Yea, I kinda won the lottery (or something like that). Budget: 10k, not including any accessories, shipping etc. It may exceed 10k for a few hundred bucks if necessary. Main uses of intended build: Can be anything, really. Monitor resolution: Have no monitors yet, can pay up to a grand (or, again, a bit more) for one. Storage requirements: Lots of HD films, tv shows, games, music... Don't know if a boot SSD is worth it yet... Will you be overclocking: yes Any motherboard requirements (no. of USB, Xfire/SLI, fan headers): Honestly, I don't know. Is a 4-way SLI mobo worth the investment in the long term? Do 4 gpu's even work? Without, y'know, melting? Extra information about desired system: Noise isn't a problem. I value quality sound, and I'll be using the PC to watch a few Blu-ray films with my pals. I must be sure, however, that the power consumption and heat regulation will be all right in such a system. My previous and only rig melted on me ten years ago (I was very stupid back then.). I don't really want that to happen again. I don't care about how the case looks, lights etc. It could be made of **** for all I care if it doesn't fry the hardware and fall apart. It'll be really fun building this, but it's been 10 years since I built my last pc, so I need help here. All 10k is game. Go nuts.
- SandyBridge and new mobos are unveiling soon so perhaps wait on some of the build for reviews to come out? In the meantime, -SSD for OS is definitely worth it, don't want to bottleneck your system. -Can't imagine not doing an SSD Raid setup, few 128Gb's-256Gb's? The Crucial C300 128Gb has been one of top picks around BT for a while now -1Tb's are cheap, could run several Samsung F3 1Tb's for plenty of home-theater space. -New SSD's take advantage of Sata3 so a USB3/Sata3 mobo would be great - but again, new reviews coming out soon.. -ASUS XONAR's get great reviews, 5.1 model and a slightly more pricy 7.1 model, unless you'd want to splurge on an even higher-end card BTW, are you in states or UK? if i get some time I'll spec out some prices for you
Your nuts to build a rig like that to only power one monitor. The basis of your system should be a 980X, Sabertooth, 2x 580 GTXs, 3x Dell U2410 and a 256GB Crucial C300.
Spend 3-4 grand on the computer (perhaps you might want to try water-cooling), and put the rest towards something else would be my advice. Above 4 grand, you're essentially wasting your money. Also, you don't really need more than dual-GTX 580s.
Consoles are better for gaming most of the time. The only games where a PC is better are RTS and FPS games, but that is only because of mice and keyboard being used as input-devices. And don't start talking about graphics.... If I want photorealistic graphics, then I go outside and have a walk with the dog.
If you've spend the better part of the last 25 years infront of a PC-screen, then your POV might change... mine has apparently --- However, to be somewhat constructive... Buy an i7 950, a matching board with 6GB TriKit of RAM, an OCZ RevoDrive x2 100GB for the system and apps, couple of 2TB HDDs from your preferred manufacturer and a pair of Ati 6870 to run in Crossfire. Then stick it all into something made by LianLi or Silverstone with a powerful enough PSU to fire it. Add a soundcard, 7.1 speakers, a 30" TFT and input-devices and you're done. Next.. think about what to do with the 7k still at hand.
Rubbish! If you're going to go 2560x1600 or above, you need everything you can get - the scaling is better for three cards anyway. To the OP: if you're willing to spend that kind of cash, you should be looking at a water cooled build based on the SR-2 motherboard, with a couple of the top range Xeons thrown in and raided SSDs for good measure. As for GPUs, it could be fun to go with 4 580s but the benefit of a fourth card is debatable - some people see a noticeable increase in FPS, some don't. As for a screen, I'd personally get the latest 30" Dell, though you could consider a three screen set up for surround gaming.
There might not be a significant increase for 4-way SLI now, but I think there will be in the future. Are there any reviews to prove or disprove what I think about 4 580s?
Nothing is wrong with the graphics, but it's games we're talking about and not some lifesaving technology. Boardgames can be more fun then PC-games and they don't even have fancy graphics to start with. Reducing games to graphics is utter failure. The hardware you'll be buying now will be totally out of date in less then 3 years, so thinking about 3-way or 4-way SLI is nonsense. In two years you have the power of a todays 3-way SLI-system with a single GPU. Buy a system that can play all the games available currently and you'll be fine for the next years to come anyways, as the games won't be developing anywhere as fast as the hardware does. There's not even a handful of games currently making use of DX11, becuase consoles are still running on DX9 and developers don't rewrite their whole engine for the PC as PC-gamers are the minority in this business.
With that sort of money, I'd definitely be going for a 980X and probably an ROG motherboard, 12GB RAM, multiple 256GB SSDs. I'd say go for 3xGTX580's, however I'd be tempted to go with AMD cards and do something like this: http://www.pcper.com/#NewsID-9563 mmm ... 5x1. You'd need 2x6970s in crossfire to have a chance.
