Morning Folks,
I've spent the last few weeks scouring the forums to come up with a build and am forever changing my mind and rethinking; finally i've decided to get some help from the Pro's...
I am after brand new everything in a new Gaming setup, ideally I would like to go full Watercooling, I have never done it before due to cost but would like to invest, I've begun research into this area but could use some pointers.
CPU:
I have been looking at Sandybridge, Ivybridge and Sandybridge-E and still can't make up my mind, Ivybridge is of course the newer chip but read plenty of reports of them running really hot when clocked. I would like to hit 5GHz if possible so maybe a Sandybridge i5?
Motherboard:
Again with my changing of mind on CPU this has also changed a fair amount, I am also a bit OCD with colour schemes and wanting yellow coolant in the watercooling on black - so mobo needs to have yellow colouring or mostly black. There is likely to be a large amount of HDD's installed also so more Sata 6GB/s the better.
GPU:
Don't know where to begin... I guess before we consider GPU lets consider Monitors, I was at first looking at the 27" Samsung 120HZ Monitor but would have preferred nVidia GPU's as looking at my first SLI Setup, although I am after the 120Hz more I would like 3D more so for movies, with that monitor unless I hack it I need AMD Technology. Without starting a flamewar it seems, especially with the release of the 670 that there is far more bang for buck in nVidia then AMD and with multiple cards nVidia tend to have better driver support?
So a few options...
1x690 + Single Monitor 120Hz
2x680 + nVidia Surround 3x23"/24" Monitors
2x670 + nVidia Surround 3x23"/24" Monitors
2x7970 + Eyefinity Setup 3x23"/24" Monitors
Looking to watercool these also...
Monitor:
With the above in mind... where do I go; I do watch a fair few movies on the PC so large is good but in terms of space I could prob just manage 3x24" - I used to have a trimonitor setup for years before it become as widely supported and as useful as it was at the time for gaming it would only utilise 2 max, is 3 screen gaming really viable, is it not awkard? Does it look good, is it simple enough to utilise 1 screen over 3 should you wish to? If not do i go 27", i realise at 1080P some say it seems stretched but this is not an issue to me. I see OcUK do a 3package monitor system with the Samsung 23" but the 24" BenQ gets great reviews... decisions! Also ideally if I went 3 monitors I would want a proper stand, the XFX one is quite pricey though!
RAM
Bit clueless in this area, yellow colouring be nice, the last time i spent a lot on ram was Crucial Ballistics, I guess something that will go nice with clocked CPU/GPU - reading good things about the Samsung Greens, low profile so good with air coolers but a bit boring with a watercooled system?
Case
At first i was looking at the Thermaltake GT10 as I think it looks neat, but with my desire for watercooling I am pretty settled on the Corsair 800D. I've checked out some of the other bigger cases but pretty sure this ticks all the boxes!
Watercooling
Completely new to this area, no idea what I would need to Watercool a CPU and 2xGPU's - I guess at a minimium a 360rad? The XSPC bay pump+res's look good and easy to fit so could be a solution?
HDD
For the OS - probably a 128/256GB M4 SSD - then a 6GB/s Sata III 1TB Drive for the majority of games
Peripherals - Keyboard/Mouse/Headset
Not worried about speakers as volume can be an issue so will be a headset for me, not totally fussed on Keyboard and Mouse, looking at mechanical but I do a lot of typing so read they are not always best for this if you get the more gaming orientated ones. I have a G13 so the G19 would match and the Cyborg mouses look sweet.
So been going round in circles as i say, if you had ~£3000 what would you buy, please dont spam the thread with "you dont need that much to buy a PC" etc...
Thank you
I've spent the last few weeks scouring the forums to come up with a build and am forever changing my mind and rethinking; finally i've decided to get some help from the Pro's...
I am after brand new everything in a new Gaming setup, ideally I would like to go full Watercooling, I have never done it before due to cost but would like to invest, I've begun research into this area but could use some pointers.
CPU:
I have been looking at Sandybridge, Ivybridge and Sandybridge-E and still can't make up my mind, Ivybridge is of course the newer chip but read plenty of reports of them running really hot when clocked. I would like to hit 5GHz if possible so maybe a Sandybridge i5?
Motherboard:
Again with my changing of mind on CPU this has also changed a fair amount, I am also a bit OCD with colour schemes and wanting yellow coolant in the watercooling on black - so mobo needs to have yellow colouring or mostly black. There is likely to be a large amount of HDD's installed also so more Sata 6GB/s the better.
GPU:
Don't know where to begin... I guess before we consider GPU lets consider Monitors, I was at first looking at the 27" Samsung 120HZ Monitor but would have preferred nVidia GPU's as looking at my first SLI Setup, although I am after the 120Hz more I would like 3D more so for movies, with that monitor unless I hack it I need AMD Technology. Without starting a flamewar it seems, especially with the release of the 670 that there is far more bang for buck in nVidia then AMD and with multiple cards nVidia tend to have better driver support?
So a few options...
1x690 + Single Monitor 120Hz
2x680 + nVidia Surround 3x23"/24" Monitors
2x670 + nVidia Surround 3x23"/24" Monitors
2x7970 + Eyefinity Setup 3x23"/24" Monitors
Looking to watercool these also...
Monitor:
With the above in mind... where do I go; I do watch a fair few movies on the PC so large is good but in terms of space I could prob just manage 3x24" - I used to have a trimonitor setup for years before it become as widely supported and as useful as it was at the time for gaming it would only utilise 2 max, is 3 screen gaming really viable, is it not awkard? Does it look good, is it simple enough to utilise 1 screen over 3 should you wish to? If not do i go 27", i realise at 1080P some say it seems stretched but this is not an issue to me. I see OcUK do a 3package monitor system with the Samsung 23" but the 24" BenQ gets great reviews... decisions! Also ideally if I went 3 monitors I would want a proper stand, the XFX one is quite pricey though!
RAM
Bit clueless in this area, yellow colouring be nice, the last time i spent a lot on ram was Crucial Ballistics, I guess something that will go nice with clocked CPU/GPU - reading good things about the Samsung Greens, low profile so good with air coolers but a bit boring with a watercooled system?
Case
At first i was looking at the Thermaltake GT10 as I think it looks neat, but with my desire for watercooling I am pretty settled on the Corsair 800D. I've checked out some of the other bigger cases but pretty sure this ticks all the boxes!
Watercooling
Completely new to this area, no idea what I would need to Watercool a CPU and 2xGPU's - I guess at a minimium a 360rad? The XSPC bay pump+res's look good and easy to fit so could be a solution?
HDD
For the OS - probably a 128/256GB M4 SSD - then a 6GB/s Sata III 1TB Drive for the majority of games
Peripherals - Keyboard/Mouse/Headset
Not worried about speakers as volume can be an issue so will be a headset for me, not totally fussed on Keyboard and Mouse, looking at mechanical but I do a lot of typing so read they are not always best for this if you get the more gaming orientated ones. I have a G13 so the G19 would match and the Cyborg mouses look sweet.
So been going round in circles as i say, if you had ~£3000 what would you buy, please dont spam the thread with "you dont need that much to buy a PC" etc...
Thank you
