~$2000 need help on good gpu pc build (and what mobo should I get?)

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Ziai

Ziai

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Approximate Purchase Date: I wish to start buying components in couple weeks time.
Budget Range: ~ $2000+. I am quite flexible
System Usage from Most to Least Important: high quality gaming; hosting LAN gaming servers; Media centre;
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: no preference. as long as you think it's a trustworthy site it's good for me too. Country: currently - USA, NC; back to UK in October 2012.
Parts Preferences: Intel, Nvidia
Overclocking: Yes, but no stress...
SLI or Crossfire: Yes!
Monitor Resolution: looking for as big monitor (possibly 3D ready)


CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core ($339.99 @ home)

Motherboard: Gigabyte G1.Sniper 3 ($279.99 @ home)

Memory: Mushkin Enhanced Blackline Frostbyte 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 9-9-9-24 1.5V Dual Channel ($47.43 @ Newegg)
sadly, I've send them back for refund, before I've noticed CPUHS and PCIe x16 issues, but that lead to better solution:
SAMSUNG 8GB (2 x 4GB) MV-3V4G3D/US ( $46.99 each @ home )
DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) | Timing 11-11-11-28 | CL 11 | Voltage 1.35V | key factor: 30nm technology

Hard Drive: Samsung 830 128GB 2.5" SSD ($99.99 @ home)

Video Card: EVGA 04G-P4-2673-KR GeForce GTX 670 Superclocked+ w/Backplate 4GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP ( $459.99 @ Newegg) x2 ..

Case: NZXT Switch 810 ATX Full Tower ($169.99 @ home)
I LOVE IT. It's spacious, universal, good quality, has smart solutions etc.
Actually it's first time I see a case this big so I wouldn't recommend it for people who don't know what to do with this much of space.

Power Supply: PSU PC POWER PPCMK2S950 950W ($149.99 @ home)
"Seasonic manufactures the PC Power and Cooling" by azeem40

Optical Drive: BLU-RAY COMBO LG | UH12LS29 ($49.99 @ home)

CPUHS: got this Zalman CNPS12X ($75.98 @ home) but this beast is too big, it covers first PCIe x16 slot and two ram slots. going to WC now instead.

Water Cooling: for CPU, and GPUs later.

List below is what I was about to get, but it turned out to be too expensive for my current budget. So I found a solution!
2 of thsese XSPC Razor GTX 680 Blocks; XSPC EX360 G1/4″ Radiator; MCP355 Pump D-Plug Set G1/4 SLI Fittings; 4 of these 3/8 Fittings +apply a ty-rap; Multioption X2 Reservoir; 4 of these G1/4 "high flow 1/2" Fittings; 3 of these BitFenix 120mm Fans; 240mm Radiator ; Heatkiller CPU Block; 5ft of this Tubing; 3x of these F12 Arctic Cooling 120mm Fans; 2 of these BitFenix 140mm Fans;Biocide MUST UPDATE this list with:
1>If you want the best price/performance, get the XSPC Raystorm CPU block.
2>BlackIce GTX Gen 2 Extreme 420 mm radiator: http://www.performance-pcs.com/cat [...] s_id=25385
3>need to do a research for GPU blocks because my GPU pcb is not a as from reference board.

WC Solution:
What I am going to do with my WC is:
get this XSPC Raystorm Extreme Universal CPU Watercooling Kit w/ EX240 Radiator/D5 Pump/Res to cool my CPU for now, and upgrade it with 460mm radiator, extra fans, and some fittings later. And it will be equal to the custom WC listed above.. It costs $239.99

Monitor: Acer HN274Hbmiiid Black 27" 2ms Full HD HDMI WideScreen LED 120Hz 3D Monitor 300 cd/m2 ACM 10,000,000:1 w/Speakers & 3D glasses
or ASUS VG Series VG278H Black 27" 2ms HDMI Swivel & Height Adjustable Widescreen LED Backlight LCD 3D 120Hz Monitor 300 cd/m2 ASCR 50,000,000:1


special thanks to TheBigTroll, jacknhut and aqualipt !
...and all the rest who is helping me out!

 
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Ziai

Ziai

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Thank You very much! :)

ok.
I know GA-Z77A-UD5H is well expandable mobo, but what would be the maximum number of GPUs I could fit to this mobo?
why gtx670 not gtx680 ?

Maybe any other make for these GPUs would be worth considering?

Maybe Momentus XT Hybrid Drive instead of WD 1TB hdd?

Maybe i7 instead of second GPU for now? not worth?
 
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dudewitbow

dudewitbow

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Apr 11, 2012
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puting my input brb

I7-3770k + free mass effect 3 coupon
Asrock Extreme 6 z77 mobo + 1 tb WD caviar black
Corsair TX750w + Corsair Vengeance 2 x 4 gb 1600(low profile version)
Noctua NH-D14 cpu cooler
Rosewill Thor Full tower case
EVGA GTX 670 FTW edition

Total so far 1434.17$ without monitors and ssd(and dvd drive), im not great at picking out monitors so i'll leave that to you. and as for ssd, i recommend the sameish one that thebigtroll picked out.

Choices and why: Picked a Full tower case for roomy build so you can wire stuff and keep the build cool.
Put a very high end cpu cooler, you are free to change it.
750w psu, you are open to ever 670 sli if you want.
Rest I just sorta picked on a whim, the Extreme 6 board has 2 pcie 3.0 slots and a pci-e 2.0 slot.(at the most, sli 2 670s and buy a non power pin using nvidia gpu to physx) of course my stuff is a generic suggestion. you dont have to follow it.
 
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TheBigTroll

TheBigTroll

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in any z77 motherboard (other than ones with a PLX chip) can only support 2 gpus due to the limitied 16 PCI-e lanes onboard

Hybrid drives only work in situations where you do the same task a lot. personally, i would setup intel SRT. SRT uses a small and cheap sata2 32-60gb SSD and uses it as a cache for the large hard drive. it is faster than hybird drives and almost as fast as SSDs

i7 is only useful when you are doing workloads such as photoshop and lightroom
 
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Ziai

Ziai

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Is it not worth having motherboard with those extra? Which motherboard is currently the best option for more than two GPU?

Question: Will I be able to switch from HD4000 to my GPUs when I want to? lets say I do my work and dont need all graphical power. and after that i decide to have a quick match with all my gpu power? can I do that without touching hardware?



About the Motherboard, I have been reading article ASRock Fatal1ty Profesional-M which was very strong against others. What is the difference between Asrock Extreme 6 z77 and fatal1ty one? All in all.. I am struggling with mother boards.. So hard to pick up one which would give all I think I might need. dont know but I have a feeling that in a years time I would like to have a go in more than two GPUs, how can I do that?


AND is it worth checking - Intel X79 - as I understand this is future oriented?
 
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W

willzzz

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Yes the Lucidlogix stuff will use the graphics card and HD4000 as appropriate.
This will be on almost all Z77 boards.

"Lucid Virtu software is able to assign tasks in real time to the best available graphics resources based on power, performance and features considerations, with no need for additional hardware. If high end graphics power is needed for applications like DirectX 11, high-resolution 3D gaming, the system will assign the job to the discrete GPU. If not, the discrete GPU automatically goes into idle mode, while heat drops, fan speed slows down and GPU utilization goes down to zero, resulting in a green, power-efficient, long-lasting system"
 
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Ziai

Ziai

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Thank you. I will know.
 
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Ziai

Ziai

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thanks about asus gpu.
but I didnt quite catch. what do you mean by "refreshing the page to get a 690"?
what do you think about:
Asus GTX680-DC2O-2GD5 2GB 1.02Ghz $538.49
as good as
ASUS DirectCU2 TOP 670
but 680 instead of 670? or any more technical differences between those two?
 
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TheBigTroll

TheBigTroll

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id wouldnt recommend the asus 680 since it is triple slot meaning it will conflict when you are running SLI. the 680 obviously performs better but it comes in the cost of a much higher price for not much performance gain.

the refreshing thing is the only way to get a 690 as it has a very low number in stock.
 
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Ziai

Ziai

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Ok, I just found out that Asus 2GB GeForce GTX 680 DirectCU II OC takes 3 slots
and Asus GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU 2 TOP 2GB takes 2 slots

does anyone know if Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H ATX can take two 3 slot GPUs?
 
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TheBigTroll

TheBigTroll

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the gigabyte board (or any new atx board) can take 3 slot gpus, but i wouldnt recommend running 2 3slot cards as they will be right up against each other and shoot hot air into each of the cards. 3 slot cards are meant for people who are usually going to run 1 gpu. in your case, your better off with either going for a directcu2 670 or maybe even a evga classified 680
 
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Ziai

Ziai

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I have read that two gtx 680 outperforms 1 690.. and you have said that ASUS DirectCU2 TOP 670 SLI outperforms GeForce 680 SLI .... Am I getting it all right?
In such case. I would chose to have one very very powerful card rather than two overclocked ones.. less noise, less heat.. And maybe some day if I would need more.. I could put another one to same pc setup.. since I will have cpu which is powerful more than enough for my daily needs.. it would be quite long term build? No?
 
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Ziai

Ziai

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How does it look like?

Motherboard Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard $189.99

Hard Drive Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM $119.99

CPU Intel Core i5-3570K $229.99

CPUHS Thermalright Silver Arrow Processor cooler $99.99

SSD Crucial M4 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk $199.99

Case Antec P280 ATX Mid Tower Case $99.99

Power Supply SeaSonic X750 Gold $159.99

Optical Drive Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer $16.99

Memory Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory $44.99

Video Card EVGA GeForce GTX 690 4GB Video Card $1007.86
if I will struggle with money it will be EVGA GTX 680 $539.99


The most I am wondering about is the Mother Board. I know that it is all about electronics used to make it and it is not only about slots it provides but also about stability and quality of electronic components installed in it..

Will this end up as quiet-ish build? or it will be loud or really quiet?
Will MoBo/CPU/GPU will work together as one with all features enabled..? :)


Reminder: I will start buying bits and pieces not earlier than Augusts/September this year. So, maybe it is worth considering anything from new generations coming or something..
 
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TheBigTroll

TheBigTroll

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it should stay pretty quiet because the case is quiet optimized. im just wondering what you are going to use for the heatsink as the stock intel one sucks.

for a quiet heatsink, id suggest either the thermalright silver arrow (kinda hard to find but very good) or the noctua nh-d14 (also great but a lot of people dont like the brown colour)

the board is very stable and great quality. it will work fine
 
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Ziai

Ziai

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My friend just said that he would change the PSU and rams.. What re your thoughts? Should i go for corsair psu and kingston rams?
 
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TheBigTroll

TheBigTroll

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no you shouldnt change it

kingston ram runs at 1.65v which is out of spec. if you use it, it might degrade your ram controller faster

i think your friend didnt do enough research. seasonic makes all the high end corsair power supplies. the x750w is a better version of the corsair ax750w just telling you
 
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