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[kharma45]

Actually nevermind.

I've read around and it seems you need 700W minimum, not recommended but minimum with a recommended being about 800-850W if you want to overclock. A decent 800W PSU is almost double the price of a 550-650W PSU. And in two years there will probably be a GPU that will be around the same price as the added cost of a 800W+another 670 that will run on a 550-650W PSU given how important performance per watt is these days that will be arguably more powerful anyway. Especially with more demanding next-gen ports

Doesn't seem worth it to me.

Thanks anyway.

Where are you getting those figures from?

Take a look at this review http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-670-2-and-3way-sli-review/4

Measured power consumption one card

System in IDLE = 140 W
System Wattage with GPU in FULL Stress = 279 W
Difference (GPU load) = 139 W
Add average IDLE wattage ~10 W
Subjective obtained GPU power consumption = ~ 149 Watts

Measured power consumption two cards in SLI x2

System in IDLE = 160W
System Wattage with GPUs in FULL Stress = 433W
Difference (GPU load) = 273W
Add average IDLE wattage ~20W
Subjective obtained GPU power consumption = ~ 293 Watts

Measured power consumption three cards in SLI x3

System in IDLE = 170W
System Wattage with GPUs in FULL Stress = 583W
Difference (GPU load) = 403W
Add average IDLE wattage ~30W
Subjective obtained GPU power consumption = ~ 433 Watts

And that's with an old OC'd CPU and CCFL lights on it etc. This is what they recommend for a normal system

GeForce GTX 670 - On your average system the card requires you to have a 500~550 Watt power supply unit.
GeForce GTX 670 2x SLI - On your average system the cards require you to have a 700 Watt power supply unit as minimum.
GeForce GTX 670 3x SLI - On your average system the cards require you to have a 850 Watt power supply unit as minimum.

A good 650w will be fine but as I said I'd personally go 700w just for the extra headroom if you were say to overclock.

You can get 850W for almost the same price. If you look at a game like Metro 2033 (which IMO has awful coding) it can be power consuming going up to 333W. I don't know if you would use 2 cards, that it would double the WATT. So 666.

That all depends on the TDP of the card.

 

[Leckan]

Where are you getting those figures from?

Take a look at this review http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-670-2-and-3way-sli-review/4

Measured power consumption one card

System in IDLE = 140 W
System Wattage with GPU in FULL Stress = 279 W
Difference (GPU load) = 139 W
Add average IDLE wattage ~10 W
Subjective obtained GPU power consumption = ~ 149 Watts

Measured power consumption two cards in SLI x2

System in IDLE = 160W
System Wattage with GPUs in FULL Stress = 433W
Difference (GPU load) = 273W
Add average IDLE wattage ~20W
Subjective obtained GPU power consumption = ~ 293 Watts

Measured power consumption three cards in SLI x3

System in IDLE = 170W
System Wattage with GPUs in FULL Stress = 583W
Difference (GPU load) = 403W
Add average IDLE wattage ~30W
Subjective obtained GPU power consumption = ~ 433 Watts

A good 650w will be fine but as I said I'd personally go 700w just for the extra headroom if you were say to overclock.



That all depends on the TDP of the card.

From the same article. I'm no expert which is why I'm asking so maybe I'm wrong or didn't read it right?


"Here is Guru3D's power supply recommendation:

GeForce GTX 670 - On your average system the card requires you to have a 500~550 Watt power supply unit.
GeForce GTX 670 2x SLI - On your average system the cards require you to have a 700 Watt power supply unit as minimum.
GeForce GTX 670 3x SLI - On your average system the cards require you to have a 850 Watt power supply unit as minimum.

Remember, if you are going to overclock the GPUs or processor, then we do recommend you purchase something with some more stamina. The minute you touch voltages on the CPU or GPUs, the power draw can rise real fast and extensively.

There are many good PSUs out there, please do have a look at our many PSU reviews as we have loads of recommended PSUs for you to check out in there. Let's move to the next page where we'll look into GPU heat levels and noise levels coming from this graphics card."



In short though: Would you go for a more powerful PSU now and SLI in two years with a 670 or just buy a 550W PSU with a single 670 now and buy a completely new GPU in two years which should run on the same PSU and which will probably be optimized for next-gen ports which should be standard by 2014?

 

[RibbedHero]

Where are you getting those figures from?

Take a look at this review http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-670-2-and-3way-sli-review/4

Measured power consumption one card

System in IDLE = 140 W
System Wattage with GPU in FULL Stress = 279 W
Difference (GPU load) = 139 W
Add average IDLE wattage ~10 W
Subjective obtained GPU power consumption = ~ 149 Watts

Measured power consumption two cards in SLI x2

System in IDLE = 160W
System Wattage with GPUs in FULL Stress = 433W
Difference (GPU load) = 273W
Add average IDLE wattage ~20W
Subjective obtained GPU power consumption = ~ 293 Watts

Measured power consumption three cards in SLI x3

System in IDLE = 170W
System Wattage with GPUs in FULL Stress = 583W
Difference (GPU load) = 403W
Add average IDLE wattage ~30W
Subjective obtained GPU power consumption = ~ 433 Watts

And that's with an old OC'd CPU and CCFL lights on it etc. This is what they recommend for a normal system

GeForce GTX 670 - On your average system the card requires you to have a 500~550 Watt power supply unit.
GeForce GTX 670 2x SLI - On your average system the cards require you to have a 700 Watt power supply unit as minimum.
GeForce GTX 670 3x SLI - On your average system the cards require you to have a 850 Watt power supply unit as minimum.

A good 650w will be fine but as I said I'd personally go 700w just for the extra headroom if you were say to overclock.



That all depends on the TDP of the card.

I have a feeling Leckan is going by what the graphics card manufacturers recommend, which most of us know are greatly inflated.

 

[kharma45]

From the same article. I'm no expert which is why I'm asking so maybe I'm wrong or didn't read it right?


"Here is Guru3D's power supply recommendation:

GeForce GTX 670 - On your average system the card requires you to have a 500~550 Watt power supply unit.
GeForce GTX 670 2x SLI - On your average system the cards require you to have a 700 Watt power supply unit as minimum.
GeForce GTX 670 3x SLI - On your average system the cards require you to have a 850 Watt power supply unit as minimum.

Remember, if you are going to overclock the GPUs or processor, then we do recommend you purchase something with some more stamina. The minute you touch voltages on the CPU or GPUs, the power draw can rise real fast and extensively.

There are many good PSUs out there, please do have a look at our many PSU reviews as we have loads of recommended PSUs for you to check out in there. Let's move to the next page where we'll look into GPU heat levels and noise levels coming from this graphics card."



In short though: Would you go for a more powerful PSU now and SLI in two years with a 670 or just buy a 550W PSU with a single 670 now and buy a completely new GPU in two years which should run on the same PSU and which will probably be optimized for next-gen ports which should be standard by 2014?

I'd probably go for a single one now and change in two years if you needed to, that's just because I'm just not the biggest fan of multi-GPU set-ups, always prefer one single card.

Get a reasonably powerful PSU, say 700w, and leave both options open.

 

[Leckan]

Alrighty then.

Thanks.

 

[Sanjay]

So I was registering my motherboard on the Asus's website and came across this gem that made me laugh.

 

[Thraktor]

Thanks for the input, guys!

I didn't actually mention, but my ~$800 budget includes taxes. And taxes in Ontario are 13%, soooo... something that costs around $800 before taxes would be essentially be in the $900 range. I am trying to aim for $700 in parts with maybe +$20 wiggle room to hit the $800 mark after taxes.

I somewhat feel like I am entering into processor/videocard fanwars territory and it's kind of scary. xD Intel is better "value", but I don't really want to spend 300+ for a cpu/mobo...
Can't I just stick with my crappy and cheap stuff and wait for that other stuff to get cheaper? I'll always be a couple of years behind, but I am not too concerned about playing the latest and fanciest pc games.

Since I have CS 5.5, and in the future will likely upgrade to CS6 (I do have access to it depending on my sister's whims), would it be wise to stick with the HD7850 then?

I want to stick with the XFX gpu for their lifetime warranty, but is MSI that much better?

As others have said, switch to a Radeon 6870 or 6850, both very good value cards. The reason I linked to MSI cards is that they both use Twin Frozr coolers. The benefits of good aftermarket coolers like the Twin Frozr (as opposed to the reference cooler that'd be on the XFX card) are that they're much quieter, and by virtue of being more efficient at cooling the GPU, you can overclock the card further, if you want to. Even without overclocking, I'd advise them for the reduction in volume alone. The ones you'll want to look for are the Gigabyte Windforce, MSI Twin Frozr and Asus DirectCU. I linked to the MSI ones simply because they were cheaper for those particular cards, but any of the three would be good.

For a future $200 upgrade it's probably worth mentioning SLI and Crossfire. This way your initial investment is retained and improved by your upgrade.

I should probably post pics of my build since this thread helped me decide my parts list, the next time I open it up I'll try to remember

It's worth mentioning, but considering issues like micro-stuttering and compatibility problems with games, it's more for advanced users who are willing to tinker. There's also the issue that 6850s or 6870s most likely won't be readily available in a couple of years to crossfire with.

 

[Alexios]

Edited my selection based on your recommendations guys. But I'm having trouble with the GPU.

CPU
INTEL CORE I5-3570K 3.40GHZ LGA1155 - BOX 228.90 €
INTEL CORE I5-2500K 3.30 GHZ LGA1155 - BOX 219.90 €
Their price is only so different, which one do I go for?

MOBO
ASUS P8Z77-V LX 137.90 €

RAM
CORSAIR CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 VENGEANCE 8GB (2X4GB) PC3-12800 DUAL CHANNEL KIT 57.00 €

GPU
I can't find a good one priced at ~230 € or less which is the budget left after the above, all I can find is these which don't seem to bench different or very well after googling them. Although it's hard to find the exact models.

GIGABYTE GEFORCE GTX560TI GV-N560OC-1GI OVECLOCK 1GB PCI-E RETAIL 236.90 €
GAINWARD 1824 GEFORCE GTX560 TI 1GB PCI-E RETAIL 234.75 €
ASUS ENGTX560 DCII TOP/2DI/1GD5 1GB PCI-E RETAIL 229.00 € (supposedly discounted from 269.00 € atm)
MSI GTX560TI OC 1GB PCI-E RETAIL 219,00 €
ASUS EAH6870 DC/2DI2S/1GD5 1GB PCI-E RETAIL 208.60 €
PNY NVIDIA QUADRO FX580 512MB PCI-E RETAIL 208.00 €
ASUS HD7770-2GD5 2GB PCI-E RETAIL 199.50 €
There are a few more 560s (not Tis) inbetween here.
SAPPHIRE RADEON HD6870 1GB PCI-E RETAIL 191.98 €

That's about it in this range, then they go 250 € + or for lower to just 7770s and 550 Tis.


Maybe the benchmarks I find just aren't good, should I not expect METRO 2033 and the STALKER games to be playable in 1080p for anything but the expensive top of the line cards? Other than that they bench games like RE5 which I can run really great even on my rig. Should I just keep my GTX285 for now, will I still see a difference in performance just from the rest of the rig?

Should I then opt for the i7 CPUs in that case, since not getting a GPU would free up the budget some? Or keep the rest of the setup as is but add a nicer than my current case, better CPU cooler, maybe a small SSD and some accessories?

 

[kharma45]

GPU
I can't find a good one priced at ~230 € or less which is the budget left after the above, all I can find is some 560 and 560 Ti that don't seem to bench different or very well after googling them.

GIGABYTE GEFORCE GTX560TI GV-N560OC-1GI OVECLOCK 1GB PCI-E RETAIL 236.90 €
GAINWARD 1824 GEFORCE GTX560 TI 1GB PCI-E RETAIL 234.75 €
ASUS ENGTX560 DCII TOP/2DI/1GD5 1GB PCI-E RETAIL 229.00 € (supposedly discounted from 269.00 € atm)
MSI GTX560TI OC 1GB PCI-E RETAIL 219,00 €
ASUS EAH6870 DC/2DI2S/1GD5 1GB PCI-E RETAIL 208.60 €
PNY NVIDIA QUADRO FX580 512MB PCI-E RETAIL 208.00 €
ASUS HD7770-2GD5 2GB PCI-E RETAIL 199.50 €
There are a few more 560s (not Tis) inbetween here.
SAPPHIRE RADEON HD6870 1GB PCI-E RETAIL 191.98 €

That's about it in this range, then they go 250 € + or for lower to just 7770s and 550 Tis.


Maybe the benchmarks I find just aren't good, should I not expect METRO 2033 and the STALKER games to perform well in 1080p? Should I just keep my GTX285 for now, will I still see a difference in performance just from the rest of the rig?

Does the 7850 not come in around that price?

 

[Alexios]

The cheapest 7850 I can find here is

Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 248,99 €
Club 3D RADEON HD 7850 250,00 €

Also this.

Club 3D GTX 560Ti CoolStream Edition 248,99 €

All 2GB.

I can't stretch the budget anymore this month but I guess maybe I could leave the card for next month if it's just that difference?

For any more it'd have to be postponed some, so, what I wrote in the end of the post.

 

[Anson225]

Hi everybody
Another quick question

Do you think the GTX 670 is going to last for several years? (in terms of playing games at max settings)

I just wanna get the best bang for buck. Or are there any alternatives you guys suggest? Thank you.

 

[mkenyon]

Now that I am going through the budget, I estimated the cost of making a build with the 670 and the ivy i7 would cost around 1800-2000.

I love the setup in this: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6104/origin-chronos-review-the-ultimate-lan-box/1

he talks about a config for 1500, but the one i see on the site is around 2000.
how much can be saved from buying the components myself versus getting this origin?



The reason I want a small computer;

I have a Laptop I love. Its a Sony Vaio 13-inch made of magnesium alloy and carbon fiber. it has a semi-matte screen and is almost ultrabook thin. its small and lightweight and I get around 9000 points in 3dmark 06. But its not the crazy gaming machine. it does pretty well, and amazingly well for the size. its 640m LE is a decent card. it never goes above 50 degrees even under load.
I decided with myself that I love having such a cool running laptop. I dont want temps in the 80s and 90s.

So I need a machine that can be on all night downloading, have tons of storage. and still be cool when doing 6+ hours of BF3.


The problem is that my current case Corsair 650 D, while amazing (i have 9 fans! all coolermaster excalibur). 3 on side panel, two front, two top, one bottom and one exhaust in the back.
But its cumber some to carry around. its to crazy to carry around. It was a mistake to do SLI. Not that I have had any problems. at all. but heat/power/size/connectivety wise, I regret not getting one card.
I also regret focusing on 2560x1440 gaming. I felt it was too much, and on the 27 IPS display I couldnt see that drastic of a difference. I feel 1080p is the sweet spot.



So my scenario is this; I have a powerful desktop. But I cant take it with me when I move. I have to go to the states.
so its bwetween this;

either salvage components from main rig ( dvd drive, 2x older SSDs, ram, hard drives and then buy;

mobo mini-itx
i7 3770k
670 referenced 2 gb
psu modular




compared to the rig I have.. I don't know. Maybe the benefits will be marginal. Maybe I need to let more time pass. wait until the next generation to see bigger gains. But Ivy bridge and kepler have impressed everyone, right? it seems logical to upgrade now.



finally, I saw someone in the comments section on YT talking about the bitfenix as being very large for a mini Itx?

But thats the price of being able to fit even a 590 in there right? the only thing they could do would be to make it only work with a SFX power supply, but do they even go above 450 watt? then your limited with power, and will get a big power brick. and how much room are you really killing with that? if you compromise much more, cable management will be difficult.
i personally dont need an optical drive. never use that. if you remove the hdd cages, and then mounting them on the back sidepanel then maybe it can be shortened.

But I dont know. it does seem like the silverstone ft03 mini is not very portable if the panels come off so easily. small footprint and ultra power that is well cooled has always been an issue.


/ramblings

So, the Prodigy is indeed large for an ITX chassis, but that means that it is still tiny for even a mATX chassis.

Nehalem (9xx intel) -> Ivy is a pretty solid upgrade, especially with the fact that you should be able to push 4.3-4.5 Ghz fairly easy.

The cable management is surprisingly easy if you get the right PSU. Silverstone makes a short cable kit for their Strider series of modular power supplies. Or you can go the Seasonic X series route which have fairly short cables in comparison to begin with.

As far as comparing it to the prebuilt machine listed, I added similar stuff to a newegg cart, and it was $1150, so there is most definitely a savings. Beyond that, you will be able to hand pick each component and fan to increase silence.

If I were to do an air build in the Prodigy, it would consist of this:

CPU of choice (3570K or 3770K)
ASRock Z77 ITX motherboard
8GB of the Samsung 30nm RAM
SSD of choice
H100 or TPC 812 with two Corsair SP Quiet Edition fans
Gigabyte Windforce 670
Silverstone Strider Plus w/ Silverstone short cable kit. Or, just a Seasonic SI2II 520W.

The stock fans run silent enough that it's not worth replacing them. If the choice is on the TPC812 over the H100, I'd grab either two Bitfenix Spectre 120mm fans for the roof or two Corsair AF120 Quiet Editions.

Edited my selection based on your recommendations guys. But I'm having trouble with the GPU.

MSI GTX560TI OC 1GB PCI-E RETAIL 219,00 €
There are a few more 560s (not Tis) inbetween here.
SAPPHIRE RADEON HD6870 1GB PCI-E RETAIL 191.98 €

Maybe the benchmarks I find just aren't good, should I not expect METRO 2033 and the STALKER games to be playable in 1080p for anything but the expensive top of the line cards? Other than that they bench games like RE5 which I can run really great even on my rig. Should I just keep my GTX285 for now, will I still see a difference in performance just from the rest of the rig?

Should I then opt for the i7 CPUs in that case, since not getting a GPU would free up the budget some? Or keep the rest of the setup as is but add a nicer than my current case, better CPU cooler, maybe a small SSD and some accessories?

285->6870 is a pretty good leap in performance. I'd go for one of the two I left quoted. However, if you saved up to be able to buy a 7870, 670, or 7950, you would have a *huge* leap in performance and be in a better position to have a card that will last much longer thanks to the increased VRAM and performance.

Definitely do not go for the i7. That's one of those upgrades I'd suggest once you have a really nice videocard.

 

[Alexios]

What about the 3 cards in the post after that, I just found the same CPU/RAM in slightly lower prices so I could get one of those.

 

[mkenyon]

7850 is a decent choice. If it is the Sapphire with their twin fan cooler, like this one here, its a great card.

If you want though, your 285 could hold you over for a few months until you can get the cash together for a more substantial upgrade. That's entirely subjective as to whether or not it would be worth it though.

 

[Alexios]

It is this one

I think I'll get these then.

Intel Core i5 2500K(s1155, 3,30GHz, 6MB) 212,00 €
ASUS P8Z77-V LX 137.90 €
Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3-1600 Kit 52,00 €
Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 248,99 €

650.89 €

Or

Intel Core i5 3570K 219,00 €
ASUS P8Z77-V LX 137.90 €
Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3-1600 Kit 52,00 €

And wait on the GPU. Maybe get the case and some other stuff I mentioned in previous posts while waiting.

Thanks for the help everyone. Hopefully things don't change again by the time I get to clicking the order button.

 

[mkenyon]

If you wanted to save a bit more, could opt for the ASRock Z77 Pro4 or Biostar TZ77XE3.

 

[kharma45]

Yeah the Sapphire one is a good 7850.

I'd go for that, the MSI TF3 or Gigabyte Windforce with the Sapphire being bottom of the three just because their customer service, at least in the UK, isn't as good as the other two.

Still, any 7850 with a custom cooler pretty much means you'll get a good overclock. Most get 1100MHz and a good handful like mine get 1200MHz which puts it on a par with a stock GTX 580.

 

[Alexios]

If you wanted to save a bit more, could opt for the ASRock Z77 Pro4 or Biostar TZ77XE3.

Sadly the mobo I listed there is the cheapest Z77 they sell in the three stores I'll be using for these.

Except this micro ATX one.
ASUS P8Z77-M 119.50 €

Would that be worth it? My current mobo is a P5Q micro ATX I believe and the GTX285 slides slightly under the HDDs in this case (only the edge though). I imagine the new card could be bigger and get even more cramped if it's not on a full ATX board.

 

[mkenyon]

7850 is smaller than the 285.

 

[Deleted member 22576]

Exactly how does one game across two screen? Tons of people play them on a triple monitor setup, but a dual monitor setup won't work unless you're playing only RTSs or you cut your monitor until there's no bezel.

The video of left4dead I saw had the crosshairs and gun one screen. See, it's perfect!


http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...cz5AiJHKlWbirkRwQ&sig2=FleYW0VLVgpzxn_jJLxK7w

 

[Alexios]

7850 is smaller than the 285.

Cool then, might go for that micro ATX mobo (and leave the rest stuff intact, just to save a few cents).

Thanks again. Just waiting for my payment to come through one of these days and I'll decide which of the options I go for then.

 

[mkenyon]

The video of left4dead I saw had the crosshairs and gun one screen. See, it's perfect!


http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...cz5AiJHKlWbirkRwQ&sig2=FleYW0VLVgpzxn_jJLxK7w

That is really odd looking. That's like having a panorama picture with the right 1/3 blacked out.

 

[kharma45]

AMD 12.8 drivers are out now

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=367183

 

[TabletopTictacs]

Any news on this 660 Ti? I'm holding off on buying the stuff I was recommended 'til I know if I can afford it.

 

[kharma45]

Any news on this 660 Ti? I'm holding off on buying the stuff I was recommended 'til I know if I can afford it.

NDA is finished tomorrow so expect a glut of news and reviews.

It's going to be priced to compete with the 7950, it's a $300+ card.

 

[Deleted member 22576]

That is really odd looking. That's like having a panorama picture with the right 1/3 blacked out.

Ugh. I don't disagree. To make things even more frustrating I can't find out how they were actually able to configure it like that.

Still. It's cool. Not as cool as three monitors, but cooler than only one, I was actually just looking into those weird niche 21:9 displays from Phillips but they only make gigantic ones.

 

[Artchur]

So, machine is ordered and on it's way.

All that's left is KB/M and monitors. I'm looking to get a dual monitor setup so any "best bang for your buck" 1080p monitors to recommend?

Can't stop watching the tracking pages on my orders... come to me my precious... ssssssss.....

 

[Ceebs]

This is odd...the last few days every so often my USB mouse and Keyboard just lose power for a brief second and them come right back.

Any ideas about what causes this?

 

[mkenyon]

This is odd...the last few days every so often my USB mouse and Keyboard just lose power for a brief second and them come right back.

Any ideas about what causes this?

Are they both plugged in to the same port? For clarification, though there might be two USB headers side by side on the back of your case, they are both on the same port.

 

[Solideliquid]

Hi everybody
Another quick question

Do you think the GTX 670 is going to last for several years? (in terms of playing games at max settings)

I just wanna get the best bang for buck. Or are there any alternatives you guys suggest? Thank you.

I'm assuming any video card priced at $400 will last a good two years at least.

 

[Enlil]

If anyone knows if the outlet can stress the PSU please let me know if i can do anything to prevent the PSU becoming bad and not making any weird "motor noises. I alwayskeep my pc super clean, but in a few weeks for some reason it becomes loud. I want to know this before my pc arrives I don't want to damage the pc if it's a outlet problem.

Tips would be welcome

 

[mkenyon]

If anyone knows if the outlet can stress the PSU please let me know if i can do anything to prevent the PSU becoming bad and not making any weird "motor noises. I alwayskeep my pc super clean, but in a few weeks for some reason it becomes loud. I want to know this before my pc arrives I don't want to damage the pc if it's a outlet problem.

Tips would be welcome

No, it's probably just getting filled with dust.

 

[ink4n3]

The video of left4dead I saw had the crosshairs and gun one screen. See, it's perfect!


http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...cz5AiJHKlWbirkRwQ&sig2=FleYW0VLVgpzxn_jJLxK7w

I just use my second screen to keep my music software and a browser window open.

That dual screened FPS just seems really awkward.

 

[antitrop]

I'm assuming any video card priced at $400 will last a good two years at least.

Not for maximum settings like he said.

 

[Vossler]

Starting to get worried that the ASUS Direct CU II TOP Edition has been canceled. No listing on newegg, Amazon has them out of stock. This is the 1137 mhz edition, not the 915 mhz. So, even though I won't need it for a while, SLI will have to be done with a different card....not cool ASUS.

 

[mkenyon]

Starting to get worried that the ASUS Direct CU II TOP Edition has been canceled. No listing on newegg, Amazon has them out of stock. This is the 1137 mhz edition, not the 915 mhz. So, even though I won't need it for a while, SLI will have to be done with a different card....not cool ASUS.

This is par for the course on special versions, unfortunately.

What's the difference between the DCII and DCII TOP model? Just the factory clock?

 

[MrBig]

What's the difference between the DCII and DCII TOP model? Just the factory clock?

Yep. Exact same hardware.

 

[Neckbeard]

So I was registering my motherboard on the Asus's website and came across this gem that made me laugh.

...img...

Sanjay tell the truth. It's a dedicated Spider Solitaire machine and you know it.

 

[Hazaro]

Starting to get worried that the ASUS Direct CU II TOP Edition has been canceled. No listing on newegg, Amazon has them out of stock. This is the 1137 mhz edition, not the 915 mhz. So, even though I won't need it for a while, SLI will have to be done with a different card....not cool ASUS.

Wouldn't surprise me. That clock was really high for base and could go probably go over the average BOOST OC of 1250 or so causing errors for people.

 

[Vossler]

Bogus. Ahh well, maybe i'll just wait for the 700 series, nothing right now/near future needs sli at 1080/60 fps anyways.

 

[Fantastical]

Alright... so. I'm planning on moving into my new apartment tomorrow, and this involves moving my PC. My PC will be in my car of course, but I'm planning on visiting my sister who lives about 2 hours away on the way there. This would mean that my computer would have to be in the car for hours. The high will be 90 tomorrow and I'm concerned about how this will affect my computer.

Should I be worried?

 

[Vossler]

Not trying to be mean about it, but couldn't you just bring the PC inside with you?

 

[Corky]

So what kind of difference would one see in real world scenarios between intels 3xx and 5xx ssd lines?

 

[DJ_XMX]

Intel i7 3770 (Not K Variant since I never overclock)
CPU Heat sinkrolimatech Black Megahalems CPU Cooler
CPU FAN: Xigmatek Black Line 120mm White LED x2
MotherBoard:
RAMatriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 16GB (2X8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel kit
Graphics Card: OCUK Nvidia GTX 670 2GB Ram
HDD: x 1 Intel 520 Series 180GB SSD for OS / Game and Apps
HDD: x 2 500GB for Music / Downloads / Videos / General Storage
Case:Antec - Eleven Hundred
PSU: 650w Antec Gold

Monitor: BenQ GW2250HM 22" (Hopefully its good.. any advice? i do come from an old LG L175S .. 5 years old..)

So how does my build look for most web-surfing and some casual gaming?

Current Rigs is a Intel Q6600 with 4Gb Ram and GTX 275 an 500GB HDD so I hope this is a good upgrade... was going to go raid 0 with intel 520 but no trim support so ill wait for that..

Let me know if you guys recommend anything else

 

[mkenyon]

It's all about buying other hardware to create new problems that can only be solved with buying more hardware!

Time to upgrade to 120hz.

Intel i7 3770 (Not K Variant since I never overclock)
CPU Heat sinkrolimatech Black Megahalems CPU Cooler
CPU FAN: Xigmatek Black Line 120mm White LED x2
MotherBoard:
RAMatriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 16GB (2X8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel kit
Graphics Card: OCUK Nvidia GTX 670 2GB Ram
HDD: x 1 Intel 520 Series 180GB SSD for OS / Game and Apps
HDD: x 2 500GB for Music / Downloads / Videos / General Storage
Case:Antec - Eleven Hundred
PSU: 650w Antec Gold

Monitor: BenQ GW2250HM 22" (Hopefully its good.. any advice? i do come from an old LG L175S .. 5 years old..)

So how does my build look for most web-surfing and some casual gaming?

Current Rigs is a Intel Q6600 with 4Gb Ram and GTX 275 an 500GB HDD so I hope this is a good upgrade... was going to go raid 0 with intel 520 but no trim support so ill wait for that..

Let me know if you guys recommend anything else

Ivy/Sandy require altering two values in BIOS in order to gain a 25-35% increase in performance. You will most definitely want to overclock now. Even if you are being really stubborn and still say no despite lots of good reasons to do it, it will vastly improve the resell value of it, and it's a piddance more to have that ability should you choose to OC in the future.

I dont think the Xigamatek Black Line fans were intended for heatsinks/radiators, looks much more like an air flow/case fan. They don't even have a pressure rating on their product page for it. Consider Spectre Pros, Corsair SP Quiet Edition, Swiftech Helix, or Gentle Typhoon AP-14/15s.

The memory is certainly overkill, as 4GB is already plenty, but 8GB at the price is a 'might as well'. Was this specific set chosen for an aesthetic reason?

Eleven Hundred is pretty low on my list of recommended cases. It's not bad, but there are some other really good choices if you are interested.

If possible, swap the 670 for a Gigabyte Windforce. Its about half the volume of reference cards at load.

 

[Fantastical]

Not trying to be mean about it, but couldn't you just bring the PC inside with you?

Lol, I didn't think of that. Well, we're moving her into a dorm too so it wouldn't be ideal, but yeah I guess I could.

 

[Spl1nter]

Lol, I didn't think of that. Well, we're moving her into a dorm too so it wouldn't be ideal, but yeah I guess I could.

There will be no issue. Difference between 90 Fahrenheit and 90 Celsius is quite huge. If your car was heating up to 90 Celsius that would be quite a concern for other reasons.

 

[Iacobellis]

How are Corsair SSD's in term of reliability and longevity compared to Samsung? I wouldn't mind sacrificing some memory for better performance.

 

[DJ_XMX]

It's all about buying other hardware to create new problems that can only be solved with buying more hardware!

Time to upgrade to 120hz.


Ivy/Sandy require altering two values in BIOS in order to gain a 25-35% increase in performance. You will most definitely want to overclock now. Even if you are being really stubborn and still say no despite lots of good reasons to do it, it will vastly improve the resell value of it, and it's a piddance more to have that ability should you choose to OC in the future.

I dont think the Xigamatek Black Line fans were intended for heatsinks/radiators, looks much more like an air flow/case fan. They don't even have a pressure rating on their product page for it. Consider Spectre Pros, Corsair SP Quiet Edition, Swiftech Helix, or Gentle Typhoon AP-14/15s.

The memory is certainly overkill, as 4GB is already plenty, but 8GB at the price is a 'might as well'. Was this specific set chosen for an aesthetic reason?

Eleven Hundred is pretty low on my list of recommended cases. It's not bad, but there are some other really good choices if you are interested.

If possible, swap the 670 for a Gigabyte Windforce. Its about half the volume of reference cards at load.

I dont re-sell my PC neither overclock CPU , ill probrally get a new one before I did that... maybe next year , they are partly company owned so I have to get what I can with certain budget and regarding ram and other parts.. it was on offer at Overclockers.co.uk in regards to CFM here is the bundle

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-025-TL&groupid=701&catid=2330&subcat=2318

In regards to the case its due to shipping costs.. and i can get that one cheaper locally , since not all of my components are paid by company.. that includes the GTX 670 which i went with the bugdet one

 

[mkenyon]

It just seems odd to have a megahalems with push/pull fans, a non K processor, and a reference video card. The difference in price is worth it if you can swing the Gigabyte, ASUS DCII, or MSI Twin Frozr. I mean, if you need to save money, drop the megahalems and go with one of those three videocards.

So what kind of difference would one see in real world scenarios between intels 3xx and 5xx ssd lines?

Probably none really. I can't tell a difference between a Force 3, Force GT, Samsung 830, or a Crucial M4 in RAID0.

How are Corsair SSD's in term of reliability and longevity compared to Samsung? I wouldn't mind sacrificing some memory for better performance.

I've been using two Corsair SSDs for quite a while yet without any issues. Their firmware support/updates are really timely, and they seem to have a good rep. That being said, I'd only ever recommend Samsung 830s in an enterprise setting.