New Build, need advice please.

OP, stick with one card rather then an SLI setup. It is simpler and there is less to go wrong. If you SLI / Crossfire, you could always end up getting some form of microstutter as well. In my humble opinion, I just do not think it is worth it.

If you are like me, you want hassle free gaming and two cards are more hassle than one, just get one, which itself will run games with absolute ease anyway. I linked to that card (which is currently £215 btw) as it is where I would spend my money if I was in the market for a card at the moment.

Keep things simple. :)
 
PapaLazaru said:
OP, stick with one card rather then an SLI setup. It is simpler and there is less to go wrong. If you SLI / Crossfire, you could always end up getting some form of microstutter as well. In my humble opinion, I just do not think it is worth it.

If you are like me, you want hassle free gaming and two cards are more hassle than one, just get one, which itself will run games with absolute ease anyway. I linked to that card (which is currently £215 btw) as it is where I would spend my money if I was in the market for a card at the moment.

Keep things simple. :)
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Yeah, I'm 90% going to get that card. Don't get paid until next week so will most likely miss the offer :(

honosuseri said:
I didn't mean to confuse. There is nothing wrong with getting a cheap Z series mobo and buying the balls out fastest card you can afford!!
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Was there anything wrong with the £85 one? I wouldn't be using crossfire anytime soon so that wouldn't be a problem. Although future wise would it be worth paying £15 extra for the £100 mobo when it's back in stock?
 
Steve Foster said:
Finished Product
1 x Cooler Master CM-690 II Lite Dominator Case
1 x Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366)
2 x EVGA GeForce GTX 460 Superclocked 1024MB GDDR5
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
1 x XFX 650W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply
1 x My old Blu-Ray DVD+RW Drive
1 x My old HDD even though I have no idea what it is.
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So the other build (the only difference being the GPU's) which cost the same:

Finished Product
1 x Cooler Master CM-690 II Lite Dominator Case
1 x Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366)
1 x Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6950 "Dual Fan Edition" 2048MB GDDR5 (Unlocked to 6970)
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
1 x XFX 650W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply
1 x My old Blu-Ray DVD+RW Drive
1 x My old HDD even though I have no idea what it is.

The GPU is weaker than the two 460's but that could always be sorted out in the future with crossfire but I think one unlocked 6970 is good enough.
 
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Excellent choices! Enjoy your new rig when you get it. Might be best to check back when you have the money in case there are other offers on?

Only thing I'd say, not to scare you, is that some people have had issues with that motherboard. I believe Gigabyte know and it may even be fixed (bare in mind, not all of them, as I built a PC with one and it was fine). Also Gigabyte have a UK RMA so getting it replaced won't be difficult on the off chance it does go wrong.

Good choices anyway :)
 
Thanks!

I have both motherboards bookmarked anyway so I might go for the more expensive one if they get it back for when I buy. Going to check every few days of all those components to see if they go weekly, even though the GPU and CPU are now and won't be when I get paid >_<

Can't wait to get it altogether, thanks for all the help so far guys :)
 
Steve Foster said:
Thanks!

I have both motherboards bookmarked anyway so I might go for the more expensive one if they get it back for when I buy. Going to check every few days of all those components to see if they go weekly, even though the GPU and CPU are now and won't be when I get paid >_<

Can't wait to get it altogether, thanks for all the help so far guys :)
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No problem. Hope it all goes well. Any issues just come back here! Maybe post some pictures too :)
 
Steve Foster said:
Yeah, I'm 90% going to get that card. Don't get paid until next week so will most likely miss the offer :(



Was there anything wrong with the £85 one? I wouldn't be using crossfire anytime soon so that wouldn't be a problem. Although future wise would it be worth paying £15 extra for the £100 mobo when it's back in stock?
Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with it at all. Like I said it's purely wether you wanted the dual card ability. In short SLI/Xfires main advantage is that you can spend less on the GPU now and get a small SSD too let's say for an overall more balanced rig. Games like skyrim involve a lot of loading screens and the SSD will help in that regard and the whole OS in general. A single 460 SOC is still a good budget gaming GPU, you can boost the performance with a second one later hopefully for less than you paid for the first :)

The Z series mobo is what you want, I wont list the reasons as i've waffled enough on this thread lol If you want to pay more for SLI/fire on that mobo chipset you can, how you exploit it and when you do so is your call.

We can argue over wether ATI or Nvidia drivers are better and wether you really need cuda support and if you would ever implement dual GPUs but only you really know what you would do and what you like the sound of.

That's why i said have fun with it. Do a SLI/xfire build spec, a fast single GPU option etc etc and see what you can squeeze in for your money. I'll repeat there is nothing wrong with the cheap Z series mobos and the best single GPU you can afford :)

*EDIT*

I've just seen your two spec lists. That "cheap" mobo isn't sli capable so no point buying 2 460s with it!!! You would need to pay more for a better mobo which does both express lanes at X8 and list SLI support as well as Xfire. Also this means that mobo can't run the 6950 later in xfire mode properly either!! You have the right idea just not implemented the right mobo :)
 
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Steve Foster said:
So which would you recommend, this one that was posted earlier?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-368-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1990
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Yip that's the Xfire/SLI capable mobo (both xpress lanes will run at X8). So your paying £15 extra for the ability to run two nvidia or two ati cards.

It's upto you wether that's a feature you want. You don't have to buy 2 GPUs now, it's just nice to know you have the option to run two (providing your PSU can supply enough power).
 
I think it's worth it, yeah. What's the point in getting a mobo that can't support two cards when I can pay £15 extra and at least know I won't have to buy another anytime soon :)
 
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Steve Foster said:
I think it's worth it, yeah. What's the point in getting a mobo that can't support two cards when I can pay £15 extra and at least know I won't have to buy another anytime soon :)
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Like i hinted at before. Personally i would get just the single 460 SOC with that SLI mobo and buy a SSD instead of another 460 SOC.

I know you have a HDD but you probably have stuff on it. You can't just plug it in and expect windows to boot. If you get the SSD you can install your OS and games to it. You then get a much better "all round" system and can use your old drive for storage :)

Your cash though fella, your rules. I look forward to seeing some pics once your done.
 
Steve Foster said:
Problem is, I've never used an SSD before. Like how come ones that are so low in size cost so much, like this:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-023-CS&groupid=701&catid=2104&subcat=

Must be some reason they cost more at such low size. Much higher prices than a normal HDD, even with the price hike from the floods :(
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SSDs are still relatively new technology and are vastly faster than HDDs!
You might find this interesting:
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18040306
 
Thanks for the link. So would I benefit from an SSD if I was also planning on using FRAPS to record gameplay every now and then?

Doing what honosuseri said, I could install my OS to the SSD and games/programs (even though 60gb sounds very small to me for the price) and then use the old HDD for storage and recording.
 
Doing what honosuseri said, I could install my OS to the SSD and games/programs (even though 60gb sounds very small to me for the price) and then use the old HDD for storage and recording.
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Doing this greatly increasing the responsiveness of windows, reduces boot times, and any programs installed on it will be faster too. yes, they are expensive, but IMO if you can afford one they're worth it. Many people says its the best upgrade theyve done!
 
Steve Foster said:
Thanks for the link. So would I benefit from an SSD if I was also planning on using FRAPS to record gameplay every now and then?

Doing what honosuseri said, I could install my OS to the SSD and games/programs (even though 60gb sounds very small to me for the price) and then use the old HDD for storage and recording.
Click to expand...

You seemed to have around £200ish for a GPU. In my eyes the 460 SOC is £120 it's £80ish for the SSD. You can OC the 460 to get close to if not better than 6870 performance (£150 card). You will still be able to play games on high settings and the SSD will seriously reduce loading times. Because of the SLI mobo you can add another 460 later, maybe a cheap second hand bargain will come up ;)

Beej (hi Beej btw) is running just one of those 460 SOCs in his rig at 850mhz. Ask him what he plays and how happy he is with the performance if it helps you make a decision.

As i keep saying it's just an option. That is what I would do. If you want a much better GPU setup from the get go that's cool. Like i keep saying it's your build your rules :)

*EDIT* Sorry I lied! the 460 SOC is on offer this week for £111!!
 
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Hey Honosuseri!

I'm afraid I may not be much help in this area, as I don't play many demanding games. Mainly Supreme Commander, which is heavily CPU reliant. But I know it is very capable!
 
beejjacobs said:
Hey Honosuseri!

I'm afraid I may not be much help in this area, as I don't play many demanding games. Mainly Supreme Commander, which is heavily CPU reliant. But I know it is very capable!
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We're friends it's all good you can call me Hono lol

That's glum....your no use to me at all then. Thanks for replying though =)

To be fair almost all the gaming I do on PC is RTS. Shogun 2 and Starcraft 2 etc etc Although i do like "The Hunter" an excellent "free" Deer hunting Sim......the graphics really are very nice :)
 
Hono!? :O What an honour it is to call you that! aha

Still, it's a good GPU even at stock, so of course its even better overclocked :P

What did you decide in the end, Steve Foster?
 
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