Gaming Build

[Firetower]

I recently posted one of these asking about options to squeeze more life out of my i5 760 system. I was going to wait out for Haswell but seems like there really is no point.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. What will your PC be used for?
Gaming

2. What is your budget?
2000

3. What country?
US

4. Do you have a brand preference?
No

5. Using current parts?
Yes:
Corsair Vengeance C70 Case
Seasonic 750W Gold power supply (forget model)
Samsung 830 256GB SSD
usb cdrom

6. Plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds?
OC

7. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using?
I will be picking up a U2713HM (Budgetting this with the 2000$)

8. WHEN do you plan to build it?
one week from now.

9. Do you need to purchase any software to go with the system, such as Windows or Blu Ray playback software?
NO

 

[lehtv]

Dell U2713HM $600 AP @newegg until Thursday. $1400 left for the PC... this would be enough even if you weren't reusing any parts. Just one more question: do you have a Microcenter nearby?

 

[Firetower]

Yes, forgot to mention there is one in Cambridge, MA.. 20 mins from me.

 

[lehtv]

Awesome. Here you go:

CPU i5-3570K $190
Cooler Zalman CNPS9900MAX-B $50 ($40 AR)
Mobo Asrock Z77 Extreme4 $80 in combo with 3570K
RAM Crucial Ballistix 2x4GB 1600MHz 1.35V $44
GPUs 2x MSI 7950 $610 ($580 AR)
SSD Reuse Samsung 256GB $0
HDD Own one, need one?
DVD Reuse (sure it's not DVD-RW instead of CDROM?)
PSU Reuse Seasonic 750W $0
Case Reuse Corsair C70 $0

$974 ($934 AR) + MC tax + gas

It may be a good idea to get some additional cooling for the dual GPU setup. The case has two 120mm front fans and one 120mm exhaust fan by default. I would probably consider moving one of the intakes onto the top for additional exhaust (will be helpful to reduce the heat from two loaded GPUs), and add one side intake.

Silverstone recently released a fan designed to lower the noise resulting from blades spinning close to a mesh or a filter - this often happens with intake fans. It is also an Air Penetrator so it pushes air in a straight column, directly onto the video cards. Silverstone AP123 $18. It spins at 1500RPM so it's not exactly quiet, you could downvolt in some way - with the motherboard (worst solution but cheapest), with a voltage adapter cable (simple and effective), or with a front panel fan controller (allows several fans to be independently adjusted).

 

[Firetower]

It is a DVD-RW, was just using general terms.

I have a 1TB Samsung F3? Drive.

How do you like the Xonar DX sound card? I might pick up a Xonar DGX

Any idea how the performance of a Hyper 212+ evo is? I actually have one BNIB that I was going to use to OC my i5 760 so I could pickup a better gpu.

 

[Termie]

lehtv - why the Zalman cooler and not something like the Thermalright True Spirit 140?

Link: http://www.amazon.com/True-Spirit-14.../dp/B00629G1PG

Review of Zalman's more expensive 9900DF versus True Spirit: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/zalman-cnps9900df_5.html#sect1

And yes, OP, the Hyper 212+ will work perfectly - it's not super high-performance, but will take you to around 4.2-4.4GHz without a problem.

Overall, lehtv's build is great, but I would caution the OP on one thing - I probably would not buy two 7950s at the same time, in case you find one sufficient or you have problems with it...

...but in this case, AMD is running an incredible promotion where if you buy two HD7900 series cards, you get six free games, so you might consider it here. That promotion hasn't made it to the retailers yet, but you should wait until it does if you're going to order two cards at the same time. Ordering one card gets you 2 free games.

 

[lehtv]

I love the Xonar DX, one of the best hardware purchases I've made. Paid about £50 for it almost two years ago on a day which marks the dawn of a new Dolby Headphone amplified era of eargasms and immersion

 

[Firetower]

Awesome- I'll add the Xonar to my list. Ive been wanting one for along time but my current gaming build is ITX so I didnt have an extra PCIe slot. ( I have the same headset as you)

Thank you both for the information. Ill most likely change out the Hyper 212 and pick up the True Spirit.

Do either of you suggest I pick up just a single 7970?

 

[lehtv]

lehtv - why the Zalman cooler and not something like the Thermalright True Spirit 140?

That's a good cooler too. Another Thermalright choice would be a HR-02 Macho, it's $10 cheaper and performs about the same.

I picked the CNPS9900 mainly because he'd probably be able to pick it up at MC and avoid postage. With postage, the True Spirit 140 would be over $60, while the CNPS9900 would be $40 AR.

At rwlabs, CNPS9900 MAX outperformed the True Spirit 140 at the cost of increased noise: http://www.rwlabs.com/article.php?cat=&id=545&pagenumber=6
At occ, CNPS9900 MAX performed within 2 degrees of NH-D14, although the HR-02 performed even better, oddly. http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/zalman_cnps9900/4.htm
At hardwaresecrets, CNPS9900 MAX outperformed the NH-D14: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Zalman-CNPS9900-MAX-CPU-Cooler-Review/1176/5

Do either of you suggest I pick up just a single 7970?

I suppose it depends on what games you play and your requirements for framerates and image quality. I'd assume that your requirements are pretty high since you're going for a 2560x1440 monitor... Which is why I picked a setup that would play every game at near-max settings at constant 60fps.

I would find a single 7970 inadequate for that resolution. I have a 7950 overclocked to 10% higher than a stock 7970, and it's just right for 1080p.

 

[Firetower]

I'm currently playing bf3, planetside 3, will be playing farcry crisis3

I want to play on high settings..

I've also looked at the 144 hz 1080p monitors for fps gaming but i think I want to stick with the higher resolution

Ill take a look at the zalmann at micro center when im there.

 

[Termie]

Awesome- I'll add the Xonar to my list. Ive been wanting one for along time but my current gaming build is ITX so I didnt have an extra PCIe slot. ( I have the same headset as you)

Thank you both for the information. Ill most likely change out the Hyper 212 and pick up the True Spirit.

Do either of you suggest I pick up just a single 7970?

I run an OC'd GTX670 at 2560x1440, and it's adequate for the newest games (Far Cry 3 being the toughest right now). An OC'd 7970 is a bit faster, so it would give you a bit of breathing room. If it weren't for that game bundle, I would actually just get a single 7970, see how the OC'ing goes, and if you needed another one down the line, pick one up when the price drops a bit. It's been the same price for quite a while now.

Because of the bundle, I might go for the 7950 Crossfire set now, but only if you like the games: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6724/amd-announces-new-winter-video-game-bundle-never-settle-reloaded

 

[L0ne]

I run an OC'd GTX670 at 2560x1440, and it's adequate for the newest games (Far Cry 3 being the toughest right now). An OC'd 7970 is a bit faster, so it would give you a bit of breathing room.

I actually run a single 7970 with a small OC at 2560x1600, and I love it. Farcry 3 is pretty much the first game I've played that the card couldn't handle at max settings. Still, I am able to almost max everything, and the game looks amazing. 7970 highly recommended.

Edit: I also have a Zalman CNPS 12x, which is a beast of a cooler (and super quiet), but, unfortunately, is so large that it wont fit in my current mATX setup. I haven't seen the CNPS9900 in person, but I am impressed with the 12x.
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/zalman_cnps_12x_review,8.html