Which cpu for triple titan setup?

[jambon2006]

hey, i'm going pretty soon for a full WC system with 3 titans with "unlimited budget", on huge question remains :

which processor should i use? 3970x that i can overclock fairly decently, or a 4770k with less bandwith for pciexpress? Money isnt an issue, i'm willing to spend 500 more euros for 3average fps in game if thats what it takes

I can buy the "best" mobo and ram for either

I'll only be using that for gaming (on a 30"inch monitor most likely if it makes any difference)

thank you for your time, really need some good advice on this one

 

[JBT]

Sounds like an awesome problem. As for a recommendation, I don't know the answer I'm sure someone will tune in with a good response.

 

[ShintaiDK]

With 3 cards I think the LGA2011 platform.

Essentially I would say LGA11xx peaks at 2 cards.

 

[Enigmoid]

hey, i'm going pretty soon for a full WC system with 3 titans with "unlimited budget", on huge question remains :

which processor should i use? 3970x that i can overclock fairly decently, or a 4770k with less bandwith for pciexpress? Money isnt an issue, i'm willing to spend 500 more euros for 3average fps in game if thats what it takes

I can buy the "best" mobo and ram for either

I'll only be using that for gaming (on a 30"inch monitor most likely if it makes any difference)

thank you for your time, really need some good advice on this one

3930k overclocked (really no difference between it and the more expensive 3960/3970 once overclocked).

 

[jambon2006]

on what grounds are you guys saying this (sorry, my English is that bad) ? it'll be a pretty expensive pc so i don't want to mess it up : P

 

[nanaki333]

agreed with everyone else. get a 6 core socket 2011 and OC it.

 

[EliteRetard]

I know most of the time it's silly to wait for new parts, in the mainstream market there is almost always something new coming up.

In this case however I think it would be wise to wait...you are going for the highest end best of the best. We haven't seen updates to the highest end platform in a long time (1.5 years), but now it appears there's an incoming update before the end of the year (my guess September/October).

Socket 2011 is the platform you should be looking at, with all the extra PCI-E lanes memory capacity/capability and support for more cores. Problem is the old Sandy-E CPU is just to dated to really consider now. Haswell is ~20% faster clock for clock, and fully supports PCIE 3.0 (though it has to use "hacks" to support 3 GPUs).

If the 2011 platform got an update and Ivy CPUs however, it would be the obvious choice. There are also rumors of new GPU's from AMD that could potentially change your GPU decision. Since we are talking thousands of dollars on a top of the line long life PC I think it wise to wait a few months for a significant high end update.

If you do not wish to wait however, the decision is more interesting. A newer faster CPU with a few less cores on the newest platform, with some chip tricks to enable Tri-SLI. Or a 1.5 year old CPU and platform that was originally designed to support high end GPU configurations (may or may not support PCI-E 3.0).

I'm thinking the newest CPU and platform is the best bet if you must by now. If you only cared about cores at the cost of speed then we would be looking at AMD. Right now Socket 2011 is kind of the AMD of Intel.

Uhhh...I think that's everything I got.

 

[ShintaiDK]

Even with unlimited money. I would simply get a 4770K and 2 Titans instead of 3. I doubt the extra Titan will make much difference.

 

[A5]

http://anandtech.com/show/6985/choosing-a-gaming-cpu-at-1440p-adding-in-haswell-/9

To save you some time, here's the conclusion for 3 GPUs:

A CPU for Tri-GPU Gaming: i7-4770K with an x8/x4/x4 (AMD) or PLX (NVIDIA) motherboard

By moving up in GPU power we also have to boost the CPU power in order to see the best scaling at 1440p. It might be a sad thing to hear but the only CPUa in our testing that provide the top frame rates at this level are the top line Ivy Bridge and Haswell models. For a comparison point, the Sandy Bridge-E 6-core results were often very similar, but the price jump to such as setup is prohibitive to all but the most sturdy of wallets. Of course we would suggest Haswell over Ivy Bridge based on Haswell being that newer platform, but users who can get hold of the i7-3770K in a sale would reap the benefits.

As noted in the introduction, using 3-way on NVIDIA with Ivy Bridge/Haswell will require a PLX motherboard in order to get enough lanes to satisfy the SLI requirement of x8 minimum per CPU. This also raises the bar in terms of price, as PLX motherboards start around the $280 mark. For a 3-way AMD setup, an x8/x4/x4 enabled motherboard performs similarly to a PLX enabled one, and ahead of the slightly crippled x8/x8 + x4 variations. However investing in a PLX board would help moving to a 4-way setup should that be your intended goal. In either scenario, the i7-3770K or i7-4770K are the processors of choice from our testing suite.

 

[jambon2006]

http://anandtech.com/show/6985/choosing-a-gaming-cpu-at-1440p-adding-in-haswell-/9

To save you some time, here's the conclusion for 3 GPUs:

the 3970x isnt overclocked on those benchmarks tho right ? what difference would it make ?

 

[EliteRetard]

http://anandtech.com/show/6985/choosing-a-gaming-cpu-at-1440p-adding-in-haswell-/9

To save you some time, here's the conclusion for 3 GPUs:

This is basically what I was getting at, Sandy-E is two generations old now...Ivy and Haswell are just that much better. If we can get an updated 2011 with Ivy-E I think it will be the go to high end platform for the next 2 years.

I think I'm actually waiting for it myself. I keep wanting a new PC but there isn't an obvious good top of the line solution right now, to many compromises.

 

[aigomorla]

unlimited budget... ummm i have yet to find a person who can accept my unlimited budget.
meaning i'd slaughter your concept and notion of unlimited budget...
however your PC would be so unique, literally no one would own the same thing u have.


But id wait for Ivy-E before you build an unlimited budget machine in seriousness.

However now is not the time for an unlimited budget machine also... not until we see haswell-e and the fiasco it brings

 

[EliteRetard]

the 3970x isnt overclocked on those benchmarks tho right ? what difference would it make ?

Clock for clock the 3770k and 4770k are faster, about 10-20% faster. They are much newer CPU's. With water cooling I think they will overclock similar, the 3770 and 4770 will remain faster clock for clock, and the 3970 will only be faster in the few applications that use more than 4 cores. Besides CPU speed there is also the issue of GPU scaling, the 4770 fully supports PCI-E 3.0 which is twice as fast as PCI-E 2.0. This is an issue when you have multiple video cards, especially 3 titans.

As a side note, for 3 titans you will need a MOBO that has 3 X8 PCI-E lanes. Apparently SLI requires at least an X8 connection to each GPU.

It is a tough choice right now, the socket 2011 platform is supposed to be the choice for this kind of setup, it just hasn't been updated in a long time. That's why I recommend you wait. It should get an update fairly soon (a few months).

 

[jambon2006]

why is everyone spitting on haswell left and right if its a fine option for a high end pc ?

- i'm 100% clueless in hardware, pardon my ignorance

regarding the overclocking thing, i'll be able to overclock the cpu at 4,5ghz stable probably (3radiators WC), would that make the 3970x a better choice ?

 

[aigomorla]

why is everyone spitting on haswell left and right if its a fine option for a high end pc ?

- i'm 100% clueless in hardware, pardon my ignorance

regarding the overclocking thing, i'll be able to overclock the cpu at 4,5ghz stable probably (3radiators WC), would that make the 3970x a better choice ?

ROFL...

Its okey...

because haswell is nowhere close to the unlimited budget catigory.
Its mainstream... not enthusiast class which lga2011 is.

You asked for a top of the line system.. which is enthusiast class...
enthusiast class is expensive because its elite enterprise class.
enterprise class is business grade... so ur paying for elite business grade which is the gamers enthusiast class.

and with that many IC's being watercooled, you most definitely want more then 1 loop.
And u dont want to cheese on the pumps either especially the gpu loop, so id think ud want to run at least 4 pumps... 2 loops... redundant pump on each loop in the event of single pump failure.

BTW my almost unlimited budget machine uses 6 pumps on 3 independant loops, with 4 large class radiators.
I have redundant pumps on each of my loops... Cpu (1 x rad) + Gpu (2 x rad due tri-sli) + Motherboard. (1 x rad) = 4 radiators.

 

[boxleitnerb]

Ivy-E.

 

[EliteRetard]

unlimited budget... ummm i have yet to find a person who can accept my unlimited budget.
meaning i'd slaughter your concept and notion of unlimited budget...
however your PC would be so unique, literally no one would own the same thing u have.


But id wait for Ivy-E before you build an unlimited budget machine in seriousness.

However now is not the time for an unlimited budget machine also... not until we see haswell-e and the fiasco it brings

So I'm curious now what your "unlimited" budget PC would be? It doesn't seem like there is much more you can do over 3x titan and a 3970. Sure you could grab a stupid expensive server chip just for the sake of wasting money but that's not the point here. A 2x CPU rig is also not the point. We aren't building the most expensive server for the heck of it, this is an unlimited budget "gaming" PC. You could get 4 titans though.

I am serious though, what is your "unlimited" PC?

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Even with unlimited money. I would simply get a 4770K and 2 Titans instead of 3. I doubt the extra Titan will make much difference.

IIRC, microstutter can be mitigated by more GPUs

and there are a few games that straight up run faster on the 3900s

for an unlimited budget it should be an obvious choice to go X79 (although with unlimited budget I'd also have to build a shoebox rig built around an ASUS ROG Maximus VI Impact + 4770K + Titan to compliment)

 

[aigomorla]

So I'm curious now what your "unlimited" budget PC would be? It doesn't seem like there is much more you can do over 3x titan and a 3970. Sure you could grab a stupid expensive server chip just for the sake of wasting money but that's not the point here. A 2x CPU rig is also not the point. We aren't building the most expensive server for the heck of it, this is an unlimited budget "gaming" PC. You could get 4 titans though.

I am serious though, what is your "unlimited" PC?

Custom designed carbon fiber case. <--- i can get...but cant afford..

Waterblocks cooling blocks remilled and redone in pure silver. <--- i can also get but cant afford
^ u can go here...

watercooling on CPU + Board + Gpu

Professional Air brushing. <--- can get
Low Iron Glass side panel window. <--- also can get
Complete System automation on separate intel atom PC tucked away which controls the LC system independent of the actual system. <--- can do...

Automatic solinod to bypass radiator and feed inline direct to a chiller, for hot days. <--- have done...
Sealed waterfall custom res, so u can reproduce the Cray type motif... <--- can beg my friend to come out of sabbatical and build me a res...

that is just the shell... forget the internals..
yes im a nut...

 

[tynopik]

those new atom cpus look pretty spiffy

 

[BallaTheFeared]

1150 with PLX chip and 780s instead of Titans unless you need the DP.

 

[EliteRetard]

why is everyone spitting on haswell left and right if its a fine option for a high end pc ?

- i'm 100% clueless in hardware, pardon my ignorance

regarding the overclocking thing, i'll be able to overclock the cpu at 4,5ghz stable probably (3radiators WC), would that make the 3970x a better choice ?

I don't think anybody is spitting on haswell, for a new mainstream build its the chip to get. The problem is it's the mainstream platform and isn't really designed for 3x titan. That's what 2011 is for, but the 3970 CPU is so old now that the mainstream haswell chip is just as fast or faster.

The negative comments you may see elsewhere are people who expected it to be a high end chip and it remained a mainstream option. It's not a significant upgrade to those who have 3570s 3770s...so they are angry.

This is a decision you will have to make. There are recommendations for 2011 because its the "high end" and you also see a few recommendations here for a socket 1150 (4770) because its the faster CPU. Then a few who think waiting for the update to socket 2011 is the way to go.

Unfortunately none of the options right now are best. It would be great if we already had a fully updated socket 2011 with Ivy-E (4970x?), but we don't. So you're going to have to decide, get old/outdated high end, new mainstream, or wait for new high end.

 

[jambon2006]

alright, guess i'll go with x79, will still be pretty cool anyway


the company is making the watercooling for me, could you tell me briefly what i should be asking for ? - if thats not too out of topic, would be bad to be ripped off for something cheapy. I think the guy told me it'd just be one loop with 3 radiators

thanks a lot for your answers everyone, it's truly a great forum here

 

[aigomorla]

WOAH STOP..

1. NEVER and i say NEVER have someone else build u a custom LC system.
Unless ur present with him for 100% of the build.. and he walks you STEP by STEP.

You will NOT know how to fix it... NOT know if something is wrong.. and NOT know what to do until you have done all the research.

And i dont ever recommend the newbie to do a complicated system like that as there first project.

its like telling a newbie to go build an Indy Car from scratch without having him read a manual.

Ditch the watercooling... im being serious.
If your not building it, DONT WATERCOOL.

Well outside AIO's... but that isnt real watercooling.

 

[jambon2006]

i'm getting 3 years waranty and the store is 20mins away from my place so it's not that bad isnt it ? They've been doing this for years now, havent seen anyone complain about them, they're sponsored by asus France etc

could probably ask them to walk me step by step tho you're right, so what should i be asking for ? 4 radiators and redundant loops ?