New System help

[hilltopmonk]

Hi all,

2 builds to consider. I'm getting one though not sure which yet

Please browse over these and give input to neccessary changes or criticise stupid selections.

Thanks


Starting with whats not going to change

Graphics
Two XFX 6950 2GB - $244.99 x 2

Case
RaidMax Smildon - $64.99

HDD
1 x 300GB Velociraptor - $149.99 (for os)
1 x Random 2TB HDD for storage, not specifying as I dont really care ~$80-$100

PSU
Corsair 750W - $109.99

RAM
Corsair Vengeance 2x2GB 1600 - $59.99

Now the stuff which I'm not sure of;-

Either AMD

CPU
Phenom II x4 3.2Ghz -$119.99

Mobo
Crosshair IV Formula - $214.99

Or Intel

CPU
i5 2500K (SB) 3.3Ghz - $224.99

Mobo
Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD3-B3 - $129.99 (I think this is crap but I cant find one that has dual 16x PCIe)

-----------------------------------------------------------------

For either system I will need a after market cooler as OC will be happening.
Advice would be great on which to buy.

OS is Win7 x64 (got)
Monitors are 1680x1050 and 1360 x 768 (got) - hence Crossfire
DVD drives (got)


Phenom II setup costs $1229.93
i5 setup costs $1169.93

 

[crewton]

I'd definitely go with the i5 set up. The motherboard you picked out isn't for SLI/CF well kind of CF but the bad kind. The p67x-ud3 has the 2 PCIe x8/x8 configuration and don't worry about not having x16 (p67a-ud7 does if you really want it).

If you are going to spend $150 for a OS drive I'd recommend going SSD since it's faster and more reliable.

 

[hilltopmonk]

Thanks Crewton,

Well the p67a-ud7 is a beast of a board, and the price tag confirms this. So this is a definate no.

The p67x-ud3 looks like a decent board for the price. I will consider this board once I understand one thing;

Why should i not worry about x16 speed on the PCIe?
I would have thought running 2 pretty high end cards it would need all the bandwith it can suck up....

Thanks

 

[genghiskron]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/p67-gaming-3-way-sli-three-card-crossfire,2910-16.html

as you can see from the linked graphs, the performance difference between P67 x8/x8 Dual 6950, and P67+NF200 x16/x16 Dual 6950 is at most 1%. I would definitely drop the velociraptor, as an SSD is a far better choice for the money.

That ram also looks to be overpriced. You can get a much better deal on 8gb of ram, and you wont have to deal with the silly vengeance heatsinks that interfere with aftermarket cpu coolers:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145315&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL052711&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL052711-_-EMC-052711-Index-_-DesktopMemory-_-20145315-L04A


I would choose the z68 version of the same board, as it is cheaper and comes in a combo deal:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.651987

 

[hilltopmonk]

Thanks genghiskron,

The article cleared up my confusion no end

For the mobo GA-Z68X-UD3-B3 it is - cheaper and from what i can make out identical/better than the P67

RAM was selected due to timings, but well if there is no real gain to it then there is no point getting it. - will look into this more

The SSD makes more sense with the Z68 so will scrap the velociraptor and look into getting one of these instead

 

[hilltopmonk]

Hmm, have just run the system through a PSU calc and found out the one I chose is NOT up to the job.

glad I found that out now rather than later

 

[genghiskron]

a 750tx can absolutely handle that system. i would get the v2 instead of the older one though.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021&cm_re=750tx-_-17-139-021-_-Product

this guru 3d article shows the power pulled from crossfire 6950's in an x58 system, which draws more power:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-6950-crossfirex-review/14

if youre not convinced, and dont feel comfortable because of the calc, i suppose
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371050&cm_re=antec_900-_-17-371-050-_-Product
or this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151100&cm_re=seasonic_power_supply-_-17-151-100-_-Product
are nice alternatives.

 

[hilltopmonk]

OK Im convinced, If worst comes to worst I can always swap the PSU for my (not very) old 1kW one.