Building a monster rig for a friend

Sofiztikated

How do all.

I don't know why I get saddled with these, but here goes.

A friend has asked me to spec/build a monster rig for him. Now, despite me telling him to set me a budget, and save it up, then I'll spec it up, he wants to buy it bit by bit.

A while back he bought the case, an Antec 300. (when he wanted a more budget build)

He does a fair bit of gaming, and needs to be able to run AutoCAD. Ability to split over 2 screens (or run 2 at the same time) would be an advantage, as he wants it linked to his TV for movies and the like.

What can I throw together to satisfy his need for a monster build, and I've decided on the budget of about €1200, including OS. No need for monitor, or the like, he has then.

deconduo

Something like this maybe:

Total build cost: €1,065.05 + €30 shipping
Intel Core i5-2500K Box, LGA1155 €173.55
ASRock P67 Extreme4 (B3), Sockel 1155, ATX €130.55
XFX PRO650W Core Edition Full Wired Power Supply €66.44
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1000GB, SATA II (HD103SJ) €44.09
8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-10667U CL9 €54.98
Samsung SH-222AB bare schwarz SATA €17.71
Scythe Mugen 2 Rev. B, CPU-Kühler, für alle Sockel geeignet €33.99
Crucial M4 128GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5") €182.69
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit (SB-Version) €74.51
FRACTAL DESIGN Gehäuse DEFINE R3 Black Pearl €89.75
Sapphire HD6950 1G GDDR5 PCI-E DL-DVI-I+SL-DVI-D / HDMI / DUAL MINI DP €196.79

You can add another 6950 to crossfire later on down the line.

Monotype

With the spare money from deconduo's build, he should get an extra screen for eyefinity. :cool:

Sofiztikated

Lovely hurling.

Gets me out of a bind.

Monotype

Note that it is the German windows that you are buying there; it is cheaper than the English version, but you'll have to download an English image and use the German key.

Tea_Bag

get the 2gb 6950 instead of the 1gb and a Z68 motherboard. Asrock Z68 extreme4 comes highly reccomended.

had a good look at the define r3 yesterday. it really is a lovely case and is cheaper than what I paid for my storm scout. I'm a little jelous tbh. the 6970 is fecking massive though and is a squeeze into the case. it also got 300fps on CS:S stress test @1080p 120hz. bragging rights I guess. not that CS is demanding or anything by todays standards..

also, I've no idea how anyone can CFx the reference 6970s. they take up the entire 2 slots and the top 1s fan will be completely suffocated by the PCB of the bottom with maybe 2mm max of space between them.

sorry for the off topic op.

Tar.Aldarion

Why get the 2gb one, seems a bit pointless when they seem to have no difference to each other in tests atm. future proofing?

I would say get the z68 only if he plans to ever use the features it has over the p67, I would never use them so the p67 was a bit cheaper.

The r3 is lovely, it was a pleasure to build my pc with it, highly recommended!

hmm I get 400-999 fps in the css stress test depending on quality settings, which is the maximum fps you can get, so that card should get more, css is more cpu than gpu intensive also maybe. Playing the actual game you get less fps than the test.

Monotype

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Why get the 2gb one, seems a bit pointless when they seem to have no difference to each other in tests atm. future proofing?

You can do a shader unlock with some of the 2GBs.

Tea_Bag

Monotype wrote: »

You can do a shader unlock with some of the 2GBs.

This. unlocking to within 5% performance of a 6970 is well worth it. this can only be done on certain 6950's that have a reference design, dual bios, and 2gb vram.

also, 1gb Vram is fast becoming the minimum needed at HD gaming, and can be too little at 16:10 1920x1200 monitors.

for the sake of €10-€15, sometimes as little as €5, its a worthy upgrade.

Reference: thread on overclockers of games known or suspected to use more than 1gb

Tar.Aldarion

I had totally forgotton about that! Had just read in all the reviews not to bother getting it. Didn't know that some games used more than 1gb these days already!