New build - is it overkill?

[portal2dude]

Goal: I want to game at 1920x1080 120Hz with maxed out gfx settings and also frap at the same time with current games and diablo 3 (when that day comes), is this build overkill?

1x BenQ 24" 120Hz monitor

Corsair Obsidian Series 800D $265

ASUS MAXIMUS IV EXTREME (REV 3.0) $365

HIS Radeon HD 6950 2GB flashed to 6970 (extra shaders no overvolt) $264

HIS Radeon HD 6990 4GB $697 trifire

CORSAIR Professional Series AX1200 1200W $280

Intel Core i7-2600K $315

2x Intel X25-M 80GB Raid0 $369

G.SKILL Ripjaws X + Turbulence II Series 8GB (4 x 2GB) $319

2x SAMSUNG Spinpoint F4 2TB Raid1 $160

SAMSUNG Black Blu-ray Drive SATA $70

Win 7 64bit $265

HT | OMEGA Claro Halo $200

I havent decided on air of water yet.

 

[someone19]

Looks good if you don't plan to pay your way through college.

Seriously, grossly overkill.

$265 for win 7!?

What's your budget?

 

[portal2dude]

Looks good if you don't plan to pay your way through college.

Seriously, grossly overkill.

$265 for win 7!?

What's your budget?

$4k ish

newegg has win 7 pro full for $265

 

[Timop]

Get the system builder's version, you won't notice a difference.

But other than that, if you have money to burn, looks nice.
Just take off the X25Ms for a single Vertex 3, get 2 6950s instead of a 6990, and perhaps another monitor or 2 just for the fun of it.

 

[jakewestgomila]

you're lucky to have that kind of money! and yes it seems like overkill... massively

but since money isnt really an issue for you, ive got some extra ideas of what you could do...

buy another two of the same monitors... and since they@re 120hz perhaps stick a couple of gtx 470s in (or any other powerful nvidia cards to make an sli if youve got the money)
and get an nvidia 3d kit and get some new 3d compatible...
just an idea... im not to sure about the technical side of it, but ive tried 3d and id HIGHLY recommend it if you have the money

 

[jakewestgomila]

3d compatible games/films*

 

[portal2dude]

Get the system builder's version, you won't notice a difference.

But other than that, if you have money to burn, looks nice.
Just take off the X25Ms for a single Vertex 3, get 2 6950s instead of a 6990, and perhaps another monitor or 2 just for the fun of it.

is this what you're talking about?

System Builder Marathon, March 2011:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-sandy-bridge-build-a-pc-overclocking,2876.html

 

[Timop]

is this what you're talking about?

System Builder Marathon, March 2011:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-sandy-bridge-build-a-pc-overclocking,2876.html

I meant this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116992&cm_re=windows_7-_-32-116-992-_-Product

 

[portal2dude]

you're lucky to have that kind of money! and yes it seems like overkill... massively

but since money isnt really an issue for you, ive got some extra ideas of what you could do...

buy another two of the same monitors... and since they@re 120hz perhaps stick a couple of gtx 470s in (or any other powerful nvidia cards to make an sli if youve got the money)
and get an nvidia 3d kit and get some new 3d compatible...
just an idea... im not to sure about the technical side of it, but ive tried 3d and id HIGHLY recommend it if you have the money

I'll do that next build. Im gonna do something similar to this build:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ4L7lSrWPg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrF960wFaw4

I meant this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116992&cm_re=windows_7-_-32-116-992-_-Product

Wow! Nice find bud, thanks for the hookup!

 

[Why_Me]

That builds a mess. It looks like a build from the guru3d forums. First off you don't go 4x2gb, you do 2x4gb so your ram isn't sitting side by side creating heat. Tri fire is a total waste of $, especially on 1900 x 1080, same with the SSD's in RAID 0 and there is never a need to water cool a Sandy Bridge cpu. These cpu's will hit a ceiling well before they hit the limits on the temps. Any half decent cpu h/s will do just fine. The one I'm posting in this build down below is rated on Frosty Tech's top 10 list for air coolers. Also this build down below is over kill for that resolution but it will keep you in super high fps for a while down the road.

This build includes dual factory over clocked gtx 580's in SLI, a mobo that runs dual cards @ 16x & 16x, low voltage RAM, 240GB Revo, etc...btw those fans in this build are the optional fans for that case thus giving you the best cooling possible.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225 $189.99 - $179.99 after mail-in rebate FREE SHIPPING
COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1 Black Steel/ Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103072 $21.99
COOLER MASTER Megaflow 200 R4-LUS-07AR-GP 200mm Red LED Case Fan

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103091 $8.99
COOLER MASTER SickleFlow 120 R4-L2R-20AR-R1 120mm Silent operation Red LED case fan

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103081 $8.99
COOLER MASTER R4-SPS-20AK-GP 80mm Case Fan

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194081 $209.99
ENERMAX REVOLUTION85+ ERV1020EWT 1020W (Peak 1120W) ATX12V / EPS12V v2.92 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.632434 Combo Discount: -$25.00 Combo Price: $429.98
GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD7-B3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL9D-8GBSR

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070 $314.99 FREE SHIPPING
Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118075 $79.99 - $69.99 after mail-in rebate FREE SHIPPING
ZALMAN CNPS9900MAX-R 135mm Long life bearing CPU Cooler Red LED

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125364 $499.99 FREE SHIPPING
GIGABYTE GV-N580UD-15I GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125364 $499.99 FREE SHIPPING
GIGABYTE GV-N580UD-15I GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185 $64.99 FREE SHIPPING
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227661 $569.00 FREE SHIPPING
OCZ RevoDrive X2 OCZSSDPX-1RVDX0240 PCI-E 240GB PCI-Express x4 MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754 $99.99 FREE SHIPPING
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM

Total: $3,000.00 *not including shipping, rebates, monitor, etc...

http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?category_id=18&product_id=2988 <------ more info, specs, and pics on that CM HAF X case.

http://www.frys.com/product/6417522?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG $399.99
BEN Q XL2410T 23.6" LED Backlit Monitor (NVIDIA 3D Ready)

 

[pelov]

Gross overkill... You really need a 3 monitor setup to even consider buying that build. Running a 6990 + 6970 for a single 1080i monitor is stupid. You either need 2 more monitors or simply trash the entire build and start over and plan for a single monitor setup.

 

[volks1470]

that graphics horsepower is WAY overkill for just 1920x1080 even 2560x1600 wouldn't be hard for them.
A good application for those GPUs is a 2560x1600 monitors in eyefinity or eyefinity with 3-6 1920x1080 monitors.


Also, AMD gpus have the ability for decoding blu-ray audio so if that's what the sound card is for. It's not needed. The 6000 series have 7.1 channel, lossless sound 192kHz / 24-bit. BUT in eyefinity i'm pretty sure you lose the ability to use HDCP in blu-rays.

I'd recommend the OCZ Vertex 3 SSDs. VERY fast

If your thinking about water. I'd definitely recommend it! It's fun to do. You'll get some serious speeds out of that 2600K on water! 5GHz+

 

[Why_Me]

that graphics horsepower is WAY overkill for just 1920x1080 even 2560x1600 wouldn't be hard for them.
A good application for those GPUs is a 2560x1600 monitors in eyefinity or eyefinity with 3-6 1920x1080 monitors.


Also, AMD gpus have the ability for decoding blu-ray audio so if that's what the sound card is for. It's not needed. The 6000 series have 7.1 channel, lossless sound 192kHz / 24-bit. BUT in eyefinity i'm pretty sure you lose the ability to use HDCP in blu-rays.

I'd recommend the OCZ Vertex 3 SSDs. VERY fast

If your thinking about water. I'd definitely recommend it! It's fun to do. You'll get some serious speeds out of that 2600K on water! 5GHz+

Any decent air cooler will get that 2600K to 5.0ghz.

 

[jakewestgomila]

glad that you are thinking about going 3d!!! and those triple monitor set ups looked kick-ass btw, if you ever have any spare components lying around, im here to take them?

you know, just the odd gtx480 that you dont need anymore cause youve got a stupidly powerful ati 6990?

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Monitor - Not overkill, I'd grab the Asus (1st choice) , Acer (2nd.).

MoBo - Don't understand your 6990 paired with a flashed 6950, so hard to figure your MoBo choice. Maximus 4 gives you 16 x16 x8 with three cards; ideal set up there is 2 cards in SLI / CF + dedicated PhysX card.....or tri SLI/CF at X8. WS Revolution is $100 cheaper and gives x16 x16 SLI / CF. I like this board very much ; it tops the UD7 in every bench but the surprise for me was the large difference in the power and temperature figures.

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/3795/asus_p8p67_ws_revolution_intel_p67_express_motherboard/index12.html

Asus P8P67 WS Revolution (4.8 Ghz) - 105 watts at idle / 240 watts at load
Gigabyte 67A-UD7 (4.8 GHz) - 154 watts at idle (46% higher) / 263 watts at load (10% higher)

Asus P8P67 WS Revolution (4.8 Ghz) - 35.8 C at idle / 38.2 C at load
Gigabyte 67A-UD7 (4.8 GHz) - 46.2 C idle (29% higher) / 45.4 C at load (19% higher)

GFX - At 2560 x 1600 I'd consider the 69xx series; at 1920 x 1200, I'd go nVidia. As the the 6990, it's a dog in quad CF as is the 590 as seen in the table below. Guru3D uses the following games in their test suite, COD-MW, Bad Company 2, Dirt 2, Far Cry 2, Metro 2033, Dawn of Discovery, Crysis Warhead. Total fps (summing fps in each game) for the various options in parenthesis (single card / SL or CF) are tabulated below along with their cost in dollars per frame single card - CF or SLI:

6850 (371/634) $0.42 - $0.49
6950 (479/751) $0.51 - $0.65
6950 Frozr OC (484/759) $0.59 - $0.75
560 Ti (455/792) $0.53 - $0.61
6970 (526/825) $0.64 - $0.81
560 Ti - 900 Mhz (495/862) $0.48 - $0.56
570 (524/873) $0.64 - $0.77
580 (616/953) $0.81 - $1.05
6990 (762/903) $0.95 - $1.61
590 (881/982) $0.79 - $1.43

The 900MHz 560 was a grand theft at $215 after MIR last 2 weeks. Now it's just a steal w/ price back up to $240 ... and that's where I'd go at 1920 x 1200 ..... a 10% increase in fps w/ the 580's in SLI results in more than double the cost ($480 -> $1,000). Again, at 2560 x 1600, I'd consider the 6970's ......Tri CF, is something I wouldn't tackle tho.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-6850-6870-crossfirex-review/15

PSU is a good choice, if ya need that much power.....twin560's / 6970's would be a 750 or 850 watter (XFX Black in ATX form factor cases, Antec CP-850 in CPX).

The Intel SSD was surpassed by the Vertex 2. The Vertex 3 is today's king of the hill. Don't expect a "wow" impact on the gaming experience tho.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227706

HD - I'd use these:

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=708&Itemid=60&limit=1&limitstart=10

For a hard drive, the Barracuda XT series offers the best performance available from a 7200 RPM mechanical storage device. It's not quite as fast as the Seagate Momentus-XT Solid State Hybrid Drive, but then again that product series doesn't offer storage capacities beyond 500GB.

OS - Win Pro is $140 ... you're building a system, that makes you eligible for OEM.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116992

Burner - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135234

case - Here's a choice that's generally controlled by aesthetics not performance.....I do about a build a month and from the "build" perspective, I wanna work in a DF-85 (1st choice) for HAF-X (2nd choice).....If ya want something unusual, you might try this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133188

 

[portal2dude]

@ JackNaylorPE and everyone

Thanks for taking your time and enegy to share your input on my build.



1920x1200, 16xAA, very high settings, max tessellation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spExsvmJ-RE


As JackNaylorPE has pointed out with the small % increase from the 560 to the 580 as well as the bench from the above photo and link, is it pointless to even use the 120Hz monitor since the fps is barely pushing over 60 fps in the crysis bench? With fraps added to the mix, it'd drop the fps even more.

I don't know what direction to go at this point. I'm gonna sleep on it. Thanks for the help everyone. A lot of great info here.

edit: found another vid with sli 560 benched on metro 2033 where frames are 30 - 60

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLF4jpzjs9I

 

[aznshinobi]

JackNaylor, I swear, You swear by the 560 Ti for your life even though the 6950 2GB flashed would be the better choice.

 

[portal2dude]

final final post for the night:

Metro 2033 Benchmark Geforce GTX 580 SLi Overclocked on a 22" Samsung 120Hz Monitor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI_fGjoPIb4&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

After viewing that I'm leaning towards 580 SLi

 

[samrialj]

thats scary overkill, really really really overkill, and why would you ask if it was overkill unless you knew it was overkill haha.jkjk. but tone down some parts and you could have a fine system there.