Advice on new build

Nubins · 11 Mar 2011 at 18:45

Hi all,

I'm a long time buyer for OCUK but never really used the forums, I've been reading up on components for a new system and I've managed to narrow it down, I just wanted some advice as I've got a bit out of touch with the scene in recent years and I don't trust my own judgement anymore!

Just to advise of my current system first of all:

Asus P6T
i7 920 @ 2.67ghz
OCZ Intel i7 6GB (6x1GB) DDR3 PC3-10666 Triple Channel
BFG Geforce GTX 295

I reckon I'm about due an upgrade to a DX11 capable GPU and faster CPU, was thinking along the lines of the below:

Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £239.99

Corsair Hydro H70 High-Performance CPU WaterCooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366/AM2/AM3) £79.99

Asus P67 Sabertooth Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £214.99

OcUK GeForce GTX 570 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card x2 £539.98

Corsair Vengeance 12GB (3x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Triple Channel Kit (CMZ12GX3M3A1600C9) £149.99

Corsair HX 850W ATX Modular SLI Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-850HXUK) £143.99

Total: £1,368.92

I had considered a few other options, 2x 6950's (unlocked to 6970's) but going by benchmarks I've seen (http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-570-sli-review/9) the GTX 570's in SLI seem to out perform 6970's in Xfire? (albeit by a fairly small margin for £120 more)

Also I know it's not really a good reason but the last Radeon I had that I was happy with was a 9800 Pro. I bought a 4870x2 before my GTX 295 but sent it back as I had several issues with it and that kind of put me off Radeons.

I also considered 2x GTX 480's in SLI, but reconsidered once I saw how much heat they generate and also the amount of power they consume.

I have a few (probably stupid) questions:

1. Does anyone see any problems with the above setup? Anything you would change? (bear in mind I'm already beyond what I wanted to spend!)

2. Do you think the PSU is sufficient? If so does it give enough headroom for overclocking the CPU/GPU's?

3. I noticed in the pre-overclocked bundles that they contain dual channel DDR3 as opposed to tri channel, and also that they only contain 4gb RAM? Is there a reason for this? Am I making the wrong choice with tri channel or going overboard with 4gb+ of RAM? I only went for 12gb over 6gb as price wise it's only marginally more expensive.

Any advice is much appreciated, apologies for my ignorance but as I said I'm so out of touch with the scene these days I need help from people in the know!

Cheers

95thrifles · 11 Mar 2011 at 19:26

Yeah you need dual channel RAM, not triple, look at one of the 8 gig kits
PSU should be fine
What you planning to use PC for?

postmanfw · 11 Mar 2011 at 21:48

Not a big issue but that motherboard run at 8x and 8x when using sli. Only the gigabyte ud7 can do 16/16 in sli/xfire
Very similar to what i was thinking of getting but i am going to go with the 6950s and still undecided about the motherboard. What res will you be gaming at?

Reaper 392 · 11 Mar 2011 at 22:03

postmanfw said:
Not a big issue but that motherboard run at 8x and 8x when using sli. Only the gigabyte ud7 can do 16/16 in sli/xfire
Very similar to what i was thinking of getting but i am going to go with the 6950s and still undecided about the motherboard. What res will you be gaming at?

x8, x8 crossfire is absolutly fine. there is barely any change between this and x16, x16 crossfire using GTX 580's in SLI. (less than 0.1FPS over three of the latest games)

Nubins · 11 Mar 2011 at 23:42

PC is mainly used for gaming, I'll be running games in 1920x1200 in general as that's the highest res my monitor supports.

I just noticed in your link from your sig, you say that I'd be better off with an i5 for gaming? I hadn't really clocked on but checking out now, looks like you're right.
From what I've read I lose 2mb L3 cache and HT going from i7 to i5, is this only a concern if you're using CPU heavy applications?

Reaper 392, are you saying that this board is ok for both sli/xfire or would I be better off with a ud7 if I go sli?

From what I've read I think I'll go for:

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM

Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C8)

Asus ATI Radeon HD 6950 OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card x2

Saves me £240 and I'm still getting a good setup

Thanks for the advice guys think this could be the one I go for

postmanfw · 11 Mar 2011 at 23:58

Reaper...do you have any links to reviews as been trying to convince myself i dont need the ud7...esp at the price it is compared to other boards

6950 xfire is plenty for that res. Upgrading to a 27" dell hopefully myself and still expect them to be fine

95thrifles · 12 Mar 2011 at 00:34

Yeah there's no need for HT at all when it comes to gaming, the cache has a small effect but not worth the premium
Re SLi & Xfire x8/x8 only offers approx 2% less performance than x16/x16 so again IMO it's not worth the premium for a board like the UD7, tbh a single 570 will still max out that res anyway, might be worth just getting one for now then another in a year or so once prices have dropped n games become more demanding

Nubins · 12 Mar 2011 at 09:55

It would make more sense to get one card for now, as you say I could always get another one later. My only concern is that I might not be able to get the same model in a year or so, if I'm not mistaken I will need an identical card for sli/xfire?

Well I've just bought it anyway, gone for the 2 cards, I'm impatient!

Should arrive on Tuesday hopefully!