New Gaming PC Suggestions?

[StoneHeart]

WOW :shock:, that's definitely an ultimate machine

I saw it on youtube, YouTube - Gaming Computer Showcase: EVGA SR-2, Intel Xeon X5680s, 4-Way SLI GTX480s Pt.1

 

[thehappyman]

I'm planning on building a new gaming pc this September and am wanting to make it as good as I possibly can. I have $5k saved up for it. I'm considering getting the Intel Core i7-980X Extreme Edition 3.33 GHz CPU and 6gigs of DDR3 RAM at 1800ghz. My dilemma is with the graphics card. I read that the HD Radeon 5970s were good, and I'm considering having two of them.

Would this setup work, or are there some problems? I want to play current and near-future titles on max settings as smoothly as possible. If you have any recommendations for alternative graphic cards that would be great too (or a different CPU if the one listed will cause problems.) Thanks in advance.

Hi Larsa,
For LESS than $5K I just purchased
0) Win 7 Ultimate 64 Bit OS
1) Core I7 980X Extreme overclocked to 3.73 Ghz with water cooling
2) ATI Radeon HD 5970 Video Card
3) 12 GB 1600 Mhz DDR3 triple channel Ram
4) 256 GB Samsung Solid State C drive
5) 600 GB 10,000 rpm SATA secondary data drive
6) Blu Ray DVD/CD Read/Writer
7) USB 2.0 and USB 3.0
8) Multi Function Memory Card Reader
9) Creative Labs X-Fi Titanium Sound Card
10) 850 Watt Power Supply
10) Unconditional 4 Year On-Site Warranty

Good Luck finding just what you want !!!!!

 

[pparks1]

For LESS than $5K I just purchased
0) Win 7 Ultimate 64 Bit OS
1) Core I7 980X Extreme overclocked to 3.73 Ghz with water cooling
2) ATI Radeon HD 5970 Video Card
3) 12 GB 1600 Mhz DDR3 triple channel Ram
4) 256 GB Samsung Solid State C drive
5) 600 GB 10,000 rpm SATA secondary data drive
6) Blu Ray DVD/CD Read/Writer
7) USB 2.0 and USB 3.0
8) Multi Function Memory Card Reader
9) Creative Labs X-Fi Titanium Sound Card
10) 850 Watt Power Supply
11) Unconditional 4 Year On-Site Warranty

Good Luck finding just what you want !!!!!

Wow, all that for under $5k . I'm just kidding...but that's more than I have spent on 3 different computers in the past 5+ years.

 

[Twibitsu]

5970? Wouldn't you just be better with 2 x 5870?

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I was given the impression that all Multi-GPU cards have issues with micro-stuttering. I was looking to buy a 5970 myself, but were persuaded otherwise on a different forum. Ended up with 5870.

 

[thehappyman]

5970? Wouldn't you just be better with 2 x 5870?

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I was given the impression that all Multi-GPU cards have issues with micro-stuttering. I was looking to buy a 5970 myself, but were persuaded otherwise on a different forum. Ended up with 5870.

I guess I will find out when the system arrives !!!!!! If I have troubles I'll get another card (or cards).

 

[Lollies]

Well, $5k is a monstrous budget and pretty much allows you to do anything that you want to do. However, I still question paying the outrageous premium on the Intel chip.... For 1/2 to 1/3 the price, you can get a suitable Core i7 that will perform 90% as good and will free up money for other components. Again, in your case...there isn't that much need to save money....but spending for the sake of spending just doesn't seem like the greatest move either. I would rather put in a $500 CPU and use the other $500 on an SSD which would really make a noticeable difference.

i dropped 3k on my last build, its been a year and the i7 has now made the (Quad-Core) Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 a thing of the past. I would suggest cutting corners when you can cause there will always be something better and newer in a short amount of time.

 

[thehappyman]

Well, $5k is a monstrous budget and pretty much allows you to do anything that you want to do. However, I still question paying the outrageous premium on the Intel chip.... For 1/2 to 1/3 the price, you can get a suitable Core i7 that will perform 90% as good and will free up money for other components. Again, in your case...there isn't that much need to save money....but spending for the sake of spending just doesn't seem like the greatest move either. I would rather put in a $500 CPU and use the other $500 on an SSD which would really make a noticeable difference.

i dropped 3k on my last build, its been a year and the i7 has now made the (Quad-Core) Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 a thing of the past. I would suggest cutting corners when you can cause there will always be something better and newer in a short amount of time.

I have several friends who are "always waiting", always holding back for that better thing right around the corner. They never get anywhere. They will always be waiting.

 

[Lollies]

Well, $5k is a monstrous budget and pretty much allows you to do anything that you want to do. However, I still question paying the outrageous premium on the Intel chip.... For 1/2 to 1/3 the price, you can get a suitable Core i7 that will perform 90% as good and will free up money for other components. Again, in your case...there isn't that much need to save money....but spending for the sake of spending just doesn't seem like the greatest move either. I would rather put in a $500 CPU and use the other $500 on an SSD which would really make a noticeable difference.

i dropped 3k on my last build, its been a year and the i7 has now made the (Quad-Core) Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 a thing of the past. I would suggest cutting corners when you can cause there will always be something better and newer in a short amount of time.

I have several friends who are "always waiting", always holding back for that better thing right around the corner. They never get anywhere. They will always be waiting.

Yeah, that is a good point. My dad for instance...still using his pc from 2002 I think? and switches back and forth between that and the first computer I every owned, a Dell 8300 or something like that in 03 or 04?

He's kinda at the end of the spectrum where he just waits till someone annoys him enough to the point where he gives in and gets something new. He could spend 300$ and have a system that is atleast 3x better than what he uses now. I've always wanted the best of the best but now that I'm getting older I realize money has to go towards other things (Which Blows). But I still wanna have something that is at least between top of the line and the middle personally.

 

[Bootz]

... Generally its a good idea to match Intel with nvidia and AMD with ATI although you dont have to by any means...

I also have no wish to start an argument, but this is unfounded nonsense. ATI cards work equally well with AMD chipsets, Intel chipsets and even nVidia chipsets. There's no basis in reality for the claim to the contrary; it's all urban myth.

To the OP. Unless you're going to be running 3 monitors in eyefinity, there's no justification for getting two 5970's; it would be a waste of money. One will certainly suffice even up to 2500.

Did my comment state in any way that they would not WORK as well? no it did not

Its just something i would personally do assuming i had the budget.

 

[Kinggo]

I run 2 X GTX480's as an up grade to my 280's and WOW.
I have EK waterblocks on them and a stand alone stand alone cooling system just for them. They are overclocked from 700MHz to 900MHz and memory from 1400 to 2100 with EVGA precision, this is a great way to crank them up only when you want to.
Even at this OC with furmark they don'e even break a sweat, under 100% load they max out at 59 degrees GPU core temp and virtually silent.

If you have a big budget, this is hard to beat, but I think graphics cards a lot about preferences, both Nvidia and ATI flagship cards are very good.

Also my i7920 @ 4.0 GHz is plenty for gaming, you could save money on the CPU.

 

[pparks1]

I have several friends who are "always waiting", always holding back for that better thing right around the corner. They never get anywhere. They will always be waiting.

Who said anything about waiting? What i was getting at, is that even if you spent $5k today or $2k today....in 3-4 years time...either machine will be considered old and slow by modern standards.

As the other user pointed out, he spent over $3k and went with the bad boy Q9650 Extreme Edition...but today, the Core i7's are a far superior chip. So, he could have gone with a slower chip then, saved the money. Because either way, a Q9400 or a Q9650 Extreme is old news compared to the new CPU's....even though one of them cost 3-4 x as much back in the day.

 

[madtownidiot]

check the specs on my build.. it cost less than $3000 and plays almost every game I've tried at max graphics.

 

[chev65]

I score just as high in Vantage as most any single card overclocked i7 920 rig at 4Ghz "over P25K". I have no reason to upgrade to i7 from where I'm standing. Yes I have compared my Vantage scores over at the EVGA forum.

The facts are that the regular Q9650 overclocks better than the much more expensive QX series ever did. And if someone thinks you need 3 or 4 cards in order to play a game at max settings I have some news for you. Of course if you want to game on a giant screen having more cards can help there but I think most SLI rigs are for bench marks and bragging rights.

The only realistic upgrade for me would be the i7 980X but that wouldn't make much of a difference in actual game play.

So if you already have a stable overclocked quad core rig with a decent GPU you don't have many reasons to upgrade, unless you just like spending lots of money of course.

 

[Hopalong X]

madtown

Nice rig.

I have $1400 in my rig not counting the monitor. A Samsung 21.5 2ms is on sale under $200 at Newegg right now. Samsung 23 is $220 or $230
So that makes $1600.
The only thing mine lacks (IMO) would be 4GB more of RAM and SLI the graphics card.
SLI isn't necessary unless I go to a 23" monitor and that is a maybe I would have to.

So that is about $225-240 to add graphics card.
$100 more for the RAM..
Total of $1950 when I'm done including shipping at the most.

I bought everything at Newegg.
Used the heck out of their combo deals.
Saved over $200 just getting the combos they had at the time and they always have combos going but you have to click the combo tab and look.

There is no perfect rig really.
Just that mine is perfect- almost- for me at the moment.....

madtown's rig is perfect for him- at the moment.....

pparks rig is perfect for him- at the moment....

.....or until that next new toy comes out we just have to have!
Today not tomorrow.
Mike

Chev65

Nice rig also.
I was typing while you were posting.

 

[Wishmaster]

Im wanting to upgrade and build a new i7 machine

The only thing thats holding me back is nothing really slows down my Q9650 and 4890 Vapor-X ATM to justify the cost of the new build.

I may do it anyway but ATM Im content.

 

[Hopalong X]

Wishmaster

I would not have built mine if I had yours already.

I had a 6 year old HP P-4 with no upgrade capacity on anything but DDR-2 which I did.
On board video.
PCI slots only.
So ANYTHING was an upgrade for me.

I balanced price and performance with 8 weeks of on and off research before the final shopping list was made on this rig. My first build.

A crash course in all the new PC wares.
I was really starting from scratch as to knowledge of the new products.

I really like my rig but I have no intention of anything but tweaks to this for a few years.
Hanging out on the sevenforum I get to keep tabs on all the new stuff.
Mike

 

[madtownidiot]

Only thing that irks me is you can't get a large high resolution monitor with a 5:4 aspect ratio. I wish someone would make 32" or larger monitor capable of 1920x1600.

 

[Hopalong X]

madtown

They call those televisions where I come from.

I know what you're refering to. I just couldn't help myself.

 

[madtownidiot]

madtown

They call those televisions where I come from.

Lol.. true, and games look better (IMO) in a 5:4 or 4:3 aspect than in 16:9 or 16:10.. which I believe is simply a way to make a cheaper monitor

 

[Hopalong X]

I like the extra width with my 19".
It is about like the old 17" standard in height.

If I had two pages open it was nice to set them side by side with the extra width which always entailed stretching etc. on XP.
Now with the W7 Snap feature it is really nice.

Gaming I agree.
My nephews 19" 5:4 or 4:3 HP monitor was nicer for gaming I think.