Spec me if you could please :)

[Deception]

Hello.

Looking for a new pc... Not interested in much tbh, just the facility to game at a reasonable level.

I have a dell 3007WFPHC so would like to use the whole 2560x1600 res. My old rig with its 512mb 7800gtx managed this on really old games but it cant even play new games at 800x600 low settings nevermind upping the textures and res.

I habe been looking over the following ideas of:

- an X58A UD3R with 6gb of ram, an gtx580 (or 480 as clockers have it uber cheap at the mo and its not much slower) along with an i7 950 + win7 64bit HP

- an P67 GD65 with 8gb of ram, an GTX580 (or 480 again) along with an i5 2500K (possibly a 2600K) + win7 64bit HP

I have pretty much everything else thats required such as 30GB SSD, 1TB Samsung F3, 750W Silverstone strider and an old lian li pc60+

My old system is as follows. 2GB of ddr2 667 (i think), an P5Q, E2160 @ 3.4ghz, with an 7800gtx 512mb. All the above is included too.

So whats your thoughts?

What do you think of my hardware choices to match the hardware I have already have and will any of the above specs suffer with a res of 2560x1600? Anti aliasing is not required although preffered. At 2560x1600 at a 3ft viewing distance it makes only a slight difference.

Thanks

 

[Tortuga]

Yeah gtx 580 would be your best bet at that monster resolution. Gtx 480s perform on par with the 570 but produce considerable more noise/heat/power draw. I would probably go with the 2500k setup, that will save you some bucks over the 950 and perform just as good in games.

 

[Deception]

Yeah gtx 580 would be your best bet at that monster resolution. Gtx 480s perform on par with the 570 but produce considerable more noise/heat/power draw. I would probably go with the 2500k setup, that will save you some bucks over the 950 and perform just as good in games.

This is true but £100 difference in cost for what is only a £15 a year extra on the leccy bill (for what I use the PC for) isn't worth the outlay. Especially when all of this will get the water treatment

 

[Tortuga]

Well in that case, if you don't mind the heat and noise of the 480 go for it. I just assumed with the 2560x1600 res monitor you would have loads of cash sitting around for a graphics card lol. And I know right now on the egg, gtx 480s are at $299 after mail in rebate. I don't know where you live, but they seem to be dropping fast. But also maybe 560's in sli might be an option? or the amd 6950 have the 2 gig, which is better for high res gaming, also can consider crossfire later.

 

[Deception]

Well in that case, if you don't mind the heat and noise of the 480 go for it. I just assumed with the 2560x1600 res monitor you would have loads of cash sitting around for a graphics card lol. And I know right now on the egg, gtx 480s are at $299 after mail in rebate. I don't know where you live, but they seem to be dropping fast. But also maybe 560's in sli might be an option? or the amd 6950 have the 2 gig, which is better for high res gaming, also can consider crossfire later.

Thats fair enough

480s are £195, 570s are £280, 580s are £390ish which means 2x 480s for the price of 1x 580 hence my swinging that way

One thing I have seen since flaking over the net today, what is the deal with the P67 sata controllers? Pushing me down the X58 route that is even though the 2500K system (2600K probably better as I run video encoding) will be a smidge cheaper...

 

[Tortuga]

Ahh yeah, the sata 3gigabit/sec ports (sata 2) seem to be degrading overtime. Any sata 3 ports (6 gigabit), or sata ports on a 3rd party chip will be unaffected. The processor is still just as good, doesn't effect any performance, as you don't have to use the ports if you don't want to. Fill up your sata 3 slots, and if you absolutley must use sata 2 ports on the intel p67 chipset, use it with your optical drive, to avoid data corruption on harddrives. Or just wait a few months for the new boards

.

 

[Deception]

Hmmm...

After statements that boards will be swapped out I may look at that 2600K/2500K in a little more detail. Looks rather nice to me. Cheers!

 

[Deception]

Got myself an P67A-GD65. Nice little board and very excited about it

Will update as parts start to show and will get this show on the road.

 

[Aurus_OC]

Got myself an P67A-GD65. Nice little board and very excited about it

Will update as parts start to show and will get this show on the road.

Sounds good! Make sure to post some pics

 

[Deception]

Sounds good! Make sure to post some pics

I shall do

Anyway, 2600K it is I think along with a nice lian-li A05N B. Thinking of entering that coolermaster MOD contest so maybe a different case may be in the cards or maybe even a scratch built case?! However that seems too much like hard work so I may give it a miss

Is water cooling worth a look for the CPU and Graphics card? Would a DUAL and a SINGLE be enough for an GTX 480 along with the CPU or would I be better off with water cooling an GTX 560 along with the CPU? Either way a GTX480 with block is going to cost the same as an GTX560 with block so due to the fact the GTX 480 has more vram and is faster is looks to be the better choice.

Please feel free to spec me a loop and share any thoughts

 

[I Hunta x]

For 2x 480's and either of your choice of processors is going to need a GOOD thick tripple rad at minimum. the 2600k would probably add less heat to the equation for an equivilent overclock on the 950 so its up to you, single 480 and the cpu a tripple would still be worth it.

If your thinking about getting a new case mabey look into getting something like the Silverstone TJ07 and dropping a quad rad into the bottom? or a Corsair 700D/Coolermaster haf X and putting a tripple in the roof?

 

[kilobravo]

I shall do

Anyway, 2600K it is I think along with a nice lian-li A05N B. Thinking of entering that coolermaster MOD contest so maybe a different case may be in the cards or maybe even a scratch built case?! However that seems too much like hard work so I may give it a miss

Is water cooling worth a look for the CPU and Graphics card? Would a DUAL and a SINGLE be enough for an GTX 480 along with the CPU or would I be better off with water cooling an GTX 560 along with the CPU? Either way a GTX480 with block is going to cost the same as an GTX560 with block so due to the fact the GTX 480 has more vram and is faster is looks to be the better choice.

Please feel free to spec me a loop and share any thoughts

Watercooling questions, is liquid cooling forum, where manny watercooling guys will answer you happily

 

[DiogoPRT]

You can choose the second option, and buy a GTX480 Hydro Copper, or do a Wattercooling by yourself.