How is this build? - Page 3

Perhaps Tom's recent $2000 builds are a good starting point for reference?
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pc-building-overclocking-buyers-guide,3277.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pc-building-overclocking-buyers-guide,3282.html

The first build puts more funds into the CPU (3930K) while the second build puts more funds into the GPU (2x 670GT & 3x1080p monitors)

Both builds are fairly bad in terms of price/performance... at least by the standards of OCN. More relevant, neither includes the cost of the monitors being used as part of the build, which is what we're doing here.

They didn't include the cost of the monitors? Well screw that, forget everything.

On a more relevant note, does the OP even WANT dual GPUs? Some people don't like making super-crazy uber-PCs...

Other than that, I can't help but think you could fit a 240/256GB SSD in there instead of a 128GB.

Oh, it's entirely possible that the OP would prefer one ordinary-sized screen and a single GPU. But then spending $2k would be a little ridiculous . Then the budget should be more about $1300.

Good standard to go by.

Warranty and Customer Service. I recommend Samsungs to OC'ers, for obvious reasons, but if they don't plan to OC, then Corsair right away. I don't even know who Team is, let alone how well they handle RMAs, whereas Corsair is constantly praised for their service. It's worth a few bucks for that, at least in my opinion.

Eeew, molex connectors But ya, no need until upgrade, if upgrade at all.

Ya I did not notice the 3 ultrasharps. Thought this was with one 1440p/1600p. That certainly explains it then.

Well that one is out of stock, so I hope you have another place to get one from (try amazon).

It's tri-screen. While a single 670 could do it, a second would be the best for constant 60-fps in any game out now, and helps to futureproof you.

Metro 2033 and BF3 are 2 of the most stressful games at the moment, so heres a quick bench of tri-screen for each.



Note these are on high, not ultra. Few games beat down the system as bad as those do though.

I'll do a rebuild of the one I linked to try and cut costs. I should be able to get it down to $1500 or so, without monitors. I'm not a monitor guy, so you'll have to take the remaining budget to someone who knows them better.

And... Do you happen to have a MicroCenter near by? Also, I think I can solve that monitor stand problem as well. guess not.
Edited by KyadCK - 9/19/12 at 3:50pm

Both major companies can do three-screen gaming on a single card in addition to dual cards, though there is some issue of whether you'll get the frame-rates/quality you want. Note that with AMD's eyefinity, at least one monitor must be hooked up to a Display Port connection.

I do want to caution you on the monitors though! I've heard (no direct experience) that using non-IPS monitors for a 5760x1080 setup is less than ideal. The reason being the inferior viewing angles of TN panels become somewhat apparent on the edges of the two flanking monitors. So I'd suggest making sure you use a good panel (this is why I recommended the 3 dell u2312hm monitors).

As for powering your screens... well after looking at benchmarks, the 7950s have some (minor) advantages not obvious in most of the benchmarks. The first is 3gb of VRAM. Games will only rarely use over 2 GB of VRAM, but if you're going to run into the problem, gaming with mods on 5760x1080 is one of those situations. So in rare instances the higher VRAM of the 7950 may prevent you from having to turn down graphics settings (over the 2gb of VRAM on the 670). This would not be a regular thing, however. Second, this gen of AMD cards generally has more overclocking room than the Nvidia line. So there's a little easy boost over benchmarks (generally taken at stock speeds) if you're comfortable overclocking video cards.

With those minor issues as caveats, and also with the caveat AMD has improved drivers somewhat more than Nvidia (lower starting point), the better video card setups for running 5760x1080 multi-monitor gaming generally roughly follow price:
7950 ($300) < 670 ($400) = 7970 ($400) < 7950 Crossfire ($600) < 670 Crossfire ($800) = 7970 Crossfire ($800) < 7950 Tri-fire ($900) < Even more expensive Graphics card setups. What does this increased spending get you? Progressively higher quality settings on the hardest to run games. But even a single card should run pretty much any game smoothly if your'e willing to deal with less than 'high' settings. And the mid-range solutions (say, 7950 crossfire) should handle the vast majority of games on super-high settings, while dipping to med-high with only the hardest of games to run graphically.

By following the parts list I posted above, which included $705 for monitors. I budgeted for three decent monitors (meaning IPS with good gaming response times, the 3x Dell u2312hm), 7950 Crossfire out of the gate, with the theoretical option to add a third 7950. And got roughly $2000-2100, depending on if you want to count rebates. Now I didn't account for a monitor stand - I presumed you'd just line up the 3 monitors yourself on their own stands. Not as optimal, perhaps, but doesn't cost you the extra $.

Another option would be to either wait on triple monitors or (better yet) wait on a second GPU. You could follow a build planning on two 670s and just not get the 670 until you have more money later. Or you could get a build with 2 670s but not buy new monitors until you can afford the setup you want.

But if you have the 2k now, and want to get started now, well, that's the presumed motivation behind the parts choices I made in the build I recommended.
Edited by MisterFred - 9/19/12 at 4:19pm