Build and questions

[PadForce]

Hi all, I just wanted any opinions on the build below, purely for gaming, currently on a 22" screen but considering a 27". I am sending in my own Coolermaster case, power supply, blue ray and HDD (for storage, boot and main game or 2 will be on SSD).

Main question is should I wait for the 4gb GTX 680 to become available? I have read a lot of discussion and it seems some people think that 2gb will cause a bottleneck in the future, possibly after 12 /18 months. I was planning to SLI when 680s become cheaper in a year or twos time, but apparently SLI-ing does not double the V-ram. Apart from this I did not want to upgrade for another 3 years or so and would be disappointed if I found myself bottlenecked after a year and a half when trying to nail high settings.

Thanks

Case
Send In Your Own Case
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-3770K (3.5GHz) 8MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V PRO: PCI-E 3.0 READY,WIFI, SLI, CROSSFIREX
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (4 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 680 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
350W Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
Processor Cooling
TITAN FENRIR EVO EXTREME HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£39)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
2 x 200Mbps HomePlug AV - Create a Wired Network Using Electric Sockets! (£38)
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 (£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 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,327.00 including VAT and delivery.

 

[baron75mk2]

Hi all, I just wanted any opinions on the build below, purely for gaming, currently on a 22" screen but considering a 27". I am sending in my own Coolermaster case, power supply, blue ray and HDD (for storage, boot and main game or 2 will be on SSD).

Main question is should I wait for the 4gb GTX 680 to become available? I have read a lot of discussion and it seems some people think that 2gb will cause a bottleneck in the future, possibly after 12 /18 months. I was planning to SLI when 680s become cheaper in a year or twos time, but apparently SLI-ing does not double the V-ram. Apart from this I did not want to upgrade for another 3 years or so and would be disappointed if I found myself bottlenecked after a year and a half when trying to nail high settings.

Thanks

Case
Send In Your Own Case
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-3770K (3.5GHz) 8MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V PRO: PCI-E 3.0 READY,WIFI, SLI, CROSSFIREX
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (4 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 680 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
350W Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
Processor Cooling
TITAN FENRIR EVO EXTREME HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£39)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
2 x 200Mbps HomePlug AV - Create a Wired Network Using Electric Sockets! (£38)
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 (£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 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,327.00 including VAT and delivery.

Check this out http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-680/specifications

You will need a bigger psu for this GPU minimum is 550w - i would go for a 850w so you can do SLI in the future ,

As far as bottlenecks in the future i really couldnt say , but at the moment im running 2X GTX580s 3gb models (SLI) - (faster than a single GTX 680) on a Sandy i5 2500k with 8 gig of 1600mhz ram & i have no battlenecks from what i can tell ( well i play everything at max settings with 60fps at all times at leased) - couldnt say for 2 or 3 years down the line , its tough to know whats around the corner by then ,

Most pc games are limited by console porting these days , so if this is the same in the future , there are whispers that the new xbox will be using an equivilant of the radeon 7XXX series - other rumours suggest even a dual chip 7XXX series ( this is all rumour so make what you will of this , but these are current gen gpus & the rumors for the processor is a 6 core , with 1 core reserved for kinnect & one core for the os, so leaving 4 cores for the games , speed ? who knows ? but i cant personally see them going much higher than they are now , as with these consoles cooling is so bad they are always overheating & packing up as it is) ( where is the cooling going to be housed for hotter chips ? - or maybe chips a few years down the line will operate cooler ? who knows ? - 2 or 3 years down the line is very hard to predict really) - but if these rumors are true im not worrying myself to much. :yes:

& no SLI does not double the ram

 

[Fear]

You will need a bigger psu for this GPU minimum is 550w - i would go for a 850w so you can do SLI in the future ,

I am thinking you may have missed this part from the OP

Hi all, I just wanted any opinions on the build below, purely for gaming, currently on a 22" screen but considering a 27". I am sending in my own Coolermaster case, power supply, blue ray and HDD (for storage, boot and main game or 2 will be on SSD).

 

[baron75mk2]

I am thinking you may have missed this part from the OP

Being it was listed , i presumed that was the power supply he / she was sending in . As in the case discription it did say "sending in own case" , but not for psu , so i presumed that was the one being sent in.

MY mistake :yes: ( i suppose anyone reading the post will at leased have general idea of a suitible PSU for the GTX 680 :yes

 

[PadForce]

Ha yeah sorry for the confusion, can't select no psu in the configuration. The psu I am sending in is in fact a corsair 850.

Baron my worry with the v-ram is that your 580's have more than my 680 would. Sli-ing later on would not boost the ram if I'd does turn out to bee a problem over the next 1-2 year period based on new games so I would be left having to go totally new graphics card.. Probably a waste given the £450 of the 680.

 

[baron75mk2]

Ha yeah sorry for the confusion, can't select no psu in the configuration. The psu I am sending in is in fact a corsair 850.

Baron my worry with the v-ram is that your 580's have more than my 680 would. Sli-ing later on would not boost the ram if I'd does turn out to bee a problem over the next 1-2 year period based on new games so I would be left having to go totally new graphics card.. Probably a waste given the £450 of the 680.

yes SLI will not give you more ram at all , but my suggestion was to dump the GTX 680 & go with the GTX 580 in SLI ( 3gb models) as at the moment its beating the GTX 680 ( single card that is , wont beat two of them - lol)

But on reflection this is good for now , but probably not so good in the future as obviously if your thinking of Taking 2 GTX 680s in SLI then this will beat any GTX 580 setup - possibly waiting for the 4gb GTX 680 would be the best bet , this way all the basses are covered.

Just wondering why so much v-ram needed ? - do you play across 2 or 3 monitors , in 3d etc ? , if not 2gb should be quite adiquate across 1 screen even for the future in my opinion , i can only think of a few games at the moment that even swallow a gig ( GTA4 , battlefield 3 , witcher 2 - none of these get above 1400meg even at max settings) & i cant see any game swallowing 2 gigs of v-ram even in the future ( but again its hard to predict the future of games i suppose),

only thing you could consider is what i have done 2x GTX 580s SLI (3gb models) for now & when Nvidia 7XX series come out , buy 2x GTX 680s a lot cheaper & keep doing this , sure you will always be a generation behind - but then they are never that far in front of each other anyway , i was in fact going to get a GTX 680 myself , but decided ON the GTX 580 SLI setup & im not disapointed at all , i cant see any game in the near future at leased that`s going to shake this setup really ( remember for the most part us pc gamers are limited by console porting) ( games developers mainly concentrate on console when making a game as for better or worse there is more money to be made in just making a console version & simply porting it over to pc , thus saving them the money & hassel of having two seperate builds going at the same time) (apart from the odd pc specific build like witcher 2 maybe , but these are few & far apart these days indeed ) :yes:

Its just to hard to predict what`s going to be on the cards in 2 years time , everythings always changing to fast :yes:

 

[PadForce]

It is not that I have huge screens or multi, I just want don't really want to run the risk that in a year or two I am not restricted by the ram when paying so much for the card.

How about a 7970? It is £75 cheaper and most benchmarks seem to indicate the cards are not massively different? I would then be able to crossfire for cheaper later on and have that 3gb of memory and could sli in the future to address higher requirements.

 

[baron75mk2]

It is not that I have huge screens or multi, I just want don't really want to run the risk that in a year or two I am not restricted by the ram when paying so much for the card.

How about a 7970? It is £75 cheaper and most benchmarks seem to indicate the cards are not massively different? I would then be able to crossfire for cheaper later on and have that 3gb of memory and could sli in the future to address higher requirements.

Well from everything i have read the HD 7970 is an exellent card & well worth considering , im sure there is someone around here who could give you first hand knowledge on this card.


Just a small note on crossfire , just before i got the GTX 580 SLI setup i did in fact have a HD 5850 crossfire setup & had a lot of issues im not encountering with sli at all , the main issue being whenever playing a game with video sequences the video would always split up ( screen tear ) , but the 3d would not ( exept for a few bits in mass effect 2 that is) , but on one card there was no splitup at all - but the same games on SLI do not exibit this at all.

The only reason i bring this up is when i was searching for a solution on line i remember reading a post where someone with a 7970 was getting the same issue in crossfire - it could just be that the HD5850s are no good in crossfire - but im sure i remember reading the post about the 7970 with the same issues in crossfire & believe me theres nothing worse that having to turn off a card for half of your games due to split up in the video sequences.

( i remember someone talking about the reason for it has something to do with the ati drivers power management clocking down on one card mid game when the video came in , but not on both cards (makes sence in a way as one would be running at a totally different speed to the other card , thus they would not be synchronized up i suppose)

May be worth some ferther research before deciding - but if your just running one 7970 dont worry about it.

 

[PadForce]

Thanks for your replies baron - ordered the above spec last night with a 7970 and justified a 27" screen as well from all my savings. £1500 on the button including home plugs, now the exciting wait!

 

[baron75mk2]

Thanks for your replies baron - ordered the above spec last night with a 7970 and justified a 27" screen as well from all my savings. £1500 on the button including home plugs, now the exciting wait!

Its going to be an awesome rig , i dont think you will be disapointed ,the HD 7970 is a great GPU ( on its own anyway ) , you should be stomping all over any game out there ( posaibly not battlefield 3 or witcher 2 as uber SLI / Crossfire setups are needed to max these games out & get 60fps at all times .) As far as battlefield 3 goes just turn off ambient occlusion & AA , for witcher 2 just turn off ubersampling ( kills the game even in SLI & really does not give any visual improvement as witcher 2 is not a jagged game anyway so no need for crazy AA like this ) & AA & you will be getting 60fps at all times ( i tested them both before i got my second GTX 580)

A very nice build indeed , would be intersting to hear your thoughts on it when you have benched it with a few games - :yes: