What should i do about this situation i have myself in? Buying an X79

[themadhatta]

Christmas has arrived and with all my saving and the money i received from xmas and some other holidays i now have more than enough to make myself a super gaming computer.

I already have 2 590 GTX cards
a Corsair 1200AX power supply
an Intel Core i7-3960X LGA 2011 CPU
a nice 6 gig HDD and 6 sticks of Corsair's PC3-12800 1600MHz 240-Pin DDR3 RAM leaving me with 12 gigs of ram.

As for the motherboard im interested in an x79 LGA 2011 motherboard.
I checked out ASUS and then checked out GIGABYTE for their mobos. It seemed like the best one available was the GA-X79-UD7.
What do you guys think is the best X79 mobo for my setup on the market right now?

The 2 best boards i found were the GA-X79-UD7 and the G1.Assassin 2. I believe both of these are better than the asus Rampage IV Extreme X79 mobo, but i may be wrong. Im still new to understanding all the technical aspects. I dont have a problem putting stuff together, but finding the right parts is very new to me.

I also saw an SKT-2011 GA-X79-UD7 for sale before newegg had the GA-X79-UD7 LGA-2011 in stock. Is there a difference between those two mobos?

 

[ebola28]

check out this: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Gigabyte-MOSFET-G1.Assassin-2-GA-X79-UD3-GA-X79-UD5,14374.html

 

[lemlo]

Don't go with gigabyte. Besides the story ebola28 linked, I use a p67 for my 2600k since sandy was introduced and have had a lot of issues. Boot looping etc, and it is inherent with way too many users of all types of their boards. Not to mention they just about give up on bios updates and have had to rely on some great enthusiasts (thanks stasio!!) for upgrading to a better bios. Gonna stick by it until ivy-e comes out but if I had known it was so flaky I would have remained with my i7 870 with my asus ws board. Or perhaps gone with an asus 1155 ws board or something.

I've had great luck with asus and msi over the past 2-3 years with a few different builds. You may want to give them a shot.

 

[themadhatta]

EDIT: Gonna be reading up on that stuff and checking out the link, thanks for the replies and keep the suggestions coming. I already purchased the mobo but can cancel the order still. Otherwise i can always return the item. I will be posting again once ive read up on this some more, so check this post unless someone posts another response, then ill just make a new post/response.


@a4mula
[ Edited by the moderator as it's best handled by me Anyway readers may guess what was said, it better that way.]

 

[lemlo]

Seriously though, stick to the op's topic. We're not here to judge, we're here to help, and sometimes get help/advice.

 

[themadhatta]

Thank you so much for saving me the trouble that a4mula was too selfish to bother himself with.

Im gonna be staying away from gigabyte and sticking to asus. I love my old asus x58 sabertooth mobo.

Now that gigabyte has been eliminated and i hope were all on the same page here. With the parts i already have would the asus ROG Rampage IV Formula be my best bet for a top of the line mobo?

Also i couldnt find in the specs that it woud run 2 gpus in sli at X16 and X16 rather than the usual X8 and X8. I didnt take the time to fully read and understand all the specs since im exhausted.

I just wish i could get a board with 3 way sli X16 all around so i could later on buy another 590 and have a card dedicated to each monitor XD

Anyways, thanks again, and lemme know what you guys think.

Yay a moderator stepped in XD
Is there any way i can thank you or give feedback on this issue. Thank you so much for clearing this thread of those vicious walls of text.

 

[Proximon]

To add a bit more assistance, you have SIX sticks of RAM? You do realize that X79 boards use quad channel RAM?

Still, even just 8GB is all you need for gaming.

Generally I'll always choose Asus over Gigabyte boards. I see no reason for you to get more than the Asus Sabertooth
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131801
You don't need triple CF/SLI ability, since you are only using two physical cards.

GTX 590 SLI does sound trouble-prone and overkill. I would never recommend more than 580 SLI. Why? Diminishing returns. If you can't afford new GPUs in two years you have wasted money, because in two years 6 or $700 will buy you twice as much GPU power.

Does it really matter if you get 120 FPS in that game instead of 90? No, it does not.

But, you already have the GPUs so there you are.

 

[themadhatta]

Thanks for the info, u described it better than anyone else has before. I had a flame fest of a thread where people were just bashing on me for buying two GTX 590 classified cards. I wish i had known, that what people were trying to say is its not worth the money was due to diminishing returns.

Finally a concept i can grasp lol.

Either way it takes too much time to explain how my money situation works and what im going through in my life. All i can say is that when i have money, i want to spend it asap, because otherwise my funds drain and i can literally never have savings for more than a few months. I have to loan money to my folks way too much.

So i dont regret buying the 2 cards and the cpu, im actually happy that it will last just that tiny bit longer. And getting 120 fps over 90 fps to me is a big "sploosh" lol.

Im trying to run a full 3d surround setup so i knew overkill would be a safe bet either way.


I just have one last question, is it true that i would be better off running 3 580s and X8 each for a full nvidia 3d surround setup, or will my 2 590s do it justice?

Im not worried about heat since i clean my computer far too often, have too many fans, and even have it on a shelf i put up just for the computer, near my window XD

Water cooling is too scary and i love the leg room XP


EDIT: oh i forgot to ask about the quad channel RAM, i would look it up but im in far too much pain and need to go make something to eat to take medication. 8 gigs will be fine and i figured i was gonna want to upgrade my RAM the next chance i got. So does that mean even sticking in all the sticks of ram i have, it wont actually recognize/use all 12 gigs? Can you give me an example of a set of ram i should get to get at least 12 gigs of DDR3 out of this thing. I actually wouldnt mind even more ram considering the insane amount of multitasking while gaming that i do on my computer. You wouldnt believe me if i told u lol. That or youd call me crazy, but thats just how my ADHD brain does things XD

 

[Proximon]

I think the triple SLI would be less trouble prone than what is essentially quad SLI in the GTX 590s. But that is purely speculation.

I can point to this thread though
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/312792-33-tomshardware


And this comparison
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-590-sli-review/12

If you just read one page read this one carefully
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-590-sli-review/16

 

[Proximon]

On the RAM, it probably would use all 6 sticks, but might take a performance hit. It's new hardware and I'm not that experienced with it yet.

 

[n-dru]

Sounds like you are coming from an X58 build (6 sticks of RAM huh?)

You say you want to build a super gaming computer, well, I'm kinda getting the idea you are flush with cash - the performance increase you will get from the processor, motherboard and your 3-way SLI is negligible compared to the amount of extra money you will be spending.

You can build a top-of-the-line gaming PC for far less. I'm thinking an i7-2600K and pop in an HD7970 when it becomes available. And if Ivy-Bridge launches round about that same time go for that instead of the 2600K.

 

[themadhatta]

Gotta read the links tomorrow as im about to go to sleep. Thanks again for all the help proximon, i believe uve posted in other thread of mine correct? I appreciate tolerating all my nonsense if thats what some of you would like to call it XP

Yeah i was running the ram on an x58 sabertooth build actually which is around 6-8 months old which was supposed to be able to run any game when i got it in 3d with max settings at a good frame rate. Which clearly wasnt true, and thats why i dont trust paying people for advice on parts for a build.

So lets say i had the money to buy another 590 gtx classified card... which i dont, would i be able to run all 3 in X8 and have them not run under so much stress? Or would they still be causing just as much heat as each card would be under an X16 X16 SLI setup?

Also i believe if i run a 3rd card in sli it must be the same card as my other two. I think i read that if i dedicate a card to each monitor im no longer able to run my cards in SLI mode. If that is true then could i use one of my older nvidia 460 gtx cards or would i still need at least some form of a 590?

Ive been told on here that i should opt for water cooling over all these new parts. But i have been terrified of water cooling since i saw my friends computer destroy itself from a leak. This friend knows more about computers than anyone ive ever been friends with, and quite a lot of the ppl on this forum that ive come in contact with. He as a few other people tell me to stay away from water cooling, and i agree. I am however using a water cooling H60 for my old cpu which i was told does not need any maintenance. I just dont know how long its expected to properly run for before i need to replace it. Which almost wants me to switch back to a nice fan cooled cpu setup for that computer.

As for the cpu i already purchased an i7-3960X which i hope i might be able to put my h60 cooler on but if not my motherboard should come with a fan for the cpu if im not mistaken.

Thanks again for all the input guys and keep it comin', i really need some help here with my build.

 

[Proximon]

No, do not water cool. That's for people with more confidence and experience.

If it is X58 RAM it may not be compatible with the new board. Exact model number please.

No, you cannot have 3 GTX 590s. It would not work. That's a total of 6 GPUs.

I think I do recall your old build, and as I recall you had some issues that had little to do with the platform. Low frame rates that were never adequately explained I think. There was no major problem with the hardware configuration of your old build.... it was some hidden factor we never got resolved, as I recall.

 

[themadhatta]

Maybe i never updated the answer XP i havent picked the best answer on a lot of my threads because there are so many ppl with good input and help that i couldnt find just one person that deserved all the credit.

My old build wasnt necessarily a build i was working on it just wasnt working properly. My frame rate shot way up when i only used one monitor plugged into the 1st socket on the 1st gpu, and then using nvidias control panel to optimize for 3d performance. The frame rates i was originally posting were when i was running 3 or 4 monitors at a time. I still believe my frame rates were a bit funky. That computer is on its last legs, windows always seems to go corrupt on me and i have to re install my OS far more often than id like.

So i should stick with my 2 590s then? Sounds like a yes, just wanna make sure im on the same page tho.

Someone on here was trying very hard to convince me to go with water cooling over buying new parts, almost to the point where they were starting to be rude. Either way after going in circles talking to my two knowledgeable computer friends and my old computer guy i found i was just being thrown around by people opinions, not straight facts.

My only good ram is tripple channel ddr 3, heres the link i bought it from. I purchased 2 sets to get a total of 12 gigs of ddr3.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002LZ1FPG/ref=oh_o06_s00_i01_details

I was wondering what the deal is with heat sinks on ram. I was told by my friend that i should use them, he even showed me a trick to remove them off an old set of ram and put them on a new set. I was then told to never buy ram with heat sinks because its a gimmick and a waste of money. But after doing a bit of light reading, the best answer i found was that no, if your not overclocking your computer you dont need it. But if your running certain older forms of ram its helpful, but its only really useful if you are doing a lot of overclocking. I wanna give overclocking a shot, but not until i know the risks and what im really doing. Im not about to just follow some dinky little guide and just go in balls deep and mess with anything like that lol

So it sounds like i have to get ram for the new build to work, and since its essentially gonna be using all new parts other than my hard drives, and a new C drive i bought, im hoping i wont run into any insane frame rate or bottle necking problems like with that older build i had.

*yawn* sorry for any funky grammar or confusion im literally about to knock out, thank god my bed is only 4 feet away

 

[Proximon]

Heatsinks on modern RAM is a bit of a gimmick, but it's not harmful and adds to the looks. There was a study done showing no need for it, except for very high end kits running at very high speeds, as I recall. Back in the day RAM ran much hotter. Just like CPUs ran much hotter.

I would not use that RAM in the build, as it's rated 1.65V for 3 sticks and getting 4 to work at that voltage might be problematic.

 

[themadhatta]

For sure, thanks again for the help, with a little research and the info youve provided i found this as my best bet for RAM. My folks wound up being very generous and didnt deduct some money i owed them out of my xmas money so i was able to afford this...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231529

Im fairly sure after triple and quadruple checking the stats and reading up on RAM and SD RAM and dual channel vs tripple channel vs quad channel and even CAS latency. I always thought it was spelled/pronounced latenancy or latenency lol, thank god for spell checking XD

I can still cancel the order but i figure this was a solid choice, and im enjoying going ahead and buying stuff or figuring stuff out on my own even if i make a mistake because thanks to awesome people like you ill get a fast response and can correct any errors i make.

Lemme know what you think, im probably gonna wind up buying another set later on if i feel i need to, but im not sure whats gonna start bottle necking first, what with my build and lack of knowledge. I just know the more ram the better considering i love running games at max settings in windowed mode a lot like in MMOs for example, even running multiple instances sometimes, while web browsing with 50-100+ tabs of firefox open at a time while im listening to music and doing other things lol.

The one thing i didnt make sure of is how voltage affects the board and RAM. You mentioned the voltage of my current RAM implying that the voltage would be a problem. It seems like these are 1.5v i believe. So thats the only concern i have other than let say someone mentioning that set of ram i bought happens to be having problems like the GIGABYTE mobos going up in smoke lol

 

[Proximon]

What do you imagine that RAM will do for you? How will it make your computer better?

Will it make your games better?

How are these very different RAM kits making a difference in gaming? Every kit is 79 FPS in Metro2033, one of the most demanding games ever.

Will it make your programs finish tasks faster?

The winner is the kit that costs $200 not $600.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226275
http://www.ramexperts.com/mushkin-993997-ddr3-udimm-4x4gb-16gb-pc3-17000-2133mhz-9-11-10-28-redline-ridgeback-1-65v.html

And 16GB is enough for anyone except perhaps graphic artists.