PC Build Around 2-Way SLI Geforce GTX 660Ti's

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princepolo

princepolo

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Apr 17, 2013
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I'm trying to make my first gaming rig and have chosen the 660Ti as the selected GPU for the system. Just to get that much more power from it, I'll be getting two. My budget is $2,000. What would be the best rig to go along with the dual cards? I already bought the RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000) Desktop Memory Model F3-17000CL11D-8GBXL. Thank you in advance.
 
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Mahisse

Mahisse

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Nov 26, 2012
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Well a good brand PSU with an output on minimum 700W, a motherboard that supports SLI with 2 pcie slots that both run at x16 speed or at least shared x8/x8 speed. If you want to be able to overclock in the future make sure you get Z77 motherboard as minimum. For the CPU I would just get the i5 3570K. You can get the non-k version if you don't planning to overclock. Not sure if dual 660 ti would be the best way to go. Thumb of rule is to go with a single card until upgrade is needed.

Oh someone may want to recommend AMD hardware, which is cool I just don't know much about that.
 
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princepolo

princepolo

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Apr 17, 2013
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I guess I really don't NEED the dual cards, I just wanted to have plenty of breathing room from the start. I planned on getting an 850 Watt PSU anyway. So the i7 3770K unnecessary? I don't really know much of anything about overclocking and don't see the point; if I'm getting low frames, I'll turn down my settings, not overclock it. I should have mentioned that I don't want AMD. Intel/Nvidia is what I prefer. I've tried to go into an AMD build, and it just wasn't what I was looking for.
 
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Mahisse

Mahisse

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If I were you I would go with a single 670 but others may have other opinions but most would agree to start with a single gpu and run SLI when the time comes for more power. Some would maybe advice you to wait a little longer until the next generation of GPU comes since they are just around the corner. But that, of course depends on how badly you want/need the new computer.

As people will tell you the i7 processor is unecessary for gaming since the only real difference between an i7 3770K and i5 3570K is that the i7 processor supports hyperthreading. Almost no games supports hyperthreading and probably won't for a good while so the i7 processor is not much stronger than the i5 in a gaming perspective. If you are planning to do video editing ang photo shopping you can consider the i7 since a few video/picture editing programs supports hyperthreading.

Oh and overclocking is mostly about being able to squeeze your PC to the limit the day your harware gets old and it can't really keep up with the games anymore. That's what it is to me anyway. I have the ability to overclock but haven't done so yet. I will though, the day I see a performance decrease with newer games.
 
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Turboman750

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Look at my signature.

BUT, with a $2000 budget you can get better cards than the gtx 660ti. I'd recommend waiting a month for the gtx 700 series cards to be released and watch the gtx 600 series cards drop in price.

If I were you I'd get 2 gtx 770's in SLI, OR 2 gtx 670's/680's after the prices drop.
 
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Turboman750

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Feb 2, 2013
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badass?

I paid $250 per card which was cheaper than the 2gb 660 ti's at the time.

-this system is by far the best computer you can build with a $1500 budget, I'm here to help not flex my "badass" epeen.
 
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Novuake

Novuake

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Sorry, but saying "look at my signature" was really working on my nerves...

Anyway AT THAT TIME they must have been on sale. Right now? I think not. SC editions are a horrible idea for the OP. The point i was making.
 
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J_E_D_70

J_E_D_70

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Mar 21, 2012
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Overclocking is baked into the CPUs these days so it's not some arcane art anymore. If you have an unlocked CPU there is no reason not to at least go for a reasonable OC. If it's locked and you have Z77/Z75 you can get another 400MHz per core.

At any rate, games are already exceeding the stock clocks of the 3570K. I had to go up to 4.1GHz on four cores to get BF3 multiplayer to drop down under 100% CPU utilization (still about 95-98%).
 
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princepolo

princepolo

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Apr 17, 2013
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I just want to get my money's worth in GPU. And apparently the 660Ti has one of the best performance per dollar ratio. My friend has a 660 and has decent frames--around 50 FPS--on Witcher 2 with only 3 GB of RAM, a CPU from 2007, and a Pegatron NARRA3 Motherboard. I just wanted to know the best system for 2--or 1, if that's better--660Ti cards. Specific parts would be appreciated rather than vague answers like "Get a Z77 motherboard." There are many varieties of every model of everything. Sorry if I sound whiny in any way..
 
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Novuake

Novuake

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No problem, a Z77 Asrock Extreme 4 or 6, depending on your budget.
 
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princepolo

princepolo

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Apr 17, 2013
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Could you possibly recommend the rest of the parts I should get as well? I already have the RAM.
 
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jdowdy10

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Apr 12, 2013
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If you dead set on the 660ti's, and regardless what anyone says they are great cards, then I would also advise to get an Extreme4 or Extreme6 (I have the Extreme4). Virtu MVP will help performance in gaming some as well.

Also, if you don't plan to overclock I would go i5 3470. A i5 3570 can be had for probably $20-30 more, but you can overclock all of the cores on a 3470 to 3.8 just by changing a slider in the ASRock Extreme Tuning Utility. Make sure you have third-party cooling though, like a Corsair H60 especially considering you bought RAM with large heatsinks.

I think you could get away with a Seasonic X650/X660 Gold rated power supply. Case is your choice as I think that makes your computer, "your computer". If noise is important you, I would get fans that stay at 1200rpm or you can get fans that are rated higher and set them up only to go to higher RPM's once a certain temperature threshold is reached (a feature of the ASRock Extreme boards).
 
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jdowdy10

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Apr 12, 2013
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This is a good place to start...

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/XueC
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/XueC/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/XueC/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 74.4 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.98 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.70 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($249.70 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($249.70 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 650W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($93.49 @ Amazon)
Total: $1027.55
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-15 16:02 EDT-0400)

You still have about $500 left for case, SSD (optional), fans, card reader, optical drive, etc.
 
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