P10000 3D MARK11, OCed Budget X-79 $1500 build

[Stonerboy779]

I agree, its a bit overkill. There is no such thing as future proof in the electronic world. Will it last you longer than an average $1000 pc? Sure.

 

I play all ultra settings AA/FF maxed at 1920x1080 with the system in sig and while I've never checked the fps in game (I've never needed to), I can tell you I know for sure I've never dropped below 30-35fps. Honestly, Ive probably never dropped below 40fps.

 

For the PSU, I run that same TX850 in my system with it OC'ed to 4.7ghz, and a moderate oc on both 6970's with no issues. I'm not sure of the power draw of a 79xx vs a 69xx, or a 2x00K vs 3xxxK though.

Did you miss how amazingly the 7970 performed in terms of power in it's paper release? It would be easier to run 7970 cf (especially considering on 2d clocks the second card shuts down) than 6970 which draws more power. The CPUs aren't too dissimilar in terms of general power usage.

 

Edit: @op I aint sure about your prioritizing of expenses. Your spending so much but settling on a $50 rosewill case, spending big bucks on a 3D monitor and while playing around with 3D is cool for a while I and I know more than a few others can't enjoy it for long periods of time and in the end it becomes a bit more of thing to just show off but not frequently use.

 

Also $350 on a non reference cooler that better be a damn water cooling solution because I would not fork that cash out for air.... If it is water why not put the CPU under water too and look at a case that would accommodate a nice loop for your CPU and gpu.

 

My two cents

Edited December 24, 2011 by Stonerboy779

[4th3truth]

Did you miss how amazingly the 7970 performed in terms of power in it's paper release? It would be easier to run 7970 cf (especially considering on 2d clocks the second card shuts down) than 6970 which draws more power. The CPUs aren't too dissimilar in terms of general power usage.

 

Edit: @op I aint sure about your prioritizing of expenses. Your spending so much but settling on a $50 rosewill case, spending big bucks on a 3D monitor and while playing around with 3D is cool for a while I and I know more than a few others can't enjoy it for long periods of time and in the end it becomes a bit more of thing to just show off but not frequently use.

 

Also $350 on a non reference cooler that better be a damn water cooling solution because I would not fork that cash out for air.... If it is water why not put the CPU under water too and look at a case that would accommodate a nice loop for your CPU and gpu.

 

My two cents

 

1st I do have a budget and here are my thoughts on your opinions which I appreciate most greatly. Arguing the point is perfect way for me to reflect on my decision and make changes nessary.

 

Before the monitor and such it is only about a $1400 PC. 2500k system would be around the same price.

 

i7-3820 has a limited overclock capability so there is no reason to go hog wild on water-cooling when performance gain I can see are only marginal compared to say spending the money on getting a hex core 3930x nonOC with a stock air cooler that would be a lot faster then the 3820OC with the best liquid cooling which would be a additional $150-$300 depending if you do the GPU water block that is over $100.

 

Also Pci-e 3.0 is the most important reason to get lga2011 platform, with the 7970 there was around a 3fps increase over pci2.1 16x. I think once I get around to a 9000 series or such that the bandwidth may be more important.

 

I currently got a little g41-micro lga 775 with one pcie 2.0 when they 1st came out the GPGPU computing has helped my Pent D duel at 2.8ghz play most current games almost at max with a 5750 flashed to 5770. Skyrim even runs quite fine with High settings FAA 2x AF 4x shadows low. BF3 5-12 FPS will not do. Battlefield is my fav PC fps and it hurts not to be able to play it. With the unified general computing singularity being worked on by AMD with the GCN architecture I think that GPUs are all you will need to upgrade for a long time to come.

 

RAM may be the limiting factor in which DDR3 quad will remain competitive up to two years into DDR4s life as did DDR2 which can still make Ultra BF3 if you have the right setup.. It is also speculated that Blizzard is going to use a Minecraft like technology for their next MMO. I would imagine that this will take advantage of large fast ram to get a fluid massive world when most will have 8GB+ in three years time. Warcraft is one of the most demanding games as far as accessing the HDD randomly for textures and meshes and this has recently increase with a new patch that allows players to customize their armor. My father-in-laws new $1700 PC with a 560 does 100FPS max settings in a contained battleground level but only 20FPS while in a crowed town he has a 500mb/s SSD too. I believe he is RAM bandwidth bottle-necked with duel ddr3 1866 16GB.

 

Honestly most games are rarely written for more then 4 thread to the CPU(3820 has 8 threads half from hyper-threading). Shogun 2 can use more then 4 threads is one of a couple examples available. The software ends up determining the difference. The next X-box is rumored to have a quad core which means after launch in 2013 if it has same life span of x360 we will see console to PC ports and a limiting of the tech as we have for the past 6 years of the x360s life.

 

I have seen reviews of the Samsung 950 monitors 3D fatigue and it is not present as 1st generation 3D without light boost technology. This is a active display just like the Nvida technology. Users have said that they could stand about 30mins of 3D before a headache and with this technology that is not present. The image quality of the 950 series is suppose to be 2nd to none.

 

I have also read that a 10% convergence(only slight 3d effect) in stereoscopic mode can give a competitive advantage in FPS sniping and such.

I am on a 17" gateway CRT atm my back-light on my 22" lcd burnt out and it reminds me of the issue of people buying 2 GPUs for $600+ then using it for a $150 LCD. The image quality can sometimes be better then AA ultra, AF ultra, ect... enabled. OLED like performance 5,000,000,000:1 Contrast ratio increases the silhouette of enemies!

 

Why cheap Rosewill case? I am not going to be traveling to LAN parties their for ruggedness and handle is unnecessary, this also the only mid-atx that includes 3 fans included.

A micro-atx motherboard would provide sufficient room in this case. USB3.0 front headers is unnecessary extra that can be easily added. Believe me I originality wanted Lvl10 GT Thermatake but again there is a budget to this build. I also originally wanted water-cooling but expense and the noisy fans are still there anyways just strayed me into prioritizing say the monitors quality.

 

My drunk GF recently threw my current computer and only destroyed the case I bought a $17 mid atx, GZ-KF03B, $13 shipping and handling and it works just fine, I put my fans from my old case in the new case. The 140mm side fan blowing directly on the OCed 5750, 700 > 842MHZ core, 4808MHZ 1GB GDDR5 it is stable and a bargain for $70 a year ago off ebay when my 4870 fan bearings went after dust got up in the turbine casing. I lost 80 stream processors in my DX11 card upgrade. I do say it almost feels like a aluminum soda can but if it gets dropped or thrown again I think it is better if the case gives way a bit to cushion the fall but I was lucky it landed on the 5in drive bay corner the DVD drive that was destroyed sliped against another DVD drive that was under it.

 

I will keep you guys up to date with my experience with this build once I have it constructed at the end of January or so. Benchmarks, diagnostics, overview, pics and videos is what I am planning on uploading if I am not busy on D3, B3, or surviving nuclear war.

 

P.S. Sorry for such a extended response but with this current system not dishing out the preformance I want as an avid gamer it is boring sometimes.

[MJCRO]

Dude since you got cash, you might as well blow it all since you seem hell bent on getting this setup.

 

Also their is no performance upgrade from PCI-E 3.0 compared to 2.0, hence take a look here.

 

You'd just be wasting your money if you went X firing 2 HD 7970's. Save your cash and just go with one card and use the extra money to pick up a better monitor or something.

 

Bro, no matter how hard you try, 6 months later your system will always be outdated.

 

Your better off spending less to build a single GPU, i7 3930K & 8GB RAM system with maybe a SSD and HD for storage.

[El_Capitan]

"Future-proof" is the worst misconception. Yeah, you can spend $2000 on a top-end system now, but in 2 years, a $1000 mid-range system will outperform it. Focus on getting some high quality long-term components, then the top mid-ranged mid-term and short-term components to update down the road to keep your system at a high level with the same amount of budget.

 

If you're going for longevity, here's some simple planning:

 

Long term components (update every 4-5 years):

CPU Cooling (also mid-term nowadays)

Power Supply

Monitor

HDD and SSD's (also mid-term nowadays)

Optical Drive

Case

 

Mid-term components (update every 2-3 years):

CPU

Motherboard

Memory

 

Short-term components (update every 1-2 years):

Graphics Cards

 

Note: These are for if you want to keep your system near the top-end. For most people, you don't need to update this often.

[MJCRO]

"Future-proof" is the worst misconception. Yeah, you can spend $2000 on a top-end system now, but in 2 years, a $1000 mid-range system will outperform it. Focus on getting some high quality long-term components, then the top mid-ranged mid-term and short-term components to update down the road to keep your system at a high level with the same amount of budget.

 

If you're going for longevity, here's some simple planning:

 

Long term components (update every 4-5 years):

CPU Cooling (also mid-term nowadays)

Power Supply

Monitor

HDD and SSD's (also mid-term nowadays)

Optical Drive

Case

 

Mid-term components (update every 2-3 years):

CPU

Motherboard

Memory

 

Short-term components (update every 1-2 years):

Graphics Cards

 

You sir got it down perfectly!

[Stonerboy779]

All makes sense but I am still missing the $350 on gnu cooling, what cooling is that?

 

Also with your father in law there is no way he is being "bottlenecked" by his RAM because seriously 16gb of 1866mhz RAM god help the rest of us that run 4-8gb of 1336 or 1600mhz RAM. He should look at his FCC card first or his CPU.

[MJCRO]

All makes sense but I am still missing the $350 on gnu cooling, what cooling is that?

 

Also with your father in law there is no way he is being "bottlenecked" by his RAM because seriously 16gb of 1866mhz RAM god help the rest of us that run 4-8gb of 1336 or 1600mhz RAM. He should look at his FCC card first or his CPU.

 

So true, ever since I got my second 8GB kit, their is literally no difference.

 

Only good thing was I got them for cheap.

[4th3truth]

Dude since you got cash, you might as well blow it all since you seem hell bent on getting this setup.

 

Also their is no performance upgrade from PCI-E 3.0 compared to 2.0, hence take a look here.

 

You'd just be wasting your money if you went X firing 2 HD 7970's. Save your cash and just go with one card and use the extra money to pick up a better monitor or something.

 

Bro, no matter how hard you try, 6 months later your system will always be outdated.

 

Your better off spending less to build a single GPU, i7 3930K & 8GB RAM system with maybe a SSD and HD for storage.

 

I completely agree with you that you can never have the best and even less then 6 months things are outdated. Here is a very detailed article on benchmarks of 3.0 vs 2.0 and sometimes 2.0 is faster. I repeat, I will be using the 3.0 in about 2 years. Remember I understand that a 2600k system at the same price will get slightly better performance but is sacrificed for future compatibility. 8GB is only like 6 dollars cheaper for Corsair 1600mhz XMP which is the native FSB speed and completely overkill in quad channel, I know.

 

X-firing 7970's is overkill and only would be preferred to get 120fps to match your 120hz monitor or better yet get better then 50FPS ultra 3d 1080P mode turning down the settings would probably achieve 120FPS 1080P 3D. Does V-sync auto-scale or would it push it all the way down to 60FPS. Can you manually change V-Sync ratios?

 

Maybe it is nit-picking at small performance differences that is what it seems that all you guys are posting.

 

Father-in-law has AMD hexcore and my theory is that the game is only writing on two threads. And the small processors can only max out with their smaller L2 cache as well as the RAM speed loading into the 560s Vram, too many different textures in WoW busy town areas.

[Tjj226_Angel]

All makes sense but I am still missing the $350 on gnu cooling, what cooling is that?

 

Also with your father in law there is no way he is being "bottlenecked" by his RAM because seriously 16gb of 1866mhz RAM god help the rest of us that run 4-8gb of 1336 or 1600mhz RAM. He should look at his FCC card first or his CPU.

 

I think you are confused on the GPU part. He said he is spending 350 on a 7950 non reference cooler. I think he meant that he is purchasing a 7950 when it comes out WITH a non reference cooler. Not that the cooler itself cost 350.

 

I hope that answers your question.

 

On another note, I do believe in future proofing, but not in the common sense. If you buy an i7 IB it will perform about the same as Haswell's i5 and then about the same as Skylake's i3 or lower end i5 and so on. Really future proofing is a gamble rather than a science. It is basically the principal of saying "if I spend an extra 100 bucks, can I hold out until the latest gen of CPUs?". It isn't like you can measure it in years and think that it will be guaranteed that it will still play a video game as well as you want it to. I think what people are trying to tell you that for the money, it is a stupid bet. You would be much better going with the i7 IB than the SB-E. There is a better chance you can make it to Broadstreet CPUs with a highend i7 IB chip than a SB-E. Even then, it is not a guarantee.

 

Basically with this build, I think you would be a lot wiser to chop a lot of the budget down, and focus on what will play games well for the next 2 years. At the two year mark, you better be buying into Skylake to keep up with games.

 

Personally, I would be thinking about getting an 1155 z68 board with a IB chip of some nature, a small PSU, a good SSD, and a 7950 card and call it quits. Ridding the ivy bridge wave to the Skylake wave is a much smarter investment than trying to max out on the SB-E stuff.

 

The rest of what you have is fine really, but the X79 chipset and the 3820 is probably not your best bet.

[MJCRO]

I think you are confused on the GPU part. He said he is spending 350 on a 7950 non reference cooler. I think he meant that he is purchasing a 7950 when it comes out WITH a non reference cooler. Not that the cooler itself cost 350.

 

I hope that answers your question.

 

On another note, I do believe in future proofing, but not in the common sense. If you buy an i7 IB it will perform about the same as Haswell's i5 and then about the same as Skylake's i3 or lower end i5 and so on. Really future proofing is a gamble rather than a science. It is basically the principal of saying "if I spend an extra 100 bucks, can I hold out until the latest gen of CPUs?". It isn't like you can measure it in years and think that it will be guaranteed that it will still play a video game as well as you want it to. I think what people are trying to tell you that for the money, it is a stupid bet. You would be much better going with the i7 IB than the SB-E. There is a better chance you can make it to Broadstreet CPUs with a highend i7 IB chip than a SB-E. Even then, it is not a guarantee.

 

Basically with this build, I think you would be a lot wiser to chop a lot of the budget down, and focus on what will play games well for the next 2 years. At the two year mark, you better be buying into Skylake to keep up with games.

 

Personally, I would be thinking about getting an 1155 z68 board with a IB chip of some nature, a small PSU, a good SSD, and a 7950 card and call it quits. Ridding the ivy bridge wave to the Skylake wave is a much smarter investment than trying to max out on the SB-E stuff.

 

The rest of what you have is fine really, but the X79 chipset and the 3820 is probably not your best bet.

 

Um, Ivy Bridge is not a different architecture, it's the same as Sandy Bridge, just at 22nm die shrink.

 

You guys gotta do your homework, future proofing is a waste of time, better starting off with a good base and building up your machine like El_Capitan put it.

 

It's all about investing in a good motherboard that can last you two or three CPU generations, that's it.

 

Check out Intel's Tick-Tock chart to see what CPU's are actually worth buying in the future. No need to waste time thinking that Ivy Bridge will be a upgrade when in reality it actually won't.

 

 

 

 

 

[Tjj226_Angel]

Um, Ivy Bridge is not a different architecture, it's the same as Sandy Bridge, just at 22nm die shrink.

 

You guys gotta do your homework, future proofing is a waste of time, better starting off with a good base and building up your machine like El_Capitan put it.

 

It's all about investing in a good motherboard that can last you two or three CPU generations, that's it.

 

Check out Intel's Tick-Tock chart to see what CPU's are actually worth buying in the future. No need to waste time thinking that Ivy Bridge will be a upgrade when in reality it actually won't.

 

I know about the architecture, but it is supposed to give a boost to the PCI 3.0 cards. I don't know this to be fully true because we should have seen the same boost with the SB-E chips, but who knows. The chips may surprise us.

 

Who said anything about ivy bridge being an upgrade? I was saying to get a base, just like El_Captin put it, but with IB as the chip for the base. That is all.

 

And future proofing isn't a waste of time as much as it is kind of a stupid gamble. For instance, I gambled on my i7 950 to keep me going until Broad Street. So I spent an extra 60 bucks on my CPU to try and hit that target of Broad Street. Right now, I would not see a massive performance increase in an i5 2500K over a i7 950. You could argue that I future proofed myself against SB and IB. Does that mean I knew it was a guarantee that my i7 could last me until even this far out? No. But it was simply a calculated move and risk I was willing to take.

 

I think to be so extreme that you completely ignore the idea of adding longevity to your build is unwise, and I certainly think that the opposite side of people who think it is a calculated science and you can specifically measure when you need a new PC is just as unwise. A common ground between the two sides that says, you certainly can not PROOF your pc against the future, but you can add a bit of extra time to the PC if you invest in the right hardware, would serve much better as a method in which to purchase and build a computer.

 

Edit: I have a bad habit of calling Broadwell broad street, so in the post Broad Street = Broadwell.

Edited December 25, 2011 by Tjj226_Angel

[nickk47]

I think I made a very smart decision by not jumping on the post LGA-775 sockets or ddr3 because this things still kicking some serious framerates on skyrim and bf3 on high (and hopefully D3). Now I can save up and build a whole new system when ddr4 comes out or something! Talk about system longevity...! Futureproofing isnt really that hard if you just ask yourself what you're gona be satisfied with. Unless you're "that" guy whos never satisfied XD ( aka, me 4 years ago, always wanted flagship models until I realized the horrible truth of technological advancement...)

 

Sorry for getting a bit off topic, but yeah. I think OP needs to just go with what he thinks will satisfiy his gaming needs, don't think too much into the future because you can only predict so much...