Building a rig for 2560x1600 gaming

[xpabl0b]

After reaching the end of the line with upgrades to my Dell XPS 8100 i5-750 rig I am thinking about starting from scratch and putting together a new rig for 2560x1600 gaming (racing, FPS) on a Dell U3011 30" monitor.

Budget is not really a limiting factor and I would like to stay with NVIDIA for the graphics card(s). SLI is not a problem either.

Does anyone have any recommendations for what processor, graphics card(s), motherboard etc. I should use? I am especially interested in gaming at 2560x1600, the native resolution of the Dell U3011.

Many thanks

 

[subinjose]

In my opinion go for a i7 2600k and overclock it the max .. and an asus ROG extreme motherboard. I'm planning the same...

 

[xrodney]

After reaching the end of the line with upgrades to my Dell XPS 8100 i5-750 rig I am thinking about starting from scratch and putting together a new rig for 2560x1600 gaming (racing, FPS) on a Dell U3011 30" monitor.

Budget is not really a limiting factor and I would like to stay with NVIDIA for the graphics card(s). SLI is not a problem either.

Does anyone have any recommendations for what processor, graphics card(s), motherboard etc. I should use? I am especially interested in gaming at 2560x1600, the native resolution of the Dell U3011.

Many thanks

You will probably need to use SLI for high details on that resolution.
I am using HD5870 and need to turn of details and AA for most games or even turn down resolution.

As for recommendation:
i7-2600K
Asrock P67 Fatal1ty
Corsair AX850
2x4 or 4x4GB ram
VGA: either GTX590 or 2x570 in SLI (what is your current GPU? Maybe you will need just get 2nd and SLI it)

 

[joecaine]

A 1.5gb/2gb graphics card would be ideal for gaming such a high resolution... Mabye a GTX 570/GTX 580, depending on your budget. I think a GTX 460 2GB is one of the cheapest 2GB graphics cards you can buy, but is still pretty good.

For the CPU, don't get an i7 2600k and overclock it to the max. That's unnecessary and a huge waste of money. For gaming, your cant go wrong with an i5 2500, or a i5 2500k if you want unlocked multipliers (overclocking stuff).

As for motherboards, an ASRock P67 Extreme4 is ideal for your needs and the i5 2500k.

Graphics Cards:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130587&cm_re=evga_gtx_580-_-14-130-587-_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130613
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130611&cm_re=gtx_460_2gb-_-14-130-611-_-Product


CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157229&cm_re=asrock_p67_extreme4-_-13-157-229-_-Product

 

[xpabl0b]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

My current GPU is the Zotac GTX 560Ti Amp! edition so I had been thinking of getting another and running the two 560s in SLI to hopefully get a decent 2560x1600 gaming experience. I would prefer to do this if possible rather than buying a single GTX 590 for example.

Based on responses, I will probably go with either the i5-2500k or i5-2600k so long as they don't bottleneck the SLI pair. For cooling, I'll probably stick an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 on.

I'm not sure about the motherboard. The ASRock P67 Extreme 4 looks good but a friend has told me to look at the new Asus P8Z68-V PRO.

Also, to power all this, I was thinking of a 1000W PSU like the Cooler Master 1000W Silent Pro. This should be enough juice if I went down the SLI route shouldn't it?

And I was thinking of sticking it all in the Cooler Master HAF X as I'd prefer air-cooling to water-cooling.

 

[mjmjpfaff]

do you even have a small ssd because if you dont the z68 boards are a waste of money because you wont use any of the extra features they have over the p67 boards. i have the extreme4 and an i5 2500k. dont get the 2600k, games do not use hyperthreading. and for your psu get a hx850 and 2 hd 6950's/6970's your choice. for hdd get the samsung spinpoint f3 1tb and for an ssd wait and get the new corsair one. cpu cooler- http://www.amazon.com/Noctua-Heatpipe-Bearing-Cooler-NH-D14/dp/B002VKVZ1A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1306334305&sr=8-1 . 8gb of gskill ram. did i miss anything?

 

[xpabl0b]

No, I think that's everything. Thanks!