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Future proof gaming build

Last response: in Systems
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To answer your questions we need a lot more info than you have given.

Fill this out and we will be able to help you better.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/353572-31-build-upgra...

Also, just know that future proofing doesnt exist beyond 3yrs. It is just impossible for a machine (that wont be gradually upgraded) to last that long and expect it to max out your games.
This video will explain a lot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FK4ip08auGg
Related ressources

Usage: gaming, movies, internet
monitor: LG W2243T-PF
Parts: cpu, mobo, ram, vid-card, hd, optdrive, psu, case(mid)
os: need to buy(thinking of win 7 64-bit)
no overclocking(dont know how to) or sli

manofchalk said:
Budget?

He's already said that money is no option.

If you're really serious about the money-no-option thing, I'd get a Nvidia GTX 680 or 690 for a video card. For your OS, definitely go Windows 7 64-Bit. Don't get Windows 8, it's not as good as 7 in my opinion. For your HDD(s), I'd buy an SSD (128 or 256GB) for your OS and some games, believe me the speed really is worth it, and a 1TB hard drive for other not so critical apps. For RAM, I'd go no more than 16GB, and even that's overkill. This kit is pretty good, I've got one myself.
http://www.centrecom.com.au/catalog/12800cl10d-16gbxl-g...

Unlimited budget doesnt mean much. For all we know he could think a top end machine costs $1000.
Without a defined budget, this thread will just devolve into people spouting the most expensive and overkill rigs possible that are blatantly not needed for the OP's usage.

To the OP.
I don't tend to help people that make it difficult to be helped. I asked for more info and linked to a form for you to fill out. Replying with only the basics doesn't help that much.
Been in too many threads where the OP has neglected to mention something painfully obvious and this results in my advice being useless and time being wasted.
Seriously, very long thread on what RAM to pick, with me advising a particular G.Skill kit. Only after about 20 posts does he mention that he lives in Saudi Arabia and the kit I was recommending is unavailable.
Really dont want to waste my time on another thread like that.

ok then
intel i7-3770k
gigabyte Z77-ud5h
corsair dominator 8*2 gb 2400 mhz ram
dual amd radeon 7950 crossfire
antec eleven hundred case
xfx modular 800 watt gold plated psu
sony blu ray burner
wd cavair 4 tb hdd
win 8 pro
there you go again

dayofknight said:
ok if you all insist consider the budget ~2k

You won't have to spend that much.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock 990FX Extreme4 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($154.47 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($33.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 830 Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($87.99 @ B&H)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card ($449.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF X ATX Full Tower Case ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk II 950W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($120.43 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Mac Mall)
Total: $1409.82
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

excella1221 said:
You won't have to spend that much.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock 990FX Extreme4 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($154.47 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($33.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 830 Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($87.99 @ B&H)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card ($449.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF X ATX Full Tower Case ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk II 950W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($120.43 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Mac Mall)
Total: $1409.82
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)


This would be a good build if you want to go all AMD. Although you won't need a 950w PSU even if you crossfire, get something in the 600-850 range (850 for crossfire in future).

majestic1805 said:
So 950 would be doubly future proof, right? :p 


No because newer tech is using less power not more. It would be an all around waste, you would run below the most efficient power amount for the psu costing you even more money in the long run.

ATI cards, at least, seem to be going up:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Though things seem to be steady from 500-750 range for 2-way bridges, for now, at least. If they want to 3-way or 4-way though it will take those 1000W PSUs to pull off. Though, you do risk coming up to an adapter change that's not a 6 or 8 pin connector down the road.

majestic1805 said:
ATI cards, at least, seem to be going up:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Though things seem to be steady from 500-750 range for 2-way bridges, for now, at least. If they want to 3-way or 4-way though it will take those 1000W PSUs to pull off. Though, you do risk coming up to an adapter change that's not a 6 or 8 pin connector down the road.


So in other words you are saying the OP should not get a 950w PSU :)  Unless he is spending about $1500 on video cards a lone.

majestic1805 said:
You don't need to spend anywhere near that to do 3 or 4-way bridges. In a 2K machine though I would probably drop 1K in graphics hardware. But, that's me.


Well no reason to really Crossfire/SLI unless you are using high end cards, otherwise you would just buy one better card(or I would). So you are looking at ~$400 per card or $1200-$1600 for 3 way or 4 way.

Derza10 said:
This would be a good build if you want to go all AMD. Although you won't need a 950w PSU even if you crossfire, get something in the 600-850 range (850 for crossfire in future).

No, 950w is just about right for the setup when future Crossfire is an option.
Both the 8350 and the 7970 GHz are power hungry and the setup alone would have about ~800w at max load.

The general rule of thumb on selecting a PSU is to never get too close with the max load wattage, so about 150w headroom would be more or less enough.

excella1221 said:
No, 950w is just about right for the setup when future Crossfire is an option.
Both the 8350 and the 7970 GHz are power hungry and the setup alone would have about ~800w at max load.

The general rule of thumb on selecting a PSU is to never get too close with the max load wattage, so about 150w headroom would be more or less enough.


You will never hit MAX load in everyday use, that system with crossfire would run around 400-500w in games.

I'm not saying that's not optimal. But, it's far from necessary. One way I can see actually being okay is to bridge several cheaper 1 GB, or even 512 MB, cards for memory so you can support very high resolution textures but not really needing super fast cards. Also, I just finished a build with a single Radeon HD 7870 GPU that can play all my games on ultra at 1080 res. That was just $230. 4 of those is less than 1K and would provide a ton of juice for a while.

majestic1805 said:
I'm not saying that's not optimal. But, it's far from necessary. One way I can see actually being okay is to bridge several cheaper 1 GB, or even 512 MB, cards for memory so you can support very high resolution textures but not really needing super fast cards. Also, I just finished a build with a single Radeon HD 7870 GPU that can play all my games on ultra at 1080 res. That was just $230. 4 of those is less than 1K and would provide a ton of juice for a while.


Video ram of cards does not add up when in crossfire/sli. If you have 4 cards with 1 gig of ram, you will have access to 1 gig of ram, and that won't be near enough for HIGH resolutions. You would need at the very least 2 gigs on each card 3-4 ideally.

Ah, I don't XFire/SLI. I'm glad I didn't try it out with that assumption. :p 

Still, my other points are valid. You can still gain greater throughput with several cards even though a single beefy card is sufficient. That might not be possible due to budget. Also, you don't need to drop $400+ to get a good card.

Except I can afford 7870's a lot faster than a 7950 or 670. nVidia cards are outrageously priced though so I highly doubt I would go with them anyway but I get your point.

And, yes, 850 is sufficient for 2-way cards, for now.
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