Critique this build (~$3k)

[RavenSEAL]

Get an 2500K instead of that i7. Change out the SSD for 120GB and get a 10k 1TB HDD.

 

[mnewsham]

I really would've left if you somehow managed to keep the same HDD/SSD space and RAM; of course you can cheap out on both of those things and drastically lower the price.

BTW, can you give me a link to where a 6950 unlocked to a 6970 SLI beats a 570 SLI?

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/298?vs=308
the 570 SLI benchmark doesnt work so i used the 580 SLI benchmark the 580's are 10% faster then 570's and the 6970's in Xfire are about 3% slower then 580's

you can also look at SLI 480's (about = to the 570)
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/298?vs=310

the Xfire 6970's win or tie.

 

[mfenn]

I really would've left if you somehow managed to keep the same HDD/SSD space and RAM; of course you can cheap out on both of those things and drastically lower the price.

I didn't "cheap out". You wouldn't want to do 12GB for Sandy Bridge anyway, but you could get 16GB of RAM, 2TB of HDD, and 240GB SSD for another $385, which is still 2/3 the cost of the OP's original build.

BTW, can you give me a link to where a 6950 unlocked to a 6970 SLI beats a 570 SLI?

Well, I don't think you're going to find any reviews of 6970 SLI. If you meant 6970 Crossfire, then just compare it to GTX 480 SLI, which is basically the same performance as GTX 570 SLI.

 

[stahlhart]

Yeah, thats the big question. I suppose I could leave it up to him if he wants to ramp it up to dual 580's. How would the dual 570's stack up against a single 580?

I figure with such a high budget, and the ever increasing size of games, the 250gb would be worth it.

I was just thinking that within your build budget and from the ground up, you might as well just go to the front of the line (580 SLI, 6970 CF for currently available cards). 570 SLI might make more sense if there were one already in place and you were adding a second.

Also keep in mind that AMD and nVidia both are introducing new cards this month (590, 6990). You might want to wait a couple of weeks before committing to see how these turn out. It might even (though I wouldn't hold my breath) push down the prices on cards that have already been out a little, if the market interest shifts.

 

[mnewsham]

I was just thinking that within your build budget and from the ground up, you might as well just go to the front of the line (580 SLI, 6970 CF for currently available cards). 570 SLI might make more sense if there were one already in place and you were adding a second.

Also keep in mind that AMD and nVidia both are introducing new cards this month (590, 6990). You might want to wait a couple of weeks before committing to see how these turn out. It might even (though I wouldn't hold my breath) push down the prices on cards that have already been out a little, if the market interest shifts.

Well two 580's is about 1k two 570's is $700 the 570's are about 10% slower while being 30% cheaper. Also the HD 6990 releases tonight for (hopefully) ~650 and it has the power of 6970 in Cfire with (AMD claiming) 100% Quadfire scaling!!!! Two 6990's would be ~1300 BUT would out perform ANYTHING currently available and totally possible with this budget. And if AMD is correct in claiming 100% quadfire scaling then they will probably outperform even the GTX 590 later this month.

 

[Weenoman]

Someone's getting pwned in this thread.

 

[jterrell]

Let me clarify:

I would appreciate constructive criticism and input. Your post was neither.

Your friend should just go to a boutique pc maker if he is spending that much money.

For buying and building on newegg anything over 2k is just waste imho.

I am going to suggest he build a cheaper computer and spend the rest on a girl of his choice.

 

[mnewsham]

Or girl's depending how good looking he is.

 

[goobernoodles]

Refined it somewhat. Switched to SB 2600k, changed the case, and will have him pick dual 570/580 or perhaps 6990's. Also switched to the 120gb ssd, and a 1tb F3 HDD.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=13540991

Thoughts?

edit: fixed link.

 

[mfenn]

Refined it somewhat. Switched to SB 2600k, changed the case, and will have him pick dual 570/580 or perhaps 6990's. Also switched to the 120gb ssd, and a 1tb F3 HDD.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=13540991

Thoughts?

edit: fixed link.

Looking much better. Changes I would still make:

• Ditch the Noctua stuff. It is certainly nice, but your GPUs are going to be howlers, enough to negate the advantage that the Noctuas have over the Tricools.
• 1000W is still overkill. Even a Furmarked OC'ed 6990 only draws ~680W. The XFX 750 that I originally suggested would be more appropriate
• Avoid the Intel 510 series SSDs. They simply aren't very good. Grab a Sandforce (non-OCZ) or C300.

 

[fffblackmage]

$105 - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)

Ok... no on that. I know you were going for the CAS7 rating, but it's NOT worth paying extra for.
$80 with promo code - Patriot Signature 2x4GB DDR3-1600

For less money, you get faster ram with almost as good latency as the CAS7 DDR3-1333.
Though I guess it's only $20 or so in a $1.7k build (not even including gfx cards...)....

Is the P183 for keeping the dual leaf blowers quiet (not that it will...)? I really like how the P183 muffles the sounds in. Except the top fan... Antec needs to block noise leaking from that opening somehow.