My new Rig Project

rpltyler · 12 Apr 2011 at 09:08

Hi all, I am currently typing up a list of components for a new rig that i am building up over this year, as I am not buying everything at once, i can spread the cost and build as I go. For a motherboard I am looking at the new rampage three, would like to know thoughts on this. Also what graphics card combo would you hook up to this? Should i get one of the new Radeon HD 6990 or two of the older model? Or, should i wait and see what Nvidia will come out with in a few months?

any thoughts you have let me know!

thanks

Waza · 12 Apr 2011 at 10:31

I would actually advice you to just put the cash into another bank account, as the time you've bought your last item your first item you bought is too old.

It's the best way.

Cookeh · 12 Apr 2011 at 10:40

Building up over a year will make things very challenging.

For example, in July AMD will be releasing Bulldozer - how this will compare to SB we don't know yet, it could be much faster, or offer significantly better bang-for buck with similar performance.

In Q4 (Oct-Dec) Intel will be releasing Ivy-Bridge - the next level up from SB. Again performance figures and pricing is as of yet unknown.

Ofc, all these new chips will require different sockets and hence getting a motherboard now then a cpu in a few months is not the best option.

It's a similar story with graphics cards. Product life for gfx cards is rather short, as is the time that they remain at the top for - in afew months there will probably be something that destroys the HD6990 and the GTX590.

rpltyler · 12 Apr 2011 at 14:12

good advice, thanks guys, i think i will just save a shed load of cash and then build a killer rig at the end of the year. Or, should i simply upgrade my current rig? I spent a fair bit of cash on it recently and still am not getting the juice out of it that i thought i would, I know my weak point is my graphics card, its an Nvidia GTS 250 running off a P6T motherboard with 12 gigs of ddr3 ram and an intel i7 920 chip. Is it just the card that's slowing me down? would it be better to simply replace that? I play rift, crysis, MW2, and also do a lot of HD video editing and dable in some 3D modelling in 3DSMax. what improvements can I make on this current rig that would drastically increase frame rates while running games in ultra Graphics mode? with all the AA turned up and what not. Would it be much of an improvement to just buy another GTS? or should i just upgrade my card to something different altogether? any suggestions would be welcomed!

cheers.

oulton · 12 Apr 2011 at 14:53

yeah dude everything but your graphix is looking sweet for now... drop 400 on some 6950's/480's and your good to go...

Stoner81 · 12 Apr 2011 at 15:03

rpltyler said:
good advice, thanks guys, i think i will just save a shed load of cash and then build a killer rig at the end of the year. Or, should i simply upgrade my current rig? I spent a fair bit of cash on it recently and still am not getting the juice out of it that i thought i would, I know my weak point is my graphics card, its an Nvidia GTS 250 running off a P6T motherboard with 12 gigs of ddr3 ram and an intel i7 920 chip. Is it just the card that's slowing me down? would it be better to simply replace that? I play rift, crysis, MW2, and also do a lot of HD video editing and dable in some 3D modelling in 3DSMax. what improvements can I make on this current rig that would drastically increase frame rates while running games in ultra Graphics mode? with all the AA turned up and what not. Would it be much of an improvement to just buy another GTS? or should i just upgrade my card to something different altogether? any suggestions would be welcomed!

cheers.

You can pick up the GTX480 now for about £200 give or take a midges, I would also add another £50 to that and buy the Zalman VF300-F cooler for it since the 480's run very very hot. I have done the same thing with a similar spec rig as you (though I run the i7 930 @ 3.80GHz), the 480 is a killer card and from the reading I have done it is about on par with the GTX570 or thereabouts I now run Shift 2 with everything turned on and all the way to the max at 1920x1080 and it is beyond smooth. Having said the above though you go for THIS which has a 3rd party cooler already installed which would save you a job. Or you could do THIS and buy your own cooler.

Hope it helps.

Stoner81.

SouthEastBlue · 12 Apr 2011 at 15:22

There's nothing wrong with buying things like cases, and power supplies now, even ram and hard drives if there's a good deal on something.

It's really only CPUs, mobos and graphics cards which you may be better to hold out for until you have the final amount of money to finish your build.

stulid · 12 Apr 2011 at 15:23

SouthEastBlue said:
There's nothing wrong with buying things like cases, and power supplies now, even ram and hard drives if there's a good deal on something.

It's really only CPUs, mobos and graphics cards which you may be better to hold out for until you have the final amount of money to finish your build.

true words.

Muzza1875 · 12 Apr 2011 at 15:27

Two 6950's might be better but at the end of the day its upto you mate.
I just finished my first ever build for gaming just need a new gpu, and i'am palnning on getting two 6950's.

I done the same as you mate, saved up and bought a piece of hardware each month....was such a tease though looking at all my hardware in boxes and not being able to play with them or put them to use!

rpltyler · 15 Apr 2011 at 10:11

Sounds good, I think i will go for the GeForce GTX 480 "Special Edition" for now, Looks like a good buy. Will post some pics of my "killer rig" at the end of the year

argh, cant wait...