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$3000 Budget Gaming/Media Build

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updated original post to reflect changes in the build.

I'm wondering if I should just go with HD6950 2GB cards CF, based on this information it just seems like a waste of money to for the HD6970 CF http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/298?vs=299


edit: Does anyone have any idea what tri-fire scaling is like? it's difficult to find information on it online.
 
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I'm somewhat confused as to what the build curtails now. So the original gaming resolution of 2560x1600 is out seeing as how the monitor you've decided on, recommended by lehtv has a max resolution of 1920x1080. So why are we still discussing Crossfiring 2 of the strongest cards available?

The only reason I thought CF was on the board was that 2560x1600 requires huge amounts of memory and bandwidth, and quite a lot of processing power to boot. But gaming at 1920x1080 is quite common (I do it myself) and would only really require 1 of those cards to game at very nice framerates.

(Confused on why 120Hz monitors are good for gaming though as human eyes cannot discern a game with good frame transitions above what, like 30 fps? So whats the point of a monitor that refreshes at 4x the necessary frames, and cards can't really hit anyways [modern games at 120 Fps with our cards seems out of our reach])
 
krnmastersgt said:
Confused on why 120Hz monitors are good for gaming though as human eyes cannot discern a game with good frame transitions above what, like 30 fps? So whats the point of a monitor that refreshes at 4x the necessary frames, and cards can't really hit anyways
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The human eye can easily discern the difference between 60fps and 120fps. All I need to prove that to myself is set my monitor to 60hz, wave the mouse cursor on desktop, then set it to 120hz and wave it again - tadah, the cursor movement looks twice as smooth! It's all about how fast the movement is. A higher refresh rate combined with high fps will make everything look ultra smooth, and the faster the pace of the game, the more you notice the difference.

Comparing 30fps to 60fps, the difference is night and day. To me, 30fps looks like a slide show in comparison.

[modern games at 120 Fps with our cards seems out of our reach]
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That would probably not be true with a 6950 2GB Crossfire setup. It'll do well over 60fps, and up to 120fps, in many titles, of course subject to image quality settings.
 
I think using your cursor as an example isn't especially convincing but that aside I understand the point you're trying to make. You'd be surprised at what you'll "see" as a huge difference that in real terms isn't as large a difference as you think.

Also 30 fps is pretty good for a lot of games, depending on the quality settings you have and the game itself/the engine it uses, as with proper frame transitions it'll still seem very smooth. Perhaps you're a big fan of constant action FPS games or games with a lot of twitch gameplay, I personally can't stand titles like those 😛 So maybe the 120Hz is worth it for you, I play games and in a way where I really doubt the doubled monitor refresh rate is going to make much of a difference to me. (For instance SC2 at 25 FPS actually still looks very smooth)

And I really don't like considering SLI or CF set-ups as the scaling is usually very uneven, some titles scale really well, some don't at all, overall I don't think the gains are worth the cost and trade-offs you make for it.

That all aside, and getting back to the OP's build I don't think a CF set-up is really necessary for 1920x1080 gaming is it? Most titles will scale just fine with only 1 card and the CF gains will probably be in a range where the gains are just fps numbers and won't make a noticeable difference in his actual gaming (such as going from 70 fps to 95 fps, he's not going to notice the difference for the most part).
 
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I was originally planning on gaming at 2560x1600, but I haven't been able to find a decent monitor at the resolution for a price within my budget. So, 1920x1080 it is. I still think I should go for the CF though, given the amount of money i can spend on this.
 
I'd suggest just going the single card route and saving a decent chunk of money, then in 1-2 years when you feel like you're not getting the performance you want, pick up a cheap second card for CF or better yet just buy whatever the newest single card solution is as it'll likely be better for a larger range of titles.

Also where's the gaming headset at in your build man!? Or are you just going to annoy everyone in your room/next door with a large speaker set-up? 😛 Someone mentioned it before but you never posted a reply so I am interested in how you're going to approach the sound (makes a big difference imo)
 
krnmastersgt said:
You'd be surprised at what you'll "see" as a huge difference that in real terms isn't as large a difference as you think.
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The only real terms are subjective experience and impression - for me, 120hz and 60hz in fast paced games are two different worlds. The mouse cursor example is not in principle any different from fast paced gaming. Have you played on a 120hz monitor by chance?

Also 30 fps is pretty good for a lot of games, depending on the quality settings you have and the game itself/the engine it uses, as with proper frame transitions it'll still seem very smooth. Perhaps you're a big fan of constant action FPS games or games with a lot of twitch gameplay, I personally can't stand titles like those 😛 So maybe the 120Hz is worth it for you, I play games and in a way where I really doubt the doubled monitor refresh rate is going to make much of a difference to me. (For instance SC2 at 25 FPS actually still looks very smooth)
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True, I am a fan of fast paced games. I agree that what counts as perfectly playable depends on the person, but for me, 30fps in any game is too low. It doesn't need to be a fast paced game.

As for whether a CF setup is worth it, that's again dependent on the person's requirements for image quality and enjoyable framerate, and the games he/she plays. With that in mind, even a single GTX 580 can be inadequate on 1080p. All I can say for sure is that one GPU will be good enough for most people 🙂
 
@krnmastersgt I have multiple pairs of audiophile headphones, audioengine A5 speakers, Triton 5.1 gaming headphones, and i might be picking up a new pair of razer 7.1 headphones when they come out later this year.
 
OP, consider a good pair of full sized headphones like Sennheiser HD448 or Audio-Technica ATH-M50. Even if you'll have a surround sound system, a nice pair of headphones always come in handy for gamers, especially in college. Don't bother with crap like Monster Beats, Bose, generics, surround headphones, etc.
 
chruschef said:
Intel i7 2500k http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115072

ASrock Z68 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157263

Ram already purchased

2 x HD6950 2gb http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102945


Crucial M4 256GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148443

Samsung Spinpoint F3 1tb http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152185

Corsair 800D Case - http://bit.ly/oYC3zc $279.99 <== I've been considering a Lian-Li for the aluminum construction, but the 800D is just so nice..

27" Samsung http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824001474

Noctua NH-D14 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835608018
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Comments on the above:
- CPU: Good
- Mobo: Way overkill. I can almost guarantee that you won't notice a difference between that an the ASRock Z68 Extreme3. Savings: $130
- SSD : Why do you need 256GB? Putting games on the SSD won't give you much benefit. Get the 128GB version instead. Savings: $180
- Case: Super-expensive as has been mentioned. A 400R will accomplish the same task but with much less bling. Savings: $165
- HSF: The D14 is a beast and is hard to wrangle onto many motherboards. The U12P can save you a lot of headache. Savings: $13

And finally, the piece de resistance: Dell U2711 2560x1440

So yes, you do have the budget for a monitor that's 2560 pixels wide, and you didn't even have to give up any gaming performance to do it.
 
Do you think I'll even notice the display lag when using this monitor? I used a 120hz monitor yesterday in a store and really liked it, it does just seem to be quite a bit smoother. The difference isn't that noticeable, but it's definitely there I think and not just a placebo. I've read up a bit and a lot of people argue that the human eye can't even see refresh rates that high.

Edit: I think it might help to know that I play video games pretty competitively, I was top ranked in Crysis 1/Crysis Wars and some other games for a time.
 
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Playing FPS games with a competitive mindset is one of the best reasons for getting a 120hz monitor. The difference of course is most noticeable in fast-paced action, which you probably didn't get to try out in the store.
 
lehtv said:
Playing FPS games with a competitive mindset is one of the best reasons for getting a 120hz monitor. The difference of course is most noticeable in fast-paced action, which you probably didn't get to try out in the store.
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:thumbsup: 120Hz is a real advantage. You basically need to make a choice between image quality for media or response rate for games.
 
http://www.amazon.com/Acer-HN274H-BM...9394902&amp;sr=1-1

What do you guys think of this monitor? Seems to get good reviews. I'm pretty convinced this is the one. I'm not concerned at all with playing video games in 3D, I think 3D in general is just sort of silly but my only concern is that it might not display properly at 120hz with my ATi cards. Everyone in the reviews seem to be using nvidia cards.
 
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120hz will work fine on an AMD card. It's just a refresh rate setting, not a technology that is specific to NVIDIA.

A 27" 120hz monitor gives 30&#37; more surface area over a 23.6" one, for over twice the price. Whether that price premium is worth it to you, I don't know.
 
ordered everything, and the 120hz samsung monitor. Found a store that carried it after calling around this morning, it looks fantastic. i'll make sure to post pictures of my battlestation when it's all said and done.. Really appreciate all the help you guys have given me. 🙂
 
chruschef said:
ordered everything, and the 120hz samsung monitor. Found a store that carried it after calling around this morning, it looks fantastic. i'll make sure to post pictures of my battlestation when it's all said and done.. Really appreciate all the help you guys have given me. 🙂
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:thumbsup: Be sure to update this thread if you run into any problems during the build!
 
http://imgur.com/a/I6z1g#0

everythings all completed! here's a photo album of it's construction, I'll be adding some more photos of it tomorrow that include my full battle station. 🙂

thanks again for all the help guys, everything came together fantastically.
 
Haha, loose RAM stick 🙂. I read that problem before you edited it and was like oh man one of the components must be DOA or something...

Nice photos! The heatsink looks super sexy 😀. Funny you've got it facing that way though, normally people set the fan draw air in horizontally because then it's aligned with the rear case fan, and it also avoids drawing air that has just been heated up by the GPU(s).
 
I'm going to have three exhaust fans up top, and that fan at the back is actually being used as an intake, pouring air directly onto the heatsink then up and out. so far temps are very low, but I haven't overclocked yet.

I've run a bunch of tests, and everything is rock solid. Going to start overclocking as soon as I get my CF bridges in the mail
 
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