Sandybridge GPU

[Skulblaka]

I'm building a gaming rig, no need for video encoding...

I'm going to choose the P67, I like the "Quad" PCI availability...

 

[jeepmann4x4]

P67 are now pointless. You want Z68. All benefits of LGA 1155, no cons.

Hm, still prefer this one...

I have that MB and it works great, I have had zero issues with it!

Here is my build...Longlast The New Build is DONE-ISH

If your into OC'ing I posted some of mine here...Post Your Overclock!

 

[Skulblaka]

P67 are now pointless. You want Z68. All benefits of LGA 1155, no cons.

Hm, still prefer this one...

I have that MB and it works great, I have had zero issues with it!

Here is my build...Longlast The New Build is DONE-ISH

If your into OC'ing I posted some of mine here...Post Your Overclock!

AAGGH?!

All of those items are the ones I've chosen! Even the RAM!

What is the probability of that?!

Although I'm choosing a different HD, and the graphic card. I plan to get, possibly, the Radeon 6870.

 

[jeepmann4x4]

Hm, still prefer this one...

I have that MB and it works great, I have had zero issues with it!

Here is my build...Longlast The New Build is DONE-ISH

If your into OC'ing I posted some of mine here...Post Your Overclock!

AAGGH?!

All of those items are the ones I've chosen! Even the RAM!

What is the probability of that?!

Although I'm choosing a different HD, and the graphic card. I plan to get, possibly, the Radeon 6870.

Well all I can say is you have good taste & It will run great!!

If the $$ didn't get so tight I would of got a ssd right off the get go! I can put up with the spinners for now while I save up! I myself like Nvidia gpu's but if your looking to run more than 2x monitors off one card then you have to go with Ati.

 

[Skulblaka]

I have that MB and it works great, I have had zero issues with it!

Here is my build...Longlast The New Build is DONE-ISH

If your into OC'ing I posted some of mine here...Post Your Overclock!

AAGGH?!

All of those items are the ones I've chosen! Even the RAM!

What is the probability of that?!

Although I'm choosing a different HD, and the graphic card. I plan to get, possibly, the Radeon 6870.

Well all I can say is you have good taste & It will run great!!

If the $$ didn't get so tight I would of got a ssd right off the get go! I can put up with the spinners for now while I save up! I myself like Nvidia gpu's but if your looking to run more than 2x monitors off one card then you have to go with Ati.

I'm actually going to run a single monitor. I'm planning to Crossfire two 6870's... Unless you think nVidia is better for single monitors...

I was planning to get a SSD, but SSD's have a limited life until they start to get slow, that is the main reason.

 

[Fumz]

Something to consider is Ambient Occlusions. It has a really dramatic effect on lighting. Unfortunately, the option is nVidia only.

 

[Skulblaka]

Hm, need to look for a decent nVidia card then...

 

[cmd187]

I might be digressing here, but I think I'll be selling my main gaming system. Everything now is a console port and a 360 on a 60" plasma will be enough to enjoy any game regardless of textures or AA. Its great to have a gaming system but I'll doubt you'll appreciate it as much with most of today's games. Decisions, decisions . . . . .

 

[gazz9496]

some may be console ports but the consoles can't do the full package of graphic effects, so much gets trimmed down for a console game it's barely worth thinking about.

think ahead when you get a graphics card, do you plan for 3 monitors in the future? or even just a glimmering thought of it would mean going the ati route, if not then either nvidia or ati will be fine.

 

[Skulblaka]

Nah, I'm planning with one monitor, unless... hm... I'm somewhat new to the idea. What are the possibilities with dual displays?

 

[jeepmann4x4]

Nah, I'm planning with one monitor, unless... hm... I'm somewhat new to the idea. What are the possibilities with dual displays?

Nvidia Vs. Ati..? Well if your going with 2x gpu's already I would go with Nvidia. (IMO) I think they look and perform better (IMO)

Just Google ...Nvidia vs. Ati and decide for your self though, because its your build in the end.

Google....Ati eyefinity vs. nvidia surround for muti-monitor setups.

Skulblaka Nah, I'm planning with one monitor, unless... hm... I'm somewhat new to the idea. What are the possibilities with dual displays?

sorry can not get this video to Embed right???

link...
nVIDIA Surround Gameplay by badh8me

Dual monitors on Windows 7

 

[pantsaregood]

So much misinformation in this thread.

A huge advantage of Z68 over P67 is its ability to use SSD caching. You can use an SSD for HDD cache, which significantly speeds up access times.

On your note of SSDs having limited writes: yes, they are limited. The average SSD, however, will last far longer than the average hard drive. The time it takes for an SSD's performance to degrade is far longer than the practical/useful life of the hardware.

2600K is also an impractical choice for a gaming CPU. The 2500K performs just as well in games (as most can't take advantage of eight threads), and it is $90 cheaper. Put that $90 into a GPU and you'll be far better off.

 

[Fumz]

A huge advantage of Z68 over P67 is its ability to use SSD caching. You can use an SSD for HDD cache, which significantly speeds up access times.

But there’s one more feature I left out of my Virtu preview: Z68 also supports SSD caching—the ability to add a small solid-state drive to a system already running a larger mechanical disk with the purpose of speeding up read performance of data cached to the SSD. The target market for this feature is probably going to be somewhat limited. However, for the folks who can’t afford 80 GB or larger SSDs and still need extra user storage, caching does work…and pretty painlessly, too.

Intel Z68 Express Chipset Preview: SSD Caching And Quick Sync : Z68 Express Makes Its Debut

I'm not sure I'd call ssd caching a "huge" advantage... add to that, if the OS is already on an ssd then ssd caching is superfluous.

 

[Skulblaka]

2600K is also an impractical choice for a gaming CPU. The 2500K performs just as well in games (as most can't take advantage of eight threads), and it is $90 cheaper. Put that $90 into a GPU and you'll be far better off.

I'll stick with the 2600k, I've heard too many things about it.

Also, SSD performance tends to get slow over time, I trust a HDD for now. I'm planning to get the VelociRaptor.

 

[Fumz]

Hey Skulblaka,

He's actually spot on about the 2500k. Games don't make good use of hyper-threading. If there are apps that you run that do, then by all means get the 2600k, but if it's primarily a gaming rig, then that's something you should seriously consider.

 

[pantsaregood]

The 2500K and 2600K perform nearly identically in games. $90 towards a better GPU will serve you far better than $90 towards a 2600K. As far as games are concerned, the 2600K's only advantages over the 2500K are 100MHz higher clock speed and 2MB extra L3 cache. The 100MHz can be made up for by overclocking the 2500K, and the extra L3 doesn't do much, honestly.

Also, hard drives will die long before modern SSDs begin to see any sort of performance loss. To make myself clear: your VelociRaptor will asbolutely fail to function long before a modern SSD will be "slow."

 

[Skulblaka]

So what you're both saying is that 2500k if better for gaming.

Also, a SSD costs too much, I may get one when the price drops. But right now, it's simply too much.

 

[Fumz]

We're not saying the 2500k is better; what we're saying is that game performance is identical. The only difference getting the 2500k is that you'll have ~ $100.00 to spend somewhere else, like the graphics card, or apply it towards an ssd... or pizza.

 

[Skulblaka]

So performance is identical. I'll get that then and save myself $100.

I might go with dual display, still haven't made up my mind. I need to look at Radeon cards if going with dual monitor display.

 

[pantsaregood]

The 2500K is an unlocked quad core Sandy Bridge CPU. It runs at 3.3GHz and has 6MB of L3 cache.

The 2600K is an unlocked quad core Sandy Bridge CPU. It runs at 3.4GHz, has 8MB of L3 cache, and supports HyperThreading.

HyperThreading may help performance by a pretty significant margin in heavily multithreaded applications, but it doesn't really do anything for games. The additional 100MHz and extra 2MB L3 cache do almost nothing for performance.