£800-1300 Eyefinity Gaming System

[iyaz23]

Approximate Purchase Date: between now and christmas


Budget Range: £800-1300, 1.3k is really pushing it though. if its not possible for 1.3k please post what would be needed and ill just wait it out till i have more to spend


System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming: Starcraft 2, WoW, Mw2, Black ops when out, Assasins creed, Fable 3, Hawx 2, Crysis.
I would like to be able run all these games at max, *while using fraps*; if not possible please post what would be needed to do so.
I will also be using the desktop for making videos with sony vegas, browsing the web and college homework.


Parts Not Required: mouse and speakers


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: any UK based website such as ebuyer, overclockers etc.


Country of Origin: England


Parts Preferences: I would like a desktop that is capable of running eyefinity and playing almost all games currently out and max settings. I need 3 monitors above 20" minimum with the smallest bezel/frame possible. I would probably prefer i7 to an AMD CPU but whatever runs best at the cheapest price. A Razer lycosa included in the price would be good but i can just add it on at the end along with sennheiser hd350's. an antec veris would be nice


Overclocking: Maybe


SLI or Crossfire: Yes but if 1 single high end is better i'll take that and in that case i could get another in the future when i can afford it.


Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200 (if resolution doesnt make things look as much better as it does for single for eyefinity then someone else can reccomend a screen/resolution), i would if possible like 3 monitors in the package at a minimum of 20" and with the smallest bezel/frame possible without it going up in price a crazy amount.


Additional Comments: prefer a case with a window, blue led's if possible. and if having windows 7 or something makes it drop in performance by quite a margain please leave it out of the price.

thank you very much for reading... that is if you actually did read it

 

[MadAdmiral]

I hate to break it to you, but to do Eyefinity right requires about $2,500 (about 1,600 pounds). That's a straight currency conversion. I'm sure it'd be closer to 1,800 pounds counting the increased prices for hardware over there.

To do Eyefinity right, you'll need at least one HD 5970 ($650 over here). That would allow you to play most games at 5760x1080, but not all of them. That's the single biggest expense in the build. You could get by with dual 5850s for less, but you'd quickly see a performance drop off in the coming years.

Three 1080p monitors will typically run near $600 total. Already you're looking at $1,250, and you haven't even touched the CPU, board, RAM or the rest. An i7-930, Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R (the preferred board) and a good 3x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7 will run about $650 more. Throw in the HDD for about $75, and you've already hit your limit.

You'll still need a good/large case (the HAF 922 is considered the best, but the Antec 902 is also good), which will cost another $100-$160. Then you've got to get a good 850W PSU, which adds another $150. To finish off the build, you'd need another $200ish for the OS, optical and keyboard. All told, that's about $2,400, and that's assuming you find some good deals. The extra $100 (to get the $2,500 I stated) would be to ensure you're getting the highest quality parts with the most upgrade potential. You could do it for less by cutting some corners, but it's not advisable.

 

[iyaz23]

so less that what you stated wouldnt run games as well as i want them to? Is the build you just said capable of the things i want it for? because if it is and theres no better options for the prices id buy it all up and slowly by the screens as i get more income

thanks

 

[MadAdmiral]

Buying parts slowly isn't a good idea. You typically have a short window for easy returns (usually 30 days in the US), so if something doesn't work at the end, you'll end up having to go through the lengthy and poorly designed RMA process with the manufacturer.

Besides that, you'll also pay more for the parts themselves. Prices drop quickly, especially when newer tech is due out (usually the end of the year). With the upcoming release (no specific dates are available that I know of) of the HD 6xxx series GPUs and new Intel sockets (LGA1365 and LGA1155), there will be price drops in the parts currently available soon after. It's not something to wait for, but it's preferred to buying in part.

Finally, new tech often eclipses old tech at equivalent prices. Like I said above, newer CPUs and GPUs are due out somewhat soon. These will likely come in at roughly similar prices, yet be a lot more powerful and/or have better features. If you're having to wait any way, you'd really want to get the newer stuff.

All said, I wouldn't try buying everything in parts. You'll just end up paying more for less, assuming it all works the first time. If it doesn't, you'll end up with a huge headache AND spending more money.

With all that in mind, yes, everything I listed would be perfectly able to play every game out there on an Eyefinity setup. You might have to turn Crysis down a notch, but not much. To recap, here's the full list:

CPU: i7-930/950. They're roughly the same price over here, so the 950 is preferred.
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R
RAM: Any non-OCZ 3x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7 kit. OCZ has quality/compatibility issues, so avoid them. The top brands are Corsair, Mushkin, and G.Skill.
GPU: HD 5970
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 500 GB or 1 TB.
Case: HAF 922, HAF 932, Antec 902, Antec 1200 or whatever you like, but it's got to be big (19-20" deep at minimum).
PSU: 850W from Antec, Corsair, SeaSonic, Silverstone or XFX.
Optical: The cheapest SATA DVD burner you can find.
OS: Windows 7 Home 64-bit

 

[iyaz23]

well in that case i guess i should wait until the point when i have ALL the money and if that point is when new stuff is out or coming out in the near future ill wait it out. At the end of the day i guess it's all about value for money though and waiting till around new year? like you said would be the best choice?

so pretty much im just going to wait out until i have all the money i need and then go by what you've posted and check if theirs upgrades for the price at the time

thank you very much