Building a gaming rig for a friend. what video card?

[SyndromeOCZ]

So I'm building a gaming rig for a friend, he mostly wants it to play 2 instances of WoW at the same time. And be able to run 3 screens total. His budget is $1600.

So far I've got pretty much everything figured out except the video card. The budget we've got for the video card is right around $300 and we're not 100% sure what to get(I don't game on PC). Though he knows he does NOT want Nvidia. Any ideas?

This is what I've got figured out so far, I just put the video card in the list as a place holder to add the $ amount to the total.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Sapphire has two versions at $299 and $305 respectively. The MSi Twin Frozr is around $320 and they all come with 4 free games(Crysis 3, Tomb Raider, Bioshock Infinite, and Far Cry Blood Dragon). The Sapphire cards have $20 rebates too.

Vapor-X Sapphire Boost card with black diamond chokes
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202003

Normal Sapphire(non boost version)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202026

Honestly the games bundle makes it worth it alone. All great games. Between the two models I wouldn't really worry about boost vs non boost cause likely you will overclock anyway. I did hear the boost model has locked voltage or something like that. Maybe someone can verify as I haven't kept up on that.

 

[Jimzz]

^

What he said, a good 7950 sounds right.

 

[SyndromeOCZ]

Is my power supply unit good enough for running these other components? I think it is but just want to be sure.

I will probably go with this GPU..
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&SID=u00000687

 

[tential]

Sapphire has two versions at $299 and $305 respectively. The MSi Twin Frozr is around $320 and they all come with 4 free games(Crysis 3, Tomb Raider, Bioshock Infinite, and Far Cry Blood Dragon). The Sapphire cards have $20 rebates too.

Vapor-X Sapphire Boost card with black diamond chokes
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202003

Normal Sapphire(non boost version)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202026

Honestly the games bundle makes it worth it alone. All great games. Between the two models I wouldn't really worry about boost vs non boost cause likely you will overclock anyway. I did hear the boost model has locked voltage or something like that. Maybe someone can verify as I haven't kept up on that.

I have to call newegg and get the Vapor X now. 5 dollar difference I might as well.

I was told that they non boost model was voltage unlocked. I'd be really mad if I got it and it wasn't.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I have to call newegg and get the Vapor X now. 5 dollar difference I might as well.

I was told that they non boost model was voltage unlocked. I'd be really mad if I got it and it wasn't.

Like I said I really don't know for sure. I believe there is a bios switch where you can turn off the boost and overclock yourself.

The power supply will probably be fine. I usually go overkill on my PSU.

 

[tential]

Like I said I really don't know for sure. I believe there is a bios switch where you can turn off the boost and overclock yourself.

The power supply will probably be fine. I usually go overkill on my PSU.

The cooler is better on the Vapor X though right? They look the same to me.

 

[cmdrdredd]

It's basically the same but the Vapor-x has better components according to Sapphire. The cooler is a vaporchamber style as well which should keep temps lower.

 

[tential]

It's basically the same but the Vapor-x has better components according to Sapphire. The cooler is a vaporchamber style as well which should keep temps lower.

Well, I guess I'll call them and fix it.

 

[tweakboy]

Grab that board with the 4 free games. Make your purchase be worth it. gl

 

[3DVagabond]

That PSU will easily run that system. If you can find the HIS 7950 that uses the IceQ X² cooler (dual fan model, Newegg is currently out of stock) that's, IMO, the best 7950 currently on the market.

 

[toyota]

why do so many people try to go with the cheaply made builder series psus for gaming comps? spend just a little more and get a higher quality psu. spending 1600 bucks for a gaming pc and trying to save 20-25 bucks by going with an inferior psu just does not make sense.

 

[TemjinGold]

OP: Why get a $40 case only to spend $80 on case fans? Why not just get a much nicer case?

 

[goobee]

OP: Why get a $40 case only to spend $80 on case fans? Why not just get a much nicer case?

"Nice" is subjective. From what I can tell, his choice of case should have decent air flow with all the fan openings.

 

[pcmax]

"Nice" is subjective. From what I can tell, his choice of case should have decent air flow with all the fan openings.

Unless he lives in a volcano I would say completely unnecessary. He hasn't mentioned anything about overclocking nor does he have a K chip spec'd for such. Modern hardware doesn't need a giant wind tunnel to survive. We had 10 comps packed in a small apartment on a 100 degree day for a lan party the thermostat hit 98 at it's highest not a single solitary thermal shutdown and half the guys were running stock heatsinks and single or dual 80mm case fans.

 

[lagokc]

Though he knows he does NOT want Nvidia. Any ideas?

Did nVidia kick his dog or something? The nVidia 760 is coming out later this week for $300 and should be faster than the 7950 for everything but compute.

Also if you're buying a processor you can't overclock (non-K version) what is the point of all those fans? The heatsink/fan Intel includes with the CPU works just fine. Spending $135 on a CPU cooler and fans for a computer of that type is childish.

 

[toyota]

Unless he lives in a volcano I would say completely unnecessary. He hasn't mentioned anything about overclocking nor does he have a K chip spec'd for such. Modern hardware doesn't need a giant wind tunnel to survive. We had 10 comps packed in a small apartment on a 100 degree day for a lan party the thermostat hit 98 at it's highest not a single solitary thermal shutdown and half the guys were running stock heatsinks and single or dual 80mm case fans.

playing games at 98? lol yeah right.

 

[Will Robinson]

I play at that temperature all summer..so..lol...yeah right.
Any other "Toyota's Rules for Gamers" he should not violate?

 

[toyota]

I play at that temperature all summer..so..lol...yeah right.
Any other "Toyota's Rules for Gamers" he should not violate?

your damn room air temperature is not 98 freaking degrees. your dumb ass would be sweating like crazy and while playing a game your own body temperature would climb enough to go into hyperthermia if in a close in room was already 98 F. people do not play games at those air temps in closed space and do what they can not to pass out.

 

[24601]

Lots of wasted money in that build.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/159ag

Thermalright True Spirit 140 wasn't selectable in that application, so take 30-40 off the price if you went that route instead.

Power supply was not picked, since that's mostly personal preference.

I can personally attest to this build working 100% fine fully overclocked in a 85F degree room (Unfortunately personal experience <.<)

Getting an SSD before maxing RAM and using a slow ass Hard Drive is a rookie mistake.

The key is to only have to load something once, and then your Windows 7 will use your RAM as the cache automatically.

Haswell requires super expensive motherboards, and if you're comparing 3570k to 4670k or 3770k to 4770k then you aren't getting much more from Haswell unless you are going high end water cooling and/or delidding (Something I doubt anyone asking for advice about what to make a PC build to play WoW would be willing to do).

 

[goobee]

Unless he lives in a volcano I would say completely unnecessary. He hasn't mentioned anything about overclocking nor does he have a K chip spec'd for such. Modern hardware doesn't need a giant wind tunnel to survive. We had 10 comps packed in a small apartment on a 100 degree day for a lan party the thermostat hit 98 at it's highest not a single solitary thermal shutdown and half the guys were running stock heatsinks and single or dual 80mm case fans.

10 guys in one room at 98 degrees? Seriously you jest!

 

[Geforce man]

Drop 3 of those fans ... Switch to a hyper 212 evo, get a seasonic 750 gold, and any overclocking ? If yes you need the k series. And the 760ti comes out shortly which may drop ati prices

 

[gammaray]

Also, if what your friend does is play video games, he doen't need a core i7. He can get a core i5 and save 100$ he can invest on a 7970.

4 case fans, seriously?

 

[Will Robinson]

your damn room air temperature is not 98 freaking degrees. your dumb ass would be sweating like crazy and while playing a game your own body temperature would climb enough to go into hyperthermia if in a close in room was already 98 F. people do not play games at those air temps in closed space and do what they can not to pass out.

Hypothermia:

an abnormally low body temperature, as induced in the elderly by exposure to cold weather

Hint* Travel broadens the mind.

 

[toyota]

Hypothermia:

Hint* Travel broadens the mind.

I said hyperthermia so pay more attention before trying to act like an ass