Budget:£1500 Main uses of intended build: Dual monitor Gaming Parts required: All but OS Drive Previous build information (list details of parts): Xclio 700w Psu, Antec 900, 8800 gtx Gigabyte p35 bourd , 150 gb veloci raptor keeping , Acer G24 24" keeping, samsung syncmaster 22" keeping, dvd drive , WD 1Tb storage getting full, Monitor resolution:1920 x 1200 and 1600 x 1080 Storage requirements: want another 2tb will you be overclocking: yes Any motherboard requirements (no. of USB, Xfire/SLI, fan headers): Xfire Extra information about desired system: this is the system i have priced up for myself need advice on Gfx cards need to know if its better to go for 1 high end or 2 mid. Coolermaster RC-1100 V2 Cosmos S (Sport) Black Full Tower Case w/o PSU 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair XMS3, DDR3 PC3-10666 (1333) Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 9-9-9-24, DHX, 1.6V x2 8gb LiteOn IHOS104-37 4xBlu-Ray, 8x DVD Reader OEM inc Software Intel Core i7 930 D0 SLBKP Bloomfield 45nm, 2.8 GHz, QPI 4.8GT/s, 8MB Cache, 20x Ratio, 130W, Retail 1TB Western Digital WD1002FAEX Caviar Black, SATA 6Gb/s, 7200rpm, 64MB Cache, 8 ms x2 Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R, Intel X58, S1366, SLi/Xfire PCI-E 2.0, DDR3 2200/1333, SATA 6Gb/s, RAID, ATX , not had a single problem with my current bourd and will want to go with gigabyte again 1GB XFX HD 5830, 4000MHz GDDR5, GPU 800MHz, 1120 Cores, 2x DL DVI-I/ HDMI/ DP + Aliens vs Predator* X2 Psu Not decided Or and a Really big air cooler
You are better off with one good quality GPU than mucking around with two lower quality GPU's in SLI/Crossfire. I would replace the 5830 with a 5850 if your budget can stretch to it. Better yet, a 5870... I can wholly recommend the Antec True Power 650w New PSU, super PSU, partly modular, runs cool and quiet and will be all you need with that rig. As far as CPU cooler goes, the Titan Fenrir or the Prolimatech Megahalems are good, you will have to buy a fan with the Prolimatech though. You should also check with other owners of the Cosmos case to see what kind of space you have for a CPU cooler, I don't know the case.
you need to alter your RAM as you have spec'd the wrong kit. you need a 3x2GB kit to make the most out of your 1366 socket. The corsair XMS stuff is available as this. are you overclocking above 4Ghz if not theres no point to the 930 as it performs the same as the 920 at 4Ghz and below and the 920 is a lot cheaper. drop the WD 1TB black and get something like a samsung F3 eco 2TB drive for your storage. its not fast but its quiet and good value for money. mobo is fine unless you must have Xfire as the ud3r has 8 lanes per card then. graphics you need a 5850 minimum if you enjoy games at full details @ 1920x1080. for PSU 650W is more than enough for your system even when overclocked. so try something like the corsair, be quiet seasonic range etc. titan fenrir is one of the best and is extremely good value for money. question though why do you need Xfire as its inconsistent (-10% to 100%) and expensive and is completely dependant on drivers and the game itself.
As above, I'd avoid the 5830 and go for the 5850 if possible. The 5830 offers (obviously) better performance than the 5770 and (also obviously ) worse performance than the 5850, but the price is disproportionately higher. In other words, the 5830 is over-priced. Also it's better (IMO) to get one solid graphics card than two lower-range ones in SLI/xfire.
1536MB Inno3D GTX 480, 40nm, 3696MHz GDDR5, GPU 700MHz, Shader 1401MHz, 480 Cores, 2x DVI/ miniHDMI OR 2GB Sapphire HD 5970 OC, PCI-E 2.1 (x16), 4040MHz GDDR5, GPU 735MHz, 3200 Cores, 2xDL DVI-I/ Mini DP Both will fit in my budget Also a sound card but i have never needed one and sound quality has not been a issue
Whilst the Eco drives are good, you are better off with either the WD Black 1TB or the Samdung F3 1TB, they spin at 7200rpm whilst the Eco drives spin at 5400rpm - better performance which I assume you are looking for. If you are set on SATA III, even though you probably won't be able to tell the difference, stick with the WD Black.
well i suggested the eco drives as they are for storage where performance is irrelevant nearly. if your gunna use the drive as a main drive then yeah get the samsung F3 1TB one as it one of the fastest mechanical HDD going.
I haven't done the sums but if you can stretch to an SSD for O/S and a normal drive (an Eco would work well) for data you will have an even better performing system. You have a Velociraptor, save yourself some money, re-use that for O/S and follow adam_bagpuss's advice on the 2TB Eco drive for storage. If I had read your original post more carefully I would have noticed that you had already said you were keeping the Velociraptor.
I went for them drives becouse of the sata 3 and the speed that it will give me . i alredy own a 150gb veloci raptor OS will go on. i have about 300Gbs of games got loads of othere programs i use for work. Edit. I also attend alot of lans and whould like people around me to get the files fast so fast drives is a must. the problem with the raptor is i can fit some of my fav games on it but want all my games to load fast . not just Wow
SATA 3 (6Gbps) is waste of time for HDD as they dont even saturate SATA 2 (3Gbps) its purely a marketing con to make you think its better. if your running games from the storage drives i would defo get the samsung F3 1TB then instead of the eco which would slow down loading times. if you have a dedicated drive for images and music etc though id go with the eco
samsung F3 1TB For games. and eco drive for Music and films 1536MB Inno3D GTX 480, 40nm, 3696MHz GDDR5, GPU 700MHz, Shader 1401MHz, 480 Cores, 2x DVI/ miniHDMI OR 2GB Sapphire HD 5970 OC, PCI-E 2.1 (x16), 4040MHz GDDR5, GPU 735MHz, 3200 Cores, 2xDL DVI-I/ Mini DP Wich one whould you have
The 5970 by a country mile - cooler, quieter, cheaper and a better performer. Note: check that the Cosmos case will fit either card, they are long. Also check the cooling performance of the Cosmos as a Velociraptor, two HD's, a 5970 and an overclocked i7 means a lot of heat. Also check that the Cosmos will fit a tall CPU cooler with a 120mm fan attached. Edit: Just checked an old review of the Cosmos S and whilst it didn't mention anything about fitting a tall CPU cooler, it wasn't exactly a perfectly cooled case. It does have lots of fans but the results were a bit inconclusive in my opinion. Given that this is an old review, and utilising the old bit-tech testing methodology, it is hard to tell. Maybe research some other reviews elsewhere on the net for a second/third/fourth opinion? Would an Antec 902 or a HAF922 be cheaper and more guaranteed of better cooling performance as well as fitting a long GPU? If noise is an issue for you, what about the Fractal Define R2 (with extra fans) or (my preferred case) a Lian-Li PC-P50?
Right bit over budget as always but you get what you pay for. Coolermaster HAF 932 12GB (6x2GB) Corsair XMS3 Classic, DDR3 PC3-12800 (1600) NonECC Unbuffered, CAS 9-9-9-24, XMP, 1.60V This is expensive and i am sure there is better ram i have just had bad time from corsair ram. Intel Corei7 920 D0 SLBEJ Bloomfield 45nm, 2.66 GHz, QPI 4.8GT/s, 8MB Cache, 20x Ratio, 130W, Retail Titan Fenrir V2 TTC-NK85TZ 120mm PWM 17dBA+ "HDT" CPU Cooler (775/1156/1366/K8/AM2/AM3 750W Corsair CMPSU-750HXUK, SLi, ATX, EPS12V, Modular, UK Version - 7 Year Warranty Asus Xonar DS 7.1 PCI Soundcard - 192k/24bit true PC Hi-Fi audio presentation 1TB Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3, SATA 3Gb/s, 7200rpm, 32MB Cache, 8.9 ms, NCQ, X2 2GB Sapphire HD 5970 OC, PCI-E 2.1 (x16), 4040MHz GDDR5, GPU 735MHz, 3200 Cores, 2xDL DVI-I/ Mini DP Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R, Intel X58, S1366, SLi/Xfire PCI-E 2.0, DDR3 2200/1333, SATA 6Gb/s, RAID, ATX
I would drop the 12GB RAM down to 6GB and buy a i7 930, you will overclock higher with it for only a liitle bit extra. you will still come out on top money-wise as the extra RAM isn't cheap.
I don't mean to doubt your judgement but the HAF 922 is over £20 cheaper than the HAF 932 and, IMHO, is a better looking case. They are both very close in thermal performance. HAF 922 review: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2009/06/03/cooler-master-haf-922-review/1 HAF 932 review: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2008/10/16/cooler-master-haf-932/1 Ignore the prices in those reviews, they are dated.
Exactly, I can't find the exact post that discusses this but it is something to do with the juice required to power all the RAM - something about being too much for the memory controller. Someone better qualified may be able to elucidate.
the Haf 932 is bigger and i like a nice big case but its not my final choice yet so i might look at a cuple more will post in about 1 hour with the short list . The ram Hmm well cut down costs so its good for me
it is harder to hit the magical 4ghz with a 920 using 12gb RAM - running more RAM puts the memory controller under more stress, and makes things go a bit awry.
