 KrisnatharokCaveat EmptorPremium
join:2009-02-11
Earth Orbit
kudos:7 | reply to Phantasee
Re: New rig suggestions You said you are reusing your HDD, so I only included an SSD. Go big or go home. You didn't tell us what resolution you are working with, so if it is 1080p, go with Z77 and a single 7970. If it is higher than 1080p or you need the GPU bandwidth, go with X79 and two 7970s.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks
CPU: Intel Core i7-3820 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Scythe BIG Shuriken 2 Rev. B 45.5 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($43.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X79-UD3 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($220.98 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($179.99 @ Best Buy)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($149.99 @ Adorama)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) ($399.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) ($399.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec Eleven Hundred ATX Full Tower Case ($112.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 850W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($18.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($135.97 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $2002.83
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-27 15:46 EST-0500)
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Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. |
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| 1080p, Kris. Can't do $2.83 over budget....
jk. Xfire looks tempting. I've never built a dual GPU rig, ever. |
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KrisnatharokCaveat EmptorPremium
join:2009-02-11
Earth Orbit
kudos:7 | I've got another idea. Gimme a second. |
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KrisnatharokCaveat EmptorPremium
join:2009-02-11
Earth Orbit
kudos:7 | reply to Phantasee
said by Phantasee:1080p, Kris. Can't do $2.83 over budget....
jk. Xfire looks tempting. I've never built a dual GPU rig, ever.
Here is another build, using Z77 and two 7950s (you shouldn't be capped by PCIe 3.0 x8/x8), and is top quality parts (aka "I'd build this for me"). As a bonus you get Thunderbolt on the mobo, and a 500 GB SSD.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks
CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($32.98 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V PRO/THUNDERBOLT ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($232.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Z Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($184.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($279.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) ($297.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) ($297.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Rosewill THOR V2 ATX Full Tower Case ($119.34 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 850W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($18.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($135.97 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1981.17
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-27 16:00 EST-0500)
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Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. |
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| reply to Krisnatharok
Got this minus 1 GPU. Did I screw up? |
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| Subbed for the ASUS card and Seasonic PSU. No case yet. |
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KrisnatharokCaveat EmptorPremium
join:2009-02-11
Earth Orbit
kudos:7 | reply to Phantasee
said by Phantasee:Got this minus 1 GPU. Did I screw up? Uhhh... yeah. You screwed up. The whole point of the X79 (i7-3820) build is the ability to drive two PCIe 3.0 lanes at x16/x16, because the highest-end GPUs (the Radeon 7970, GTX 680, and most likely the GTX Titan) become handicapped at PCIe 3.0 @ x8/x8, which is what Z77 (i5-3570K and i7-3770K) runs at in dual-GPU configurations.
The handicap of x8/x8 w/2 GTX 680s is approximately 10% at 1920x1080, but scales up to 50% loss at 3x 1080p.
However, using two 7950s will all but eliminate any bandwidth loss you would have at PCIe 3.0 @ x8/x8, since they are slightly slower than the 7970s.
tl;dr the whole point of x79 is to run two 7970s or 680s. i said so in my intro in that post
You gotta read my caveats carefully! Z77 is the better platform (more mature, faster, better feature-set) than X79 for single card configs, or even dual card configs at 1080p or using less than two 7970s or two 680s.
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Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. |
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| Ok. So cancel the giant ASUS and get 2 of those Gigabyte ones? I can handle that. My bad. Xfire here I come? |
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KrisnatharokCaveat EmptorPremium
join:2009-02-11
Earth Orbit
kudos:7 | I don't know what you mean now. You can certainly do xfire on Z77, which was the second build I suggested (NOT the one you just linked). Two 7950s would be more efficient than two 7970s due to the slight overcapacity the 7970s would experience at PCIe 3.0 @ x8/x8.
To be extremely clear, here are the differences between these builds:
1. X79 build w/7970 Crossfire - i7-3820, 32GB ram, 250GB SSD, 7970 Crossfire
2. Z77 build w/7950 Crossfire - i7-3770K, 32GB ram, thunderbolt mobo, 500GB SSD, 7950 Crossfire
With Build 1, you get Sandy Bridge - Extended (an older chipset, but better handled to run 7970 Crossfire at x16/x16). The premium means you only get a 250GB SSD.
With Build 2, you get Ivy Bridge (the 22nm die shrink of Sandy Bridge), which is a newer chipset, comes with Thunderbolt, and allows you to afford a 500GB SSD. The bandwidth limitation of PCIe 3.0 @ x8/x8 on Ivy Bridge will not matter since you are using two 7950s instead of two 7970s.
Comprende? 
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Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. |
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| reply to Krisnatharok
Ooookay. I got the case you had listed. Cards are redone. Pretty much a copy now except for the Seasonic I went with over the Corsair PSU. OH! Need to get the SSD! Then done. Thanks. Brofist. |
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KrisnatharokCaveat EmptorPremium
join:2009-02-11
Earth Orbit
kudos:7 | I'm not going to pretend to track...  which one are you going for now? |
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Reviews:
·Charter
·AT&T DSL Service
| reply to Krisnatharok
Got all dat with Seasonic PSU and no SSD yet. |
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KrisnatharokCaveat EmptorPremium
join:2009-02-11
Earth Orbit
kudos:7 | So you are picking up two 7970s, correct? If so then that build will be fantastic. Otherwise, X79 is pretty much a waste for single GPU solutions (for your uses). |
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Reviews:
·Charter
·AT&T DSL Service
| said by Krisnatharok:So you are picking up two 7970s, correct? If so then that build will be fantastic.
Yea. Never done dual GPU. Any tips when all this stuff comes @ me, bro? |
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| reply to Krisnatharok
Also I went WAY over budget. 37k on a car. 2500ish on PC. Eff me. |
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KrisnatharokCaveat EmptorPremium
join:2009-02-11
Earth Orbit
kudos:7 | reply to Phantasee
I haven't done Crossfire before personally, although I am getting ready to put a second 7970 in my box.
Use the included Crossfire connecting strip to link the cards--then go into the Catalyst drivers and ensure it's enabled. Googling "how to enable Crossfire" will turn up a few Youtube How To's...
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Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. |
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KrisnatharokCaveat EmptorPremium
join:2009-02-11
Earth Orbit
kudos:7 | reply to Phantasee
said by Phantasee:Also I went WAY over budget. 37k on a car. 2500ish on PC. Eff me.
Which GPUs did you get?
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Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. |
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| reply to Krisnatharok
Okay. I'll post some battlestation pics when it all comes in and I toss it together. Forgot thermal paste....Arctic Silver? |
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| reply to Krisnatharok
»www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a···566&SID= |
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| reply to Phantasee
Also. I called to reorder the cards and the girl sounded HAAWWTT. |
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