Tier 7+ PC Recommendation

[UnUsuario]

Hi! I'm looking for help to build a Tier 7 or more PC... I'll use the PC both for work and for gaming...
For gaming I'd like the PC to work well with most games for 2 or 3 years. I'm pretty happy with 30 to 60 FPS... But I like playing games with the settings maxed, and getting to see all the effects. I'd also like 3D support (the glasses, etc..).
For work, it's useful to have as many cores as possible, since it can greatly increase the speed of several things. I'd also like a monitor with a large screen, to have more "work space" available.
In general, I'd like the PC to be really silent, and to work smoothly (I don't want to have to open a temps monitor, to check if my PC is about to explode or not, so I'd like having some margin regarding watts, and temps). I also like to have a big and fast disk, since it improves loading times, and I tend to accumulate a lot of data . Fast Memory is a must, and having a lot of memory is useful since I tend to open a lot of programs at once...
Finally, I don't care about how it looks externally (Fancy cases aren't my thing), I don't plan to overlock it, nor upgrade it, except for adding my 2 SATA 2 existing HDs... (And an IDE if it's possible, if not, I'll live with the 2 SATA ones).

My idea is to spend from U$S 1500 up to U$S 3000 with 3D monitor included if neccesary. (I don't want to spend just for spending. I want to spend more only if it brings something reasonable to the table Adding a 30% more value for $500 seems sensible. Adding a 5% more value for $500 isn't worth it).

I'd also appreciate it, if you could tell me the best places to buy the parts, or if it can be bought pre-built (I'd be willing to spend a little extra if it's pre-built, but I'd build it myself it the difference is too much).

Thanks in advance for your help!

[ricky07652]

Get a Tier 9 with SLI GTX 670s and a ASUS VG278H. If you don't have speakers or headphones already then that will cost you $10 to $200.
Building a PC costs less than having someone else do it because they need to earn money too.
As for where you can buy parts I would stick with Newegg, Amamzon, or NCIX.

[UnUsuario]

Get a Tier 9 with SLI GTX 670s and a ASUS VG278H. If you don't have speakers or headphones already then that will cost you $10 to $200.
Building a PC costs less than having someone else do it because they need to earn money too.
As for where you can buy parts I would stick with Newegg, Amamzon, or NCIX.

Thanks for your help ricky! I have a doubt though. Is there any situation, or game, where using more than a single GPU hinders performance, and that a single GTX 680 will outperform two Radeon HD 7870 2GB in Crossfire or two Geforce GTX 670 in SLI? Or those options outperform the single GTX 680 in every possible scenario?

Other doubt: Would be smart to start now with a single GTX 680? And in 6 months, or 1 years when I can't run the games with the performance I want, add the second GTX 680 in SLI (which will probably be a lot cheaper by then?).

[ricky07652]

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU12/398
It is only after 3-way SLI that performance starts to degrade.

[UnUsuario]

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU12/398
It is only after 3-way SLI that performance starts to degrade.

Great! Another question: The ASUS VG278H is only 1920x1080. I've seen talk in the internet about the Yamakasi Catleap Q270 a 27'' with 2560x1440 and 100hz to 120 hz... Do you know anything about that monitor? Do you think it might be worth it, to have the extra DPI? Or should I stick with the VG278H?

Info about Yamakasi Catleap Q270:
General Info
Manufacturer Page
Specs:


Thanks!

[MathieuB]

I heard good things about it too, South Korean monitors can be great deals. Keep in mind that the higher resolution is more demanding on the video card(s) though.

[UnUsuario]

I heard good things about it too, South Korean monitors can be great deals. Keep in mind that the higher resolution is more demanding on the video card(s) though.

But Tier 10:
Intel Core i7-3820
ASRock X79 Extreme6
Corsair 16 GB XMS3 PC3-12800 1600MHz 240-Pin DDR3 16 Quad Channel Kit - CMX16GX3M4A1600C9
EVGA GeForce GTX 670 FTW
SAMSUNG 830 Series 2.5-Inch 256GB
SeaSonic X-SERIES X-1050
Rosewill BLACKHAWK-ULTRA
PHANTEKS PH-TC14PE 5x
ASUS Xonar DGX

Should be able to handle it... Right? or not?

BTW: Are those still the suggested "Tier 10" components, or has something changed since it was posted on the page?

[MathieuB]

Tier 10 has 2x (two) Geforce GTX 670s in SLI. Those will have no problem handling gaming at 2560 x 1600.

The PHANTEKS PH-TC14PE will no longer be recommended, seeing as some people are having clearance issues with it. The Thermalright Silver Arrow will be recommended instead: http://www.amazon.com/Thermalright-Silve...007BO0VEI/

Other than that, the case will probably get changed, as some people complained that it's just too huge.

[PwnBroker]

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU12/398
It is only after 3-way SLI that performance starts to degrade.

Great! Another question: The ASUS VG278H is only 1920x1080. I've seen talk in the internet about the Yamakasi Catleap Q270 a 27'' with 2560x1440 and 100hz to 120 hz... Do you know anything about that monitor? Do you think it might be worth it, to have the extra DPI? Or should I stick with the VG278H?

Info about Yamakasi Catleap Q270:
General Info
Manufacturer Page
Specs:


Thanks!

well, the reason that the asus monitor is only 1080p is because it is a "true" 120hz monitor. those catleap's are supposedly great ips monitors but they have been proven to only provide 60hz. the extreme 2b is supposedly "120hz" but i guarantee that it is not a "true" 120hz. it is most likely post processed like hdtv's that advertise 120hz. the overclock edition was a rip off and i dont even think they make those anymore. i cant tell you if they will work with nvidia's 3d setup or not.

the reason that you dont see 2560 120hz monitors is basically they havent been made yet and quite frankly i dont think we will see them anytime soon. for one, at that resolution dual link dvi doesnt have enough bandwidth to support it, it would require maybe display port or higher. second, they would be quite expensive. third, it would require a quite powerful gpu solution to push frame rates high enough at that resolution with ouput ports to support it.

if you want to run full 3d with the glasses, as per your original post, i would suggest heading over to nvidias, (or amd whichever gpu you select), to get an idea of the supported 3d gpu's and monitors as well as supported games.

good luck

[UnUsuario]

Thanks for your help! I'll be getting a 1920x1080 27'' 3D monitor then!
I'll recheck the Tier 10 PC in about a month, which is when I'll be buying my new PC!