Need help with i5 eyefinity build $2500

[jbizzay]

I'm not a total noob to computer hardware, but I've never built my own rig before. I've been saving up for a while and finally am deciding to take the plunge.

What I really want is a system that can do everything, in a sense. I'll be dual booting windows 7 / Ubuntu, and running Ubuntu within windows within a vm. I'll be using it during the day for work (web developer), and then other times for gaming.

I have the $$$ to build anything, but don't want to get too crazy just yet. I would ideally like to acheive an eyefinity setup for around $2500.

I started putting a list together and came up with an i5 / radeon 5850 setup, but am now wondering if it's enough to drive 3 24" lcd's in eyefinity. I will post my build just in case, but I have a feeling it's going to change to an i7 setup.

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: 1-2 weeks

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: gaming, programming, vm, movies, graphic design

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: just dvd drive... basically starting fresh with a complete build

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: any COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

PARTS PREFERENCES: Intel / ATI . I really really want to get an eyefinity setup

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe in the future do crossfire

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920 x 1200, which would basically turn out to be 5760 x 1200 with eyefinity I believe

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Here it is so far:

CASE

LIAN LI Lancool PC-K62 Black 0.8 mm SECC, Plastic + Mesh ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ~ $130

PSU

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply ~ $109

RAM

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBRH ~ $95

HDD

INTEL SSDSA2MH080G2C1 X25M 80GB SATA 3.0 Gen 2, MLC, 2.5" Solid State Drive ~ $290
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive ~ $55

OS

Windows 7 64 Home Premium OEM ~ $110

KEYBOARD / MOUSE

Saitek PZ30AU Black 104 Normal Keys 4 Function Keys USB Standard Eclipse Keyboard ~ $38
RAZER DeathAdder RZ01-00150100-R3M1 Black 5 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB Optical 1800 dpi High Precision Gaming Mouse ~ $50
RAZER Destructor Professional Gaming Mat ~ $40

SOUND

Logitech X-540 70 watts 5.1 Speakers ~ $79

DISPLAY

Dell Pro 2310 23 inch 1080p ($250) X 3 ~ $750

As I understand it, I can connect 2 displays with dvi, one with optionally included displayport adaptor.

* Here's the parts that I'm not sure on yet...

CPU

Core i5-750 ~ $200
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM ~ $7
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 compatible RR-B10-212P-GP 120mm "heatpipe direct contact" Long life sleeve CPU Cooler ~ $30

Would an i7 setup be a better option?

MOTHERBOARD

GIGABYTE GA-P55-UD4P LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard ~ $153

GPU

ASUS Radeon HD 5850 1GB ~ $260

And would I need to get the 5870 instead? Or would this suffice?

Grand Total: $2396

 

[jbakerlent]

For claiming to be a complete hardware noob, you sure have a nice build! For the eyefinity make sure it's an active adaptor. I would stick to a 5850 and an i5 since you're already spending quite a bit, but if you don't mind using your whole budget they're certainly worthwhile upgrades. I don't really have any hardware changes to suggest, great job!

 

[dndhatcher]

Make sure at least one of the monitors has the optional displayport.

Have you looked at the performance reviews of the 5850? If you want to game on 3 monitors you will be splitting your GPU power 3 ways. Im not sure a single 5850 is going to handle 3 monitor gaming on 1920x1080 all that well. I also have not read that eyefinity is working with crossfire yet so I dont think dual 5850s will get you what you need. Later this year ATI is supposed to ship the 6 port card that they demonstrated when they announced the 5800 last month. I would either go with a 5870 or wait for the next model.

If you are looking to crossfire in the future, you should strongly consider an i7 920 and x58 motherboard. Being able to x16/x16 twin 5870s is going to be better than x8/x8 that the p55 gives you.

If it were me, I would sacrifice things that could be added later to have a stronger core i7/x58 system. The fancy gaming peripherals could be your xmas list to free up budget. The SSD only affects load speeds so even it could be dropped and added later.

I dont know your living situation, but I had to put my nice speakers/subwoofer away since the noise was bothering others. I now use a headset, which I have grown to like alot, plus you need a headset with microphone for gaming and VOIP so it gets lots of use.

 

[jbakerlent]

You could certainly upgrade to a 5870, but it's not necessary to crossfire anything, and if you do there's definitely little need to switch to X58. Compare the X58 crossfire to the P55 crossfire - and any X58 advantage would only be exaggerated because this article uses 5870s.

"Where we did not have a difference was in actual game play experiences. It was impossible to tell the difference between platforms, except for some additional thermal output from the X58 setup.

If you happen to benchmark Intel platforms for a living, then clearly an X58/Bloomfield platform is the way to go. How about the other 99.9% of us?"

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3649&p=2

Also, why wait for the 6 mini-displayport card?

I agree, with the headset recommendation though.

 

[jbizzay]

so you're saying that I should be fine with going with the 5870 on an i5 system?

I am also considering dropping the ssd for now, and switching to the 5780, i7 920, ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 LGA 1366 Intel X58, OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

That would put it at about $2460

 

[jbl91]

there's definitely little need to switch to X58. Compare the X58 crossfire to the P55 crossfire - and any X58 advantage would only be exaggerated because this article uses 5870s.

"Where we did not have a difference was in actual game play experiences. It was impossible to tell the difference between platforms, except for some additional thermal output from the X58 setup.

If you happen to benchmark Intel platforms for a living, then clearly an X58/Bloomfield platform is the way to go. How about the other 99.9% of us?"

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3649&p=2

so you're saying that I should be fine with going with the 5870 on an i5 system?

I am also considering dropping the ssd for now, and switching to the 5780, i7 920, ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 LGA 1366 Intel X58, OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

That would put it at about $2460

I mean WOW, did you even look at that article?

 

[jbakerlent]

I would suggest just going with a 5870/860 combo.