Hardware Decisions

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dr0be

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Sep 28, 2006
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I'm upgrading my build soon to a i5-2500k, gigabyte z68 mobo (haven't decide which yet), and 8GB DDR3-1600 RAM. I don't want to drop $1000 all at once or I would buy both of my options below. I'm torn between 2 choices;

1) Buy a 2nd GTX560Ti for SLI to run BF3 and Skyrim on max settings or close to it. I run two 1080p monitors (left is games, right is desktop. I never stretch games across both) and even BF:BC2, WoW, Oblivion, Crysis, etc on close to max settings can dip in frames here and there. I'm sure running 4GB DDR2-800 and a Q6600@2.4 atm is partially the problem. Although, if I do this, I highly doubt my Corsair HX620W will be able to run the new hardware AND two GTX560Tis, so I was looking at a Corsair HX750 (or maybe a HX850?) as an upgrade.

2) Do not buy another GTX560Ti (and PSU) and get a ~60GB SSD for my OS and most of my everyday programs. I really want to try out a SSD, but their $/GB is still steep atm. If I pass on the SSD, I would probably wait until Christmas time (my birthday as well) and then maybe spend some money on a (hopefully) cheaper $/GB SSD and can put more programs and larger games on it.

Which option would you choose and why?
 
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ieatdonuts

Member
Aug 7, 2011
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The SSD is the more financially intelligent choice. I dont think there is much sense in upgrading to a second 560ti now when the next generation is right around the corner.
 
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dr0be

Member
Sep 28, 2006
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ieatdonuts said:
The SSD is the more financially intelligent choice. I dont think there is much sense in upgrading to a second 560ti now when the next generation is right around the corner.
Click to expand...

I've used wattage calculators (I know they're not entirely accurate) to determine if my current HX620W is enough for just the CPU, RAM, Mobo, SSD, and 1 GTX560Ti and it seems close. I guess I'll find out when I build it and see if it turns on or not?
 
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Blue Shift

Senior member
Feb 13, 2010
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IMO, you should wait until BF3 and Skyrim come out to make your decision. It's still too early to predict exactly what hardware you'll need in order to max them out, and dual-GPU configurations are notoriously finicky.

Additionally, you can shave off some of your core hardware expenditure by making sure that the motherboard you decide on is nice and cheap ($120 or less) and not spending extra for RAM clocked higher than 1333 MHz and/or with fancy heat spreaders.

The SSD market has been very weird this year. Many of us were expecting a precipitous drop in price per GB, but the yields on the new nodes have supposedly been too poor for that to happen.

PS. If you doubled up on 560 Tis, you probably still wouldn't max out your PSU.
 
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dr0be

Member
Sep 28, 2006
197
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Blue Shift said:
IMO, you should wait until BF3 and Skyrim come out to make your decision. It's still too early to predict exactly what hardware you'll need in order to max them out, and dual-GPU configurations are notoriously finicky.

Additionally, you can shave off some of your core hardware expenditure by making sure that the motherboard you decide on is nice and cheap ($120 or less) and not spending extra for RAM clocked higher than 1333 MHz and/or with fancy heat spreaders.

PS. If you doubled up on 560 Tis, you probably still wouldn't max out your PSU.
Click to expand...

I planned on waiting till late September, early October to buy everything hoping that prices go down a noticeable amount. That gives me a couple weeks before BF3 in-case I get anything DOA and have to RMA. I read that the Corsair PSU 12v rails are all high quality, so that's good to hear that it won't be an issue with everything - I was fearing putting everything together and it not turning on.

The motherboard I was looking at was $140ish I think? I'm not on my desktop, so I don't have my hardware spreadsheet list. There are a lot of Gigabyte models I was looking at that fall under Z68, 1333Mhz+ RAM speed, SATAIII slots, etc and I'm not really sure of the major differences other than some have USB3.0, extra SATAIII slots, bigger NB/SB heatsinks, etc...

The difference in price between 1333 and 1600Mhz really isn't that much - why not just get 1600? As for heat spreaders, I was looking at corsair RAM I think (again, no list on my laptop) that was "low-profile" because I didn't want the fancy fins getting in the way of whatever CPU cooler I decide on.
 
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mfenn

Elite Member
Jan 17, 2010
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www.mfenn.com
dr0be said:
All 2x4GB 1333 and 1600 sticks newegg sells.

So they're, on average (G.skill, corsair, crucial), cheaper by a whopping $5...
Click to expand...

My opinion is that you should not pay even a dollar extra for fancy RAM. However, right now Patriot has an 8GB DDR3 1600 kit for $40 AR. Just like there is no reason to pay more for DDR3 1600, there is also no reason to pay more for DDR3 1333.

As for the rest of your build, I agree that a HX620 would be fine with two GTX 560's. I don't agree that buying another one is a good idea because your performance problems right now are most likely due to being CPU-limited. Get the SSD.
 
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