Which GPU/GPU's will be best for my new system?

[ANN1H1LAT0R]

Hi everyone,

This is my first time on the forums and I'm looking for some awesome advice on a few problems I'm having. I've decided after the BF3 beta and after playing some other games such as Crysis 2 that I need to finally retire my 4 year old PC and start from scratch with a new system. After much searching and research I've decided on the new Intel Sandy bridge architecture. I'm also wanting to create a system that will be future proof for a good two years and that will not struggle with games. I will be using the system for just games so no video encoding or anything work based. I do have the NVIDIA 3D vision kit with a Samsung 22" 1680x1050 monitor which I will still be using.

Right so there's the background haha. Now for what I need advice on guys and gals

I think I've decided on the i5 2500k on a Sabertooth motherboard. I've decided against the i7 2600k as in terms of gaming performance there is little between them. What I'm confused with is bottlenecking the GPU. I'm going to be going down the SLi route and was thinking on getting a pair of GTX 570's or GTX 580's and really want to hit the performance to money ratio just right. These GPU's seem to scale excellently in SLi but I've a out bottlenecks and things and don't want to be wasting money. Will it be a waste getting 580's over 570's also considering my max resolution and if I got 570's will I be future proofed for a while before upgrading. I will be overclocking the CPU to around 4-4.2 on air I think as a heads up. So could I get some advice please

The next question is a soundcard. I've always used on board and recently bought a Razer Charcaris headset but don't think I'm gettting the most from the sound. Would a dedicated soundcard make things sound better and would it also improve my fps in gaming? If so what is the best sound card for around £80 or less?

Last question I promise haha. An SSD drive over a normal HDD. Will I get any improvement in my fps or is this just purely a speed of loading improvement? I will eventually get one anyway but if I can save a few pounds here and there to start with I will

Thanks for all the help in advance people

 

[HangTime]

1) Get 570s not 580s at that resolution IMO. Some people will try and tell you SLI is overkill for 1680x1050 but since you are running 3D that means you need more power (effectively a min fps of 120).

2) A dedicated soundcard should sound a little better but you will likely see negligible difference in gaming (you would get far more fps per pound by investing the money elsehwere in the system)

3) SSD will basically give no difference in framerate with the exception of any situations where it needs to access the drive, generally speaking if that happens you are screwed anyway but there are some games that 'stream' textures which could provide a slightly smoother experience on a SSD.

As a general point if you are buying a new system I would recommend getting an SSD from the start, it will save you having to reinstall windows as you'd need to if adding one at a later date.

You don't need to get a massive SSD, as long as it is 60GB+ that should be OK for running the OS off, then pair it with a 2TB drive or whatever for storage.

 

[ANN1H1LAT0R]

Thank you for the first reply and some good advice more opinions are welcome lol

Another quicky though. The case im looking at is the Coolermaster 912. Will this be sufficiently large enough to house this kind of kit?

 

[fowler002]

I would suggest going a 'spec me' thread in the general hardware section of the forums(if you haven't done so already), people will help you 'iron out any kinks' in your spec and suggest better alternatives(if any available).