First time build

[aubrey08]

Planning on buying the 7970 and would like to know whats the best possible board and cpu (except the i7extreme) combination to have the best gaming experience?

 

[g-unit1111]

The i7 extreme - is it the 990X that you're referring to? If so that's based on an aging architecture that Intel has announced is in the process of being discontinued. I think it's this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115079

When you get the 7970 - you will want a board that will support it out of the box with no hiccups. Part of that is due to the outdated Catalyst software (which AMD replaced today with a universal 12.1 driver) but right now the only CPU / board configuration that will support it is the i7-3930K. If you buy an SB build you'll need to wait until the Ivy Bridge chips are released - probably by this summer.

If you want to get something now that will support the 7970 out of the box you'll be looking at a configuration like this:

Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121534
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116492

 

[aubrey08]

now if i want to wait for the 7970 price drop later this year would any other card say 6870 be compatible with that setup you suggested? Dumb question! i want to budget to 1500 and wait for the drop on 7970 but have the best setup for that card in the near future. If i go with the 6870 im gonna save alot of room to hit 1500 limit to purchase other parts i would need.


I do want a 1000watt PSU which one would u select for the parts u picked already. And as well as cooling? Greatly appriciated thanks.

 

[g-unit1111]

now if i want to wait for the 7970 price drop later this year would any other card say 6870 be compatible with that setup you suggested? Dumb question! i want to budget to 1500 and wait for the drop on 7970 but have the best setup for that card in the near future. If i go with the 6870 im gonna save alot of room to hit 1500 limit to purchase other parts i would need.

You're comparing a Ferrari to a Volkswagen Passat here. :lol:

The 7970 is the top-of-the-line winner here where the 6850 is the more user-friendly, mid-line GPU. You will save a lot of money with that card, but you won't see the performance that the top-of-the-line card will offer you.

 

[aubrey08]

With the board and cpu u selected with the 7970 im already at 1500

 

[aubrey08]

I already have a decent rig i play bf3 high and i will turn this over to my wife for her gaming. Yes i want the 7970 and i want it now but jeeze they want an arm n leg so i'll wait and just slap in what i've been using (6870) I figured get i could get the best of what i can for 1500 and complete it with the 7970 in 6 months.

 

[g-unit1111]

If $1500 is your budget you probably won't be able to do the 7970. or an X79 for that matter. You won't have the full PCI-E 3.0 yet but it will still work fine for the most part. Maybe try the new 7950. Try a setup like this:

Case: Fractal Design Arc MIDI - $99.99
PSU: Corsair Enthusiast Series TX750V2 - $99.99
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3P - $189.99
CPU: 3.30GHz Intel Core i5-2500K - $229.99
Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo - $34.99
RAM: PNY XLR8 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 - $44.99
SSD: Crucial M4 64GB - $109.99
HD: Seagate Barracuda XT 1TB - $129.99
Optical: Lite On DVD Burner - $23.00
Video Card: XFX Double-D 7950 3GB - $479.99

Total: $1,448.92

 

[somekidxd]

If $1500 is your budget you probably won't be able to do the 7970. or an X79 for that matter. You won't have the full PCI-E 3.0 yet but it will still work fine for the most part. Maybe try the new 7950. Try a setup like this:

Case: Fractal Design Arc MIDI - $99.99
PSU: Corsair Enthusiast Series TX750V2 - $99.99
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3P - $189.99
CPU: 3.30GHz Intel Core i5-2500K - $229.99
Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo - $34.99
RAM: PNY XLR8 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 - $44.99
SSD: Crucial M4 64GB - $109.99
HD: Seagate Barracuda XT 1TB - $129.99
Optical: Lite On DVD Burner - $23.00
Video Card: XFX Double-D 7950 3GB - $479.99

Total: $1,448.92

Looks awesome. Go!

 

[_Pez_]

WARNING : Careful or it might explode with all that high end hardware ! for prevention use your antiexplosions suit.

 

[aubrey08]

Sweet man i appriciate your time given. How much of that build would you "have" to change if i were to get the 7970? Are SSD even a must cause i dont even use one now.
would u reccomend the nzxt phantom cause instead of the one given?

 

[bob lightnin]

The i7 extreme - is it the 990X that you're referring to? If so that's based on an aging architecture that Intel has announced is in the process of being discontinued. I think it's this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115079

When you get the 7970 - you will want a board that will support it out of the box with no hiccups. Part of that is due to the outdated Catalyst software (which AMD replaced today with a universal 12.1 driver) but right now the only CPU / board configuration that will support it is the i7-3930K. If you buy an SB build you'll need to wait until the Ivy Bridge chips are released - probably by this summer.

If you want to get something now that will support the 7970 out of the box you'll be looking at a configuration like this:

Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121534
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116492

Actually I think he meant the i7 3960X, that SB extreme edition.

 

[g-unit1111]

Sweet man i appriciate your time given. How much of that build would you "have" to change if i were to get the 7970? Are SSD even a must cause i dont even use one now.
would u reccomend the nzxt phantom cause instead of the one given?

The NZXT Phantom is an excellent choice.

The 7950 is an excellent choice - the only thing you'd have to scale back would maybe be the motherboard (get the Asrock Z68 Extreme 3 Gen 3) and that would save you about $70 - enough to factor it in your budget.