minimising a 2560 x 1440 gaming capable rig

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
R

rebelwith

Distinguished
Feb 16, 2011
31
0
18,530
Hi guys

I have spent years tinkering to make my rig and i have finally got it all set up the way i like it in a Silverstone Temjin (tj07) case with 2x HD6970 with the monitor being a dell ultrasharp U2711, i7 chip with 12gb of ram, 4 * HDD and 1 256 GB SSD. I spent ages saving and finally building something that works the way it should and then the worst thing possible happens for a gamer...getting married and suddenly the big beautiful box of technical goodness now becomes the eyesore that my lovely fiance loves to hate (or basically tolerates) .

I started off by re jigging the fans and building a cabinet so it is hidden away from view however this has started to take up way too much space so my question to the community is..... what is the way to make a Rig that is capable to run a 27" screen at 2560x1440 but using the least amount of space possible and make it look as tidy as possible (no neon flashing lights need apply) .

I can sell parts of my old rig to pay for this and to be honest i have a little cash reserved so it doesn't need to be done a really small budget. I just want a rig that i can play games on at decent quality (example will be the new Rome total war) and not have to worry about jitter and at the same time reclaim the space that the Temjin has used up .

It was originally this forum all those years ago that gave me the confidence and ideas to build my first rig and now i need some help to make it compact enough so it wont be the big elephant in the room!

thanks guys
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
mattius92

mattius92

Distinguished
Aug 27, 2010
504
0
19,060
At first I thought you should try mini-ITX, but I decided to go with micro ATX because its still small, but you are still capable of running two GPUs if you want.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352011

Tell what you think of building around that case, its smaller, not flashy and designed to be quiet, yet it still packs a lot of features and personally looks very nice.

What is your current setup, you might be able to use most of it again.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
R

rebelwith

Distinguished
Feb 16, 2011
31
0
18,530
i was thinking about the smaller cases but i wander about the heating issues with the 2 cards (which took me redirecting the fans in my current set up) my current motherboard is an extended ATX Form Factor so would have to look to shrink that.

I was considering if i can dial down to one graphics card... i haven't seen any feed back from people using one card on my sort of set up at high settings.

When i get home i will add all the specs.

Basically the Mrs wants an open table so any box chosen will be fully visible and needs to look either plain or not too flashy (i will also need to braid all the cables)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
mattius92

mattius92

Distinguished
Aug 27, 2010
504
0
19,060
You will have to change your motherboard to a smaller form factor, so far we have suggest Factual Design cases because they are very minimalist, yet work great. Its more up to you, do you want a ATX or Micro ATX Case?

You could go down to one card if you sold your other cards and went with a HD 7970 or a GTX 680. The 6970 is a powerful card, but they are last generations technology. A current 6850, a $170 card is on par with a 6970 nowadays.

However, there are micro-ATX boards with dual PCI-Express slots for Crossfire, so if you want to keep your cards you can.

How much are you willing to spend?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
R

rebelwith

Distinguished
Feb 16, 2011
31
0
18,530
to be honest i can probably spend around $1500. I replaced the motherboard about 2 years ago and put in a new processor then.... its painful to have to go through with a rebuild so early on...but needs must!

Is a GTX680 / titan powerful enough to run at 2560 * 1440 on high?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
marshallbradley

marshallbradley

Honorable
Sep 24, 2012
746
0
11,060
I'd go with a GTX 780 if I were you. It's like a 10% slower Titan, for 35% less. I don't think a GTX 680 would cut it, esp. since it's outdated now.

Check out the new 350D from Corsair as well, it's a very sleek looking case, at a good price, that fits your requirements well.

M
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
R

rebelwith

Distinguished
Feb 16, 2011
31
0
18,530
nope it not sandy bridge. umm do you reckon that there will be a markable difference between 2 x 6970 and one GTX 780 ?

i like the case... that could work and also corsair don't make to shabby kit really
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
mattius92

mattius92

Distinguished
Aug 27, 2010
504
0
19,060
Two 6970s basically equivalent a 6990. And according to toms a 6990 is just below a Titan, so I would say that a GTX 780 would just be a tad bit more powerful. So unless you want a new GPU, I think your two 6970s will work.

Actually when it comes down to it, basically you just need a new case.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
marshallbradley

marshallbradley

Honorable
Sep 24, 2012
746
0
11,060
GTX 780 would be faster, almost certainly. The HD 6990 (which is going to be very close to CF 6970s) is approximately as powerful as a 7970 Ghz. Ed. The GTX 780 blows that card out the window by about 20-25%, so I imagine it would be about the same with CF 6970s.

EDIT: If you're not going mATX, a new, smaller case is all you need (not hard since the TJ07 is massive), don't bother with a new GPU. You just need to find a smaller ATX case. I wouldn't personally like to CrossFire two fairly old/hot/power hungry in an mATX form factor though, since the top GPU is going to be severely starved for airflow. In that case I'd get the GTX 780, otherwise skip it.

Consider maybe like an Antec One if you want to stick with ATX. I have one, and it's much smaller than my 650D, which is still a Mid Tower.

M
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
R

rebelwith

Distinguished
Feb 16, 2011
31
0
18,530
my current config is as follows

intel core i7 950 @ 3.07 (oc to 4.0 GHZ)
Corsair 1600 10 gb RAM 8-8-8-24 1.65v
2* 6970 (2048 mb)
Motherboard Sabertooth x58
PSU> HX 750w Pro series

I think i have decided on going for the Corsair carbide series Air 540 (http://www.corsair.com/us/pc-cases/carbide-series-pc-case/carbide-series-air-540-high-airflow-atx-cube-case.html) .

My true question is that is there any reason to upgrade any of these components (potentially the GPU especially if i can get it down to one card) or is it just the case? I have been considering cooling the CPU with a water cooler as currently i am using the megahelm cooler but im not sure if it is worth it?

Thanks for all your suggestions and help
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom