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[RumblingRosco]

How do I tell if the motherboard/GPU/cooler will fit into a case? Jut check the physical dimensions for everything?

Beginning to research for a build in a couple months.

More or less, yes, that's what you'll have to do. You can sometimes google specific combinations, such as "GTX570 fit into HAF 912" or something and see if any forum-goers anywhere have had issues.

Also, some cases specifically mention that they can handle "long" GPUs such as the 5970. That doesn't mean other cases that don't explicitly state this cannot hold the longer GPUs, it just means the one that do mention it should handle them without a hitch.

 

[opticalmace]

According to the user manual of the Hyper 212+, I'd need to take the motherboard out of the case, flip it over, place it on a flat surface and install some kind of plate on the back, thus the need to remove RAM etc.

Sounds like hassle, especially if you're inexperienced like me. I've only bulit one computer before and that was 7-8 years ago. The Witcher 2 box on my desk is tempting me, though!

I guess if you're nervous then just wait.

It's really not that hard though.

 

[TheExodu5]

According to the user manual of the Hyper 212+, I'd need to take the motherboard out of the case, flip it over, place it on a flat surface and install some kind of plate on the back, thus the need to remove RAM etc.

Sounds like hassle, especially if you're inexperienced like me. I've only bulit one computer before and that was 7-8 years ago. The Witcher 2 box on my desk is tempting me, though!

You could buy a push-pin heatsink, like the Arctic Freezer 7 Pro. Won't be quite as good as the Hyper 212+, but still better than the stock cooler.

 

[vilmer_]

I'm in the market for a new case, but I really don't want to spend ridiculously on one. I'm in Canada and I'd put my budget at $100-150. These ones have really caught my eye:

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=55583&vpn=RC-912-KKN1&manufacture=COOLERMASTER

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=38996&vpn=RC-922M-KKN1-GP&manufacture=COOLERMASTER

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=49226&vpn=RC-692-KKN2&manufacture=COOLERMASTER

This one I also have my eye on, but the price, and on top of that the huge shipping dent kind of steer me away. It seems like this is one hell of a case though

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=53776&vpn=RC-942-KKN1&manufacture=COOLERMASTER

Anyone with experience with these? Any suggestions? I don't buy Antec anymore... I tend to stay away from them now. I'm open to any others though. Godspeed, Glorious Master Race.

 

[Johnny]

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=53539&vpn=DEFINE-R3-TITATINUM&manufacture=Fractal Design

I picked this one up recently. Decent amount of room, clean design, plenty of ventilation options though designed for noise reduction initially.

 

[wandering goat]

I'm in the market for a new case, but I really don't want to spend ridiculously on one. I'm in Canada and I'd put my budget at $100-150. These ones have really caught my eye:

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=55583&vpn=RC-912-KKN1&manufacture=COOLERMASTER

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=38996&vpn=RC-922M-KKN1-GP&manufacture=COOLERMASTER

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=49226&vpn=RC-692-KKN2&manufacture=COOLERMASTER

This one I also have my eye on, but the price, and on top of that the huge shipping dent kind of steer me away. It seems like this is one hell of a case though

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=53776&vpn=RC-942-KKN1&manufacture=COOLERMASTER

Anyone with experience with these? Any suggestions? I don't buy Antec anymore... I tend to stay away from them now. I'm open to any others though. Godspeed, Glorious Master Race.

Whatever you choose, make sure to look around to get the best price. For Canada, I find Canada Computers usually have the best prices, then Newegg, then NCIX, but you should check all three. For example, the HAF 922 on NCIX is a rip-off at $130, where it's $90 at the other two sites. For shipping, you can often get free shipping above a certain shopping cart amount, and Canada Computers and NCIX both have physical locations in Canada you can go to.

I had the HAF 922 for a while, and it does provide pretty great cooling, though the other Coolermasters look good as well. The 922 does get a lot of dust build up though, even with the front filter, enough for me to want to clean it once per month. This, along with noise dampening, is why I bought a P183. The HAF X looks much better in this regard as it has filters all over the place ( the 922 doesn't have 'em on the bottom, side, and top), though I can't speak for how well they work. Make sure to read up on reviews for all the cases you're interested in, there's a lot out there for the major ones.

 

[Q8D3vil]

finally had an extra money to buy ssd and i decided to buy a 1 tb samsung because my shitty 1 tb wd died.
is this ok or is there a better deals or brands ?

 

[snack]

Which filters are you guys talking about on the 922? I only know of these drive filters...

 

[TheExodu5]

I'm in the market for a new case, but I really don't want to spend ridiculously on one. I'm in Canada and I'd put my budget at $100-150. These ones have really caught my eye:

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=55583&vpn=RC-912-KKN1&manufacture=COOLERMASTER

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=38996&vpn=RC-922M-KKN1-GP&manufacture=COOLERMASTER

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=49226&vpn=RC-692-KKN2&manufacture=COOLERMASTER

This one I also have my eye on, but the price, and on top of that the huge shipping dent kind of steer me away. It seems like this is one hell of a case though

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=53776&vpn=RC-942-KKN1&manufacture=COOLERMASTER

Anyone with experience with these? Any suggestions? I don't buy Antec anymore... I tend to stay away from them now. I'm open to any others though. Godspeed, Glorious Master Race.

What Kurashima said is great advice.

The 922 and CM 690 II Advanced are both great. The 922 has very good air cooling, and is incredibly easy to work with due to the depth of it and very open nature of the case. The 690 II is better in terms of dust filtering, and looks a little nicer overall (especially the black interior). You can't go wrong either way.

I have the HAF X. It's just a bigger, nicer looking 922 with a few more features. The dust filters are 'okay', but they're not strictly removable, so cleaning them is a tiny bit of a hassle. Still, it stops a lot of dust at the entrance (though not all of it). The sound dampening is not good at all, however. I don't really notice now that the AC is running, but I could definitely hear subtle vibrations resulting from the HDDs and fans...especially from the side panel.

Honestly, given the price of the HAF X, I'd probably step up to the Silverstone FT02 for a little bit more. I got my HAF X for $130 from CanadaComputers though, so I can't complain.

Which filters are you guys talking about on the 922? I only know of these drive filters...

The 922 doesn't really have filters. The HAF X has built in (metal mesh) filters over the intakes. They're not removable though.

finally had an extra money to buy ssd and i decided to buy a 1 tb samsung because my shitty 1 tb wd died.
is this ok or is there a better deals or brands ?

Nope. That's perfect.

 

[wandering goat]

Which filters are you guys talking about on the 922? I only know of these drive filters...

http://alienbabeltech.com/main/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/haf-922-dust-filter.jpg

As well as those, there's a filter in front of the main intake fan. It's a pain to clean by hand (have to de-attach the front from the inside, and remove the filter awkwardly from the hooks it's on). I'd just take a mini-vacuum to the front to get most of the dust off of there, and blow out the inside once in a while with compressed air instead of messing around with taking the filter out.

 

[snack]

As well as those, there's a filter in front of the main intake fan. It's a pain to clean by hand (have to de-attach the front from the inside, and remove the filter awkwardly from the hooks it's on). I'd just take a mini-vacuum to the front to get most of the dust off of there, and blow out the inside once in a while with compressed air instead of messing around with taking the filter out.

I see. I've had my 922 case for almost a year and a half now and I never knew about the filter in front of the main intake fan. lol

 

[Dennis]

Anybody here with a 2 x GTX 580 SLI setup?

I would like to know the wattage of your PSU and whether you are just scraping by or have power to spare.

 

[Mashing]

Those bords are really going to limit aftermarket heatsink and memory combinations.

Yeah, good luck getting a Silver Arrow on that!

 

[mkenyon]

Whelp, my local computer shop couldn't order it, and Newegg was out. Passed on the X900. Just ordered the 600T White. The intake fans on the side panel sold me. Two 5870s put out quite a bit of heat.

 

[vexvegaz]

Anybody here with a 2 x GTX 580 SLI setup?

I would like to know the wattage of your PSU and whether you are just scraping by or have power to spare.

dont have a 580 SLi setup yet, but the minumum for 580 sli is 1k watt for stock and 1200+ if your doing any OC'ing.

im sure in my case i could get away with a 1k watt PSU when i get my SLI in june, but with PSU being the most immportant part of any build, I useually get the best and beefiest i can afford at the time. besides, i also plan to run 4 x 120mm fan and 2 x D5 pumps.

 

[TheExodu5]

As well as those, there's a filter in front of the main intake fan. It's a pain to clean by hand (have to de-attach the front from the inside, and remove the filter awkwardly from the hooks it's on). I'd just take a mini-vacuum to the front to get most of the dust off of there, and blow out the inside once in a while with compressed air instead of messing around with taking the filter out.

Can you actually detach that filter? I tried, but couldn't do it. I just use a can of compressed air and blew all the dust away without a problem.

dont have a 580 SLi setup yet, but the minumum for 580 sli is 1k watt for stock and 1200+ if your doing any OC'ing.

im sure in my case i could get away with a 1k watt PSU when i get my SLI in june, but with PSU being the most immportant part of any build, I useually get the best and beefiest i can afford at the time. besides, i also plan to run 4 x 120mm fan and 2 x D5 pumps.

Overkill. A good 850W PSU like the Corsair 850 is fine for all but the heaviest of overclocks. The GTX 580 has a TDP limit of 300W...plus it only reaches that limit in Furmark (actual usage shows it maxing at around 220-250W). That leaves 200W, at the very least, left over for everything else. The Corsairs are designed to run at max wattage no problem.

 

[wandering goat]

Can you actually detach that filter? I tried, but couldn't do it. I just use a can of compressed air and blew all the dust away without a problem.

Yeah, but like I said, it's a major pain. In addition to taking off the front panel, which involves unscrewing it from the inside, the filter is underneath some metal hooks. I think they were loose enough on mine for me to slide the filter out from under them, but I may have had to loosen them a bit. Too big of a hassle to deal with taking it out and putting it back in to bother, though.

 

[vexvegaz]

850w is way too low for me and doesnt leave much headroom for future additions or swaps.

 

[opticalmace]

850w is way too low for me and doesnt leave much headroom for future additions or swaps.

Sorry for the big-ish pics.

Remember this is total system power - they seem to be using an overclocked i7-920 @ 3.3Ghz and 6GB ram.

Even 1000W including overclocking should be fine I bet.

Edit:
Sources:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4012/nvidias-geforce-gtx-580-the-sli-update
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4008/nvidias-geforce-gtx-580/5

 

[vexvegaz]

even still, the headroom is still what I consider too close for comfort. sure its "enough", but id rather have the extra wattage and not need it, than need it and not have it.

 

[TheExodu5]

even still, the headroom is still what I consider too close for comfort. sure its "enough", but id rather have the extra wattage and not need it, than need it and not have it.

When that extra headroom means $100 more, it can be hard to justify.

When we tell people to have ample headroom when it comes to PSUs, this is usually when considering lesser brands, like prebuilts or OCZ. When taking a high quality Corsair, Seasonic, or Antec PSU (again, I'm just considering the high performance ones here), they're designed to run at max wattage, and have the warranty to back that up.

He can buy a $280 Antec AX1200 instead of the $180 AX850 model, but I'm just saying that's unecessary.

 

[The M.O.B]

Newegg

$20 off an order of $100 or higher.

Enter Code : 20FORFB

 

[vilmer_]

Thanks for the info guys, going to do a little more price research before I hit the switch.

 

[TheExodu5]

Hmmmm...this Silverstone 1000W PSU looks pretty nice:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...256057&cm_re=1000w_psu-_-17-256-057-_-Product

 

[scy]

Newegg

$20 off an order of $100 or higher.

Enter Code : 20FORFB

Man, I just bought a BlackWidow off Amazon (and it just shipped) and decided to go against the Ultimate edition due to the ~$40 difference. This code would've made the Ultimate a decent enough of a deal.

Oh well.

 

[vexvegaz]

When that extra headroom means $100 more, it can be hard to justify.

When we tell people to have ample headroom when it comes to PSUs, this is usually when considering lesser brands, like prebuilts or OCZ. When taking a high quality Corsair, Seasonic, or Antec PSU (again, I'm just considering the high performance ones here), they're designed to run at max wattage, and have the warranty to back that up.

He can buy a $280 Antec AX1200 instead of the $180 AX850 model, but I'm just saying that's unecessary.

for most cases you are undoubtedly correct, IMO, that extra $100 is more than worth it for some piece of mind.

 

[Hazaro]

Here it comes then!

Basic Desktop Questions:
Your Current Specs (just sold it): e8400 / 8800 GT 512 / 4 GB RAM / Asus P5K-VM
Budget: 800-1000 €, Italy
Main Use: Light Gaming @ 1080p / 120 Hz
Monitor Resolution: 1080p / 120 Hz
List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: Crysis 2, DoW II, The Witcher 2, Guild Wars 2
Are reusing any parts?: nope, all brand new
When will you build?: Right now me thinks
Will you be overclocking?: Maybe

Thanks!

P.S. I'd prefer a Geforce GPU, since I reckon atm ATI has some problems with 120 Hz monitor above DirectX 9

nVidia tends to be more expensive the farther you get from North America.
GTX 570, Seasonic/Corsair 520/550w, cheapest ~$150 motherboard from MSI,ASRock,GigaByte,ASUS. I don't know your selection in Italy, but all the P67 boards at the price range are solid (except ASUS P8P67 LE). If you need eSATA, wifi, extra PCI slots, etc. you can check on the differences.

For a single card board I still go for the MSI P67A-C43 as it is a nice price for exactly what most people need.

 

[Mordeccai]

Hey GAF, not building my own PC but figured I'd get responses in this thread better than any other. Haven't had a gaming rig in about 5 years now and I'm looking to get back into it. My friend has offered me a PC for 500$, here's the message he sent me when I asked for specs.

AMD Athlon X2 6400 Factory clocked at 3.21 GHZ (Ive read it Overclocks to 5GHZ and my fan can handle it.) 3.25 GB of Ram- BUT I actually have 6 installed, if you want to reformat to 64bit it will be 6GB Nvidia Geforce 9600 GT (512 MB of DDR3 RAM) . We have an ASUS motherboard installed. I believe its like to 2009 Sabertooth... which means you can easily upgrade to a GTX card if you want. SoundBlaster LIVE! Soundcard- is able to have 5 speakers plugged in at once. TSMAX DvD reader and Burner.

Worth it or no? Am I better of buying all my own parts and making my own for 500?

 

[TheExodu5]

For a single card board I still go for the MSI P67A-C43 as it is a nice price for exactly what most people need.

Yeah that board is incredibly well priced.

Hey GAF, not building my own PC but figured I'd get responses in this thread better than any other. Haven't had a gaming rig in about 5 years now and I'm looking to get back into it. My friend has offered me a PC for 500$, here's the message he sent me when I asked for specs.

AMD Athlon X2 6400 Factory clocked at 3.21 GHZ (Ive read it Overclocks to 5GHZ and my fan can handle it.) 3.25 GB of Ram- BUT I actually have 6 installed, if you want to reformat to 64bit it will be 6GB Nvidia Geforce 9600 GT (512 MB of DDR3 RAM) . We have an ASUS motherboard installed. I believe its like to 2009 Sabertooth... which means you can easily upgrade to a GTX card if you want. SoundBlaster LIVE! Soundcard- is able to have 5 speakers plugged in at once. TSMAX DvD reader and Burner.

Worth it or no? Am I better of buying all my own parts and making my own for 500?

That's a terrible deal. You can make something significantly better for around $600.

Also, no way it will overclock to 5GHz. Your friend is trying to rob you. (or he has no idea what his PC is really worth)

 

[Hazaro]

Hmmmm...this Silverstone 1000W PSU looks pretty nice:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...256057&cm_re=1000w_psu-_-17-256-057-_-Product

I was just going to link that. :[
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256057

Hey GAF, not building my own PC but figured I'd get responses in this thread better than any other. Haven't had a gaming rig in about 5 years now and I'm looking to get back into it. My friend has offered me a PC for 500$, here's the message he sent me when I asked for specs.

AMD Athlon X2 6400 Factory clocked at 3.21 GHZ (Ive read it Overclocks to 5GHZ and my fan can handle it.) 3.25 GB of Ram- BUT I actually have 6 installed, if you want to reformat to 64bit it will be 6GB Nvidia Geforce 9600 GT (512 MB of DDR3 RAM) . We have an ASUS motherboard installed. I believe its like to 2009 Sabertooth... which means you can easily upgrade to a GTX card if you want. SoundBlaster LIVE! Soundcard- is able to have 5 speakers plugged in at once. TSMAX DvD reader and Burner.

Worth it or no? Am I better of buying all my own parts and making my own for 500?

No.

Budget parts for the build in the OP will be like 4x faster.

 

[mcrae]

i need a new graphics card.

psu: rocketfish rf-700w
current cpu: i5 750 2.66gHz
current mobo: gigabyte p55-UD3L
current graphics: evga 8800 gt


I'm looking for something around the 200$ price point, but am not sure what to buy.... also am not sure what my motherboard/psu can support... gtx 560? 460? help please!

i want to play the witcher 2 with better settings/fps

 

[Zinga]

I've watched nearly every Youtube video on the subject. I'm just scared I'm going to get goo on the CPU/mobo pins.

It's a very fluid decision. I want to move up to a SATA III mobo, but it feels like any extra money spent on AM3 (and keep going with my 955) is toward a dead end. Even if I bought an i3/SB mobo for, I'd still have plenty of head room for CPU upgrades. Whereas a new AM3 mobo would never see anything besides my existing CPU

If you want Sata 3 just buy a PCI-E controller card.

 

[Instro]

Hey GAF, not building my own PC but figured I'd get responses in this thread better than any other. Haven't had a gaming rig in about 5 years now and I'm looking to get back into it. My friend has offered me a PC for 500$, here's the message he sent me when I asked for specs.

AMD Athlon X2 6400 Factory clocked at 3.21 GHZ (Ive read it Overclocks to 5GHZ and my fan can handle it.) 3.25 GB of Ram- BUT I actually have 6 installed, if you want to reformat to 64bit it will be 6GB Nvidia Geforce 9600 GT (512 MB of DDR3 RAM) . We have an ASUS motherboard installed. I believe its like to 2009 Sabertooth... which means you can easily upgrade to a GTX card if you want. SoundBlaster LIVE! Soundcard- is able to have 5 speakers plugged in at once. TSMAX DvD reader and Burner.

Worth it or no? Am I better of buying all my own parts and making my own for 500?

Definitely not worth it. If you're looking in that price range just go with the $600 build in this thread, the performance difference would be massive.

 

[Hazaro]

i need a new graphics card.

psu: rocketfish rf-700w
current cpu: i5 750 2.66gHz
current mobo: gigabyte p55-UD3L
current graphics: evga 8800 gt


I'm looking for something around the 200$ price point, but am not sure what to buy.... also am not sure what my motherboard/psu can support... gtx 560? 460? help please!

i want to play the witcher 2 with better settings/fps

6950/560Ti. Do not get the 560 (non Ti).
6950 is a slightly better value, but some people have brand preferences/want PhysX/hate nVidia/etc.
This would be my pick if you had to stick close to $200:
MSI N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II GeForce GTX 560 Ti: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127594
If you can spend a tad more, 6950 2GB.

 

[TheExodu5]

i need a new graphics card.

psu: rocketfish rf-700w
current cpu: i5 750 2.66gHz
current mobo: gigabyte p55-UD3L
current graphics: evga 8800 gt


I'm looking for something around the 200$ price point, but am not sure what to buy.... also am not sure what my motherboard/psu can support... gtx 560? 460? help please!

i want to play the witcher 2 with better settings/fps

Depending on the deals you find, you can consider the GTX 460/560 (same card, basically), GTX 560 Ti, 6950 1GB, and 6950 2GB.

 

[black_vegeta]

Friend trying to rob a friend

5.0GHz HAHAHA!

 

[TheExodu5]

5GHz HAHAHA!

His friend could just be poorly informed. I wouldn't accuse him too quickly. But yeah, not a good deal at all, and the overclocking statements are completely false. The CPU alone is too old/slow to be really worth keeping around, TBH. It's a good backup or budget gaming machine (if it were sold closer to $250), but it's certainly not worth anywhere near $500.

 

[butts]

I am looking to upgrade to a 24" monitor, but I noticed a lot of them are using 16:9 ratios now. Should I look for a 16:10 still or is 16:9 taking over? Also, any recommendations?

 

[scy]

I am looking to upgrade to a 24" monitor, but I noticed a lot of them are using 16:9 ratios now. Should I look for a 16:10 still or is 16:9 taking over? Also, any recommendations?

Honestly, I gave up looking for a 16:10 that didn't have a ~$100 premium on it just for the extra 120 pixel space. I picked up an HP 2509b (Glossy TN, 25") panel and I can let you know how it is when it arrives. Or just read a review. The LG W2442PA is a good monitor as well with even less ghosting (practically none) and around the same price ($250-ish) and a review can be found in the prior link as well.

If you want an IPS panel, the HP ZR24W isn't bad from what I gather, though it's basically $150 more than the above two.

 

[Baron Aloha]

Questions... (and please forgive me if this has already been asked, I didn't want to read a nearly 200 page thread)...

I built a new PC last year. I purchased a GTX470 for a graphics card. Now that I have some more money, I'd like to invest in a 2nd card and connect them via SLI.

Can I buy a GTX580 and use that with the GTX470 (or for that matter any similar card other than the 470) or does it have to be the same card? Any benefits to having them the same?

Does it matter which slot each card goes in? Is it a master/slave sort of thing or does it not matter?

 

[mkenyon]

Questions... (and please forgive me if this has already been asked, I didn't want to read a nearly 200 page thread)...

I built a new PC last year. I purchased a GTX470 for a graphics card. Now that I have some more money, I'd like to invest in a 2nd card and connect them via SLI.

Can I buy a GTX580 and use that with the GTX470 (or for that matter any similar card other than the 470) or does it have to be the same card? Any benefits to having them the same?

Does it matter which slot each card goes in? Is it a master/slave sort of thing or does it not matter?

From the OP: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=26715356&postcount=10527

 

[Mordeccai]

I tip my hat to you, sirs, for your responses. I don't feel as if he was trying to rip me off, he genuinely doesn't know much about tech and nor do I as you can all very well tell.

If I went the 600$ route in the OP, what are the chances I'd be able to run TW2 and BF3 this fall? I have a huge list of PC games I want to play, most are older, so its really no issue if I can't run those two. But it would be a plus.

 

[Hazaro]

Questions... (and please forgive me if this has already been asked, I didn't want to read a nearly 200 page thread)...

I built a new PC last year. I purchased a GTX470 for a graphics card. Now that I have some more money, I'd like to invest in a 2nd card and connect them via SLI.

Can I buy a GTX580 and use that with the GTX470 (or for that matter any similar card other than the 470) or does it have to be the same card? Any benefits to having them the same?

Does it matter which slot each card goes in? Is it a master/slave sort of thing or does it not matter?

Must be same card.
Usually top 2 PCI-E lanes have most bandiwdth and fits the standard SLi bridge connector.
You'll also want a solid 850/1000W PSU.

If you don't have one it will run you $200 shipped. Look at the 1000W Silverstone posted a few above.

I tip my hat to you, sirs, for your responses. I don't feel as if he was trying to rip me off, he genuinely doesn't know much about tech and nor do I as you can all very well tell.

If I went the 600$ route in the OP, what are the chances I'd be able to run TW2 and BF3 this fall? I have a huge list of PC games I want to play, most are older, so its really no issue if I can't run those two. But it would be a plus.

It depends how CPU needy they are, but GPU performance wise a 6950 is faaaaaaaaaaast.
I'm actually going to swap in a 560Ti Frozr since it is a touch cheaper and the 6950 $15 off is gone now.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127594

 

[mkenyon]

I tip my hat to you, sirs, for your responses. I don't feel as if he was trying to rip me off, he genuinely doesn't know much about tech and nor do I as you can all very well tell.

If I went the 600$ route in the OP, what are the chances I'd be able to run TW2 and BF3 this fall? I have a huge list of PC games I want to play, most are older, so its really no issue if I can't run those two. But it would be a plus.

You will be able to run them, no question. Especially since BF3 is cross platform, there will be some good low-graphic options in there I'm sure. The question is, how well. With BF3, no one will know until some benchmarks are out.

 

[black_vegeta]

I tip my hat to you, sirs, for your responses. I don't feel as if he was trying to rip me off, he genuinely doesn't know much about tech and nor do I as you can all very well tell.

If I went the 600$ route in the OP, what are the chances I'd be able to run TW2 and BF3 this fall? I have a huge list of PC games I want to play, most are older, so its really no issue if I can't run those two. But it would be a plus.

As far as BF3, no one knows the required specs for it yet. If your really trying build your rig towards BF3, I say wait until the specs are released then make your decision.

TF2 would run with no problem on a $600.00 rig.

 

[Baron Aloha]

From the OP: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=26715356&postcount=10527

Grr...guess I should have checked the OP. I didn't know it was being updated on a regular basis and it has been months since I came into this thread. Thanks for the info.

Does it matter which slot each card is in? Can you elaborate on the compatibility issues?

I mainly want to get a 2nd card to boost the performance somewhat and because I plan on running 2, maybe 3, monitors.

 

[Hazaro]

As far as BF3, no one knows the required specs for it yet. If your really trying build your rig towards BF3, I say wait until the specs are released then make your decision.

TF2 would run with no problem on a $600.00 rig.

TW2 is The Witcher 2

 

[black_vegeta]

TW2 is The Witcher 2

I fail. Some reason I kept on seeing TF2.

 

[mcrae]

6950/560Ti. Do not get the 560 (non Ti).
6950 is a slightly better value, but some people have brand preferences/want PhysX/hate nVidia/etc.
This would be my pick if you had to stick close to $200:
MSI N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II GeForce GTX 560 Ti: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127594
If you can spend a tad more, 6950 2GB.

What are the pros/cons of getting the 2gb or not? What is that extra gb used for?

Also can my psu/motherboard handle those cards?

Thanks for the responses hazaro and exodus

 

[TheExodu5]

I tip my hat to you, sirs, for your responses. I don't feel as if he was trying to rip me off, he genuinely doesn't know much about tech and nor do I as you can all very well tell.

If I went the 600$ route in the OP, what are the chances I'd be able to run TW2 and BF3 this fall? I have a huge list of PC games I want to play, most are older, so its really no issue if I can't run those two. But it would be a plus.

You should be able to run them no problem. Of course, if you can spare a bit more, the "Damn Capable" build would net you about 40-60% better graphical performance (depending on whether you unlock the 6950 or not) at about $100 more.