cooler (i'm not too concerned about noise)

My updated build is this

Thermaltake Level 10 GT Snow Edition VN10006W2N White and Black Steel / Plastic ATX Full Tower
$289.99 (On face the snow edition is 40$ more then the stock Level 10 GT, but actually, the snow edition comes with free shipping on it, shipping on the stock one is 26$ or so, + I mean, the snow edition is sexy, and I also realized with the design of the Level 10, dust gets everywhere, less noticeable on white panels.


SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
$59.99


ASUS VW246H Glossy Black 24" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor
$199.99


SAPPHIRE 100312-3SR Radeon HD 6950 Dirt3 Edition 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video ...
$529.98
($264.99 each)


OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W Modular High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandybridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom
$89.99
I'm pretty sure a 700 watt is enough output for the 2 cards, also I wanted a modular PSU for cable management.


G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory
$59.99


GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD4-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$159.99


Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop
$219.99

CORSAIR CWCH60 Hydro Series H60 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
$69.88

Total cost $1679.79 (i'll probably toss in a burner, however I do already have a good 24x burner)

Any advice on this build is still appreciated tho MAJOR thanks to mjmjpfaff who, even though i'm not following his build exactly (because I also wanted a new monitor) saved me tons of money so far.

Input is greatly appreciated ty :)
 
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danraies

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I'm not an expert on video cards, but it is my understanding that 1 $300 video card does perform better than 2 $150 cards (not to mention you free up mobo slots and probably use less power with one card). SLI/crossfire is for those who want more than the top card. If you're using two video cards, you might want to think about more than 700W though.

In my opinion, the i5-2500K is better bang for your buck right now than the i7-2600K. The .1GHz difference between 2500K and 2600K (even in OC) is about $100 and a .5GHz downgrade would only save you $30, so in terms of value the i5-2500K gets a bit of an edge. However, the 2500K doesn't have hyperthreading and the 2600K does, so keep that in mind. Hyperthreading functionally makes each of the cores in the i7-2600K into two virtual cores so that you have functionally 8 cores to work with which is better for extreme multitasking (gaming + software compilation + ...) and video encoding/editing but not noticeable for the average user (yet).

You can throw in 2x4GB ram later and it won't cause problems. However, when you buy 16GB (4x4GB) RAM together, the ram is tested and rated to work together, whereas two separate sets of 8GB (2x4GB) together aren't and hence the latter won't perform quite as well. Not a big deal, but worth mentioning. Also, if you are going to add additional RAM, try to get the same exact kind of RAM or at least get it from the same manufacturer otherwise sometimes they don't all play nicely together.
 
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lp231

lp231

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A single high-end card is better than 2 low-end cards combine even it's running in multiple GPU setup.
The GTX 570 can handle most of today's popular games.
Turning back to multiple GPU setups, the only time you need to have it is when you are gaming at insane resolutions such
as playing Crysis 2 with DX 11 patch/high resolution pack on a 30" running at 2560x1600 on ultra settings.
Playing on a low resoltion like 1280x1024 then the 2nd card is going to waste.

Protip: Dual channel memory don't exist and never will. It's just 2 sticks of the same ram installed into the proper channel slots.
So if a seller tries to sell you a dual channel ram for double the price, just walk away.
 
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cuecuemore

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Ok, I don't know where the other posters are getting their information, but of course 2x $150 cards will beat the $300 card. That's the whole point of SLI/Crossfire. For example, Gtx 460s (2 x $150) in SLI will smoke a Gtx 570 ($300). Yes, smoke it. At everything. They even meet or beat a Gtx 580 (~$450-500) BUT the answer to your question is that on that kind of budget, you should be going for two high-end cards: 6950/70, Gtx 570/580/single 590 (I don't recommend the 6990, I hear it's intolerably loud, but it's out there) Don't take money out of the rest of your budget now, just buy a single, powerful card, and then migrate to dual cards.
 
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mjmjpfaff

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i5 2500k- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072 220$ gives the same performance as the 2600k in gaming

Gigabyte z68 ud4- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128494 160$ 20 phases!!

Gskill 8gb 1600mhz- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428 60$ you will never need to get more ram if this is a gaming build

Plextor 128gb ssd- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820249010&Tpk=plextor%20128gb 180$ im not going to reccomend the new vertex 3 to most people until they get their problems fixed

samsung spinpoint f3 1tb- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185 60$ this is a favorite on here for its speed price and reliability

Silverstone raven RV02- http://www.amazon.com/SILVERSTONE-RV02B-W-Steel-Tower-Computer/dp/B002M78KZG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312604276&sr=8-1 160$ great case for an insane price it is 20$ cheaper than on newegg i think

silverstone 750w power supply- http://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-ATX12V-EPS12V-Silver-ST75F-P/dp/B00307RM06/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1312604345&sr=1-1 130$

Noctua nh-d14- http://www.amazon.com/Noctua-Heatpipe-Bearing-Cooler-NH-D14/dp/B002VKVZ1A/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1312604429&sr=1-1 80$ this cools as well as the h80 but it is so much more quiet

6950 2gb- http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-DL-DVI-I-SL-DVI-D-PCI-Express-100312-3SR/dp/B0055Y66A4/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1312604669&sr=1-2 x2=530$

asus dvd burner- http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B0033Z2BAQ/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&qid=1312604967&sr=1-1&condition=new 21$ you have enough money left for a blu ray burner- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135252

Total=1600$



 
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snackies

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wow ty for the build suggestion, I think i'm going to change some parts with stuff in that build, however theres 2 things, first I was actually wanting to get the Thermaltank level 10GT, its a bit expensive, but I want a good case that will last more than 1 generation. I'm probably going to stick with just a 1tb 7200rpm 32mb cache hdd, I'm also trying to get a new moniter with the money, so sticking with a 1tb or possibly a 1tb with a 64mb ssd with the OS and some other programs on it will probably be preferable.

Though on the 6950's, I've read a few conflicting clocks on the 560's being better in SLI than the 6 series ATI cards, is there a reason you chose 6950s or were you just looking for a card in the 250 price-range to crossfire/sli?
 
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mjmjpfaff

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stay with the spinpoint for sure 64mb's isnt worth the extra 30$

6950 cf is more powerful than 560 ti sli for sure.

here is a good monitor- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236059

the silverstone raven i would say is a better case for your money. the level10 is not really easy on your eye and doesnt have as good airflow as the silverstone has. you can definitely use the silverstone for future builds too.
 
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cuecuemore

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I keep seeing people talking about how scaling is bad on one dual-card setup but great on the other, but if you look at benchmarks, scaling is excellent for both Crossfire and SLI at the moment, especially at the 560 Ti/6950 level. I'm an Nvidia fanboy, but if I were in the market right now, I'd be torn between Palit's 2GB 560 Ti and a 6950. I might even defect to AMD, despite my previous horrible experiences with Catalyst. (lots can change in three years)
 
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mjmjpfaff

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so tru amd has fixed a lot of their problems and now their scaling is a little bit better than nvidia's
 
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snackies

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Yeah, I'm not a fanboy for either side really, in fact i've actually gone back and forth constantly (usually with whoever is winning at the moment) I bought ATI, worked fine until I upgraded to the first 8800 GT's, then no problems with that, and I upgraded when ATI was kinda, just winning with the 4870's which at the time just had better clocks / performance. I'll probably remain neutral until either an ATI or nvidia card dies on me / is TERRIBLE then I'll become a fanboy for the other.

I updated my build, I threw the monitor I'm looking at in there, the 24 inch asus.
 
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snackies

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Also, my reasons for the level 10gt are as follows; So first on face I do like the design, the hotswap bays for me are REALLY useful (I have like a dozen 500gb drives with CAD projects / work stuff that I normally just put in external enclosures) for me good cable managment options is a must, I really like my builds to be as clean as possible, they have a back panel and rubber divits for cable management. They also have divits on the back of the case for my water-cooling system which I will need / use.

I'm not really a big fan of the "tool-free installations" where all the PCI slots and the hotswap bays are basically held together with bits of plastic, the level 10 gt only partially has that with a plastic button you push to release the drive bay, but the drive bays themselves are on metal runners that you slide in and out.

I believe all the fans have removable dust filters (I know the giant bottom intake / front panel fans have them)
For general airflow, I've heard that the original level 10 was poor, but this one has been greatly improved, so i'm not too worried about it there.

Also, come on, the white version is damn sexy.

EDIT: Will the 700 watt PSU be enough for the 2x 6950s? One individually says it requires at least a 500 watt PSU but obviously thats assuming a mobo, some sort of cpu, a hdd and ram, but should I go for a 750 just in case?
 
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snackies

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Yeah the 700w psu is from OCZ, would it really be that close? I'm thinking if its going to be that close I should just go 750 or 800, because if I do something like OC the CPU, or want to add some more 3rd party cooling, I wouldn't want to have to upgrade the PSU.

EDIT: for PSU's I always stick to the well known / good reputation brands, given that its the one thing that, if poorly / malfunctions could fry parts I try to stick with legit brands.
 
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mjmjpfaff

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I like your choice in video cards ^_^

If you are going to be running dual 6950's (ref) they require around 750W psu, for the overclocked versions like the MSI Twin Frozr PE/OC those require a little more power so something like the 850W will leave you with enough head room.
Click to expand...
they run at about 500w total. 750w should be enough headroom
 
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snackies

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Going for that LEPA 850w modular PSU, i haven't heard of the brand before, is it legit / can I expect that its a stable psu. / a psu that doesn't have lower output than suggested?

So the final build will be
I5 2500k
2x ATI 6950 2gb
Samsung Spinpoint 1tb 7200rpm 32mb cache hdd
Gigabyte GA-Z68-X
Gskill 8gb 1600 ram
Level 10 GT case
Corsair H60
Asus 24" moniter 1920x1080
And that 850w LEPA PSU
 
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snackies

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Tyvm to mjmjpfaff, seriously you saved me like hundreds of dollars and / or got me a better PC for my money (which if I was going to spend around 1700 anyway before I would be getting a much worse PC). Ty to everyone else for input as well :)
 
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