i7 2600k tri-crossfire build advise please

[MuG]

Hi all,

I'm new to the forums here, so a hearty hello to all my fellow techies.

Looking at completing my new build in the coming weeks. When payday hits anyway

Was originally planning on socket 2011 build but it's still too rich for my blood at the moment.

>> My current setup:

Asus Rampage Formula 775

4GB Corsair Dominator 1066 DDR2

Intel Q6600 B3 @ 3.0GHz

Running sweet, 25-30 idle, 55-60 load with below cooling.

Thermalright Ultra 120

With one of these installed

Sharkoon Silent Eagle 2000

Asus Xonar DS PCI

The above served happily for many a year paired with a 4870 1GB and 2* 500GB samsung F3 Intel SW raid.

>> Recent additions, that will stay with the build

Coolermaster HAF X

2* 2GB MSI HD Radeon 6950 Twin Frozr

I have a 3rd one still awaiting installation as I don't have sufficient PCI-E on this board.

Got a damn good deal on them, I'm not completely mental

Crucial M4 256GB

(Currently running at SATA2 speeds on intel controller)

23.5" Dell U2311H @ 1920*1080

Looking at possiblity of going eyefinity at a later date.

Maybe with 2 ~20" for the side views, tough to get monitors that will match the aspect ratio correctly. 2 More U2311Hs would be expensive. Thoughts on this?

>> Now the new stuff

Planning to get the following:

CPU

Intel Core i7 2600K

COOLER

Corsair H80 Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler

Liking this but not the high noise, Not too keen on shelling out cash for new fans for it either. Thoughts?

Note: A proper watercooling setup might be too much maintenance for lazy old me.

OR

Be Quiet Dark Rock PRO BK016 CPU Cooler

Maybe this if sticking with air cooling?

MOBO

MSI Z68A-GD80 (G3) Intel Z68 Socket 1155 Motherboard

Pretty set on this board from reading reviews and the PCI 3.0 support, military grade components and overall build quality of the board.

However open to suggestions on other sufficient solutions to install my 3*6950 CF + SSD @ rated speed.

RAM

Corsair Memory Dominator GT 8GB DDR3 2133 Mhz CAS 9 XMP DHX Dual Channel Desktop

Very open to suggestions on this, My experience with Corsair memory so far is a good one but I'm sure other vendors offer similar.

PSU

Antec HGC-900 High Current Gamer 900W Power Supply (PSU)

Something like should be sufficient, just picked this one as Antec PSUs have been flawless for me so far.

Be-Quiet look to be pretty top these days, Thoughts?

SOUNDCARD

Asus Xonar D2X

OR

Asus Xonar DX

Again open to suggestions on this, Would prefer to avoid creative as I've just had too much grief with their drivers over the years.

>> Some info that I think is relevant.

* Delivery will be to Ireland, so retailers are somewhat limited.

* Budget is not a factor at the moment will adapt as need be.

* I work in IT support so I'm fairly competant at troubleshooting.

* I'm a novice overclocker looking to delve a bit deeper.

* The purpose of my computer is primarily gameing (Who'dve guessed eh

)

* I run my comp ~16 hours a day

Sorry for the very longwinded post, I figured better too much detail than too little.

Any and all thoughts are appreciated, Any more info needed let me know.

Thanks in advance,

MuG

EDIT: Lol how did your site know to give me the perfect avvy. Brilliant feature. Pain train city!

 

[Azurite]

Heres a few things i would have checked out before ordering the components.

Best 3 aircoolers: NZXT Havik140, Noctua NH-D14, Phantek.

Psu: Corsair AX850/1200

MB: Gigabyte UD7 Z68

If your not going to overclock the cpu, you might just get that dark pro because its pretty quiet. And for souncard i would chose the Xonar D2X, but both cards are decent.

 

[MuG]

Thanks for the reply.

That Havik140 is an interesting looking beast will check up some reviews.

The AX850 looks a top PSU, thanks for the heads up.

That UV beast you have is sweet. Really nice clean cabling. Top Job! Does it keep you awake at night?

I see you are also a BF3 junkie, How's it running with those 5870s?

 

[S_I_N]

well for tri-crossfire you'll need the 1200AX as the AX850 only has 4 6+2 pci-e the 1200 has 6 6+2 pci-e plus the 850 would be almost maxed for amps and wattage for 3 gpus plus system. another issue you'll run into is pci-e bandwidth for the SB platform. If it was mine I' just do 2 gpus. This way their both at 8x its unclear to me what the pic-e 2.0 slot will run at if installed MSI's site is kinda vague. But it does clearly state pci-e 2 and 4 which are the 3.0 slots will run at 8x if both are used. then there is the sound card issue this board comes with THX sound doubt you'd need a sound card but if ya do keep in mind it shares bandwidth as well. plus puts a card inbetween ur top 2 cards restricting airflow to the top card.

 

[MuG]

Hi S_I_N,

Thanks for the valuable input on the PSU. Will look further into a suitable one with 6 PCI-E connectors. 1200w seems a bit overkill.

What do you think about grabbing an ivy bridge board for now + an i5 2500k, then adding an Ivy bridge cpu in 6 months or so?

I will do some testing with the 3 gpu setup and sell off the 3rd card if it's not worth it.

I think I will stick with the onboard sound for the time being and add the Xonar later if needed.

Thanks for taking the time.

 

[S_I_N]

Hi S_I_N,

Thanks for the valuable input on the PSU. Will look further into a suitable one with 6 PCI-E connectors. 1200w seems a bit overkill.

What do you think about grabbing an ivy bridge board for now + an i5 2500k, then adding an Ivy bridge cpu in 6 months or so?

I will do some testing with the 3 gpu setup and sell off the 3rd card if it's not worth it.

I think I will stick with the onboard sound for the time being and add the Xonar later if needed.

Thanks for taking the time.

thats what I'd be doing if I was building now Getting a gen 3 board or Z77 and changing cpu later if needed. as far as the psu being overkill. I doubt that very seriously 2 gpu's normal recommendation is 850watts 3 1000watts+ remember while 850watts is within it operating range it will be at or over the 80% efficiency meaning it'll be running full steam all the time. making it work harder longer will result in possible early failure. Keeping it at 50% or lower and having periodic runs over 50% will ensure longevity. Plus the AX series of psu's have a kinda hybrid fan design where the fan runs at one of 3 speeds off 50% or 100% my AX850 runs at off and only spins up when I bench or game. and then thats only at 50% fan. but I'm only running 1 gpu atm.

 

[MuG]

Cheers again. I will definately look at a 1000w gold rated psu. The 6950s are quite good power consumption wise but I definately want that extra grunt there for when i flash them to 6070s. Also for the extra power needed for the new plan cpu explained below.

From the recently acquired knowledge of the impending release of the S2011 i7-3820

I've decided to change my build to S2011 pending the affordable quadcore i7-3820.

CPU

The 3 reviews I've found of this chip are here @

Toms Hardware

Hot Hardware

PCper

Only note I've found about the Release date Looking like February 13th

Thoughts on this chip?

The stock clocks?

Limited overclock ability(which should be plenty for my needs for now)

Anyone got any insight into a solid release date for this chip?

From what I hear it's looking like mid February. Which will give me a bit of extra time to research getting this beast right.

RAM

The decision is now, 16GB or 32GB of ram and what speed?

Some nice vids regarding Asus' take on ssd caching and ram disks

My reasoning for looking at 32GB of ram is for the possibility to have a 16GB ram disk to run games that are just getting bigger and bigger.

Would I be better off with just ssd caching or a ram disk setup?

It seems both is also possible but might be overkill

MOBO

Choices:

ASUS P9X79 Deluxe

ASRock X79 Extreme9

5-Way Intel X79 Mobo Shootout

Any other vendors offering ssd caching tech?

From the vids linked above it seems that the chipset does not support it natively

Any and all thoughts are appreciated.