Gaming Rig Build Budget $3000 Advice!!

[Milkman_902]

Hey Everyone, my last post was for a friend of mine but this one is serious and i need all the help i can get, it's going to be my personal gaming rig and i want it to be efficient and worth spending the money. I'm hoping it will last me a good amount of time so i really went all out on finding the best of the best and under my budget so please send me back advice on what to change or what not to change, what's good or not, ect.

Approximate Purchase Date:By the end of this month.


Budget Range:My budget range is approximately around $3000.


System Usage from Most to Least Important:Gaming,watching movies,listening to music,work.


Parts Not Required:I have a monitor, mouse, mouse pad, keyboard and speakers so i can really go out on the hardware.


Preferred Website(s) for Parts:I like to use newegg.com because i've heard A LOT of good thins about them so ill stick with em.


Country of Origin:I am currently located in the US.Not planning to move.


Parts Preferences:I'm definitely sticking with Intel Core, but im a fan of ATI Radeon Graphics but i've heard NVidia is good so i'll leave that up to you guys to help me with it.


Over clocking: Definitely, i want to get it up to 4.0 GHz.


SLI or Crossfire:Yes, i am cross firing two Radeon cards.


Monitor Resolution:Currently 1920x1080, i like it like that because im used to it now after a lot of playing so im not going to change it.


Additional Comments:I want this gaming rig to last a pretty long time, i don't want to update it every time something new comes out so i wanna just make it the best it can be right now so the next time i have to update it is about five years from now, AND i definitely want bragging rights.




Here is the list of hardware that comes just a couple bucks over my budget:

Case: Antec DF-85 Black w/ side panel window
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129087


Motherboard: ASUS Rampage III Extreme LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6.0 GB/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131642&cm_re=ASUS_Rampage_III_Extreme_LGA_1366_Intel_X58_SATA_6-_-13-131-642-_-Product


Ram: Corsair Dominator 8GB:4 X 2GB 240-Pin 1600 MHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145314


PCU: Corsair HX Series CMPSU-1000HX 1000W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139007&Tpk=Corsair%20HX%20Series%20CMPSU-1000HX%201000W


GPU: Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-Bit CrossfireX Support w/ Eyefinity X2 (Going to crossfire two of them)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161349


HDD: WD Caviar Black 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0 GB/s
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533


SSD: OCZ Vertex 2 2.5" 120 GB SATA II
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227590&cm_re=OCZ_Vertex_2_2.5%22_120_GB_SATA_II-_-20-227-590-_-Product


Optical Drive: Lite-On Blu-Ray Burner with 3D PlayBack SATA iHBS212 LightScribe Support
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106348


CPU: Intel i7-980x Extreme Edition Gulftown 3.33 GHz 1366 130W Six-Core
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115223


CPU Cooler: Thermaltake CL-W0121 2U Water Cooling
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106108&Tpk=Thermaltake%20CL-W0121%202U%20Water%20Cooling



Well that's it right there.Like i said this is going to be my top of the line gaming rig so any advice would help.Send some feedback on what you think and what i could i can improve and possibly deprove ( i dont think that's going to happen). Thanks in advance to everyone who helps me out.

 

[clarkjd]

I think I'd wait till I could get a Sandy Bridge CPU & X68 motherboard, since this is supposed to last you long time. Don't go for older tech, when you can get the new stuff!

 

[JackNaylorPE]

PSU - The PSU is oversized for the 6870's. If ya chose twin GTX 580's I'd say OK. But even twin GTX 570's only require a CP-850 which is not only easily the equal of the HX-1000 quality wise, but it's both quieter and $100 less.

The CP-850 is specifically made for the DF series cases (also fits 1200, P180 P183), gets a10.0 rating on jonnyguru.com and makes the Editor's Choice list at silentpcreview.com .... and it's $120

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371024

If ya still set on a 1000 water, get the CP-1000

RAM - The R3E and 980x are for 1366 based systems, your RAM choice is for a 1155/1156 based system. CAS 6 memory for the 1366 platfrom was $250 3 months ago, now it's $112

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227681

GFX - Considering ya budget and intended purpose, did you perhaps wanna go for the newer 6970 ? If it's a budgetary decision, I'd get twin 6970's or 570's perhaps and drop down to a 950 CPU. If ya stuck on the 980, I'd get twin 470's over the 6870's and twin 570's over the 6970's.

Read the following and other reviews to compare the 570 and 6970 which most will say are evenly matched but the 6970 is $20 more. THG syas "To make a long story short, the Radeon HD 6970 is roughly as fast as the GeForce GTX 570"

Which one you pick may well depend upon which games you play and what resolution you play at .... nVidia has larger advantage at 1920 x 1080 ....ATI picks up ground at 2560 x 1600:

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=606&Itemid=72&limit=1&limitstart=15

Overall, the graphics frame rate performance has the AMD Radeon HD 6970 matched nicely to the GeForce GTX 570. Measured at stock (reference) speeds in ten different tests, the Radeon HD 6970 was either slightly ahead in half of them or deeply trailed in the other half. We've excluded HAWX 2 from this review, until AMD drivers can compensate for the performance skew. The DirectX 10 tests seemed to really score the GeForce GTX 570 way ahead, while many of the DirectX 11 tests pulled the Radeon HD 6970 ahead by a few FPS:

3DMark Vantage has the 6970 ahead by 2.9% (1680x1050) or 5.8% (1920x1200) on the Jane Nash test, but then sinks 16.9/9.4% for New Calico. Crysis Warhead pushed the GTX 570 16.2/9.4% ahead, but then DX11 Aliens vs Predator pushed back 10.4/12.3% in favor of the Radeon HD 6970. Shader intensive games such as Battlefield Bad Company 2 really strained the Radeon HD 6970, giving the GTX 570 a 31.9/25.3% lead. BattleForge did the same, giving the GTX 570 a 53.5/57.1% lead over the 6970. Lost Planet 2 dog-piled also the results in favor the GTX 570, resulting in a 45.1/41.9% lead over the 6970. Then, thankfully, the Radeon HD 6970 fought back in NVIDIA-strong games like Mafia II, producing a 0.9/6.0% lead over the GTX 570. Metro 2033 gave the 6970 a 3.1/5.2% edge, and then the Heaven 2.1 benchmark offered a 2.0/7.5% difference in favor of the 6970.

If ya get the 570, comes w/ free game from EVGA
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130593

SSD - Consider if you want to use the bottom mounted 2.5" SSD drive bay (I didn't) ....if ya do get the Vertex 2 2.5" model. It's $30 cheaper
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227551

BR - I'd take the Asus model, like it better and saves $10
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135234

 

[Milkman_902]

Thanks a lot guys. I think i know what im going to do you helped me a lot with this build.Hope to talk to you again.

 

[geofelt]

For $3k, you are in the luxury class, not the efficient class.

1) For gaming, get the best graphics card you feel comfortable paying for. Today, the GTX580 will run any game out there well at 1080P.
If you insist on ati, the 5970 comes close. The 6870 is nowhere close.

2) For gaming, 6 core cpu's are not very good. Very few games use more than 2 cores, let alone 4. I suggest you build around the sandy bridge 2600K
It will OC to 4.5, and perhaps more. Remember that the sandy produced 15% more work per clock so you are looking at a 5.0 like equivalent clock.
Even on multi threaded apps, the 2600K is close to the 980X and costs 1/3 less. The 980X, as nice as it is, is more likely to produce snickers than bragging rights.

3) 8gb of ram is good, but do it on the 2 x 4gb kit, not 4 x 2gb. Also, do not spend extra for fancy fans and heat spreaders, they are mostly a marketing gimmick. BTW 8gb is not a good size for X58 motherboards, you want 3 stick kits there to get triple channel operation.

4) Sandy bridge does not need water cooling. Any decent air cooler will do.

5) If, or when you want 3d gaming with three identical monitors, then plan on sli with the GTX580, or replace it with the next best thing.

 

[Milkman_902]

also i wanted to ask does

corsair dominator 6GB:3 X 2GB 1600 MHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145224

go with

EVGA X58 FTW3 132-GT-E768-KR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188065&Tpk=EVGA%20X58%20FTW3%20132-GT-E768-KR

and

EVGA GTX 580?

 

[ComputANI]

One thing before, if you stick to the Rampage III extreme, remember to get triple channel memory. so like 3 sticks of 2 gigs or 6 sticks of 2 gigs, not 4 sticks of 2..

Oh damn . someone beat me too it.

AHEM COUGH COUGH MILKMAN