pc specs, please advise

matdkeys

matdkeys

matdkeys

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ok so made a post few weeks ago and now have settled on the specs, after some very helpful advice

want to get a few more recommendations

ga-z77-g3h
i5 3570k
r9 280x or 290x if i have the extra cash at the time
750W Corsair HX750 or maybe a ax1200 pro if one comes up s/h
8Gb ram
Win 7 x64
bluray and dvdrw drives
not fully decided on a case, but one that can accept a top mounted 240mm rad

going for air cooling at first. and then will run a h100i on the cpu and h90 on the gpu , either using the red mod or the nzxt adaptor. either way ill use alloy heat dissipators and will have a bottom fan pointing up.

now running xfire/sli my board is 1 x x16/x16 pcie 3.0 and 1x x16/x4 pcie 2.0

will two 280s run at x4/x4 or x8/x8 different sites state diffrent things, or will one 280x or 290x be more than enough.

am i set to go on these specs? would love to play as best with high settings and maybe ultra on 1080p 32" screen, altho i may jsut get a 26" as 32" is a little to big.
games are likley to be
battle field, need for speed, latest cod title, maybe crisis 3.

cheers guys
 
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yes that is the board, at the time i was not fussed about xfire/sli so did not look for two or 3 x16/x16 pci-e's
to be quite honest i don't think i still am othered, as a single 280 or even single 290x will run what i throw at it
i have already got the board as it came up for £45
i appreciate haswell 2011 socket is out, but i am not fussed on that side of things, and from what i read, skt2011 is not going to be worth upgrading over the 1155 till late 2015 when skylake is issued, or maybe even cannonlake is 2016.

plus going the 2011 route means wayyy much more money that i don't really want to budget for

so on that info i thought the i5 or even i7 later on is more than capable for what's on the market atm.

but please correct me if the info i have read is is incorrect
 
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That board is not SLI ready and does Crossfire at 16X/4X.

So its not ideal for a multi card setup so I think you should stick to a fast GFX card such as a 290 and back that up with a 650W PSU for ample headroom.

Then add your cooler and overclock the CPU.
 
Yes xfire only. So is it worth the extra cash and power draw for 10% drop over two cards or just stick to one card

Also is a i5 3750k over kill for what i need or should i stick with that as it is in my budget.

Other then that what can i expect on fps.

Only other thing i forgotnis
X2 4gb 1600 ram.
Win 7 x64
 
Stick to a single card. the 4X of the other slot will throttle the other GFX card.

A 280X/290 and a 3570K with a half decent overclock (4Ghz+) will play all games at high/ultra settings at 1080P without any issue.
 
Thanks for your help so far
That sounds like i have the right specs to gather up

Yer i will over clock. Ill find its max and turn it back a few notches just so not to run on the limit of stability . Alto i read the h100i is really good at keeping the i5 and i7 cool even at max clock.

Would you sugest any thing else or do i look pretty sorted?

Is a 290 or even a 290x worth its extra price for my circumstances
 
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I think you are pretty sorted.

A H100i is a good cooler especially as you are using Win7, if you used Win8.1 then it's a bit of a mare as the Link software doesnt work properly until you mess around with it, also the illuminated LED on the pump usually ends up being pink unless you roll back to a previous Link software that allows manual firmware updating, you then flash the pump to an older firmware, then you can re-install the newer Link software and make sure it doesn't try to automatically update the pump firmware back to the latest which makes it pink again.
 
Yer im on 8.1 on my laptop and to be fair i find it not better than my dads laptop running win7. I do actually hate the interface of win8.

Just undecided on gpus. Maybe leave that till last as i can at least use the hdmi port on the board as i guess in a few months the 290 may drop to 280x prices.
Gpu boss makes the 290 look reall good for the extra £30 or so that there marked at a online auction site.

Also cant wait to play eve online too.

My old rig that i dusted off a month back (sparking this build lol) is now no where near running its recommended specs. Even back then the q6600 and en7900gtx struggled on high.
Cant wait!
 
While I would say stick to a single card, a 4x slot won't negatively affect a mid range AMD GPU. Whenever I've seen it tested there's been nil difference.
 
matdkeys said:
Yer im on 8.1 on my laptop and to be fair i find it not better than my dads laptop running win7. I do actually hate the interface of win8.

Just undecided on gpus. Maybe leave that till last as i can at least use the hdmi port on the board as i guess in a few months the 290 may drop to 280x prices.
Gpu boss makes the 290 look reall good for the extra £30 or so that there marked at a online auction site.

Also cant wait to play eve online too.

My old rig that i dusted off a month back (sparking this build lol) is now no where near running its recommended specs. Even back then the q6600 and en7900gtx struggled on high.
Cant wait!
Click to expand...


You can get a 290 for £300 or there is an Asus 290 that comes with a free £30 headset.

These cards really dont struggle at all.

They are even fine at 2560X1440
 
Not sure what prices you guys gonby but i have a 290 on my watch list that is £230 and a 280x between £160-180

Also again from xfire point of view some site state 3% hit and others state 10% hit.
I really think one 290 would be enough but curious to know how a 2nd gpu would perform on a x4 slot
 
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