Support NeoGAF

[Giriath_89]

900 mhz? i've seen people getting 950 mhz stable easy on the Lightning (and there was still headroom for more) if you want to OC the lightning is a no brainer.

Hmm. How does its noise level compare to that of the Asus Direct CU II? Everyone says the Asus is remarkably quiet even clocked to 930.

 

[MedIC86]

Hmm. How does its noise level compare to that of the Asus Direct CU II? Everyone says the Asus is remarkably quiet even clocked to 930.

Well problem is, i cant comment on that. For one 20DB Is loud an for some other 60 db is low, you know what i mean.

Im just saying there both nice cards. But for overclocking potential and features the Lightning is simply a better card. However you wont make a wrong choice if you go for the ASUS or MSI eitherway.

 

[Giriath_89]

Well problem is, i cant comment on that. For one 20DB Is loud an for some other 60 db is low, you know what i mean.

Im just saying there both nice cards. But for overclocking potential and features the Lightning is simply a better card. However you wont make a wrong choice if you go for the ASUS or MSI eitherway.

I think I'll go for the MSI. If it's loud or runs too hot I'll be back and hold you personally responsible.

 

[Domcorleone]

Well problem is, i cant comment on that. For one 20DB Is loud an for some other 60 db is low, you know what i mean.

Im just saying there both nice cards. But for overclocking potential and features the Lightning is simply a better card. However you wont make a wrong choice if you go for the ASUS or MSI eitherway.

Thanks I'm going with the msi, how do I know if the case I'll get will fit this beast? People are saying you need 12.5 inches at LEAST.

 

[ACE 1991]

Its ok, vga cards can get quiet hot before they die. But if i were you i would get an aftermarket cooling. more quiet + less heat.



I believe its still the MSI lightning 580, insane card basicly. it has 2 seperate bios for normal and LN2, NEC Proadlizers, F*CKING 12 power phases. its just glorious

Not too worried about noise, I just want to make sure I won't be doing any damage to the GPU. I have heard they have quite high heat thresholds, though.

In other news, what's the deal with tesselation? Is it something I should be using in games or is it for ultra high-end rigs?

 

[longdi]

amd 69xx cards are well built. no silly powerplay idle bug, fan noise moderately ramped up and 6950 can unlock to 6970 and overclocks without voltage increment. i liked them a lot.

crucial m4 ssd can be bought at $180 here
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?atclk=Brand_Crucial+Technology&ci=13392&N=4294560087+4291518647

 

[Big Papa Husker]

My Non-GAF buddy has a question. He has a machine from 2008 with a x48 board with a Q6600, 4GB memory.

He wants to upgrade to play some of the newest games and saw thinking about upgrading his Mobo, CPU and Memory with the following parts:

• Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
• G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
• MSI P67A-GD55 (B3) ATX Intel Motherboard

All for $420.

What does PC-GAF think? He said that that he has been reading that the 2500K can OC to over 4.0GHZ with a good air fan. Does anyone have a similar setup? What do you think?

 

[MedIC86]

My Non-GAF buddy has a question. He has a machine from 2008 with a x48 board with a Q6600, 4GB memory.

He wants to upgrade to play some of the newest games and saw thinking about upgrading his Mobo, CPU and Memory with the following parts:

• Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
• G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
• MSI P67A-GD55 (B3) ATX Intel Motherboard

All for $420.

What does PC-GAF think? He said that that he has been reading that the 2500K can OC to over 4.0GHZ with a good air fan. Does anyone have a similar setup? What do you think?

What GPU does he have? a q6600 is quiet slow nowadays, but it depends on the GPU if this upgrade is gonna be a good improvement over what he has.

 

[The Teachinator]

Why dont get a ASUS Mars II GTX590 then ?

The mars is 2 fully clocked 580s where the 590 has the 580s underclocked.

I personally wouldn't go anywhere near a 590. Get a single 580, or go SLI if you need all that power.

 

[Big Papa Husker]

What GPU does he have? a q6600 is quiet slow nowadays, but it depends on the GPU if this upgrade is gonna be a good improvement over what he has.

Right now he has 8800GTS 512. He will be getting either a GTX570 or GTX580, whenever one of them goes on sale again.

 

[Giriath_89]

Oh wow, the retailer I'm looking at has the MSI GTX 580 Lightning 3GB Extreme Edition under the same price as the normal edition. It's probably a mistake, but I'll jump on it and demand the extreme edition.

 

[Big Papa Husker]

Oh wow, the retailer I'm looking at has the MSI GTX 580 Lightning 3GB Extreme Edition under the same price as the normal edition. It's probably a mistake, but I'll jump on it and demand the extreme edition.

Where?

 

[cwmartin]

The Biostar board i was looking to pick up for my build doesn't have a USB 3.0 header on it. Unfortunately the case that I'm eyeing only includes a USB 3.0 header to connect the front port. Should I just get the cable that goes from the back ports or would it be easier to choose a different board?

 

[MrOogieBoogie]

So guys, when is the best time to buy a new PC? Black Friday?

I ask because I want to build a new PC. Here are the only two components I currently have that I believe might be salvagable:

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

Everything else is garbage. I have no need for a new monitor, keyboard, speakers, or mouse.

So what do you say, GAF? I don't have much money to spend, so the more I can save the better.

My current build is:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 5600+ @ 2.9 GHz
ATI HD Radeon 4670 1GB
4GB DDR2 667 RAM

The fucking Red Orchestra 2 beta is kicking my ass, for crying out loud. My PC was originally a Dell Inspiron 531, but I upgraded it as much as the shitty motherboard could handle. I have reached the limit, however.

lol not even a single reply?

 

[Corky]

Oh wow, the retailer I'm looking at has the MSI GTX 580 Lightning 3GB Extreme Edition under the same price as the normal edition. It's probably a mistake, but I'll jump on it and demand the extreme edition.

Spill the beans fellow swede...

 

[Giriath_89]

Where?

CDON.com, a Swedish retailer. I suppose it's possible it's actually a normal edition 1,5GB but even so I should be able to get a good deal out of it if I play the victim, since it says on my receipt I paid for the Xtreme Edition.

 

[letsbereasonable]

lol not even a single reply?

The best time, imo, is either when an online retailer has a good bundle or sale on several of the components in your build at once (newegg/microcenter combos, etc), or when a a manufacturer releases a product that resets the market in price or features. Black Friday has traditionally not been great for building entire systems, but there are pretty decent deals on specific components, like power supplies and hard drives, if you're willing to split your build among retailers.

 

[OG_Original Gamer]

90GB Force Series 3 SSD Corsair SATA 3
Fry's Electronics 1 day sale $134.99 - $30 mail-in rebate $104.99

Question, Once you set up a RAID, do you have to continue with the same brand and model?

I have two 64gig Crucial with Win7 installed in RAID 0.

 

[Giriath_89]

Spill the beans fellow swede...

You going to get one too?

 

[Smokey]

How much % improvement will i see if i unlock my 6950's to 6970's and overclock them a bit

This is what im getting now, is this enough to play battlefield 3 at ultra?

Nobody knows...

There really should be a BF3 post at the beginning of every page letting people know that NOBODY knows the recommenced specs yet!!!

What is the best 580 card ight now? Im speaking in terms of reliability and performance. I was going to get a evga card, but I'm hearing about msi and ASus as the best. Any reason why? Any help would be appreciated.

MSI Lightning Xtreme 3GB or the ASUS DirectCuII. Performance wise the MSI is top dog when it comes to single 580 solutions. Insane OC ability. Also dual slot leaving the open the option for SLI.

The Asus is a quieter, bigger card. Will not be able to achieve same OC levels as the lightning, but is still very good. Also triple slot and only comes with 1.5GB or RAM.

If you have a waterblock setup then the Evga classified cards are good, but the standard models use a reference design. The cards I mentioned above stay incredibly cool when OC'd and gaming, whereas the Evga can run a little hot.

Hmm. I was going to buy an Asus CU II, but I assume the MSI Lightning is damn capable of getting 900MHz and keeping cool too? It looks quite thinner, so I'll probably be able to go SLI with another one in the future if I really want to (I really hope I won't want to).


Then again, I'll probably stick the Asus, since it can do the same job, is cheaper, and I'd really rather buy a single GPU from the 600 series after they've been around a while than get another 580 for SLI.

Some pics I took:

Asus DCII 580 :

MSI Lightning Xtreme :

That gives you an idea of the size of the ASUS. From pic 1 if I wanted to go SLI with the Asus the 2nd card would plug into the white slot, and the cards would be sandwiched on top of each other. It would still work, but I wasn't comfortable with them being that close together. Such is the nature of a 3 slot beast. The Lightning does everything the Asus does, but better IMO. I'll give the ASUS the point for quietness when fans hit 50% or so, but other than that the Lightning is the better card to me. It's also more expensive :l

Sorry I don't take a comparable pic for the Lightning, the one I posted is closest.

 

[MrKnives]

CDON.com, a Swedish retailer. I suppose it's possible it's actually a normal edition 1,5GB but even so I should be able to get a good deal out of it if I play the victim, since it says on my receipt I paid for the Xtreme Edition.

That's like 480 euros? Pretty nice deal
I once found 580 Hawk Edition 3GB for 350 euros on cdon.com but they fixed that before I got home and managed to order

 

[Nocebo]

Hey guys I'd appreciate your opinions on my picks. This is the first time I'll be building a system myself (with the help of some more experienced friends tho)
I want to get these components within a week orso:
CPU: Intel Core i7 2600K
CPU Fan: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
Mobo: Asus P8Z68-V
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X F3-12800CL9Q-16GBXL (4x4gb)
Main HD: OCZ Vertex 3 MAX IOPS 2.5" SSD 240GB
Data HDD: Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARX, 2TB SATA-600, 64MB, 5400rpm
Video cards: 2x MSI 580GTX Lightning Extreme 3GB
Optical drive: LG GH22NS70 dvd burner
Power: Corsair Gaming GS800
Case: Fractal Design Define R3 or Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced

I've set a pretty high budget for myself. I bascially want to sit right under the line of excessive spending. 2x hd 6990 or 2x gtx590 would be over the line I think?
The parts I'm not too sure about:
- The video cards. I read Hazaro's post about AMD releasing new cards in 3 months. So I'm not sure if I should be taking this kind of plunge. On the other hand I really want to play Skyrim maxed out with all the bells and whistles on day 1.

- The cpu fan and any additional case fans, no clue what I need there. I've never overclocked anything but I might want to try. I'd rather have too much cooling than too little that way I'll have options.

- The case I've read that the Fractal R3 is great for a quieter system, but I also read that some of the components of the case itself are a bit fragile? Like the rubber stuffs come off easily when you try to put cables through with any amount of force?
I read some cases have led lighting around the fans? My pc will be situated in the living room so I don't want a light show from the fans if I can help it. A quiet case / fans would also be a plus in that respect.
Finaly do these cases have room for card readers in the front? or is it standard for all cases to have that kind of space?

- the power supply. The corsair gaming GS800 seems like a decent price and it gives me options to add more disks in the future.

Of course any comments on the other selections are more than welcome as well. Like say any additions that might give the system an extra kick with a relatively modest price increase if you know what I mean.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Giriath_89]

Sorry I don't take a comparable pic for the Lightning, the one I posted is closest.

Thanks for the pics! I went for the MSI GTX 580 XE for the price of a standard edition. I hope I really get one in the mail, so I won't have to extort the retailer to get one.

 

[abuC]

Hey guys I'd appreciate your opinions on my picks. This is the first time I'll be building a system myself (with the help of some more experienced friends tho)
I want to get these components within a week orso:
CPU: Intel Core i7 2600K
CPU Fan: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
Mobo: Asus P8Z68-V
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X F3-12800CL9Q-16GBXL (4x4gb)
Main HD: OCZ Vertex 3 MAX IOPS 2.5" SSD 240GB
Data HDD: Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARX, 2TB SATA-600, 64MB, 5400rpm
Video cards: 2x MSI 580GTX Lightning Extreme 3GB
Optical drive: LG GH22NS70 dvd burner
Power: Corsair Gaming GS800
Case: Fractal Design Define R3 or Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced

I've set a pretty high budget for myself. I bascially want to sit right under the line of excessive spending. 2x hd 6990 or 2x gtx590 would be over the line I think?
The parts I'm not too sure about:
- The video cards. I read Hazaro's post about AMD releasing new cards in 3 months. So I'm not sure if I should be taking this kind of plunge. On the other hand I really want to play Skyrim maxed out with all the bells and whistles on day 1.

- The cpu fan and any additional case fans, no clue what I need there. I've never overclocked anything but I might want to try. I'd rather have too much cooling than too little that way I'll have options.

- The case I've read that the Fractal R3 is great for a quieter system, but I also read that some of the components of the case itself are a bit fragile? Like the rubber stuffs come off easily when you try to put cables through with any amount of force?
I read some cases have led lighting around the fans? My pc will be situated in the living room so I don't want a light show from the fans if I can help it. A quiet case / fans would also be a plus in that respect.
Finaly do these cases have room for card readers in the front? or is it standard for all cases to have that kind of space?

- the power supply. The corsair gaming GS800 seems like a decent price and it gives me options to add more disks in the future.

Of course any comments on the other selections are more than welcome as well. Like say any additions that might give the system an extra kick with a relatively modest price increase if you know what I mean.

Thanks in advance!

I don't think the power supply will be enough for whatever gpu(s) you decide on.

 

[Giriath_89]

Hey guys I'd appreciate your opinions on my picks.

You only need 2x 4gb memory for gaming, and you will get great performance with a single MSI GTX 580 Lightning. If you're looking to overclock it, I recommend you buy four additional fans to put in the front, top and side panel of the case. If your PSU doesn't have a depth of more than 170mm, you should also be able to install a fan in the bottom.

And like abuC said, you should get a 850Watt PSU if you're going for SLI, but personally I don't think SLI is worth it.

 

[cwmartin]

The Biostar board i was looking to pick up for my build doesn't have a USB 3.0 header on it. Unfortunately the case that I'm eyeing only includes a USB 3.0 header to connect the front port. Should I just get the cable that goes from the back ports or would it be easier to choose a different board?

Any thoughts from the Master Race board of directors?

 

[MrKnives]

Personally I wouldn't ever consider getting SLI GTX 580 Lighting Extreme Edition with anything under 1000W PSU.

In theory you don't need all that power if the PSU has good enough quality but I just wouldn't feel comfortable.

 

[The_Squirrel_Menace]

Personally I wouldn't ever consider getting SLI GTX 580 Lighting Extreme Edition with anything under 1000W PSU.

In theory you don't need all that power if the PSU has good enough quality but I just wouldn't feel comfortable.

I agree 800w even the one you picked is very very light for this power hog sli. 1000w at the very minimum.

 

[HarryDemeanor]

400R.

Oh wow, I didn't even know those were out now.

 

[Nocebo]

Thanks guys.
I'll just go for 8gb instead of 16 then. And I'll look for a 1000w power supply if I decide to go with sli.
Then the question becomes is SLI-ing gtx580 EX cards really not worth it? I saw this clip of a guy comparing gtx 590 versus 2 gtx 590 in sli and the increase in FPS for certain games was pretty substantial. I figured the same would be true for 2 gtx 580 EXs.

Hazaro seemed to suggest it would be a pretty good option?

 

[TheExodu5]

Personally I wouldn't ever consider getting SLI GTX 580 Lighting Extreme Edition with anything under 1000W PSU.

In theory you don't need all that power if the PSU has good enough quality but I just wouldn't feel comfortable.

Smokey's AX850 should be just fine. He could probably manage to stress the PSU for nearly 850W under benchmark conditions, but that's about it. It wouldn't approach that in normal conditions. The AX850 is built to handle 100% load as well, and has a 7 year warranty to back that up, so I wouldn't be too worried about it.

 

[Mattdaddy]

Ok I have a quick, stupid question. I built my first gaming pc thanks to this thread and I love it. I have a normal LG monitor for general pc duties, but I also have my rig hooked up to a panasonic plasma hdtv for gaming. Right now, I have both monitor and TV plugged in and enabled 24/7. It's the same image on both screens, and I just switch the input on my tv when im ready to game, then switch back to cable when done. I was wondering though, is it safe for my video card to constantly push the image to two sources like this? I don't want to burn it up. Do I need to go disable the hdtv when im not using it? I have no idea how using multiple displays works.

The card I went with was a Geforce 560Ti.

 

[·feist·]

Thanks guys.
I'll just go for 8gb instead of 16 then. And I'll look for a 1000w power supply if I decide to go with sli.
Then the question becomes is SLI-ing gtx580 EX cards really not worth it? I saw this clip of a guy comparing gtx 590 versus 2 gtx 590 in sli and the increase in FPS for certain games was pretty substantial. I figured the same would be true for 2 gtx 580 EXs.

Hazaro seemed to suggest it would be a pretty good option?

The jump from SLI 580 to SLI 580 LEE isn't nearly as pronounced as the one from 590 to 580 SLI. Still, the LEE's overclocking ability and additional memory really shine with higher res display use, multiple displays, high res texture packs, and the like.

That PSU isn't in the same league as your other components. Get a better model, such as 850W Gold rated. Higher rating, or wattage depending on your budget and use.

Look into OCZ-specific SSD problems, in addition to general SandForce 2000 issues. The Hyper 212+ is great for the price, though if yo intend on a big overclock, and/or prefer low noise, there are other options.

As for the HDD, some of us have had little luck with Western Digital Greens, for varied reasons, including the below:

Critical Design Flaw Found in WD Caviar Green HDDs
http://www.ngohq.com/news/19805-critical-design-flaw-found-in-wd-caviar-green-hdds.html

It has come to our attention that Western Digital's Caviar Green HDDs suffer from a critical design flaw caused by an aggressive power-saving feature. Western Digital has developed a new technology called Intellipark (aka Idle 3 mode) and it is designed to reduce power consumption, in part by positioning the HDD's heads in a park position and turning off unnecessary electronics after 8 seconds of inactivity.

Update #2: A user on Western Digital's forum claims that his Caviar Black HDD is affected as well. "WD2001FASS parks heads after 12.8 seconds. It will eventually kill itself doing this. I was getting around 1400 Load Cycle Count a day due it parking and waking up constantly."

Ok I have a quick, stupid question. I built my first gaming pc thanks to this thread and I love it. I have a normal LG monitor for general pc duties, but I also have my rig hooked up to a panasonic plasma hdtv for gaming. Right now, I have both monitor and TV plugged in and enabled 24/7. It's the same image on both screens, and I just switch the input on my tv when im ready to game, then switch back to cable when done. I was wondering though, is it safe for my video card to constantly push the image to two sources like this? I don't want to burn it up. Do I need to go disable the hdtv when im not using it? I have no idea how using multiple displays works.

The card I went with was a Geforce 560Ti.

It will run a bit warmer than normal, but there are no glaring issues so long as you have it correctly configured, and decently cooled.

 

[LordCanti]

Ok I have a quick, stupid question. I built my first gaming pc thanks to this thread and I love it. I have a normal LG monitor for general pc duties, but I also have my rig hooked up to a panasonic plasma hdtv for gaming. Right now, I have both monitor and TV plugged in and enabled 24/7. It's the same image on both screens, and I just switch the input on my tv when im ready to game, then switch back to cable when done. I was wondering though, is it safe for my video card to constantly push the image to two sources like this? I don't want to burn it up. Do I need to go disable the hdtv when im not using it? I have no idea how using multiple displays works.

The card I went with was a Geforce 560Ti.

Turn both monitors on, and check your temps. If they are fine, you aren't hurting your video card any.

 

[Giriath_89]

Then the question becomes is SLI-ing gtx580 EX cards really not worth it? I saw this clip of a guy comparing gtx 590 versus 2 gtx 590 in sli and the increase in FPS for certain games was pretty substantial. I figured the same would be true for 2 gtx 580 EXs.

Hazaro seemed to suggest it would be a pretty good option?

You'll definitely get a substantial increase in performance. It's more an issue of what kind of price to performance ratio you want. In my opinion buying a middle-end card like the 560Ti or a 570 of the current generation and overclocking it is the best you can get, especially if you hold out a while and find one with great overclocking capabilities on a sale.

I prefer a bit more performance so I buy a high-end card like the GTX 580, but I wait for the price to drop a bit first, and I will do so with the 600 series as well.

 

[Clydefrog]

Oh wow, I didn't even know those were out now.

It's a great case!

 

[Maaseru]

Can anyone vouch for the motherboard in this bundle? I'm on the verge of buying this with a buddy and splitting the necessarily parts. I'm just not sure about that motherboard, any good? I wanna game, edit and run pretty much a bunch of programs like maya, adobe stuff, 3dsmax and other stuff like that.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.722551

 

[Saren is Bad]

welp on the caviar black and green problems =(

 

[MrKnives]

Can anyone vouch for the motherboard in this bundle? I'm on the verge of buying this with a buddy and splitting the necessarily parts. I'm just not sure about that motherboard, any good? I wanna game, edit and run pretty much a bunch of programs like maya, adobe stuff, 3dsmax and other stuff like that.

A link to the bundle would be nice. Or at least a list of the parts or something

 

[Net_Wrecker]

Anyone want to chime in on some good case fans for creating dat wind tunnel?

EDIT: And by good I mean nice air flow without sounding like a jet engine.

 

[Corky]

How bad does 1920x1080 look on a 2560x1440 monitor?

 

[Dennis]

Hey guys I'd appreciate your opinions on my picks. This is the first time I'll be building a system myself (with the help of some more experienced friends tho)
I want to get these components within a week orso:
CPU: Intel Core i7 2600K
CPU Fan: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
Mobo: Asus P8Z68-V
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X F3-12800CL9Q-16GBXL (4x4gb)
Main HD: OCZ Vertex 3 MAX IOPS 2.5" SSD 240GB
Data HDD: Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARX, 2TB SATA-600, 64MB, 5400rpm
Video cards: 2x MSI 580GTX Lightning Extreme 3GB
Optical drive: LG GH22NS70 dvd burner
Power: Corsair Gaming GS800
Case: Fractal Design Define R3 or Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced

I've set a pretty high budget for myself. I bascially want to sit right under the line of excessive spending. 2x hd 6990 or 2x gtx590 would be over the line I think?
The parts I'm not too sure about:
- The video cards. I read Hazaro's post about AMD releasing new cards in 3 months. So I'm not sure if I should be taking this kind of plunge. On the other hand I really want to play Skyrim maxed out with all the bells and whistles on day 1.

- The cpu fan and any additional case fans, no clue what I need there. I've never overclocked anything but I might want to try. I'd rather have too much cooling than too little that way I'll have options.

- The case I've read that the Fractal R3 is great for a quieter system, but I also read that some of the components of the case itself are a bit fragile? Like the rubber stuffs come off easily when you try to put cables through with any amount of force?
I read some cases have led lighting around the fans? My pc will be situated in the living room so I don't want a light show from the fans if I can help it. A quiet case / fans would also be a plus in that respect.
Finaly do these cases have room for card readers in the front? or is it standard for all cases to have that kind of space?

- the power supply. The corsair gaming GS800 seems like a decent price and it gives me options to add more disks in the future.

Of course any comments on the other selections are more than welcome as well. Like say any additions that might give the system an extra kick with a relatively modest price increase if you know what I mean.

Thanks in advance!

Everything looks great, except:

Get a better PSU, like the 1050 watt from Corsair

Do not buy the Caviar Green HDD

Do keep the 16 GB RAM

Great choice with the 2 x GTX580 3GB. Much better than 2 x GTX590.


Hey, now your rig looks just like mine! We can be rig buddies!

 

[Maaseru]

A link to the bundle would be nice. Or at least a list of the parts or something

woops haha http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.722551

 

[TheExodu5]

Hey guys I'd appreciate your opinions on my picks. This is the first time I'll be building a system myself (with the help of some more experienced friends tho)
I want to get these components within a week orso:
CPU: Intel Core i7 2600K
CPU Fan: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
Mobo: Asus P8Z68-V
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X F3-12800CL9Q-16GBXL (4x4gb)
Main HD: OCZ Vertex 3 MAX IOPS 2.5" SSD 240GB
Data HDD: Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARX, 2TB SATA-600, 64MB, 5400rpm
Video cards: 2x MSI 580GTX Lightning Extreme 3GB
Optical drive: LG GH22NS70 dvd burner
Power: Corsair Gaming GS800
Case: Fractal Design Define R3 or Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced

I've set a pretty high budget for myself. I bascially want to sit right under the line of excessive spending. 2x hd 6990 or 2x gtx590 would be over the line I think?
The parts I'm not too sure about:
- The video cards. I read Hazaro's post about AMD releasing new cards in 3 months. So I'm not sure if I should be taking this kind of plunge. On the other hand I really want to play Skyrim maxed out with all the bells and whistles on day 1.

- The cpu fan and any additional case fans, no clue what I need there. I've never overclocked anything but I might want to try. I'd rather have too much cooling than too little that way I'll have options.

- The case I've read that the Fractal R3 is great for a quieter system, but I also read that some of the components of the case itself are a bit fragile? Like the rubber stuffs come off easily when you try to put cables through with any amount of force?
I read some cases have led lighting around the fans? My pc will be situated in the living room so I don't want a light show from the fans if I can help it. A quiet case / fans would also be a plus in that respect.
Finaly do these cases have room for card readers in the front? or is it standard for all cases to have that kind of space?

- the power supply. The corsair gaming GS800 seems like a decent price and it gives me options to add more disks in the future.

Of course any comments on the other selections are more than welcome as well. Like say any additions that might give the system an extra kick with a relatively modest price increase if you know what I mean.

Thanks in advance!

Alright, this is a tough one.

I'm going to comment on each component here:

CPU: Intel Core i7 2600K
- Do you need hyper-threading? If this is mainly for gaming, you can save yourself $100 and go down to the 2500K.

CPU Fan: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
- Sounds good.

Mobo: Asus P8Z68-V
- No problem here.

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X F3-12800CL9Q-16GBXL (4x4gb)
- Is 16GB of RAM necessary for your needs? 8GB is already way more than enough for anyone not running a bunch of virtual PCs.

Main HD: OCZ Vertex 3 MAX IOPS 2.5" SSD 240GB
- Best stick with the Crucial m4 at this point. The OCZs have more issues reported.

Data HDD: Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARX, 2TB SATA-600, 64MB, 5400rpm
- Since you've got a big SSD as a main drive, I have no issue with you going with a 5400rpm drive as a secondary. I do believe the Samsung F4 might be a better drive, though I'm not 100% sure.

Video cards: 2x MSI 580GTX Lightning Extreme 3GB
- What's your usage scenario here? SLI is something I'd only recommend to those who know they need it and understand the issues it can bring. If this is a first build for you, I'd be far more comfortable with you getting just one card and adding one only if you think you need it for a given title.

Optical drive: LG GH22NS70 dvd burner
- No problem here.

Power: Corsair Gaming GS800
- You're going to want a better PSU if you want to go SLI. Corsair AX850 is a good pick, as previously mentioned. You could go with a slightly lower quality ~1000W PSU as well (like the HX series).

Case: Fractal Design Define R3 or Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced
- While this is a great case, it will be completely inadequate in terms of cooling for 2x GTX 580 Lightnings. They dump over 50% of the hot air they generate into the case, so you need some serious cooling to take care of that. The only case that's going to be moderately quiet with this kind of configuration is going to be the Silverstone FT02, but it's a fair bit more expensive, and it's also a lot bigger. SLI is going to be limiting your choices a lot here.

Whatever case you go with, if you stick with SLI, I'd recommend you go with something that pushes a lot more air. Even a single GTX 580 and overclocked 2500K with a Noctua DH-14 push the boundaries in terms of cooling for the Fractal R3.

The other case I could have recommended as well would have been the HAF X, but I figured that wouldn't appeal to your sensibilities considering your leanings towards the R3 and 690.

 

[MedIC86]

How bad does 1920x1080 look on a 2560x1440 monitor?

Haha i feel sorry for you man, still debating what to do.

Anyway correct me if im wrong, but i cant stand any other resolution then the native reso of a display. but i guess thats different for everyone.

Also on the BF3 topic, i somewhere read that the developers said that there is currently no hardware that can max out BF3 at high fps.

 

[Maaseru]

Can anyone vouch for the motherboard in this bundle? I'm on the verge of buying this with a buddy and splitting the necessarily parts. I'm just not sure about that motherboard, any good? I wanna game, edit and run pretty much a bunch of programs like maya, adobe stuff, 3dsmax and other stuff like that.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.722551

 

[TheExodu5]

Can anyone vouch for the motherboard in this bundle? I'm on the verge of buying this with a buddy and splitting the necessarily parts. I'm just not sure about that motherboard, any good? I wanna game, edit and run pretty much a bunch of programs like maya, adobe stuff, 3dsmax and other stuff like that.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.722551

Definitely wait for a vouch on this motherboard. I remember the P68 LE was limited in terms of overclockability. I'm not sure if this carried over to the Z68 LE.

 

[HarryDemeanor]

It's a great case!

Glad to hear you like it! It looks really good for $99.

 

[Gvaz]

A 580 and 590 are way overkill for games right now unless you're:

- 2560x1600
- running an eyefinity setup

 

[MedIC86]

Can anyone vouch for the motherboard in this bundle? I'm on the verge of buying this with a buddy and splitting the necessarily parts. I'm just not sure about that motherboard, any good? I wanna game, edit and run pretty much a bunch of programs like maya, adobe stuff, 3dsmax and other stuff like that.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.722551

Well its basicly an entry level motherboard, i mean its ASUS so it will work pretty good, but dont except anything else then that it does its work as a mobo, limited oc ability, limited features etc.