New big rig needs qualified blessing

Borja

Hi. I want to build a solid PC + display for top notch gaming that I can easily upgrade in the future to stay strong.

My budget is (relatively) flexible and I could use some expertise. A colleague recommended this site and mentioned you guys know what you're talking about.

Please let me know what you think about this set up. Last time I built my own computer from scratch was 7 years ago so I could use some guidance:

Intel Core i5-2500K Box, LGA1155 €174
ASUS Maximus IV Extreme Rev 3.0, Sockel 1155, ATX, DDR3 €270
Corsair Hydro Series H80 €73
8GB-Kit A-DATA XPG G v2 Series PC1600 CL9 2x4GB €58
Antec Twelve Hundred V3, ATX €140
Corsair Professional Series Gold AX1200 €223
MSI N580GTX Lightning, 1536MB, GDDR5, PCI-Express €446
MSI N580GTX Lightning, 1536MB, GDDR5, PCI-Express €446
OCZ SSD Vertex 2 240GB 8,9cm (3,5") €278
WD RE4 1TB, SATA II (WD1003FBYX) €76
ASUS DRW-24B3ST Retail SATA schwarz Nero 9.0 €21
ASUS Xonar D2X, PCIe x1 (90-YAA055-1UAN00Z) €110
ASUS VE278Q €292

TOTAL: 2,621

A couple of things to mention:
- Absurdly expensive PSU as I don't plan to upgrade it.
- Absurdly expensive mobo as I don't plan to upgrade it (and I heard good things about it).

And a question:
- If I go SLI with those cards, will I have trouble fitting the sound card?

So, am I wasting my money somewhere? Any suggestions for improvements? Concerns?

Your help would be much appreciated

Thanks a lot!

deejer

Well if your doing builds like that I can see why its only every 7yrs

I think for Eur140 you could get a better case with a bit more room. You have alot going in there especially with them two 580's

Maybe the Corsair 600T or 650D

If your willing to spend a bit more the Cosmos S is a nice case

Im not sure spending Eur900 on them two 580's is the best idea though. Room shouldnt be an issue but performance wise you wont be getting the best bang for your buck.

Borja

Thanks deejer. I have to say I'm liking the Corsair 650D. I'm big on the Antec 1200 V3 because of the sheer amount of fans it has and the good air flow.

To be honest, heat worries me a fair deal considering the components I've picked. Would that be something to worry about if I went for the Corsair 650D? Note I don't care much about noise or looks

Monotype

You say that you have an absurdly expensive PSU because you don't want to be upgrading it... what exactly would you need to upgrade further? More graphics cards? 1.2KW is waaay over the needs of that system.

Better SSD, although a bit dearer. That's a big SSD. Do you plan to have all your games on this?
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=46112

The latest WD black is a lot cheaper and better unless you're doing RAID.
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=37168
The Samsung F3 is nearly as good and a lot cheaper is another good option.

RAM is overpriced. Something like this would do a similar job. RAM speeds make very little difference on the Sandy Bridge platform.
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=44319

Monitor is a clearance product.

deejer

ya plenty room for fans in the 650D also. And if your only going to have the SSD and one HDD you could remove one of the HDD cages for better airflow also.

Also I take it that your going to be holding onto this for a while, and I normally dont suggest this, but Ivy Bridge is out the start of Dec so wondering would it be worth your while waiting for the next Intel socket. Especially when your spending that much.............I wouldnt wait though!

Borja

Monotype wrote: »

You say that you have an absurdly expensive PSU because you don't want to be upgrading it... what exactly would you need to upgrade further? More graphics cards? 1.2KW is waaay over the needs of that system.

Better SSD, although a bit dearer. That's a big SSD. Do you plan to have all your games on this?
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=46112

The latest WD black is a lot cheaper and better unless you're doing RAID.
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=37168
The Samsung F3 is nearly as good and a lot cheaper is another good option.

RAM is overpriced. Something like this would do a similar job. RAM speeds make very little difference on the Sandy Bridge platform.
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=44319

Monitor is a clearance product.

Thanks Monotype. If I can save on PSU and a tiny bit on memory, I may go for that other SSD. Though, what makes it better? Any suggestions for a better suited PSU? What if I need that power in 2/3 years time though?

Borja

deejer wrote: »

ya plenty room for fans in the 650D also. And if your only going to have the SSD and one HDD you could remove one of the HDD cages for better airflow also.

Also I take it that your going to be holding onto this for a while, and I normally dont suggest this, but Ivy Bridge is out the start of Dec so wondering would it be worth your while waiting for the next Intel socket. Especially when your spending that much.............I wouldnt wait though!

Ugh! I don't really think I can wait that long. 7 years is a long time! Thanks for the info though.

Burgo

Borja wrote: »

Thanks Monotype. If I can save on PSU and a tiny bit on memory, I may go for that other SSD. Though, what makes it better? Any suggestions for a better suited PSU? What if I need that power in 2/3 years time though?

Yeah i agree with monotpye on the ssd and the ram, I'd go for the f3 over the wd though.

Super flower amazon psus get highly recommended here http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=30068&agid=1632

the m4 is sata3 where as the vertex is sata2, meaning it has faster theoretical speeds, and another plus is its not made by ocz!

Monotype

You could cut back as far as 800W on the PSU with still room for overclocking, but if you think that big upgrades are in line, 1KW is still loads. You don't want to overestimate as you won't be maximising efficiency. It's hard to tell what the requirements will be in a few years. Efficiency is always increasing but fighting against the increase in consumption to meet performance demands. I'd still get a gold modular PSU for that level of system.
http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=38005

I assume that you are aware that the gtx 580 aren't very good value for money. What resolution will this be running at? - i.e., plans for multiple monitors? 3D?

You could also get the Z68 version of that board. I haven't read reviews on performance but you'd get the advantages of the Z68 chipset.
http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=47603

Borja

Monotype wrote: »

You could cut back as far as 800W on the PSU with still room for overclocking, but if you think that big upgrades are in line, 1KW is still loads. You don't want to overestimate as you won't be maximising efficiency. It's hard to tell what the requirements will be in a few years. Efficiency is always increasing but fighting against the increase in consumption to meet performance demands. I'd still get a gold modular PSU for that level of system.
http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=38005

I assume that you are aware that the gtx 580 aren't very good value for money. What resolution will this be running at? - i.e., plans for multiple monitors? 3D?

You could also get the Z68 version of that board. I haven't read reviews on performance but you'd get the advantages of the Z68 chipset.
http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=47603

You assume too much :P I didn't actually know the GTX580 aren't good value for money. Would you have any ideas for something else that delivers the same performance at a cheaper price?

This would be for a single monitor running at 1080p (for now) and no 3D.

Another question is, would the processor bottleneck the 2 GPUs if it's not heavily overclocked?

Thanks for all the help everyone.

Borja

Also, would it be a good option to drop the 580 SLI and going for a single 590 with plans to go SLI when needed?

If so, any suggestions for models? Would 1,000 Watt be enough for them?

Monotype

So you're using one at HD (1920x1080) and no 3D. I think that you're completely overestimating the requirements of today's games. I don't think that there's anything that a single GTX 570 won't run at maximum with that resolution. A review of Metro 2033, one of the toughest games on resources gets 30 frames minimum, averaging in the 40s. With overclocking and the latest drivers, you'd probably raise that further.

I mean that it's not good value in that it's just a little better than a 570 for a lot more money. Top cards always rise in price steeply.

The processor won't be a bottleneck. The 2500K is very easily overclocked and most games rely more heavily on graphics cards. The higher CPUs are a waste of money as games don't utilise hyperthreading or more cores.

Hardware is very far ahead of games at the moment as we approach the end of this generation of consoles. Game developers want to get their games on consoles and will usually build them with this in mind. While PC versions have options for higher details, it still won't have the same requirements for one built with no such restraints.

In other words, reasons for building the kind of system that you have outlined are:
1) Very high resolution monitors
2) Multiple monitors
3) 3D
4) Showing off

Remember that next year's €200 cards could beat today's €400 ones, so I wouldn't be in a hurry to overspend when it's not going to be used.

kfish2oo2

Personally I would recommend you drop the SLI and go with a single GTX 580 - or for best value for money, get two GTX 560 Ti's in SLI. Together they two would cost around €300 and would match or outperform a single GTX 580, especially at that resolution.

Also, unless your a real audiophile with seriously good hardware (studio monitors or studio headphones) you're unlikely to notice much of a difference between that sound card and onboard solutions. Onboard sound chips have come along in leaps and bounds in the last few years.