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- Joined
- 15 Apr 2012
- Posts
- 12
I see a lot of people asking for help with speccing a new build but often they don’t really describe what they will be using it for, i will try to rectify that in this post.
I use my PC 90% for gaming
I use a 30’’ Dell monitor and like to use it at 2500x1600 with max settings in whatever game i play
In order of importance;
1. Reliability
2. Speed of loading files and games
3. Quietness
4. Looks
The games i like to play are FPS such as BF3 and Crysis, RPG’s such as Skyrim and Strategy games such as the Total war series.
My current setup is:
Core I7 2600 with mild OC to 4.4Ghz using built in Gigabyte Easytune6 tool (ET6)
4GB DDR average memory
Gigabyte Z79 UD5 Motherboard
Coolermaster Cosmos S case (I love this case!)
1x 32gb SSD (one of the early ones)
4x other HD’s from 240-1Tb
Using onboard sound
7.1 speaker setup (creative)
Gigabyte GTX590 Graphics
H50 Corsair CPU cooler
1000w Modular PSU (think Corsair as well)
Windows 7 Pro 32bit
I want to get something that is a significant step up in performance but am confused about several things:
1. PCIe 3
a. Does this double the bandwidth of a full (x16) slot for graphics bandwidth?
b. I believe I need a HARDWARE (not simply a Bios tweak later) compatible PCIe 3 MB AND a PCIe 3 graphics card AND an Ivy Bridge CPU to actually get full PCIe 3 speeds, is this correct?
c. Are there any MB’s out there that are Ivy Bridge+ 4 x true PCIe 3 compat slots as i may want to go quad GPU
2. SSD and Ivy Bridge
a. I have read various things about how Ivy Bridge can speed up use of existing SSD’s or use smaller SSD’s to pre cache for bigger drives and really don’t understand what I need to buy to take advantage of these features or even if i have fully understood them, can someone please explain the optimum (for speed) components required.
3. Water cooling
a. Considering reliability is top of my list and I don’t want or need any extreme OC’s, do I even need to get WC for the CPU? My current H50 is ok but i have seen rave reviews for the top Noctura twin fan cooler
4. Memory
a. As i wont be doing any heavy OC’ing does it really matter if I get lower speed memory? I mean will i really actually notice anything in real world use between say 1300 and 2300 memory?? I am aiming to buy 16GB in the new build (Win 7 64bit)
5. Hard drives
a. When i first bought my 32gb SSD and put some games on there the difference was amazing, is it worth doubling up on the SSD to raid them for the new build? Again, will i actually see the difference? Happy to buy 2 x 240gb ssd rather than just 1 if the raid really shines
Features I absolutely want for the new build: (these are minimums)
4 x USB 3
2 x PCIe 3 (4 slots would be better)
Ivy Bridge hardware compatibility
Good looking motherboard
Ideally colour coded components
2 x GTX 680 (still thinking about 4 of them), rather have quiet ones than OC ones
A PSU to handle my requirements or perhaps fit 2 PSU in the case? Unsure if my current PSU can handle the new build and happy to buy another
I will be buying a Coolermaster Cosmos 2 Ultra tower for the build
My budget is flexible but i was thinking around £3k
Thanks in advance!
I use my PC 90% for gaming
I use a 30’’ Dell monitor and like to use it at 2500x1600 with max settings in whatever game i play
In order of importance;
1. Reliability
2. Speed of loading files and games
3. Quietness
4. Looks
The games i like to play are FPS such as BF3 and Crysis, RPG’s such as Skyrim and Strategy games such as the Total war series.
My current setup is:
Core I7 2600 with mild OC to 4.4Ghz using built in Gigabyte Easytune6 tool (ET6)
4GB DDR average memory
Gigabyte Z79 UD5 Motherboard
Coolermaster Cosmos S case (I love this case!)
1x 32gb SSD (one of the early ones)
4x other HD’s from 240-1Tb
Using onboard sound
7.1 speaker setup (creative)
Gigabyte GTX590 Graphics
H50 Corsair CPU cooler
1000w Modular PSU (think Corsair as well)
Windows 7 Pro 32bit
I want to get something that is a significant step up in performance but am confused about several things:
1. PCIe 3
a. Does this double the bandwidth of a full (x16) slot for graphics bandwidth?
b. I believe I need a HARDWARE (not simply a Bios tweak later) compatible PCIe 3 MB AND a PCIe 3 graphics card AND an Ivy Bridge CPU to actually get full PCIe 3 speeds, is this correct?
c. Are there any MB’s out there that are Ivy Bridge+ 4 x true PCIe 3 compat slots as i may want to go quad GPU
2. SSD and Ivy Bridge
a. I have read various things about how Ivy Bridge can speed up use of existing SSD’s or use smaller SSD’s to pre cache for bigger drives and really don’t understand what I need to buy to take advantage of these features or even if i have fully understood them, can someone please explain the optimum (for speed) components required.
3. Water cooling
a. Considering reliability is top of my list and I don’t want or need any extreme OC’s, do I even need to get WC for the CPU? My current H50 is ok but i have seen rave reviews for the top Noctura twin fan cooler
4. Memory
a. As i wont be doing any heavy OC’ing does it really matter if I get lower speed memory? I mean will i really actually notice anything in real world use between say 1300 and 2300 memory?? I am aiming to buy 16GB in the new build (Win 7 64bit)
5. Hard drives
a. When i first bought my 32gb SSD and put some games on there the difference was amazing, is it worth doubling up on the SSD to raid them for the new build? Again, will i actually see the difference? Happy to buy 2 x 240gb ssd rather than just 1 if the raid really shines
Features I absolutely want for the new build: (these are minimums)
4 x USB 3
2 x PCIe 3 (4 slots would be better)
Ivy Bridge hardware compatibility
Good looking motherboard
Ideally colour coded components
2 x GTX 680 (still thinking about 4 of them), rather have quiet ones than OC ones
A PSU to handle my requirements or perhaps fit 2 PSU in the case? Unsure if my current PSU can handle the new build and happy to buy another
I will be buying a Coolermaster Cosmos 2 Ultra tower for the build
My budget is flexible but i was thinking around £3k
Thanks in advance!
