First Ever Build

[Tjj226_Angel]

Prices from the mentioned site

 

ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 - $173

i5 2500K - $229

G.Skill RipjawsX F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL 8G Kit - $52

Lite-On 24 SATA DVDRW - $21

Seagate Barracuda 1TB - $105

LG IPS226V - $159

CM Hyper 212 EVO - $39

2x HIS HD 6870 - $185ea = $370

Corsair TX750W - $141

CM HAF 922 - $118

Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium - $93

 

Total: $1500 (woohoo)

 

Add Kingston HyperX 120GB SSD - $229

 

Total: $1729

 

In that sort of situation I would go with the extreme 3 gen 3 for 132 AUS, a 500GB HDD for 77 AUS, 2x 6870 http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=6839 for 340 AUS, to save a total of about 95 bucks. I would then use that money for http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=8052 this and use the SRT technology to cache the main drive.

[XtremeDS]

I have read in a few places about some ram and CPU voltage not working very well, and there are sometimes imcompatibilities and things like that. That is why there is a QVL to check the compatibility.

 

That is the main reason that I am buying Corsair Vengeance 1600 CL9 8GB for me. I could buy Kingston Hyper-X, G.Skill Sniper, I think that even G.Skill ripjaws are around the same price as the Corsair Vengeance for 8GB.

[Mogel]

Had a bit of a read about Crossfire, am I going to have a lot of trouble with brand new games supporting it? Or is that problem being made out to be bigger than it really is?

 

And I'm guessing if Crossfire wasn't supported it would run off one card? Because if that's the case, then it seems that I would get pretty good graphics (approximately the same as my original card) when I play a game with no Crossfire support which I think I could live with for the added benefit of the extra GPU when the game supports it

 

Also if I were to go the SSD drive route, I would have OS on there and a few programs, how big does the SSD need to be?

Edited February 6, 2012 by Mogel

[Stonerboy779]

Had a bit of a read about Crossfire, am I going to have a lot of trouble with brand new games supporting it? Or is that problem being made out to be bigger than it really is?

 

And I'm guessing if Crossfire wasn't supported it would run off one card? Because if that's the case, then it seems that I would get pretty good graphics (approximately the same as my original card) when I play a game with no Crossfire support which I think I could live with for the added benefit of the extra GPU when the game supports it

Yes there has been some poor support on initial releases of games when it comes to crossfire.

Yes if crossfire wasn't working then a single card would work.

 

However it is not just amd that has trouble with games in multi card setups my 560 sli will not work with rage I have to disable a card to play the game. 2 cards was 5-10 fps tops single card was up around 60, it was just the way the game was.

[Mogel]

Alright well this is how my system is looking like now that I'm using msy

 

Price: $1453

 

CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K $224.00

CPU COOLER: CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO CPU Cooler $39.00

MOBO: ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 Motherboard $132.00

RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws X F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL 8G Kit DDR3 $52.00

GPU: Crossfired Powercolor 1GB 6870 PCI-E VGA Card 2 x $169 = $338.00

PSU: Corsair TX-750 ATX Power Supply Unit $141.00

CASE: Coolermaster RC-922M-KKNI HAF 922 w/ 2 x Coolermaster 120mm System Fan $118 + 2 x $6 = $130.00

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB ST31000524AS $105.00

OPTICAL: Lite-On IHAS324 24x DVDRW $21.00

MONITOR: ASUS 23.6" VS247H LED Backlight LCD Monitor $178.00

OS: MS Windows 7 Home 64bit $93.00

 

Crossfire seems like the way to go since I can afford it in my budget

I may be willing to go a little over-budget and grab an SSD, would a 60GB be enough for OS/boot files/whatever-they're-called?

 

Also I reckon adding the two side fans to the HAF 922 will help out with cooling the crossfire setup, but since I'm sure there's such a thing as too many fans I thought I'd ask if that's the case with what I've suggested

[vandreadstriker]

The HAF 922 has a 200mm Side Intake fittings so it's better to get a CM Megaflow 200mm instead (can't find them on the site). Adding that blowing to your GPU would surely help keep them down.

 

ISRT (SSD Cache) is a great tool since it's design to be adaptable and still maintain SSD like performance, no matter what size you choose. But if you think you're able to safe up some money relatively quick, I think you're better off waiting and grabbing a 120GB in near future. OR you can exchange one of the 6870 for an SSD for now and grab the second 6870 after that.

[Mogel]

Yeah I was looking for a 200mm on msy aswell and couldn't find it, I might just have to order the fan separately from somewhere else, not too much of a hassle

 

As for the SSD, I reckon I'll see what my state of mind is like when I go for the order, whether I bite the bullet or not.

[Tjj226_Angel]

Yeah I was looking for a 200mm on msy aswell and couldn't find it, I might just have to order the fan separately from somewhere else, not too much of a hassle

 

As for the SSD, I reckon I'll see what my state of mind is like when I go for the order, whether I bite the bullet or not.

 

I would stretch for the SSD. In fact, I would scale down the build just to be able to afford more SSD storage space. When you experience and SSD for the first time, you will wonder how you have been living all these years. It is really that good.

[Fogel]

Personally I would scratch the crossfire HD6870 idea - they are horrible for microstutter in CF.

 

I would buy a single 6970, which should handle just about everything you throw at it, and when you need more performance down the line adding a second one will be a good option. Not to mention I see so many complain about CF drivers I'm not sure I would want that hassle as my first ever build.

 

Besides there is actually benefit going from 1GB vram to 2GB vram. If it was from 2GB to 3GB than the gain is minimal in most games.

 

Power Cooler 2GB HD 6970 - $342

[Mogel]

Personally I would scratch the crossfire HD6870 idea - they are horrible for microstutter in CF.

 

I would buy a single 6970, which should handle just about everything you throw at it, and when you need more performance down the line adding a second one will be a good option. Not to mention I see so many complain about CF drivers I'm not sure I would want that hassle as my first ever build.

 

Besides there is actually benefit going from 1GB vram to 2GB vram. If it was from 2GB to 3GB than the gain is minimal in most games.

 

Power Cooler 2GB HD 6970 - $342

 

I had a feeling that Crossfire may be a bit ambitious for my first build, but thought since no one had brought it up yet it couldn't have been all that bad

However with this microstuttering business, is it really going to effect me that much? Some more opinions on this would be great

I read some reviews of the 6970 cards, and was just wondering when places say the fan noise is loud, whether that's at full load or not? And how loud/annoying exactly are reference cards from peoples experiences?

Edited February 8, 2012 by Mogel

[vandreadstriker]

Nothing wrong with CF, drivers update would deal with the microstuttering and besides, it wouldn't be an issue for most games. Plus, AMD are constantly pushing updates better then ever now.

Basically, you get about 1.5x the performance of 6970, for $4 less and you're only sacrificing on space (which wouldn't bother you if you did get the HAF 922 or other 'big' mid-tower case) and probably a minor issue or two that are easily fixed with a driver update.

And moving from 1GB -> 2GB is the same thing with moving from 2GB -> 3GB if you ask me. 1GB is already good enough to handle 1920x1080. If you're talking about 5760x1080 then that's a different story.

 

Ultimately, Choose what you think would benefit you most.

 

Didn't see your last question..

A reference 6970 are relatively hotter and sound more like a vaccum cleaner when compared to a good aftermarket cooler. I personally never want any reference cooled card on my rig and prefer a much cooler and 'ear friendly' aftermarket cooler. Look for those who have their hands on a TFIII/DCII/WF3 cooler and ask them if they'd prefer a reference card over theirs.

Edited February 8, 2012 by vandreadstriker

[Fogel]

I had a feeling that Crossfire may be a bit ambitious for my first build, but thought since no one had brought it up yet it couldn't have been all that bad

However with this microstuttering business, is it really going to effect me that much? Some more opinions on this would be great

I read some reviews of the 6970 cards, and was just wondering when places say the fan noise is loud, whether that's at full load or not? And how loud/annoying exactly are reference cards from peoples experiences?

 

No driver update can fix old architecture so don't think microstutter will go away as soon as ATI focuses on it. By the time these articles came out, any drivers that could haved fixed it would have. Besides, their driver team is more focused on the 6900 series and 7900 series now.

 

Inside the second - best article I've ever seen on microstutter

CrossFire With Two GPUs - another source

 

Essentially there is microstutter with every card, it is more of a question of how noticeable it is. With current gen cards you can see it is barely to not noticeable at all. The 6870 in CF is not even close to the current competition. Both nVidia and ATI are aware of microstutter. If you read the Inside the Second article you will see AMD/ATI's response and nVidia's response. The article does a really good job explaining it. The short answer to your question, however, is it won't affect you too much. My point is why pick a card that is proven to have horrible microstutter issues when you can go with a single graphics card solution and not chance it at all.

 

Plus, you can always upgrade to a second 6970 down the line and blow the 6870s out of the water ...or update to a newer gen card. I have a GTX 570 and outside of the thing running hot there is only a couple games I can't play with max settings - Witcher 2 and Metro 2033, but I don't care about those settings anyway. You aren't maxing Witcher 2 out unless you are going Quadfire 6970s or some other insanely expensive graphics card solution anyway. The GTX 570 is powerful enough to run BF3 with max settings. I turn my BF3 settings down because I find EVGA's horrible cooler does a crappy job cooling the card. Every other game though, max settings. It is going to be the same with the 6970 - you will get max settings on pretty much every game (outside of maybe Witcher 2 ...and possibly Metro 2033 - and two 6870s probably won't fix that) so why go through the hassle of worrying about possible microstutter, CF driver issues (see people complaining all the time in the gaming section) and wondering which games support CF and which ones don't? CF isn't a bad solution ...I just think in your case, single graphics card would be best. Again, you can always upgrade to a second 6970 down the line and beat the snot out of all single cards but probably a 7990/GTX 690. And the 6970 CFs well, as shown by those articles I mentioned.

 

So a single 6970 will play anything right now. By the time you need more power a second 6970 should be really cheap. Or go with a 6950 that can be unlocked (gamble and I don't have a list of which ones can be) and then buy a second 6950 down the road. A single 6950 should be able to play everything as well. With Aussie prices, the 6970 appears to be the better deal. With two 6870s you buy immediate bragging rights on your benchmarks but limited upgradeability. With a single card solution (6950/6970 or even 560ti/570) you buy solid performance that can do the job with the ability to upgade to a second card down the line or switch out for a better card. If the 570 ran cooler I would go SLI as soon as prices dropped ...now I am thinking of using EVGA's upgrade program to switch to the 670 when it comes out.