Help me build a gaming rig with performance and upgradability

[VisionSeeker]

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
Gaming and work.

2. What YOUR budget is.
About 3k.

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
US

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.
The only thing im a fanboy of is performance. Ive tried AMD and intel, Nvidia and ATi. I guess, i heart WD though. Their drives have never failed on me. This rig has Intel, ATI, and WD.

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
Maybe the DvD burner, but i dont think the new mobo has IDE. I have some data on my old IDE HDs id like to get, but its not crucial. Ill figure something out.

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
I have read about 3 or 4 threads but they all had budgets of around 5-650,
not really applicable.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
Yes, using aircooling. The G.Skill Ram im planning on getting is rated DDR3 1333 at 1.5v, i figure it should probably run at 1600 with 1.65v(or less, hopefully) without too much hassle right?
If i could get the CPU to 3.6 id be satisfied, to 3.8 elated, and at 4.0ghz id be worried about the proc's health and longevity, so not that high.
Later on in the upgrade cycle i plan on trying watercooling, but not now.

8. What resolution YOU plan on gaming with.
1920x1080 or '1080p'

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Very soon, this week.

10. Don't ask for a build configuration critique or rating if you are thin skinned.
Nothing wrong with constructive criticism.
　
The plan for this build is to have a clear upgrade path. The LGA 1366 package should be around awhile still. Dual 5970’s later. Id heard that theres an EVGA board that lets you mix and match ATI and Nvidia cards for Xfire and PhysX on the same board, but I don’t know the specifics of that. Or whether having 3 PCI-E cards in the box is worth it all, considering the limited bandwidth available for multiple cards.

Open SSD bays for raid 0. Large starting data drive capacity. 12GB of Ram to start, with room for 12 more. Large, roomy, full tower case.
The only part im not sure fits this philosophy is the 850 watt PSU. Sure its enough for the current build, but how bout when I build it out with 2 5970’s, 2-3 2TB WD drives, and 2-4 SSDs, and perhaps another DVD/blu-ray drive.

Well, here are the specifics, lemme know what you think.

COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1 ATX Full Tower Computer Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119225

I might also get some extra fans for this case cuz i dont think it comes with all the fans.


CORSAIR Professional Series AX850 850W ATX12V v2.31 / EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular PSU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139015


ASUS Rampage III Extreme LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131642

　
Intel Core i7-960 Bloomfield 3.2GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80601960

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115224

I find this to be the best LGA 1366 proc currently, thats not sayin much, they're all horrendously overpriced.


COOLER MASTER Intel Core i7 compatible V10 Hybrid TEC RR-B2P-UV10-GP 120mm CPU Cooler

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835103056


G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 12GB (3 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9T-12GBRL

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231356

Newegg is listing them as 1.5v default sticks, i hope they have a lil headroom.


XFX HD-597A-CNB9 Radeon HD 5970 Black Edition 2GB 512 (256 x 2)-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150460


Western Digital Caviar Black WD2001FASS 2TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136456


Pioneer Black Blu-ray Disc/DVD/CD Writer SATA BDR-205BKS - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827129051


Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116758

Should i go with the Home premium and save the 30 bucks? What do i get for the extra cost?


Logitech K350 Black USB 2.4 GHz Wireless Ergonomic Keyboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16823126076


Logitech Performance Black Tilt Wheel 2.4 GHz Wireless Laser Mouse MX

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16826104321

 

[videogames101]

With that kind of budget you really should get yourself a SSD, it's not worth putting off man.

I don't like the V10 cooler, it doesn't perform as well as less.... massive coolers.
Instead, try the Megahalem with a good fan, it's better, if not as bad-ass looking. http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/prmeforinso7.html

Any reason for the i7 960 over the i7 920? For that price difference, you can buy yourself a kick-ass SSD which will increase your performance far more than the bump to a 960 would.


I'm jealous of your budget =D

 

[Sp12]

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
Gaming and work.

Specifically?

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
Yes, using aircooling. The G.Skill Ram im planning on getting is rated DDR3 1333 at 1.5v, i figure it should probably run at 1600 with 1.65v(or less, hopefully) without too much hassle right?

No. Do not use voltage to overclock your ram. i7's IMC is surprisingly sensitive to ram voltage, and there's been a few cases of CPUs getting fried at just 1.7 volts. I'd look into a 1600 kit (most flexible for ocing) with 1.5 volts or lower, the G.skill eco series runs at 1.35 volts. There's very little performance difference in realworld apps for lower latency/faster ram, so anything past 1600 doesn't make a lot of sense.

If i could get the CPU to 3.6 id be satisfied, to 3.8 elated, and at 4.0ghz id be worried about the proc's health and longevity, so not that high.
Later on in the upgrade cycle i plan on trying watercooling, but not now.

As long as you don't add any voltage to your CPU, you can't really break it. However, no voltage means you're not going to be much higher than 3.6 off of an i7-930. Speaking of which, why would you spend 2x the money compared to an i7-930 for a 3x multiplier bump and worse OCing proc (960s are C0 revisions, 930 are D0s).
　

The plan for this build is to have a clear upgrade path. The LGA 1366 package should be around awhile still.

Date of execution: Q3 2011 or sooner.

Dual 5970’s later.

Overkill, and the 5970 is unlikely to go down in price well. The 4870x2 is still ~400 dollars for worse performance than a 5870. Also, dual 5970s put you into quadfire, which gives pretty much terribad scaling and microstutter compared to a single-gpu or even crossfire. I'd switch to a single GTX 480/470/5870 and upgrade to a stronger single GPU near Christmas when ATI's 6000 series launches, especially since you have a pretty normal resolution. It's not like you can run Metro/Crysis maxed with dual 5970s anyway.

Id heard that theres an EVGA board that lets you mix and match ATI and Nvidia cards for Xfire and PhysX on the same board, but I don’t know the specifics of that.

You can do that in any mobo with enough PCIe slots, but a hydra board will allow you to mix and match Nvidia and ATI GPUs (not a very good price/performance setup however).

ASUS Rampage III Extreme LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131642

Eh, either get a cheap but quality X58 board like the ASrock x58 extreme/GA-X58A-UD3P or go for a crazy nice one like the MSI Xpower.

　

Intel Core i7-960 Bloomfield 3.2GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80601960

No, same with the V10 (not that great of a cooler).

Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116758

Should i go with the Home premium and save the 30 bucks? What do i get for the extra cost?

Automated backup, some work features, I'd go for it, especially on a work PC.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Seems to me you are spending about 50 percent too much for a marginal increase in performance.

And I imagine I'll get toasted for this, but DX11 is a frame-sucking rip so far. You'll get much better mileage out of 2 x HD4870s for around $250, and you can wait out the next round of the GPU wars.

And as folks have noted, a i930 will take you far. Or even a Phenom/890FX. Stick with an SSD 64gb for your OS/Apps with a F3 Spinpoint 500gb for your games.

And save $1,500+ for the next round.




--

 

[mfenn]

Specifically?


No. Do not use voltage to overclock your ram. i7's IMC is surprisingly sensitive to ram voltage, and there's been a few cases of CPUs getting fried at just 1.7 volts. I'd look into a 1600 kit (most flexible for ocing) with 1.5 volts or lower, the G.skill eco series runs at 1.35 volts. There's very little performance difference in realworld apps for lower latency/faster ram, so anything past 1600 doesn't make a lot of sense.


As long as you don't add any voltage to your CPU, you can't really break it. However, no voltage means you're not going to be much higher than 3.6 off of an i7-930. Speaking of which, why would you spend 2x the money compared to an i7-930 for a 3x multiplier bump and worse OCing proc (960s are C0 revisions, 930 are D0s).
　
Date of execution: Q3 2011 or sooner.
Overkill, and the 5970 is unlikely to go down in price well. The 4870x2 is still ~400 dollars for worse performance than a 5870. Also, dual 5970s put you into quadfire, which gives pretty much terribad scaling and microstutter compared to a single-gpu or even crossfire. I'd switch to a single GTX 480/470/5870 and upgrade to a stronger single GPU near Christmas when ATI's 6000 series launches, especially since you have a pretty normal resolution. It's not like you can run Metro/Crysis maxed with dual 5970s anyway.

You can do that in any mobo with enough PCIe slots, but a hydra board will allow you to mix and match Nvidia and ATI GPUs (not a very good price/performance setup however).



Eh, either get a cheap but quality X58 board like the ASrock x58 extreme/GA-X58A-UD3P or go for a crazy nice one like the MSI Xpower.

　
No, same with the V10 (not that great of a cooler).


Automated backup, some work features, I'd go for it, especially on a work PC.

I concur!

Seems to me you are spending about 50 percent too much for a marginal increase in performance.

And I imagine I'll get toasted for this, but DX11 is a frame-sucking rip so far. You'll get much better mileage out of 2 x HD4870s for around $250, and you can wait out the next round of the GPU wars.

And as folks have noted, a i930 will take you far. Or even a Phenom/890FX. Stick with an SSD 64gb for your OS/Apps with a F3 Spinpoint 500gb for your games.

And save $1,500+ for the next round.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[VisionSeeker]

Thanks everybody.

Im going over your suggestions. Videogames101's idea of getting an i7 920 instead and using the cash for a SSD seems like a good trade. But now i have to research SSD's, which i havent done.

Any other CPU aircooling suggestions? Ill check the Megahalems reviews though.

Thanks sp12 for your in-depth suggestions, alot to consider. But i do have some questions. You sure about the LGA 1366 killdate of Q3 2011? I thought they would just be issuing a faster six-core at that point, not ending it.

Do you think itll hit ddr3 1600 spec at its default voltage then? Maybe i should get some 1600's. The price for those 12GB is just approx. 299 which is really comparatively low.

Switching out the 5970 is a tough pill.

I did that on my last rig and i never got to upgrade it later, those 5970's are expensive though. As i said, the plan is to make this rig upgradable, but it should give excellent performance today. Ill study some reviews on this area and decide.

Thanks heyheybooboo for your input, while the AMD stuff is ALOT less expensive that AM2/3 package looks like its on its last legs, with out much to offer in terms of speed or features down the road. Looks like AMD needs a whole new chip to get competitive again. My last rig was AMD, but this time around they just seem to be getting their asses kicked in the high-end across the board. Dropping down to a i7 920 makes them much more competitive, but then i wonder about the surrounding components. For instance, why do AMD mobo's only have four RAM slots?

Again, thanks to all for your input. I'll post again after ive digested and researched your suggestions.

 

[mfenn]

Thanks sp12 for your in-depth suggestions, alot to consider. But i do have some questions. You sure about the LGA 1366 killdate of Q3 2011? I thought they would just be issuing a faster six-core at that point, not ending it.

Thanks heyheybooboo for your input, while the AMD stuff is ALOT less expensive that AM2/3 package looks like its on its last legs, with out much to offer in terms of speed or features down the road. Looks like AMD needs a whole new chip to get competitive again. My last rig was AMD, but this time around they just seem to be getting their asses kicked in the high-end across the board. Dropping down to a i7 920 makes them much more competitive, but then i wonder about the surrounding components. For instance, why do AMD mobo's only have four RAM slots?

Sorry, I just have to at the bolded. AM3 is going to be AMD's socket for the foreseeable future (at least until after Bulldozer).

As for the longevity of LGA 1366, there are really no "new" processors planned, just minor speedbumps (1 speed bin, or 133MHz). LGA 1366 will be replaced by LGA 2011 in Q3 2011 with the release of the Sandy Bridge-EX CPUs (wiki). So in a sense, you are completely backwards as to which socket will last longer. The 1366 6-cores will likely NEVER be a good value. (Why pay $500 for a 3 year old EE when you can get a newer, faster chip for $300?)

AMD motherboards "only" have 4 RAM slots because that's how many ranks that the IMC supports. With the cheapness of 4GB DIMMs nowadays, I don't see thing being a problem.

 

[VisionSeeker]

So in a sense, you are completely backwards as to which socket will last longer. The 1366 6-cores will likely NEVER be a good value. (Why pay $500 for a 3 year old EE when you can get a newer, faster chip for $300?)

Heh, Sounds like im wrong on this point in all senses. Not horrible news, the AMD systems are alot cheaper. At the i7 930/20 level, the top AMD procs are comparable.

Hmm....

AMD motherboards "only" have 4 RAM slots because that's how many ranks that the IMC supports. With the cheapness of 4GB DIMMs nowadays, I don't see thing being a problem.

Its not a problem, i was getting 4gb sticks anyway, just more of them . Googled IMC, does that stand for Internet Measurement Conference?

 

[mfenn]

Heh, Sounds like im wrong on this point in all senses. Not horrible news, the AMD systems are alot cheaper. At the i7 930/20 level, the top AMD procs are comparable.

Hmm....

Exactly, now you're getting it.

Its not a problem, i was getting 4gb sticks anyway, just more of them . Googled IMC, does that stand for Internet Measurement Conference?

Sorry, I should've been more clear. It stands for Integrated Memory Controller.

 

[heyheybooboo]

If you live near a MicroCenter, you may snag an i930 instore for $200.

This PhII 955/Asus 890FX combo is $300 at the Egg. The 1055T combo is $40 more --- you would have to decide if the 2 extra cores are worth it when you may be eyeballing an upgrade to BD Zambezi in 9 months.

As far as your video, it's a tough call. At 1080p with the 5970 you are paying nearly 3 times the cost of the 2x4870s for an increase in frame rates (maybe 30%?) that ain't going to be adding the 'Yowsa' to your experience (because your frame rates are going to be really high either way).

The Kicker: Is DX11 and Eyefinity worth the extra cost to you?

The Other Kicker: The Radeon refresh of the HD5XXXs will be here in a few months. It's more evolution than revolution. 'Southern Islands' is anticipated to be the 5xxx GPUs with the 'Northern Islands' uncore (NIs is the next-gen 28nm GPU 12-14 months away).

Being a frugal guy (the little woman sez 'cheap' ), the prospect of moving in a year to a real SATA 6Gb/s HDDs (and NIs and BD Zambezi) looks really good.

Don't know what to tell yah about your OS. If I had the bucks I'd snag the retail W7 Home and use it for 'perpetuity' but most folks snag the OEM version and violate the EULA. Here is the comparison between home and pro.





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