new rig - gaming, uni +multiple monitors

harber · 31 May 2013 at 00:57

hi guys

im sure your all sick of these threads by now but im fed up of google. basically im in need of a new rig. im going to be gaming (mostly fps like battlefield), studying computer science at uni so will be used for programming etc but a part of the course is also going to be studying linux so i wouldnt mind a seperate drive for tinkering with that unless its pointless. i currently have 3 monitors. 2 ar 1920x1200 and 1 is 1920x1080. if i go sli would i be able to have all 3 at there native res? higher res monitors on 1 and lower res on the other card

my budget is anywhere up to £2000 but obviously would prefer to spend less. im looking to buy in the next few weeks once haswell has been released but asking now as i dont think pricing will change dramatically and would like a rough idea of what im getting myself into

i already have monitors, 5.1 speakers so will need keyboard, mouse speccing as well as the rig

thanks for any help you can give and if theres any other info i can give just let me know

cheers

Rooster212 · 31 May 2013 at 02:14

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire HD 7970 OC BOOST 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £329.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £189.95
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 256GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT256M4SSD2) £164.99
1 x Corsair Professional Series AX 860W '80 Plus Platinum' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020044-UK) £162.95
1 x MSI Z77 MPower Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 ATX Motherboard with FREE F1 RC Car & MSI HDD Enclosure £143.99
1 x Corsair Obsidian 550D Quiet Midi Tower Case - Black £119.99
1 x Toshiba (7K3000.D) 3TB SATA 6GB/s 64MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA300) HDD £103.99
1 x Alpenföhn -Wasser- All-In-One Watercooling Solution (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 /1366 / 2011 / AMD AM2 / AM3 / AM3+ / FM1) £59.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £49.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.99
Total : £1,362.31 (includes shipping : £13.75).

Enough power on the power supply to Crossfire 2 7970 GHz for upgrades in the future, you can run 3 monitors off that no problem, when using Eyefinity for gaming the 1920x1200 screens will drop down to 1920x1080 I think. With your high budget you could get the 2 cards now, but I'd try one, see how you get on, then add another if you need the power.

I'll leave mouse and keyboard up to you, as there is so much choice, but I'd personally recommend a mechanical keyboard with Brown or Black switches, and a Razer mouse. As a fellow programmer (3rd year computer scientist coming up

) a mechanical keyboard makes a massive difference, and it is a long term investment.

Idleman · 31 May 2013 at 02:36

YOUR BASKET
2 x HIS HD 7950 IceQ BOOST 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795QC3G2M) £249.95 (£499.90)
1 x Toshiba SSD HG5D Series 7mm 256GB Solid State Hard Drive - (THNSNH256GCST) £169.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £167.99
1 x Gigabyte Osmium Mechanical Gaming Keyboard £109.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £109.99
1 x Antec P280 Super Midi Tower Case - Gun Metal Black £99.95
1 x XFX 750W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £83.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £79.99
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £59.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £49.99
1 x Logitech G500 5700DPI Gaming Mouse (910-001262) £39.95
1 x LiteOn IHAS124-04 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £1,512.62 (includes shipping : £19.10).

Jay Blizzay · 31 May 2013 at 06:28

If using linux it might be worth virtualising it on the current hard disk.

harber · 31 May 2013 at 23:59

Rooster212 said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire HD 7970 OC BOOST 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £329.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £189.95
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 256GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT256M4SSD2) £164.99
1 x Corsair Professional Series AX 860W '80 Plus Platinum' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020044-UK) £162.95

1 x MSI Z77 MPower Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 ATX Motherboard with FREE F1 RC Car & MSI HDD Enclosure £143.99
1 x Corsair Obsidian 550D Quiet Midi Tower Case - Black £119.99
1 x Toshiba (7K3000.D) 3TB SATA 6GB/s 64MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA300) HDD £103.99
1 x Alpenföhn -Wasser- All-In-One Watercooling Solution (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 /1366 / 2011 / AMD AM2 / AM3 / AM3+ / FM1) £59.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £49.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.99
Total : £1,362.31 (includes shipping : £13.75).

Enough power on the power supply to Crossfire 2 7970 GHz for upgrades in the future, you can run 3 monitors off that no problem, when using Eyefinity for gaming the 1920x1200 screens will drop down to 1920x1080 I think. With your high budget you could get the 2 cards now, but I'd try one, see how you get on, then add another if you need the power.

I'll leave mouse and keyboard up to you, as there is so much choice, but I'd personally recommend a mechanical keyboard with Brown or Black switches, and a Razer mouse. As a fellow programmer (3rd year computer scientist coming up ) a mechanical keyboard makes a massive difference, and it is a long term investment.

thanks for that, just a couple of questions. one of my monitors is 3d. am i rite in thinking that because its nvidia vision theres no way to get that to work with an amd card? not a problem as i use my playstation for blu rays and cant see me playing 3d for long periods of time on the pc but be nice to have the option but i have noticed that amd cards seem to give you a lot more for less money.

also going through this forum ive noticed a lot of people are saying 16gb ram? im assuming that is just overkill and not needed unless your doing some intense work?

how are you finding the course? im starting in october and im really nervous although i cant wait tbh. im doing it through open university and working full time (cant afford not to work plus how could i afford this lot lol)

harber · 1 Jun 2013 at 00:07

Idleman said:
YOUR BASKET
2 x HIS HD 7950 IceQ BOOST 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795QC3G2M) £249.95 (£499.90)
1 x Toshiba SSD HG5D Series 7mm 256GB Solid State Hard Drive - (THNSNH256GCST) £169.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £167.99
1 x Gigabyte Osmium Mechanical Gaming Keyboard £109.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £109.99
1 x Antec P280 Super Midi Tower Case - Gun Metal Black £99.95
1 x XFX 750W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £83.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £79.99
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £59.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £49.99
1 x Logitech G500 5700DPI Gaming Mouse (910-001262) £39.95
1 x LiteOn IHAS124-04 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £1,512.62 (includes shipping : £19.10).

thanks for that. nice to have a couple of options and different ideas for some parts. i noticed you both specced an i5 over an i7. is the difference in performance not particularly noticeable especially considering the price premium? if theres not much difference then i'll definitely be taking that and saving a few quid

harber · 1 Jun 2013 at 00:09

Jay Blizzay said:
If using linux it might be worth virtualising it on the current hard disk.

ive never used linux before, would you be able to suggest a good starting point?