First time builder, need advice on mobo, case, ans PSU

I'm going to be building a computer for the first time in a few weeks, and I'm looking for some advice. I made a thread a little while ago asking about what CPU to use, but I'll restate what I want from the computer:

I will be spending between $1000-$1500 on the machine (preferable closer to $1200, but I'd go higher if it's worth it). I'm tired of gaming on laptops (mine has integrated graphics, yuck!) and I want to be able to make the games I play look beautiful. That said, I don't play the most demanding games. I play WoW, Starcraft II, and various other strategy games, and I am VERY excited for SWTOR. I'd like to be able to totally max those out, and I would also like to be able to have games like Skyrim look fantastic. Finally, I want the computer to last me for some time so I don't need to replace it right away.

--

Anyway,

I will be using an Intel Core i5-2500k and a Radeon HD 6950. But I had a few questions about the other parts.

Mobo: What is best? I'd like to have the option for SLI if I wanted to make improvements in the future, and I'd also like to not spend more than ~$150, if that's reasonable.

Case: Recommend a decent mid tower. I'd like to be able to fit a Hyper 212+ or some similar cooler in there.

PSU: I'm kind of unclear as to how many watts I need for this build.

Thanks in advance!

use the same parts like in my system (see signature)

You can also take any corsair , seasonic or thermaltake psu that's at least 650W. It will give you enough juice even if you crossfire.

Don't take the same case though as you cannot buy it no longer. Any case will do , if it has vents on the side. Antec, coolermaster & thermaltake cases have some reasonably priced cases. I would spend like a minimum of 50$ on a case and certainly not more than 100$.

The motherboard Asus p8p67-m has served me well, i have the micro version though , you can buy the normal version too (so without the -m), it's a little more expensive but it's easier to install. . It has a bios with mouse support, i can pretty much change everything but didn't had to change a thing to let everything work. Best motherboard i've ever had. It also supports overclocking via multiplier (since you're buying the 2500-k).

1000$ on the machine ???. I spended 580$ and the only thing i still have to buy is the case. My crossfire setup is as strong as a hd 6950. (i did buy the cards second handed though but still if you buy new you will spend only 100$ more). I already had the psu too so I would say 800$ is the maximum you would have to spend to buy your system. I know i still have the stock cooler but the hyper 212 is only 30 bucks.

If you want to spend more i would buy a gtx 580. If you want to crossfire that i would buy at least a 850W psu.

Mobo:

Ideal would be getting a Z68 motherboard, but a P67 is basicly the same just without graphic a connectors for the IGP on the CPU.

MSI's P67/Z68 motherboards have had good ratings from reviewers, and when it comes to service/support/RMA they are friendly and helpfull with is a good selling point in my opinion.

(In that I can tell that the folks at ECS dont even know their own products, it's tough to get help from the support when they dont even know what a motherboard is... ...)

Case:

As I always do... I would like to point out the thing most people don't care squat about: How lovely it's to have a fully capable gaming rig being dead silent when your not playing games!

To make that happen you'll need to buy a case without mesh all over, the HAF and most other coolermaster case's are therfor out of question, the fractial design cases are mostly all very quiet and are very slick looking too, the Fractial Design XL if you want a fulltower or the Fractial desing R3 if you just need a big midtower.

A CM212+ have no trouble fitting in these two cases, Ideal I would get the FD XL fulltower because of it's great looks and it's large roomy workspace.

Fratial's fans are very silent but dont move a ton of air, but the cooling capabilety of these cases are in the top segment.

PSU:

I am not quite but nearly a corsair fanboy atleast when it comes to PSU, but stick to the OLD series if you can find one (vx/CX/HX/TX) and rather get those over the V2 of the very same PSU. (Some verions are "refined" but with less quality components! O.o )

Skip the "gamer" versions if you want the very best quality.

This is the old verion and a really great PSU. (@ newegg) It will run your rig without the slightest of problem when you go berserk with the voltage and trying to bend the rules of what is possible with a HD6950 and a 2500k.

I'm going to be building a computer for the first time in a few weeks, and I'm looking for some advice. I made a thread a little while ago asking about what CPU to use, but I'll restate what I want from the computer:

I will be spending between $1000-$1500 on the machine (preferable closer to $1200, but I'd go higher if it's worth it). I'm tired of gaming on laptops (mine has integrated graphics, yuck!) and I want to be able to make the games I play look beautiful. That said, I don't play the most demanding games. I play WoW, Starcraft II, and various other strategy games, and I am VERY excited for SWTOR. I'd like to be able to totally max those out, and I would also like to be able to have games like Skyrim look fantastic. Finally, I want the computer to last me for some time so I don't need to replace it right away.

--

Anyway,

I will be using an Intel Core i5-2500k and a Radeon HD 6950. But I had a few questions about the other parts.

Mobo: What is best? I'd like to have the option for SLI if I wanted to make improvements in the future, and I'd also like to not spend more than ~$150, if that's reasonable.

Case: Recommend a decent mid tower. I'd like to be able to fit a Hyper 212+ or some similar cooler in there.

PSU: I'm kind of unclear as to how many watts I need for this build.

Thanks in advance!

Acemaster27

For your other parts, check these out:

HAF 922 Case. Tons of space, easy to work with and build upon all in a mid-tower: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197

PSU: Corsair 750TX (750w):http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

**EDIT: How about this for a mobo? ~$200 and you get both CF and SLI capabilities.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131702

Mid Towers are Stuffy in my opinion, you always want extra room Trust me :3

Case: NZXT Phantom
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUQ_K_MeK9E

Case: SilverStone Raven 2 or 3 RV03

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2X8q_mH5Fg

PS: I'm too lazy to hyperlink ;D

As for motherboard: I use the ASUS Formula IV, this is only if you want to go in the AMD direction.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131644

On that note, 750W will be overkill if you aren't spending extra for a second videocard, 600W will probably be more than enough. I however spent almost 2,000 on my system which has 5 hard drives, two videocards and two optical drives. If you use crossfire or SLI then definitely go up to 700W+

Just remember radeon cards cannot do SLI and crossfire can't support non cross fire supported cards. The same applies to motherboards, so always make sure your specs match before purchasing.

To answer your PSU question, it is simple, corsair modular power supply and nothing but corsair. I could say do the same with RAM also. For fancooling I would of went with a zalman CNPS9700 NT with arctic silver 5 thermal paste make sure your motherboard supports PWM in BIOS or this fan will be extremely loud rather than ultra quiet.

If you want to use crossfire in the future you will want to get a card that has at least PCI-E x8/x8, not x16/x4.

If you want to use crossfire in the future you will want to get a card that has at least PCI-E x8/x8, not x16/x4.

yellonet

I have the cooler Master Storm Scout case and It is incredibly quiet thank you very much, I got a sharkoon silent eagle 2000 fan with a cheapo fan controller and at about half speed it doesn't make a sound, I also got a Arctic Cooler 7 Rev.2 and you turn it on and the only way you can tell it's on is from the red LED's :)

Mobo:

Ideal would be getting a Z68 motherboard, but a P67 is basicly the same just without graphic a connectors for the IGP on the CPU.

MSI's P67/Z68 motherboards have had good ratings from reviewers, and when it comes to service/support/RMA they are friendly and helpfull with is a good selling point in my opinion.

(In that I can tell that the folks at ECS dont even know their own products, it's tough to get help from the support when they dont even know what a motherboard is... ...)

Case:

As I always do... I would like to point out the thing most people don't care squat about: How lovely it's to have a fully capable gaming rig being dead silent when your not playing games!

To make that happen you'll need to buy a case without mesh all over, the HAF and most other coolermaster case's are therfor out of question, the fractial design cases are mostly all very quiet and are very slick looking too, the Fractial Design XL if you want a fulltower or the Fractial desing R3 if you just need a big midtower.

A CM212+ have no trouble fitting in these two cases, Ideal I would get the FD XL fulltower because of it's great looks and it's large roomy workspace.

Fratial's fans are very silent but dont move a ton of air, but the cooling capabilety of these cases are in the top segment.

PSU:

I am not quite but nearly a corsair fanboy atleast when it comes to PSU, but stick to the OLD series if you can find one (vx/CX/HX/TX) and rather get those over the V2 of the very same PSU. (Some verions are "refined" but with less quality components! O.o )

Skip the "gamer" versions if you want the very best quality.

This is the old verion and a really great PSU. (@ newegg) It will run your rig without the slightest of problem when you go berserk with the voltage and trying to bend the rules of what is possible with a HD6950 and a 2500k.

swehunt

I have a modular corsair silent series PSU 500w it IS silent, they do up to 750w too, so I'd go with that.. not necessarily 750 though... maybe like 600...

[QUOTE="yellonet"]

If you want to use crossfire in the future you will want to get a card that has at least PCI-E x8/x8, not x16/x4.

evildead6789

really? any proof?

This is my kind of budget.

Motherboard: ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 ($159.99)
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500k ($219.99)
Cooler: CoolerMaster Hyper 212+ ($28.43)
RAM: G.Skill 8GB (2x4) 1600MHz ($59.99)
GPU: Dual GIGABYTE 1GB Radeon HD6950 CrossfireX ($239.99 x2)
PSU: OCZ 750W 80+ bronze ($99.99)
HDD: Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB ($59.99)
Optical Disc: LITE-ON 24x DVD-RW ($18.99)
Case: CoolerMaster HAF X 942 ($179.99)
-----------------------------------------------------------------

$1307.34

[QUOTE="evildead6789"][QUOTE="yellonet"]

If you want to use crossfire in the future you will want to get a card that has at least PCI-E x8/x8, not x16/x4.

blaznwiipspman1

really? any proof?

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_5870_PCI-Express_Scaling/25.html

The hd 6950 is slower than the hd 5870, so the performance hit will be less., it's 4 percent with the hd 5870 , and 0 percent with a hd 5770. so i suspect around 3 percent. That means if would get 60 fps with two hd 6950 on a dual pci-e 16x platform, he would get with a pci-e 16x 4x combo 58.2 fps. If it's 30 fps then he would get 29 fps. This won't be noticable, ever.

However if he wants to take a gtx 580 i would say take a pci 16 x 16x but since 2 hd 6950 are about the same price than one gtx 580 and 25 procent faster, i'd take the hd 6950's.

So , if you don't buy insane amount of graphics power like 2 gtx 580's or two gtx 590's a pci-e 4x is a good solution.

If you're not gaming you can always adjust the fan speed with various tools. Cataclyst driver , msi afterburner. My system is dead silent when not gaming and temps are very low. True about corsair , they have pretty silent psu.evildead6789

I am xtreamly nitpicky when it comes to noise level, thats because I make music and need to reccord in the same room as I have the main PC. (out apartment isn't big enough for both a seperate studio and another dedicated computer-room.)

As of now I am using a nexus prominent 5 case with 6 nexus fans (witch is indeed the most quiet fans alivalable) and the case is mod'ed with a inch thick sounddampening foam in sevral layers ontop of the 0.25" bittummen, all fans can be run at their lowest speed via the two fancontrollers I have, the fan mesh have been cut out to reduce turbulense.

I have made my own HDD bracket out of foam to keep the mechanical silent, well that wasnt enough either, had to get a SSD for the OS since the read/search is a really horrible sound when you cant hear anything else. I have tryed various cases and any case made out of mesh isn't going to keep your components from letting out 90% of the noise they make, sure while your gaming it dont matter, but even the whine of HDD's make me angry.

Now I even think the keyboard's clicking sound is to loud... :lol: :lol: :lol:

Well I know im a retard when it comes to the noise level of my PC, need some threads like this to actually understand how sick I am. phew...

Corsair in general is a really great brand ranging from coolers/cases/SSD's to ram modules but I think they have made a rearrangement in the PSU line witch I don't like, they have been shipping out ton's of PSU's lately with much less appealing components than the great ones that made the reputation for corsair what they are today.

I'm not saying corsair stop'ed making great PSU's, but a few years ago you could buy a great PSU really cheap from corsair and it had the same or in some cases even better components than the really expencive PSU's you could buy, nowdays they make PSU's in all various ranges, the lower budget ones are still decent but thats just what they are too, they're not great or awsome as you could say about the few series they had a few years ago. (the old series VX/TX/CX/HX)

I guess their PSU's are still silent, else they would have trouble selling their headsets and loudspeakers. :P

I I had a big enough buget I'd get the corsair 800D, thats a really great case.

[QUOTE="evildead6789"] If you're not gaming you can always adjust the fan speed with various tools. Cataclyst driver , msi afterburner. My system is dead silent when not gaming and temps are very low. True about corsair , they have pretty silent psu.swehunt

I am xtreamly nitpicky when it comes to noise level, thats because I make music and need to reccord in the same room as I have the main PC. (out apartment isn't big enough for both a seperate studio and another dedicated computer-room.)

As of now I am using a nexus prominent 5 case with 6 nexus fans (witch is indeed the most quiet fans alivalable) and the case is mod'ed with a inch thick sounddampening foam in sevral layers ontop of the 0.25" bittummen, all fans can be run at their lowest speed via the two fancontrollers I have, the fan mesh have been cut out to reduce turbulense.

I have made my own HDD bracket out of foam to keep the mechanical silent, well that wasnt enough either, had to get a SSD for the OS since the read/search is a really horrible sound when you cant hear anything else. I have tryed various cases and any case made out of mesh isn't going to keep your components from letting out 90% of the noise they make, sure while your gaming it dont matter, but even the whine of HDD's make me angry.

Now I even think the keyboard's clicking sound is to loud... :lol: :lol: :lol:

Well I know im a retard when it comes to the noise level of my PC, need some threads like this to actually understand how sick I am. phew...

Corsair in general is a really great brand ranging from coolers/cases/SSD's to ram modules but I think they have made a rearrangement in the PSU line witch I don't like, they have been shipping out ton's of PSU's lately with much less appealing components than the great ones that made the reputation for corsair what they are today.

I'm not saying corsair stop'ed making great PSU's, but a few years ago you could buy a great PSU really cheap from corsair and it had the same or in some cases even better components than the really expencive PSU's you could buy, nowdays they make PSU's in all various ranges, the lower budget ones are still decent but thats just what they are too, they're not great or awsome as you could say about the few series they had a few years ago. (the old series VX/TX/CX/HX)

I guess their PSU's are still silent, else they would have trouble selling their headsets and loudspeakers. :P

I I had a big enough buget I'd get the corsair 800D, thats a really great case.

My case is open and i don't hear any noise at all. You can easily adjust the fan speed , even if the lower margin is still to noisy i rewrite the bios on the vga card's to lower the auto speed. (you can do it easily with winflash) I can understand your very sensitive about this noise if you record music, but if you don't record music the treshold is different. Anyway since your such an expert on cases , i'm looking to buy a case, My case i have now is ok but i have to leave it open because it doesn't ventilate enough when i'm gaming( the case is too old). Any suggestions?evildead6789

Had a little expencive trial and error myself before I got it right. :(

I do reccomend you both the fractial design R3 and the XL, they're great cases, the corsair 800D is another great case but it's quite expencive.

Going by the three I reccomended, less is more in my opinion, so if you like disco case's I don't know, Lancool/lian li KC-62 seems like a winner too even if it's a bit of showcase. :(

Problem is in the airflow, usally a good airflow mean much noise but it depends on how the case is built and where the fan's are lockated, a solid front door is a great pros as both HDD's and fans usally sit there.

This was my budget :S and i'm not counting the additional fans or the like 2,000 dollars in desk stuff/accessories lol

1x Case NZXT Phantom 139.99 ( now 124.99 )
1x MOBO ASUS Crosshair IV Formula229.99 ( now 194.99 )
2x Drives LG Blu-Ray Drive UH12LS28 139.98
1x SSD Corsair Performance 3 64GB 164.99 ( now 152.99 )
2x HDD 2TB Seagate 5900RPM ST2000DL003 159.98
2x HDD 500GB Seagate 7200RPM ST3500418AS 89.98
1x PSU Corsair Pro Series HX750 139.99
1x FAN ZALMAN CNPS9700 NT CPU Fan 54.99 ( now 49.86 )
2x GFX Gigabyte Radeon HD 6850 279.98 ( From Amazon )
1x CPU AMD Phenom II X6 1090T 3.2GHZ 189.99 ( now 169.99 )
4x RAM Corsair Vengeance 16GB DDR3 1600MHZ 209.99 ( now... 114.99 :( ( 4x4 GB ) :( :( :( WTH! lol
1x OS Windows 7 64 Bit Professional OEM 129.99 ( now 139.99 )

I paid 1929.84

You pay 1757.71

[QUOTE="yellonet"]

If you want to use crossfire in the future you will want to get a card that has at least PCI-E x8/x8, not x16/x4.

evildead6789

[QUOTE="blaznwiipspman1"]

[QUOTE="evildead6789"] performance difference between pci- 8x/8x and x16/x4 is practically zero, not even one frame on any resolution or any game. Don't give advice if you don't know what you're talking about.evildead6789

really? any proof?

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_5870_PCI-Express_Scaling/25.html

The hd 6950 is slower than the hd 5870, so the performance hit will be less., it's 4 percent with the hd 5870 , and 0 percent with a hd 5770. so i suspect around 3 percent. That means if would get 60 fps with two hd 6950 on a dual pci-e 16x platform, he would get with a pci-e 16x 4x combo 58.2 fps. If it's 30 fps then he would get 29 fps. This won't be noticable, ever.

However if he wants to take a gtx 580 i would say take a pci 16 x 16x but since 2 hd 6950 are about the same price than one gtx 580 and 25 procent faster, i'd take the hd 6950's.

So , if you don't buy insane amount of graphics power like 2 gtx 580's or two gtx 590's a pci-e 4x is a good solution.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pci-express-scaling-p67-chipset-gaming-performance,2887-10.html

[QUOTE="evildead6789"]

[QUOTE="blaznwiipspman1"]

really? any proof?

yellonet

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_5870_PCI-Express_Scaling/25.html

The hd 6950 is slower than the hd 5870, so the performance hit will be less., it's 4 percent with the hd 5870 , and 0 percent with a hd 5770. so i suspect around 3 percent. That means if would get 60 fps with two hd 6950 on a dual pci-e 16x platform, he would get with a pci-e 16x 4x combo 58.2 fps. If it's 30 fps then he would get 29 fps. This won't be noticable, ever.

However if he wants to take a gtx 580 i would say take a pci 16 x 16x but since 2 hd 6950 are about the same price than one gtx 580 and 25 procent faster, i'd take the hd 6950's.

So , if you don't buy insane amount of graphics power like 2 gtx 580's or two gtx 590's a pci-e 4x is a good solution.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pci-express-scaling-p67-chipset-gaming-performance,2887-10.html

It's actually the same story only it's a different storyteller the fact is they only test a handfull of games while techpowerup tested a lot more games and one of those games is an exception because of bad crossfire profiles. Well bad... 67 fps at 2500x 1600 4x aa and max settings is hardly bad, no one knew tomshardware would use this to prove a point.

If you look at the latest results on the highest resolution there's only a difference of 1-3 frames and the fps is still well above the 30 fps- playable margin. Do you really think you will notice the difference. There are bigger differences in lower resolutions yes but percentage difference lowers when the framerate is lower , and by lower i mean closer to the minimal framerate to keep the game playable. Who cares if you have 100 fps or 120 fps.

Tomshardware actually did some magic here with the numbers, because they only use 5 games and 1 game is an exception so the numbers aren't correct. How can you say there's a 10 percent difference average when you use only 5 games and 1 game is responsible for a 8 procent average difference in this equation.

The funny thing is the author critizes self-proclaimed experts while he's clearly one himself. He made a fool of himself among experts here.

One thing I must mention (again) though when you're using better graphics card like a gtx 580 or gtx 590 it will be worth it to take the whole dual pci 16x/8x/4x story into account but not with 2 hd 6950's.

[QUOTE="yellonet"]

[QUOTE="evildead6789"]

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_5870_PCI-Express_Scaling/25.html

The hd 6950 is slower than the hd 5870, so the performance hit will be less., it's 4 percent with the hd 5870 , and 0 percent with a hd 5770. so i suspect around 3 percent. That means if would get 60 fps with two hd 6950 on a dual pci-e 16x platform, he would get with a pci-e 16x 4x combo 58.2 fps. If it's 30 fps then he would get 29 fps. This won't be noticable, ever.

However if he wants to take a gtx 580 i would say take a pci 16 x 16x but since 2 hd 6950 are about the same price than one gtx 580 and 25 procent faster, i'd take the hd 6950's.

So , if you don't buy insane amount of graphics power like 2 gtx 580's or two gtx 590's a pci-e 4x is a good solution.

evildead6789

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pci-express-scaling-p67-chipset-gaming-performance,2887-10.html

It's actually the same story only it's a different storyteller the fact is they only test a handfull of games while techpowerup tested a lot more games and one of those games is an exception because of bad crossfire profiles. Well bad... 67 fps at 2500x 1600 4x aa and max settings is hardly bad, no one knew tomshardware would use this to prove a point.

If you look at the latest results on the highest resolution there's only a difference of 1-3 frames and the fps is still well above the 30 fps- playable margin. Do you really think you will notice the difference. There are bigger differences in lower resolutions yes but percentage difference lowers when the framerate is lower , and by lower i mean closer to the minimal framerate to keep the game playable. Who cares if you have 100 fps or 120 fps.

Tomshardware actually did some magic here with the numbers, because they only use 5 games and 1 game is an exception so the numbers aren't correct. How can you say there's a 10 percent difference average when you use only 5 games and 1 game is responsible for a 8 procent average difference in this equation.

The funny thing is the author critizes self-proclaimed experts while he's clearly one himself. He made a fool of himself among experts here.

One thing I must mention (again) though when you're using better graphics card like a gtx 580 or gtx 590 it will be worth it to take the whole dual pci 16x/8x/4x story into account but not with 2 hd 6950's.

[QUOTE="evildead6789"]

[QUOTE="yellonet"]And here's a much more up to date test, telling a different story.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pci-express-scaling-p67-chipset-gaming-performance,2887-10.html

yellonet

It's actually the same story only it's a different storyteller the fact is they only test a handfull of games while techpowerup tested a lot more games and one of those games is an exception because of bad crossfire profiles. Well bad... 67 fps at 2500x 1600 4x aa and max settings is hardly bad, no one knew tomshardware would use this to prove a point.

If you look at the latest results on the highest resolution there's only a difference of 1-3 frames and the fps is still well above the 30 fps- playable margin. Do you really think you will notice the difference. There are bigger differences in lower resolutions yes but percentage difference lowers when the framerate is lower , and by lower i mean closer to the minimal framerate to keep the game playable. Who cares if you have 100 fps or 120 fps.

Tomshardware actually did some magic here with the numbers, because they only use 5 games and 1 game is an exception so the numbers aren't correct. How can you say there's a 10 percent difference average when you use only 5 games and 1 game is responsible for a 8 procent average difference in this equation.

The funny thing is the author critizes self-proclaimed experts while he's clearly one himself. He made a fool of himself among experts here.

One thing I must mention (again) though when you're using better graphics card like a gtx 580 or gtx 590 it will be worth it to take the whole dual pci 16x/8x/4x story into account but not with 2 hd 6950's.

[QUOTE="yellonet"]

[QUOTE="evildead6789"]

It's actually the same story only it's a different storyteller the fact is they only test a handfull of games while techpowerup tested a lot more games and one of those games is an exception because of bad crossfire profiles. Well bad... 67 fps at 2500x 1600 4x aa and max settings is hardly bad, no one knew tomshardware would use this to prove a point.

If you look at the latest results on the highest resolution there's only a difference of 1-3 frames and the fps is still well above the 30 fps- playable margin. Do you really think you will notice the difference. There are bigger differences in lower resolutions yes but percentage difference lowers when the framerate is lower , and by lower i mean closer to the minimal framerate to keep the game playable. Who cares if you have 100 fps or 120 fps.

Tomshardware actually did some magic here with the numbers, because they only use 5 games and 1 game is an exception so the numbers aren't correct. How can you say there's a 10 percent difference average when you use only 5 games and 1 game is responsible for a 8 procent average difference in this equation.

The funny thing is the author critizes self-proclaimed experts while he's clearly one himself. He made a fool of himself among experts here.

One thing I must mention (again) though when you're using better graphics card like a gtx 580 or gtx 590 it will be worth it to take the whole dual pci 16x/8x/4x story into account but not with 2 hd 6950's.

evildead6789

I've recently bought a new PC (although I'm still waiting on some parts) but the mobo is only do x16/x4, I was thinking that I might add another graphics card later on when I think I need it, but I still want it to be a decent investment not just money down the drain for little gain.

What setup do you have now?evildead6789

• Silverstone Raven RV02
• Gigabyte Z68AP-D3
• Intel Core i7-2600K
• Antec Kühler H2O 620
• Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz 2 x 4 GB
• OCZ Agility 3 60 GB (for use with intel SRT)

This is ordered, but not in stock so I don't know when I'll get them.

• Gigabyte HD6950 2 GB
• XFX 750 W Black Edition
• Samsung F3 500 GB x 2 (for RAID 0)

[QUOTE="evildead6789"]What setup do you have now?yellonet

• Silverstone Raven RV02
• Gigabyte Z68AP-D3
• Intel Core i7-2600K
• Antec Kühler H2O 620
• Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz 2 x 4 GB
• OCZ Agility 3 60 GB (for use with intel SRT)

This is ordered, but not in stock so I don't know when I'll get them.

• Gigabyte HD6950 2 GB
• XFX 750 W Black Edition
• Samsung F3 500 GB x 2 (for RAID 0)

[QUOTE="yellonet"]

[QUOTE="evildead6789"]What setup do you have now?evildead6789

• Silverstone Raven RV02
• Gigabyte Z68AP-D3
• Intel Core i7-2600K
• Antec Kühler H2O 620
• Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz 2 x 4 GB
• OCZ Agility 3 60 GB (for use with intel SRT)

This is ordered, but not in stock so I don't know when I'll get them.

• Gigabyte HD6950 2 GB
• XFX 750 W Black Edition
• Samsung F3 500 GB x 2 (for RAID 0)

This is my kind of budget.

Motherboard: ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 ($159.99)
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500k ($219.99)
Cooler: CoolerMaster Hyper 212+ ($28.43)
RAM: G.Skill 8GB (2x4) 1600MHz ($59.99)
GPU: Dual GIGABYTE 1GB Radeon HD6950 CrossfireX ($239.99 x2)
PSU: OCZ 750W 80+ bronze ($99.99)
HDD: Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB ($59.99)
Optical Disc: LITE-ON 24x DVD-RW ($18.99)
Case: CoolerMaster HAF X 942 ($179.99)
-----------------------------------------------------------------

$1307.34

Blue-Sky

I'm thinking I'll have my build be pretty similar to this, except with only one 6950 (at least for now). I'll probably also go with a little bit cheaper of a case, and I have to buy a monitor and OS as well in my budget.

I see that you recommend the ASRock P67 motherboard, but earlier in this thread someone recommended the Asus P8P67. They both seem similar, so which one would suit me better? Thanks for letting me know that its crossfire that I need, not SLI. But I was also wondering, what's the difference between crossfire and crossfireX? (I'm curious because I want to have the option to upgrade available in the future.)

[QUOTE="Blue-Sky"]

This is my kind of budget.

Motherboard: ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 ($159.99)
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500k ($219.99)
Cooler: CoolerMaster Hyper 212+ ($28.43)
RAM: G.Skill 8GB (2x4) 1600MHz ($59.99)
GPU: Dual GIGABYTE 1GB Radeon HD6950 CrossfireX ($239.99 x2)
PSU: OCZ 750W 80+ bronze ($99.99)
HDD: Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB ($59.99)
Optical Disc: LITE-ON 24x DVD-RW ($18.99)
Case: CoolerMaster HAF X 942 ($179.99)
-----------------------------------------------------------------

$1307.34

Acemaster27

I'm thinking I'll have my build be pretty similar to this, except with only one 6950 (at least for now). I'll probably also go with a little bit cheaper of a case, and I have to buy a monitor and OS as well in my budget.

I see that you recommend the ASRock P67 motherboard, but earlier in this thread someone recommended the Asus P8P67. They both seem similar, so which one would suit me better? Thanks for letting me know that its crossfire that I need, not SLI. But I was also wondering, what's the difference between crossfire and crossfireX? (I'm curious because I want to have the option to upgrade available in the future.)

They are both great boards but the P8P67 is a bit older but was popular when sandybridge first came out. So it's quite common to see recommend

The P67 Extreme4 GEN3 is definitely better in terms of feature set and design.
PCI-E x16 3.0 support
Gold Caps (+ all black design)
Debuger
On-board power switch
CMOS LED
Front USB 3.0 panel

[QUOTE="Acemaster27"]

[QUOTE="Blue-Sky"]

This is my kind of budget.

Motherboard: ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 ($159.99)
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500k ($219.99)
Cooler: CoolerMaster Hyper 212+ ($28.43)
RAM: G.Skill 8GB (2x4) 1600MHz ($59.99)
GPU: Dual GIGABYTE 1GB Radeon HD6950 CrossfireX ($239.99 x2)
PSU: OCZ 750W 80+ bronze ($99.99)
HDD: Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB ($59.99)
Optical Disc: LITE-ON 24x DVD-RW ($18.99)
Case: CoolerMaster HAF X 942 ($179.99)
-----------------------------------------------------------------

$1307.34

Blue-Sky

I'm thinking I'll have my build be pretty similar to this, except with only one 6950 (at least for now). I'll probably also go with a little bit cheaper of a case, and I have to buy a monitor and OS as well in my budget.

I see that you recommend the ASRock P67 motherboard, but earlier in this thread someone recommended the Asus P8P67. They both seem similar, so which one would suit me better? Thanks for letting me know that its crossfire that I need, not SLI. But I was also wondering, what's the difference between crossfire and crossfireX? (I'm curious because I want to have the option to upgrade available in the future.)

They are both great boards but the P8P67 is a bit older but was popular when sandybridge first came out. So it's quite common to see recommend

The P67 Extreme4 GEN3 is definitely better in terms of feature set and design.
PCI-E x16 3.0 support
Gold Caps (+ all black design)
Debuger
On-board power switch
CMOS LED
Front USB 3.0 panel

asus is knowm to make better quality. Asrock doesn't have a bad name though.

In benchmarks the asrock board is one of the slowest, the asus one of the fastest. the asrock board has 3 pci-e 16x, so you can put 3 gtx 580 in there the asus board only has one pci-e 16x and on pci-e 4x.

As mentioned before you will have no problems with CF ing the hd 6950 but with 2 gtx 580's you will get a performance hit (if you sli it not with one card, you have one pci-e 16x.

the asus board supports bluetooth, the asrock board doesn't.

That 's about it, for the rest the board is pretty much the same. I would buy the asus just for quality. If you're planning do gtx 580 in sli or even three way sli i would buy an asus rampage board not an asrock. I only use asrock for cheap pc not for high end pc's. I wouldn't go cheap on the motherboard . They call it the motherboard for a reason, it's like the mothership of your space fleet named your pc.