7k budget for a gaming rig

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Spellking

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Oct 6, 2012
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I don't even know where to start. Theres 7k available for me to spend, but it doesn't necessarily mean I have to spend all of it. I've been thinking something like a 690 (or a couple 680s), three monitors, i7 3960X, a good cooling system, a big case, etc. etc. but I'd be satisfied running anything I want at the top settings, with at least two monitors. It's a big budget, but theres some things I think I could be less wasteful on, if its similar performance anyway (something like the i7 cpu). I haven't been following the hardware updates since i last built my rig, but I still love nvidia, intel, and asus mobos. :na: Anyway, can someone help me get the ball rolling?
Thanks!
 
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luciferano

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Cut your budget in half and it wouldn't change gaming performance much at all if that's in USD. I don't even know how to begin filling such a budget if that's in USD without doing something like an unrealistically huge amount of RAM, SSD storage, and/or a ridiculously expensive display configuration.
 
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luciferano

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http://pcpartpicker.com/p/jytA

I managed to fill up almost $5.2K (with monitors but without mouse and keyboard; IDK what to recommend for those), but even this is already beyond extreme.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/jyvS

That's almost as good in graphics and gaming CPU performance with somewhat weaker storage and lower resolution displays, but it's about $2400 cheaper.

I recommended AMD graphics cards because for very high resolutions such as this, they tend to outperform Nvidia with this Radeon 7xxx versus GTX 6xx generation.
 
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fuzg13z

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for starters get yourself 2 dell U3011s, that will set you back 2.5k+tax from there your budget is a little more manageable.. then use that 3960x to power 3 high end video cards to keep it running buttery smooth ;)
 
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luciferano

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Dual-monitor gaming kinda sucks. Monitors should be an odd number or else you have a bezel in the middle of your viewing field. The i7-3960X is junk for the money. If you must have a six-core CPU (hardly any good for gaming at all), then get the 3930K. I do not recommend going beyond a quad-core i5 or i7 because even going to a quad-core i7 over the i5 is already hardly any better. Going to a six-core i7 really won't help any games except maybe for BF3 MP and even an i5 with a moderate overclock is enough to keep minimum FPS over 60 even in that game.
 
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luciferano

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check out this absolutely absurd setup, you probably can get the same performance for ALOT less but im pretty sure this is what Bill Gates uses when he rapes you in battlefield 3.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/jyCD
Click to expand...

6GB video card frame buffer per GPU is useless at triple 1080p and 37" at 1080p is very low ppi. There's a difference between spending too much and spending too much on the wrong parts.
 
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luciferano

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i know im too lazy to stray from pc part picker, I really wanted 3 120 hz monitors of 30+ inches to justify those 6gb cards.
Click to expand...

The size of the displays is irrelevant. They're still only 1080p and even 3GB is already overkill for triple 1080p. Also, Windwos 7 Home Premium x64 only supports 16GB of RAM. I'm not making fun of you nor your build, just saying.
 
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mousseng

mousseng

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PCPartPicker part list

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100 92.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($103.74 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V PRO/THUNDERBOLT ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($187.00 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.94 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($197.96 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card (CrossFire) ($449.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card (CrossFire) ($449.99 @ Newegg)
Sound Card: Asus Xonar Essence STX 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card ($164.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cooler Master HAF X ATX Full Tower Case ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic Platinum 860W 80 PLUS Platinum Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($165.75 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($57.40 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Asus VS239H-P 23.0" Monitor ($164.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Asus VS239H-P 23.0" Monitor ($164.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Asus VS239H-P 23.0" Monitor ($164.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Full (32/64-bit) ($158.99 @ Adorama)
Total: $3050.68
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

I guess I'm not very good at the whole 'going nuts' thing. To explain a [strike]bit[/strike] lot, though...

1. Since this is a gaming rig, anything above the 3570k is pretty much a waste, if you ask me. HyperThreading can actually reduce performance in some cases (not all are gaming; dunno how substantiated it is for gaming performance), so I don't see the sense in wasting that $100 for waste's sake.

2. H100 would be sort of a guideline, really. Some sort of good watercooler or the V10 Hybrid TEC someone included above would be great (not sure if the V10 works for 1155 though).

3. Any motherboard that'll have enough expansion slots for the number of video cards and other add-in cards you'll want should do fine. Also consider the Republic of Gamer boards if you really want to throw money at the computer.

4. There's no discernible performance difference above DDR3-1600, so why bother?

5. I half-assed the storage, because I'm sure you'll figure out something. Consider having just SSDs and set up a NAS for storage.

6. Again, the whole diminishing returns thing: why pay nearly $500 for something like a 15% increase in performance (maybe)? I see no need to waste that money on a third 7970, but I could be wrong.

7. There is absolutely no reason a build this expensive shouldn't have a really nice sound card and sound system for it to power. Absolutely none.

8. HAF X for all the room you'll need (even for EATX motherboards like the RoG boards).

9. I admit, I'm pushing past the point of diminishing returns with the PSU, but a system that beefy may actually end up saving the difference between that and some Bronze 850W.

10. Not too knowledgeable on what'd be good to have here: tried to strike a reasonable compromise between response time, brightness, and price.

Sorry for the long post, I wish spoiler tags would truncate it while hidden. If you quote this, don't quote the whole damned thing, please. But yeah, even with $7k I still wouldn't spend hardly half of it.
 
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luciferano

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lol true that but he is spending 7k and specifically asked for that chip, unless you can find a better monitor setup to spend the difference on, i hardly see the point (besides saving money but this guy is ready to start his own stimulus it seems)
Click to expand...

Sorry, I can't see a good point in spending the money for the sake of spending it despite not gaining from spending it. If OP wants a ridiculously high end computer, fine, but I'd still focus on getting as much value out of it, as measly as it would be anyway.
 
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Spellking

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Wow guys, thanks for the responses! I'm really open to any ideas, like cutting 3960x to 3960k. The reason i put up 7k to spend is that I sold a used car, and I've always wanted a really really nice gaming rig. Its completely extra money that I'm willing to spend on something like this. I'm fine going with equivalents that have more bang for the buck, if that means saving hundreds but sacrificing ~10% performance. But with this budget, I'm curious to see how crazy things can get.
 
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mousseng

mousseng

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At the end of the spectrum you're looking at, it's probably closer to ~5% performance drop at best. There's the $500 difference between the 3930k and 3960x that was discussed, which is almost no different. Though I must admit, I stand corrected on the Crossfire bit: browsing through these, at higher resolutions, it's a pretty noticeable jump from 2 to 3 cards. So if you're going to do triple-monitor gaming, that extra $450 for another 7970 would make a difference.
 
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luciferano

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http://pcpartpicker.com/p/jDzv

That's getting close to the $7000 mark. I threw in some excellent after-market cooling for the three 7970s and a motherboard that unlike some people's here, has four PCIe 3.0 slots instead of two of them and a PCIe 2.0 x4 slot that will hinder performance. Storage is an incredible PCIe SSD that someone else brought up here and I paired that with two Caviar Blacks in RAID 0.

I counted Windows and mouse/keyboard as well as an excellent sound card this time too.

The displays can't really get much better. Three 2560x1440 IPS panels with 6ms response times and 107B colors instead of 16.7M (along with other nice features) are almost as good as it gets within reason.

I could try justifying every other component too, but you get the point. IDK if you really want to spend so much money on a mere computer though. It's just so much money for what is literally going to be used as a toy.

Don't both with LGA 2011 X79 systems, they lack Lucid MVP HyperFormance and Virtual V-Sync support that LGA 1155 Z68 and Z77 have and that's quite a loss.
 
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Spellking

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Alright, I think for the processor, I'll probably settle for 3770k, which seems to be really good for that price; otherwise I'm looking at the 3930k--but no more 3960x nonsense anyways. I'm thinking 3x27in ultrasharps are looking good, but i'm starting to worry about fitting three of those beasts on a workdesk (ill do some measurements tomorrow). Otherwise, i might go for 3x24 in monitors. The mobo, I'll probably go for the one luciferano mentioned. As for the rest, I'm still doing some more research.
Edit: Also, I'm wondering if I should get a 120 hz monitor rather than a 60 hz one. At the fps the cards can push out, wouldn't it make a big difference?
 
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Spellking

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Haha, alright. Once i get it ill do a crapload of benchmarks for you guys. But one more thing I'm thinking about is buying all the components over black friday, where I can really get more out of the money I put in. It's not that long until then (~1 month or so), and I think there might be major sales that day in the U.S. For now, I'll keep on doing some more research. Thanks again guys!
 
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