Needing a new gaming rig spec

F

Fergal

Bronze Level Poster
Hi guys

I'm a new member on the forum and looking for some build advice, I've been gaming on console for the last 8 year so know little or nothing about PC parts these days.
My last gaming machine I had was a Alienware laptop that was nothing but trouble and after sending it back to Alienware twice in a month for repair and them not fixing the issue I'd had enough and just got a refund as they'd had the laptop longer then me.

I will be using my new desktop mainly for high end video gaming on the likes of BF3 and Crysis 3 on ultra high/max settings, I'm hoping to get an Sli gtx 670 setup.

I have a budget of about £1400-£1650 just for the desktop, I'll worry about the monitor, keyboard ect later, I just want to get the best rig I can.

Can any one advise me in the right direction at what I should be aiming for.

Cheers in advance guys if you can help ;-)
 
keynes

keynes

Multiverse Poster
Case
COOLERMASTER HAF XM - GAMING ENTHUSIAST CASE + USB 3.0
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3570 (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V: PCI-E 3.0 READY, WIFI, SLI, CROSSFIREX
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 670 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
2nd Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 670 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB INTEL® 330 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 500MB/sR | 450MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX850 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£99)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE INTEL CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
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 w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 11 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,496.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-ivy-bridge-pc/LWvnf5Whk9/
 
F

Fergal

Bronze Level Poster
That's what I call quick, Thankyou :)

I was thinking the 3570k just so there is room for overclocking in the future, will that work with that set up?
Sorry I can't list the spec I was looking at as I'm doing all this off my iPhone at work.

Will the above spec play everything on ultra high settings?
 
keynes

keynes

Multiverse Poster
Fergal said:
That's what I call quick, Thankyou :)

I was thinking the 3570k just so there is room for overclocking in the future, will that work with that set up?
Sorry I can't list the spec I was looking at as I'm doing all this off my iPhone at work.

Will the above spec play everything on ultra high settings?
Click to expand...

You should be able to play BF 3 and the next Crysis at high settings without any issues in 1 screen. You could get the i5-3570k but you may want to upgrade the CPU cooler if you are planning to overclock the CPU.
 
F

Fergal

Bronze Level Poster
How long will the system cope with plays games on full, might it be a better option to take the plunge and get the gtx 690?
 
F

Fergal

Bronze Level Poster
How do the ATI flagship cards in crossfire stand against the gtx670 sli? Do nvidia still rule.
 
Iroquois Pliskin

Iroquois Pliskin

Enthusiast
Fergal said:
How do the ATI flagship cards in crossfire stand against the gtx670 sli? Do nvidia still rule.
Click to expand...

Pretty equal, http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/07/18/pci_express_20_vs_30_gpu_gaming_performance_review/1 & http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/04/25/geforce_gtx_680_3way_sli_radeon_7970_trifire_review/

It's a battle of who gets the XFire/Sli profile out first and fixes the quirks of the previous release.

rubensolo said:
2 x gtx 670 offer close performance than a single gtx 690 and it is significantly cheaper.
http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/39605-nvidia-geforce-gtx-670-sli-vs-the-beasttm/?page=3
Click to expand...

A dual GPU card like the 690 will have a better cooling solution, as well as reduced noise generation. The hexus.net review is CPU-limited, you really need to OC the cpu to see the difference, because it's there - http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/05/03/nvidia_geforce_gtx_690_dual_gpu_video_card_review/2

A GTX 690 tends not to spike into the min. FPS area, since everything is included on a single PCB and bandwidth between GPUs is shared in a more efficient way.
 
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F

Fergal

Bronze Level Poster
Cheers pal.

You just triggered another thing, I'd like the system to be as quiet as possible.
What's the crack with the 690, do you run it like a sli setup with it being a duel gpu?
Looks impressive either way but its a lot of £££ and I'll have to be extra nice to the wife lol
 
Iroquois Pliskin

Iroquois Pliskin

Enthusiast
The drivers probably regard them as two separate GPUs, which work in regular SLI mode. The cooling solution on the EVGA one is shexy, I mean who could resist such a beauty? :p

geforce-gtx690.jpg


Here's her naked, http://images.tweaktown.com/news/2/...690_dual_gpu_kepler_heaven_is_nearly_here.jpg

Reminds me of Voodoo 5 (?) 5000.

AMD/ATi have a counter-proposal in place - the HD 7990 with a crazy amount of copper and aluminium, http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/powercolor_devil_13/

15_thumb.jpg

18a_thumb.jpg


That's a three-slot dual GPU card. :O It's probably limited-issue, seeing as only PowerColor is releasing it.
 
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F

Fergal

Bronze Level Poster
That's got better cooling then my car haha.

I'm going to have to get some work done guy buy a big thank for all ur advice, I'll post a couple of specs later if I can work the budget.
 
F

Fergal

Bronze Level Poster
That card does look the biz.
Thanks for all the advice and info guys

I'll have a play about with spec and funding and see what I can come up with, might wait a month or 2 and see if the gtx 690 drop down in price a little
 
F

Fergal

Bronze Level Poster
I've weighted up the pro's and con's of the GTX 690 and I think I'll be going with the 670 or 680 SLi configuration.

One more question I have is can I use a plasma tv as a monitor? Think I'd need to use it for a couple of weeks, my plasma is a 600hz Panasonic 3D tv.
 
keynes

keynes

Multiverse Poster
I've weighted up the pro's and con's of the GTX 690 and I think I'll be going with the 670 or 680 SLi configuration.
Click to expand...
Good choice :p
One more question I have is can I use a plasma tv as a monitor? Think I'd need to use it for a couple of weeks, my plasma is a 600hz Panasonic 3D tv.
Click to expand...
It should be fine. I use an HDMI cable to connect to the tv.
 
F

Fergal

Bronze Level Poster
Nice one and Thankyou for ur help along the post pal, seems ill be ordering the system you put together for me.
Will the 3d work do you know seems the cards are 3d ready and my tv is?
 
keynes

keynes

Multiverse Poster
Fergal said:
Nice one and Thankyou for ur help along the post pal, seems ill be ordering the system you put together for me.
Will the 3d work do you know seems the cards are 3d ready and my tv is?
Click to expand...

You need to check if your tv is compatible with Nvidia 3D vision, you may also need a kit (emitter and glasses) to be able to game in 3D.
 
F

Fergal

Bronze Level Poster
I'll get on to Panasonic although its no big deal just as long as I can play on the PC straight outta the box with the tv, to be honest I've not really got into the whole 3d thing. so the 3D tv was a bit of a waste.
 
keynes

keynes

Multiverse Poster
Fergal said:
I'll get on to Panasonic although its no big deal just as long as I can play on the PC straight outta the box with the tv, to be honest I've not really got into the whole 3d thing. so the 3D tv was a bit of a waste.
Click to expand...

I do enjoy watching movies in 3D as well as gaming. Some games, in my opinion, are pretty cool with 3D mode enable. But it is a matter of taste I guess, I did try 3D on my tv but it wasn't as good as with the Asus monitor I am using now.
 
F

Fergal

Bronze Level Poster
Yeah I'll most likely invest in a 3D Ready monitor, what size screen does ur monitor have, 30"?
 
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