Toying with alienware: Card options, GTX680 vs Radeon vs dual radeons

vard

Hi guys, quick post - appreciate any advice / help from someone more knowing than myself.

There are a few card options I have speccing an alienware rig which come to the same price, so I'd love to know what is best performance wise.

First option: GTX 680 "2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GTX 680"

Second option: HD 7950 "3GB AMD® Radeon™ HD 7950"

Third option: Dual HD7870's "Dual 2GB GDDR5 AMD® Radeon™ HD7870 CrossFireX™"

So, these are all pretty much the same price. What's the best bet? Based on numbers, the dual radeon HD7870 config would be best on paper, but will that transcribe? I have no experience with SLI configs.

I've heard good things about the GTX 680 and have had relatively good experiences with Nvidia cards in the past, but would the extra GB of memory in the Radeon HD 7950 make it the better choice?

Thanks so much in advance!

Procrastastudy

Why oh why oh why?

Just to make me laugh how much are they charging.

Okay I'll be constructive - 670/680 if you are using 1 1080p monitor - perhaps 1440p. 7950/7970 if you are playing in excess of 1440p or using multiple monitors.

deconduo

Please don't get an alienware desktop. A puppy dies every time someone buys one

vard

GCDLawstudent wrote: »

Why oh why oh why?

Just to make me laugh how much are they charging.

Okay I'll be constructive - 670/680 if you are using 1 1080p monitor - perhaps 1440p. 7950/7970 if you are playing in excess of 1440p or using multiple monitors.

Let me stress "toying"!!!

They're charging something ridiculous. The usual - it's quite unlikely I'll buy from Dell/Alienware, and simply spec the machine and build it elsewhere

It's at 1800 euro without a monitor now. :pac:

Procrastastudy

vard wrote: »

Let me stress "toying"!!!

They're charging something ridiculous. The usual - it's quite unlikely I'll buy from Dell/Alienware, and simply spec the machine and build it elsewhere

It's at 1800 euro without a monitor now. :pac:

WT....

Procrastastudy

Item|Price
Samsung SSD 830 128GB SATA 6GB's Paper Box|€101.47
Corsair Graphite 600T, ATX, ohne Netzteil|€138.22
16GB-Kit Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 MHz CL9|€90.07
WD AV-GP 3TB, 64MB Cache, SATA II (WD30EURS)|€159.00
LiteOn iHES112-115 bulk|€49.32
ASRock Z77 Extreme4, Sockel 1155, ATX|€134.39
Intel Core i7-3770K Box, LGA1155|€318.26
Corsair Hydro Series H100 (Sockel 775/1156/1366/AM2/AM2+/AM3/FM1)|€101.44
2 x Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 OC 950M, 3GB GDDR5, full retail|€666.94
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€1778.10

Add ~€900 for three Yamakasi Catleaps.

Monotype

Hardwareversand is down at the moment, but you could get a 3TB red drive for €20 and it has the 3 year warranty. The average person would probably make do with 2TB though.

Tea_Bag

Monotype wrote: »

Hardwareversand is down at the moment, but you could get a 3TB red drive for €20 and it has the 3 year warranty. The average person would probably make do with 2TB though.

typo? or are HDDs finally at/better than old prices again?

Skylinehead

Tea_Bag wrote: »

typo? or are HDDs finally at/better than old prices again?

Just a little bit better, 3TB for 20 quid, I'll take 10 :pac:

Monotype

Haha, €20 more.

€20 would be absolutely amazing.
... although maybe not so good since I bought some drives recently.

ShadowHearth

I am still on my 500gb hdd + my ssd's

Procrastastudy

We've had quite enough talk of your insufficient 'collection'

vard

Any recommendations on sites where you can have a rig built and shipped? I don't have much experience beyond installing a graphics card, so I don't really trust myself.

ALSO - DUAL CROSSFIRE 7950's vs GTX 680, ignoring price, which would you choose?

Hugs 'n kisses

Tea_Bag

2 7950's is much better than a gtx 680. installing a GPU is as easy as installing RAM and tightening a screw. hardwareversand.de will build most of it for you for €20.

Procrastastudy

If you are going to get it built by HWVS - go for the H80 or H100 cooler so the bumps in shipping are borne by the case and not by the motherboard. Also E-mail them and ask them to ship the GPUs separately - again due to shipping issues.

Building it yourself id pretty straight forward tbh.

vard

GCDLawstudent wrote: »

If you are going to get it built by HWVS - go for the H80 or H100 cooler so the bumps in shipping are borne by the case and not by the motherboard. Also E-mail them and ask them to ship the GPUs separately - again due to shipping issues.

Building it yourself id pretty straight forward tbh.

Cheers guys

Would I be required to install the processor? I'm alright with graphics cards, but haven't any experience with that!

Procrastastudy

vard wrote: »

Cheers guys

Would I be required to install the processor? I'm alright with graphics cards, but haven't any experience with that!

Not if HWVS build it for you with a H100 or H80 - tbh with your budget I'd go H100. BTW my build was a 'don't buy Alienware build' if you tell me what your after I'll do up a better build.

vard

GCDLawstudent wrote: »

Not if HWVS build it for you with a H100 or H80 - tbh with your budget I'd go H100. BTW my build was a 'don't buy Alienware build' if you tell me what your after I'll do up a better build.

Cheers! Really appreciate that.

As you can tell I'm fairly clueless, but anyway!

As far as price goes I'd obviously like to keep things as low as possible. Initially I had a rough budget of 1200 euro, but I don't mind stretching that, so it's a very rough guide.

I'm quite keen on a setup with either crossfire 7950's or a GTX 680 - from what I've seen they end up being roughly the same price.

With regard to ram I'd be happy with anything between 8 and 16 GB - this is something I could upgrade at a later date if I was to opt for 8 for the moment, and as far as I know I shouldn't really need any more than 8 really anyway.

Processor, I was looking at the 6 core i7 3930 K - but if you have any opinions on something better, or if you think it's unnecessary that's fine.

Thanks so much again.

Procrastastudy

I was more meaning the end result

From the spec you are video editing 1080p and playing games across at least three 1440p monitors?

Either that or a total e-peen build - nothing wrong with that

give me an idea of what your doing...

vard

It's a bit of everything really. I don't yet have a decent monitor to justify the purchase, but that'll be next on the list...

My main aim is something that will be future proof. A little E-peen is okay too though

Procrastastudy

I wouldn't go spending money on an i7 unless you are doing heavy video editing - it will be no more future proof than an i5 - by the time games are using 8 cores (which the i7 doesnt have anyway they are logical threads) you'll be looking at 6-8Ghz CPUs.

If its okay by you I'll spec a really good xfire or SLI i5 system.

Will you be using more than one monitor? Will you be editing much video?

vard

GCDLawstudent wrote: »

I wouldn't go spending money on an i7 unless you are doing heavy video editing - it will be no more future proof than an i5 - by the time games are using 8 cores (which the i7 doesnt have anyway they are logical threads) you'll be looking at 6-8Ghz CPUs.

If its okay by you I'll spec a really good xfire or SLI i5 system.

Will you be using more than one monitor? Will you be editing much video?

That's brilliant, thanks!

I intend on upgrading to dual monitors. Currently I'd be using one, but definitely 2 in the not too distant future.

As far as video editing goes, I do about 3 edits per month roughly, so nothing incredibly intensive overall.

Procrastastudy

You can't (or rather shouldn't) game on two monitors - the bezels are right where a cross-hair or interface element would be.

Would you go triple monitor?

vard

I would, but I'll most likely have to build up to it!

Procrastastudy

Item|Price
16GB-Kit Corsair Vengeance schwarz PC3-12800U CL9-9-9-24|€107.75
Samsung SSD 830 256GB SATA III Paper Box|€198.44
Seagate Barracuda Spinpoint HD204UI 2TB SATA II|€99.00
Corsair Graphite 600T, ATX, ohne Netzteil|€138.22
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 650W|€70.50
2 x Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 OC 950M, 3GB GDDR5, full retail|€666.94
LiteOn iHES112-115 bulk|€49.32
ASRock Z77 Extreme4, Sockel 1155, ATX|€134.39
Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155|€219.38
Corsair Hydro Series H100 (Sockel 775/1156/1366/AM2/AM2+/AM3/FM1)|€101.44
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€1804.37

Let me walk you though some of the areas this system is metal money :P

Okay some mad RAM - I've spec'd that so you can go to 32GB. I'd personally only fit 8GB in 2x4GB config but I wanted to give you as much room as possible.

You've 2 7950s in this. One you're going ultra resolution AMD pull out in front on nVidia by just a margin. I'd personally buy 1 7950 and see how you get on. As you add monitors add another GPU. I personally didnt like eyefinity (trip monitor) and I highly recommend testing it. For desktop use this machine will support dual monitors without breaking a sweat.

3570K+H100 = ~5Ghz possible over clock which is mental CPU performance - nothing needs that power at the moment.

Case & PSU are epeen material. Oh there is also a huge SSD and a bluray drive. If I was to put this next to a €1400 build you wouldnt see any performance decrease on a single monitor.

Procrastastudy

Item|Price
Samsung SSD 830 256GB SATA III Paper Box|€198.44
Seagate Barracuda Spinpoint HD204UI 2TB SATA II|€99.00
Corsair Graphite 600T, ATX, ohne Netzteil|€138.22
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 650W|€70.50
Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 OC 950M, 3GB GDDR5, full retail|€333.47
ASRock Z77 Extreme4, Sockel 1155, ATX|€134.39
Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155|€219.38
Corsair Hydro Series H100 (Sockel 775/1156/1366/AM2/AM2+/AM3/FM1)|€101.44
8GB-Kit G-Skill RipJaws PC3-12800U CL9|€46.19
Samsung SH-222AB bare schwarz SATA|€16.79
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€1376.81

The named €1400 build

vard

GCDLawstudent wrote: »

Item|Price
16GB-Kit Corsair Vengeance schwarz PC3-12800U CL9-9-9-24|€107.75
Samsung SSD 830 256GB SATA III Paper Box|€198.44
Seagate Barracuda Spinpoint HD204UI 2TB SATA II|€99.00
Corsair Graphite 600T, ATX, ohne Netzteil|€138.22
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 650W|€70.50
2 x Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 OC 950M, 3GB GDDR5, full retail|€666.94
LiteOn iHES112-115 bulk|€49.32
ASRock Z77 Extreme4, Sockel 1155, ATX|€134.39
Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155|€219.38
Corsair Hydro Series H100 (Sockel 775/1156/1366/AM2/AM2+/AM3/FM1)|€101.44
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€1804.37
Let me walk you though some of the areas this system is metal money :P

Okay some mad RAM - I've spec'd that so you can go to 32GB. I'd personally only fit 8GB in 2x4GB config but I wanted to give you as much room as possible.

You've 2 7950s in this. One you're going ultra resolution AMD pull out in front on nVidia by just a margin. I'd personally buy 1 7950 and see how you get on. As you add monitors add another GPU. I personally didnt like eyefinity (trip monitor) and I highly recommend testing it. For desktop use this machine will support dual monitors without breaking a sweat.

3570K+H100 = ~5Ghz possible over clock which is mental CPU performance - nothing needs that power at the moment.

Case & PSU are epeen material. Oh there is also a huge SSD and a bluray drive. If I was to put this next to a €1400 build you wouldnt see any performance decrease on a single monitor.

Can't thank you enough. I think I'll follow your advice and go for the single 7950 card and opt for the dual crossfire stuff when I start getting into higher resolution stuff.

Thank you again!

Monotype

Maybe for a build that high end, a modular PSU would be in question.
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/600+-+700+Watts/33057/Super-Flower+SF700P14XE+Golden+Green+80plus+gold+Modular.article

Procrastastudy

That GPU is the one I have ordered with the same cooling solution so let me know when you're over clocking and I can help you with settings. (Thanks to recommendations from people here.)

The GPU is over clocked out of the box to 950Mhz but people have had them running at 1200Mhz+ on air that's faster than some 7970s. You'd see a scaling hit going to xfire as you've have to pull back the clock speeds and 2 cards don't = twice the performance but obviously 2 in xfire should handle 3 monitors.

In all honesty you may hate trip monitor gaming. I certainly didn't take to it. The image on the side displays is stretched to simulate peripheral vision. It looks pants imho. Some games (Borderlands) don't stretch the side displays and I still didn't like it. On top of all that the faffing about to get games to look right on very wide displays can be a right pain - with quite a few refusing to work.

I'd personally by a 27" high res IPS panel and be done with it - then maybe just use what ever current monitor you have as a second display for having itunes or whatever open.

deconduo

Where are you based btw? If you are in Dublin I'll give you a hand building it

vard

deconduo wrote: »

Where are you based btw? If you are in Dublin I'll give you a hand building it

Thanks so much for the offer. Too kind! I am based in Dublin, but I think I'll be looking to get it delivered to my London address as I'm going to be moving back over there soon.

I think I'll opt for their build service on the site, just because I'd rather not have individual components and parts being delivered in bits and pieces. I figure it's probably the safest way of going about things.

I chopped and changed the spec a little - here's where I'm up to. Changed the case and PSU, and I actually opted to leave out the graphics cards entirely! I think I'll buy them separately and just use my previous GTX 285 for the moment... but anyway:

CPU Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155

Motherboard ASRock Z77 Extreme4, Sockel 1155, ATX

Ram (16gb) 16GB-Kit Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 MHz CL9

Case (decided to opt for full tower over mid) Special item: Cooler Master Storm Trooper, ohne Netzteil

PSU (upped to 700W for future crossfire use) be quiet! PURE POWER CM BQT L8-CM-730W

SSD Samsung SSD 830 128GB SATA 6GB's Paper Box

HD WD Caviar Green 1TB, SATA 6Gb/s (WD10EZRX)

Samsung SH-D163C SATA schwarz

Sorry to be overloading you all with questions, but with my finger hovering over the confirm button, I want to be sure I'm on to a winner here - any changes you'd recommend, just let me know.


(case is a big'n, but one of their most popular, and getting glowing reviews)



PRICE EXCLUDING DELIVERY/CHARGES 851 Euro

deconduo

-Don't get a 'Special Item' case, its an open box item that has been returned. It could have scratches or other cosmetic damage.

-I'd go with the PSU monotype recommended, the 700W Golden Green. While the BeQuiet one is decent enough as well, the SF is well worth the extra money.

-Do you want to get a decent cooler, the the HR-02 Macho? A good idea if you want to overclock.

The rest looks good.

Eboggles

deconduo wrote: »

-Don't get a 'Special Item' case, its an open box item that has been returned. It could have scratches or other cosmetic damage.

-I'd go with the PSU monotype recommended, the 700W Golden Green. While the BeQuiet one is decent enough as well, the SF is well worth the extra money.

-Do you want to get a decent cooler, the the HR-02 Macho? A good idea if you want to overclock.

The rest looks good.

If he's going to get the Macho might he not benefit from getting low-profile RAM? Those Vengeance heatspreaders are ridiculous .

Procrastastudy

128GB SSD is too small imo - its great as a system drive but won't allow you to store many games.

A few solutions:

256GB SSD, a high speed or hybrid (V-raptors / seagate momentous XT) RAID 0 2 identical disks or Intel caching with a 64GB SSD.

Of all those solutions I'd go for the 256GB SSD if you don't play many games at a time or one of the RAID solutions if you have a big library you want at your finger tips.

Looking at v-raptors or the momentous they aren't cost effective.

Also if you are getting HWVS to build it you need the H80 cooler. If not then some after market cooler like the macho.

I wouldn't go with a full tower (having just got rid of mine) it limits where you can put the machine - not really a major issue though.

Lastly - I've spent the evening looking at RAM benchmarks - get the gskill 1333 stuff - faster ram makes naff all difference on i5 systems. I like having 16GB but thats not needed either tbh. Just OC it for epeen numbers.

Skylinehead

Very nice case. Don't get the special item though, they're slightly damaged or unpackaged or something unappealing like that.

vard

deconduo wrote: »

-Don't get a 'Special Item' case, its an open box item that has been returned. It could have scratches or other cosmetic damage.

-I'd go with the PSU monotype recommended, the 700W Golden Green. While the BeQuiet one is decent enough as well, the SF is well worth the extra money.

-Do you want to get a decent cooler, the the HR-02 Macho? A good idea if you want to overclock.

The rest looks good.

Thanks - saved me there. Bit sneaky of them.

Would you have any recommendations on a case by any chance? Are cases all that important really? I would love to get something that doesn't eat up dust...

Procrastastudy

vard wrote: »

Thanks - saved me there. Bit sneaky of them.

Would you have any recommendations on a case by any chance? Are cases all that important really? I would love to get something that doesn't eat up dust...

600T with a H100 fitted exhausting out the top - all the intakes have dust covers.

Procrastastudy

Ignore what I said on RAM get the 1600Mhz stuff