I Need An Answer. Facts And Opinions Welcomed!

[xfirefly1x]

Ok So, Today I was like You know what im going to spend my life earnings (jk ) Let cut the Chi Chat. I have a buget of 1100$ No more No less. Im Bulding my Gaming Rig (wooo! :lol: ) But I hit a Wall really hard and cant get up.

Here is what I getting. (price and everything)

Antec Twelve Hundred Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case 89$
OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ700MXSP 700W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire 79$
2x (so 8gb) G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 99$
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus 29$
ASUS Crosshair IV Formula AM3 AMD 890FX SATA 6Gb/s 219$
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4GHz Socket AM3 199$ Both Of these are a combo so 364$ for Both.

Total +Shipping: 682.26$

Now Comes the question for the GPUS.

(Looking for Best FPS)

Should I

A) AMD 6870 274.99$-239.99$

B) AMD 5870 (2GB Edition) 369.99$

C) 2x AMD 6850 379.99$ (Both)

D) (Don't Mind this one Ignore the Fact that i have a CF only Mobo) 2x SLI GTX 460 339.99$


What Do You Guys Think? Over All

All Facts (data/Charts) and Opinions (Owned Products) are Welcome Let me know!!!

 

[xfirefly1x]

Alright Cool,

Wow im a Fail I forgot to put i play at 1680x1050 -_- But not sure if that effects anything.

More Facts and Opinions PLease

 

[Altfire]

Looks like a good build, But I am more a fan on the 5850's they tend to out perform the 6850 series. Or buy one 5970 which will out perform most and get another one in the future for crossfire.

 

[17seconds]

Out of those options, two GTX460's in SLI will easily be the fastest and most stable, particularly if you go for custom models with nice cooling and factory overclocks (Gigabyte Superoverclock, MSI Hawk Talon Attack, ECS Black).

Quote:
"So over the years Multi-GPU support has improved quite a bit, AMD still isn't up-to snuff at the level of NVIDIA though, multi-GPU supports still literally and directly remains the Achilles heel of ATI's Catalyst drivers."
http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-6850-6870-crossfirex-review/15

 

[kiban]

Yep, 2x gtx460 should be the best option according to that prices. Although the 5870 2g version looks good too.

The 6xxx series of ATI does a better job at crosfire than 5xxx does. But the current 2 cards of 6xxx performs worse than 5xxx.
If you do wait, prices of series 5xxx of ATI will drop, but yeah, if you don't have a 5870 as of yet, doing crosfire with that in the future will be stupid.

 

[xfirefly1x]

yeah it is only crossfire but i was just wondering that why i put it as an option cant leave nVidia out but that sounds good so so far this is what im grasping (this is my first build btw)

2x GTX 460 Sounds Amazing
1x 2GB HD AMD 5870 Pretty Good
and 2x HD AMD 6850 Great

One Last Question If you where aim for the best FPS and Rating What would you choose? Using this Build Of Course. (sorry for so many question i just want to get hte best and make sure i dont look back )

 

[17seconds]

This review compares the GTX460 SLI vs. the HIS 6850 Crossfire:
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/3602/his_radeon_hd_6850_1gb_video_card_in_crossfire/index.html

Quote:
"Compared to the GTX 460 OC 1GB SLI setup it’s a tough call. With similar pricing between the two, deciding which setup you would prefer to have might be a little tough, especially if you’re with a board that supports SLI. On the other hand, if you’re running an AMD rig or something that only supports CF, then the decision is easy. What you would be best to do is just go through the graphs and start breaking the games down and really let the games you play make the decision."

 

[xfirefly1x]

One Last Question If I Where to Say to Switch my Mobo.

To this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130236

(To Support SLI.)

Would You Think It a Good Idea?

I Hear Many People Say AMD and SLI Dont go well together.

Any thoughts on this?

 

[AMW1011]

2x 6850s. Faster than GTX 460s, and have similar dual card scaling, which is excellent. They also run far cooler and use much less power.

You could also get a single GTX 480. I have one and I don't have any problems running most games maxed. I'm not sure if this would be my decision, but many people seem to prefer a powerful single card over two lower cards.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127502&cm_re=gtx_480-_-14-127-502-_-Product

 

[AMW1011]

Another thing is, could I possibly persuade you to go the Intel route? I see that you seem to have a penchant for high end motherboards, and I can't fault you there as I do too. However, with money getting increasingly tight these past couple of years, I had to go on a budget.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215&cm_re=i5_750-_-19-115-215-_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138162&cm_re=t5_xe-_-13-138-162-_-Product

All told, your looking at a little bit less, so you could go a little higher on the motherboard, but I can attest to that motherboard's proficiency. I admit it lacks USB 3.0 and eSATA, but if thats not too important to you then its a great board. I can easily get 4.0 GHz+ at high voltage (my i5 750 is a sh-t OC'r) out of this board, and I've seen people get 5 GHZ+ LN2 runs with it. Also, it has great PCIe spacing, so you have a slot inbetween your dual slot GPUs. I have had absolutely zero problems with it, and I'm quite happy with it.

Going this route will allow you to get nVidia if you wanted. You could go the GTX 480 route and get a bigger PSU and another one down the road. Or you could possibly squeeze in two GTX 470s with a better PSU, which is a far superior system than your current options.

 

[xfirefly1x]

Dang I really Wish There was a way to give all of you The choice for Best Answer

I think im going to stick with AMD and ATI due to the fact that Seeing the prices of i7 and Intel Mobo Makes my Budget pass 1100$

I may go with the single gpu (2GB 5870) like AMW1011 Stated some people Pref a 1 sginle mrore powerful GPU my Choice isnt Final Yet, And no to be a bother some but What do you ithink? lol man im sorry for asking for many questions.

 

[AMW1011]

Well the i7s are completely overpriced in my opinion, but the i5 750 is pretty well priced. It will be slightly faster than the Phenom, and will, more importantly, give you the option of any dual card setup form either GPU maker down the road. It also costs about the same as the Phenom build.

Either way, I would not get the 5870 2GB. I had just assumed someone mentioned it, but the extra memory really doesn't help the 5870, especially at your resolution. You would be much better off with a cheap GTX 480 really. If you want to go with ATI, then you should either wait for the 69xx series, or get 2 6850s.

For the record, I would just try to budget in two 6870s, but that is just me.

 

[17seconds]

The only thing with getting a 2GB model is that it really only helps for running games at high resolutions.

 

[xfirefly1x]

Alright Cool So after Much Thought Heres my New Spec Thank you

AMW1011
matto17secs
dipankar2007ind
kiban

for you facts and opinion on my issue, so far i try going the Intel way and well Heres the new Price and specs so far (still Open to changes)

Had to change cases Due to the fact that the 1200 went back up to 150$

69$ RAIDMAX SMILODON ATX-612WB Black 1.0mm SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Foldout MB Computer Case

319.98$ (both) (2x)EVGA 01G-P3-1366-TR GeForce GTX 460 SE (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5

89.99$ XFX P1-650X-CAG9 650W ATX12V 2.2 / ESP12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Readyy

89.99$ G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333

249.99$ EVGA P55 FTW 200 SLI 141-LF-E658-KR LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard

204.99$ Intel Core i5-760 Lynnfield 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80605I5760

29.99$ COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 compatible r

Total (Budget: 1100$) + Shipping : 1054.92$

Little Difference from the AMD Set i did when i first posted this. Im Happy and so far these review and research will hopefully pay off

 

[17seconds]

I'm just wondering about the GTX460 SE versions. Those are really the budget, low-end versions of the GTX460. They even have a lower performance level than the GTX460 768mb. I'm sure two of them in SLI will give very good performance, but I just wanted to make sure you realized that the SE version is at the low-end of the GTX460's.

 

[AMW1011]

I recommend against that case. I don't believe that I've heard a single good thing about it. The NZXT M59 has a cult following on OCN, and seems to be the best budget case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146058&cm_re=m59-_-11-146-058-_-Product

I see no problem with your GPU choice, though I'm not sure how you got that price.

I'd also get the i5 750, the extra $20 isn't worth it when your likely going to overclock them to the same speeds.

 

[Avro Arrow]

I'll do you one better. How about 2 Radeon HD 4870s for $180?
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6941705&CatId=3669
That will put you in the range of the 5870 for less than $200 and your PSU will handle it just fine. It's actually $240 before rebate but I just got my rebate back from XFX as promised. The double-lifetime warranty doesn't hurt either.

 

[Avro Arrow]

DX11 is not even close to being a real concern yet and there are no "superior" DX11 cards in comparison to the 4870 short of getting a 5850. The 4870 has slightly better performance than the 5770 which cannot tessellate properly anyway because no card in ATi's lineup weaker than the 5850 can. I'd get the two cards, save the difference and upgrade again when DX11 is actually relevant. Until then, all you'll have is powerhouse gaming which is what you're looking for anyway.

 

[g00fysmiley]

2 6850's and overclock the hell out of em.. or sli 460's

 

[kiban]

No point on downgrading to a older version of ATI cards. If someone should be willing to do that, it would be better off going for nvidia gtx4xx SLI setup, because clearly, power and heat are not a concern.
Ati hd 4xxx series was good, but if you contrast them with 5xxx and 6xxx they don't have any place in the picture, not even money can win against the 2 last series of ATI.

So as we all have recomended, either SLI gtx 460 or Crossfire hd 6850. the gtx will be more antialiasing friendly, the hd will be more power friendly, but both scale very nicely.