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New current build:
So here's my current build... unless I decide to cointoss the open box mobo cause holy shit is that a huge discount.
MB: MSI P67A-G45 Price w/ CPU
CPU: i5-2500k $332.98 with motherboard
GPU: HIS Radeon 6870 $164.99
RAM: GSkill 8gb $64.99
HDD: Samsung f3 1tb $64.99
Case: Rosewill Destroyer $49.99
PSU: XFX 450W XFX 650W $44.99
CD/DVD: Some random LiteOn $18.99
Wireless: Some Rosewill $24.99
Total: $766.91
If I recall correctly I can deactivate windows on my current desktop and use its key for my new desktop? If not I will just get windows from my uni or whatever so no OS cost there. I might go up to $900 or so if there is some amazing performance upgrade... though I think I have to buy cables too.
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5930 Posts
You've got the wrong card, that's not a GTX560 Ti but just a GTX560. You might as well get a HD6870 if you want GTX560 level of performance.
Also, if you're not going to do SLI its not the greatest idea to get a 650W PSU. You want to your system to consume enough power to make your PSU work - this 450W PSU is enough for a single card system.
You can probably just reuse the CD key and it might still work. I've reused a Windows 7 key in three different hardware configurations and Microsoft hasn't bitched about it \o/
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Hmm was planning on getting a 2nd of whatever card I get in a year or so for SLI fun, but I suppose it'd be a lot more efficient electrically to get the smaller PSU anyways for now. Also, fml i am so bad at reading the random Ti or not at the end -_-
PS would you believe my roommate got a really good comp with a 5870 + 24" monitor for $800...
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5930 Posts
The thing with SLI/Crossfire is buy both cards now or forget about it. Technology moves so fast that SLI systems quick depreciate in value: apparently AMD is releasing their Northern Islands GPUs in Q4 '11 and the performance difference is likely to be fairly significant considering its a whole new architecture on a whole new process.
Also I think HD5870s were pretty cheap before all of those idiotic bitcoin miners bought all of them. I reckon after the bitcoin thing collapses, you're going to find a lot of cheap AMD 6000 series cards on the market.
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Oh so that's why they are so damn expensive now... the bitcoiners -_-
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17025 Posts
Thanks again, wormwormworm 
By additional fans, do you mean I'm fine with the two the case comes with, or do I still need to buy one myself?
It won't be for months, but I'll definitely let you know how this turns out. Thanks!
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5930 Posts
The Lian Li Q08 comes with the top 120mm and the front blue LED 140mm fan preinstalled. Its up to you whether or not you want to replace the front LED 140mm fan with a plain 140mm fan.
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Speaking of cases, is there any particular type of case that is preferrable over others?
I am currently going with the Rosewill Destroyer b/c I know someone with it, and it seems perfectly reasonable (and <$50). Then there are all those other cases going towards $150 o.O?
edit - and there is like, a $30 variance in price for the 6870. Just go with a major brand?
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5930 Posts
Just go for a major brand that doesn't have a lot of really negative reviews (I'm talking about 3 eggs with 300 reviews sort of bad because there obviously is a problem with the product at that point). Use some common sense when doing this.
What case you buy doesn't really matter unless you want specific features or appearances.
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Cool, and 450W good enough with the 6870? Made a similar system elsewhere and it complained about a non 700W psu, which is obviously ridiculous cause I could run Crossfire with that. Which I might... $165 for a 6870 hmmm. I think it would outperform any single card I can get for $330, from what I am seeing on the performance numbers.
Curiously the 6870 seems to have really low minimums, but the avg performance is incredible compared to any single card that I see.
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5930 Posts
Yes, a good 450W power supply will be enough for a HD6870. AMD cards don't consume a lot of power.
A GTX560 Ti or GTX570 should cost less than $330 and outperform the HD6870. Your choice what you want to get but the best value cards for 1080P are the HD6870 or GTX560 Ti.
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On June 22 2011 21:45 Womwomwom wrote:
Yes, a good 450W power supply will be enough for a HD6870. AMD cards don't consume a lot of power.
A GTX560 Ti or GTX570 should cost less than $330 and outperform the HD6870. Your choice what you want to get but the best value cards for 1080P are the HD6870 or GTX560 Ti.
Not the numbers I got from Tomshardware at least.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6870-radeon-hd-6850-barts,2776-20.html
Granted this is dated and doesn't have the 570 or 560Ti, and given a 570 vs 470 comparison here, I'd not expect a non overclocked 570 to outperform Crossfire 6870. Maybe highly OC'd 570 could though?
If you have some more recent and relevant benchmarks that'd be useful ;o
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5930 Posts
GTX570 is roughly equal to a GTX480 in performance. The HD6870 is weaker than the GTX560 Ti but not enough for it to actually matter, especially considering the price of it.
All NV cards can be overclocked further than AMD cards but not many people bother with heavy voltage.
Here is probably a better comparison of benchmarks:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU11/206
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But I meant running two HD6870. With $164.99 per card, I can feasibly get two of them (esp since the 650W PSU for them is only $15 more than the current one). The 560Ti, being $250, I definitely am not going to get 2 of and remain within budget (which is loosely defined but definitely not covering $500 from the gpu alone). If we include the higher psu cost in the card, the question becomes whether or not I can get a gpu setup that outperforms 2x HD6870 at/around $344.98 or lower.
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5930 Posts
I still don't think its worth the money because SLI/Crossfire is overkill for single monitor gaming and it depreciates faster than a rock. Look at it this way: it took less than a year for the $300 GTX570 to match the performance of the then ~$600 GTX480.
AMD is planning to release their new GPUs in Q4 2011 with new processes and architecture. In less than 9 months time, you could just buy another single GPU and deal with none of the heat, noise, or software issues you get from Crossfire and SLI.
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I have two monitors, 23" and 21.5" both running 1920x1080, and I am almost always running gpu heavy stuff on both monitors when I run anything gpu intensive (bad multitasking habit for entertaining myself ><), may go to 3 or 4 soon.
I also generally don't upgrade any components at all for at least 2 years after purchase unless something catastrophically broke and there is no warranty or whatever, so I def would not be in the market for a new gpu in Q4 2011.
edit - getting a totally new system now cause my current one is actually uh... catastrophically failing in more ways than one lol. It's gonna be totally dead soon, RAM is old as hell, so is hdd and then the motherboad is not compatible / bad psu so on so on (3.5 year machine).
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On June 22 2011 22:28 Womwomwom wrote:
I still don't think its worth the money because SLI/Crossfire is overkill for single monitor gaming and it depreciates faster than a rock. Look at it this way: it took less than a year for the $300 GTX570 to match the performance of the then ~$600 GTX480.
AMD is planning to release their new GPUs in Q4 2011 with new processes and architecture. In less than 9 months time, you could just buy another single GPU and deal with none of the heat, noise, or software issues you get from Crossfire and SLI.
My SLI 460s cost more than a similarly performing single 570. And those 460's aren't likely to drop a whole lot more in price, aside from sales.
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@Raagruk
Come back in September when you are building. Deals change weekly so it's quite pointless to ask for a configuration now if you aren't building until the end of the summer.
Newegg and Tigerdirect also both suck. A configuration from NCIX, Canada Computers, or another Canadian retailer that does pricematching will be $100 less than the same configuration on Newegg. If for some strange reason you are obligated to buy from Newegg or Tigerdirect than just know that you're getting a much worse or overpriced configuration.
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17025 Posts
By Raagruk do you mean me? O_o
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No, he posted as well on the previous page and no one responded to him. Canadian retailers offer pricematching and has weekly sales so our pricing is quite volatile.
Concerning your configuration:
Silly Newegg increased the pricing of the core i5 2400 to $195
Unless I'm blind or Wowow and others missed it. You have a H55 motherboard which is LGA1156, this is not compatible with the Second Generation Core processors (your core i5 2400) which is on LGA1155. You are looking for a H61 or H67 motherboard.
You should also be spending less on the motherboard, somewhere in the range of $60 - $90.
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EPT
