- Mar 9, 2013
- 2
- 0
- 10,510
Hello! I'd like to spend under $400 (perhaps a little more) on a graphics card. This will be my third build, not including upgrades on existing systems, so I know a reasonable amount; but of course things keep changing.
Based on the articles here, I'm tending toward a single GPU, and the HD 7970 (there are a few non-GHz editions around the $400 mark) seems to be the winner. I haven't had much luck with multiple GPUs; my last attempt was two 5870s, which didn't raise framerate enough to make it worth the power consumption. But my new motherboard is pretty darn nice, and might do better.
Specs:
Motherboard: ASRock X79 Extreme11 LGA2011. This was the lucky purchase that got me designing a new gaming rig. It's capable of running four PCIe 3.0 slots at 16x! Frankly it's more mobo than I was looking for, but for $53 I couldn't resist. (No, it didn't fall off the back of a truck. I had it in my Amazon cart for comparison, and one day noted that its price went down by $550. Yes, I jumped.)
CPU: Intel Core i7-3930K. Spending double the price on a 3970X just didn't appeal to me.
Memory: Corsair XMS3 4x4GB. The motherboard can handle 1600 MHz memory without overclocking, which this is. It's also low-profile; in my last build I ran into problems fitting RAM heatsinks under the Megahalems CPU heatsink. These have nice latency as well: 9-9-9-24 at 1.50v.
CPU heatsink/fan: Noctua NH-D14. See? I don't want to bend any heat spreaders or whittle away fan casings.
PSU: Corsair HX1050. Once you go modular you never go back. The 650W version went into my second homebrew system, and has been performing well-- stable and quiet-- for over five years now. It's 80 Plus Gold certified too. I could probably have gotten away with the 850W version for this build, but for $20 more this power supply will make future expansions easier.
Primary HD: Samsung 840 Pro, 256 GB. Highly rated. I was thinking about a RevoDrive, but they're way more expensive and with SATA 6G you have to wonder whether it's worth it. The OS and a few load-speed-hungry games go on this HD.
Secondary HD: WD Caviar Green 1 TB. I have the SATA 3G version in my existing computer and have no complaints. It's mainly for project files, games that don't need the SSD speed, and a few movies (I have a NAS for most media files though).
Case: Cooler Master HAF X. I'm using the HAF 932 now and love everything about it except the peripheral card latches. Everything fits with room to spare (the CEB motherboard is a little larger than ATX boards, but that's OK) and its large fans do the job with minimal noise.
Monitors: Currently I'm using an Eyefinity 3x1 setup with three 16:10 monitors, each 1680x1050, so I'm pushing a little more than 5040x1050 through the system. Of course not every game can handle panoramic displays, but my favorites can. If I get some extra cash this might be upgraded to LED backlit 1920x1080 (totaling 5760x1080).
Preferred games: Alright, I admit it, I'm a World of Warcraft addict. Sure, the field of vision is a little screwey on the side monitors, but it's very pretty, and with that much screen real estate I can enlarge things for my aged eyes without blocking the view. But I also like first-person shooters-- I'm really looking forward to Bioshock Infinite. With many of the settings turned up, I get 20-30 FPS with my HD 5870. The game client's Settings page reports that I have "Fair" graphics; 8x Anisotropic filtering, liquid quality Ultra (I love the ripples!), view distance and environmental detail High. The framerate is consistent except when making sudden wide turns and when there's a lot of players running about, such as in the new Thunder King Island content.
Phew. I should also mention that I won't be overclocking much, if at all; I prefer a quiet and stable system to one that has a little extra speed. I keep the system up 24/7 running Folding@Home when not gaming. As I mentioned, fiddling with Crossfire never really worked for my preferred games; but with the better PCIe treatment of the higher-end motherboard, I'd like to get the community's opinions on whether to stick with a single HD 7970 GPU or two HD 7850s. Or, heck, some other combination. Thanks!
Based on the articles here, I'm tending toward a single GPU, and the HD 7970 (there are a few non-GHz editions around the $400 mark) seems to be the winner. I haven't had much luck with multiple GPUs; my last attempt was two 5870s, which didn't raise framerate enough to make it worth the power consumption. But my new motherboard is pretty darn nice, and might do better.
Specs:
Motherboard: ASRock X79 Extreme11 LGA2011. This was the lucky purchase that got me designing a new gaming rig. It's capable of running four PCIe 3.0 slots at 16x! Frankly it's more mobo than I was looking for, but for $53 I couldn't resist. (No, it didn't fall off the back of a truck. I had it in my Amazon cart for comparison, and one day noted that its price went down by $550. Yes, I jumped.)
CPU: Intel Core i7-3930K. Spending double the price on a 3970X just didn't appeal to me.
Memory: Corsair XMS3 4x4GB. The motherboard can handle 1600 MHz memory without overclocking, which this is. It's also low-profile; in my last build I ran into problems fitting RAM heatsinks under the Megahalems CPU heatsink. These have nice latency as well: 9-9-9-24 at 1.50v.
CPU heatsink/fan: Noctua NH-D14. See? I don't want to bend any heat spreaders or whittle away fan casings.
PSU: Corsair HX1050. Once you go modular you never go back. The 650W version went into my second homebrew system, and has been performing well-- stable and quiet-- for over five years now. It's 80 Plus Gold certified too. I could probably have gotten away with the 850W version for this build, but for $20 more this power supply will make future expansions easier.
Primary HD: Samsung 840 Pro, 256 GB. Highly rated. I was thinking about a RevoDrive, but they're way more expensive and with SATA 6G you have to wonder whether it's worth it. The OS and a few load-speed-hungry games go on this HD.
Secondary HD: WD Caviar Green 1 TB. I have the SATA 3G version in my existing computer and have no complaints. It's mainly for project files, games that don't need the SSD speed, and a few movies (I have a NAS for most media files though).
Case: Cooler Master HAF X. I'm using the HAF 932 now and love everything about it except the peripheral card latches. Everything fits with room to spare (the CEB motherboard is a little larger than ATX boards, but that's OK) and its large fans do the job with minimal noise.
Monitors: Currently I'm using an Eyefinity 3x1 setup with three 16:10 monitors, each 1680x1050, so I'm pushing a little more than 5040x1050 through the system. Of course not every game can handle panoramic displays, but my favorites can. If I get some extra cash this might be upgraded to LED backlit 1920x1080 (totaling 5760x1080).
Preferred games: Alright, I admit it, I'm a World of Warcraft addict. Sure, the field of vision is a little screwey on the side monitors, but it's very pretty, and with that much screen real estate I can enlarge things for my aged eyes without blocking the view. But I also like first-person shooters-- I'm really looking forward to Bioshock Infinite. With many of the settings turned up, I get 20-30 FPS with my HD 5870. The game client's Settings page reports that I have "Fair" graphics; 8x Anisotropic filtering, liquid quality Ultra (I love the ripples!), view distance and environmental detail High. The framerate is consistent except when making sudden wide turns and when there's a lot of players running about, such as in the new Thunder King Island content.
Phew. I should also mention that I won't be overclocking much, if at all; I prefer a quiet and stable system to one that has a little extra speed. I keep the system up 24/7 running Folding@Home when not gaming. As I mentioned, fiddling with Crossfire never really worked for my preferred games; but with the better PCIe treatment of the higher-end motherboard, I'd like to get the community's opinions on whether to stick with a single HD 7970 GPU or two HD 7850s. Or, heck, some other combination. Thanks!
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