GAMING RIG UPGRADE - Advice Needed (Thank You In Advance)

[SylEm]

Here's the current build that I have:

Intel Dual Core E8500
XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLi Mobo
4GB Patriot Viper RAM
EVGA GTX 260 (Overclocked edition)
500gb Seagate Hard-Drive
Corsair 1000watt PSU
22" Samsung LCD Monitor

My Budget is $2000

What will I be using it for? GAMING and lots of it! I want to be able to max settings on pretty much any game that comes out for the next couple years (I typically upgrade every 2-3 years). Some of the games I play include (but not limited to):

Call of Duty (All of them, including the Modern Warfare series)
Battlefield
The Witcher 2
World of Warcraft

Side Note: The other thing is I know I have a good case, but I'm pretty sure I need to upgrade to a full tower, the new graphics cards are HUGE and they are really cramping up the computer and I'm pretty sure it's causing heat issues. I've had to completely remove the entire side of the case just so the computer wouldn't keep shutting off after playing games longer than an hour or so

Thank you in advance!

 

[mfenn]

What case do you currently have? New cards (not counting the 6990) are not really that much longer than the GTX 260. If the machine is shutting off, you either actually have a really crappy case, or you don't have a fan where there should be one.

Anyway, you don't need to spend anywhere near $2000 on an upgrade for gaming. You can do this:

i5 2500K $220
GA-Z68A-D3H $130
G.Skill DDR3 1333 8GB $70
6950 2GB $230 AR
Total: $650 AR

Feel free to add an SSD like the Agility 3 120GB or a 120Hz monitor like this Acer as well.

 

[SylEm]

Hi mfenn, I have a LIAN LI PC-65B Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case except if I ever decide to SLi it, it REALLY cramps, if you look at the images of inside the case, the HD bays touch the end of the graphics cards and there's no way I could fit a second one in there, thats the reason I presume I'll need a full tower, for air flow and also SLi capacity.

Also to add to what you suggested:

Does that hardware give me enough performance boost to easily max settings? I mean, I definetely appriciate you looking to help with the budget but I'm willing to throw a few extra bucks if I can get a big increase in performance, should I SLi that card (Or I guess ATI calls it crossfire?)? Thanks again.

 

[mnewsham]

With 2 grand to play with i would get a mountain mods case and a decent monitor xD

 

[mfenn]

Hi mfenn, I have a LIAN LI PC-65B Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case except if I ever decide to SLi it, it REALLY cramps, if you look at the images of inside the case, the HD bays touch the end of the graphics cards and there's no way I could fit a second one in there, thats the reason I presume I'll need a full tower, for air flow and also SLi capacity.

You definitely don't need a full tower. A better-designed mid tower like the Fractal R3 could be in order though.

Also to add to what you suggested:

Does that hardware give me enough performance boost to easily max settings? I mean, I definetely appriciate you looking to help with the budget but I'm willing to throw a few extra bucks if I can get a big increase in performance, should I SLi that card (Or I guess ATI calls it crossfire?)? Thanks again.

It is easily enough to max out your 1680x1050 monitor. If you want to do the 1080P 120Hz monitor that I suggested, you might be able to notice a difference the Witcher 2 with another 6950 2GB. The other games are really not terribly demanding.

 

[SylEm]

Thanks mfenn, this is really helpful. Hey how would you compare the 6950 2GB to say a GTX 580? I mean I know the GTX 580 is much more expensive but would the performance difference be significant? I'm just paranoid I'm going to undercut myself in performance but you sound like you know your stuff lol.

 

[fffblackmage]

In terms of bang for the buck, I think the 6950 is the better deal. However, Witcher 2 struggles on my 5870 with most options maxed out (1920*1200). The 6950 will likely struggle as well. The GTX 580 will no doubt be better off, but well, the Witcher 2 is quite graphically demanding, so I wouldn't be surprised if it struggles somewhat.

 

[SylEm]

what if I go crossfire with the 6950 or sli with the 580's? That should be plenty to run that game and more on max right?

 

[aphelion02]

If you really want to spend $2000, get something like my rig, but maybe with the 2500k instead and sli / crossfire

 

[SylEm]

How would the performance differ from the one that mfenn suggested? His seems rather affordable but again I just want to ensure I'm going to get the performance long term like I had desired.

 

[aphelion02]

The performance difference will be minimal, except the GPU performance, but you can just take his build as a base and improve the GPU if you deem it necessary (I think 6950 is fine for resolutions under 1920x1200). The other major improvement is an SSD, which will greatly improve your general desktop performance. This I definitely recommend.

The other things that my rig has over his build are a better case, , and a mobo with more storage + expansion options. None of these are that big of a deal. The 2600k doesn't offer much over the 2500k either, just HT and 2mb cache (I got it because I was getting it with the employee discount). IMO his build is a great base to start off from, you can consider adding a better case, SSD, and monitor if you have the budget to invest more.

Edit: Noticed you have a good PSU, so you don't need to upgrade that.

 

[SylEm]

great advice thank you! I was curious though about the PSU, do I really need a new one? I figured mine would be plenty but am I wrong if I'm doing SLi or Crossfire?

 

[aphelion02]

Yea I didn't look at your sig. You have a good PSU, definitely fine even with dual GPU.

 

[mfenn]

How would the performance differ from the one that mfenn suggested? His seems rather affordable but again I just want to ensure I'm going to get the performance long term like I had desired.

Here's the deal: if you're after long term performance, you're better off spending $750 today, $750 again in 18 months, and the last $500 in 3 years than you are spending $2000 today.

A GTX 580 is certainly faster than a 6950 2GB, but it isn't twice as fast. In two years, both will be considered slow, and you won't much care which one you have. However, by leaving some money in the bank, you get to take advantage of Moore's Law, rather than being a victim of it.

Also, like I said, the Witcher 2 is the only demanding game that you have listed. It's also poorly-coded and doesn't run very well on anything.

As you can see, the GTX 580 is less than 33% faster than the 6950 2GB.

 

[SylEm]

mfenn that's a really great point, thank for mentioning this. That really puts it into perspective for me. Thank you so much for your advice!

 

[SylEm]

i5 2500K $220
GA-Z68A-D3H $130
G.Skill DDR3 1333 8GB $70
6950 2GB $230 AR
Total: $650 AR

Feel free to add an SSD like the Agility 3 120GB or a 120Hz monitor like this Acer as well.

Hey Mfenn I actually was kind of curious, why did you pick that paticular motherboard? Only reason I ask is because I found a couple other ones on newegg that seemed to have a higher rating and were less expensive, but are they lacking features that the one you picked has? Here's an example:

ASRock P67 EXTREME4 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - $160 on newegg

Thanks again!

 

[mfenn]

mfenn that's a really great point, thank for mentioning this. That really puts it into perspective for me. Thank you so much for your advice!

No problem! 🙂

Hey Mfenn I actually was kind of curious, why did you pick that paticular motherboard? Only reason I ask is because I found a couple other ones on newegg that seemed to have a higher rating and were less expensive, but are they lacking features that the one you picked has? Here's an example:

ASRock P67 EXTREME4 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - $160 on newegg

Thanks again!

Huh? The motherboard that I recommended is $130 which is less than the $160 that that one costs.

Anyway, I recommend the GA-Z68A-D3H because it uses Intel's best Sandy Bridge chipset (Z68), has good features (USB 3.0, SATA 6Gb/s, x16,x8,x4 PCIe) and is relatively inexpensive. That's not to say that there aren't other good values out there (the ASRock Z68 Pro3 is one).