New Gaming Build

[mune87]

Approximate Purchase Date: This Week

Budget Range: $1800-2000

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, recording gaming footage, browsing the web, light video editing

Are you buying a monitor: Yes (an additional Asus VH236H)

Parts to Upgrade: All except sound card and optical drive.

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com (preferred, shoprunner), amazon.com

Location: St. Louis, Missouri

Parts Preferences: None.

Overclocking: Not currently, possibly down the road.

SLI or Crossfire: Not now, likely in the future (when GTX 680 prices come down a bit)

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080, 5760x1080

Additional Comments: I'm pretty dead set on a GTX 680/i7 3770k since I don't want to skimp on these parts. I'm mostly looking to find out if maybe something I picked is "weak" for a high end gaming build, or if my PSU is a poor choice for when I invest in a second GTX 680. My part selection should give you an idea of what areas are more important than others for me.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Triple monitor gaming.

CPU: i7 3770k
Mobo: ASRock Z77 Extreme4
RAM: G.Skill Ares 4x4GB (8-8-8)
SSD: Samsung 830 Series (128GB)
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769
GPU: EVGA GTX 680 FTW+ 4GB
PSU: Corsair TX850M
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Red, of course)
Cooling: Hyper 212 Evo + second fan for push/pull configuration

 

[djay62]

Red case won't work with your build.

 

[mune87]

Red case won't work with your build.

Y'know, I was afraid of that... recommendations?

 

[nafoni]

Go down to a 670. Similar performance to the 680 for a much lower price. Any of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125423
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121637
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127685

Because of ^, go down to a 750W PSU. Any of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139030

Consider going down to a i5-3570K. Equal performance in games.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504

16GB RAM is overkill for gaming. Go 8GB:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148544

Never let someone find you a case. Find one you like the look of, and then let someone tell you whether it's good or not.

 

[aznshinobi]

Check out my $1100 build here:
http://www.squidoo.com/electronicandmore
Switch the 7950 for the 7970:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161412
After the promo, it's less than the GTX 670 and performs MUCH MUCH better. Here's the average performance:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-660-ti-benchmark-review,3279-17.html

As stated an i7 is overkill for gaming, the i5 performs pretty much the same in regards to Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge. Also 16GB as stated is overkill for Gaming and will be for awhile since GPUs just have so much VRAM now.

Another thing to note, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that a single Nvidia card can only run 2 Monitors. SLI is where you can use 3. That's where AMD has the advantage. Eyefinity can support I believe up to 6 or 8 monitors.

 

[nafoni]

I agree. AMD is the way to go for multi-monitor setups. Go for the 7970 aznshinobi mentioned.

 

[mune87]

Not a fan of AMD cards, purely based on the lack of PhysX and the fact that nVidia has better drivers (from what I've heard).

I've heard over and over from people go for the GTX 670 when browsing forums, or looking at various gaming builds... so I guess I will! I think I'll go with 2 of these in SLI (I'll probably sell the extra Boderlands 2 voucher for an extra $40-50).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162118

 

[mune87]

Best answer selected by mune87.

 

[aznshinobi]

Drivers thing can be considered false in current day context. AMD drivers are quite solid now. I personally have been using them since the X1900 Pros and faced no issues. The issues come mostly from user error. Most don't completely clean out their AMD drivers when doing an install, you're supposed to do a clean install of the drivers. That's mainly where people get the problems.

As for the Physx, I doubt you'll really play any games that still have it. Many games that are cross platform which is generally the games you'll be playing I'm assuming (BF3, COD, Assassin's Creed, random games) don't use Physx. For that matter, most of the games with Physx didn't really have any noticeable advantage in Gameplay over non-Physx. Example being Mafia II.

Just to let you know it goes 7950<GTX 670<7970<GTX 680
7970 VS GTX 670
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/508?vs=598
The GTX 670 is the same price as the 7970 it'd be a waste of money to go with the card that performs less. But that's your choice at the end of the day for preference.