My new PC

[Witty]

Hi everyone

After reading Don’s PC custom build thread, I’ve decided to create a thread for my custom build PC.

I will be purchasing a new gaming PC at the end of the month. I have decided to wait until October before purchasing a graphics card. Ideally, I would like to see a large price reduction in the GTX590 before Skyrim is released. The build below is compatible with the GTX590 (I hope).

I will post pictures of the unit when it arrives!

Cheers

Witty

Case

COOLERMASTER HAF 912 PLUS MID TOWER GAMING CASE

Processor (CPU)

Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-960 (3.20GHz) 4.8GTs/8MB Cache

Motherboard

ASUS® P6X58D-E: DDR3, USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, 3-Way SLI

Memory (RAM)

12GB KINGSTON HYPER-X TRI-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (3 x 4GB KIT)

Memory - 1st Hard Disk

500GB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (7,200rpm)

Power Supply

800W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan

Processor Cooling

TITAN FENRIR EVO EXTREME HEATPIPE CPU COOLER

Sound Card

ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Network Facilities

ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs

USB Options

6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD

Operating System

Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence

[Artisanix]

Where's SSD for OS? :]

[Witty]

*reading about the advantages of SSD*

[HeyYou]

What vid card?

[Witty]

GTX590..........................hopefully

[donnato]

Looks like a great setup Witty. i hope you get your wish for the vid card.

[WillieSea]

12GB KINGSTON HYPER-X TRI-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (3 x 4GB KIT)

Did you make sure your motherboard will allow an 'un-even' number of memory chips?

[Witty]

Hey WS. The setup presented was checked by pcspecialist.co.uk

All I did was remove the graphics card

But, I will ask them

Edited May 14, 2011 by Witty

[Artisanix]

Did you make sure your motherboard will allow an 'un-even' number of memory chips?

Witty wants i7 processor and these support triple channel memory architecture and so like motherboards for them such as that asus mentioned in spec.

[_echo]

I noticed the hard drive only has an 8MB Cache. Personally I see no reason why that shouldn't be 32MB. How much it changes thing I dont know, but from my experience it shouldnt alter the cost much if at all, and can only help the overall system.

With modern systems, the hard drive is always the slowest link on the system, so any chance to boost that should be taken.

Other then that, everything else looks solid and bleeding edge.

[Witty]

Noted Echo, thank you

[Meo]

You should instead go with:

- Intel Core i5 2500K 3.30GHz 6.0 MB Cache

- Asus P8P67 LE R3

- Corsair Vengeance 1600Mhz DDR3 8GB Kit C8

- Cavier Caviar Black 1.0TB 7200RPM SATA600 64MB

The 1366 socket is about to be replaced by the 2011 early next year, so unless you use programs that need a ton of memory, dual-channel will do the job just fine.

[Witty]

Thanks Meo

[donnato]

all good stuff here and there`s a recent development with my new system that may bear on this. My grafix card runs great on lower settings but when I raise my GPU, Memory, and of course fan speeds up half way or more I lose signal to my monitor. sometimes the game loading music still plays, sometimes there`s a loud rough buzzing. Either way I can`t callup the task manager and have to force shutdown.

Here`sd why I think it may be of interest here...maybe my CPU (being dual core) won`t keep up with the demands of my card on faster settings...maybe it`s something else but as good as the i3 is it will have limitations and it`s a detail to take into consideration. Even for the lower level quads??? If you`re going to invest in a higher performance card, you might have a look at max specs and see if the cpu throughput will handle it?

I`m still very new at this but after some thought and light experimentation things are somewhat clearer. What do you folks think?

EDIT: Ya know, comming to think of it I may have a monitor issue here, which is something you haven`t addressed in this thread Witty. My card may be exceeding the refresh rate of my monitor causing it to go into a protect mode??? Something else for you to consider. Evidently my 3d cuda functionality requires a minimum refresh rate of 120 Hz??? At only 60 Hz I could see where there may be an issue here..

Edited May 15, 2011 by donnato

[Witty]

Just for the purpose of this thread, I use this monitor http://www.lg.com/us/computer-products/monitors/LG-led-monitor-E2350V-SN.jsp Does anyone here think I will have any issues using a GTX590 and the setup above with this monitor?

Thanks for your time

Just found that the refresh rate is 75Hz

Edited May 15, 2011 by Witty

[HeyYou]

75htz refresh rate? On an LCD?? I could find the spec on the link...... but, most LCDs are 60 or 120 htz..... odd.

Shouldn't be an issue though.

[Witty]

I'm not sure if I have the correct monitor (it's being stored at my mothers).

Will double check and let you guys know.

Thanks again

[Arion]

75htz refresh rate? On an LCD?? I could find the spec on the link...... but, most LCDs are 60 or 120 htz..... odd.

Shouldn't be an issue though.

Unless I'm mistaken it says 56/75 MHz.... Most monitors are at 60 MHz, but it actually can vary depending on what resolution it is set for. Its been a while since I've seen the various frequencies associated with the different resolutions so it might have changed since then.

[DaMage]

Just for the purpose of this thread, I use this monitor http://www.lg.com/us/computer-products/monitors/LG-led-monitor-E2350V-SN.jsp Does anyone here think I will have any issues using a GTX590 and the setup above with this monitor?

Thanks for your time

Just found that the refresh rate is 75Hz

I use that exsact same Monitor, it has a refresh rate of 60hz and should work fine with the GTX590.

[Witty]

Hey DM, that's good news!

I noticed that 2 x GTX560ti are the same price as a GTX 580. From the numerous benchmark tests I have seen posted on youtube, it seems that the 2 x GTX560 provide 5-15 more FPS than the GTX580 alone. This is a cheaper alternative to the GTX590 (~£200/ $300).

[Meo]

If youre going SLI, then you'll need a better motherboard, at least the P8P67 PRO, so you can use two PCIe lanes at x8.

[Witty]

Thanks Meo

[Witty]

Meo and anyone else that can help...................

I have the choice of ASUS® P6X58D-E:, ASUS® P6X58D PREMIUM and ASUS® RAMPAGE III EXTREME. These are the motherboards pcspecialist.co.uk offer with SLI.

Can someone explain to me in layman terms how these differ in quality?

Thanks

Edited May 17, 2011 by Witty

[_echo]

75htz refresh rate? On an LCD?? I could find the spec on the link...... but, most LCDs are 60 or 120 htz..... odd.

Shouldn't be an issue though.

75Hz is possible but not commonly used. 60 is about all you will ever really need unless your frames are so high that it causes stuttering from a buffer overload.

Hey DM, that's good news!

I noticed that 2 x GTX560ti are the same price as a GTX 580. From the numerous benchmark tests I have seen posted on youtube, it seems that the 2 x GTX560 provide 5-15 more FPS than the GTX580 alone. This is a cheaper alternative to the GTX590 (~£200/ $300).

While 2 cards might provide better froames, keep in mind that you need a decent motherboard to support them. And going bleeding edge isnt always the best. Efficienct is the name of the game when it comes to computers, not raw power. Unless you can make that raw power efficient.

My computer is ~1-2 years under and can still max out games just fine.

All computer parts go up in cost exponentially while the actual performance boosts go down exponentially. Personally I will never spend more then $250 on a videocard because anything beyond that is not really worth the minimal performance boost.

[Meo]

The only difference i see between the P6X58D-E and the Premium is, the Premium has a two LAN ports instead of one and it comes with an eSATA module for $70 more. The Rampage is actually cheaper than the Premium, and is a gamers/overclockers oriented motherboard. The more important part is you get an additional PCIe 2.0 lane, which means you can run x16/x16, x16/x8/x8 and x8/x8/x8/x8 configurations.

But i need to say it again, although it seem like youve maid your choice, the 1155 i7 is way better than the 1366 i7. A 1155 system will cost you less and perform better. Sure, you wont be able to run your SLI at x16x16 but youre getting a better CPU. And as said before, 1366 is a dead socket, once you buy that, you wont be able to upgrade to anything coming in the future.

If i had the money today, i would buy

- Intel i5 2500k (i7 2600/k is overkill and overpriced)

- Z68 motherboard

- 4x 4GB DDR3

- 128GB SSD

- 2x Radeon HD6950

- 850watts PSU

With that youre good till the end of the world.