New Future Gaming Rig

[computergeeek1986]

Hello Folks!

I've been reading these forums for the past couple of months and indeed got a lot of interesting feed back about different parts I'm going to use for my machine. I was hoping if maybe you guys can tell help me or give me advice about this machine!

CPU : Intel Core i7-2600K 3.4GHz LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
CPU Cooling : CORSAIR CWCH60 Hydro Series H60 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Mother Board : ASRock P67 EXTREME4 (B3) ATX Intel Motherboard
RAM : CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory
GPU : 2x ASUS Radeon HD 6970 EAH6970 DCII/2DI4S/2GD5 Video Card
PSU : COOLER MASTER Silent Pro RSA00-AMBAJ3-US 1000W Power Supply
SDD : OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3-60G 2.5" MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) *For OS and stuff*
HDD : Western Digital VelociRaptor 450GB 3.5" SATA 6.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive *For Data*
Case : AZZA Solano 1000 Black/Black Computer Case With Side Panel Window
DVD/Blu ray : SAMSUNG Black Blu-ray Drive SATA Model SH-B123L LightScribe Support

My main concern is I'm not sure if the GPUs will fit on the motherboard, without being too tight. I have a feeling they will be a little close to each other.

Other thing is I want to OC the cpu and gpus hence why I have easy kiddy water cooling for the CPU and the Asus beasts for the GPUs

Any opinions or ideas are welcome ^_^

Thanks!

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been moved from the section CPU & Components to section Systems by Mousemonkey

 

[boiler1990]

What are you using this computer for? If just for games, the i5-2500K will be plenty, and depending on the resolution of your monitor(s), the GTX 580 might be a better GPU choice. There's definitely no need for 16GB RAM at that point; you're better off getting a bigger GPU (6990/590?), faster RAM, a bigger SSD, etc.

The Asus 6970s will fit (they are 3-slot cards), but you will then only have room for a single PCI-E x1 card (wifi/NIC, sound card, etc.); just keep that in mind.

I wouldn't spend the money on a Velociraptor. Even though it's a 10k RPM drive, you shouldn't notice a significant difference between that and the Samsung F3 1TB, which is currently the fastest 7200RPM drive. The F3 will also cost significantly less.

I'd personally get a good Corsair or Seasonic PSU. Cooler Master's Silent Pro series is getting there, but CM still isn't quite a household name when it comes to PSUs.

You may even want to consider cutting some costs (RAM, CPU, VRaptor) and investing in a full-blown liquid cooling setup.

 

[computergeeek1986]

I see! Well I wanted the 2600k because I like the hyper threaded aspect. I believe the 2500 isn't? The 16 gigs ram is just for my Virtual machine so I can run it with loads of ram as my linux box will like it.

I definitely will look at the psu and changing the hdd - I thought it would be worth the money.

In relation to the full blown liquid system, I'm not too comfortable with trying that as it looks overly complicated and I'm not much for having to add coolant.

I really appreciate the feed back! With the Hdd being replaced I'll probably go for a Corsair PSU or so. I was a little iffy on the CM psu myself!

 

[boiler1990]

Keep in mind that hyperthreading does not help in games. It might for VMs, but because I never mess with them I have no idea.

What are you running in your VM that needs that much RAM though?

Liquid cooling isn't as difficult as people make it out to be (it does taking some work though). I was simply suggesting it because you seem to have the budget to fit in a pretty good system.

 

[computergeeek1986]

I'll take a look again at liquid cooling ^_^

I'm a hobby programmer and I'm developing a game for giggles and currently my box kinda pulls along with 1 gig and works ok, however I know it can process the different calculations a lot more quickly if I gave it 2 "cores" and 4-8 gigs of ram.

Not to mention the other servers I host use a bunch of ram too. Along with my windows stuff I want to do while running the vm.

I'll take a look back at liquid cooling - I am setting aside a bit of money for this system indeed and maybe it won't look daunting this time! hehe

Boiler I really appreciate your feed back!

 

[computergeeek1986]

Oh Also I'm going to do the eye finity hence why I wanted the 6970s crossfire.

 

[sn0w]

I personally don't trust the OCZ ssd's - you can check out the new crucial m4's they are around the 110-116 on newegg for the 64gb and $230 for the 128gb

 

[boiler1990]

Not to mention the other servers I host use a bunch of ram too. Along with my windows stuff I want to do while running the vm.

So that explains the extra RAM

Oh Also I'm going to do the eye finity hence why I wanted the 6970s crossfire.

Eyefinity takes 3 or 6 monitors and makes it one big monitor, really for gaming. 6970s should support 3-4 monitors natively though (my 6950 supports 4). Just thought I'd point out that technicality for reference, as the two confused me for some time. The multimonitor support is much better than NVidia's; I hated using 2x470s for 3 screens. Now I can plug those and my 24" into one GPU for schoolwork


Liquid cooling is something I'd keep in mind for the future; worry about putting together the computer first, because it'll take a while to get all of the right information and then all of the parts you need. The key thing is if there is a 6970 waterblock (heatsink) for the Asus triple slot version. It is much easier to find waterblocks for reference model cards.

I personally don't trust the OCZ ssd's - you can check out the new crucial m4's they are around the 110-116 on newegg for the 64gb and $230 for the 128gb

I'm quite the opposite. Crucial uses a Marvell controller, whereas Intel and OCZ use Sandforce controllers. Although both sets of controllers have had their fair share of issues so far, the Sandforce drives are significantly faster in benchmarks, and are roughly the same price. I'd personally pick and Intel 510, or even a 320 (having some issues at the moment...).

 

[computergeeek1986]

The Intel 320 I didn't see 6 gb/s support (I was told the OSZ is the fast sdd out there so I figured I'd use it as I'm aiming to boot windows in ~10 seconds hehe)

I will have 3 monitors at 5760 x 1080 and I'm very excited hehe and I figured having 2 of them would help just with the load, I know I can get away with one but still!

Thanks for the help! ^_^

 

[boiler1990]

*lightbulb* Check out the OCZ Revodrive. You might be able to put it in the x1 slot above the GPUs in the mobo, and it'll be insanely fast. You can use the RevoDrive as a boot drive as long as the motherboard supports booting to the PCI-E slot (which I believe most boards do).

It's worth a look

 

[computergeeek1986]

Oh wow I do like that idea, though I'm going to be a little careful as I'm not sure if I can fit it on the motherboard as I have the asus 6970s onboard!

Definitely looking into this.

 

[computergeeek1986]

I take that back! I can put it in the first PCI 1 slot. hehehe This will be interesting.

 

[computergeeek1986]

So I'm thinking of just pushing it to over kill :

OCZ RevoDrive X2 OCZSSDPX-1RVDX0100 PCI-E 100GB PCI-Express x4 MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

 

[boiler1990]

If you save some money here and there, it might be doable. I'm not telling you how to spend your money