Approximate Purchase Date: as soon as i figure this out
Budget Range: $1000-1200
System Usage from Most to Least Important: surfing, gaming, work (financial charting with multiple monitor display)
Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: currently newegg.com but open to suggestions
Country of Origin: USA
Parts Preferences: Intel CPU, AMD GPU
Overclocking: No
SLI or Crossfire: Maybe
Monitor Resolution: Quad Display => 1920x1080
So I'm looking for a system that I can use to play the occasional latest MMPORPG, but also run my financial charting software across multiple monitors .
First..here's the current gameplan based on what I've read on this forum, balancing performance and value:
Intel Core i7-2600k, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070&cm_re=i7-2600k-_-19-115-070-_-Product
ASUS P8P67 DELUXE , http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131701&cm_re=asus_p8p67-_-13-131-701-_-Product
COOLER MASTER HAF 912, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233&Tpk=COOLER%20MASTER%20HAF%20912
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145345&cm_re=8GB_Vengeance-_-20-145-345-_-Product OR CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 15000) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1866C9B, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233170&cm_re=8GB_Vengeance-_-20-233-170-_-Product
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V v2.2 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006
SAPPHIRE 100314SR Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102909&Tpk=SAPPHIRE%20100314SR%20Radeon%20HD%206870%201GB%20256-bit%20GDDR5
And here's the questions I have for anyone who can help....
- Are there any glaring inconsistencies or incompatibilities with this base (I will add drives later)?
- Do I need a separate CPU cooler if I am not manually overclocking the CPU, esp given the case fans?
- Will the CPU be able to utilize the faster memory option or is it wasted $ for the 1866 vs 1600 corsair DDR3s?
And the biggie...
- I don't really understand how crossfire works other than spreading the GPU load to increase the performance of linked lower end cards, and I have to run two video cards to support 4 monitors that I use for work. So I am assuming that I will NOT be utilizing crossfire at all? I.e., I assume there is no way to have all 4 monitors hooked up, but then via keyboard commands switch to a Crossfire 'mode' when I want to boost the graphics performance of my main monitor??
- Along those lines, since I do not require heavy GPU support for my secondary monitors, is it safe to buy any lower end AMD card to run those vs another 6870?
For example, the scenarios I am considering with a very poor understanding of how Crossfire is implemented are 1) two of the above-referenced video cards powering 4 monitors, but occasionally 'enabled' via crossfire to support simply the main monitor (again..I have no idea if this is possible), 2) a single 6870 card as above, then some cheaper 38- 58 series card to run the secondary monitors.
Also, if the answers to some of the above lead to the fact that I just won't be using Crossfire, then is my original hardware list off base?
Thanks a bunch for any and all input. It's been a LONG time since I've build my own machine (anyone remember when a 10MB hard drive was $10k and for corporate use only??)
Budget Range: $1000-1200
System Usage from Most to Least Important: surfing, gaming, work (financial charting with multiple monitor display)
Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: currently newegg.com but open to suggestions
Country of Origin: USA
Parts Preferences: Intel CPU, AMD GPU
Overclocking: No
SLI or Crossfire: Maybe
Monitor Resolution: Quad Display => 1920x1080
So I'm looking for a system that I can use to play the occasional latest MMPORPG, but also run my financial charting software across multiple monitors .
First..here's the current gameplan based on what I've read on this forum, balancing performance and value:
Intel Core i7-2600k, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070&cm_re=i7-2600k-_-19-115-070-_-Product
ASUS P8P67 DELUXE , http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131701&cm_re=asus_p8p67-_-13-131-701-_-Product
COOLER MASTER HAF 912, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233&Tpk=COOLER%20MASTER%20HAF%20912
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145345&cm_re=8GB_Vengeance-_-20-145-345-_-Product OR CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 15000) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1866C9B, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233170&cm_re=8GB_Vengeance-_-20-233-170-_-Product
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V v2.2 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006
SAPPHIRE 100314SR Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102909&Tpk=SAPPHIRE%20100314SR%20Radeon%20HD%206870%201GB%20256-bit%20GDDR5
And here's the questions I have for anyone who can help....
- Are there any glaring inconsistencies or incompatibilities with this base (I will add drives later)?
- Do I need a separate CPU cooler if I am not manually overclocking the CPU, esp given the case fans?
- Will the CPU be able to utilize the faster memory option or is it wasted $ for the 1866 vs 1600 corsair DDR3s?
And the biggie...
- I don't really understand how crossfire works other than spreading the GPU load to increase the performance of linked lower end cards, and I have to run two video cards to support 4 monitors that I use for work. So I am assuming that I will NOT be utilizing crossfire at all? I.e., I assume there is no way to have all 4 monitors hooked up, but then via keyboard commands switch to a Crossfire 'mode' when I want to boost the graphics performance of my main monitor??
- Along those lines, since I do not require heavy GPU support for my secondary monitors, is it safe to buy any lower end AMD card to run those vs another 6870?
For example, the scenarios I am considering with a very poor understanding of how Crossfire is implemented are 1) two of the above-referenced video cards powering 4 monitors, but occasionally 'enabled' via crossfire to support simply the main monitor (again..I have no idea if this is possible), 2) a single 6870 card as above, then some cheaper 38- 58 series card to run the secondary monitors.
Also, if the answers to some of the above lead to the fact that I just won't be using Crossfire, then is my original hardware list off base?
Thanks a bunch for any and all input. It's been a LONG time since I've build my own machine (anyone remember when a 10MB hard drive was $10k and for corporate use only??)