re: PC Discussion - Gaming, Performance and Enthusiasts

Guess I gotta be less nice this time around.

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CPU: Intel Core i7-3820 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Asus P9X79 LE ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($224.99 @ Amazon)

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That's a great price on the CPU, but you're buying into a processor line that's about to be refreshed. I know my posts about this shite have been long, but I swear to christ I kind of fricking know what I'm talking about.

But ultimately, you aren't gonna be displeased with the CPU for gaming, but it's a stupid use of money to buy THAT CPU for the LGA 2011 socket at this point in time. Kind of like buying a Ferrari with a Honda engine. It's just odd.

You will be rid of 2011 and that chipset before any of its features matter.

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CPU Cooler: Corsair H110 94.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($99.99 @ Newegg)

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I guess. It's only personal preference that I oppose closed loop systems in high-end builds, but I know it's "temporary." You'll get a decent overclock (4.4-4.6GHz), and that probably won't improve when you switch to a custom loop. These coolers are great though. Custom cooling gets expensive quickly.

Given the parts you originally selected, you're probably going to be confused when you start looking into how to OC this particular chip. It has a semi-unlocked multiplier, though. Ah, old school overclocking. I'm nostalgic.

I think there was a decent, simple guide on reddit a while back.

Oh, and...

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I stuck with 2011 socket bc I would like to stretch out the mobo as long as possible.

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Do you not realize that Haswell and socket 1150 were released 4 days ago?

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Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($134.99 @ Newegg)

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lol, you are just obsessed with cas latency, aren't you? Even though you're probably going to have to relax your timings when you start messing with BCLK for your CPU overclock. Or run your RAM at something even lower than 1333.

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Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($214.99 @ Mac Mall)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($99.99 @ Newegg)

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Good.

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Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($379.99 @ Newegg)

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And... even though the advantages of PCIe x16/x16 are negligible, and many people buy into X79/socket 2011 for the extra lanes needed for 3 or 4 cards, you've successfully made all of that completely moot by choosing a single 7970. Good job. (And no, buying a second card doesn't make it that much less pointless)

As a side note, since you seemed to have ignored the 1440p monitor route, what monitor are you planning to use?

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Case: Corsair Obsidian Series 800D ATX Full Tower Case ($273.99 @ Amazon)

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Everyone has their preferences. I have no experience with this case, so I won't comment.

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Power Supply: Corsair Professional 1050W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($199.99 @ Newegg)

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That's fine, though you could check to see if a Seasonic is on sale somewhere.

I'm gonna go drink, masturbate, and play video games now.



EDIT: lol, planning to possibly do 3-way crossfire, eh? I'm gonna piss myself laughing if you're planning to use a single 1080p monitor.

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What cooler would you suggest?

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The Swiftech kits are more expensive but VERY high quality and you can expand on a lot of them to make the loop grow over time.

i like you

sold my 550ti and slapped a 650ti into my system. Scoring P4815 on 3dmark instead of p2800 now

Last Light is freakin gorgeous

there are two kinds of people in this world
1) people who live near a microcenter
2) people who are jealous of those of us who live near a microcenter

Btw I have not used a 7970 but I believe you can play at 1440p just fine with one.

You won't get that cooler cheaper unless you buy a refurb unit

LINK

There's a microcenter in houston? I thought there were only Fry's. In that case, I might make the drive in September.

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CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($349.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100 92.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($97.13 @ TigerDirect)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme6 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($214.99 @ Mac Mall)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($87.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card ($427.86 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair Obsidian Series 800D ATX Full Tower Case ($273.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 1050W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($199.99 @ Amazon)

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Very good. I only have one criticism. If that Sapphire is really $427, you should get the MSI Twin Frozr instead for $399. LINK

It is a much better card with a reference design PCB. It's also a GHz card. If you do go with a custom watercooling loop, you won't be able to add full-cover blocks to the Sapphire because it has a proprietary PCB, and that would be a deal breaker for me. You'll find that the MSI will probably overclock better (Disclaimer: I am making that assumption based on my experience with Sapphire cards of previous generations, such as the 5870 and the 6950, both of which had an inferior overclock and locked voltages.

Another $100 will get you the MSI Lightning, which is supposed to be one hell of an overclocker, but I think you'll be happy with the Twin Frozr and a full-cover block. The only reason I'm recommending the Twin Frozr is because MSI stopped selling the cheaper one with the reference cooler--- that was the one I bought back in the day. When I was ready to crossfire my 7970s, I went with the Twin Frozr as my second card. The PCBs are identical, and the clock speeds were different by only a few MHz. I love MSI cards. Not the best RMA service out there, but none of them are all that great. And Stout said a few days ago that Sapphire has a particularly horrible RMA service.

The more I type about this, the more strongly I feel that you need to swap out that card with the MSI. You'll be able to use a full cover block, have unlocked voltage (I'm not totally sure if the Sapphire is locked, but in generally they are at least semi-locked), better overclocks, you'll be overall much happier. And apparently it's cheaper.

You can do 60hz 1440p with one 7970. I did it for a while, but there were just a few graphic intense games where I wasn't getting a consistent 60+ fps at max settings (with MSAA off because it's not needed for 1440p and puts unnecessary load on the GPU). Sensible people might just dial down the settings a little more, but I decided to spend $500+ on a second card and a full-cover block. And now I'm thinking about going to 1600p.

BTW, the card comes with Crysis 3, which is one of those games that will kick your GPU's arse at 1440p. I can run a few games with crossfire disabled and tell you what kind of fps I'm getting. I don't have COH2 though, and I don't know if the beta is available to me anymore.

FYI, in the future go to coolingconfigurator.com to check full cover block compatibility. It's a site for EK water blocks, but if EK doesn't have one for a particular card, then odds are nobody does. The full-cover blocks are generally made for reference PCBs only, but sometimes there are specialized ones (I think the lightning has its own full-cover block).

I've had the same issue over clocking my 680s but it just might be that I suck at over clocking GPUs.

n/m