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Core i7 975, gtx 295 gaming PC
I've been looking to buy a new PC, and when I do I want it to be the best but not overkill (Gtx 295 in quad sli = over kill lol). So I'm looking to buy a core i7 975, gtx 295 based PC. 6 gb of 1600 ghz ram, vista ultimate 64bit bla bla bla. Probably going to overclock the i7 to about 3.6ghz. Now this is going to cost me about 3000-3500 dollars. I was wondering if this is the best value I could get for the performance. I'm not only going to use this game for MMOs, but also for other games such as Dragon Age and FPS like Modern Warfare 2. I want to run all these games at max settings with AA and AF turned up. In my research this setup seems as though it can achieve that on just about any game easily (besides Crysis) running at at least 60 FPS, I was looking for more opinions.
Comments
Are you going to build your own rig or have it built?
Have it built, I'm not very computer saavy when it comes to building them, lol. Already found a site that sells the set up I want and everything.
3k sounds a little high imo, though I'm not a computer expert, though i think the 975 could be changed to a 920, they can be overclocked to 3.6Ghz easy, or even a core 2 quad could work out just fine and with a motherboard, it would cost around $200-$300 depending on what motherboard you choose. I think a gtx 285 could handle most games on max settings, but I've seen mixed reviews saying the gtx series isn't that great, so.. yeah
Just look up all the parts you want to buy on newegg.com, I have a list of parts for a computer i want to build and it comes out to under $1k, with a core 2 quad 2.66ghz and a gtx 285, though only 4 gigs of ram, that build with a 295 would still come out to less than half the cost of the rig you're talking about.
On another note, my bro is a hardcore computer nerd and manages a computer store, and I ask him about all my computer things, and he built a comp that can run Crysis on pretty high settings (I never asked him if it was on full settings) at around $800-$1200
Ah yeah, the reason I figured this would be best is because I looked at benchmarks and stuff for both the i7 975 and gtx 295. They pretty much destroyed the comp, and where the gtx 280 or the i7 920 would drop below 60 on some games, (the setup for both comps was a gtx 280 on a i7 920, and the setup for the i7 975 used a gtx 280, and the setup for the gtx 295 used a i7 920), those two parts pretty much kept any game even with AA and AF maxed out playable. I want to make sure I don't drop below 60 FPS, I'm pretty hardcore when it comes to that. I can't build my computer because well, I don't know how, lol. I want it to be stable too, so even if I did learn a bit, learning about everything to build a computer to find out what parts I need seems a bit much.
Not really sure why you'd go with a GTX295 over a Radeon 5870 at this point, the 5870 is faster in most games and far cheaper. But you get seriously poor performance returns on investment going above the i7 920, or GTX285 or Radeon 5870.
That's what i thought about when i was wanting to build a comp, but it's really pretty simple, I actually learned where everything went just by looking it up on the internet and tearing apart an old comp i had. Though if you just buy the parts and slap them in a case you'll save heaps of cash
Yeah, I'm going to have to agree with the Radoen 5870 after doing some quick research, performs better than the a Gtx 285 OC'd, and on par with the GTX 295 with less power consumption and DX 11 support. I'm going with the i7 975 because I don't want to bottleneck my graphics card when I upgrade it and I've read it can be overlocked safely to about 4.0 ghz which is great. I'm almooost sold on the i7 975, but you definitely changed my mind about the GTX 295.
One reason I'd stay away from the 5870 would be the first review on http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121346
The other reviews are great, but that review is enough to put me off of it for awhile, since that review was written yesterday. Though now that i read it again, it looks like it's an easily fixable problem
Yeah, I'm going to have to agree with the Radoen 5870 after doing some quick research, performs better than the a Gtx 285 OC'd, and on par with the GTX 295 with less power consumption and DX 11 support. I'm going with the i7 975 because I don't want to bottleneck my graphics card when I upgrade it and I've read it can be overlocked safely to about 4.0 ghz which is great. I'm almooost sold on the i7 975, but you definitely changed my mind about the GTX 295.
there are several reviews on newegg about the 920 that it can be overclocked to 3.5-3.8Ghz very easily, and even 3.5Ghz is way more than needed on most games
Meh, drivers issues, about the time I get the money for this comp it'll all be cleared out. I'm definitely considering the i7 975 with the Radeon HD 5870 crossfire, if I'm gonna spend a bunch of money on a computer I want it to be future-proof too, the i7 975 seems more than enough for a few years to be the best on the market and running Radeon HD 5870 crossfire can even run Crysis at basically maxed settings at a solid 30 FPS.
Almost every i7 920 oc to 4 GHz or over, 975 is simply waste of money in this case when you decided to oc.
I'd consider only 5870 as gpu, sli/cf always bring scaling problems, microlag and other annoying things. Should run every new game at good settings without frame drops.
Since you are on move with large budget, take a notable portion from it to get a good monitor, let's say like 24 inch low input lag full hd monitor with something other than TN-panel. 30 inch monitors are still quite expensive, the leap from 24 to 30 is big.
I'm pretty hardcore when it comes to that. I can't build my computer because well, I don't know how, lol. I want it to be stable too, so even if I did learn a bit, learning about everything to build a computer to find out what parts I need seems a bit much.
Serisouly... it took me less than a day to learn how to build a computer by watching and reading instructions on the web... it's so rediciously easy these days its like playing with toys...
like you... i was sick of playing games on crappy PC so i desired a true gaming PC but didnt trust any companies that builds gaming PCs... and so... i did tons of research within a day and now its "ooohhhh happy days"...
Yea it really is easy to put them together now, it's like legos.. and if the piece doesn't fit then it doesn't go there. No jumpers or anything to mess with these days and the cables are straight forward. So the assembly part is easy.. there may be some BIOS settings you want to tweak but the default settings will work anyway.
Before they started putting the heat spreader on the CPU there was a danger of cracking or chipping the CPU when putting on the heatsink. They started putting on the heat spreaders to protect the CPU, it's actually bad for thermal dissipation but having less CPUs RMA'd due to poor installation was better. So now everything is basically indestructible in there.
dont buy old tech, when new is already out.. there is absolutely no point in getting 295gtx now.. even if its still faster.. its still double card.. which cost gazilion, as others mentioned 5870 is already out.. if you rly want double, 5870, should follow in a month.. it usually does.. or maybe out already.. i havent been following hardware lately as im not planing to upgrade any time soon yet..
new nvidia cards should be launching before xmass too.. if ur nvidia guy, ( who ever starts saying go nvidia just cuz of better drivers.. they are full of shit.. or never plays any new games.. ) im using nvidia.. sli for that matter.. pretty much every new game released in last year.. needed new drivers.. which were always 2-5 weeks late..
total war empire.. sli support.. took about 2 months..
latest games.. as majesty nfs , aion, couple others didnt had sli support for good 2+ weeks after launch before new drivers..
another bunch of new games.. had their performance increased by new drivers.. so yeh.. its far from silky road here on nvidia side.. hell if you play old games.. you wont give shit if its nvidia or ati in any way..
as for blaming new gfx card.. due bogus drivers.. what kinda drivers you expect on first day, it gets packed good 2 weeks before it reaches stores.. so if ur that stupid to use drivers from disc.. your own damn fault
9800x2 anyone.. just for how long that card wasnt useable.. i wonder if they actually fixed all problems with it..
anyway, if you can wait.. wait for new gen.. dont go buying old one.. and yeh.. main thing DX11.. 5870 have it.. 295 dont..
same goes ..for windows.. get win 7.. if you buying such rig.. and aint planing on using dx11 second its available, its waste of money , and dx11 games comming for xmass already
if you got an amd in the say x2 4600 + right now just upgrade proc to a 7850 about 80 $
the trade xp for window 7 64 bit add memory till you get 6 gig a graphic card say a 5870 x2 or the one you wanted
total cost oh close to 500 $ but you right will be fast enough for 5 year and if you got a 8800 gt or gts keep that and just add w7 64 bit
proc amd 7850 raise mem to 6 gig program a ramdisk of say 2 gig put page file in it
total cost oh around 300 to 400$ max
there are no game that are big enough to outspeed a amd 64 bit x2 7850 and wont for years to come the only reason i sugest to go 64 bit i7 isnt because itsfaster its just that you computer can adress more memoery and with those 1 gig gcard in sly you got2 gig of gcard so you loose 2 gig of ram for game on comp
even an itel can be upgraded but i wouldnt upgrade intel because proc are expensve if you can get intel proc cheap then upgrade it
check me i run an old amd x2 4600+ i ll add the processor amd 7850 to it ,either vista 64 bit or w7 64 bit witchever is cheaper
i ll add 4 more gig of ram and that its i ll be good for 5 year i might need bigger gcard but i say dont buy graphic card now if you dont need ,nvidia is having big issue and amd/ati combo is hard pressed by futur intel graphic card wich will be out in the coming year and by the way it sound intel will aim these puppy directly at the top of the market (ati)and way cheapper so if you can wait for graphic card wait,buy gcard when blizzard release their next expension
There's no way the GT300 cards are gonna be out before xmas.. spring at best.
I would suggest that you wait for win 7. Vista is a nightmare...
Also, that $3k expenditure will be worth $1,500 in a year. If that is acceptable.. ok
If you want to learn how to replace parts on your computer, start with a video card. Once you change enough parts, you can rebulid an entire system. I have to admit, I have apprehension when mounting a new processor... The rest of th parts are simple to change out.
An alternate path would be to do incremental upgrades and upgrade more often.
If you want a core i7 cpu, you'd be much better off getting an i7 920. It's excellent cpu that you can overclock easily and is almost $1000 less. Since they both use LGA1366 motherboards, you can put an i7 950 in at a later date if you want to, when presumably their price will be down significantly, and still save money. As for the video card, the ATI 5870 is a great card, very comparable to the GTX 295, and is Direct X 11 ready, unlike the 295, and is around $100 cheaper.
You can go with the much more expensive options but chances are you won't notice the difference in performance, unless your staring at benchmark numbers. The i7 920 and ATI 5870 will manhandle any game out there today and any game coming out in the next year or so.
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I agree with Ginaz - an i7 975 is overkill for gaming since most of the processing with be on the card or cards. Unless you are doing some serious video editing, 3d rendering or other time intensive task - I would suggest scaling back the CPU and invest it in other areas, such as a 2nd video card, upgraded monitor or high performance stripped RAID for serious throughput.
To be honest, the same goes with the speed of memory. Most of the decent i7 motherboards come with 6 slots. You could get 6 2GB DIMMs and clock them at 1333 for a total of 12GB of memory. However, you may have trouble keeping the system stable with all 6 slots filled running memory at 1600. But, to be honest, I don't think you notice the difference much. Especially when playing MMOs.
Also, if you want to save the money and pick up a 920, the highest I think the chip can do with 1333 memory bandwidth. I could be wrong though (I think stock it's 1066).
Anyway, before you drop any serious money into it - don't let the hardward decide you. Figure out exactly how you will be using it. For example, if you only have a 1440x900 resolution, you can run the games at max settings with slight less power than what you would need to it with a 1600x1200 resolution.
Also, keep in mind, no matter what hardware you have, there will always be a game that comes out that is going to make it stall and stutter. Whether it be because of the demands or just a buggy implementation of the game itself. Yes, there are games that work better with slightly older cards than the latest and greatest.
Some more things to keep in mind, it's not just the CPU and Memory, but the quality of the motherboard, hard drive throughput and OS optimization. Vista is actually fine (contrary to the beilef) as long as you turn off about half the features of the OS that you don't use. You really should go with Windows 7 though. It's pretty much the same thing with updated features, but the biggest different is that everything is turned off for the most part until you need it. Not as many anoying services running in the backgound.